The Final Showdown

In the end time scenario, the invisible supreme personality and the eschatological protagonist is God the Father. Because of His invisibility, He cannot rule the Earth directly. He must do so through an Adam, a human representative. That human representative is Jesus The Christ, the last Adam and the second man who is the Lord from Heaven. Because Jesus has a visible body, He can relate with the external physical environment.

Satan is like God. He has no visible body with which to relate to the external physical environment. He too must rule the world by proxy. His visible human representative in the last days is the antiChrist. He is the visible eschatological antagonist. So, the war between God and Satan is a war of proxy. When Satan is cast down to the Earth at the midpoint of the 70th week of Daniel he will possess the antiChrist. He will give him his power, seat and great authority(Rev.13:2). So, when Christ defeats the antiChrist at Armageddon, Satan is defeated. When Christ triumphs at Armageddon, God the Father is the victor.

At the end of the 30-day Reclamation Period of the kingdom, after the marriage of the Lamb which has just taken place in Heaven, Christ will return back to the Earth from Heaven with an entourage of heavenly hosts riding upon white stallions. He will return as the Lion of the tribe of Judah to defeat the armies of the kings of the Earth at the Battle of Armageddon. At the end of this battle, Christ will reclaim physical possession of the Earth for the Almighty God, the Father who is the true LandLord of the Earth.

“Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, possessor of the heavens and the Earth”(Gen.14:19).

The Battle of Armageddon is the final event in the seventh bowl judgment. This event marks the end of the Day Of The Lord, the period of time within which God Almighty pours out His Wrath on the nations that know not God which began with the breaking of the seventh seal, during the second half of the 70th seven of Daniel. At Armageddon, Satan, the antiChrist, and all the kings of the kingdoms of this age and their armies shall be summarily trounced and annihilated.

“And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.”(‭‭Rev.11:15‬ ‭KJV‬‬).

The ungodly forces assembled at Armageddon are the armies of the antiChrist and his ten nation confederation, his allies as well as the armies of the other kingdoms of the Earth who are opposed to the antiMessiah, namely: the king of the North, the king of the South, and the kings of the East(Dan.11:36-45). In Rev.19, the Apostle John the revelator gave a vivid description of the physical return of Christ to the Earth For the final battle of Armageddon.

“And I Saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written, that no man knew but Himself. And He was clothed with a gesture dipped in blood: and His name is called the Word Of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God, and He hath on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS”(Rev.19:11-16).

The Armies Of The Christ

The identity of these armies are hotly debated amongst scholars. There is no consensus of opinion. According to the Rev.19:14, these armies are “clothed in fine linen, white and clean.” The debate centers around whether they are resurrected saints or angels. Because the scripture says the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints(Rev.19:8), some argue they are resurrected saints based on this premise. But angels also wear fine linen(Rev.15:6). And the resurrected saints also play angelic roles in Heaven(Rev.19:10; 22:9). The emphasis that their fine linen is white and clean may point to the fact that they are resurrected saints who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb. But am not unbendingly dogmatic about that because the same is true of the fine linen worn by angels.

We are also told in the parable of the wheat and the tares that the harvest is the end of the ages and the reapers are the angels(Matt:13:39). This is in perfect harmony with Paul’s description of Christ during the Day Of The Lord.

“and to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ”(1 Thess.1:7,8).

We can see here that the scripture states unequivocally that Jesus will return in the company of His angels. But it is also likely that these armies may include resurrected saints who now are like the angels(Matt.22:30). Besides, when the saints are raptured, they ever be with the Lord.

“Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”(‭‭1 Thess.4:17-18‬ ‭KJV).

The Battle Of Armageddon

The two parties to this conflict are Christ and His heavenly hosts, and Satan in the person of his minion, the antiChrist and the armies of the kingdoms of this world. Christ shall descend from Heaven with his armies. Three spirits like frogs which come out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast(antiChrist), and out of the mouth of second beast, the false prophet shall be dispatched to gather the kings of the whole world and their armies to Armageddon.

“and I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of demons, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the Earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty”(Rev.16:13,14).

