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Taking a closer look at 1st Kings 2, we see a pattern of The Adversary (haSatan) and anti-Messiah revealed by two men in Scripture who led parallel lives more than 1,000 years apart.
Here is the pattern of key adversaries of God’s plan in Scripture:
- Firstborn son
- Presumed heir
- God told the father, “No,” about that son’s inheritance
- Mother/stepmother petitions the father to reject his son
- God confirms the words of the mother/stepmother
- Father rejects the son
- Son flees
- Son is abandoned by those who loved him
- Son is prepared to die or be killed
- Son is spared from death
- Mother/stepmother helps her son
- Mother/stepmother finds a wife for her son from her family
Which man/men match every single point in the above description: Yitskhak (Isaac), Ishmael, Jacob (Yaakov), Esau, Ephraim, Yosef (Joseph), Adoniyah (Adonijah) or Messiah?
- Joseph: no
- Esau: no
- Messiah: no
- Yaakov: no
- Ephraim: no
- Ishmael: yes
- Adoniyah: yes
Why are Ishmael’s and Adoniyah’s lives so similar?
When Adoniyah visits to Bathsheba in 1st Kings 2, he speaks words of bitterness to her even as he acknowledges that God’s hand was in Solomon being chosen over him as David’s successor to the throne.
Would Ishmael, at age 14, experienced similar bitterness? Put yourself in Ishmael’s shoes and understand how being rejected by one’s mother and father. If you were Ishamel, would you think you have a father anymore? Would you feel like you were anyone’s son? How would you feel about your rights as firstborn son usurped by your younger brother. How would you make yourself feel better about your lot in life?
In the religion of Ishmael’s descendants — Islam — has these three key premises:
- God is not a father.
- God has no son.
- Ishmael is the true and rightful heir of promise.
The Islamic religion is adversary to God’s true religion just as Ishmael was an adversary to Isaac.
We see the pattern that the adversary shows up before the Messiah, just as Adoniyah was before Solomon and Ishmael was before Isaac.
Satan rejected God’s plan early, even though we didn’t see it manifest until after Adam and Eve were in the garden. Satan has dominion over the earth. What would have happened if Adam had not succumbed to Satan? Adam would have been in charge of the earth because God gave it to Adam, not Satan. The only way Satan, who was before Adam, could gain control over the earth was to usurp Adam just as the only way that Adoniyah could gain control over David’s kingdom was to kill Solomon and Ishmael could only gain control if he killed Isaac.
This is what the anti-christ will do, he will try to kill the rightful heirs to try to take their place as the one in charge.
What should the anti-Christ look like? He should look like Adoniyah and Ishmael. The bible isn’t just supposed to show us what Messiah looks like but what Messiah is supposed to do.
Don’t presume that Muslims are anti-Christ. They are just looking for God — just like most people are — but their religion is a lie, and they have been deceived.
The Bible stories are not just biographies. There are characters who God wants us to get to know and understand. If we have no clue what we are looking for, we can be easily fooled.
Antiochus IV (Epiphanies) is the ultimate prototype of the Anti-Christ and we expect the future anti-Christ will act in a similar manner while pretending to be the Messiah.
The Messianic line and the anti-Christ line have been growing side by side since the beginning and time, and the “fruit” of that growth will be harvested in the time period called the Day of the LORD.
We need to have an intimate understanding of the Scriptures. This is the only way we can avoid being deceived from the false Islamic “Jesus” that is going to come. It is only with God’s help and discernment that we will be able to catch the ultimate liar in his own lies. Satan has made counterfeits of every major religion.
If Adam and Eve had not eaten of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Bad, we would only have to study the bad. Because they did, now we have to understand good and evil. Sun Tzu wrote in The Art of War that one must understand his enemy to defeat him, and we’d be wise to take his advice.
Reader: Jeff. Speaker: Richard Agee. Summary: Tammy.