Satan and the Antichrist
Genesis 3:15
"And I will put enmity between thee and the woman,
and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head,
and thou shalt bruise his heel."
Satan
Genesis 3:1 tells us that the serpent "was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made". From this we can see that the serpent was an animal created by God at the time of creation. When you consider what John tells us about the serpent in Rev. 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years; we understand that the serpent is Satan. Or, more appropriately, a beast of the field that was used by Satan. Because the serpent had a part in the fall of man, and the power of death being given to Satan, Hebrews 2:14, he would be cursed to crawl on his belly. The punishment for disobeying God is death, and Satan now holds this power over man. Man now has the knowledge of good and evil, to do evil is to sin against God, Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death", all are under the penalty of death, Romans 5:12 "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned". But for those that have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus they can say with Paul, 1 Corinthians 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? God, speaking to the serpent in Genesis 3:15 says, I will make your seed and the seed of woman enemies, and he will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel. If God was speaking to the beast of the field, this would be a forgotten verse, but, if God was speaking to Satan who was working through the serpent, then this becomes very important. And that is how most Christians understand this verse.
Satan - adversary, arch-enemy of good. Job 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them. In the book of Job we learn that Satan moves about freely on earth and also is allowed by God to come into his presence. He was in the world when Jesus walked the earth, Matthew 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And and after Jesus had ascended into heaven, 1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. And he is still "going to and fro in the earth". James the Just, tells Christians, James 4:7b Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Jesus said in Luke 10:18 I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. On the eve of his death, burial, and resurrection, Jesus says in John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. Revelation chapter 12 is a parenthetical insertion into the prophesy of John to bring together (Daniel 9:25) Daniels sixty ninth week, that ended with the crucifixion of Christ (Daniel 9:26a), with the seventieth week (Daniel 9:26b-27), which is the beginning of the great tribulation. It is inserted here to introduce God's provision for the remnant of the nation of Israel during the tribulation. The man child is Christ, and the woman is the nation of Israel. Micah 5:2 tells us that the Christ will be born in Bethlehem. Micah 5:3 foreshadows Revelation chapter 12. At the ascension of Christ, Satan is cast out of heaven and the church age begins. The end of the church age will signal the beginning of Daniels seventieth week. Revelation 12:10 is a proclamation of victory by Christ over Satan. The end of the seventieth week will see victory by Christ over the armies of Satan, and Satan will be bound and cast into the bottomless pit for a thousand years, Revelation 20:1-3.
Antichrist
In Genesis 3:15 we see the first reference to Satan's progeny, Cain being the first of many, 1 John 3:8-12. Jesus speaking to the Jews in the temple tells them in John 8:44a Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. Satan has many spiritual children, but we want to concentrate on one, the one that is called the Antichrist. The Apostle Paul in, 2 Thessalonians 2:3, calls him the son of perdition. And John calls him the antichrist, 1 John 2:18. In Revelation 13, he is called a beast and identified as a man. He is called prince in Daniel 9:26. He is identified as the Assyrian in Micah 5:5-6. Daniel 11:37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all. He'll be a descendant of Jacob (Israel), and a homosexual.
Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, who was born about one hundred years after Jesus was crucified (130-202 A.D.) believed that the Antichrist would come from the nation of Israel, and he named the tribe. In his book Against Heresies (180 A.D.) book 5 chapter 30: And Jeremiah does not merely point out his sudden coming, but he even indicates the tribe from which he shall come, where he says, “We shall hear the voice of his swift horses from Dan; the whole earth shall be moved by the voice of the neighing of his galloping horses: he shall also come and devour the earth, and the fulness thereof, the city also, and they that dwell therein.”4704 This, too, is the reason that this tribe is not reckoned in the Apocalypse along with those which are saved. In this passage he quotes Jeremiah 8:16, and refers to Revelation 7, were the tribe of Dan isn't listed among the 144,000. When you reflect on Jacobs words in Genesis 49:1 And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days. What does he mean by last days? Is he talking about the end of time? And in verses 16-18: 16 Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. 17 Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward. 18 I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord. Is he referring to the salvation promised in Genesis 3:15?
When you consider the idolatry of Dan in Judges chapter 18, and that they were carried away into captivity to Assyria with the other northern tribes, never to return, you can begin to see how a descendant of the tribe of Dan could fulfill the prophecies of the Antichrist.
Today, given the political and religious bent of the nations that were ancient Assyria, you would have to conclude that any powerful leader that would come from that area would be a Muslim, a caliphate, who will unite the Muslim world.
The Dragon and the Beast
Christ will defeat the Beast, who is the Antichrist, Revelation 19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And then an angel will bind Satan and cast him into a bottomless pit for a thousand years. Revelation 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and then he will be loosed and he will deceive the nations and they will go up against the saints. But God will destroy them. Revelation 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. Revelation 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Is your name written in the Lamb's book of life?
Revelation 22:20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
The Dragon and the Beast
Christ will defeat the Beast, who is the Antichrist, Revelation 19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And then an angel will bind Satan and cast him into a bottomless pit for a thousand years. Revelation 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and then he will be loosed and he will deceive the nations and they will go up against the saints. But God will destroy them. Revelation 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. Revelation 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Is your name written in the Lamb's book of life?
Revelation 22:20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
