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Many Bible teachers assume that Satan cannot create life, believing instead that this ability belongs to God alone. However, in this scripture we find that Satan, acting through the sorcerers and magicians, was able to convert nonliving matter into (apparently) living serpents. In the subsequent verses we find that the magicians and sorcerers were also able to create a plague of frogs and turn the Nile to blood! "He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed" (Revelation 13:15). The purpose of giving life to the image was to cause people to worship the Antichrist, the "son of perdition," and vicariously to Satan himself. Obviously such miracles will convince the multitudes that the Antichrist is a "god," and the promised Messiah who is worthy of worship. Several prominent Bible teachers, including Hal Lindsey and Dave Hunt, have suggested that this Coming World Leader may either be an "alien" or boast of an alien connection. the Bible. The Apostle Peter, an eyewitness to hundreds of Jesus' miracles, nevertheless elevates prophecy over signs and wonders, even over "eyewitness" accounts! "For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. We have also a more sure word of prophecy" (2 Peter 1:16—20). This is a remarkable claim. Peter had personally seen Jesus heal multitudes of blind, deaf, lame, and leprous individuals. He had even seen Jesus raise the dead! And yet, Peter said that we have "a more sure word of prophecy" Why? It turns out that God's ability to foretell history distinguishes him from Satan and the powerful forces of darkness. It demonstrates his total independence and transcendence of our time domain—something which neither Satan, nor the fallen angels, nor any alien ey re ie entity can do. It's fascinating to note that God appeals to this prophetic ability as the proof of his deity. He mocks the false prophets and their gods for their inability to match this ability: "Present your case,' says the LORD. ‘Bring forth your strong reasons,' says the King of Jacob. ‘Let them bring forth and show us what will happen; let them show the former things, what they were, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare to us things to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods; yes, do good or do evil, that we may be dismayed and see it together (Isaiah 183 In the book of Revelation we find another disturbing account, where the false prophet brings an inanimate idol of the Antichrist to life: The deceitfulness of miracles and the superiority of prophecy is a prominent theme in