The Kings of the Earth and their armies are no match for Christ. They shall be annihilated by Him at Armageddon.

“Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; and the world, and all things that come forth of it. For the indignation of the LORD is upon all nations, and His fury upon all their armies: He hath utterly destroyed them, He hath delivered them to the slaughter. Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood”(Is.34:1-3).

As we have pointed out in our article on the antiChrist, Gog is one of the 25 appellatives of the antiMessiah(Ezek.38:2). In a parallel passage in Ezek.39, the prophet Ezekiel gives a graphic description of the defeat of the antiChrist.

“Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel: And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand. Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God. And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the Lord. So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel. Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord God; this is the day whereof I have spoken. And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years: So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord God. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The valley of Hamon–gog. And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land. Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord God.”(‭‭Ezek.39:1-13‬ ‭KJV, emphases added‬‬).

It will be a horrific carnage. Men’s flesh shall consume away while they are yet standing(Zech.14:12). It will take seven months to bury the dead( Ezek.39:12), and seven years to dispose of the wreckages of warfare in the land of Israel(Ezek.39:9). The horses and their riders shall be stricken with madness, and they shall destroy one another(Zech.12:4, 14:13). God will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone; all that burden themselves with her shall be cut to pieces(Zech.12:3). We know these aren’t horses but modern tanks equipped with AI. The AI will go crazy and the tanks shall destroy themselves and their riders.

The battle shall begin in the general area of Jerusalem, and move up north to the valley of Esdraelon which is also called the valley of Jezrael. Because of the horrific nature of the carnage, blood shall reach up to the horse bridle in height, about 2m, covering distance of about 300km.

“And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped. And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.”(‭‭Rev.14:14-20‬ ‭KJV‬‬).

Christ Himself shall finally destroy the antiChrist, and cast him to eternal destiny in Hell fire.

“And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the horse, and against His army. And the beast was take, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that have received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of Him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceedeth out of His mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh”(Rev.19:9-21).

Christ having reclaimed God’s rule over the Earth at the blowing of the seventh trumpet, now sets up His own kingdom which will destroy the satanic kingdoms of the antiMessiah, and the other Kings of the Earth which shall be in existence at that time.

“And in the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever”(Dan.2:44).

The sequence is clear, Christ sets up His own rule over the Earth at the behest of the Father, at the blast of the seventh trumpet, on day 5 of the 30-day Reclamation Period of the kingdom, and then proceeds to destroy these other kingdoms.

“I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened. I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.”(Dan. 7:9-11 KJV).

The stone cut without hands out of the mountain, grew until it became a great mountain and filled the whole Earth. Besides, the statue of Nebuchadnezzar crumbled in totality when hit at the feet of iron and clay by this stone cut out without hands, signifying that the life and spirit of the whole image were present in the feet of iron and clay(Dan.2:45a). Therefore the destruction of the Eighth And Final beast Empire of Satan is also the destruction of all the seven previous beast empires of Satan. It is the final destruction of the evil human government initiated by Nimrod, the mighty hunter before the Lord. It is the destruction of the idolatrous and humanistic philosophy established by man in defiance to the God of Israel that has been the guiding principles of all human culture, religion, education, commerce and industry, human government etc, which permeated and pervaded all aspects of human endeavors.

So, the defeat of the antiChrist is the defeat of Satan, and humanistic evolution. Christ will then reclaim physical possession of the Earth in the behalf of the Almighty God, the Father. He shall deliver the kingdom to the Father after He has abolished all rule and authority, that is the rule of Satan and the authority of the antiChrist(1 Cor.15:24).

The Final Disposition Of The Beast.

There are seemingly apparent contradictions and discrepancies concerning the final disposition of the antiChrist. The Scroll of Revelation says he and the false prophet were seized and cast alive into the lake of fire and brimstone.

“And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into the a lake of fire burning with brimstone”(Rev.19:20).

Seemingly contradictory to that will be Apostle Paul’s teaching to the church at Thessalonica that the Lord Jesus Christ will slay the antiMessiah, the lawless one, with the breath of His mouth.

