Where is the Place of Safety?

One of the most common and timeless principles told throughout scripture is that God protects his people. Whether it is the story of Joseph, King David, Daniel or Esther, God delivers the righteous in the day of trial.

Beginning with the Flood account we learn that because of the faithfulness of Noah, God spared him and his family (Heb 11:7 ;Gen 6:9). We know from 2 Peter 2:7 that God “delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked” and that “the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations“. Because Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego were faithful to God and would not bend the knee to a golden idol, they were delivered from the fiery furnace. (Dan 3:25) And there are numerous other examples of deliverance throughout scripture.

However, this is not to say that our Christian walk is an easy one. Many times we face an uphill battle trying to maintain our values in an immoral world. Fighting the good fight quite often is a fight! Also, as we know, God chastens every son he loves and gives us trials and tests to refine us as gold is refined in the fire. However, we know God is faithful, who will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear but with the temptation will also make the way of escape. (I Cor 10:13).

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all. He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken. Evil shall slay the wicked, And those who hate the righteous shall be condemned.
Psa 34:19-21 NKJV.

God is not going to break us under a pressures of a horrible trial and does deliver His people in the day of trial- especially when that trial is a punishment brought upon the wicked. And there are multiple examples of this as well in scripture.

When Abraham learned that the cities of Sodom and Gomorah were to be destroyed, in his plea to the LORD, he states:

“would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? “Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
Gen 18:24-25 NKJV.

Abraham makes it clear that God is not indiscriminately punish the righteous with the wicked. He is precise in his punishment or his wrath would not be justified. And as we apply this principle to Bible prophecy it is clear to see in the scriptures that God will provide a way of escape for the saints at the end time. Notice Revelation chapter 3:

Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
Rev 3:10 NKJV.

As we read through chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation Christ warns all seven of the Churches, but it was only Philadelphia that had been faithful to keep His word and had not denied His name (3:8). God promises to protect his church during the tribulation if they persevere– if they are faithful. Again, in the book of Zephaniah, we see God offers protection to his people during “The great day of the Lord”:

Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together, O undesirable nation, Before the decree is issued, Or the day passes like chaff, Before the Lord’s fierce anger comes upon you, Before the day of the Lord’s anger comes upon you! Seek the LORD, all you meek of the earth, Who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of the Lord’s anger.
Zep 2:1-3 NKJV.

It is very clear from the context of the book of Zephaniah that “The great day of the LORD” being referred to here (Zep 1:14) is none other than The Great Tribulation. And even though He plans to “utterly consume everything from the face of the land,” he also offers protection to those who have upheld justice and seek righteousness and humility. There are prerequisites to escaping the Great Tribulation!

Notice again in during the Ovellet prophecy, Christ offers a way of escape to those who watch and pray.

“Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Luke 21:36 NKJV.

Here we read of even more requirements to be accounted worthy to escape. So far we have learned that we need to persevere (Rev3:10), uphold justice and seek righteousness (Zep 2:3) and now also to “watch and pray” (Luke 21:36). Another requirement to escape is described in Psalms 91:

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence.
Psa 91:1-3 NKJV.

Here we read protection is provided to those who dwell in the “secret place”. Although Psams 91 is ambiguous about what, where and how we get to this “secret place”, when we compare it to Revelation 12 many more pieces of the puzzle come together.

“Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.” Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.
Rev 12:12-14 NKJV.

In multiple places in scripture the church is referred to as a woman. (Is 54:5-6; 2 Cor 11:2; Rev 19:7-9; Eph 5:25-27). And so from this passage we learn that the church is supernaturally protected from the wrath of the dragon where she is taken to her place where she is nourished for 3-1/2 years. It is interesting to note that in the Hebrew of Psalms 91 and in the Greek of Revelation 12 that the words used for “place” is singular in both instances. Neither passages allow for it to be translated as “places”.

We learn even more about this place of nourishment in Isaiah 42. Keep in mind as you read these verses that the context of the chapter is clearly at the time of the end where the “LORD shall go forth like a mighty man”(v13) and “will lay waste the mountains and hills”(v15). During this time of destruction we learn that there is a place where the inhabitants sing praises to God:

Sing to the LORD a new song, And His praise from the ends of the earth, You who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, You coastlands and you inhabitants of them! Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voice, The villages that Kedar inhabits. Let the inhabitants of Sela sing, Let them shout from the top of the mountains. Let them give glory to the LORD
Isa 42:10-12 NKJV.

The two places mentioned where the inhabitants “will sing to the LORD a new song” is Kedar and Sela. Numerous sources identify Sela as the Edomite city Petra which historically was located on the border of Moab. This is confirmed by multiple bible commentaries and dictionaries such as:

• Easton’s Bible Dictionary
• Smith’s Bible Dictionary
• International Bible Dictionary
• Barnes Notes on the Bible

Also note that in Isaiah 42, it is not necessarily Kedar that is singing to the Lord but the villages in which they dwell in- which would include Sela or Petra!

More is described about Sela during the time of the end in Isaiah 33. Like chapter 42, the level of destruction and judgment brought upon the earth described in chapter 33 can refer to no other event than The Day of the Lord. Especially when this chapter refers to the fact that we will “see the King in His beauty”(v17) and that “The LORD is our King; He will save us”(v22)- it is impossible to interpret this chapter as any other than end time bible prophecy. Here in Isaiah 33 it states:

The sinners in Zion are afraid; Fearfulness has seized the hypocrites: “Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?” He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, He who despises the gain of oppressions, Who gestures with his hands, refusing bribes, Who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed, And shuts his eyes from seeing evil: He will dwell on high; His place of defense will be the fortress of rocks; Bread will be given him, His water will be sure. Your eyes will see the King in His beauty; They will see the land that is very far off.
Isa 33:14-17 NKJV.

The phrase “the fortress of rocks” is rather obscure in most English translations. However the word translated “rocks” here is none other than the Hebrew word “sela”. The Septuagint translation refers to this as “petra”. It is also interesting to note that from the mountain Jubal al Kura that over looks Petra, on a clear day, you can easily view Jerusalem.  Jubal al Kura stands at 4038 ft where as by comparison Mt. Zion of Jerusalem is only 2510 ft and is less than 100 miles away.   From Petra it is very easy to “see the land (Israel) that is very far off.”

From these clues from Isaiah 33 we learn that at the time of the end when “the highways lie waste”(v8), “the earth morns”(v9) and “nations are scattered” the Saints will be protected and provided food and water at the fortress of Sela or Petra. This passage sounds very similar to Revelation 12:14 where the woman is nourished in the wilderness during the 3-1/2 year tribulation.

This scenario in described again in Isaiah chapter 16 where the people of God are protected in the Wilderness of Sela at the time of the end.

Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion. For it shall be, that, as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, so the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon. Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; betray not him that wandereth. Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land. And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.
Isa 16:1-5 KJV.

Once again all of the same elements are being described together: Sela and the wilderness are being compared to Moab, to which Petra is on the boarder of. The shadow is hiding the escaping outcasts who are being sheltered and protected from the face of the spoiler. If the spoiler referred to here is the Dragon, then the wilderness of Revelation 12 is the same wilderness of Isaiah 16. Notice Daniel 11:

“At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through. “He shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon.
Dan 11:40-41 NKJV.

After the Exodus of Egypt, when the children of Israel had come to the promised land, there is an interesting pattern that emerges. Twice the Israelites came to the land of Promise 40 years apart. The first approach to the Land of Promise is described in Numbers 12 where each tribe had sent in a spy.

So Moses sent them from the Wilderness of Paran according to the command of the LORD, all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel.
Num 13:3

Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.
Num 13:26

The congregation of Israel had encamped at Kadesh which is more specific than the “region” of the Wilderness of Paran. Kadesh according to Brown-Drivers-Briggs Bible Dictionary simply means “Holy”. However, by the time we come to Deuteronomy, 40 years later, Kadesh is now referred to “Kadesh Barnea”.

So we departed from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw on the way to the mountains of the Amorites, as the LORD our God had commanded us. Then we came to Kadesh Barnea.
Deu 1:19 

Deuteronomy chapter 1 is a recap of Numbers 13. Here Moses is retelling the previous story of when the children of Israel prepared to enter the promise land.  But now after 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, Kadesh is renamed as “Kadesh Barnea”. Kadesh means “Holy place”. The Hebrew word Barnea means son (bar) of a wanderer (nua-נוּעַ). Kadesh Barnea can be translated as“Holy place of the children of wandering“.Remember that in Isaiah 16:3 that God’s people were referred to as a wanderer (nadad-נָדַד).

According to Josephus in the Antiquities of the Jews (4.4.7), Jerome and Eusebius, Kadesh Barnea is the same as Petra and Sela.  And from scripture we have very good reasons to believe this. We know that Petra sits on the border between Edom and Moab. Numbers 20:16 is clear that Kadesh Barnea also is at the border between Edom and Moab.

When we cried out to the LORD, He heard our voice and sent the Angel and brought us up out of Egypt; now here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your border.
Num 20:16 

Also we know that Aaron the priest died just outside of Kadesh as described in Numbers 20:22.

Then the children of Israel, the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh and came to Mount Hor. And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor by the border of the land of Edom, saying: Aaron shall be gathered to his people, for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the children of Israel

To this day Mt. Hor and the Tomb of Aaron can be located on any map- including Google maps as being located less than three miles just West of Petra. Just to the east is Wadi Musa which means “Valley of Moses” in Arabic. Evidence of the Children of Israel is everywhere. What this tells us that twice the Children of Israel dwelt in Petra to prepare for entering into the promised land.

And so as we compile all of the scriptural evidence it becomes quite compelling that Petra is The Place of Safety:
– The Most High provides protection to his people in his secret place (Ps 91)
– the outcasts of God who wander are going to dwell in Moab to hide from the spoiler (Isa 16)
– the church will go into the wilderness to be nourished in her place for 3-1/2 years(Rev 12)
– Edom, Moab and Ammon will protected from the Beast of Revelation (Dan 11)
– The place of defense for the righteous will be the Fortress of Rocks(Petra) where they will be nourished and can see “The Land” before the return of the King (Isa 33)
– The inhabitants of Sela (Petra) will sing at the time of the end (Isa 42)
– Twice the Children of Israel used Petra as the staging area to prepare before entering into the promised land. (Deut 1 & Num 13).

The Apostle Paul makes it clear that the day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night. Those who watch and prepare will escape. But those who live in darkness will be taken by sudden destruction.

But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.
1Th 5:1-6 NKJV.