Second Thoughts: It’s for the Kids

Author: Thomas White | Student at LivingEd-Charlotte

“…the Father’s throne is ultimately going to be here on this earth. We look that far out in the future…but for that to be possible, we know that billions of human beings must come up and be taught His way of life, and for them to have the opportunity to become our younger brothers and sisters.” ~ Mr. Ron Poole

Student Assembly | April 11, 2019

Why do teachers work so hard? Almost all of them will be honest about the fact that they generally don’t get paid much. Whatever level of education they may be involved in, ask any of your best teachers why they put forth so much effort, and I’m willing to bet that most of them would answer with something like, “It’s for the kids. It’s all for the kids.”

This week, Mr. Ron Poole’s assembly reminded me that the future Kingdom we’re striving to reach as unborn children of God, that’s also “for the kids.” It’s our reward, but it’s not only our reward, and I can often undersell it by thinking of it as such. We’re not just running to finish a race, we’re also educating ourselves to try to get a job, the job of a teacher. And one of the bests reasons to be a teacher is to do it for the kids.

“We can see that God has work for us to do. God has a job that He wants us to be able to take care of. He is going to put us to work…but only if we’re ready. It’s only if we’re ready that He will be able to use us.”

As fully born members of the God Family, we’re going to be responsible for the education of untold billions of people, as Mr. Poole poignantly illustrated. How do we make that real to us? How do we motivate ourselves to strive toward that job? “Billions of people” sounds like something out of a statistics class, and I have a very complicated relationship with math, so when I think of being a teacher in the Millennium and Great White Throne Judgment, I focus on three people. One of them is a close family member outside God’s Church, a member I love deeply. Another is someone I knew in college, whose life had been irrevocably damaged by a terrible upbringing. The third is my best childhood friend, a principled and noble individual, who nevertheless was always missing the Truth that would bring his life to a new level.  When I think of those people, I am exceedingly motivated to become a teacher, the kind of teacher who heals and enriches his students. Those are my “kids” I want to do it for. Who are yours?  

“Would our resumes, starting in chronological order, show that we are growing in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ?”

Whoever your “kids” are, keep them in mind as this life gets hard, because as Mr. Poole said, we’re building our applications for the ultimate teaching position with every decision we make, every opportunity from God that we take advantage of. When we desire something with every ounce of our being, we make sacrifices for it, sometimes painful ones, but the result is always worth the striving. Applying to become one of God’s Teachers is long and arduous, but in our most paralyzing moments of weakness, it might be most helpful to remember that we’re doing it for the kids.


Thomas White headshot

Thomas White was one of the onsite Living Education students for the 2018-2019 semesters. He also has a Bachelor’s Degree in English. Thomas currently works as an Editorial Assistant for the Living Church of God. According to his wife, he eats pizza in entirely the wrong way.

Children’s Bible Program – Level 3: Lesson 23 “The Days of Unleavened Bread”

Read Together: The Days of Unleavened Bread begin immediately after the Passover, on the fifteenth day of the first month. For seven days, all of Israel was to have no leaven in their homes and to eat unleavened bread. The first and last Days of Unleavened Bread are Holy Days to the Eternal. During the Days of Unleavened Bread, leavening agents picture sin which causes people to be puffed up with pride and vanity. Putting leavening out of our homes reminds us that we are to put sin out of our lives. When Peter told the Jews that they had crucified the Son of God, they asked what they should do. Because every person has sinned, each of us is responsible for the death of Christ. He had to die to pay the penalty for our sins. When we acknowledge this fact, we face the same question of what to do. Peter’s replied that they must “repent”. We repent of sinning, which is the transgression of God’s law. Repentance means to turn from the way of life that leads to death and to follow God’s way leading to eternal life. Eating unleavened bread for seven days pictures feeding on Christ, the true unleavened bread, in whom dwelt no sin. We feed on Christ by studying His word which transforms our minds. As we do, we begin to be more like Christ. As Dr. Roderick C. Meredith often said, we will begin to think like God thinks, want what God wants, and do what God would do. If we feed on Christ, God will give us eternal life, because He is the “bread of life.”

