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Who will ultimately be responsible for Esau’s demise?

We read a prophecy by Balaam a prophet from the dark side from Numbers 24: 17 & 18, as follows: “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; a star shall come forth from Jacob, and a scepter shall rise from Israel, and shall crush through the forehead of Moab, and tear down all the sons of Sheth. (18) And Edom shall be a possession, Seir, its enemies, also shall be a possession, while Israel performs valiantly.” Despite Balaam’s greed Elohim used him to prophecy of a coming one who would rule over Israel and destroy all her enemies.

Edom or Esau struggled with Jacob in his own life time and has struggled with the nation of Israel ever since through Amalek, Esau’s grandson, Haman the Agagite (Amalekite), Antiochus Epiphanes and Herod the Idumean who has even tried to prevent the coming of Messiah. He has routinely wounded Judah from whom the Messiah came, and is thoroughly lawless and perverse in his ways, opposing the will of YHVH. There is no doubt that Esau will be utterly destroyed at the time of the end of this age, as witnessed in the following Scriptures:

  • Numbers 24: 20, ‘And he looked at Amalek and took up his discourse and said, “Amalek was the first of the nations, but his end shall be destruction,”’

  • Deuteronomy 25: 17 – 19: “Remember what Amalek did to you along the way when you came out from Egypt, (18) how he met you along the way and attacked among you all the straggles at your rear when you were faint and weary; and he did not fear Elohim. (19) Therefore it shall come about when YHVH your Elohim has given you rest from all your surrounding enemies, in the land which YHVH your Elohim gives you as an inheritance to possess, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven; you must not forget.” This is clearly a prophecy about the coming kingdom of Elohim, when He will give those true to Him a millennium of rest in the Promised Land after the six thousand year misrule of mankind.

  • Obadiah 18, ‘“Then the house of Jacob will be a fire and the house of Joseph a flame; but the house of Esau will be as stubble. And they will set them on fire and consume them, so that there will be no survivor of the house of Esau,” for YHVH has spoken.’

Esau as the adversary of Jacob throughout the ages will not succeed in his goal to snatch the Abrahamic Covenant away from Jacob. Even though Esau or more specifically Rome has taken the house of Israel, scattered into mainly the western world by YHVH because of Idolatry, captive for more than 2000 years, he will die in his attempt and his pointless striving reminds us of the effort shown by Cain to try and outshine his brother Abel. Because of the fact that Esau sold his first-born right to his brother Jacob, YHVH  became most displeased with him and his descendants, as witnessed in Malachi 1: 2 – 5, in this way:  ‘“I have loved you,” says YHVH. But you say, “How hast Thou loved us?” “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares YHVH. “Yet I have loved Jacob; (3) but I have hated Esau, and I have made his mountains a desolation, and appointed his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness.” (4) Though Edom says, “We have been beaten down, but we will return and build up the ruins”; thus says YHVH of hosts, “They may build, but I will tear down; and men will call them the wicked territory, and the people toward whom YHVH is indignant forever.” (5) And your eyes will see this and you will say, “YHVH be magnified beyond the border of Israel.”’ At the time of the end, when the nation of Zion has been re-established through the restoration of the two houses of Israel and Babylon has been destroyed, the final conflict will be when the beast and his false prophet (both Edomites) will be thrown into the lake of fire. 

Obadiah prophesied about Esau’s destruction in Obadiah 1 – 10, saying: ‘The vision of Obadiah. Thus says YHVH Elohim concerning Edom— we have heard a report from YHVH, and an envoy has been sent among the nations saying, “Arise and let us go against her for battle— (2) Behold, I will make you small among the nations; you are greatly despised. (3) The arrogance of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock, in the loftiness of your dwelling place, who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to earth?’ (4) Though you build high like the eagle, though you set your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,” declares YHVH. (5) If thieves came to you, if robbers by night— O how you will be ruined! — would they not steal only until they had enough? If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleanings? (6) O how Esau will be ransacked, and his hidden treasures searched out!  (7) All the men allied with you will send you forth to the border, and the men at peace with you will deceive you and overpower you. They who eat your bread will set an ambush for you. (There is no understanding in him.) (8) “Will I not on that day,” declares YHVH, “destroy wise men from Edom and understanding from the mountain of Esau? (9) Then your mighty men will be dismayed. O Teman, in order that everyone may be cut off from the mountain of Esau by slaughter. (10) Because of violence to your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame, and you will be cut off forever.”

