Chapter 5: 1917 The Rise of Modern Edom

I have already shown that 1914 was 2,520 years after Babylon became an Empire in 607 B.C. Now we will see that 1917 was 2,520 years after Babylon conquered Jerusalem in 604 B.C.

As we showed earlier, 2,520 is the long-term judgment period of "seven times." Thus, we would logically expect to watch Jerusalem itself in 1917 to see what events might occur to reverse the events of 604 B.C. History tells us that General Allenby of Great Britain walked into Jerusalem on December 10, 1917 after the Turks had been allowed to evacuate the city. This event had been projected by H. Gratton Guinness over twenty years earlier. Guinness even pinpointed the precise date from Haggai 2:18, "the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month" (on the Hebrew calendar). In 1917 that date turned out to be December 9.

1917 was also the year 1335 on the Islamic calendar. I have in my possession a commemorative Turkish coin with the date of 1917 on one side, and 1335 on the other. The number 1335 is the "blessed" number found in Daniel 12:12, matching the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month--a day of blessing (Haggai 2:19).

Thus, the year 1917 could be part of a different series called "The Prophetic History of Great Britain," because that was the year Palestine came under the authority of "Union Jack" (the nickname for the British flag). Jack is short for Jacob. The land was thus given back to Jacob in order that “Jacob” might in turn restore it to Esau (Zionists) for a season, beginning in 1948. For a full account of that story and the reasons God allowed Zionism to succeed, see my book, The Struggle for the Birthright.

The year 1917 was significant in another way as well, for it was the year of the so-called "Russian Revolution." Why would a "Russian" event have any connection to the fall of Jerusalem in 604 B.C.? Simply because it was not a "Russian" revolution at all, but a Jewish revolution in Russia. This was well documented in 1919 in the U.S. Senate's "Overman Report" headed by North Carolina Senator Overman.

Thus, in 604 B.C. the Jews (Judahites) were put into bondage to Babylon; and 2,520 years later, they threw off the yoke of foreign government from the majority of the world's Jews--the Ashkenazi Jews of Eastern Europe. The vast majority of the Bolshevik leaders were Jewish, and the first 250 Commissars of Russia were imported from the Lower East Side of New York City. These included the brilliant rabbi, Lev Bronstein, who adopted the name, Leon Trotsky.

It is not my purpose here to try to prove all of these historical events. They are well known to all who have studied history, though often these facts have been used to foment strife and hatred. I cannot stop the hatred, for I cannot change men's hearts. But I can put these things into a biblical and prophetic context, showing the purpose of God in history. To me, history is the study of the divine Plan. Knowing Scripture and prophetic time cycles puts our focus upon establishing the Kingdom of God and prevents men from misusing historical facts by promoting hatred.

The simple fact is that Jacob obtained the Birthright and the blessing from Esau in an unlawful way, because he did not think God was capable of doing what He had prophesied without Jacob's help. Esau's descendants (Edom, or Idumea) were eventually conquered and absorbed into Jewry in 126 B.C. Josephus tells us in Antiquities of the Jews, XIII, ix, 1,

“Hyrcanus took also Dora and Marissa, cities of Idumea, and subdued all the Idumeans; and permitted them to stay in that country, if they would be circumcised, and make use of the laws of the Jews; and they were so desirous of living in the country of their forefathers, that they submitted to the use of circumcision and the rest of the Jews’ ways of living; at which time therefore, this befell them, that they were hereafter no other than Jews.”

This is confirmed by The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia, edited by Dr. Cecil Roth and Dr. Geoffrey Wigoder (1970 edition), which says under “Edom,” on page 587,

“The Edomites were conquered by John Hyrcanus who forcibly converted them to Judaism, and from then on they constituted a part of the Jewish people, Herod being one of their descendants. During Titus’ siege of Jerusalem, they marched in to reinforce the extreme elements, killing all they suspected of peace tendencies. Thereafter, they ceased to figure in Jewish history. The name in the Talmud is a synonym for an oppressive government, especially Rome; in the Middle Ages, it was applied to Christian Europe.”

Though the Jews absorbed the Idumeans, they did not want to admit that they now had to fulfill the end-time prophecies of Idumea-Edom. So, as we read above, they began to apply the term “Edom” to Rome and later to “Christian Europe.” But the historical fact remains, as they themselves admit, that Edom was absorbed by Jewry in 126 B.C. Thus, they are wrong to apply the Edomite prophecies to Christianity, for the shoe fits perfectly on the other foot.

This meant that the Jews had to fulfill all the prophecies of Esau-Edom in the last days--because there was no one else to fulfill them.

In the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., God dispersed that Judah-Edom nation, putting them under an iron yoke (Deut. 28:48), as described in The Struggle for the Birthright. The law forbade them from returning apart from repentance (Lev. 26:40-42). In the early 1900's Zionism was established as a political movement. But since Judah itself was forbidden to return without repenting first, the Jews could return only under the promise given to Esau in Gen. 27:40. Jacob would have to give the Birthright back to Esau and allow God to give it to the rightful son in His own appointed time and manner.