Read Together:  Exodus 23:14–17; Leviticus 23:4, 6–8; Acts 2:36–38; I John 3:4; 1 Corinthians 15:3; John 6:35, 47–51; Romans 12:2; Ephesians 4:11–16; John 6:57–58.

Discuss:

  • Talk with your child about sin. Explain that the Ten Commandments are the foundation for all of God’s laws. We are to obey all of the Commandments, even those we may feel are the least important (Matthew 5:19).
  • Talk with your child about repentance. Explain that repentance is more than being sorry. It means that with God’s help, we stop committing the offense.
  • Ask your student what is his/her favorite thing about the Days of Unleavened Bread. Is it getting together with friends on the Holy Days or perhaps a special treat that is only baked at that time? Share what you enjoy about that time.

Review Memorization:

Romans 5:10 “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”

Children’s Bible Program – Level 2: Lesson 23 “Putting Sin Out”

Read Together: When God delivered ancient Israel from Egypt, they left in a hurry. They left so quickly that they were unable to let their dough rise, so their bread was unleavened. God told Israel they were to remember the day that He brought them out of Egypt by observing the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days. The first and last days of the feast were to be Holy Days or annual Sabbaths. As they prepared for these days they were to remove all the leavening from their homes. God commanded the Israelites to do this and instruct their children to pass on this command to the next generation. But we understand that the command applies to us as members of the church of God also. You have probably helped your parents clean the leavening from your home before the Days of Unleavened Bread each year. It can take a lot of time and hard work! But, why is it important? Here’s the answer.

Remember, God brought ancient Israel out of slavery in Egypt. For the Israelites, Egypt represented the years of slavery they had endured. Today, God calls each member of His church and frees them from slavery also. But our slavery is not to the kingdom of Egypt. Our slavery is to sin. Even though we don’t want to, we sometimes break God’s law out of rebelliousness and selfishness. That is like being a slave of sin. For us, God uses leaven to represent our slavery.  What is leaven? Leaven is the yeast that is added to bread to make it rise, which makes it more enjoyable to eat. Without that leaven, bread is hard and flat. Just like the yeast that makes bread rise, sin causes us to grow in pride, vanity and selfishness. And as we remove leavening or any bread that has been made with leavening from our homes, we are practicing an exercise that reminds us of removing sin from our life!

Read Together:  Exodus 12:15–17, 33–34, 39; 13:3–10; Leviticus 23:6–8; John 6:44; Matthew 16:6; 1 Corinthians 13:4; 5:6–8; Romans 6:12–14

Discuss:

  • Help your child name some leavened products that you are to throw out and avoid during the Days of Unleavened Bread.
  • Discuss with your child what sin is and have them read 1 John 3:4 (KJV). Help your child recognize that just as we are to carefully stay away from leavening during the Days of Unleavened Bread, we are to be especially diligent to keep sin out of our lives.
  • Try to think of a humorous event that happened to your family during the Days of Unleavened Bread. What was the oddest place that you found leavening? Were you ever in a situation where you temporarily forgot it was the Days of Unleavened Bread? What do you do when these things happen? Help your child to understand that when we repent of sin, God is quick to forgive us. This is how we remain unleavened.

Review Memorization:

1 Corinthians 5:7  “Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.”

Children’s Bible Program – Level 1: Lesson 23 “The Passover and the Death of the Firstborn”

Read Together: After God sent the first nine plagues on the Egyptians, the crops had been destroyed, most of the livestock was dead, and Egypt was suffering. But Pharaoh would still not let the Israelites go free. God decided to bring one more plague on Egypt. This plague would be so great that Pharaoh would demand that Israel leave Egypt. God was going to put to death the firstborn of man and beast in all of the land of Egypt. However, God planned a way to save the Israelites. God told Moses to have each Israelite family select a perfect lamb from their herd. Four days later, just after sunset, they were commanded to kill the lamb, placing its blood on the doorposts of their home. Then, they were commanded to roast and eat it. Every home that had blood on the doorway of their home was protected from the last plague. The Egyptian homes, with no blood on their doorways, would suffer the death of their firstborn as the death angel passed over their house.

