![]() ![]() We can’t know for certain the location of this “place prepared by God,” but it’s important to keep in mind that the wilderness is the setting where the nation of Israel is protected by the Lord from Pharaoh’s army and is miraculously fed manna and quail (Ex. Others move further to Bozrah and Petra south of the Dead Sea. A number of them make a futile last stand on a mountaintop at Masada. When the Romans destroy the city and the temple in 70 A.D., many Jews escape to the mountains along the Dead Sea. 12:14 says the woman flees into a desert place during the Great Tribulation Petra is perhaps the closest desert hiding place.Īccording to the Jewish historian Josephus, groups of Jews flee to Edom and Petra during the Babylonian invasion of Judah in the sixth century B.C., when Jerusalem and the temple are destroyed. Many scholars believe He will do this just prior to arriving in Jerusalem at the Second Coming. 63:1 tells us the Lord is coming from Bozrah, the region where Petra is located, having defeated His enemies there. 11:41 seems to indicate that Jordan will be one of the only places to elude the Antichrist’s control. There are perhaps subtle hints that Petra is the hiding place of the Great Tribulation. Perhaps, they say, in the Great Tribulation, Jewish Christians will find protection there from the Antichrist’s murderous rage. Because of its remote location and natural defense among the cliffs, some say that believing Jews who heed Jesus’ warnings in the Olivet Discourse flee to Petra when the Romans destroy Jerusalem in 70 A.D. During the days of Jesus and the apostles, Petra is one of the Eastern Mediterranean’s greatest trading centers. Petra may have been the staging post of the Eastern kings who visit the infant Jesus in Bethlehem (Matt. Aaron, the brother of Moses and Miriam, and the first high priest of the Bible, dies in Jordan and is buried in Petra at Mount Hor. For his petulance – striking the rock rather than speaking to it – Moses is forbidden from entering the Promised Land (Num. Local tradition says that the spring at Wadi Musa (Valley of Moses), just outside Petra, is where Moses strikes the rock and brings forth water (Num. Petra seems to be mentioned several times in the Old Testament under different names, including Sela and Joktheel (2 Kings 14:7).ĭuring the Exodus, Moses and the Israelites pass through this area in Edom. The nomadic Nabataeans built most of what exists today, beginning in the 6 th century B.C., but there is archaeological and historical evidence that people settled there as early as 7,000 B.C. The Lord remains true to His Abrahamic covenant.īut where do the Jews flee? Where is the “place prepared by God” in the wilderness? Some speculate this is Petra, a city in modern-day Jordan known for its rock-cut architecture and water conduits system. Whether it is the Mordecai-hating Haman in the Book of Esther, the holocaust-producing Adolph Hitler, or a satanically inspired Antichrist of the future, the enemies of God’s people will not prevail. In any case, there is clear assurance that God protects and provides for faithful Israel.ĭespite Satan’s never-ending campaign to destroy the Jewish people, God faithfully preserves His own. Or perhaps, as futurists contend, this is an unfulfilled prophecy of the last days during which God protects faithful Jews from the Antichrist’s murderous spree. 24:15-22) and escape the Roman army’s destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. But when? Perhaps this is a reference to believing Jews who heed the warnings of Jesus in the Olivet Discourse (Matt. It seems clear that Israel’s flight occurs after the ascension of Jesus. While these interpretations have some merit, they do not seem to fit the context as well as the understanding that the woman is Israel. Others say the woman is the church on its pilgrim journey through the present age, nourished by God while living among a vast multitude of heathens. So, we might ask: When does Israel flee? Where is the wilderness? What is the special place God prepares for her? And what is the meaning of 1,260 days?Īs we noted earlier, some commentators see the woman as the Virgin Mary and conclude that this flight into the wilderness is her departure with Joseph and Jesus into Egypt after Herod’s decree to kill all infant males in and around Bethlehem. Keep in mind that the woman in this vision is Israel. (HCSB)įinally in this section we are told, “The woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared by God, to be fed there for 1,260 days” (v. 12:6 – The woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared by God, to be fed there for 1,260 days. Previously: She gave birth to a Son - Rev. ![]()
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