The Prophet Ezekiel, a contemporary with Zechariah, describes a similar scenario at the time of the end in which the Lord of hosts gives Ezekiel a vision about a plain of Dry Bones (Ezekiel 37) in which He will resurrect these bones as a literal physical people. Then the Lord states, “Man, these bones are the whole people of Israel.” (Ezekiel 37:11)

We must keep in mind, the God of Israel is interested in redeeming and restoring all the tribes of Israel, not just the Tribe of Judah. The Islamic argument with the Jews is a family argument of who had the rights, the oldest son, Ishmael, by Keturah the Egyptian or the youngest son Isaac, by Princess Sarah, for the physical and spiritual inheritance (“blessings”) of Patriarch Abraham. The Gentile Christian Catholic and Protestant argument with the Jews is who has the rights for blessing of redemption and restoration, the “Physical Israelite” descendants the Jews or the “Spiritual Israelite” descendants, the Christian followers of Roman Christianized Jesus.

The Roman Destruction of the Temple – 70 CE

If the prophecy of Ezekiel is read in its literal “pshat” interpretation, the prophecy of the “Dry Bones” has only partially been fulfilled, with the restoration of modern Israel, but the entire House of Israel has never been restored. Then the Lord of hosts gave Ezekiel another Oracle, about the “Two Sticks”, one stick being the House of Judah and the other stick the House of Israel, referred to as “for Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel…” (Ezekiel 37:17)

When the Jewish people living in exile in Babylon inquired about the meaning of these two sticks, the Lord of hosts told him to tell them;

Ezekiel 37:21-23 (parts) - “Thus says the Lord God: “Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land, and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again….I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God.”

The most descriptive scene of the nations fighting against Jerusalem is found in the book of Revelation. The sixth Trumpet (Revelation 9:13-21) Angel is associated with letting loose the four angels ‘bound in the great river Euphrates” (vs. 14) and the coming of the 2 million army (horsemen) in which a third of all mankind are killed.

Revelation 9:13-16 (6^th Trumpet Plague) – “Then the sixth angel sounded: And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, saying to the sixth angel had who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great River Euphrates.” So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind. Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them.”

Associate this with the sixth Vial plague Angel (Revelation 16:2-16), who pours his vial on the Euphrates River, so “the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.”

Revelation 16:12-16 (6^th Bowl Plague) - “Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great River Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of the God Almighty.”

The Russian Church of the Ascension Bell Tower –

Photo by Robert Mock

Whereas this verse (Zechariah 12:1) states, “I (HaShem) will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem”, Revelation 16:14 states that the “Spirits of Devils” are the agents working with the kings of the earth, to “gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty…in a place called in the Hebrew tongue, Armageddon.”

Again, Redak brings the battle of Gog/Magog, which we are beginning to see in the context of the escalation of a regional war. See Ezekiel 39:2.

Zechariah 14:2a - The city shall be taken,

The housed rifled,

And the women ravished.

Prior battles against Israel and Jerusalem, the city is spared by the hand of the Lord, yet this time during the battle of Armageddon, the city of Jerusalem is captured, and half of the population is taken into captivity, the houses ransacked apparently for valuables and the woman are ravaged or raped...

Zechariah 14:2b - Half of the city shall go into captivity,

But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

The remnant left of Israel and Jerusalem will not be destroyed. This could be upwards to half of the city’s population. That is half of the city’s population that is left after all the other disasters and killings.

Again, I have to take issue with this describing the fall of JEWISH Jerusalem, mainly because Hashem “manifests” on the Mount of Olives, which is in the EASTERN half of the city, which is almost TOTALLY Palestinian. So the half of the city that goes into “captivity” is PALESTINIAN. However, this is not the traditional understanding of this passage. The Redak says this is the “time of Jacob’s trouble” prophesied in Daniel 12:1 and half of the city of Jerusalem DOES fall. He also brings Isaiah 26:20. However, the Redak says this will be a temporary setback and Israel will overpower their enemies – with the help of Hashem.

The Two Witnesses

Let us now compare this Battle of Armageddon with Revelation’s account of the Two Witnesses. (Revelation 11) Noting that our interpretation of time in the book of Revelation is literal (a day = a day), therefore 42 months is equal to 3 ½ years.

