WHO IS THE ANTICHRIST?

WHO IS THE ANTICHRIST?

Last week we pondered the fact that Absalom had similar qualities to the antichrist. Today I want to explore more of those thoughts. Perhaps it will help us not to be deceived in the present times.

KING DAVID’S WARNING

King David received a message. Someone was reporting  “the hearts of the men of Israel are  with Absalom.”

That statement sounded bad enough before we studied last week’s lesson. Now we can’t help but know how these stories have messages for those of us living through end times.  To us  hearing it today, this same message might translate, “the hearts of the men of the earth are with the Antichrist.” Here we get a taste of that sinking feeling that must have occurred within David’s soul on that day.

WARNING FOR TODAY

As we are approaching The Feast of Trumpets, are we listening?  The sounds of the shofar are speaking God’s messages to His people. Are we comprehending? Do we realize Yeshua Messiah could return at any moment? Are we ready? Do we hear the true sounds of the shofar? Could we actually be listening to the words of the world and its false prophets?

LISTENING AND HEARING

So many shadows and types of end times are speaking through King David’s life story. Of course, we saw such types and shadows when we studied the stories of Abraham, Joseph, Sampson and Debra too. I could name many other biblical characters. It is important to realize these biblical stories are carrying some significant messages. All of them are very timely for today’s people. 

There are many dual messages hiding with in the scriptures. 

It has been said every generation has its antichrists to contend with. The question that matters is this: is this the one of the end times?  Are the voices from the antichrists of our days the final ones? It surely feels as if this is true. All the more reason we should not be deceived.

DO NOT BE DECEIVED

It is easier to see those dual messages now that we realize how many similarities are between David and Yeshua Messiah, Absalom and The Antichrist, and Ahithophel and The False Prophet. As we continue in 2 Sameul, we will see more dual roles.  

Unfortunately, our eyes are opened even wider to the realities of our own world. We can see how the hearts of men today are more in tuned to God’s enemies than knowing and following God.  Look around you and be aware.  How many deceptions can you count?

2 Timothy 4:3 addresses such times with these words, “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”

THE PATTERN FOUND IN ABSALOM

That is exactly what Absalom was doing. Instead of being truthful and supporting the anointed King, Absalom was busy telling the people exactly what they wanted to hear.  Now they all gathered around him hoping he would be their king instead of David.  The deceit was great within the land of Jerusalem during those times. It is also great today.

Jesus warned us of this. His words in Matthew 24:4-5 clearly state that we should take care not to be deceived. The exact message was:  “Take heed that no man deceive you.  For many will come in my name, claiming ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.”

It is increasingly obvious we are living in similar times to the reign of King David. As in those times, great political and religious turmoil is everywhere. We are surrounded by deceptions, right and left.

WE ARE NOT FORGOTTEN

However, all of the truth is very available. Truth is completely at our disposal. We have the written Word of God. Our King, Yeshua Messiah, is still true and able. He hasn’t forgotten us.  His heart has not changed toward us. The Father’s plan for mankind is still unfolding. Yeshua Messiah is still the True King of all Kings. He has given his heart and life for the people. 

A REBELLION IS PROGRESSING

Yet, there seems to be a rebellion going on, even from the highest levels of the land. It happens and is able to progress because the people are deceived. 

This is much like the rebellion of those who desired Absalom’s false stories over David’s truth.

CONTINUING THE STORY

So, our story of the life of King David continues in 2 Samuel 15.

It actually gave me chills to read that passage where David hears the message that “the hearts of the people are with Absalom.”  My heart sadly recalls the tragic facts which were surrounding David. Men were turning to a false king, a man who was simply jealous of the real king.  He was calling himself what he was not, like an antichrist.  The people were deceived.  Most of the hearts of the people were with this false imposter named Absalom.  The worst part of all – Absalom was David’s own son. 

I’m reminded that there was a point in time when Satan was the one who sat as the guardian cherub. He was perfect in all of his ways.  Like the physical descriptions we read of Absalom, he was handsome and pleasant to look upon.  He was created to be an angelic being, not an evil ruler of darkness. Everything was fine until rebellion was found within his heart. He rebelled against God’s plan, like Absalom rebelling against God’s anointed.