“And then shall the wicked one be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming”(2 Thess.2:8).

Yet again, the prophet Ezekiel, in what appears to be an apparent contradiction to the two previous statements about the final disposition of the antiMessiah wrote:

“And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The Valley Of Hamon-Gog”(Ezek.39:11).

The prophet Daniel also spoke of the destruction of the beast and the cremation of his physical body.

“I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spoke: I beheld till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame”(Dan.7:11).

In seemingly apparent contradictions, Paul spoke of the antiMessiah being slain by the Lord with the breath of His mouth in 2 Thessalonians, John the revelator spoke of his being cast alive into the lake of fire with the second beast, the false prophet in Rev.19, and the prophet Ezekiel spoke of his being buried in the Valley Of Hamon-Gog in the land of Israel in Ezek. 39, and Daniel spoke of his being slain, his body destroyed and given to the flame.

Doubtlessly, all these passages refer to the antiChrist. Two of the five principles of biblical hermeneutics are, there must be no antinomies, and scripture must interpret scripture. Where contradictions exist, a common denominator must be found that resolves the seemingly apparent contradictions. Can these seemingly apparent contradictions be resolved? Yes! Once again, we refer to the beautiful work of Robert Van Kampen. He is the only one I know who has attempted to resolve these seemingly apparent contradictions. I implicitly agree with his analyses and resolution of the seemingly apparent discrepancies and contradictions.

The Resolution Of The Discripancies.

The antiChrist who weakened the nations, made them tremble, shook kingdoms, made the world like a wilderness, and overthrew cities(Is.14:16, 17) during the Great Tribulation, and attempted to raise his throne above the Most High(Is.14:13,14) when he declared himself God and demanded worship of all mortals, shall be slain by Christ at Armageddon, his body buried in the Valley Of Hamon-Gog in the land of Israel, and his soul trust down to Sheol(Is.14:15), the underworld of the dead. The other Kings of the earth shall reject his company in the underworld of the dead. Therefore he shall be thrust out of the abyss. Concerning this the prophet Isaiah wrote:

“But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of them that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; a carcase trodden under feet. Thou shall not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned”(Is.14:19,20 KJV, emphases added).

The antiChrist ascended from the abyss(Rev.17:8). When he is slain at Armageddon, his soul shall once again descend to the abyss from whence he ascended. But he is rejected by the other abyss-dwellers who accuse him of destroying his land and his people, the inhabitants of the earth, and therefore too vile and wicked for their company. Once again, this proves that the antiChrist is not a human spirit; for we have conclusively proven that human spirits are not sent to the abyss when they die, the abyss being the abode of evil angels who did not keep their first estate but left their own habitations and cohabited with human females, and gave rise to the “nephilim,” or humanoids( Gen.6:4; Jud.1:6 2 Pet.2:4).

The antiChrist shall be killed and buried at Armageddon. His soul and spirit shall descend into the abyss. His soul and spirit are cast out of the abyss. He rejoins his body in the grave, arises from the dead. He is then seized and cast alive into the Lake Of Fire and brimstone alongside the false prophet who has been taken captive. This analysis dissolves and resolves the seemingly apparent contradictions as scripture interprets scripture.

The Disposition Of The Armies Of Satan

At the Battle of Armageddon, the antiChrist and the false prophet will be taken captive and cast alive into the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone. Thereafter, the rest of the Kings of the Earth and their armies shall be killed with the sword that proceeds out of the mouth of Him that sat upon the horse, and the birds of the air shall be filled with their flesh(Rev.19:21). It shall be a prodigious barbaric banquet for the carnivorous fowls of the heavens, the scavengers of history. Make no mistake about it. God is ever just. These men have slain the saints of God in the most horrific, egregious and barbaric manner. They must be paid in their own coins.

It shall be a monstrous carnage of such magnitude that the house of Israel shall spend seven months burying the dead(Rev.39:12), and seven years to dispose of the wreckages of warfare(Rev.39:9).

