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A Prototype of Anti-Christ

Ed Corley

It is becoming obvious to me, as recorded in I Samuel 17, that when David faced Goliath, he was facing a giant of a man standing in the office of the anti-Christ. David—still a boy, but anointed by God’s Spirit— discerned that Goliath was not merely there as a champion aiming to wipe out Israel as just another tribal nation. He was there as an anti-Christ spirit in defiance of the living God
Until now it is still the aim of these anti-Christ spirits to wipe out those David called the meek in Psalm 37:11. Last month as we spent time in Psalms 9 and 10 we saw the wicked one’s hatred of these.

Daniel called these hated ones the saints of the most Highin Daniel 7:18, 22 and 25. Paul addressed these same ones as saints time and again in Ephesians—twelve times if we number them by what we find in the Greek New Testament. Paul address the saints as those who wrestle with the anti-Christ spirits in Ephesians 6:10-16. The resurrected Lord Jesus made reference to these same ones, always in a singular form, as him that overcometh. This was according to a formula followed in each of the Seven Letters He dictated to John in Revelations 2 and 3.

Total exploration of the depths of the anti-Christ spirit down through history won’t be possible in this brief article. We will, however, take brief note of the history from the beginning to the ending of God’s recorded Word. [A study is soon to come on the history of anti-Christ down through the ages.]

The first clearly defined information of the anti-Christ entity at work in the world is in Genesis 3:1. There we learn of the serpent’s original strategy to cast doubt on what God had said to Adam. Oddly enough, it was in his strategy first to approach Eve, the Mother of all living, in verse 3:20. The serpent approached her because in the first pronouncement of the Gospel (Genesis 3:15), it was clear that the Seed of the woman would crush the head of the seed of the serpent. He presumed that if he corrupted Eve, this would assure the corruption of her Seed.

Revelations 12:9 makes it clear that the serpent was Satan himself, whose primary attack was actually on God’s Word. We see the interaction between the serpent and Eve in Genesis 3:1-4 as he sought to accomplish his devilish plan. He took the woman off-guard, causing her to add to what God had said. His tactic was to imply that God was depriving her and Adam of what was rightfully theirs of the Tree of Life. He said to Eve, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

Her reply was, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. God did not say, neither shall ye touch it or lest ye die..

Eve’s careless disregard for what the Lord had said, though it seems not to have been that serious a matter, revealed a serious weakness in her spiritual character. She cared not enough for the Word of the Lord to recite it accurately. This was a dangerous tendency—as it still is today as more and more attacks come against God’s Word!

Beyond this, she held a reckless attitude of disregard for God as she carelessly altered His clear word, ...thou shalt surely die. By no means was this up for misinterpretation. Eve altered surely as she changed it to ...lest ye die. This would mean, “There is a possibility you could die, but also a possibility you could slip by God’s mandate.”

This was an attack on God’s Word from the serpent himself. After God had said, thou shalt surely die, the serpent said, Ye shall not surely die, an outright denial of God’s Word.

This was just the beginning of anti-Christ’s activity in the earth. It reveals much of the serious fault that came time and again among the people of Israel and continues till this day.

We see the anti-Christ’s activity developed further in David’s day. But first, let us remain aware that the Lord had chosen David and anointed him. Later He would make a Covenant with him that would give an assurance of his Seed receiving a Kingdom that would last forever.

However, the serpent wanted this for himself. Not being stupid as far as human stupidity goes, the serpent hoped to gain advantage over the Lord by stopping that Covenant seed which would come out of Israel.

God had already made an everlasting Covenant with Abraham, the Patriarch of Israel. Thus, the serpent hoped to stop the whole people of Israel. But, God was preparing for this by sending His Spirit upon that man with whom He would enter into the Kingdom Covenant.

An unusual thing took place when the Lord led the Prophet Samuel to choose young David as that man who would be king. In the anointing ceremony, Samuel poured oil on David as a symbol of a spiritual anointing.

Immediately, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him from that day forward (I Samuel 16:13b). It is interesting to note that the Hebrew word tsa-lach, here translated came upon, means “to rush upon” like fire rushing through grass made dry by drought.