We read a further prophecy by Ezekiel about the final desolation of Edom in Ezekiel 35: 1 – 15, as follows: ‘Moreover, the word of YHVH came to me saying, (2)”Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir (in Edom), and prophesy against it, (3) and say to it, ‘Thus says YHVH Elohim, “Behold, I am against you Mount Seir, and I will stretch out  My hand against you, and I will make you a desolation and a waste. (4) I will lay waste your cities, and you will become a desolation. Then you will know that I am YHVH. (5) “Because you have had everlasting enmity and have delivered the sons of Israel to the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, at the time of the punishment of the end, (6) therefore, as I live,” declares YHVH Elohim, “I will give you over to bloodshed, and bloodshed will pursue you; since you have not hated bloodshed, therefore bloodshed will pursue you. (7) And I will make mount Seir a waste and a desolation, and I will cut off from it the one who passes through and returns. (8) And I will fill its mountains with its slain; on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines those slain by the sword will fall. (9) I will make you an everlasting desolation, and your cities will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am YHVH. (10) Because you have said, ‘These two nations and these two lands will be mine, and we will possess them,’ although YHVH was there, (11) therefore, as I live,” declares YHVH Elohim, “I will deal with you according to your anger and according to your envy which you showed because of your hatred against them; so I will make Myself known among them when I judge you. (12) Then you will know that I, YHVH, have heard all your revilings which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel saying, ‘They are laid desolate; they are given to us for food.’ (13) And you have spoken arrogantly against Me and have multiplied your words against Me; I have heard.” (14) Thus says YHVH Elohim, “As all the earth rejoices, I will make you a desolation. (15) As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so I will do to you. You will be a desolation, O Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it. Then they will know that I am YHVH.”’

When Yahshua first came to earth, after He was immersed by Yochanan and full of the Set-apart Spirit, He was led about by the Spirit in the wilderness to be tempted by Satan for forty days. Afterwards Yahshua returned to Galilee and started teaching in the synagogues.  When He came to Nazareth where He had been brought up, and as per His custom He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read from the Haftarah portion for the day. This was essentially His first teaching after being immersed and we read accordingly from verse 17 – 21 of Luke 4, ‘And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book, and found the place where it was written (in Isaiah 61: 1 and the first part of verse 2), (18) “THE SPIRIT OF YHVH IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE DOWNTRODDEN, (19) TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF YHVH.” (20) And He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed upon Him. (21) And He began to say to them, “today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Now, very few realize that Yahshua was actually talking about His main purpose for His first advent here. He came specifically to bring a remnant of the lost sheep of the house of Israel back to the covenant relationship we made with Elohim together with Brother Judah, at Mount Sinai. Firstly, He came to tell us the good news about the coming kingdom of Elohim, over the re-establish commonwealth of Israel with King David ruling over us and He being our shepherd once again as per Ezekiel 37: 24[1]. Secondly, He came to bring release to the captives, from all the places where Elohim has scattered us because of idolatry; this in addition to the fact that in the last days we have become the tail of the nations where we have been scattered and we and our children cannot find proper work to support our families any longer. Thirdly, He came to bring recovery of sight to the blind. We know that returning  Israel is described by Isaiah as being blind and deaf in Isaiah 43: 5 - 8, saying: “Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and gather you form the west. (6) I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ And to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the ends of the earth, (7) Everyone who is called by My name, and whom I have created for My glory, whom I have formed, even whom I have made. (8) Bring out the people who are blind, even though they have eyes, and the deaf, even though they have ears.”

But, we need to ask, why did Yahshua stop in the middle of Isaiah 61: 2? The reason is that His first coming was specifically to save us, the lost sheep of the house of Israel, whom YHVH scattered into the world because of idolatry. The second part of Isaiah 61: 2 - 11, tells us what is about to happen during Messiah’s second coming, as follows: ‘And the day of vengeance of our Elohim; to comfort all who mourn, (3) to grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a garland (a peer-shaped head covering like a priest) instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of YHVH that He may be glorified. (4) Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins, they will raise up the former devastations, and they will repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations. (5) And strangers will stand and pasture your flocks, and foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers. (6) But you will be called the priests of YHVH; you will be spoken of as ministers of our Elohim. You will eat the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast. (7) Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, and instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion. Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land, everlasting joy will be theirs. (8) For I, YHVH, love justice, I hate robbery in the burnt offering; and I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. (9) Then their offspring will be known among the nations, and their descendants in the midst of the peoples. All who see them will recognize them because they are the offspring whom YHVH has blessed. (10) I will rejoice greatly in YHVH, my soul will exult in my Elohim; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her Jewels.(11) For as the earth brings forth  its sprouts, and as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up, so YHVH Elohim will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.’

