Going back to the red heifers, is it possible that because the AC has read the Bible and knows exactly what will happen that is he making these events happen as if it were the end times so that he will “come back” as Jesus, become the ultimate false god and lead people astray and deceive them?
That's a great question. I don't know that Satan would try and pursue that particular angle with the red heifers, but he will certainly have his Antichrist minion sign a seven year peace treaty with Israel to guarantee peace and allow Temple sacrifices to take place. He will, of course, break that treaty halfway through it and declare himself to be God.
On a related note, my wife and I had a long talk about something related to this over the weekend. She said, "I just don't get it. I mean, Satan knows that he's going to lose, so why does he keep it up?"
Satan's ultimate aim is to be what he falsely promised Eve for herself - he wants to be "like God." He wants worship that is due only to the Almighty, and his schemes are bent towards that end. When he distracts and frustrates us from worshipping God, or gets us to waste our time and buy into the many diversions he empowers around the world, that's a small step for him towards a victory that's never coming.
His end is eternal torment, and he knows it... and yet, I think he may be deluded in his thinking.
Scripture calls him the "father of lies" [John 8:44]. All dishonesty and deceit found its birth in him. The first lie wasn't the lie he told Eve; rather, it was the lie he told himself, that there was value in rebelling against God. Somehow, some way, he believed it.
That's mind-blowing to me. Here, he who was previously Lucifer, who was created by God with tremendous power, beauty and wisdom, decided to rebel against God. He had the privilege of eons of standing before God and seeing His greatness on display. He knew, more than any human has ever known, of the greatness of God. It was clear to Lucifer that God was "holy, holy, holy" - that He was different, set apart, and altogether something
not created; rather, the Creator.
And still, in that fulness of knowledge, Lucifer rebelled. He turned his back on the knowledge of God and instead pursued a lie, that he could somehow be like God.
And this is just my opinion, but like I said earlier, I
think he may actually believe that. Romans 1 tells us what has happened to all men:
"For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools..." [Romans 1:19-22]
We chose to deny the things that were clear about God. We can see in Creation, that this all didn't just come from nowhere. The unfathomable complexity, scale and clear design inherent in Creation speaks to God's "eternal power and divine nature." The passage makes it clear that even the little bit of God that we can understand from Creation should help us understand that God is eternally powerful and divine. In other words, He's not like us. Because of that, we should have two responses:
1. We should honor such a being as God, recognizing, as best as we know how, that He is eternally powerful and divine.
2. We should be thankful to Him, because it is clear that such a powerful and divine Creator is worthy of thanks.
And yet, people chose to reject that, and because of that choice, "they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened." In fact, while they claimed to be wise, "they became fools."
Jesus makes it clear that we are responsible for choices and actions in proportion to the knowledge that we have been given. In Luke 12, he explains to Peter and the disciples that those who know more of God and choose to reject Him will be punished more severely than those who don't know God. The greater our level of knowledge and awareness, the greater our responsibility for that knowledge.
"Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more" [Luke 12:48b].
That's wild, isn't it? Go back and read the whole passage to understand it better.
So, back to Lucifer, who was in Heaven to see the full glory of God and stand in His presence day after day. He knew better than any man all about God. He could clearly see God's "eternal power and divine nature" in a way that we won't see until we are in Heaven.
And yet, he walked away. What comes next is my opinion, not fact.
Looking at what Jesus said in Luke 12 and what Paul said in Romans 1, I believe that Satan is now under a severe delusion. I think he thinks it's still worthwhile to try and attract worship that is due God, that in some way he can still be "like" God. [End opinion, back to fact]
He can't. He's nothing like God.
He is out there right now, walking the earth (he's not in Hell), pursuing that aim.
Is he orchestrating efforts behind the scenes to put his own man on an earthly throne to attract people away from Jesus?
Absolutely.
The "anti-christ" spirit is exactly what he's all about. In this case, Satan wants to present people with an alternative to Christ that they will worship instead of Jesus. Satan has been preparing antichrist puppets at all times, waiting for the opportune moment to take center stage in the world.
Paul tells us in his second letter to the Christians in Thessalonica that the only reason this hasn't happened yet is because Satan is being restrained. He is actively at work right now, waiting to push his "Antichrist," the man who Paul calls "the man of lawlessness" and "the son of destruction" into the place of power.
When this happens, Satan will attract the worship of millions (billions, maybe, depending on how many people survive on the earth??) via his antichrist proxy, which is exactly what he has always wanted.
"Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness." [2 Thessalonians 2:1-12]