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The Detour Around Edom

The sixth bowl of wine poured out at Fruita, Colorado was an obvious sign of preparation for the overthrow of Mystery Babylon. In ancient times, the river Euphrates had been diverted and dried up in order to allow the Medo-Persian army to conquer Babylon. The year 2006, then, was the final time of preparation leading to the overthrow of Mystery Babylon.

Modern Babylon is a global system that encompasses virtually all walks of life--political, economic, judicial, and religious. Its tentacles are everywhere, holding people in bondage. Revelation 11:8 describes it this way:

"And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified."

In other words, modern Babylon is also represented by Sodom (immorality), Egypt (bondage), and the old Jerusalem (Zionism). In January of 2006 God began to give signs of the connection between Babylon and Jerusalem. The first major sign was on January 4, 2006, when Israeli Prime Minster Ariel Sharon had a stroke. He was incapacitated and had to be replaced.

The importance of this is in the fact that Sharon was a type of Jerusalem in Isaiah 29:1, where the city is called "Ariel." This is the same passage where we find a clear description of a nuclear strike upon Jerusalem. It comes as the result of God laying siege to Jerusalem, using others to accomplish His purpose.

We noticed also that March 24 or 25 was going to be a time to watch, because it was 4 x 414 days after the Twin Towers disaster on Sept. 11, 2001. In fact, Sept. 11, 2001 was also the end of a 414-day period from the crash on the Concorde in Paris on July 26, 2000. So March 24, 25 of 2006 was actually the end of 5 periods of 414 days.

As it turned out, we were led to go to Sacramento to attend another conference that was scheduled for March 24-26. We figured that the revelation that would come forth in Sacramento would give us more understanding of the mind of God in regard to what He was about to do with Babylon or Jerusalem.

The outcome of those meetings was to show us that the "Detour around Edom" had come to an end. This requires a little explanation.

Israel's march from Mount Sinai to Canaan required them to go through the land of Edom, stretching from the tip of the Gulf of Aqaba to the Dead Sea. Israel asked permission to travel through Edom (Num. 20:14-17), but Edom refused, saying, "You shall not pass through us, lest I come out with sword against you" (vs. 18).

Moses tried again, but Edom again refused and threatened them with war. Verse 21 says,

"Thus Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through his territory; so Israel turned away from him."

Israel was forced to make a lengthy detour to the east around Edom in order to come to the Jordan River, where they were instructed to cross into Canaan and begin fighting the battle of Jericho. The application of this prophetic event (the detour) is almost never understood today, because most Christians today do not recognize who Edom or Israel are today. There is a clear case of mistaken identity, as I explained fully in my book, The Struggle for the Birthright.

Edom was conquered and absorbed into Judea in 126 B.C., and so the Jewish people themselves have had to fulfill the many prophecies of Edom, along with those about the fruitless fig tree of Judah in Matt. 21. Zionism today is the primary manifestation of the desire of Esau-Edom to return to the land (Malachi 1:1-4). When the Zionists succeeded in establishing their own state in 1948, calling it "Israel," many prophecies were fulfilled.

The year 1948 was actually the year in which Babylon's time to rule came to an end. It all started with Israel's first captivity to the king of Mesopotamia (i.e., Babylon) in the third chapter of Judges. It was an 8-year captivity (Judg. 3:8-10), and it established a pattern for 8 x 414 years ending in 1948. In fact, after the first 2 periods of 414 years, the city of Babylon fell to the Medo-Persians in 537 B.C. The Israeli state was founded 6 x 414 years after the fall of Babylon.

There was a potential for Babylon to have fallen in 1948, but its life was extended when Edom took over the nations of the earth through the United Nations. The book of Jasher says that Esau killed Nimrod, the king of Babylon, and usurped his garments by which he ruled the earth. I have no doubt that Jasher is correct, because it proved to be prophetic of 1948, when the Israeli state became "chosen" to rule the nations of the earth. The birthright was given back to Esau in 1948, extending the life of Babylon to the present day.

In 2006 the word of the Lord came to us that there would be no more detour and no more delay. On January 7, 2006, House Speaker Tom DeLay resigned when a warrant was issued for his arrest, charging him with money laundering and conspiracy to violate election laws. We had been watching him for many years, as we discerned that his resignation would indicate "no more delay" (Rev. 10:6, NASB).

The meetings in Sacramento on March 24-26, 2006 brought out that the great "detour" had been concluded, and that there would be no more delay in our true entrance into the Promised Land. This word indicated that the Zionist state of Edom would no longer be allowed to delay the true inheritors (the overcomers, true Israel) from receiving their inheritance. The nations are their inheritance, as I wrote earlier.

Six months earlier, when we were in Denver for the Tabernacles conference in Sept. 2005, the revelation was about "Receiving the Nations as our Inheritance." In the outworking of that revelation, the Sacramento conference in March 2006 was the next major step in the progression of the Kingdom. Ariel Sharon's stroke and paralysis provided the other side of the revelation, showing that Jerusalem (i.e., the Israeli state) would remain alive but unable to continue ruling.

Shortly after the Sacramento meetings, Caspar Weinberger died on March 28, 2006. He was the Secretary of Defense under President Reagan. His name means wine-mayor, that is, a vineyard keeper. As such, he represented the vineyard keepers in Jesus' parable in Matthew 21:33-45.

This parable speaks of those who were entrusted by God to bring forth the fruits of the Kingdom ("vineyard"). Instead, they decided to usurp the vineyard, not only stoning the "servants" (i.e., the prophets), but actually killing the Son in order to "seize his inheritance" (21:38).

The result was that the vineyard was taken from them and given to a nation that would truly render to God the fruit that He desired (21:43).

That is the significance of the death of Caspar Weinberger on March 28, 2006 just days after the revelation came that the detour around Edom had ended. Many other signs occurred as well, but space prevents us from recording them all. The bottom line, however, is that the year 2006 saw not only the outworking of the word from 2005, but also began to prepare the way for the final bowl of wine that was to be poured out in Babylon, New York.