This same movement of the Holy Spirit happened on the Day of Pentecost in Jerusalem when, ...suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire...and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit(Ac 2:2-4).

On both occasions, it was a powerful thing that took place as the Holy Spirit moved in, both upon the boy David and upon the small band of believers.

David went back to the sheepcote, even after his powerful anointing. This was a place of refinement for him as he was being prepared for the throne of Israel. The humiliation of that pitiful assignment worked important values into him in preparation for his place in the Kingdom.

A servant in the house of Saul observed certain things about David, recorded in I Samuel 16:18. What we see here demonstrates an operation of the Holy Spirit similar to what was at work about 400 years later in the young man Daniel.

David and Daniel, both anointed while young, were mighty in the revelation given to them pertaining to the time of the end and the spread of God’s Kingdom in the earth.

But there was a significant difference. David was a man with whom God was in Covenant. There was no need for a further Covenant Promise when Daniel came upon the scene. However, the Covenant that began in David was in need of the prophetic revelation given through Daniel. [We’re in process of preparing new material relating to Daniel and his prophetic visions.]

That David was cunning in playing is amazingly significant. The word playing speaks of his musical gift in the use of a stringed instrument. The spiritual understanding that came to him while playing is given to us in the words of the Psalms he composed. They give powerful words of prophecy, instruction and encouragement for us. In addition, many of the words remain as forces of creation. We see this in Psalm 16:10 as it followed the Lord Jesus into the tomb and brought him forth alive. Peter explained this in Acts 2:23-31.

As we look into I Samuel 16:18 we observe what the servant saw in David upon whom the Holy Spirit had come. Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that is •cunning in playing, and •a mighty valiant man, and •a man of war, and •prudent in matters, and •a comely person, and •the LORD is with him.

There are six significant points in this verse that give an unusual description of David. While they all ask for our attention, we can only take regard for a couple of them in this present article. These two are that he was cunning in playing and that he was a man of war.

It took the Holy Spirit stirring me toward this statement, that David was cunning in playing. Here are two very important words describing what the Lord began in his life after Samuel anointed him and the Spirit came upon him. The word cunning is from the Hebrew word yadah. About ten years ago the Lord spoke to me early one morning to study this word in the last six chapters of Daniel. I knew it was a word meaning “to know,” but I didn’t know of its significance in that part of Daniel.

A form of yadah occurs one time in each of the last six chapters of Daniel. Its placement there reveals the main line of revelation in each chapter. What a powerful point it provides for understanding as each chapter presents a phase of Holy Spirit knowledge for the closing of this age. I realized that David’s revelation in his Psalms and Daniel’s prophetic visions complement one another in their messages. We’ll look more closely into these last six chapters of Danielin our next article as we see how they connect with what David revealed in his Psalms.

Let me slip in here a comparison of the knowledge each of the Daniel chapters emphasize as they evolve from the word yadah. •In Daniel7 we gain knowledge of the saints. Twenty Psalms deal with the saints. •Daniel8 gives us knowledge of the anti-Christ activity while seventy-nine Psalms deal with the enemies of God’s Kingdom. •Daniel9 reveals amazing knowledge of overcoming sin. Sixteen Psalms deal with sin. •Daniel10 gives knowledge of the war in the heavens that extends into the earth. Seven Psalms deal with that same war. •Daniel11 deals with our knowledge of God. Six hundred ninety-three times the Lord is mentioned in the Psalms.

I hope you can begin seeing how what God did with these two young men, reaches for us today. As our emphasis yet remains on David, we will eventually return to Daniel in articles to come.

It was while the anointed shepherd was out there with those few sheep in the wilderness (I Samuel 17:28) that he became a man of war. While tending the sheep, David became tough enough for the demanding job that leading Israel would require. With bare hand, he slew both a lion and a bear to rescue a few lambs (I Samuel 17:34-36). This gave him a confidence to stand against Goliath who stood in the office of the anti-Christ.

We find thirteen character points that prepared David to meet Goliath. There’s also a parallel with what Paul presented in Ephesians 6:10-18. David’s protection was the whole armor of God. It enabled him to withstand Goliath in the evil day that had come upon Israel.

