Obadiah 1:16
For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been. For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been.
In the prophecy Jacob stands for believers and Esau for unbelievers, and their conflict reaches to the closing struggle involving the image beast. The verse teaches that the wicked will be destroyed utterly from the earth until they are as though they had never been or existed. That utter blotting out is the final fate of the wicked, leaving none remaining to continue in existence.
Those thus cut off and perishing include Satan and all who join him in rebellion. Those destroyed are the wicked who rebel against God and trample His authority. They will be consumed by fire and return to dust.
They will be destroyed only after suffering the punishment for their guilt, and their end is the second death, the opposite of eternal life. This destruction takes place at the final ingathering. The verse applies to the final separation of the rebellious and the righteous at the second coming of Christ. It supports the final destruction of sin and sinners after the great controversy ends.
In contrast, God remembers and honors the righteous who fear Him and gives them everlasting life. The wicked will not be kept alive to suffer endless misery forever, nor will they be taken to heaven. Their destruction satisfies divine justice, the mercy shown in this outcome calls for admiration and praise, and after they are destroyed the heavenly host will respond with amen.