Immediately after the great tribulation spoken about in Matthew 24: 21 & 22 the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken, then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and the tribes of the earth will mourn and see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory as per Matthew 24: 29 & 30. We see that Yahshua also showed Yochanan in a vision in Revelation 17 about the great false church that will be destroyed in verses 6 – 15, in this way: ‘And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Yahshua, And when I saw her, I wondered greatly.  (7) And the angel said to me, “Why do you wonder? I shall tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. (8) The beast that you saw was and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and to go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth will wonder, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come. (9) Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits (most of us familiar with European history will recall that the city of Rome is built on seven hills),  (10) and they are (also) seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come (this is talking about the Roman Empire which existed in some form or another during the past 2 millennia, but will be revived one more time before its final demise as we’ve read in Malachi  1: 4); and when he comes, he must remain a little while.  (11) And the beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth, and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction. (12) And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour (a relatively short period of time). (13) These have one purpose and they give their power and authority to the beast (they get all their armies to support the beast). (14) These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Master of masters and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.” (15) And he said to me, “The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.’ This is a false church with authority over many nations speaking different languages.

At this point the heavens open and Yahshua sitting on a white horse together with his armies clothed in fine linen come to judge the world in righteousness and to wage war as we read from Revelation 19: 11 – 18, as follows: ‘And I saw heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He judges and wages war. (12) And His eyes are a flame of fire, and upon His head are many diadems; and He has a name written upon Him which no one knows except Himself.  (13) And He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood; and His name is called The Word of Elohim. (14) And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. (15) And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may smite the nations; and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of Elohim, the Almighty. (16) And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND MASTER OF MASTERS.”  At that time Yahshua will destroy the nations who will gather around Jerusalem, ready to annihilate the Jewish nation in the Middle-East, known as Israel. The day of vengeance that the Prophet Isaiah spoke about in the second part of Isaiah 61: 2, not read by Yahshua during His first teaching in the synagogue during His first advent, is described in more detail in Isaiah 63: 1 – 6, as follows: ‘Who is this who comes from Edom, with garments of glowing colors from Bozrah (the capital of Edom of antiquity), this One who is majestic in His apparel, marching in the greatness of His strength? “It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.” (2) Why is Your apparel red, and Your garments like the one who treads in the winepress? (3) “I have trodden the wine trough alone, and from the peoples there was no man with Me. I also trod them in My anger, and trampled them in My wrath; and their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments, and I stained all My raiment. (Verses 2 – 3 of Isaiah 63 links up with what we’ve read in verse 15 of Revelation 19.) (4) For the day of vengeance was in My heart, and My year of redemption has come. (5) And I looked, and there was no one to help, and I was astonished and there was no one to uphold; so My own arm brought salvation to Me; and My wrath upheld Me. (6) And I trod down the peoples in My anger, and made them drunk in My wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.” This final action against Esau will only happen when Messiah returns on the forty eight hour long day of Yom Teruah or the Feast of Trumpets also known as Rosh Hashanah, to rule the united nation of Israel as the kingdom of Elohim from Jerusalem. But, why will Yahshua come from Bozrah?  Will He perhaps come through the ancient city of Edom in Southern Jordan (Petra) to bring with Him the 144, 000 (made up of 12, 000 of each of the 12 tribes), who were taken to be there out of harm’s way, during the tribulation, as may be read from Revelation 12: 13 - 16[2]? This is clearly the day of vengeance spoken about in verse 4 of Isaiah 63. The Messiah’s reckoning with his enemies will coincide with the redemption of His people.

Yahshua returns on Yom Teruah and goes straightway to Jerusalem and save the tents of Judah first (as per Zechariah 12: 7). He finds our Jewish Brothers in synagogue, men sitting separate from their wives (as per Zechariah 12: 10 – 14). They see His hands and like Thomas His disciple did after His resurrection accept Him as their Master and Savior (as recorded in John 19: 26 – 28). At that time there will be great mourning in Jerusalem, when Yahshua grants the Jews repentance and accept them into His fold, thus saving all Israel. But, as soon as the Jews accept Yahshua as their Messiah, the dead in Messiah (those who died believing and doing what Yahshua taught) are resurrected and joins living Nazarene believers as witnessed in Romans 11: 15, in this way: ‘For if their rejection be the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead.’  We read further about the resurrection of those who died in Messiah in 1 Thessalonians 4: 14 – 16, as follows:  ‘For if we believe that Yahshua died and rose again, even so Elohim will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Yahshua. (15) For this we say to you by the word of the Master, that we who are alive, and remain until the coming of the Master, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. (16) For the Master Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of Elohim; and the dead in Messiah shall rise first.’  A second witness of this comes from 1st Corinthians 15: 50 – 52, in this way: ‘Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of Elohim; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. (51) Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, (52) in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable and we shall be changed.’