The Dome of the Rock as Seen from the Mount of Olives – Photo by Robert Mock

The two witnesses appear to lead the remnant of the saints using the same miraculous powers that Elijah and Moses did in the olden days. The powers of Elijah include, ‘fire proceeds form their mouths and devour their enemies’, and power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the day of their prophecy. (3 ½ years) (Revelation 11: 5-6)

The powers of Moses (Moshe) include ‘powers over water to turn them to blood and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.” (Revelation 11:6)

During the 42 months of the two witnesses, the ‘court, which is outside the Temple… has been given to the gentiles and they will tread the Holy City underfoot for forty-two months.’ (Revelation 11:2), yet it does not say that the Temple is given to the Gentiles. At the end of the 42 months, the testimony of the two witnesses is completed, the Earth Beast from the Abyss will ‘make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. (Revelation 11:8)

For 3½ days, the two witnesses corpses will lie exposed in the streets within the city of Jerusalem (spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, but where also our Lord was crucified (Revelation 11:8). Jerusalem, Hashem’s capital city in this solar system, is now under the control of the Antichrist. With total control of the whole earth, the Antichrist now prepares the forces of Armageddon to battle against Yahshua.

Here the forces of Armageddon marshaled in the city of Jerusalem (from peoples, tribes tongues and nations, (Revelation 11: 9) have a public celebration on the capture of Hashem’s city and the death of Hashem’s two mighty witnesses.

Suddenly, a ‘loud voice from heaven (Revelation 11:11) resurrects the two witnesses while the vast multitude of Armageddon’s forces about the city watch in awe, fear and amazement. Like Christ, the two witnesses will ascend to heaven, in a cloud.

At this same time, deep seismic forces beneath the Temple of HaShem begin to rumble. This earth shifting will come from the same faults that shook on the death of Yahshua about 30 CE. Seven thousand are killed in this local quake. (Revelation 11:13)

When does this all occur? It will occur at the end of the 6^th Trumpet plague (Revelation 9:13-21) and the end of the 6^th Vial plague (Revelation16: 12-14), for they are one in the same. The Trumpet Plagues depict the same events from an earthly perspective while the Vial Plagues depict the same events from a heavenly perspective. How do we know this time sequence, for it states in Revelation 11:15, ‘then the seventh angel sounded.” (Compare with after the 6^th Trumpet Plague (Revelation 10:7), after the 6^th Vial Plague (Revelation 16:7), and upon the resurrection of the two witnesses (Revelation 11:15). This is the Great Parousia, the Second Coming of Jesus (Yehoshua).

The Bell Tower of the Russian Church of the Ascension on the Hilltop of the Mount of Olives – Photo by Robert Mock

Conclusion: For 3 ½ years, during what we call the “Time of God’s Wrath, the City of Jerusalem stands intact. This is after the Sealing of God (6^th Seal) and the Mark of the Beast. This is also during the Trumpet Plagues and the Vial Plagues, which we feel are the same event, which occur during the last 3½ years. This is the time of the two witnesses. This could also be after the Abomination of Desolation in Daniel 9:27, which occurs in the midst of the week (3½ years).

Yet, on the Temple Mount noted as the outer court of the Temple (Revelation 11:1), is under the control of the Gentiles. (Jesuit controlled Vatican in an alliance with the U.N. or the final One World Government) Yet, the Temple is appears remains under the control of HaShem. How do we know this? It says:

Revelation 11:1 - “An angel measures this Temple, the altar and those who worship there.

Yes, a temple will be here and the Jewish people will be worshipping there. Here at this Tribulation Temple, the Jewish people are worshipping and their spiritual power will be measured by the Lord of hosts while the two witnesses use the powers of HaShem to protect God’s chosen people.

At the end of the ages, within days of the coming of Christ, the Armageddon forces have now surrounded the city of Jerusalem. And the beast (earth beast or the Antichrist), who was allowed to wage war on God’s people, and to defeat them,” (Revelation 13:7) and also to make war against the two witnesses, (Revelation 11:7) Elijah (Micah 4:5) and Moses, will now be in control of HaShem’s city, Jerusalem, the Temple (House of HaShem, and the Temple Mount, celebrating the death of the two witnesses.

Within hours of Yahshua’s coming, the two witnesses are resurrected and taken up into the clouds, the ‘first fruits’ of the dead in Christ, which are resurrected.

The Fight for Jerusalem

Zechariah 14:3 - Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations,

As He fights in the day of battle.

