A Way of Escape
The Bible is packed full of evidence about receiving protection from what is to come in the last days. It is a reward for those who remain zealous for good deeds and who keep the word of God with perseverance (1 Peter 3:13; Rev. 3:10).
It only stands to reason that since Jesus Christ is making a peculiar people who are zealous for good deeds, they would be the ones who are continually praying to be found worthy to escape what is coming and stand before the Son of Man (Titus 2:14; Luke 21:36).
It is a little flock, of that you can be sure (Luke 12:32) and few are those who find the truth (Matt. 7:14). Remember, many are called and few are chosen. You must be counted worthy to inherit eternal life (Luke 20:35). If you don’t want to be considered part of the dead, you must be living to please God (Luke 20:38).
There is no question that some will be hidden in the day of the Lord’s anger (Zeph. 2:3). God is going to gather us together and hide us because He has redeemed us (Zech. 10:8). It will go well with the righteous (Is. 3:10). We are going to disappear, body and all, just as Philip did (Matt. 24:40-42; Acts 8:39-40).
Christ tells us to go into our rooms and hide (Is. 26:20). We are going to be hidden from Satan and protected by Christ (Is. 16:4; Rev. 12:15-17). We are going to sing aloud from Sela (Is. 42:11). We are going to be met by people who will give us bread (Is. 21:14; 33:16). We will all have our mates (Is. 34:16). We will be in caves (Is. 42:22).
We are going to enter the rock and hide in the dust (Is. 2:10). We will go to a place called Sela (Is. 16:1). Bible translators thought Sela was a musical interlude (Psalm 83:8—see margin note) but in reality, Sela is another name for rock, and Petra is that rock. It is the place where the children of Israel were taken and hidden when they came out of Egypt, or sin.
Consider this. If those who practice righteousness are scarcely saved, what will happen to those who do not obey the gospel (1 John 2:29; 3:7, 10; 1 Peter 4:18)?
Scriptures on the Place of Safety
Isaiah 16:1, 3-4 — Send the tribute lamb to the ruler of the land, from Sela by way of the wilderness to the mountain of the daughter of Zion. Give us advice, make a decision; cast your shadow like night at high noon; hide the outcasts, do not betray the fugitive. Let the outcasts of Moab stay with you; be a hiding place to them from the destroyer. For the extortioner has come to an end, destruction has ceased, oppressors have completely disappeared from the land.
Isaiah 42:11 — Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voice, the settlements where Kedar inhabits. Let the inhabitants of Sela sing aloud. Let them shout for joy from the tops of the mountains.
Isaiah 44:8 — Do not tremble and do not be afraid; have I not long since announced it to you and declared it? And you are My witnesses. Is there any God besides Me, or is there any other Rock? I know of none.
Isaiah 3:10 — Say to the righteous that it will go well with them, for they will eat the fruit of their actions.
Isaiah 30:27 — Behold, the name of the Lord comes from a remote place; burning is His anger, and dense is His smoke; His lips are filled with indignation, and His tongue is like a consuming fire.
Isaiah 26:20 — Come, My people, enter into your rooms, and close your doors behind you; hide for a little while, until indignation runs its course.
Isaiah 21:14 — Bring water for the thirsty, oh inhabitants of the land of Tema. Meet the fugitive with bread.
Isaiah 42:22 — But this is a people plundered and despoiled; all of them are trapped in caves, or are hidden away in prisons; they have become a prey with none to deliver them, and a spoil, with none to say, “Give them back!”
Isaiah 51:1-7, 14 — Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, who seek the Lord: look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain; when he was one I called him, then I blessed him and multiplied him. Indeed, the Lord will comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places. And her wilderness He will make like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and sound of a melody. Pay attention to Me, oh My people; and give ear to Me, oh My nation; for a law will go forth from Me, and I will set My justice for a light of the peoples. My righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth, and My arms will judge the peoples; the coastlands will wait for Me, and for My arm they will wait expectantly. Lift up your eyes to the sky, then look to the earth beneath; for the sky will vanish like smoke, and the earth will wear out like a garment, and its inhabitants will die in like manner. But My salvation shall be forever, and My righteousness shall not wane. Listen to Me, you who know righteousness, a people in whose heart is My law; do not fear the reproach of man, neither be dismayed at their revilings. The exile will soon be set free, and will not die in the dungeon, nor will his bread be lacking.
Isaiah 55:5 — Behold, you will call a nation you do not know, and a nation which knows you not will run to you, because of the Lord your God, even the Holy One of Israel; for He has glorified you.
Isaiah 2:10 — Enter the rock and hide in the dust from the terror of the Lord and from the splendor of His majesty.
Isaiah 33:16 — He will dwell on the heights; his refuge will be the impregnable rock; his bread will be given him; his water will be sure.
Isaiah 34:16 — Seek from the book of the Lord and read; not one of these will be missing; none will lack its mate. For His mouth has commanded, and His Spirit has gathered them (see also Matthew 24:40-42).
Isaiah 64:5 — You meet him who rejoices in doing righteousness, who remembers You in Your Ways.
Isaiah 58:12 — Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins; you will raise up the age-old foundations; and you will be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of the streets in which to dwell.
Psalm 27:5 — For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; in the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock.
Psalm 32:7 — You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance.
Psalm 94:8, 13 — Pay heed, you senseless among the people; and when will you understand, stupid ones? That You may grant him relief from the days of adversity, until a pit is dug for the wicked.
Psalm 34:13-14 — Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
Psalm 25:20 — Guard my soul and deliver me; do not let me be ashamed, for I take refuge in You.
Luke 21:36, 19 — But keep on the alert at all times, praying in order that you may be have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of man. By your endurance you will gain your lives.
Revelation 12:1 — And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
Revelation 14:12 — Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.
Revelation 13:10 — If any one is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if any one kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.
1 Thessalonians 5:9 — For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Zechariah 13:9 — And I will bring the third part through the fire, refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them; I will say, “They are My people,” and they will say, “The Lord is my God.”
Romans 2:7-10 — To those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, and eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil; but glory and honor and peace to every man who does good…
Zephaniah 2:3 — Seek the Lord, all you humble of the earth who have carried out His ordinances; seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you will be hidden in the day of the Lord’s anger.
Matthew 24:40-41 — Then there shall be two men in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left.
Acts 8:39-40 — And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch saw him no more, but went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus; and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities, until he came to Cæsarea.
Zephaniah 3:8 — “Therefore, wait for Me,” declares the Lord, “for the day when I rise up as a witness. Indeed, My decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out on them My indignation, all My burning anger; for all the earth will be devoured by the fire of My zeal.”
Zechariah 10:8 — I will whistle for them to gather them together, for I have redeemed them; and they will be as numerous as they were before.
Hosea 10:12 — Sow with a view to righteousness, reap in accordance with kindness; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord until He comes to rain righteousness on you.
Hosea 12:6 — Therefore, return to your God, observe kindness and justice, and wait for your God continually.
Revelation 3:10 — Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell upon the earth.