Why is Satan helping to fulfill biblical prophecy? Bible experts answer
A pair of Bible prophecy experts answered why Satan works to fulfill biblical prophecy rather than do things differently to usurp God's plans since he has some knowledge of how things will end for him.
Jeff Kinley and Todd Hampson, hosts of the popular "Prophecy Pros Podcast," were joined by ministry partner Kari Duffy of Harvest House Publishers who shared theological questions submitted by listeners.
One question Duffy shared was: “Satan does not know when the rapture will happen, but once it does happen, he knows his time is short. He knows the Bible. He's heard all that has been taught on the subject. Why does Satan help fulfill prophecy? Why doesn't he do things differently than what is written? Or is he so hardened that he honestly thinks he can change what has been foretold by God Himself?"
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In response to the multipart question, Hampson said Satan seems to be riddled with a lack of humility which has hardened him to think that he can change the outcome.
“His pride is what gets him every single time. He literally thinks he can be God. He still thinks he can be God," added Hampson, an author, illustrator and animation producer who co-wrote a book with Jeff Kinley, titled The Illustrated Guide to Tough Questions About the End Times.
"When he (Satan) had Christ on the cross, he thought he won. He thought it was game-set-match. He didn't see the resurrection coming. So he does know prophecy, but he doesn't know everything."
“He's not omniscient. And he doesn't realize that everything he's doing to usurp God actually plays into the hands of God's overall sovereign plan, which we can't fully understand ourselves.”
Hampson said it is important to recognize that Satan does, in fact, "try to keep prophecy from being fulfilled, specifically in the tribulation period.”
“He tried to keep it from being fulfilled when he had Herod kill all the young babies," Hampson said. "He was trying to keep the Genesis 3:15 seed of the woman from coming on the scene. But once that happened (Jesus' birth), he tried to kill Him on the cross. [Satan] thought he had [Jesus] cornered.”
The devil is “self-deluded and his pride gets the best of him at every turn and he falls right into his own trap by fulfilling prophecy by trying to un-fulfill prophecy,” Hampson added.
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“We find at the end of the tribulation period [Satan] knows from prophecy that what ushers in Christ’s physical return at the end of the tribulation is the Jewish people calling on the name of the Lord, realizing He's the Messiah,” Hampson said.
“That's why at the midpoint of the Tribulation we read that the gloves come off and he tries to kill all the Jewish people. … If there are no Jewish people in his mind, if there are no Jewish people to call on the Messiah, then the Messiah can't come. And then, even when that fails, and Jesus does come, he quickly garners the armies of the world to try to fight God.”
Two other questions presented to Hampson and Kinley during the episode were “why did Jesus pick the Jews to come into the world through?” and “Is Jesus of Mary’s egg or was it an immaculate conception totally of the Holy Spirit?”
Kinley said the answer to the questions can be found in Deuteronomy 7:7, which reads, "The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples."
"Essentially, God just says, ‘I wanted to.’ And this is where we land on the sovereignty of God,” added Kinley, a bestselling author and speaker. “He's God. He could have chosen the Hittites. He could have chosen the Egyptians. He didn't. He chose the Jewish people because it simply pleased Him to do so. So that's really kind of where we landed on that one.”
Kinley added that he believes Jesus was created from Mary’s egg, which means Jesus had the same DNA makeup as Mary. However, Jesus was made from only Mary’s egg and not from the sperm of any man.
“I believe Jesus had physical characteristics. He would have looked like Mary, as far physical characteristics, in His eyes,” Kinley noted. "He would have had her DNA that way."
“But we know that sin is imputed or imparted rather through the man and we know that because of Adam. Adam is the one that was responsible for the human race. Sin came through Adam, not Eve,” he added.
“‘The seed of the woman.’ It's always talked about the seed of the man except for in the case of Christ, where it specifically mentions ‘the seed of the woman.’ So her DNA, but without sin, because the man has to contribute the sin part of it.”
Nicole Alcindor is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: [email protected].
