This week the big news was the killing of Hamas mastermind Yahya Sinwar. Sinwar was the alleged architect of last year’s hideous attack on the music festival in Israel. A majority of the world leaders have praised the killing of Sinwar in his bombed-out apartment in Gaza.
However justified many believe his killing was, it is quite the opposite of what God told His people to be because they are different than the evil world we live in (Deuteronomy 7:6, Proverbs 1:15.)
- Compassionate
- Long-Suffering
- Forgiving
- Loving
I’m not saying Israel shouldn’t defend itself or pursue justice for Hamas’ heinous attack over a year ago, I am saying God’s people are supposed to live and act the opposite of how the world does (Romans 12:2.)
Revenge is not an option for God’s people for any reason (Leviticus 19:18, Proverbs 20:22.) I am painfully aware that revenge isn’t the same thing as justice, because the human heart perverts everything (Jeremiah 17:9.)
That is why God’s people are to give their fears and pain to God (Psalm 55:22.) Because only He is just and knows best, man’s sinful nature has led us to do the opposite of God’s will and ways since the fall in the garden (Genesis 3:19.)
Opposite
We live in a fallen world that is the opposite of how God originally intended it to be (Genesis 6:5-7.) Opposite is defined as, “Diametrically different, contrary to one another or to a thing specified.”
God created everything in the universe and called it good (Genesis 1:1-31.) He even made man and woman opposites, not that they oppose each other, but are just different. After the fall of man, even the ground became cursed and man’s sin separated us from God.
Mankind’s sin has corrupted our hearts and our actions (Matthew 23:1-39.) The early church understood that the ways of man are the opposite of God’s ways (Romans 6:2, 1 Corinthians 10:13, 1 Timothy 1:9-10.)
The Apostle Paul remembered his Jewish education and how God’s people are to be the opposite of this fallen world (Isaiah 55:8.)
Hēp̄eḵ
The ancient world was very dark and evil, not much different from the world we live in today. Evil was physically manifested through the hearts and actions of godless men whose lives and beliefs were the opposite of how God intended His creation to be.
The creation exchanged the goodness of God for the goodness of the world (Exodus 32:1-6, Psalm 106:20, Isaiah 44:9-20, Jeremiah 2:11-13.) The world operated the opposite of how God intended.
The Hebrew word in the Old Testament for opposite is hēp̄eḵ and it can also mean, “Contrary, perversity, or reversed,“ depending on the context it is used in. Through the Abrahamic covenant, God promised to restore His creation back to its original design and purpose.
The promised Messiah from Abraham’s lineage would show God’s people the way back to God and restore the broken relationship between God and His creation. Unfortunately, some of God’s people would pervert this promise.
Over the years, many false messiahs arose and led God’s people astray by taking them in the opposite direction of God.
- Dositheos the Samaritan
- Serene
- The Yemenite Messiah
- Shimon bar Kosba
- Menachem Mendel Schneerson
- Thadeus And Judah of Galilee
- David Alroy
The idea of false messiahs and God’s people doing the opposite continues into the New Testament. Jesus Himself warned the early church about the rise of false messiahs in the last days whose nature and goals are the opposite of God’s(Matthew 24:5, 11,24.)
The Greek word in the New Testament that describes these false messiahs is antikhristos and it means either “Opposite of “or” In place of,” with the exception of the antichrist who appears in John’s Revelation, antichrists don’t oppose Jesus, they are the opposite of Him or want to take the place of our Lord and Savior.
The Apostle John warned the early church about the antichrists that had already come to deceive God’s people (1 John 2:18, 1 John 4:1.) The spirit of the antichrist isn’t from the lost, they cannot understand or accept the truth because they are lost (1 Corinthians 2:14.) As Jesus warned us, the antichrists come from within the church, because they parade as Angels of light, but are really ravenous wolves (Matthew 7:15, 2 Corinthians 11:13-15.)
Antichrist
When I say antichrists, I am not referring to The Antichrist who opposes Jesus in the book of Revelation (Revelation 13:1-18.) I am referring to those whose actions and teachings are the opposite of Jesus’ teachings and those who claim they are our only hope and Savior.
It is blasphemous that the current Republican candidate for president claims to be our only hope and Savior. Trump’s antichrist tendencies are the opposite of our true Savior. Jesus taught His followers to humble themselves so that God could exalt them (Matthew 23:12; 18:4, Luke 14:11.)
The Maga movement is contrary to the teachings of Jesus who also taught His disciples not to seek power or to use their authority to rule over others (Matthew 20:25-28.) The conservative party has been overtaken by the spirit of the antichrist.
- Pride
- Corruption
- Vengeful
- Greed
- Consumed by power
The Apostle Paul warned us that antichrists would deceive and lead God’s people astray (Romans 16:17-18, 1 Timothy 6:3-5, 2 Timothy 4:3-4.) Jesus, Himself dealt with antichrists who praised Him with their lips, but their hearts were far from Him (Matthew 15:8-9.) Antichrists say the right words, but their actions deny the truth about Jesus because they are hēp̄eḵ!
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