 

At the same time Yahshua will send forth His angels with a Great Trumpet (the same seventh trumpet) and they will gather His elect (us, if we qualified) from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other        (Matthew 24: 31). This is not the Rapture taught by Christianity – because these elect will have been changed or resurrected as Spiritual children of Elohim and will simply disappear from the area where they normally reside and re-appear at the Mount of Olives in Israel, similar to what happened to Philip after he immersed the Eunuch in Acts 8: 34 – 40. We read from verse 39 of Acts 8 that after Philip immersed this man, the Spirit of YHVH snatched him away, and he was seen no more, but found himself in Azotus (between Gaza and Azdod), and he kept preaching the gospel of the coming kingdom of Elohim to all the cities.  We see that the true believers are those whom YHVH has called out of the world and its false religions, who were chosen by Yahshua (immersed in His saving name) but also who remained faithful (keeping Torah according to Yahshua’s stricter halacha, i.e. better than the scribes and the Pharisees, as He said in Matthew 5: 20), but also our Jewish Brothers who remained Torah observant until then. This brings us to Zechariah 14: 1 – 9, where we read about Yahshua and His elect arriving at the Mount of Olives, as follows: ‘Behold, a day is coming for YHVH when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. (2) For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the woman ravished, and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. (3) Then YHVH will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. (4) And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. (5) And you will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then YHVH, my Elohim, will come, and all the holy ones with Him! (6) And it will come about in that day that there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle. (7) For it will be a unique day which is known to YHVH, neither day nor night, but it will come about at evening time there will be light. (8) And it will come about in that day that living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter. (9) And YHVH will be king over all the earth; in that day YHVH will be the only one, and His name the only one.’

 

YHVH calls us to come out of the false religions of the world, so that we do not partake of their paganism any longer, but also so that we will not one day soon, partake of her plagues, as we read from Revelation 18: 4 & 5, as follows: ‘And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, that you may not participate in her sins and that you may not receive of her plagues; (5) for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and Elohim has remembered her iniquities.”’  So we see that our calling by YHVH to follow His way of life means much more than what meets the eye. We are given more details about our calling by Rav Shaul in 2 Corinthians 6: 14 – 18, in this way: ‘Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? (15) Or what harmony has Messiah with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? (16) Or what agreement has the temple of Elohim with idols? For we are the temple of the living Elohim; just as Elohim said, “I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR ELOHIM, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. (17) Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” Says YHVH, “AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; and I will welcome you. (18) And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” says YHVH Almighty.’ But, we know from Leviticus 26: 12 where the second part of verse 16 above is taken, that there are pre-conditions before we can expect YHVH our Elohim to come and dwell among us. As much as each one of us is expected to carry his/her own cross, we cannot expect Yahshua our Messiah to keep the commandments for us. We cannot expect Him to walk the narrow lonely road that we have been called to follow, and to do it in our stead. Yes, He paid the penalty for our past transgressions, and died for our individual sins, but we are now required to walk the narrow lonely road alone, with the help of the Set-apart Spirit. We cannot expect Yahshua our Messiah to do that for us as well. Turning to Leviticus 26: 12 – 17 we read about the preconditions set by YHVH before He will come and dwell amongst us, in this way: ‘I will also walk among you and be your Elohim, and you shall be My people. (13) I am YHVH your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you should not be their slaves, and I broke the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect. (14) But if you do not obey Me and do not carry out all these commandments, (15) if, instead, you reject My statutes, and if your soul abhors My ordinances so as not to carry out all My commandments, and so break My covenant, (16) I, in turn, will do this to you: I will appoint over you a sudden terror, consumption and fever that shall waste away the eyes and cause the soul to pine away; also, you shall sow your seed uselessly, for your enemies shall eat it up. (17) And I will set My face against you so that you shall be struck down before your enemies; and those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee when no one is pursuing you.’

Brethren, this has already happened in countries like South Africa and we are being punished severely for not living according to Elohim’s way, because most of us have been deceived to accept the mark of the beast, and to worship G-d the way the false prophet prescribed. If we truly want to be saved from our current exile, we will have to make YHVH the Elohim of Israel our King and Elohim, or we will soon perish with the rest of Esau, together with the image of the beast and the false prophet when Messiah will finally make an end to those in Edom still alive, at His return. From the time that YHVH entered into a covenant relationship with Israel at Mount Sinai, He wanted to dwell among His people, as witnessed in Exodus 29: 45, as follows: “And I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be their Elohim.”  But, in order for that to happen, we need to clean up our lives and what we eat in accordance with Elohim’s requirements, given in for example Leviticus 19: 2; 20: 7; 21: 6 as well as Ephesians 1: 3 & 4, in this way: “Blessed be the Elohim and Father of our Master Yahshua Messiah, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Messiah, (4) just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love.’ The objective of this is: if we call Yahshua our Master and Savior, then we should serve Him, by doing what He taught and did whilst He was on earth, and by keeping the commandments of Elohim, as He stated in His own words in Matthew 7: 21 - 23, saying: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Master, Master,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. (22) Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Master, Master, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ (23) And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’” Think carefully about it!

 

[1] Ezekiel 37: 24, “And My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances, and keep My statutes, and observe them.”

[2] Revelation 12: 13 – 16: ‘And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. And the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, in order that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth.’

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