The seventh trumpet has now sounded, the Messiah of Israel assumes his kingly vesture as “King of Kings & Lord of Lords” and with the forces of heaven (Revelation 19:10) comes to make war with the Beast, the False Prophet and the forces at Armageddon. The Earth Beast (Islam) and the kings of the earth, all part of the coalition of the One-World Government, and their armies will gather together to make war against him that sat on the throne and his army.” (Revelation 19:19)

The Olive Trees Standing in the Garden of Gethsemene in Jerusalem

Friends, there will be war and a lot of blood will be shed before it is over. Like HaShem ordered Saul to do with Agog and the forces of Amalek, so Yahshua will do with the forces of Armageddon. He will annihilate the last Amalek and the last Edomite completely. They will be wiped out entirely.

This is the reason the Lord invites the congregation of the carrion birds (vultures, hawks, and eagles) from around the world to “come and gather for God’s great supper; to eat the flesh of kinds and commanders and fighting, men, the flesh of horses, and their riders, the flesh of all men, salve and free, great and small.” Please note, women and children are not included, that is assuming they are not part of the fighting forces.

Later in Zechariah 14:16, we read:

Zechariah 14:16 - “All who survive of the nations which attack Jerusalem shall come up year by year to worship, the King, the Lord of Host, and to keep the pilgrims feast of Tabernacles.”

The fact that the nations wage war against Jerusalem is a M’dah that quickly merits the M’dah of Hashem waging war against those nations. As Kara states it, “their “victory” will signal their defeat, for Hashem shall go forth and wage war with them.” Rashi comments on the last part of the verse “like the day He waged war on the Red Sea” when Israel seemed defenseless.

The Lord descends upon the Mount of Olives

Zechariah 14:4 - And in that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives,

Which faces Jerusalem on the east.

Crustal Plate Boundaries on Earth

It is a common Christian perception that the Coming of Yahshua as the Messiah will be a coming in the clouds and all the saints will be caught up into the air to meet the Lord. Many have been warned that the signal event that the saints will know that this is the real coming is that Jesus will not touch the earth. What are we to do with this passage? Ignore it?

The remnant of the saints and the ‘dead in Christ’ who will ‘rise first’ are caught up into the air as they are changed to immortal beings. Here is the event in which we will be ‘changed in a twinkling of an eye’ into a ‘glorified body’. (I Corinthians 15: 51-52) The immortal saints will become “light beings” akin to the nature of Adam and Eve with the light, which shone around their bodies.

The Convent Gardens of the Russian Church of the Ascension on the Mount of Olives – Photo by Robert Mock

At the same time, another event is unfolding. The Lord, Yahshua, the Messiah will continue to move into our three dimensional world and touch down upon the same Mount in which he left after his resurrection. (Acts 1:12) This was told to the disciples by the two other-dimensional angelic visitors, after Yahshua ascended, “lifted up”, and “a cloud removed him from their sight.” (Acts 1:9), when they said, “this Yahshua, who has been taken away from you up to heaven, will come in the same way as you have seen him go.’ (Acts 1:11) When Yahshua promised that he would return, he meant a literal event, like a movie script running backwards.

I believe one must be careful not to PROOF TEXT a New Testament scripture or doctrine into this verse. The HIS, as in “HIS feet” refers to HASHEM in the previous verse and NOT to Yahshua. I won’t question that Yahshua MAY return on the Mount of Olives at some point, but Hashem’s feet here are “figurative for the manifestation of a wonder and miracle on the Mount of Olives.” Maimomides in his Guide to the Perplexed, volume one, chapters 13 and 28 explains that the “feet” represent the “cause.” It will be apparent, he writes, that G-d is the cause of the wonders that come about at that time. The Targum (Jonathan ben Uzziel) renders: “And He shall be revealed in His might at that time,” which the Redak also brings.

And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west,

Making a very large valley;

Half of the mountain shall move toward the north

And half of it toward the south.

The Prominent Bell Tower of the Russian Church of the Ascension that can be seen as Far away as the Jordan River – Photo by Robert Mock

The Hebrew MEYCHETZYO, is literally “from its half” which indicates that the split MAY be somewhere to the NORTH of the Eastern Gate, if the current dimensions of the MOUNT OF OLIVES are split into two parts. However, another section of the same mountain range lies south of the cemetery and is called THE HILL OF EVIL COUNSEL. It is the current site of the headquarters of the United Nations. In ancient times, it may also have been considered part of the Mount of Olives. In that event the division would be to the South of the Temple Mount.

The Mount of Olives

The 2 mile (3½ kilometers) long Mount of Olives is a flattened ridge series located just a few hundred yards (meters) east of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. It rises over 200 feet (60 meters) above the Kidron Valley which separates those two very significant places. This mount has been the scene of many significant events found in the Old and the New Testaments.

The Mount of Olives by Robert B. Jones

The Mount of Olives in the TaNaKh (Old Testament)

· King David fled over the Mount of Olives to escape from Absalom's rebellion (2 Samuel 15:30).

· After King Solomon became corrupt, he built pagan "high places" there (1 Kings 11:7).

· Later, King Josiah destroyed Solomon's idolatrous altars, by which time it had become known as the Hill of Corruption (2 Kings 23:13-14).

· Ezekiel had his vision of The Lord and the flying cherubim above it (Ezekiel 11:22-23).

· The people gathered olive branches there for the first Feast of Tabernacles after their return from The Babylonian Exile (Nehemiah 8:15).

The Mount of Olives in the Brit Hadassah (New Testament)

· Jesus regularly went up onto the Mount of Olives (Luke 22:39).

· He often traveled over it on His way to Bethany to visit His friend Lazarus. His famous Olivet prophecy is named after it (Matthew 24:1-51).

· The Triumphal Entry of Jesus riding on a Donkey and her colt into Jerusalem took place over and down the Mount of Olives (Luke 19:28-44).

· Jesus prayed with His disciples there just before His arrest That Fateful Night (Luke 22:39-46).

· Jesus was arrested there, during which Peter struck the servant of the high priest with a sword and cut off his ear (Luke 22:49-51).

· Jesus appeared to the disciples on the Mount of Olives after His Resurrection, and He ascended into heaven from there (Acts 1:1-12).

What we will be seeing is the separation of a massive fault, which goes across the Mount of Olives from the east to the west. Will this be a collision of continental plates, which is the massive force which causes mountain and island formation? No, rather it will be a separation of continental plates, which will occur at the seventh trumpet (the Coming of the Messiah), during the time in which “every island vanished; there was not a mountain to be seen.” (Revelation 16:20)

The Consoler on the Mount of Olives

One of the Jewish legends is that the “Consoler”, which in Hebrew is the word, Menahem is recognized as the Maschiach or Messiah of Israel. The Father of Menahem is called Amiel, meaning “My nation to God”. According to the legend, Menahem, the son of Amiel will appear to His people at the time of the end on the top of the Mount of Olives, standing before the gates of Jerusalem or the Eastern Gate. At this day, the exiles of Israel will aliyah (return) to the land of Israel and ascend to the Mount of the Lord and watch the redemption of Zion and Jerusalem.

The Convent Gardens of the Russian Church of the Ascension on the Mount of Olives – Photo by Robert Mock

Here the poet describes the coming of the Consoler, the Messiah.

In those days, at that time,
In the fifth month, the month of Av, [July/August]
The Pure, dressed in his robes of vengeance,
By his wrath the Mount of Olives will be cleft.
Messiah comes forth in his majesty,
As the sun shines in its strength.

(Legends of Jerusalem, Zev Vilnay)

1909 - A Modern Cleavage of a Mountain

Bullinger, E.W.- "...The cleaving in two of the Mount of Olives in Zechariah 14:4 is regarded by most commentators as being quite beyond a literal interpretation: and yet, a few years ago, The Illustrated London News gave some interesting drawings of the scene of the great volcanic eruption in the North Island, New Zealand. It will be remembered that the outburst of volcanic energy began by the explosion of Mount Tarawera, a mountain, which had no crater upon it, and showed no signs of recent activity. Tarawera was split in two by the sudden opening of a great chasm or line of craters four miles long, about 500 feet wide, and, in many places, 400 feet deep." (Bullinger, E.W., The Apocalypse, © 1909)

The Return of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel

By Underground Tunnels to the Mount of Olives

zech14.jpg (76880 bytes) One of the first things that will come to the mind of the Orthodox Jew when dwelling on the coming of the Maschiach is the return of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. These tribes were separated from their blood relatives and their promised land about 702 BC when Sennacherib sent them into exile and put Jerusalem penned up like a bird in a bird-cage. These tribes have never been redeemed and their identity has been mostly lost to themselves and the rest of the world.

The Earthquake Fault at the Mount of Olives

The Midrash tells us that the Ten Tribes were exiled to three places: Some were exiled to the land behind the Sambatyon River. Another group was exiled to a distant land behind the River (this land was twice the distance from Israel than the first Land); the 3rd group was "swallowed in Rabbeslah."

This third group that was swallowed up will return by a very special route; in underground tunnels.

