Satan’s Attempt to Be Like the Most High God, Part 2

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

In our first article in this two-parter, we discussed the biblical concept that Satan made several promises that are recorded for us in Isaiah 14:13-14; five “I will” promises. In Isaiah 14:15, God responds to what the outcome will be. God states, “Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, To the recesses of the pit.”

In the meantime though, prior to God carrying out the sentence that He passed down to Satan, God will allow Satan to use every possible advantage to bring his five “I will” promises to fruition. We know this because of what other parts of the same Bible tell us. We know that toward the end of this age, a man will rise up who will be completely empowered supernaturally with Satan’s authority and ability. As the 11th king, who rises among the original ten kings (cf. Revelation 17), he kills three (uproots them; cf. Daniel 7:28). The remaining seven (of which he becomes the 8th), surrender themselves to him and he (Antichrist) becomes the king over all the earth. If you have not read part 1, I would encourage you to do that now, then come back to this one.

We also spoke of the fact that there have been several well-known “types” of Antichrists throughout history. Space does not allow us to list them all, but it is clear that Satan – who has absolutely no clue as to when the timing will be right for the actual Antichrist – has been ready in every period of history to have a man to whom he would be able to push to the top as ruler. We know Satan tried this with Nimrod (Genesis 11), who was also already a king (cf. Genesis 10) and someone Satan used to bring all people together as one. Satan also prompted Nimrod to build a tower that would reach the heavens to prove to God that there was nothing Satan could not achieve. God chose to put the kibosh on Satan’s plans, proving to him then that he was (and always will be) a finite created being.

Of course, this did not deter Satan because his quest involved bringing his five “I will” promises to completion, so he kept at it. The timing was not right with Nimrod, because Israel had not been created yet and neither had Messiah been born. These things would need to occur before Satan would be given other opportunities to prove that he was able to become like the Most High.

We ended our first article speaking of another “type” of Antichrist; Antiochus Epiphanes IV. He was one of the leaders under one of the four generals connected with Alexander’s Grecian Empire. When Alexander died, his empire passed onto his four top generals. Antiochus rose up in the ranks to eventually become the 8th king of Syria. He also attempted to take Egypt as his own, but was defeated by the Romans. On his way back to Syria, he stopped at Jerusalem and there, he defiled the temple. This was done by doing the following:

• Going inside the temple into the Holy of Holies
• Slaughtering a pig on the altar
• Sprinkling the pig’s blood around inside the Holy of Holies
• Placing a statue of Zeus inside the Holy of Holies
• Some state he also took a mask of his own face and place it over Zeus’ face

All of the above happened in 168 BC. It became known as the “abomination of desolation,” the phrase Jesus uses in His Olivet Discourse (cf. Matthew 25:15). The reason Jesus used this term was because He was not necessarily telling the crowds about that particular historical incident. He was simply reminding them of that incident and pointing the future when another individual – THE Antichrist – would do something very similar.

While some students of the Bible believe what Jesus was referring to happened in AD 70 when Roman armies under Titus destroyed Jerusalem. In fact, it is very likely the priests were the ones who set the temple on fire so that it would not be defiled by Romans (never mind, that it was technically defiled already because of the rejection of Jesus and there was no longer any need for the Old Testament sacrificial system). As far as we know, the Romans never got inside the temple, much less the Holy of Holies while it stood and neither Titus or anyone else did what Antiochus Epiphanes IV did during the Roman siege of AD 70.

The fact remains that nothing at all like the Antiochus event occurred in the temple standing in AD 70. Parts of the Olivet Discourse do point to the judgment of AD 70, but not everything He discusses, with some things clearly pointing beyond the AD 70 event, occurring at the end of this age.

The question we left off with last time was WHY did Antiochus Epiphanes do all of this? Was he just angry for losing to the Romans and vented his anger on the Jews? Certainly, that was part of it, but there is a deeper reason and it has to do with Satan’s promises he made in Isaiah 14.

Surely, it is safe to say that at the very least, Jesus would not have taken the time to remind His listeners (and us, 2,000 years later) of an event that occurred in 168 BC if it was not slated to happen again, by the final “man of sin” as Paul refers to him in 2 Thessalonians 2. Even Matthew’s insertion “let the reader understand” signals to us that this event Jesus points to is not simply there to remind us of history, but to look to a future event like it, one that would also defile the Jewish temple.

