Look in a mirror. Your image looks just like you doesn't it? Well... not exactly. The image you see is exactly opposite of you. It's a reverse parallel. It is like you, but it is your opposite.
The concept of parallels is used throughout the scriptures. God uses parallels and the devil uses reverse parallels.
In explaining parallels, I've used the example of Joseph before. We find other examples almost everywhere in the Bible. Here is a brief recap of the parallels between Joseph and Jesus. Both were sons of a rich and loving father. Joseph had a remarkable coat of many colors and Jesus had a remarkable cloak sewn without seems. Both went into Egypt. Both unjustly accused. Joseph was chained between two prisoners and Jesus was crucified between two prisoners. In Joseph's case, one of his fellow prisoners was saved and the the other died. In Jesus' case, one of his fellow prisoners got saved, but the other died in his sins. Both Joseph and Jesus were raised to heights of glory, authority and riches. And so on. I know of over twenty parallels between the two. You'll find other parallels in the stories of Abraham offering his son Issac... the stories of Noah, Ruth, Joshua and dozens, if not hundreds of other examples are hidden in plain sight.
Just as God used parallels to guide us to the truth, Satan uses reverse parallels to tell lies. The devil's parallels are false counterfeits. Satan's lies are like the opposite images in a mirror. Satan is the father of lies and everything he does is opposite to God.
Isaiah 14:13-15
New King James Version (NKJV)
13 For you have said in your heart:
‘I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.’
The devil said he would be like the Most High. Not the same. Just as the image in your mirror is like you, but is your opposite. Did Satan catch his own reflection as he walked among the glittering stones and say to himself "I am like the Most High."? Is that when his pride overtook him?
Ezekiel 28:
“‘You were the seal of perfection,
full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eden,
the garden of God;
every precious stone adorned you:
carnelian, chrysolite and emerald,
topaz, onyx and jasper,
lapis lazuli, turquoise and beryl.[b]
Your settings and mountings[c] were made of gold;
on the day you were created they were prepared.
14 You were anointed as a guardian cherub,
for so I ordained you.
You were on the holy mount of God;
you walked among the fiery stones.
15 You were blameless in your ways
from the day you were created
till wickedness was found in you.
If that was when pride first tempted him, maybe his mirror really cracked (figuratively speaking) when he learned that he would have to serve Adam's descendants...that someday he would even be judged by a descendant of Adam.
I believe Satan even tries to copy the Trinity. Satan-antichrist-false prophet... the opposite image of the Father-Son-Holy Spirit. The future resurrection of the antichrist is surely a reverse parallel to the resurrection of Jesus.
I believe too that the image of a statue in Nebuchadnezzar's dream showing the successive earthly kingdoms is like a distorted mirror image, or more accurately the opposite image of the body of Christ... the church!
One might go on to ask themselves if Satan has created a false image of the raptured saints. Maybe he'll show the world a fleet of UFOs. I don't know. But eventually, all of the kingdoms represented by the statue were thrown down and someday the feet with 10 toes will be crushed. But the feet and toes of the body of Christ will be lifted up! We will go up!
Hallelujah!
YBIC
Bruce Baber