WHERE WAS THE KING?

And where was the real King?

What was going on with him during all of this? 

As was his custom, King David was consulting God in prayer. In all circumstances you could find David pouring out his heart to God.  He definitely needed answers. David needed to be able to do what Yeshua Messiah has requested from all of us who follow him during end times. He needed to overcome. 

WILL THE KING OVERCOME?

This type of the antichrist rebelled against God’s anointed King. All appeared as if this false king now held power over him.  David had to consult God and ask what to do about this situation. How could he walk in a way that would be pleasing to God so that God would step into this situation and bring a positive outcome for the nation of Israel?

Ultimately, the answer came many years after this rebellion of Absalom. It came through generations of David’s ancestors in the form of Yeshua Messiah. The power to break the rebellious nature of Satan came from the life blood of Yeshua Messiah. This is what it took to stop those who were deceived into following after the enemy of God. 

We can read about this fact in Hebrews.  “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil.” – Hebrews 2:14.

TWO SHEPHERD KINGS

Yeshua Messiah came to earth through the same little town where David grew up. Bethlehem brought forth the One who had the power to overcome any rebellious nature that would come against YHVH. 

Again, we see the shadow and type of David and Yeshua Messiah.  David only had to overcome a rebellious son and nation.  Jesus overcame the power of sin, death and the grave. Jerusalem was the beloved city where they both faced the hardest trials they would ever know.

THE BELOVED CITY

All King David could think about was the fact that Jerusalem was now established as the center of the worship of The One True God. He had given his life to make Jerusalem a place of worship and prayer for all nations. David brought in the Ark of the Covenant and honored it as God’s throne on the earth.  Everything happened in Jerusalem. This form of worship had broken down the walls between Jew and Gentile and opened up the hearts of many.  

Therefore, David’s first concern rested on protecting Jerusalem. This was so huge to him that he would rather leave the beloved city than see this beautiful land be torn apart by a rebellious mob of deceived men.

TWO BROKEN HEARTED KINGS

Can you imagine how heavy the heart of David must have felt? This dreaded message must have broken his heart.  David realized that civil war might break out at any moment. He did not want that to happen.  He had spent a lifetime bringing a divided nation together. A civil war would tear it apart again. David knew this wasn’t the will of God. 

I wonder if anyone in the world today will ever realize this same message. Jerusalem must never be divided. It would break God’s heart. God has put His name over the city, and it belongs to Him. We cannot slice it and dice it and give it away to people who do not even know God to use for their own human desires. Jerusalem should stand undivided forever. David knew this in his heart.  He acted in a selfless way which kept ruin from coming to the city he loved.

JERUSALEM, JERUSALEM

As I pondered David’s crisis, and considered how tenderly he wanted to protect the city full of people who had turned against him, I couldn’t help but think of another who also spent much concern and heartache over the City of Jerusalem.  He was actually a descendant of David.

Many years after David’s reign,Yeshua stood on the mountain overlooking the city and spoke these words:  “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.”  (Matthew 23:37.) 

AN UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

Here is yet another parallel between King David and Jesus. They both loved and wanted to protect Jerusalem. This happened even when the people were not loyal and true. Yeshua Messiah shared the same unconditional love for this City called Jerusalem as David. Though foolish sons rebelled and unthinking people deserted, this was a love that never changed with circumstances. 

Both men were born on the outskirts of the city in nearby Bethlehem. David was a shepherd in the surrounding hillsides.  Jesus is described as the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for His flock, fulfilling and perfecting the shepherd imagery David foreshadowed (John 10:11.)

LIVES IN THE BELOVED CITY

In the midst of this sacred land, David was anointed by Samuel.  After his baptism, Jesus was anointed by God in the life-giving waters of the river which flowed through the land that both men loved. In this land, David battled Israel’s enemy named Goliath.  Yeshua Messiah battled Satan, sin and death. Both conquered their enemies in order to protect their beloved Israel and Jerusalem.