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This was a dramatic and terrifying night. Throughout Egypt, many people died. But the Israelites were kept safe by the protection of God, and the blood of the lamb. And they were released from their Egyptian taskmasters, as the Pharaoh commanded the Israelites to leave Egypt.  

God commanded Israel to remember what had happened in Egypt, how He had protected the children of Israel, and to keep it as a memorial forever. That is why the name of this memorial is Passover. The Passover lamb pictured the sacrifice that Jesus Christ would make by shedding His blood for the salvation of all mankind. The Church of God still observes the Passover every year as God commanded, but with bread and wine instead of a Passover Lamb.

Read Together: Exodus 11:1; 12:1–14, 24–30; John 1:29; Mark 14:14, 22–24

Discuss:

  • Help your child to understand that every household in Egypt was affected by the tenth plague. Help them identify all the people in their family who are firstborn.
  • Ask what would happen if an Israelite family did not obey Moses’ instructions.
  • Ask your child to explain why this memorial is called Passover.
  • Discuss what it might be like to have a lamb living in in your house for four days. Explain that the sacrifice of the lamb was symbolic of Jesus Christ’s future sacrifice.
  • Explain to your child that the Church of God still keeps the Passover, but with different symbols which Christ taught. Help them understand what the new symbols(wine and bread) represent.

Review Memorization:

The Ten Plagues:  (1) Waters turned to blood, (2) Frogs, (3) Lice, (4) Flies, (5)Animals die, (6) Boils, (7) Hail, (8) Locusts, (9) Darkness, (10) Death of the Firstborn

Second Thoughts: Blaming Gravity for the Ground

Author: Thomas White | Student at LivingEd-Charlotte

“Gravity operates the same way, all the time. … Sometimes, when we’re falling, we wish it didn’t work that way, but we pay the consequence when we hit the ground. …and there are others laws that are absolutely just as sure as gravity. …and those laws are found right here, in the Bible.” ~ Mr. Sheldon Monson

April 4, 2019 | Student Assembly: LivingEd-Charlotte

I’m pretty sure that at some point or another, we’ve all wished that we, personally, could fly. It’s a natural, human thing to fantasize over. Even King David envied the birds at least once (Psalm 55:6). That fantasy, though, always seems to include the ability to stop flying when you’re so inclined, because otherwise the flight becomes a lot less awesome, and also a lot more terrifying. As Mr. Sheldon Monson made the point in this week’s assembly, gravity is a great thing to have around, and we all recognize that. Even after a particularly nasty fall, no one is all that tempted to sincerely say, “Ugh, gravity. I wish it would go away.” We know that would be ridiculous…but when we, in our heart of hearts, wish that certain parts of God’s law weren’t there, aren’t we being just as foolish?

“The world around us is filled with strife, it’s filled with poverty, ignorance, suffering, pain…those are all results of living a way of life that’s opposite to what God says we ought to live.”

One of my absolute favorite non-biblical quotes comes from Cecil B. DeMille, who said, “We cannot break the Ten Commandments. We can only break ourselves against them…” We all recognize that sin will always have consequences, but if we’re not careful, we can start thinking that God put those consequences there. In reality, He created His law to keep us from sin’s consequences, not consequences to keep us out of sin. If I hop the fence at the edge of the Grand Canyon and perform a swan dive, the inevitable splat isn’t the fence’s fault, or the Grand Canyon’s fault, or gravity’s fault, rather it is every bit my own fault. And as Mr. Monson brought out, the vast majority of our world is taking Satan’s advice and swan-diving off the edge of the Grand Canyon, deceived into believing that God’s Church is foolish for not doing the same.

“The main thing is to remember to keep ‘The Main Thing’ the main thing.”

So I have to make sure that I don’t do the same, because Satan whispers in my ear, too, telling me that there is no splat at the end of the dive into sin, that I can level out and levitate away right before I hit the ground. That fits right into my flying fantasy, so how do I keep from believing him? As Mr. Monson reminded us, “The Main Thing”, what keeps us safe from our own gullibility, is to “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). To cut through life’s distractions and maintain that primary focus, we need to remind ourselves that those commandments are a shield, not a cage.