Thus, in order for “Jacob” to give the land back to “Esau,” the old land had to come back under the control of Britain ("Union Jack" flag). This occurred in 1917, and “Jacob” subsequently gave it back to Esau in 1948. This restored the birthright back to the heirs of Esau within Jewry, rectifying an ancient wrong perpetrated upon Esau in Genesis 27.

Take note, however, that this means the Zionist State of “Israel” is really Esau in disguise. Even as Jacob pretended to be Esau to steal the birthright from him in Genesis 27, so also now has Esau pretended to be Jacob to get it back. Even as Jacob took advantage of Isaac’s blindness, so also has Esau taken advantage of the blindness in the Church to get it back. While this seems unjust, it is actually the justice of “an eye for an eye.”

So we see that the events in 1917 laid the groundwork for the Zionist state in 1948. We are now coming to the final resolution of that plan, for Esau's violent and bloody methods of "taking the kingdom by force" are proving to all men that he is an unworthy son. In Mal. 1:2, 3 God told the prophet, “Yet I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau.” Such a statement placed Esau and his descendants under the provisions of the law of the hated son found in Deut. 21:15-17. It states that a man cannot disinherit the son of a hated wife. Such a situation would presume that her son was hated as well.

The next verses deal with rebellious sons. The connection is obvious. A rebellious son could be disinherited, even as Reuben was disinherited (1 Chron. 5:1). Thus, the law makes it clear that Esau could not be disinherited until he proved himself to be a rebellious son. Jacob did not have the patience to wait for Esau to prove himself unworthy. And so that had to await the 20^th century with the establishment of the Zionist state.

We are now coming to the climax of history, when God resolves “the controversy of Zion” (Isaiah 34:8). Verses 5 and 6 tell us,

⁵ For My sword is satiated in heaven, behold it shall descend for judgment upon Edom, and upon the people whom I have devoted to destruction. ⁶ The sword of the Lord is filled with blood . . . For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. . . ⁸ For the Lord has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the controversy of Zion. ⁹ And its streams shall be turned into pitch, and its loose earth into brimstone, and its land shall be come burning pitch. ¹⁰ It shall not be quenched night or day; its smoke shall go up forever; from generation to generation it shall be desolate; none shall pass through it forever and ever.

Isaiah did not know anything about nuclear warfare, so he described this in terms that he knew. He repeats this description in Isaiah 29:1-6, where God says that He will fight against Jerusalem:

⁵ But the multitude of your enemies [i.e., Jerusalem’s enemies, who are also said to be God’s enemies] shall become like fine dust, and the multitude of the ruthless ones like the chaff which blows away; and it shall happen instantly, suddenly. ⁶ From the Lord of hosts you [Jerusalem] will be punished with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, with whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.

So we see that the judgment upon Edom in chapter 34 is similar to that of Jerusalem and its inhabitants in chapter 29. That is because in that day Edom will be in control of Jerusalem, as Mal. 1:4 tells us,

⁴ Though Edom says, “We have been beaten down, but WE WILL RETURN and build up the ruins;” thus says the Lord of hosts, “THEY MAY BUILD, but I will tear down; and men will call them the wicked territory, and the people toward whom the Lord is indignant forever.

Here, then, Edom is portrayed as Zionistic, in that those people have a desire to inherit the old land that Jacob had stolen from them. So in spite of their rebellious nature, God had to give the land back to Esau for a season in order for him to prove himself an unworthy son who could be disinherited in a lawful manner.

When God takes Jerusalem from the Zionist Edomites, all will know that God has done this by His perfect justice. Except, of course, for Esau's descendants, who will be left embittered, disappointed, and angry with God once again. Yet even their eyes will be opened in the end and will agree with God that He was just in His judgments.

And so, the year 1917 is a major turning point in world history. It proved to be the beginning of a century of conflict in Russia, Europe, and the Middle East. These events are just now beginning to come to a climax. When God resolves this “controversy of Zion,” I believe the result will be the dawn of the Kingdom of God upon the earth. That is where my hope and prayers are centered, and where my citizenship is recorded.

In the prophecies of Daniel 2, we see that Rome was described in terms of IRON. Thus, we call this fourth beast (Dan. 7) "the iron kingdom."

When Constantine (with Licinius) conquered Rome in the early fourth century, it was not long before Constantine became the sole ruler. One of the first things he did was to build a new capital city in the East, which he called Constantinople. Today it is known as Istanbul. Thus, Constantinople became known as "New Rome." The Emperor never saw the city of Rome again.

Not long afterward, the empire was divided into two parts in order to rule it more efficiently. The East and West became the two "legs" of iron as Daniel 2:33 portrays it. When the Western Roman Empire fell in 476 A.D., the Eastern Empire continued to function with "New Rome" as its capital. Over the centuries its territory was eroded, but it lasted until 1453 when the city was finally taken by the Ottoman Turks.