In the great city of Jerusalem Jesus is rejected and mocked by his peers.  Also, in our present story, David is mocked and rejected first by Saul, then by his own son Absalom.

David’s earthly reign foreshadowed Jesus’ spiritual reign, linking the Old Testament covenant to its New Testament fulfillment.  These two were connected through the place of their birth, their abilities as shepherds, their anointings, victories, trials and eventually their establishment of a Kingdom from God which would last forever.  All of this came together in Jerusalem.

THE PRAYERS OF KINGS

This thought was in the back of his mind as David prayed about what to do next.  King David’s prayers are recorded in Psalm 63.  While there is no record of Jesus praying this specific psalm, the spiritual essence of Psalm 63 is certainly in harmony with His life and mission.

Here are the words of that prayer:

PSALM 63

You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.

 I will be fully satisfied with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your right hand upholds me.

Those who want to kill me will be destroyed; they will go down to the depths of the earth. They will be given over to the sword and become food for jackals. But the king will rejoice in God; all who swear by God will glory in him, while the mouths of liars will be silenced.

DAVID TRUSTED GOD

This Psalm earnestly portrays the condition of David’s heart when the time approached for him to flee from Absalom.  It recalls his strong faith in God. King David’s faith never wavered.  He kept his eyes on God.  If he sinned, he repented.  Should he stray from righteousness, he trusted God to set him back upon the right paths and to redeem him.

Again, this prayer of David as he had to flee back into the wilderness again, reflects Jesus as He spent time in the wilderness with God. Both David and Yeshua were seeking guidance and direction from God as to the rest of the course of their lives. Their lessons from Heaven came while they were out in the wilderness.

This was probably the most trying time David ever had to live through.  As he left the palace, he probably recalled those days when he had fled from Saul.  At this point in his life, that might have seemed so long ago.  Now, though he had become a King, he was still having to flee. Only now it was worse than before. This time he fled from his own son. His own son had become more of an enemy than Saul had been. David’s heart must have been breaking into a million pieces, but he kept his faith. He trusted God. 

Jesus also experienced this horrid betrayal from his own people.  He could have fled, but He yielded. He let them crucify Him on a cross. All of his true disciples, those who had not been deceived, got to experience the joy of His resurrection.

PROTECTING JERUSALEM AND AN UNDIVIDED ISRAEL

David would not stay and watch the place he loved be torn apart from civil war. The weary King made plans to leave.  If destruction came, it would have to happen in another place. In his prayer David mentions clinging to God, stating that God’s right hand would uphold him. It wasn’t the first time David had prayed such prayers. His heart was prepared. He knew what to do. God had always protected David. Why would He fail to do so now?

The faithful King was leaning heavily into God’s mercy and forgiveness, trusting Him for the outcome of this situation which even an earthly king could not control. This King of Jerusalem looked up to The King of The Universe and said, “I am clay in your hands. Do with me as you will. I trust you. You are my God.”      

VERSE

I think of you through the watches of the night.  Because you are my help I sing in the shadows of your wings.  Psalm 63:6-8.

PRAYER

Lord, many of us are just like David, running away from the problems the world has cast upon us.  We would rather leave what tends to feel more familiar than to see Your Kingdom torn apart and divided. Help us to trust in You for our provision in these times. Show us truth and keep us convicted to live within it. Give us courage and wisdom when we need to be strong enough to bear an unfair cross. Let us help you to gather and not scatter Your people.

During times of great loss and human tragedy, may we ever look to Yeshua as our prime example of how to love. Hold us in your arms and steady our emotions just as you did for David.  Help us to love our fellow men, even as David loved Absalom with unconditional love. Keep our hearts unhindered by conditions. Teach us how to love others despite human flaws. Please heal the brokenness we receive from our own brothers.  Amen.

SONG

When I Have Nothing Left |The Voice of Zion

Hebrew-English Worship Song for a Weary Soul https://youtu.be/7KxSveknzwg?si=MMIrbhgEpLwLQFbX