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is to destroy him,
“…by the splendor of his coming”
(2 Thess.
2:8). With such unveiled splendor, no one on earth will doubt
that it is God Almighty, King of the Jews, who has come to
claim the ultimate victory.
“God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran.
His glory covered the heavens and his praise filled the earth.
His splendor was like the sunrise; rays flashed from his hand,
where his power was hidden”
(Hab. 3:3-4).
The beast (Antichrist), the kings of the earth, and their ar-
mies will be gathered together to make war against the King of
kings and Lord of lords (Rev. 19:19). The beast (their leader)
will be snatched up and swiftly escorted alive to Gehenna, the
Lake of Fire (Rev. 19:20, 20:10, 14, 15). In addition to having
been a place of idolatrous sacrifice
, 55Gehenna served in Jesus’
time as a receptacle of refuse outside of Jerusalem. Jesus used
its perpetually burning fires as illustrations of the coming
judgements. Gehenna is not to be confused with Hades, an
intermediary place of the wicked. (For a more detailed discus-
sion, see the sections, “Hades Will Play Its Part” and “Lake of
Fire” in Chapter Four.) The name is derived from Ben Hinnom,
a valley in Israel. An area in the valley of Hinnom was Topheth,
and its association with the Antichrist king is made clear:
“Topheth has long been prepared; it has been made ready
for the king. Its fire pit has been made deep and wide, with an
abundance of fire and wood; the breath of the Lord, like a
stream of burning sulfur, sets it ablaze”
(Isa. 30:33).
55
Gehenna is the place where the Jews offered their children to Molech, by
burning them in the fire (2 Kings 23:10; Jer. 7:31; 19:2-6).
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