The Clean-Up Operation

            The age-old cosmic battle between good and evil has suffered an eternal blow. And those of us who are in Christ have the honor of bringing God’s true justice to the earth. Revelation 19:20-21 declares the victory. “Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the rest [of the Antichrist’s armies] were killed with the sword that proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.”
            And with that, the last half of Daniel’s 70th Week is fulfilled. And so is the rest of the prophecy’s to-do list. Zech. 14:10-11 assures us that the land will be restored and made habitable once again. “The people shall dwell in it; and no longer shall there be utter destruction, but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.” Joel 2:25-27 likewise speaks of this restoration and its purpose. “Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel; I am the Lord your God and there is no other.” True worship begins, with sacrifices not for sin but as gifts of worship, for Israel’s righteousness is complete in the Messiah (Zech. 14:21). People come from all over to worship the Lord (Is. 66:23).
            Ezekiel 39:9-19 describes the clean-up operation. The Israelites plunder and take back what was taken from them over the course of the 3½-year war. They go out and set fire on all the weapons of the invasion force. It takes 7 years to completely destroy all the weapons left behind. They use the fuel left behind for 7 years, such that they don’t have to use their own natural resources.
            The destruction is so widespread that they have to make mass graves for the skeletons of the armies and their animals. The site becomes known as the Valley of Hamon Gog—literally, the multitude of Gog, from which arose the Antichrist.
            Search parties are established to seek out any contaminated remains, most likely radioactive debris from the limited nuclear weapons. It has to be buried, which take 7 years as well. People who happen to come upon such debris are instructed to set up markers across the land so that the search parties can find them in order to cleanse the land.
            As with the first two world wars, life goes on. Only this time, the “new normal” is unlike any other time in history. Christ and the immortal heavenly government rules from Heaven over the earth with a rod of iron—strength (Rev. 2:27; 12:5; 19:15) for the remainder of the 1,000 years. Psalm 37:28 is fulfilled: “For the Lord loves justice, and does not forsake His saints; they are preserved forever, but the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off.” Psalm 33:5 is likewise fulfilled: “He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.”
            Jerusalem becomes the physical capital of the nations, representing the Heavenly Jerusalem just as Adam and Eve represented God at creation. It is the restoration of David’s Kingdom to Israel as promised. The revived Jews continue to earthly ministry of preaching the Gospel and making disciples.
            The rest of the nations or their delegations are called to worship at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, honoring Christ and His work of reconciliation. Those that do not receive their just consequence—a plague of no rain.
            There is no doubt that Ezekiel 39:6-8 has come to pass and why it has happened. “ ‘And I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in security in the coastlands. Then they shall know that I am the Lord. So I will make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel, and I will not let them profane My holy name anymore. Then the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel. Surely it is coming, and it shall be done,’ says the Lord God. ‘This is the Day of which I have spoken [the Day of the Lord].’ ”