The Disposition Of Satan

The execution of the sentence against Satan for his rebellion against God in eternity past is in four stages. In the first stage of the sentence which was carried out in eternity past, he was cast out from the Heaven of heavens to the Dark Void and starry heavens.

“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?”(Isaiah 14:12-17 KJV).

The second stage of the sentence will be carried out at the middle of the 70th week of Daniel. He shall be cast down to the Earth by the archangel Michael with his fallen evil angels.

“And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”(Rev.12:7-9 KJV).

The third stage of the sentence against Stan will occur at the end of the Armageddon Campaign. He shall be arrested and incarcerated in the bottomless pit for a thousand years. Throughout the Millennial Reign of Christ and the saints, Satan shall be imprisoned in the bottomless pit to remove his evil influences on the residents of the renovated Earth.

“And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.”(Rev.20:1-3 KJV).

At the expiry of the Millennium, Satan shall be paroled to carry out the final rebellion against God which shall end in a divine conflagration and his final imprisonment in the Lake Of Fire where the antiChrist and the False prophet have been cast into a thousand years earlier.

“And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”(Rev.20:7-10 KJV).

The Final Disposition Of Magog.

There are a few biblical prophecy scholars who believe and teach that Magog shall be totally destroyed at Armageddon. In other words, after Armageddon, there will be no more Magogites left on Earth. I beg to differ; for that would mean that not a single person of Germanic descent shall survive in this mortal body of ours after Armageddon, and enter the Millennium to repopulate the Earth. That would mean that all living Magogites after the Rapture of the Church would have accepted the mark of the beast and therefore annihilated.

“Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tuval: and I will turn thee back, and leave but a sixth part of thee, and I will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and bring thee upon the mountains of Israel: and I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and cause thy arrows to fall out of thy right hand. Thou shall fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: and I will give thee to the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. Thou shall fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it saith the Lord GOD. And I will send fire on Magog, among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD”(Ezek.391-6).

Gog is the head of Magog, Meshech and Tubal. He is the one that overthrows the three leaders of these nations, replaces them with his puppets in order to form a three nation coalition, the three power base nations which are the driving and dominant force in the ten nation confederation.

“And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows.”(Daniel‬ ‭7:20‬ ‭KJV‬‬).

Therefore the core leadership of the armies of the antiMessiah shall be Magogites. At the approaches of Armageddon, the majority of Magogites shall be in the service of the antiChrist. Only a paltry one sixth shall be left. All those Magogites who appear at Armageddon shall be liquidated along side their colleagues from all the other nations of the World. That there will be no Magogites that survives the wrath of God to enter the Millennilal Reign of Christ is certainly no true. There is no scripture that supports that position. It is not clearly spelt out.

The other reason given by the advocates of total destruction of Magog is that Magog is missing in the list of nations at the beginning of the Millennium.

“For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory. And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the aisles afar off, that had not heard my fame, neither had seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles”(Is.66:18,19 KJV, emphases added).

Those that escaped of the nations are those who survived Armageddon. From these survivors, God sends messengers to declare His glory amongst the nations that have not heard of His fame nor seen His glory. So this is not a comprehensive list of the nations that survived at Armageddon, but a list of those nations who have not heard the Lord’s fame nor seen His glory. Magog does not qualify to be in this list; for it can scarcely be said that the Magogites have not heard nor seen the Glory of the Lord, inasmuch as they are the ones mostly devastated at Armageddon. Jews have lived in the land of Magog from the destruction of The Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah, in Jerusalem in 70 AD, and the subsequent dispersion of the Jews all over the Globe, the so called Diaspora.

In Rev.20:8, Gog and Magog are mentioned again as those people whom Satan shall convince to rebel against God in the Final Revolt. Those who root for total destruction of Magog at Armageddon associate them with peoples other than Magogites. As we intimated several times, Gog is a title rather the name of a person, and he is the head of Magog, Meshech, and Tuval. It is no doubt one of the appellations of the antiMessiah. At the end of the Millennium, another person of Magogites extraction who is the leader of Magog will also bear the title, Gog. Because of their aggressive nature, it is possible Christ will disperse them to the fringes of the planet, Earth, away from the centre of activities and seat of government in Jerusalem. At the end of the Millennium, Satan finds a ready audience in them. Hence, the final satanic rebellion.