Yalkut Shimoni Yeshayah 469 - "G-d will make them underground tunnels and they will travel through them, until they reach the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. G-d will stand on the mount causing it to split and the Ten Tribes will emerge from within."

According to the rabbinic interpretation this Midrash points to a spiritual and a literal exile in which this group is totally lost or covered up. In time when the Maschiach returns, they will undergo a spiritual transformation that will be so sudden that it will appear that they will miraculously appear from the bowels of the earth.

The Ten Lost Tribes of Israel were taken into exile and literally "were swallowed" or that we do not know where they are. They themselves have lost their Israelite identity, as though they have been "swallowed" by a spiritual force. Their energy remains only in potential form. When Maschiach comes, the Lord of hosts will take them through tunnels (symbolizing the process of refinement). The Maschiach will then lead them to the Mount of Olives (a mountain which was (originally) dedicated to the growing of fruit a symbol of utilization of potential energy.) Finally the Mount of Olives will split, and they will emerge; their Jewish identity will re-emerge from the present state of "potential" and will be fully realized. (Moshiach.com Newsletter - Friday 10/15/99 Cheshvan 5 5760)

platemap

The Mediterranean, African and Arabian Plates

Earthquake Fault line: the Escape Route to Azal

Zechariah 14:5a – Then you shall flee through My mountain valley,

For the mountain valley shall reach to Azal,

This valley will be specially prepared by the Lord, as an escape route for His Chosen People, the remnant, which remains in the land. Wherever Azal is, it is the final destination where the remnant of the House of Judah and Joseph will escape. Like the pathway through the Red Sea, HaShem will also prepare an escape route for His embattled people from the forces of the Antichrist at Armageddon.

The Targum Yonathan translates the Heb. “v’nastem gey harai” as “the valley of the mountains shall be stopped up.” Geographically and topically this is possible since there exists a valley between the mountains in the north and the Mount of Olives (the access from French Hill to the Dead Sea via Ma’ale Adumim). And there is a slight valley between the Mount of Olives as it is known today and the Hill of Evil Counsel, which is the way to get to the village of Bethany and the tomb of Lazarus. If the Mount of Olives slides into two parts north and south it will stop up both valleys. The valley formed by the split (measured from the two peaks of the Mount of Olives) will be very deep.

Rashi brings that AZAL is NOT a place name. It’s meaning is an expression of height as in Isaiah 41:9 “and from its nobles -- umey’AZILeyha . But the Redak brings it as a place name and says the valley formed by the crevice in the mountain shall reach further than the Mount of Olives, to the place name AZAL, which is well to the east of the Mount of Olives and is believed to be the place where the scapegoat was offered to AZALEL.

The Fault Line in the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem

Some Christian commentators feel this is a figurative expression of Divine deliverance (I Corinthians 10:13) Yet this passage is equated with a very literal event in the great earthquake of Uzziah in 754 BCE. Recent archeological finds have suggested that the earthquake “in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash king of Israel: (Amos 1:1) (c. 749-760 BC) may have been in a magnitude of 7.0 to 8.0 and higher. (Franz, Gordon, Institute of Holy Land Studies, Jerusalem, and Steve Austin, Institute of Creation Research, San Diego, The “Big One” Hits the Mediterranean: An Archaeological appraisal of the Earthquake in the days of King Uzziah.”) Once again we see the type meeting antitype, where the Uzziah earthquake is a prophetic mini-drama of end time eschatology.

Zechariah 4:5b - Yes, you shall flee

As you fled from the earthquake

In the days of Uzziah, king of Judah

This earthquake referred to is referred to in Isaiah 6:4 which caused the doorposts to shake when Uzziah was stricken with za’arat (translated leprosy) and also in the beginning of the book of Amos.,

Some Christian commentators feel this is a figurative expression of Divine deliverance (I Corinthians 10:13) Yet this passage is equated with a very literal event in the great earthquake of Uzziah in 754 BCE. Recent archeological finds have suggested that the earthquake “in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash king of Israel: (Amos 1:1) (c. 749-760 BC) may have been in a magnitude of 7.0 to 8.0 and higher. (Franz, Gordon, Institute of Holy Land Studies, Jerusalem, and Steve Austin, Institute of Creation Research, San Diego, The “Big One” Hits the Mediterranean: An Archaeological appraisal of the Earthquake in the days of King Uzziah.”)

Once again we see the type meeting antitype, where the Uzziah’s earthquake is a prophetic mini-drama of end time eschatology.

