human history to carry out a mission from the evil one who sent them. So understood, John’s expression reflects his terminology of the coming of Jesus in the Fourth Gospel (John 3:17, 31–34; 12:47, 49; especially 16:28). Thus John’s terminology here may suggest that these false prophets are, in effect, a satanic parody on the mission of Christ. Even as Christ came out from the Father and came into the world to do the work of His Father, so these evil spirits have gone forth from their evil abode