(1) He was a humble servant in behalf of his brethren—I Samuel 17:17. Jesse said to his son David, “Get at least half a bushel of grain that has been cooked. Also get ten loaves of bread. Take all of it to your brothers. Hurry to their camp. NIRV®

(2) He had learned to live in submission to his father—17:20. Early in the morning David left his father’s flock in the care of a shepherd. David loaded up the food and started out, just as Jesse had directed. NIRV®

(3) He regarded Goliath as the enemy of God—17:26b. ...He dares the armies of the living God to fight him. Who does he think he is?” NIRV®

(4) He stood firm in the conflict even though he was held in contempt by his brethren—17:28b. Eliab...burned with anger at him. He asked him, “Why have you come down here? Who did you leave those few sheep in the desert with? I know how proud you are. I know how evil your heart is. The only reason you came down here was to watch the battle.” NIRV®

(5) David was meek, yet firm in his conviction.—17:29. “What have I done now?” said David. “Can’t I even speak?”NIRV® [“Is there not a cause?”KJV]

(6) He was prepared in obscurity while being faithful to his father—17:33-36. •Saul replied, “You aren’t able to go out there and fight that Philistine. You are too young. He’s been a fighting man ever since he was a boy.” •But David said to Saul, “I’ve been taking care of my father’s sheep. Sometimes a lion or a bear would come and carry off a sheep from the flock. •Then I would go after it and hit it. I would save the sheep it was carrying in its mouth. If it turned around to attack me, I would grab hold of its hair. I would strike it down and kill it. •In fact, I’ve killed both a lion and a bear. I’ll do the same thing to this Philistine. He isn’t even circumcised. He has dared the armies of the living God to fight him. NIRV®

(7) What he had faced in life caused him to grow in faith—17:37. “The Lord saved me from the paw of the lion. He saved me from the paw of the bear. And He’ll save me from the powerful hand of this Philistine too.” Saul said to David, “Go. And may the Lord be with you.” NIRV®

(8) He could not function in the old order in which there was no anointing—17:38,39. •Then Saul dressed David in his own military clothes. He put a coat of armor on him. He put a bronze helmet on his head. •David put on Saul’s sword over his clothes. He walked around for a while in all of that armor because he wasn’t used to it. “I can’t go out there in all of this armor,” he said to Saul. “I’m not used to it.” So he took it off. NIRV®

(9) He was prepared to meet further adversaries after Goliath—17:40. Then David picked up his wooden staff. He went down to a stream and chose five smooth stones. He put them in the pocket of his shepherd’s bag. Then he took hissling in his hand and approached Goliath. NIRV®

(10) He was reproached by his enemy.—17:42-44 •Goliath looked David over. He saw how young he was. He also saw how tanned and handsome he was. And he hated him. •He said to David, “Why are you coming at me with sticks? Do you think I’m only a dog?” The Philistine called down curses on David in the name of his god. •“Come over here,” he said. “I’ll feed your body to the birds of the air! I’ll feed it to the wild animals!” NIRV®

(11) He knew wherein was his triumph—17:45. David said to Goliath, “You are coming to fight against me with a sword, a spear and a javelin. But I’m coming against you in the Name of the Lord Who rules over all. He is the God of the armies of Israel. He’s the one you have dared to fight against.

(12) He maintained his confidence before the enemy—17:46 “This very day the Lord will hand you over to me. I’ll strike you down. I’ll cut your head off. This very day I’ll feed the bodies of the Philistine army to the birds of the air. I’ll feed them to the wild animals. Then the whole world will know there is a God in Israel.”NIRV®

(13) He was sure in his aim at the enemy—17:49,50. •He reached into his bag. He took out a stone. He put it in his sling. He slung it at Goliath. The stone hit him on the forehead and sank into it. He fell to the ground on his face. •So David won the fight against Goliath with a sling and a stone. He struck the Philistine down and killed him. He did it without even using a sword.NIRV®

David’s conflict with Goliath was a type of our last-days conflict with the anti-Christ spirit. Follow on now with the “prayer starters.” In them we consider some points of correction and preparation for our own lives.

 

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