Click here for a description of the mark of the beast
The Holy Spirit speaks to us from the Old Testament by the acts accomplished through the faith of the people of God. What many of them did literally on this earth speaks to us about what faith in Jesus Christ accomplishes today through the Holy Spirit. What is accomplished today through God’s people is not through physical human effort but by the Spirit of God, “‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts.” Zechariah 4:6
The verses below mention some great acts of faith by God’s people, and the chart after that explains what they did and what it means for us today.
“By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days.
By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who were disobedient, when she had received the spies with peace. And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets:
who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong,
became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
Women received their dead raised to life again.”
Hebrews 11:30-35
| Acts of Faith of Our Ancestors | What their Faith Means for Us Today |
| Rahab (Joshua 2), the harlot of Jericho, did not perish after receiving the people of God. People were hunting down the witnesses of God to kill them. Rahab took them into her house to hide them and detoured the hunters to another area. She did this by faith believing that the God of the witnesses would deliver the land to His people. | Days are coming when the followers of Jesus Christ will be hunted down to be killed. Even today, there is a very cold breeze blowing and a fire kindled against the presence of those who embrace the teachings of the Bible. Many of God’s people are dying from the abuse, hostilities, and neglect from the society of those who live by the mark of the beast. Those who embrace the people of God and believe that the victory belongs to Him will have Salvation. It’s for each one of us to grab on to the rope of Jesus Christ that helps one another to climb into the House of God. |
| The description of the fall of the walls of Jericho (Joshua 6) describes today’s times. The walls are built by closing the doors to prevent anyone from entering or leaving. It’s like shutting out God and Jesus Christ. God said to Joshua, “See the land is yours.” With the doors shut and the walls built, the seven trumpets begin to blow. The last trumpet is that of a ram’s horn, which represents the seventh trumpet of Jesus Christ in Revelation. At the sound of the last trumpet, the city collapses. | Today, the doors are shut tight in an effort to prohibit our body from becoming the temple of the Holy Spirit. They are shutting out the Gospel of Jesus Christ and trampling on the Holy Sirit. Instead, they establish the body as the seat of government for the mark of the beast. The shutting out of God ushers in the Seven Trumpets. The Seven Trumpets of Revelation begins in Revelation 8 and Revelation 9, and the Seventh Trumpet in Revelation 11. |
| Gideon.…Judges 7:1-25….God reduces Gideon’s large armies to 300 to defeat an army as many as locusts so that it is known that it’s not a victory by human effort but by God’s effort. | The whole world serves the mark of the beast and opposes God’s people. While only a few are faithful to the testimony of Jesus Christ, Jesus will return to destroy this present global system, and the victory is for the faithful few. |
| Barak...Judges 4 and 5….With 10,000 men Barak defeated an army of 900 chariots and many more foot soldiers | Numbers are only related to human efforts, power, and authority but victory comes through faith in God where the numbers of the majority means nothing. Victory is in God through Jesus Christ. |
| Samson….Judges 13-16….Samson’s secrets were always given away to his enemies by a person very intimate with him, his ultimate secret being that he is a Nazarite to God, vowed not to cut his hair. With that secret known, they took away his power, which grew back as he tore down the pillars of the temple that he was tied to, and the whole thing collapsed, killing more in his death than in his life, losing his own life in the process. | “There is a sweet, sweet, Spirit in this place, and I know it’s the Spirit of the Lord” That hymn sums up the power we have when our faith is in Jesus Christ. Many in this unGodly world will want to betray that sweetness, which is the Holy Spirit. They will use intimacy to try to get close to that sweetness to defeat the Spirit of Jesus Christ. As they make war with God’s people, which are the temple of the Holy Spirit, they will bring the collapse of their own world upon themselves. Jesus Christ gave His own life to make it all happen. |
| Jephthah…….Judges 11……Was disowned by God’s own people for being a son of a harlot, he joined with a gang of raiders, was called back by God’s people to help fight the Amorites, they were fighting over disputed territory, Jephthah conquered them and became their Judge. | This world will disown us because we are born of God through Jesus Christ and they are born of the mark of the beast through the thing that has power over physiology, thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. The Jewish people disowned Jesus Christ as they accused Him of being the son of the devil. But the battle against this global “democracy” is going to be won through Jesus Christ who is the Son of God. Jesus Christ is the Judge over every person. |