The problem of course is that, while some choose to believe that Paul’s reference to the “man of sin” is a metaphor that refers to the Christian and the fact that our body is now the temple of the Holy Spirit, this stretches the credulity of the text itself. They believe that the “man of sin” is an appellation for the spiritual man created by the Holy Spirit. They do not see Paul’s words as being literal, but merely figurative.  Unfortunately, there is nothing in the text that supports this. Paul seems to be clearly pointing ahead to a time still in front of us when a man will walk onto the scene and will surrender himself to Satan. Satan will then give him his authority and enabling (supernaturally). This man will be known as the Antichrist, or “man of sin.” Paul’s use of the singular here is very important. He is speaking of ONE specific individual.

The apostle John bears this out in the book of Revelation where we see one individual – the Antichrist (First Seal; Revelation 6) – who rides onto the scene and brings peace (white horse; bow but no arrows) politically. He will be able to confirm a peace covenant with Israel (Daniel 9:27) that no one has ever been able to do before. The Bible is a UNIT. Though written by 40 human authors over a period of 1600 to 2000 years, the ultimate author is God Himself. The consistency is uncanny and in order to appreciate His Word, we MUST allow Scripture to interpret itself.

In this case, if we understand rightly what Paul (and Jesus) are alluding to, it is clear that a physical temple in Jerusalem is yet to be built. This must be the case because Satan is going to use it (through the Antichrist) to gain the entire world’s attention by doing what he prompted Antiochus Epiphanes IV to do in 168 BC. Through Antichrist, Satan will waltz into the Holy of Holies and do exactly what Paul says he will do (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4):

“…the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.“

Just a few verses later, Paul becomes even more explicit about this “man of sin/lawlessness” (vv. 8-10):

“Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.”

Paul looks beyond verses 3 and 4 to tell us that even though Antichrist will be fully empowered by Satan himself, he will ultimately be destroyed by Jesus during His physical return to planet earth.

This means then that at some point, another Jewish temple will need to be rebuilt. Of course, the problem is that there are two known mosques on the Temple Mount and one being built underneath. I have no idea how a Jewish temple will be built, but clearly, the Dome of the Rock mosque needs to go. Could the gigantic earthquake mentioned in Ezekiel 38 – 39 (Northern Invasion) have anything to do with that? This invasion has not yet occurred in history, therefore, like numerous other prophecies that still need to occur, this one could change the landscape completely in the Middle East.

Antiochus Epiphanes IV defiled the Jewish temple with his presence. There was a reason Satan prompted him to do that. It is because God spoke to humanity through the nation of Israel. He spoke to Israel through the Shekinah glory (cloud by day and fire by night). There were times God meted out punishment from the Mercy Seat. The Holy of Holies was THE place where God revealed Himself on a continual basis to Israel.

Satan’s desire has always been to destroy the Jews and the nation of Israel because it is through them that salvation is made available to the world (in Jesus). When Antiochus went into the Holy of Holies, he was essentially declaring himself to be God to the Jews. This resulted in the Maccabean Revolt, led by Judas the Hammer. The Jews INSTANTLY understood what Antiochus was trying to say.

Jesus referred back to this event and pointed to the future when something very much like it would occur again. We can know that in the future, as we draw closer to the time of Jesus’ return, another man – fully indwelt by Satan and granted his authority and power – will at one point, do the same thing. This is exactly WHY Antichrist’s first order of business is to confirm a covenant with Israel for one “week” (“seven” = 7 years; Daniel 9:27). It will allow Israel to rebuild their temple and in the middle of that “week,” Antichrist “takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.”

There is a future event where a human being will sit on the Mercy Seat of the rebuilt Jewish Temple and declare to the Jewish nation that he is God. This event will begin to open their eyes to the truth and many will flee into the area of what used to be Edom, where God will keep them safe for the remainder of the Tribulation.

But most importantly, Satan attempted to fulfill his promises to be like the Most High through Antiochus Epiphanes IV and will attempt to do so again with the final man of sin. All of this has been Satan’s efforts to make himself equal with God. God has been allowing it to happen to prove to Satan that even with every opportunity, he is STILL merely a created being and a created being does not equal the infinite God.

When Satan is sent to the Lake of Fire for all eternity, he will know that he was given EVERY opportunity to bring his promises of Isaiah 14 to fruition. He will FAIL miserably and will deal with that failure for all eternity.

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective