When the children of Israel left Mount Sinai, after they fled from Egypt, in the "greatest escape in all history, " where did they go?
The apostle Paul tells us, "For we must never forget, dear brothers, what happened to our people in the wilderness long ago. God guided them by sending a cloud that moved along ahead of them; and he brought them all safely over the waters of the Red Sea (to a place of safety, write for our free article the Red Sea Crossing). And by a miracle God sent them food to eat and water to drink in the desert; they drank the water that Christ gave them. He was there with them as a mighty Rock of spiritual refreshment" (I Cor. 10:1-4).
What happened then to ancient Israel 3,000 years ago was a pattern-an example-a type for us! Even as they fled Egypt "on eagle's wings," even so God will deliver His Church in the future on "two wings of a great eagle" (Rev. 12:14). Even as they were chased by a human army, so the Church will be chased by an army sent by Satan (compare Exodus 14:1-13; Rev. 12:14-16). This army will be composed of Assyrian (German) troops, or the allies of Germany, including the Jordanian army! It really doesn't matter who sends the army after the Church, God will supernaturally intervene and destroy that army in a huge earthquake, even as He intervened and destroyed the army of Pharaoh 3,500 years ago in the waters of the Red Sea. Jordan, where Petra is located, will be an ally of Germany and the revived Roman Empire, undoubtedly the reason the country of Jordan will not be attacked when the Beast power launches its attack on the Middle East (Dan. 1 1:40-4 1).
GOD BROUGHT ANCIENT ISRAEL TO PETRA FOR SAFETY REASONS
Isn't it a bit strange that one of the very NAMES of Jesus Christ, our "Rock," is the very name of the mysterious city of antiquity, Petra? Could God be telling us something here?
Petra is named after none other than Jesus Christ! In ancient times, in Hebrew, the name of that city was Sela, which also means "Rock." And in the Old Testament, the Lord, the Eternal, the "Rock" of Israel, the One who became Christ, was also called Sela- one of the very names or titles of Almighty God!
David said of God, "The Lord is my rock (Sela!), and my fortress, and my deliverer; the God of my rock (tsur, meaning a "cliff, sharp rock, boulder")..." (II Samuel 22:2-3).
What about Petra? Could it very likely be the place of final refuge?
There is no doubt that the "Sela" of Scripture is identified with Petra. Says the New Bible Dictionary:
Etymologically the word sela' or has-sela' means `rock' or `cliff'. Just the same word that Petra means and may be used of any rocky place. There is, however, a specific Sela in the Bible which may now be identified with the massive rocky plateau, Umm el-Biyara, which towers 1,000 feet above the level of Petra (the Greek translation of Sela), and 3,700 feet above sea level.... It was finally taken about 300 BC by the Nabataeans, who converted the great valley to the north, some 4,500 feet long and 740-1,500 feet across, quite enclosed by mountain walls, into the amazing rock-cut city of Petra-the `rose-red city half as old as time.'
There are several Biblical references to Sela, or Petra. In Judges 1:36 we read: "And the coast of the Amorites was from the going up to Akrabbim, from the rock [Petra], and upward."
In II Kings 14:7 we read that king Amaziah of Judah" . . . slew of Edom in the valley of salt ten thousand, and took Selah [Petra] by war, and called the name of it Joktheel unto this day."
In II Chronicles 25:12, we read further: "And other ten thousand left alive did the children of Judah carry away captive, and brought them unto the top of the rock [Petra], and cast them down from the top of the rock, that they all were broken in pieces." In those days Petra was the scene of a tremendous massacre.
In Isaiah 16:1 we read, "Send ye the lamb [a tribute, or peace offering] to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion." Sela, here, undoubtedly refers to Petra.
Isaiah 42:11 declares: "Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock [Petra] sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. "Could this be a reference to the Church of God, living in the wilderness of Petra, in the end time?
Obadiah 3 also speaks of Sela, or Petra once a possession of the children of Edom. The prophet says of Edom, Jacob's brother, "The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground? Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will bring thee down, saith the Lord" (Obadiah 3-4).
The "rock" in this verse is "Sela" or "Petra." The country of Edom today, however, is Turkey, and the ancient city of Petra is uninhabited-a mere tourist attraction in the kingdom of Jordan.
The New Westminster Dictionary of the Bible says of Sela:
The place Sela lies in the corner of a deep sandstone canyon excavated by water on the north east flank of Mt. Hor. The valley, with branching side valleys, is about 4,500 feet long by 740 to 1,500 broad, and is surrounded on all sides by precipitous sandstone cliffs. The main gorge is called Wadi Musa, the Valley of Moses ... A rivulet traverses it through its whole length. The variegated colours of the rock-red, brown, purple, yellow-add to the beauty of the spot. There are tombs, remains of temples, an amphitheatre, a triumphal arch, etc., most of them apparently of Roman times. Besides these, there are tombs and dwelling houses in the adjacent cliffs, some of which may be of older date. On the height above, overlooking the ancient city, is the great high place; and yet other altars stand on neighbouring lofty sites.
The Hebrew word Sela means "to be lofty; a craggy rock, a fortress, strong hold." It is the name for God, or Christ, and the name for the rock-city of Idumea-Petra!
Isn't it interesting that David spoke of God as our refuge, our "place of safety," and the one place in all the world which bears this name is the rock-city of Petra?
The first place the word sela is used in the Bible is Numbers 20:8. We find that after leaving Sinai, the people of Israel arrived in the wilderness of Zin (verse 1), and camped at a place called "Kadesh, where Miriam died and was buried. There was not enough water to drink at that place, so the people again rebelled against Moses and Aaron. A great mob formed, and they held a protest meeting" (Numbers 20:1-3).
The people called it an "evil place" (verse 5). They were furious with Moses and Aaron. But God told Moses, "Get Aaron's rod; then you and Aaron must summon the people. As they watched, he said speak to that rock [sela, or Petra!] over there and tell it to pour out its water! You will give them water from a rock, enough for all the people and all their cattle"(verse 8).
Where was this place? The very name of the rock identifies it as Petra! This was the rock-city of God, in the wilderness. Moses was to speak to the rock, and the water would gush forth. The rock was a type of Christ Himself! But instead, angry at the complaints of the people, Moses lost his composure and self control, and angrily whacked the rock twice with Aaron's rod (verses 10-1 1). Because of this disobedience and lack of faith, God didn't let Moses or Aaron enter the promised land (verse 12).
How do we know this place was Petra?
Arab tradition, which dates back thousands of years, confirms it. However, there is Biblical proof as well.
We read in the book of Numbers,".......... so the Israelites left the Sinai wilderness, and followed the Cloud until it stopped in the wilderness of Paran. This was their first journey after having received the Lord's travel instructions to Moses" (Num. 10: 12-13).
Notice! God told them where to go! He led them to the exact place He wanted them to be. But where was the wilderness of Paran?
In Hebrew Paran, strikingly enough, literally means "full of caverns" (see Young's Concordance). Also, interestingly, the root word for paran (pa'ar) means, "to gleam, embellish, beautify, glorify" (Strong's Concordance). What more apt description could there be of Petra! The area is filled with caverns; and ages ago men embellished the area by cutting into the beautiful sandstone the façades of ornate buildings!
The Hebrew root means "to dig out" or "to cut out." And that is exactly what the builders of ancient Petra did aeons ago!
It was from this place, this "staging area," that God instructed the people to send the spies into the land of Canaan (Num. 12:16; 13:1-3).
We read: "Forty days later they returned from their tour. They made their report to Moses, Aaron, and all the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh, and they showed the fruit they had brought with them" (Num. 13:25-26).
What was this place called "Kadesh"?
Kadesh, in Hebrew, literally means "Holy." God had brought them to this holy place! Why was it called "Holy"?
This place was also called "Kadesh-barnea" (Deut. 9:23). This was the sacred spot from which God told the Israelites to enter the promised land-but they refused, and rebelled, and were then exiled into the wilderness for forty years (Num. 14).
The word barnea is composed of two Hebrew roots-bar, meaning "son of," and nea, which means "to waver or wander" (also spelled nua or nuwa). Strong's Concordance points out that the root qadash means "to be, make, pronounce or observe as clean" - "to consecrate, dedicate, hallow, be holy."
Only God can make a place hallowed, or holy, by His divine presence! Kadesh actually means a "SANCTUARY!"
The word bar can mean, besides "son of," "field," or "open country." The word nuwa is a primitive root meaning to "waver, fugitive, remove, scatter, set, shake, sift, be vagabond, wander" (Strong's Concordance).
Kadesh-barnea, when put together, literally means "Holy place of the desert of a fugitive!" (Strong's Concordance).
When God's people flee to safety, won't they literally be fugitives? How appropriate, then, that God will lead His people to the HOLY PLACE in the wilderness or desert for FUGITIVES! God names things exactly what they are!
Here, then, by its very name is a place for God's fugitives, vagabonds, outcasts, those who have, been removed and sifted from the nations! Where was this place called "Kadesh"?
It was not in the Sinai desert, as most Bible geographers would place it. We read in Deuteronomy, "Then we left Mount Horeb and travelled through the great and terrible desert, finally arriving among the Amorite hills to which the Lord our God had directed us. We were then at Kadesh barnea (on the border of the Promised Land) (Deut. 1:19-20).
It took eleven days to go from Mount Horeb or Sinai to Kadesh-barnea, "going by way of Mount Seir" (Deut. 1:4-5). They went to "the hill country of the Amorites, the valley of the Arabah . . . " (vs. 6-7).
This "hill country" lay to the south of the Promised Land-cast of the Sinai peninsula. It was known as the Arabah-the valley of the Jordan, continuing down to the Red Sea. The name applies to the rift valley which runs from the sea of Galilee to the gulf of Aqabah.
Moses wrote, "So we passed through Edom where our brothers lived, crossing the Arabah Road that goes south to Elath and Ezi-on-geber, and travelling northward toward the Moab desert" (Deut. 2:8).
This was after they had left Kadesh, and journeyed northward (vs. 14-15), after 38 years had been spent in the wilderness, until the older generation had died off.
The Dead Sea is called the Sea of Arabah (Joshua 3:16, 12:3; Deut. 4:49). The valley of the Jordan downstream to the Dead Sea is called the Ghor, the "depression," and the Arabah more properly begins south of the Scorpion cliffs and terminates in the Gulf of Aqabah (The New Bible Dictionary).
Mount Seir is the chain of mountains between the Arabah and Arabia, lying east of the Arabah. Since Israel had to go by way of Mount Seir, to get to Kadesh, Kadesh was not located in the Sinai peninsula
The hill country of the Amorites, near which Kadesh was located, was the region adjacent to Petra. In Judges we read, "The boundary of the Amorites begins at the ascent of Scorpion Pass, runs to a spot called The Rock [Sela, or Petra!], and continues upward from there" (Judges 1:36).
Kadesh was located in the "wilderness of Zin," as well as the wilderness of Paran. God told Moses, "When the people of Israel rebelled, you did not glorify me before them by following my instructions to order water to come out of the rock." He was referring to the incident at the waters of Meribah (`Place of Strife') in Kadesh, in the "wilderness of Zin " " (Num. 27:14).
The word Zin means "to prick, a crag"-that is, a craggy peak that pierces the sky. This is a perfect description of the mountains surrounding Petra!
Israel travelled from "Ezion-geber to Kadesh (in the wilderness of Zin); from Kadesh to Mount Hor (at the edge of the land of Edom)" (Num. 33:37). Aaron died at Mount Hor (vs. 38-39). In Deuteronomy 10:6 this spot is called by another name-Moserah. But in this verse, Mount Hor is not only called by a different name, so is Kadesh! Notice! "The people of Israel then journeyed from Be-eroth [meaning "wells"] of Bene-jaakan to Moserah, where Aaron died and was buried" (Deut. 10:6).
In one account we are told the Israelites journeyed from Kadesh to Mount Hor, where Aaron died; in the other, the names are given as from Bene-jaakan to Moserah, where Aaron died. Clearly, then, Bene-jaakan is another name for Kadesh, even as Moserah is another name for Mount Hor.
What does the name "Bene-Jaakan" mean? "Ben" means " son," in Hebrew, so "bene-Jaakan" means "the sons of Jaakan." Jaakan is the Jaakan of I Chronicles 1:42, the son of Ezer. Ezer is the son of Esau (I Chron. 1:38-39). Esau is none other than Seir the Horite (compare I Chron. 1:38-39 with Genesis 36:20-21).
The word Horite means cave dweller! Jaakan was descended from these cave dwellers. Speaking of these Horites, or troglodytes, Young's Concordance tells us: "Their excavated dwellings are still found in hundreds in the sandstone cliffs and mountains of Edom, but especially at Petra. "
So here is further proof that Kadesh, which is BeneJaakan, is the same place as Petra-the original city of cave dwellers! Horite, in Hebrew, is the word Choriy, and simply means "cave dweller. "
Also among the early dwellers at Petra were the Kenites, a tribe of Arabs. Numbers 24:21 speaks of this tribe: "Yes, you are strongly situated, your nest is set in the rocks!" Here the word for rocks is Sela, the name for Petra!
According to Judges 1:16, "the descendants of Moses' father-in-law" were "members of the Kenite tribe." Thus Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, was a Kenite! Very possibly, when Moses fled from Egypt, he crossed the Sinai desert and found himself at Petra, where the Kenites dwelt with the Horites! Very possibly Moses had lived in or near 'Petra, forty years before he led the children of Israel there! He had, inadvertently, scouted out the territory in advance.
All this evidence, then, indicates that Kadesh-or Petra-is a holy place to God. Nothing is "holy" unless God makes it holy, by his divine presence. When God first spoke to Moses, He told him, "Don't come any closer ... Take off your shoes, for you are standing on holy ground" (Exo. 3:5). God's own presence made the ground holy!
In Numbers 20:1 we read that the people of Israel " ... camped at Kadesh, where Miriam died and was buried.
Says William Whiston, editor of Josephus'Antiquities of the Jews, in a footnote: "It is said her sepulchre is still extant near Petra the old capital city of Arabia Petrea, at this day, as also that of Aaron not far off" (Bk. IV, ch. iv, sec. 7).
Josephus, in recounting the death of Aaron, wrote in the Antiquities. " . . . and when he came to a place which the Arabians esteem their metropolis, which was formerly called Arce, but has now the name of Petra, at this place, which was encompassed with high mountains, Aaron went up one of them in the sight of the whole army, Moses having before told him that he was to die, for this place was over against them" (ibid.).
This was the very place where Moses had struck the "Rock" when he had been commanded to but speak to it (Num. 20:1-12). The first time this word Sela appears in the Bible is in this account of what happened at "Kadesh! " Since Sela is identified as Petra, here is further evidence that Kadesh is the same! No wonder that Arab tradition, then, points to Petra as the place where Moses and Aaron struck the rock to bring forth water!
The mountain on which Aaron died, a 4,800 foot peak called Jebel Nebi Harun by the Arabs, literally translates "The Mount of the Prophet Aaron." It is the same peak as Mount Hor (Num. 20:23-29), and is near Petra.
It is interesting to note, at this point, that when Israel travelled from Petra, they were not permitted to use the "King's Highway" which ran through Edom to the east. The king of Edom refused them passage (Num. 20:14-18). This famous highway of antiquity followed the same path as the main road today from Amman to the Gulf of Aqaba!
Could this indicate that in the future, God's Church will not be allowed to use this route from Amman to Petra, when fleeing to the place of safety? Even as ancient Israel was forbidden passage on the "King's Highway," and had to travel up the Arabah, will the Church of God have to use the Arabah road to get to the place of refuge?
With the King's Highway closed to them, Moses wrote, "So we passed through our kinsfolk the sons of Esau, who live in Seir, from Elath and Ezion-geber on the Arabah route" (Deut. 2:8, Moffatt). They used the Arabah Road instead of the King's Highway!
Although the rose-red city. of rock, Petra, now lies within the border of Jordan, according to the Scriptures, it rightfully belongs to Israel and is part of their inheritance.
Petra, or Kadesh-Barnea, is "on the border of the Promised Land" (Deut. 1:20-21). The territory given to the tribe of Judah included Petra. "Judah's southern boundary began at the northern border of Edom, crossed the Wilderness of Zin, and ended at the northern edge of the Negeb. More specifically, this boundary began at the south bay of the Salt Sea, ran along the road going south of Mount Akrabbim, on into the Wilderness of Zin to Hezron (south of Kadeshbarnea), and then up through Karka and Azmon, until it finally reached the Brook of Egypt, and along that to the Mediterranean Sea" (Joshua IS: 1-4).
"So Joshua and his army conquered the whole country-the nations and kings of the hill country, the Negeb, the lowlands, and the mountain slopes. They destroyed everyone in the land, just as the Lord God of Israel had commanded, slaughtering them from Kadesh-barnea to Gaza, and from Goshen to Gibeon" (Josh. 10:40-41).
Petra rightfully belongs to Judah---to the nation of Israel! Although it is presently part of the territory of the Kingdom of Jordan, God's Word says it properly is part of the inheritance He promised to the Jewsl
During the Millennial Reign of Christ, it will be returned to its rightful owners.
Another name for Petra, is the Arabic word for "rock," that is, Rekem. Josephus relates in Antiquities that the Arabians called Petra "Arce" (Bk. IV, ch. iv, sec. 7). But he says further, that "Rekem" was " . . . a city, the chief and capital of all Arabia, which is still now so called by the whole Arabian nation, Arecem, from the name of the king that built it; but is by the Greeks called Petra" (Bk. IV, ch. vii, sec. 1).
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, "But in the Aramaic versions Rekem is the name of KADESH." This authority adds: "Sometimes the Aramaic versions give the form Rekem-Geya (for Kadesh), which recalls she name of the village El-ji, southeast of Petra."
Thus Arce-Rekem-Jaakan-Sela-Kadesh-or Petra whatever you wish to call it, this city figures very prominently in the history of Israel, particularly during the flight of the Israelites from Egypt!
Is Petra, then, the place of safety promised in the Scriptures?
When we honestly examine all the evidence in the Bible, we see indications that Petra could indeed be a place of safety and refuge for God's people.
There is no mention of any other "place of safety. " The clear picture is that many of God's people, very likely numbering in the thousands, will be protected during Jacobs trouble in the final cycle of the Great Tribulation by the supernatural power of God in the desert region of Petra, south of the Dead Sea.
This is where God led His people Israel, after they left Mount Sinai. This is where the apostle Paul, according to tradition preserved by the ancient Church historian Eusebius, went when he travelled to Arabia: "According to old tradition . . . Paul visited Petra when he went into Arabia (Gal. 1:17), " says the International Standard Encyclopedia. Apparently Paul spent about three years in Petra (verse 18), where he was taught by Jesus Christ, either personally, or through the written word of God (Gal. 1: 12).
We don't know for certain that Petra is the place. But the evidence is very strong. If Petra is the place of safety, will you believe it? Will you act upon that knowledge, when the time comes?
Writes Philip Hammond, "The Arabs today call the wadi, or dry river bed, in which Petra is located the Wadi Musa or `Valley of Moses.' According to Arab tradition, it was here that Moses struck the rock to obtain water (Numbers 13:2-13). Even today the spring and cleft rock can be seen by visitors. Another legend has it that this Biblical event created the Siq, or defile, which is the only practical way to enter Petra" (ibid.).
Petra is not the only "Sela" mentioned in the Bible.
It is very interesting to find that within the country of Israel, today, is a place named Selahammahlekoth. This word is Hebrew for "the rock of escapes" or "Rock of Escape!"
When king Saul was pursuing David and his band, in an attempt to kill David and remove him forever as a threat to the throne, David and "his men went even further into the wilderness of Maon in the south of the desert. But Saul followed them there. He and David were now on opposite sides of a mountain. As Saul and his men began to close in, David tried his best to escape, but it was no use. But just then a message reached Saul that the Philistines were raiding Israel again, so Saul quit the chase and returned to fight the Philistines. Ever since that time the place where David was camped has been called 'The Rock of Escape!' David then went to live in the caves of Engedi" (I Samuel 23:24-29).
"The Rock of Escape!"
Could this story of the flight of David be significant for us, today? This name can also be interpreted as "the rock of divisions," or "the rock divided," probably in allusion to the natural features of the rock. But can this meaning have special significance for God's Church? Revelation 12 indicates one part of God's Church will be protected in the "wilderness," whereas another part will suffer the pangs and woes of Great Tribulation. That is, the Church will be "divided," between those who escape, and those who do not-those who are taken to a place of safety, and those who are not.
From this spot, David and his 600 men, besides their families, moved southward and dwelt for several years in the cliffs of Engedi-natural caves and "strong holds." The word "strong" here means "a fastness, as a covert of ambush, castle, fort, strong hold, munition. " The word "hold" also means "a fastness, castle, defence, fort, strong place."
The name Engedi means "the spring of the wild goats" or gazelles, a name given to the spot from the vast, numbers of ibexes which inhabit these cliffs on the western side of the Dead Sea. ---to be continued
Alex Cain
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Knowing that the New World Order through the media has for about the last 20 years been downgrading the Monarch and her offspring the intention being that once the Monarchy has been got rid of then the British are easy meat for a takeover; (write for our free article Announcing the Kingdom of God the countdown has begun) it came as no surprise to learn that the audience was in fact "warmed up" by a comedian that basically roused the audience to have a go at the monarchy whenever they could.
The "debate" consisted of a lot of fists being shown and people were allowed to "speak" for about 30 seconds or more. A whole series of questions were asked during which time the people could show a red card for no or a blue card for yes.
It became obvious that it was a put up job to Finally get rid of the Monarchy. With the Monarchy gone, Europe or Brussels or to be more crude about it Frankfurt would be able to control Britain and thence the rest of the world. Europe just being a staging post.
It is ironic that the very thing that `They' were attempting to do, which was to put in the monarchs place Brussels and its Babylonian system of confusion (read "The castle of lies" by Booker and North) was the very thing that united the British people behind the Monarchy.
The British are sick of Europe and its 25 years of takeover by stealth. Sorry Sir Ted Heath but Lord Rothschild in your Think Tank badly advised you. The British showed this by uniting behind the Queen. They gave Europe the thumbs down and the Queen the thumbs up by 66% of the vote.
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