Edom Becomes A Memorial

The Edomites are the descendants of Esau, the twin brother of Jacob. Edom is alternate name or moniker of Esau. He was named Edom after he lost his birthright to his twin brother Jacob over a mess of red pottage. Edom means red. And eventually the land wherein he settled, Mount Seir is red. There is located the red rose city of Petra, the OT Sela(1 Sam.23:28; 2Kin.14:7; Is.16:1). In the NT period, it was referred to as Pella, one of the ten Greek cities.

Edom is located immediately south and east of the Dead Sea, the northwest corner of Edom being approximately 96 Km southeast of Jerusalem as the crow flies. Today Edom is part of the state of Jordan. The state of Jordan of today consists of the ancient kingdoms of Edom, Moab, Ammon, and the tribal allotments of Reuben and Gad, and portions of the half tribe of Menassse. Jordan was created by the British in 1922, when Winston Churchill was Foreign Secretary, on almost 78% of British Mandate Palestine. The capital city is Amman which is biblical Ammon.

Moab and Ammon are the descendants of Lot through incestous relation with his two daughters under the third degree of inebriation, when he dwelt in the mountain with them alone following the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities of the plain by the Lord with heavenly fire and brimstone. The inhabitants of this region have been enemies of Israel from of old.

“And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters. And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth: Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father. And the firstborn bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day. And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Ben–ammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day”(Gen.19:30-38 KJV, emphases added).

During the exodus from Egypt, Edom refused Israel passage throw her land.

“and Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom, Thus saith thy brother Israel, Thou knowest the travail that hath befallen us: How our fathers went down into Egypt, and we have dwelt in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians vexed us and our fathers: and when we cried unto the LORD, He heard our voice, and sent an angel, and had brought us forth out of Egypt: and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border: let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country: we will pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go through by the king’s highway, we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed by thy borders. And Edom said unto him, Thou shalt not pass by me, lest I come out against thee with the sword and the children of Israel said unto him, we will go by the high way: and if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will pay for it: I will only, without doing any thing else, go through on my feet. And he said, Thou shalt not go through. And Edom came out against him with much people, and with a strong hand. Thus Edom REFUSED to give Israel passage through his border: wherefore Israel turned away from him”(Num.20:14-21, KJV, emphasis added).

We can see that after a passionate plea, Edom refused Israel passage through her land when Israel came out of bondage in Egypt. He had forgotten the brotherly love. Edom had not forgiven Jacob for taking the birthright from him by taking advantage of him in his weak moment, despite attempts by Jacob to appease his brother, and a concerted effort at reconciliation.

“And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom. And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed their until now:… (Gen.32:3-8).

We can see Jacob’s humility in his attempt at reconciliation to his brother Esau. Though they were of the same age, he addressed Esau as his lord, and himself as his servant. Jacob was telling Esau that He Jacob recognized Esau’s right of primogeniture which included leadership, priesthood, and double portion of inheritance. Jacob was afraid of Esau, and therefore attempted to placate him and ingratiate himself to him through sharing with him some of the material blessings with which the God of his fathers had blessed him in the house of Laban his uncle.

“… and took of that which came to his hand a present for Esau his brother; two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty Rams, thirty mitch camels with their colts, forty kine, and ten Bulls, twenty she asses, and ten foals. And delivered them into the hand of his servants… And he urged him, and he took it”(Gen.32:3-33:11).

Because he felt the danger of his family being wiped out by Esau, he prayed to God, and invoked his promise to preserve him, multiply him, and to bless him materially, and again that He, God instructed him to return to the land of his fathers. Although Esau accepted the gifts from his brother, it did not resolve the conflict between the two, as we shall see in the unpleasant relationship between the two in subsequent history(Gen.32:9-12 ).

