III
Alright, then, if an antichrist takes after his “father,” the devil, what helpful information is there in the Judeo-Christian scriptures about that figure called the devil? Incidentally, I refer you to the Second Letter to the Thessalonians, chapter 2, to underscore that the distinguishing characteristic of an antichrist is that he takes after the devil. “The coming of the lawless one (antichrist) will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing… For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie…” (2 Thessalonians 2: 9-11)
The Hebrew Scriptures don’t say much. Some people imagine that the 28th chapter of Ezekiel and the 14th chapter of Isaiah refer to the devil, but they more likely refer to King Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar seems to have been something of a pre-Christian type of antichrist. He’s the one, who defeated the Jewish people in the 6th century BC, destroyed the walls of the city of Jerusalem and the Temple, and then removed Jews en masse to Babylon (the “Babylonian Captivity”). The moral of those references to him in the books of those two prophets was that Nebuchadnezzar’s wealth and power corrupted that king to such an extent that he imagined that he was Godlike. For our purposes, pride drives antichrists.
The Second Book of Enoch mentions a few things about the devil. But the writings of Enoch aren’t accepted parts of the Hebrew Scriptures. They are apocryphal and not part of the Old Testament, at all.
There are really only two stories in the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament, that provide any fruitful information about the devil. One is from the Book of Genesis. And the second is from the Book of Job.
The first one is highly interpretive. It’s the story from the third chapter of the Book of Genesis. It tells the tale of the so-called “fall” of Mankind. It’s a familiar story, almost too familiar to repeat. But I will, anyway.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. (Genesis 3: 1 – 7)
I said that this story is highly interpretive because it wasn’t until about the beginning of the end of the 2nd century BC that Jews began to regard this story as having anything to do with a devil. Jewish rabbis started to interpret the story about the talking serpent in the Garden of Eden figuratively about 100 BC. That’s when they began to see the serpent as the devil or Satan. Be that as it may, for our purposes let’s assume that the tale of the temptation of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden was partially intended to reveal that the talking serpent was none other than Satan, itself.
Let’s focus on the serpent in Genesis 3: 1-5, not so much on the humans, but on the traits of a snake. The image of a serpent was used for a reason. It was meant as an analogy. It was intended illustratively. So, what characteristics distinguish snakes? They slither. Their movements are subtle and curvaceous. They often try to blend in with their surroundings. They are able to contort their bodies and change shape for different purposes. They have forked tongues. They often are thought of as making hissing sounds. Some snakes are venomous. Others coil around their prey. They can coil themselves around and/or inject toxins into other creatures in order disable adversaries and consume prey.
Let’s apply the analogy. Like a serpent’s appearance and movements, Satan and, by extension, an antichrist uses its traits to subtly and purposefullyapproach its prey. Like a serpent’s curvaceous movements, Satan and an antichrist is able to act deceptively, unpredictably. Like a serpent’s ability to contort, Satan and an antichrist is able to contort itself or change shape and position to attack or defend and ensnare. Like a serpent’s split tongue, Satan and an antichrist can employ double-talk to sow doubt and deceive. Like a serpent’s hissing sound, Satan and an antichrist can insinuate and imply so as to draw others closer and “get into their heads.” Like a serpent, Satan and an antichrist can wrap itself around its prey to ensnare. Like a venomous serpent, Satan and an antichrist can inject poisoninto its prey to take power over it, to disable or even consume it. As the story states, serpents are crafty or cunning. And so, like a serpent, Satan and an antichrist think craftily. Therefore, as a metaphor, the devil or Satan and an antichrist is possessed of the following serpentine traits: purposeful, camouflaged, able to take different postures and use different tactics, unpredictable, manipulatively duplicitous, lying, suggestive, deceptive, ensnaring, poisoning, paralyzing and consuming. Keep those characteristics in mind as we proceed.
Now, in that story about the Garden of Eden, what did the serpent, Satan, do and why? First, Satan sought attention. Antichrists seek attention. Next, Satan initiated dialogue so as to sow doubts. Antichrists take the initiative. Satan distorted the truth. Antichrists distort truth by contradicting accurate information. “Did God really say that you must not eat fruit from any of the trees in the Garden?” Distortion of facts! “You will not certainly die.” Contradiction of truth! It, Satan, deliberately distorted facts so as to sow doubt for its own purposes. Then Satan subtly contradicted God and suggested that, instead of dying when they ate the fruit, as God said, they would actually become like God in wisdom and knowledge. It was an appeal to self-improvement and to the aspiration for personal power, to be like God. Appeal to self-interest! It lured them to take actions that appeared to be good and seemed to be in their best interests, but would be destructive in effect. Destructive in effect! How was eating some fruit destructive in effect? It sowed division. It divided the man and the woman from each other and both of them from God. Satan dividedrelationships to conquer and destroy! Collaterally, it also resulted in self-consciousness, shame, guilt and fear.
Those were Satan’s modes of operation and goals in the story of the Garden of Eden. They provide insight into the ways, means and goals of an antichrist, as well. That includes the use of deception, contradiction of facts, distortion of information framed as serving the good, appealing to self-interest, tempting with promises of power, but resulting in division, character destruction and relational disruption.
CHRIST-APP by philtierneyblog 
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