Scholars equate other events in the world scene also to this 754/755 BCE earthquake. They include:

Catastrophic Fault Lines around Israel

· The earthquake of Uzziah, king of Judah in which he contracted leprosy and Jeroboam, son of Joash, king of Israel (Amos 1:1)

The leprosy at the time of Bocchoris/Bakenranef
The epidemic of plague as Ashur Dan III
The end of Iron Age IIB
The possibility that the Olympic Games were instituted at this time and not 776 B.C. The 160 year cycle associated with this event is exactly 3 x 53.154 years.
The era of King Pedubast I of Egypt
The sixth year of Pedubast I was also the twentieth year of Psusennes 1/Amenemope
The era of the foundation of Rome in which it was reported the sun was disrupted. Blood rained upon the city and a plague was widespread through the reign of Romulus. It is interesting to note that is the quotation, “his death occurred in the 54^th year of his age” was referring to the time from the founding of Rome, then it was a time of “thunder and lightning’, if from the time of his birth, was also a time of ‘omens.”

Petra as the Final Hiding Sanctuary for the Jews

The City of Petra in the 19^th Century

Traversing the land from the furtherest reaches of Arabia to the mountains of Switzerland, this 4000 year old road is the oldest commercial trade route in the world. It traverses through the country of Jordan from the Gulf of Aquaba near Petra and then wanders north and east through Iraq and Syria. The gold, silk and spices of the mysterious eastern world were sent to the west during the Middle Ages. This was the same trade routes that David and Solomon so effectively cornered and had an effective monopoly on international trade around 1000 BCE. This trade highway of called the “King’s Highway of Arabia”, the Arabah Road.

In two interesting articles by Anthony C. LoBaido in WorldNetDaily, “The King’s Highway of Arabia and “A City for End Times,” the history of Petra popularized by Indiana Jones sets the stage that Petra may actually be the site of Azal where the remnant will flee when the Maschiach (Messiah) will touch down on the Mount of Olives and the tectonic plates will split. The Mount will open up an escape route to the east to Azal and then a waterway for the Gihon River to flow to the Mediterranean Sea to the west and the Dead Sea and on to the Euphrates River to the east.

This reminds us of a prophecy of the Catastrophic prophet, Isaiah, who wrote about that future Day of the Lord.

Isaiah 11:11-16 - "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elan and from Shinar, [the site of the Tower of Babel] and from Hamath, and from the islands of the seas.(Greek islands or Britain, Ireland and Scotland.) And He shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. … They shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west. … And there shall be a highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt."

The Prophetic End Time City of Petra

There are so many today in the Christian culture that are anxious to foment and entice the Lord to hasten the return of the Lost Tribes of Israel. While most of the Josephites and the Ephraimites, those who are apart of the ‘Two House’ believers who believe in the return of the House of Judah and the House of Joseph (aka. Ephraim) are looking for a massive return of the Lost House of Israel according to the Zechariah Oracles in chapters nine and ten, the Lord of hosts has clearly stated that this return will not be completed until the Day of the Lord. Granted that some believe that the Day of the Lord is the entire time of the end and could have started as early as 70 CE and the fall of Jerusalem, the context does suggest that the “Remnant” of God’s people will still be dispersed throughout the Middle East and will be a visible “Sign” or “Ensign” that the Finger of the Lord is directly guiding the events in that day.

There are biblical scholars today who believe the “King’s Highway” will be the physical route that Yahshua will take when He physically enters our three-dimensional space, first destroying those at Armageddon who sought to destroy God’s holy city, Jerusalem and His people, and then He will traverse this route with the ‘remnant of His people, which shall be left from Assyria, as He returns to the Jerusalem, the Holy City as the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

Here in the center of this trade route was the bustling commercial trade city of Petra, which was part of the Nabataean Arab kingdom in the 6^th century BCE, was eventually conquered by general Pompey of Rome and eventually became the homestead of the Idumeans, the ancestors of Herod the Great. King Baldwin of the Crusader Kingdom in Jerusalem went and built military fortifications at Petra but it was not until 1812 and the exploration of the Swiss explorer Ludwig Burckhardt who traveled to Petra incognito as an Arab Bedouin did the western world become reacquainted with this ancient civilization.

The Petra Canyon

In the ancient Roman world, the Nabotaean Empire was known by the Roman Senate and Petra was called a ‘metropolis’. Here was an effective Arab block that extended from Arabia to Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Palestine and northern Africa that effectively resisted Roman domination. According to Micah Mohammed, an Arab guide to Petra;

"Long ago