Edom is not listed as part of the ten nation confederation that will constitute the Eighth and Final Beast Empire of Satan. As a matter of fact, Edom will be one of the few places in the Middle East that the antiChrist will not invade. For this reason, some biblical scholars infer that Jordan will be neutral. However, it is most probable that Jordan will be an ally of the AntiChrist as Edom was an ally of king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon against Israel when he conquered Jerusalem in 586 BC.

“He shall enter into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon”(Dan.11:41).

We can see that these ancient kingdoms which constitute modern day Jordan will be spared invasion by the forces of the antiChrist. Therefore, Jordan is either neutral or else an ally of the antiChrist. This writer is inclined to believe that Jordan will be an ally of the antiMessiah.

The hostility and animosity of the Edomites towards Israel is legendary, as old as history. They fought a lot of wars in ancient times with Israel. During the Babylonian invasion of Judah, the Edomites were part of the invading army of king Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon. They participated in the violation of the holy precincts and spoilation of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. They mounted roadblocks, and apprehended the escapees of Judah. Some of them they killed, the others they handed over to the Babylonians who executed them. As touching this, the prophet Obadiah wrote:

“For thy violence against thy brother Jacob, shame shall shall cover thee, and thou shall be cut off for ever. In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them. But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction: neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly on the day of distress. Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands in the day of their calamity: neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossways, to cut off those that did escape: neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress. For the Day Of The Lord is upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head. For as you have drunk upon my holy mountains, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been”(Obad.1:12-14 KJV, emphases added).

The prophet Obadiah said that their dealings will return upon their own head. And the prophet Ezekiel said:

“Moreover the word of the Lord cam unto me saying, son of man, set thy face against mount Seir, and prophesy against it, and say unto it, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O mount Seir, I am against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and I will make thee most desolate. I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shall know that I am the LORD. Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end:….”(Ezek.35:1-15).

The Lord further declared through the prophet Isaiah:

“…..And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree. For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of curse to judgment…. It is the Day Of The Lord’s vengeance, and the year of recompensed for the controversy of Zion. And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall be waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever…….”(Is.34:4,5,8-10).

The prophet Jeremiah added his voice to the horror that shall be Edom:

“For I have sworn by myself, saith the Lord, that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes. Also Edom shall be a desolation: everyone that goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof. And as in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbouring cities thereof, saith the LORD, no man shall abide there, neither shall son of man dwell in it”(Jer.49:13,17,18).

We have seen that the prophets are unequivocal in prophesying about the destruction of Edom. Bozrah was the capital city of Edom in ancient times. God will make Edom an eternal example for the nations of the world to see. Because of his hatred and violence toward his brother Jacob, he shall be covered with shame. The land shall be made a burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night or day. Its smoke shall go up for ever and ever. When the nations of the world shall be assembled in the Millennium, no noble man from Edom shall be found( Is.34:12).

The land of Edom shall be the habitation of wild beasts of the deserts and the islands. All the carnivorous birds of the air shall lodge in the ruins of Edom. The land of Edom shall be overgrown with thorns, nestles and brambles, and it shall become the habitation of dragons and a court for owls( Is.34:13-15).

Sodom and Gomorrah and the other cities of the plain, Zeboim and Adamma were located located in the north of Edom, south of the Dead Sea. These cities were destroyed with fire and brimstone because of the wickedness and leudness of the inhabitants. That region was formerly lush and green that it attracted Lot when he separated from his uncle, Abraham(Gen.13:5-11). Since the destruction of these cities some four thousand years ago, that area has been utterly barren and desolate, an historical and geographical foreshadow of the consummative and eschatological fate of Edom and Babylon after the battle of Armageddon.

This seems to be the fate of Esau from the womb.

“For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of Him that calleth; it was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esaau have I hated”(Rom.9:11-13).

This passage of Scripture does not prove that God hated Esau from the womb, but rather that God knew how he would end up even before his birth; for God knows the end from the beginning.