Thomas White headshot

Thomas White was one of the onsite Living Education students for the 2018-2019 semesters. He also has a Bachelor’s Degree in English. Thomas currently works as an Editorial Assistant for the Living Church of God. According to his wife, he eats pizza in entirely the wrong way.

Children’s Bible Program – Level 3: Lesson 22 “The Passover – Justified by His Blood”

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Read Together: God gave ancient Israel instructions concerning Passover observance. On the tenth day in the first month of the year, each family was told to select a special,  Passover lamb. This lamb was to be perfect, without any blemishes at all. Four days later, as the 14th day of the first month was just beginning at sunset, they were required to kill the lamb, cook it, and eat it as part of a special Passover meal, putting some of the blood of the lamb on their doorway. Those who did this would be protected from the death angel, who would kill all the firstborn in the land, except those in houses with the blood of the lamb on their doorway. Every year after that, the Israelites were commanded to eat a Passover meal on this same night and remember how God had spared them from the death of the firstborn in their home. But this Passover lamb also symbolized something more. All humans are under the threat of death because we all have sinned, and death is the penalty for sinning against God. We may not have the death angel passing over us, but we still are subject to death for our sins. Instead of a Passover lamb, however, we have Jesus Christ. Christ was the perfect sacrifice who was willing to become a human being and then die for our sins, protecting us from death, just as the blood of the lamb on the doorway protected the Israelites. Before Christ died, He taught His disciples that they should think of the Passover as a yearly reminder of His sacrifice for them, and to drink a small cup of wine and eat a small piece of unleavened bread instead of cooking a lamb. These new symbols were taught to the church by the disciples. Since that time, the faithful people of God through history have continued to remember Christ’s sacrifice every year at the Passover, just as the Israelites remembered the Passover every year. They were released from their Egyptian taskmasters, while we are released from the grasp of Satan and sin.

Read Together:  Exodus 12:3–8, 43–47; Leviticus 23:4–5; Romans 3:23; 6:23; Hebrews 10:4; John 1:1–3; Luke 1:35; Matthew 1:23; Philippians 2:5–8; John 10:17–18; 3:16; 1:29.

Discuss:

  • Ask your child why they think the lamb selected for Passover had to be without any blemishes. How does this relate to Jesus Christ?
  • People often question why Christ had to die. Discuss this with your child. Be sure to relate that God will not compromise with sin and that there could be no pardon of sins without shedding blood (Hebrews 9:22). Christ had to die to atone for mankind’s sins, giving you, your child, and every human being who has ever lived a chance for salvation and eternal life in God’s family.
  • Discuss with your child how awful sin is and why God hates it. Choose one of the Ten Commandments and talk about how breaking it causes misery, pain, and suffering. How different would the world be if that commandment were kept? Remind your student that it is because of sin that Christ had to die.
  • Explain to your child that the blood of Christ is represented by the wine, and the bread represents His body that was beaten for us.  

Review Memorization:

1 Corinthians 5:7  “Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.”

Children’s Bible Program – Level 2: Lesson 22 “Passover and the Sacrificial Lamb”

Photo by Daniel Sandvik on Unsplash

Read Together: God gave ancient Israel instructions concerning Passover observance. On the tenth day in the first month of the year, each family was told to select a special, Passover lamb. This lamb was to be perfect, without any blemishes at all. Four days later, as the 14th day of the first month was just beginning at sunset, they were required to kill the lamb, cook it, and eat it as part of a special Passover meal, putting some of the blood of the lamb on their doorway. Those who did this would be protected from the death angel, who would kill all the firstborn in the land, except those in houses with the blood of the lamb on their doorway. Every year after that, the Israelites were commanded to eat a Passover meal on this same night and remember how God had spared them from the death of the firstborn in their home.  

But this Passover lamb also symbolized something more. All humans are under the threat of death because we all have sinned, and death is the penalty for sinning against God. We may not have the death angel passing over us, but we still are subject to death for our sins. Instead of a Passover lamb, however, we have Jesus Christ. Christ was the perfect sacrifice who was willing to become a human being and then die for our sins, protecting us from death, just as the blood of the lamb on the doorway protected the Israelites.

Read Together:  Exodus 12:3–8, 43–47; Leviticus 23:4–5; Romans 3:23; 6:23; Hebrews 10:4; John 1:1–3; Luke 1:35; Matthew 1:23; Philippians 2:5–8; John 10:17–18; 3:16; 1:29.

Discuss:

  • Ask your child why they think the lamb selected for Passover had to be without any blemishes. How does this relate to Jesus Christ?
  • People often question why Christ had to die. Discuss this with your child. Be sure to relate that God will not compromise with sin and that there could be no pardon of sins without shedding blood (Hebrews 9:22). Christ had to die to atone for mankind’s sins, giving you, your child, and every human being who has ever lived a chance for salvation and eternal life in God’s family.
  • Discuss with your child how awful sin is and why God hates it. Choose one of the Ten Commandments and talk about how breaking it causes misery, pain, and suffering. How different would the world be if that commandment was kept? Remind your student that it is because of sin that Christ had to die.

Review Memorization:

1 Corinthians 5:7  “Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.”

Children’s Bible Program – Level 1: Lesson 22 “Moses Encounters Pharaoh and Pharaoh Encounters God”

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Read Together: As the Israelites suffered as slaves in Egypt, Moses spent 40 years tending his father-in-law’s sheep. But God was not finished with Moses. As Moses passed by Mount Horeb, he was amazed to see a bush furiously burning – but not being burned up! This was God’s way of getting Moses’ attention, and it worked. As Moses approached the bush, He heard God speak plainly to him. God told Moses that it was time for him to lead the children of Israel out of bondage. At first, Moses was not happy with God’s command. He gave one excuse after another about why he was not the man for the job. In the end, Moses humbled himself and obeyed God’s instructions, leaving for his old home in Egypt. Moses and his brother Aaron went to Pharaoh and announced to him that he must let the children of Israel go to worship God in the wilderness. What do you think Pharaoh said? He basically said, “No way!”

Here are his exact words. “Who [is] the LORD, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, nor will I let Israel go.” (Exodus 5:2)

But Pharaoh would come to regret his disrespect and disregard of the true God. God sent one plague after another upon Egypt–each one attacking one of their gods. In the first plague, their sacred river was turned to blood. But Pharaoh would not let the people go. In the second plague, frogs appeared everywhere. Still, Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let the people go. Nine times, in plague after plague, Pharaoh started to soften, then hardened his heart toward Israel and the true God. Finally, after the 10th and last plague, Pharaoh let Israel go.

Read Together: Exodus 3-10

Discuss:

  • Help your child to understand that God gave Moses specific instructions on what to do. Moses was not deciding what to do on his own.
  • Ask your child how the Israelites might have felt when they were not delivered after Moses’ first meeting with Pharaoh.Instead of being set free they were made to work harder.
  • Help your child identify each of the plagues as you read about them and discuss what each might have been like for the Egyptians.
  • Explain that God brought these things about to show Egyptians and Israelites that He is God and there is no other.

Review Memorization:

The Ten Plagues: (1) Waters turned to blood, (2) Frogs, (3) Lice, (4) Flies, (5)Animals die, (6) Boils, (7) Hail, (8) Locusts, (9) Darkness (10) Death of the Firstborn

Second Thoughts: The Setup, Not the Game

Author: Thomas White | Student at LivingEd-Charlotte

“Life is tough, and as life gets tough, with bills, and health problems, and problems with children, and neighbors, and bosses, [some] get distracted.” ~ Mr. Kenneth Frank

LivingEd-Charlotte: Student Assembly | March 28, 2019

Mr. Ken Frank packed a lot into his assembly, this week. We heard of how we’ll be leading God’s Church before we know it (no pressure or anything), how crucial it is that we don’t divide our lives into the sacred and the secular, how we might retain a biblical worldview in an era fundamentally opposed to it, and each of those points had something like a half-dozen equally profound sub-points. All of that insight is available in the assembly recording (no cost, no obligation), but one sub-point in particular struck me harder than the others. Mr. Frank alluded to the fact that it can be really tempting to give up sometimes, because living a godly life is hard. It’s hard for everyone, and knowing that suffering is a prerequisite for righteous character can feel like a mean joke. When we know we’ll never be perfect as humans, and that this physical life is never going to get any easier, but is in fact probably only going to get worse as the Great Tribulation creeps closer…yeah, it’s tempting to just go, “You know what, all is vanity,” and stay in bed indefinitely.

