There are several scriptures which suggest that Petra is the place of safety for righteous people [God’s Church] during the time of Jacob’s trouble.

Sela [Petra] is a rock city.

Isa 2:10  Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust, From the terror of the LORD And the glory of His majesty.

Isa 33:15  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:

Isa 33:16  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.

We must begin to obey God before the trouble starts. God may hide us from the trouble to come.

Zep 2:1  Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together, O undesirable nation,

Zep 2:2  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!

Zep 2:3  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.

The righteous people will be protected from the fierce nation which attacks Israel.

Isa 33:19  You will not see a fierce people, A people of obscure speech, beyond perception, Of a stammering tongue that you cannot understand.

Jer 5:15  Behold, I will bring a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel,” says the LORD. “It is a mighty nation, It is an ancient nation, A nation whose language you do not know, Nor can you understand what they say.

The outcasts, which appear to be the church people, dwell with the Moabites in the rock. Sela is the rock city of Idumea.

Isa 16:1  Send the lamb to the ruler of the land, From Sela to the wilderness, To the mount of the daughter of Zion.

Isa 16:2  For it shall be as a wandering bird thrown out of the nest; So shall be the daughters of Moab at the fords of the Arnon.

Isa 16:3  “Take counsel, execute judgment; Make your shadow like the night in the middle of the day; Hide the outcasts, Do not betray him who escapes.

Jer 48:28  You who dwell in Moab, Leave the cities and dwell in the rock, And be like the dove which makes her nest In the sides of the cave’s mouth.

The spoiler mentioned is Nebuchadnezzar who has come up from Hades to be the king of Babylon.

Isa 16:4  Let My outcasts dwell with you, O Moab; Be a shelter to them from the face of the spoiler. For the extortioner is at an end, Devastation ceases, The oppressors are consumed out of the land.

Jer 49:28  Against Kedar and against the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon shall strike. Thus says the LORD: “Arise, go up to Kedar, And devastate the men of the East!

Some members will be kept from Jacob’s trouble.

Rev 12:14  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.

When Nebuchadnezzar comes up in the end time; he is on God’s side. God uses him to destroy the Israelites, then the nations surrounding Israel, including Egypt.

Dan 4:36  At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my honor and splendor returned to me. My counselors and nobles resorted to me, I was restored to my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added to me.

Dan 4:37  Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down.

God expected His ministers to try and look after the church members, who are scattered all over the world; they would not do it.

Eze 34:1  And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Eze 34:2  “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD to the shepherds: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?

Eze 34:3  You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock.

Eze 34:4  The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them.

The leaders of God’s church did not teach the members as they should have.

Eze 34:5  So they were scattered because there was no shepherd; and they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered.

Eze 34:6  My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill; yes, My flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them.”

Eze 34:7  ‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:

Eze 34:8  “As I live,” says the Lord GOD, “surely because My flock became a prey, and My flock became food for every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, nor did My shepherds search for My flock, but the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock”

Eze 34:9  therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the LORD!

Eze 34:10  Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require My flock at their hand; I will cause them to cease feeding the sheep, and the shepherds shall feed themselves no more; for I will deliver My flock from their mouths, that they may no longer be food for them.”

God the Father will bring the scattered members back to the Promised Land, and take care of them.

Eze 34:11  ‘For thus says the Lord GOD: “Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out.

Eze 34:12  As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day.

Eze 34:13  And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land; I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country.

Eze 34:14  I will feed them in good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.

Eze 34:15  I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down,” says the Lord GOD.

Eze 34:16  “I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong, and feed them in judgment.”

God wanted the church to do what they could to feed them, and bring them back to Israel. They would not even try; so God will bring them back, and take care of them. The members of the outcasts, [God’s church] will come back to Jerusalem: where some will eventually be persecuted by the little horn. Some will be deceived, and leave God.

Eze 34:17  ‘And as for you, O My flock, thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and goats.

Eze 34:18  Is it too little for you to have eaten up the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture and to have drunk of the clear waters, that you must foul the residue with your feet?

Eze 34:19  And as for My flock, they eat what you have trampled with your feet, and they drink what you have fouled with your feet.”

Eze 34:20  ‘Therefore thus says the Lord GOD to them: “Behold, I Myself will judge between the fat and the lean sheep.

Eze 34:21  Because you have pushed with side and shoulder, butted all the weak ones with your horns, and scattered them abroad,

Eze 34:22  therefore I will save My flock, and they shall no longer be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.

Eze 34:23  I will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them My servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd.

Eze 34:24  And I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them; I, the LORD, have spoken.

Eze 34:25  “I will make a covenant of peace with them, and cause wild beasts to cease from the land; and they will dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods.

Eze 34:26  I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing; and I will cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing.

Eze 34:27  Then the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase. They shall be safe in their land; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bands of their yoke and delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them.

Eze 34:28  And they shall no longer be a prey for the nations, nor shall beasts of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and no one shall make them afraid.

Eze 34:29  I will raise up for them a garden of renown, and they shall no longer be consumed with hunger in the land, nor bear the shame of the Gentiles anymore.

Eze 34:30  Thus they shall know that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and they, the house of Israel, are My people,” says the Lord GOD.’ ”

Eze 34:31  “You are My flock, the flock of My pasture; you are men, and I am your God,” says the Lord GOD.

The people from the Philadelphian era have been scattered all over the world. The pastors have looked after themselves: they have not looked after the congregation. God will bring the people together, and the ones who obey God will be kept from God’s wrath. Read the following scriptures again.

Zep 2:1  Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together, O undesirable nation,

Zep 2:2  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!

Zep 2:3  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.