Thousands of Greek-speaking scholars from the city flooded Europe, bringing with them Greek manuscripts of the New Testament and a new appreciation for Greek culture. But the Eastern Orthodox cultural and religious center had been broken, and it now moved to a new city--Moscow in Russia. Moscow--and Russia itself--became the inheritor of Roman culture and Orthodox religion from Constantinople. The Roman Empire thus moved North.

It remained there until 1917 when the Bolshevik Revolution overthrew the existing order and put the Russian Orthodox Church under its control. Once again, the cultural and religious center was disrupted, and it moved South to Kosovo in the Balkans. Thus, Kosovo became the latest "New Rome." Greek Orthodoxy was then disrupted again in the 1990's in the war in Kosovo. It was really the tail end of a centuries-old war upon the iron empire of Rome, which even today has not quite fully ceased to exist.

To really understand the events of the 20th century, we must also understand the law of tribulation and the laws of captivity. These are found primarily in Lev. 26 and Deut. 28. I covered this thoroughly in my book, The Struggle for the Birthright, chapter 4.

The primary concept to grasp is that of the iron yoke and the wooden yoke. The iron yoke is mentioned in Deut. 28:48 and described in the context of that passage. If Israel were to receive a iron yoke, it would mean that a foreign nation would come and war against them, destroy their nation, and displace them from their land.

The law itself, however, does not describe the alternative judgment--the wooden yoke. This is left to the prophet Jeremiah, who speaks of it in Jer. 27 and 28. The context shows us that the wooden yoke was where God would put the nation under the authority of a foreign nation, but there would be no destructive war. Instead, the people would recognize the judgment as coming from God's hand and would thus submit to it, recognizing that God was just in His judgment. The wooden yoke, then, would place the nation into "tribute." They would simply pay the "tax" while living in their own land.

The wooden yoke was a merciful judgment, but it required faith in God. It required acceptance of that judgment. It was Jeremiah's primary mission to get Jerusalem in his day to accept the fact that God had given Judah into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon (Jer. 27:6-12). Of course, they threw him into prison for treason! The Babylonians finally set him free.

Taking this principle to the 20th century, we have already shown that the United States was conquered by Babylon in 1914 on a 2,520-year cycle from the original captivity. The question is this: Did the U.S. come under a wooden yoke, or an iron yoke?

Obviously, since we were not deported or deprived from the right to own land, we can see that we are under a wooden yoke. In 1916 the sixteenth Amendment was passed, which was a tax on corporate “income.” Ultimately, this was interpreted by the IRS to mean that personal wages could also be taxed. So it is plain to see that we are now paying "tribute" in a wooden yoke.

This whole captivity to Babylon began with a covert action on Dec. 23, 1913, when just five Senators passed the Federal Reserve Act, while the rest were home for the Christmas holiday. It was signed by President Woodrow Wilson, who did not even read this "routine banking bill," and later admitted that it was the greatest mistake of his career. But was it? Not from God's perspective, for He was bringing judgment upon us for our sin.

The conspirators, led by Paul Warburg, had drawn up this bill on Jekyll Island a few years earlier, as later reported in the media. They thought they were pretty smart, not knowing that God was behind it all along. God blinded most Americans from seeing what was going on in this, because if we had known the facts, the American people would have taken up arms and driven the money changers from the temple. But God blinded us in order to ensure that we would accept His wooden yoke. Otherwise, we would have fallen into the same trap of patriotic rebellion that Jeremiah faced in his day. God would then have imposed an iron yoke upon us.

God did, however, give us a sign so that the wise would understand. The bill was signed by WOODROW Wilson. He gave us the WOODEN yoke.

But other parts of the world were not so fortunate. New Rome (Moscow) and its Eastern European satellite nations received the iron yoke, which historians came to call the IRON CURTAIN. Many of the people were displaced, driven off their land on to collective farms. Millions were killed over the first two decades.

Thus, the inheritor of Roman civilization (Russia) received an iron yoke itself. This lasted precisely 70 years, just like the old Babylonian empire. On the 70th anniversary of the so-called "Russian Revolution," (1917-1987), President Gorbachev made his famous anniversary speech before the Supreme Soviet that broke the back of Communism itself. The old Soviet Union began to implode, and it soon broke up into pieces. The iron yoke captivity began to end in 1987, precisely 2,520 years after Medo-Persia ended Judah's captivity in 534 B.C.

The Persian King Cyrus allowed the Babylonian captives to return to their own land, but this event, though good, did not actually set the Judahites free. It simply ended their iron yoke and put them under the wooden yoke. So it is with Russia today, though they are still reeling from the effects of the iron yoke.

When will this wooden yoke finally end? I do not know for sure. But it is helpful to know how we got to where we are today and to understand our current position under the wooden yoke. I do know this, however: The wooden yoke will not end until God sets us free. And God will not do that until the people repent. And it is doubtful if the people will repent until they see the manifestation of the sons of God.

Why? Because Daniel 7 makes it clear that the saints of the Most High will inherit the Kingdom after the fourth beast and its extension (the "little horn") has run its full course. I believe that this is a reference to the manifestation of the sons of God, for this is the event that will qualify people to rule creation justly, peaceably, and with perfect love.