“People who start off with a biblical worldview can lose it if they get their eyes off Christ. They’ve got to stay focused on Him.”

As Mr. Frank implied, it’s the temporary nature of this physical life that we need to focus on, and that’s pretty difficult, because this life is all we know. Of course, for those with God’s Spirit, this life is only a womb as we wait to be born into His eternal family. But that metaphor can be a tough sell when you think about how a baby in a womb is warm, comfortable, and completely peaceful, and this life is…not those things. So though it sounds childish, I like to think of this life as the setup process to an incredibly amazing board game. No one likes setting up a board game. You have to find the pieces, you have to shuffle the cards, you have to root around in the box for all the fake money you have to organize… It’s not fun, and it feels like it takes forever. But you need to do it, and you need to do it right, in order to actually play the game. Once you start playing, you’re glad you put in the time and effort to set everything up, because the game is great, and a lot longer than the set up.

“We have to think of the bigger question: Where are we going eternally?”

That’s what I tend to forget, and what Mr. Frank reminded me – that this physical life is the setup, not the game. Suffering might very well feel endless, but the amazing reward for it will literally be endless. Even eternal life can sound like an iffy reward when you’re used to life being something you wouldn’t actually want going on eternally, but what about eternal peace? Eternal joy? Eternally giving others peace and joy? Those are in the reward, too. God promises everlasting happiness and fulfillment at the end of this ever-so-tiny period of setup. If we can keep our focus on what we’re setting up for, nothing will be able to keep us from it.


Thomas White headshot

Thomas White was one of the onsite Living Education students for the 2018-2019 semesters. He also has a Bachelor’s Degree in English. Thomas currently works as an Editorial Assistant for the Living Church of God. According to his wife, he eats pizza in entirely the wrong way.

Children’s Bible Program – Level 1: Lesson 21 “Moses – Up from Egypt”

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Read Together: The descendants of Abraham, now called the children of Israel, were living as slaves in the land of Egypt just as God had foretold. Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, commanded that all infant boys be killed, but Amram and Jochebed wanted to save their newborn son. Jochebed placed her son in a basket of reeds and put him in the river to be protected from the Pharaoh’s order. The Pharaoh’s daughter found the basket among the reeds in the river and was moved to rescue the baby inside. The thought came to her to raise him as her own son! She named him Moses, and brought him into Pharaoh’s palace. The name “Moses” was perfect since it means “to draw or bring out of the water”. He grew up in the palace, as if he were a prince of Egypt, but he knew that he was really an Israelite. Then one day, Moses went out to see how his brethren were doing. When he saw an Egyptian beating a fellow Israelite, he lost his temper and killed the Egyptian. When the Pharaoh found out he was very angry, so Moses decided to run away. He escaped to the land of Midian, and eventually married a woman named Zipporah. Meanwhile, the children of Israel continued to suffer in slavery. Little did they know that God was planning to use Moses, the prince of Egypt, to free them from the Pharaoh.

Read Together: Genesis 15:1314; Exodus 1:817; 2:125

Discuss:

  • Explain to your child in a way they can understand that Pharaoh had absolute power over life and death of everyone under his authority.
  • Help your child to see the bravery that the midwives, and Moses’ mother, father, and sister showed in hiding Moses from Pharaoh.
  • Ask your child what they think it might have been like to grow up in Pharaoh’s palace with servants and riches.
  • Help your child to understand that the Israelites were powerless to free themselves from Egypt. Only God could set them free!

Review Memorization:

The Ten Plagues: (1) Waters turned to blood, (2) Frogs, (3) Lice, (4) Flies, (5) Animals die, (6) Boils, (7) Hail, (8) Locusts, (9) Darkness , (10) Death of the Firstborn