“Sh’mu’el got up early in the morning to meet Sha’ul; however, Sh’mu’el was told, ‘Sha’ul came to Karmel to set up a monument for himself there, but now he has left and is on his way down to Gilgal.'”-1 Samuel 15:12
Let me remind you that Saul’s life sets the pattern for the future anti-King or anti-Christ to come.
In other words, if you wanna know what attributes the anti-Christ will have, all you gotta do is take a look at Saul’s behavior.
Today, I’ll show you a couple of demonic traits to be on the lookout for.
Let’s dive in!
So we’re told that after a distressing and sleepless night, Samuel set off on his journey to meet Saul and break the news to him that God had rejected him as king.
We’re not sure where Samuel planned to meet Saul.
But before he left, someone said it wasn’t worth it because Saul was busy erecting a monument to himself at Karmel.
After that, Saul was going to Gilgal
No doubt, King Saul was building a monument to celebrate his victory over Amalek.
This was a common practice in those days.
There was just one problem.
Long ago, God had already ordered Israel to not build standing stones.
On top of that, it seems like everyone knew that Saul was taking all the credit for winning against the Amalekites instead of giving credit to God.
In most battles, the kings took credit, but in a Holy War, it was God who led and determined the outcome.
So, for Saul to claim credit for a Holy War victory was bordering on blasphemous.
I can only imagine how much angrier Samuel must have felt when he heard about Saul building that monument.
Now, we’ve just witnessed two anti-King behaviors demonstrated by Saul here.
Can you guess what they were?
The first one was Saul’s flippant attitude towards God’s instructions.
As I said, God had instructed Israel a long time ago to NOT erect standing stones.
Yet, here was Saul blatantly disobeying those instructions.
Second, another attribute of the anti-King is that he will take credit for himself that only belongs to God.
Here we see Saul taking credit for Israel’s victory over the Amalekites.
Again, for a human to take credit for victory in Holy War is high rebellion and near blasphemous.
So here’s your takeaway for today.
To prepare ourselves for the days ahead, we must be able to recognize the anti-Christ when he emerges on the world stage.
And to be able to do that, we need to familiarize ourselves with those attributes the Bible says he will embody.
Otherwise, we’ll be fooled right alongside everyone else.
That’s why we’ve gotta study Scripture to show ourselves approved.
We’ll look at more of these anti-King attributes the next time we meet.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“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.”
-2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
P.S. Just a quick heads up, the Karmel mentioned is NOT the one up north that we usually think of, you know, Mount Carmel? The one in this passage is called Tel el-Kirmil. It’s located down south about 7 miles from Hebron. Different places, even though they sound alike!
I enjoyed reading your insightful article, “How The Traits Of The Future Antichrist Are Unveiled in Saul’s Behavior,” and I must commend you on your thought-provoking analysis. Your ability to draw parallels between Saul’s behavior and the anticipated characteristics of the Antichrist is truly enlightening.
I’m curious about one aspect. In several scriptures, notably in the Epistles of John, the Bible seems to suggest the existence of “many antichrists” rather than a singular figure.
For example,
1 John 2:18 – “Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.”
1 John 2:22 – “Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son.”
1 John 4:3 – “but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.”
2 John 1:7 – “I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.”
Given your deep understanding of this subject, I would love to know your perspective on these scriptures and how they might fit into the broader understanding of the Antichrist concept.
Thank you for your time and for sharing your knowledge.
Sincerely,
Steve
Hey Steve,
Nice to hear from you.
Yes, there are many “anti-Christs” as there are many messiahs.
The Bible uses multiple figures to foreshadow both the anti-Christ and the Messiah.
For example, Joseph foreshadowed Yeshua, and so did Elijah.
I’m not saying Saul is the only person who foreshadows the coming anti-king who will rise to world power in the last days.
Hope this makes sense.
Be blessed.