| David vs. Goliath..….1 Samuel 17…..David fought against a giant who had no apparent weaknesses in his armor, except in the space around his face, which David used a slingshot and stone to hit the giant soldier right between the eyes to kill him. It was a huge victory for God’s people. | This present system that governs by the mark of the beast seems undefeatable. Those who serve it boast, “Who is like the beast, who can make war with it?” Jeus Christ is who will defeat it. Our faith must always remain in God through Jesus Christ, who is the one who will defeat this gigantic government system. |
| Samuel.….1 Sanuel 7…….Samuel turned God’s people away from a false god as God promised to give them victory over an harassing army if they did. As promised, God sent a thundering over the armies of the Philistines, which disoriented them and allowed the armies of Samuel to strike them down and chase them out. | We must reject the false god of the mark of the beast, and we will have the faith to know that God will defeat the harassing armies that are in every city around the world. Global warming plays a role in destroying this global system, just like the thunder that disoriented the armies of the Philistines. The Christless masses will be struck down and not have a place in the New Jerusalem. |
| Prophets spoke the word by faith, sealed it up for future generations, and knew without a doubt that it would happen. | As followers of Jesus Christ, we speak about the Holy Scriptures without any doubt about the truth of God and Jesus Christ. We know the prophecies are true, are happening in this world today, and Jesus is returning. |
| Nations were subdued for the people of God, either to prevent their slaughter or to give them their own land. | The land we look forward to possessing is the eternal city of the New Jerusalem. It is possessed by faith in God through Jesus Christ. |
| Righteousness was worked by the acts achieved through God’s people. | We are made righteous through Jesus Christ who comes by our faith in God. We live in this Godless world by the righteousness we have through Jesus. |
| Promises were obtained by faith in the Word of God. | We obtain the promises of the forgiveness of sin and eternal life by our faith in God through Jesus Christ. |
| Stopped the mouths of lions who were hungry to devour the people of God. | The masses around the world, who serve the mark of the beast, are hungry to devour the teachings of Jesus Christ and His followers who embrace the Holy Scriptures. There will always be a few faithful in this world until the Day of the Lord. The ultimate shutting of the mouth of the lions will be our resurrection into eternal life and their resurrection into eternal torment. |
| Quenched the violence of fire which came literally as well as figuratively from the hostile world around them. | The global tribulation is filled with earthly fires as well as figurative fires burning against the people of God. The return of Jesus Christ is our Salvation who quenches the violence of fire. |
| The people of God routinely escaped the edge of the sword, being very near to death. | Jesus Christ will return to sever the Believers from those who rejected His sacrifice for the atonement of sin. We will be spared from being cut off from His presence and will be called into eternal life. |
| The faith of the people of God made their weakness strong | The weakness of every human being is the sin that is inherited from the fall of Adam. By faith in God, that weakness is made strong through Jesus Christ. Holding to the testimony of Jesus Christ is our strength in a world that is hostile to the Goodness of the Holy Spirit. In the New Jerusalem, we will possess a redeemed body with no weaknesses. |
| God’s people have a reputation of being valiant in battle, according to God’s instructions and not their own human strength. | The battle that we are in is for the occupation of the body, and followers of Jesus Christ are valiant in that fight. By faith in God, through Jesus Christ, we refuse to surrender our body to be the seat of government for the mark of the beast. We reject the thing that has power over physiology to form thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Our body is dedicated to being the temple of the Holy Spirit. |
| By faith in God, many armies took flight from the presence of the Israelites. | Today, by mentioning the name of Jesus Christ, many people turn away from us because they refuse to associate with God’s people. Also, we turn many unGodly thoughts and feelings away from our temple of the Holy Spirit. Also, when Jesus Christ returns, His enemies will be turned to flight as God’s children has the final victory. |
| By faith in God, women had their loved ones raised to life again | The resurrection is something that is unbelieved by humanism which is empowered through the mark of the beast. Only by faith in God can we believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ who gives eternal life to all who believe in Him. |
Faith During Persecution.
Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.
Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment.
They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword.
They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—
of whom the world was not worthy.
They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.”
Hebrews 11:35-38
| Tortured but not accepting deliverance because they wanted to receive the better resurrection | Today, the followers of Jesus Christ are constantly harassed and made to suffer hardships and various types of difficulties. We refuse to live by the comforts and pleasures of those who govern by the mark of the beast. Our reward comes through eternal life in the New Jerusalem. |
| Trials of mockings and scourgings | Because we dedicate our body to be the temple of the Holy Spirit, we are constantly mocked and scourged by those in society living by the thing that has power over physiology and forms thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. |
| Trials of chains and imprisonment | Cities everywhere have ordinances against sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ in public places. And they are especially vigilant against talking to younger generations about the sacrifice Jesus made for the atonement of sin. The hands and feet of the followers of Christ are put in chains to prohibit the sharing of the teachings of the Bible. Violation of city ordinances and other policies come with fines and the reality of serving a jail sentence. |
| Stoned, sawn in two, slain with the sword | Being slain with the sword is here today, referring to being cut off from the social resources and fellowship of those living for the mark of the beast. Many people are dying alone, heart-broken, and suffering from many inadequacies and hardships. Our heart is being sawn in two, but our allegiance remains wholly to God through Jesus Christ. |
| Tempted | The thing that has power over physiology is able to make us feel things, think things, react emotionally in a certain way, and to make us do certain behaviors. The followers of Jesus Christ are afflicted by many temptations that we prefer not to be tempted by. Even so, we hold to the testimony of Jesus Christ and to the grace and mercy that God gifts to us. |
| Wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins | The followers of Jesus Christ are walking around in this unGodly world wearing the clothing of the Holy Spirit. We are wearing sheepskins and goatskins. We are looked at as prey by those who oppose the Spirit of Jesus Christ and oppose His softness and sweetness. |
| Destitute, afflicted, tormented, whom world is not worthy | The millions of migrants around the world attest to the enormous destitution, affliction, and torment that this global “democracy” is capable of dishing out. The followers of Jesus Christ are already severed from mainstream society, and as the global tribulation continues to intensify, the people of God will be in a very similar and worse situation. Possessions and money are reserved for those who live by the mark of the beast in the name of humanism. |
| Wandered in deserts, mountains, dens, caves | Preppers have already fled to mountains, they have their underground bunkers, and are living in very modern and sophisticated dens. Many of us are living in the dens and caves of public housing, homeless camps, living in a room within the home of parents, relatives, or friends, or in single apartments, low-income housing, efficiency apartments, etc. We are living in the desert where nothing survives, nothing grows, and no one is around who cares. Jesus Christ tells us that when we see the abomination that causes desolation it is time to head to the mountains. There is already an intense dislike for the Spirit of Christ which is making the temple of God, our body, desolate of Godly substance. That is the abomination that makes desolate. If I could, I would definitely move out of the city den where I live and find me a place in the hills in which to live. |
Everyone Receives the Promise of Eternal Life Together.
“And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise,
God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.”
Hebrews 11:39-40
All the promises of God are received through Jesus Christ. It would be too awkward to prophecy about the coming of the Messiah if everyone in the Old Testament had already received that Salvation. But everything that they did was by faith in God which represented or were symbolic of the coming of Jesus Christ, including His death and resurrection, the coming judgments, and eternal life. The Messiah they were waiting for is the same one that is our Savior, and now we share in those eternal rewards together.
Faith in God is counted as righteousness, so the people of God in the Old Testament will share in the promises that come through Jesus Christ. By having to wait for Jesus Christ, they could not be made perfect apart from all of us who accepted Jesus Christ after His death and resurrection. Through Jesus Christ, we are all brought together to receive the better promise of eternal life in the New Jerusalem.
“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:11
Spiritual Society in Jesus Christ 
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