IS THERE A PETRA IN THE U.S.A.?
Petra is the place where Israel is usually thought to flee per Revelation 12:6. It reads, "And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days." This would be three and one half years. Revelation 12:14-17 further elaborates.
14) And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. 15) And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. 16) And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. 17) And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Revelation 12:14-17
We see here that the flight of the woman follows the delivery of her child, but God's Word does not give us a time frame for it. Verse 6 does not say that she IMMEDIATELY fled into the wilderness, and it is obvious by the next few verses that there is a time lapse during which the dragon (Satan) and his angels are cast forth from the realms of heaven which they had previously been allowed to enter. Verse 13 clarifies that they (Satan and his angels) then persecuted the woman which had brought forth the man child. THEN she flees to the wilderness in verse 14. Now Matthew 24:15-16 gives us a time frame for this flight to the wilderness and the beginning of the three and one-half years. It states:
15) When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16) Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains:
The root from which the word "Judea" here was derived is the Greek word "ge". It means "the solid part of the whole of the globe, including the occupants IN EACH APPLICATION. There is an implication of this people being God's elect, thus IN EACH APPLICATION may well refer to the two loaves of His elect, the Hebrew people, and the Gentile Believers who were grafted into this body. Maybe this is why we mare cautioned in the very MIDST of this two verse reference , "WHOSO readeth, let him understand"!!! The reference to mountains here means hills, and has the hidden implication in the Greek of "lifting oneself above the plain" (or raising oneself above the area where the problem occurs). Indeed Petra in the country of Israel is a wilderness area of mountainous terrain, but could there be a counterpart to that land in the United States of America?
Many of the other writings of this ministry spell out the twofold plan of God to encompass His Hebrew elect, as well as their Gentile counterpart. In Who are the 144,000? and Here Comes the Bride, it can easily be surmised that there will be Gentile Believers on the earth during the Tribulation Period. Indeed half of the virgins who are awaiting the return of their Bridegroom will not be taken when He comes for His Bride per Matthew 25:1-13. These other five virgins would be the portion of the "woman" who is awake enough to recognize the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place, and will flee to the wilderness established for her here in the U.S.A. (Many Gentile Believers, however, will NOT be awake whereby they would recognize these things and flee. These will be the remainder of her seed which will be left to face the Anti Christ per Revelation 12:17, and will probably have to die for their testimony per Revelation 6:9.)
There are two phases of this process. The first applies to the Gentile Believers, and the second to the Hebrew elect. In the second, the abomination standing in the holy place could be when the Anti Christ is seated within the Temple, claiming to be God, thus the Hebrew people (who have ingrained heritage relative to the Temple) will understand. The first application, however, would be for the Believer to understand. We have the benefit of the Book of Revelation which explains that the Anti Christ will take authority as the one world leader (the position which Christ is to assume)! We might note that the word "place" in Matthew 24:13 can also indicate POSITION via LICENSE in the Greek! It is at that very moment, (the moment he receives the authority that the Christian knows to be for Yeshua) that he will be standing in the holy "place" (position). Now, if all of this is so, where is this place of mountainous terrain in the wilderness in the U.S.A.?
In the southwest portion of Utah you will find a place where the mountains enclose around vast waters and lush landscape. It is, however, considered to be desert, and is located in a wilderness region. It is aptly named Zion, which not only indicates a place for God's chosen people, but actually means "place of refuge". The mountains have an abundance of red coloration as we find (in Petra, and through them flows a river of spring fed water called the VIRGIN River. Among the amazing rock formations here, some have rather interesting names. We find North Guardian Angel, South Guardian Angel, the Watchman, Angel's Landing, Altar of Sacrifice, The East Temple, The West Temple, The Pulpit, The Sentinel, and the Great White Throne.
Now there is no way to be 100% sure that this is the Gentile Believer's counterpart to Petra, but then, the idea that Petra is the hideaway for the Hebrew elect is not 100% conclusive either. The Holy Spirit will undoubtedly minister to the virgins who remain here at that time to confirm this location or another. However, after observing this area, one can see how the ground here could drink up the water poured out of the mouth of the dragon, and could protect those who flee to it's mountainous walls and cavernous crevices to protect the woman.