As I stated in my last post, Satan is the master of deception.  Even though we have seen him practice producing false Antichrists, with men such as Antiochus, Nero, Napoleon, Hitler, and Stalin, most do not think he would do it again in the last days!  Such an attitude is extremely dangerous, and delusional!

The last days is the time when Satan is more desperate than he has ever been.  He knows his time is extremely short, and this is precisely why now is the time when his deception will be the “best” he has ever produced. Satan’s greatest love is himself!  In fact it’s his only love.  He wants to prove that God is a liar, for if he could do so, even once, then God would be forced to admit that He is not a lot better than Satan, and could not justly send Satan or any one else to the Lake of Fire.  If he has to go there, it appears that he would like as much company as is possible.  Perhaps to hurt God, or to deflect God’s anger away from himself, and towards others.  He is delusional, but he is very, very intelligent!

So many Christians discount the intelligence of our adversary.  We are told that “Satan only has one trick”, and this is indeed true, but I can tell you that there are endless variations of this one trick! Constant vigilance is required to keep us from getting sucked in!  Do you think you are immune to deception?  Think again!

“Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” 1 Cor. 10:12

This morning I was listening to Brannon Howse, my favorite radio host, of Worldview Weekend doing an exposé of Joel’s Army and the New Apostolic Reformation, and I must say that most of what Brannon says is true and well researched.  There was one statement that blew me away, however.  I can’t remember at what minute he said it, but the gist of it was “Joel’s army of Joel chapter 2, according to most respected bible scholars, is either a demonic army or actually a reference to Arab armies in a future war with Israel“.

The first one is correct, to the best of my knowledge, and by the literal hermeneutic.  This army of Joel chapter 2 has a lot of parallels with Revelation chapter 9, and is likely the same event.  These beings are demonic, or fallen angels, and have been locked up since some time in the ancient past.  They will be released during the Tribulation, as a judgment against those who have taken the mark of the Beast.

The second explanation is actually the one that is dangerous.  To interpret an Arab invasion of Israel as being this army, will leave people with the impression, after the Arab invasion occurs, that there is nothing more to worry about!

The Arab invasion of Israel, depicted in Psalm 83, by Asaph, is one that is imminent as we speak.  The armies are organizing, and the Arab states, who have had moderate leadership over the last few decades, are busy replacing that leadership with radicals.  I expect this war to occur probably within the next few months, to perhaps a few years.  I also expect that this war will be so bad that nuclear devices will be used!

When Asaph’s war occurs, some Christian leaders will be saying we have entered into the Tribulation period!  I expect that the same scholars, who told Brannon that these Arab armies are the armies of Joel 2, will be saying that Revelation 9 has been fulfilled, and so we should be looking for the rest of Revelation to occur shortly thereafter!

I expect Satan will be happy to oblige them!  This is the major point of The Spirit of Prophecy.  In order to get people to let their guard down, he has to make them believe the worst is over!  And so, he will give them something they think is the worst, a Pseudo-Armageddon!

Satan will produce someone Christians can really believe is the Antichrist.  He will have all the characteristics that our prophecy scholars have identified as being characteristic of this man.  If you read your bible carefully, however, you will see that he is just another counterfeit.

This same counterfeit will be used to convince Israel that it is safe to come back home!  When this Pseudo-Antichrist is defeated during the Gog and Magog war, it will be “Christians” who convince Israel that the Time of Jacob’s Trouble is over, and now it is safe for them to return home to Canaan!  And come they will!  There are millions more Israelites than most suspect.  Many of them are living as Muslims today, and are practically indistinguishable from other Arabs.  When they see that their god can’t help them they will return to the God of their fathers, and to the land they were expelled from some 2700 years ago.  They will be saying “at last, peace and safety!” and that is the time when sudden destruction will come upon them, and they will not escape!

And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly: Isaiah 5:26

Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light. Amos 5:18