Rock of Refuge

Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.” So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?” And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

The twelve stars are the 12 tribes of Israel, where the sun and the moon represent Jacob and Rachel. In Joseph’ dream, he was the 12th star.

This “woman” is giving birth to Christ, and Christ was born of Israel.

Romans 9:3-5

Romans 9:3–5 NKJV

For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.

V.2:

It is most likely that this birth, as is referenced here, is the suffering of the nation prior to the second coming of Christ.

Israel is often pictured as a woman about to give birth.

Isaiah 26:17

Isaiah 26:17 NKJV

As a woman with child Is in pain and cries out in her pangs, When she draws near the time of her delivery, So have we been in Your sight, O Lord.

Isaiah 66:7-8

Isaiah 66:7–8 NKJV

“Before she was in labor, she gave birth; Before her pain came, She delivered a male child. Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, She gave birth to her children.

Micah 4:10

Micah 4:10 NKJV

Be in pain, and labor to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, Like a woman in birth pangs. For now you shall go forth from the city, You shall dwell in the field, And to Babylon you shall go. There you shall be delivered; There the Lord will redeem you From the hand of your enemies.

Salvation is referred to as a new birth, and in this case, that delivery will be painful.

Salvation is also referred to as a new birth.

John 3:3

John 3:3 NKJV

Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

V.3:

The next player that is introduced is the dragon, who is Satan.

The dragon is satan.

Revelation 12:9

Revelation 12:9 NKJV

So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

He is fiery red. Red likely symbolizes the bloodshed he causes.

Note the ten horns, this directly corresponds with Daniel’s vision.

The ten horns correspond to Daniels vision.

Daniel 7:7

Daniel 7:7 NKJV

“After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.

The crowns represent his earthly authority.

Satan is the one who really rules the kingdom of the antichrist, and he will rule until the seventh trumpet sounds.

V.4:

The stars are the fallen angels (demons), ? of all of the angels. These are those who follow Satan.

“drawing a third of the stars” refers to Satan’s original rebellion.

Isaiah 14:12-14

Isaiah 14:12–14 NKJV

“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’

Daniel 8:9-10

Daniel 8:9–10 NKJV

And out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Glorious Land. And it grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them.

Jude 1:6

Jude 6 NKJV

And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day;

With this rebellion, he took 1/3 of the angels with him, and it’s been his goal to devour Christ ever since.

In fact, this vision now extends back to the birth of Christ.

His mission has always been to destroy Christ, but he will never be successful.

From the time of the birth of Christ, Satan has tried to destroy Him.

Matthew 2:16

Matthew 2:16 NKJV

Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.

We have no other details about what Satan actually did at Christ's birth, but obviously he wasn't successful.

V.5:

We know that Jesus Christ was of Jewish decent.

The genealogies of Matthew and Luke clearly show this, as does the testimony of Paul.

Paul speaks of the Jewish heritage of Christ.

2 Timothy 2:8

2 Timothy 2:8 NKJV

Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel,

He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. After His resurrection He was caught back up to heaven, until the time is right to reestablish His throne.

V.6:

While waiting for the salvation of Israel, and for Christ to reclaim His throne, Israel will see a lot of persecution.

However; through that persecution, Israel will receive God’s divine protection.

Right now, Israel is embroiled in war. Ultimately, they hope to reclaim the Palestinian land. Although they rightfully own the land, their land won’t be restored until they faithfully acknowledge Christ as their Messiah. In fact, before this happens, they will be drive from their current land.

Israel will take refuge for the last 3 ½ years of the tribulation.

Scripture never actually tells us where Israel will take refuge, but it may likely be Petra.

Here, the text speaks of the wilderness.

Jesus speaks of Israel fleeing to the mountains.

Matthew 24:16

Matthew 24:16 NKJV

“then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

We are told that the mountain of Seir is by the wilderness.

The mountain of Seir is by the wilderness.

Genesis 14:6

Genesis 14:6 NKJV

and the Horites in their mountain of Seir, as far as El Paran, which is by the wilderness.

The ancient city of Petra is in the Seir mountains

Petra is a Greek word which means rock. Of course, Jesus is our Rock.

1 Corinthians 10:4

1 Corinthians 10:4 NKJV

and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.

Jesus uses the same word as petra to refer to Himself as a Rock.

Petra will be a refuge, and God is our refuge.

Deuteronomy 33:27

Deuteronomy 33:27 NKJV

The eternal God is your refuge, And underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, And will say, ‘Destroy!’

Petra will be a shelter, and God is our shelter.

Psalm 143:9

Psalm 143:9 NKJV

Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies; In You I take shelter.

It seems fitting the Petra would be the shelter of refuge for Israel, and its already ready for habitation!

We can take heart that no matter how severe our trials, that God will be our refuge and our shelter.