Does the Antichrist feature in the garden of Eden?

Question: Does the Antichrist feature in the garden of Eden?

Answer: John says, “every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world” (1 John 4:3). So it the spirit of antichrist was already in the world in John’s day, so how early did this devious spirit arrive on earth? 

Well, the serpent was told in the garden that the seed of the woman “shall bruise thy head” (Gen 3:18). So since that time it was in the devil’s will to oppose Christ. 

Lessons for us about the Antichrist begin in Genesis: The devil does not force us to do his will but coerces us that we may freely submit ourselves to him and choose his devious way. We see this with the woman in the garden, the serpent simply spoke to her and she freely gave up what God had given in favour of what the devil suggested. 

The Scriptures allow us to gain insight into the cunning of our enemy. Right from the outset we are warned, “Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field that the LORD God had made” (Gen 3:1). What happened in the garden of Eden was a microcosm of what happens the wider world. 

Adam and his female companion ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Men and women eat from it still. “For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God” (Gen 3:5). Human beings are reaching higher and higher up the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The higher we climb the harder we fall. “’Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,’ declares the LORD” (Obad 1:4). 

Daniel’s prophetic book gives us insight into the working of the enemy of our souls. “a fierce-looking king, a master of intrigue, will arise” (Dan 8:23). Notice the phrase “master of intrigue”. There’s nothing straight and true about this man. “He will cause deceit to prosper, and he will consider himself superior” (Dan 8:25). Again, we notice that “deceit” flourishes in this man’s hand, we notice too, that he is “full of his own pride” and superiority. Unlike Jesus who was “the truth” and “lowly of heart”.

“With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him” (Dan 11:32).

Flattery is in his arsenal of devious weaponry. So we watch for those who ingratiate themselves that they may use us for their own advantage. We see the same “intrigue” and “craft” in the book of Revelation: “And he causeth all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the bond, that there be given them a mark on their right hand, or upon their forehead” (Rev 13:16). 

The beast that rises from the earth mentioned in Revelation 13 “causeth” or as we would say now “causes” people to be given a mark. In Greek the word for “causes” is poieo meaning to manufacture or construct. So the beast will arrange for people to have a mark while appearing to be offering the mark as a gift or a wonderful thing to receive, so much so that most people will want to receive it.

Wordsworth, the Bible scholar and bishop known for his edition of the Greek New Testament, says about the beast causing people to have the mark, “a remarkable sentence, intimating compulsion under the semblance of choice." He also goes on to say that the mark itself “denotes such a kind of engraving as indicates that the person on whom the engraving is made, is the property of, and is subject to, the person whose mark, cypher, or stamp, is engraved upon him who bears it.” 

So in other words those who have the mark give themselves to the one who the mark represents. There is a choice about the mark. You do not have to receive it “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand” (Rev 14:9). So we see there is an “if” involved. 

The pressure to receive it will be extremely strong and refusal to receive it will be met with severe repercussions. So let’s remember the words of Daniel, “but the people who know their God will firmly resist him”. We pray that the Lord will bestow upon us all the discernment to see the works of the enemy. "Away from Me, Satan!" Jesus declared. "For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.'" (2 Cor 2:11). 

So we who follow Christ are mindful to watch out for the devil’s craft. Paul the apostle spotted the devil’s craft in the Jewish sorcerer and false prophet, Elymas: “Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked directly at Elymas and said, ‘O child of the devil and enemy of all righteousness, you are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery! Will you never stop perverting the straight ways of the Lord?’” (Acts 13:9–10).

Those who serve the Lord are honest in their dealings and truthful, there’s no double-dealing or insincerity. But that does not mean we are not alert to our enemy the devil, who will use subtlety to achieve his ends: “they took counsel together that they might take Jesus by subtlety” (Matt 26:4). So an important part of our “call” as Christians is to be alert and watchful. 

Let’s not get drawn in by the devil’s devices. “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Pet 5:8).

If, by some weakness, or error of good judgment, we have fallen foul of the enemy’s tactics let’s remember that David cried, “Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength” (Ps 31:4). And when we cry to the Lord, we know that we have help, “Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare” (Ps 91:3). 

A fowler was someone who hunted wildfowl. The means the fowler used subtle means, hidden nets, and traps that would spring into position to capture their prey. We may feel that a hidden net has sprung around us, but there is no snare able to hold those who cry to God for help. For his strength far outweighs the netting in which we may be caught. “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all” (Ps 34:19). 

“Be our troubles many in number, strange in nature, heavy in measure; yet God's mercies are more numerous, his wisdom more wondrous, his power more miraculous; he will deliver us out of all.” So said Thomas Adams. 

Satan’s hidden nets are cunning, for craft and subtlety are his trade, but still he cannot gain control of those who call to the Lord. “He catches the wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are swept away” (Job 5:13).

If we are humble and true, walking in the light, then no schemes of the devil can harm us. “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you” (Luke 10:19).