God wants humanity to know for ever that He summarily punishes rebellion and disobedience. Therefore, He chose Edom, because of his wickedness and violence to his brother Jacob, as an eternal memorial. So, the destruction of Edom will never be forgotten. It will be memorialized in the desolation and eternal fires of Edom. It will be a symbol of and a memorial to the eternal and ignominious defeat of the forces of evil, Satan and his beast nations, the antiChrist and all the kings of the nations that know not, and those forget the God of Israel.

Babylon Becomes A Memorial

Another city that shall be a desolation and a memorial in the Millennium shall be Babylon. Babylon was founded by Nimrod. It was in Babylon that mother-child worship began. From there it spread to all parts of the globe after the confusion of languages at Babel to forestall the building of the Tower of Babel that was to reach up to the Heavens. Babylon is also the origin of humanism and its variegated ramifications. It was in Babylon that men built a tower to reach up to the Heaven. It was for the consultation of demons. It was for star gazing and astrology. It was for fame and notoriety. Babel is the symbol of man’s rebellion and insubordination towards God. It is the origin and home of idolatry.

“Then the angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth. And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth. He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth. And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah. And he said, This is wickedness. And he cast it into the midst of the ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof. Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork: and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven. Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah? And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar: and it shall be established, and set there upon her own base.”(Zech.5:5-11 KJV).

There, false religion, false human government and commercialism and consumerism began. Babylon is the symbol of the humanistic philosophy that denies God His rightful position as the Creator of the whole universe. Therefore Babylon shall be made an eternal memorial.

The prophet Isaiah prophesied that Babylon shall be summarily destroyed. The destruction of Babylon shall be as when God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.

“And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.”(Isaiah 13:19-22 KJV).

Babylon as a city has been rebuilt by Saddam Hossain. Today, it maintains a low profile. However, in the future, it shall become the commercial capital and religious hub of the NWO, One World Religion, and the Eighth And Final Beast Empire of Satan. The final destruction of Babylon was graphically portrayed in Rev.18 by our brother, Apostle John the apocalyptist. It is part of the truncated final and seventh bowl judgment of the wrath of God(Rev.16:17-20:6). After summary destruction, it shall never be inhabited throughout the Millennium. It shall become a roosting place for wild birds.

“And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.”(Rev.18:22-24 KJV).

God will repay Babylon for her rebellion towards God and her wickedness towards the sons of Jacob.

The Surviving Gentile Remnant

After the horrors of Armageddon, only very small proportion of the world population will remain. The Scriptures do not tell us the overall percentage anyway. The saints have been raptured to Heaven. Anyone who received the mark of the beast who survived the final seventh bowl judgment shall be executed. The Gentiles survivors who do not have the Mark Of The Beast shall come to Mount Zion for the Sheep and Goat judgment, one of the major events that shall take place on the first day of the millennium. They shall bring all Jews in foreign lands who survived the final seventh bowl judgment to the holy mountain Jerusalem(Is.66:20). This shall be the final ingathering of Jews dispersed all over the world as result of their disobedience to God, bringing to an end the Diaspora which began with the sacking of the Northern Kingdom of Israel by the Assyrian King, Shalmanesser V in 722 BC.

After the 45-Day Restoration Period of the kingdom, Mount Zion shall rise above all other mountains.

“And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the LORD. And they shall go forth , and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against Me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring to all flesh”(Is.66:23,24).

Mount Zion shall be established as the chief of the mountains, and raised above all the surrounding hills(Is.2:2). From the summit of Mount Zion on which the fourth and Millennilal Temple shall be situate, Gentile survivors and visitors to Mount Zion, who shall appear before the Lord on every sabbath and every new moon, shall view the inferno that is the memorial of Edom for their wickedness towards their brother Israel. They shall be able to view the corpses of those liquidated at Armageddon for seven months until they are all buried. These gentile visitors who come to appear before the Lord, shall assist in identifying the location of these corpses, and mark them out for burial by those whose employment it shall be to dispose of the corpses( Ezek.39:11-15). They shall also view the wreckages of war that shall be used for combustion for seven years before they are all disposed of by the children of Israel(Ezek.39:9,10).

Avraham Shallom.