In Faustian fashion the anti-Christ has sold his soul to the devil. His power is not his own; he is but a puppet of him who does not support his own.
“According to the Power of the Devil”
An anti-Christ is a refined and polished devil, one schooled in rhetoric and homiletics. The greatest of God’s gifts are subject to the greatest perversions.
“The Power of the Devil”
Why the confrontation with one such as Jacob? The devil would always rather capture a spiritual general than one of lesser rank. Such would be a monumental victory to be celebrated by the hordes of hell. And be it remembered that the Lord himself was not immune from personal confrontation with the evil one (see Matthew 4), and that he in turn said to Peter, the chief Apostle, “Behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat” (Luke 22:31).