Participants: David Down
Series Code: DUTP
Program Code: DUTP000027
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00:01 Well, this is the last of our series of programs.
00:09 Sort of seems a pity it all has to end, doesn't it? 00:12 because this has been more than just a presentation of history 00:18 and geography. Its really the presentation of a message-a 00:23 message which I believe. I believe the bible. 00:26 I believe its message. And now we come to the last of the 00:30 programs and maybe its the best. Its a story of Petra, 00:36 the rose red city, half as old as time. 2000 years ago 00:43 Petra was a fabulously wealthy city. And people everywhere 00:51 knew about Petra. It boasted of its independence. 00:57 and prosperity. But all this came to the ears of the Romans 01:02 who were interested in wealth. And in the year 106 A. D. 01:07 Roman legions fought their way into the valley and conquered 01:12 and occupied Petra. They built a beautiful road right through 01:16 the center of the city. And the emperor, Trajan, had a 01:21 gateway erected to commemorate the victory. And under Rome 01:26 Petra prospered. But as the centuries rolled by, the camel 01:33 caravans that used to plod their way from Arabia to 01:37 Jerusalem and Damascus found an alternate route by the 01:42 Mediterranean and bypassed Petra. And as the result, 01:48 Petra's prosperity waned. Its population drifted away until 01:55 finally about 800 years ago, the valley lapsed into silence 02:01 and was deserted. Nobody knew where it was. Scholars knew 02:04 about Petra but they didn't know where it was. 02:07 And it was not until the year 1812 that the Swiss explorer, 02:14 Johann Burckhardt stumbled across these amazing ruins 02:18 and came out to tell an astonished world of what he 02:21 had seen - the lost city of Petra had been found. 02:53 Beautiful view from up here The Oleanders are blooming 02:57 all through the valley. And I'm up on the obelisk tomb. 03:02 It's called an obelisk tomb because of the four obelisks 03:07 that are on top of it; but they're not really obelisks 03:09 at all. They're fertility pillars. They were part of the 03:14 old Edomite type of worship and Nabatean worship and they're 03:19 the sort of thing that was forbidden in the Old Testament. 03:22 They're called Mesabot in Hebrew and they were not supposed 03:27 to worship these things. And so the instruction was to destroy 03:32 them. But actually its a tomb down below is the place or 03:36 triclinium where they had a funeral feast and up here 03:39 are the actual funeral vaults where the bodies are buried. 03:42 So this is called the obelisk tomb. 03:50 We are entering the ravine or Seka, which it is called 03:54 in Arabic, which leads into the Petra valley. And it was into 03:59 this valley that Johann Burkhardt, the Swiss explorer 04:02 came in 1812. Burkhardt was actually on his way to Africa. 04:06 He'd been employed by the African exploration society, 04:10 and they had advised him first of all to go to Syria and learn 04:14 the Arabic language, become familiar with the Islamic 04:17 religion before he went on to Africa. So he did that and when 04:22 he set out on his way to Africa, from Syria, he passed along 04:26 this way. Now he heard about this valley and so he decided 04:30 turn aside on the pretext that as a Muslim which he pretended 04:35 to be, he was going to offer a goat - sacrifice a goat to 04:39 Aaron's tomb. Aaron's tomb is up on top of Mount Hor. 04:42 And this was a sacred place for Arabs. And so he decided to 04:48 make this his pretext. But when he got into the valley and saw 04:52 inside, he was just absolutely over-awed and he realized he 04:56 must have found Petra. And apparently his Arab guide got 05:00 suspicious and threatened to kill him so he hastily 05:03 sacrificed his goat and came out to tell 05:06 the astonished world that he had found the lost city of Petra. 05:18 The walls of this ravine are anything up to 100 meters 05:21 in height. Just about meet overhead so it is a very easy 05:26 place for the defending army to defend against just a few men 05:31 against a whole army. 06:13 This is rather a quaint concept that the Nabateans had, well 06:16 it's quaint to our Western way of thinking, anyway. 06:18 very natural to them what they called God Houses. Solid stones 06:24 Their principal deity was a deity by the name of Dutra. 06:28 And they had these god houses. They're solid, you know, 06:32 you knock on the door and there is nobody going to open because 06:34 of its solid inside. You see they figure that god was a 06:38 spirit. God could go through stones so why go to the trouble 06:40 of hollowing out the thing. So this is one of the god houses 06:43 with an altar in front of it. 06:47 Well, you can imagine how Burkhardt felt when he got 06:51 to the end of the seek and this magnificent view burst on his 06:54 gaze. He must have been overwhelmed and you can 06:57 understand he betrayed his feelings. And this of course 06:59 also throws some light on a bible prophecy. 07:02 Now there's a special book in the bible that's entirely 07:05 debated the Petra, you know. The book of Obadiah. It starts 07:09 off by saying, The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord 07:12 God concerning Edom. You who dwell in the clefts of the rock 07:17 who's habitation is high. Well you can see why it says, 07:20 the clefts of the rock, can't you? 07:25 Can you see that Arab man lying down there having a sleep in 07:28 the sun? Well, that'll give you some idea of the perspective 07:31 of the immensity of this huge building. Well we call it 07:37 a building, actually it's cut out of the stone and that's a 07:39 remarkable thing about Petra. You see they didn't build things 07:42 one on top of the other. They just simply started at the top 07:45 and began to work down and cut these things out of the 07:47 solid face of the mountain and what worries me is, just suppose 07:52 somebody makes a mistake? I mean, if you're using stones 07:55 or bricks, you just throw it away, use another one. 07:57 But if you make a mistake here, you've had it. 07:59 And so its remarkable that they could make such fantastic 08:03 structures, just simply cutting them out of the stone. 08:06 Now this place is called El Gazna in Arabic. 08:09 which means, the treasury. It is called that because up at the 08:12 top there's a sort of an urn, and the Arabs used to think 08:16 that it was full of beautiful treasures and they took pot 08:19 shots with their rifles and held out their hands underneath 08:22 hoping that it would split open and all these fabulous treasures 08:25 would fall down into their hands but never did, of course. 08:27 The reason that its called the Treasury is because of that 08:32 but the question is, Is it a tomb or is it a temple? 08:34 Opinion is divided on this. I personally think it is a temple 08:38 because inside there are niches where I think that the deities 08:43 could have been installed, you know, images. Well whatever 08:46 it was it is a fantastic piece of architecture and workmanship. 08:53 Well really ladies, wouldn't you like this for your front doorway 08:57 just look at these beautiful colors here and you've got all 09:00 the annuals growing in your front garden. 09:02 You see they even carved their houses out of the solid cliff 09:08 face. It must have been beautiful. Well this house is 09:12 rather badly weathered as you can see, but what a beauty 09:15 it was. Look, I'm sitting in somebody's windows here. 09:18 How about that for a window? And over there is one of the 09:21 other rooms and look at the ceiling, will you? 09:24 I mean, you'd pay a million dollars to get a ceiling painted 09:27 like that. Here it is, just natural, it just comes naturally 09:43 The early inhabitants of Petra were the Edomites who of course 09:47 were descendents of Edom, which is another name for Esau. 09:51 You know the story of Jacob and Esau, the twins-had a bit of 09:55 friction between them and that Jacob had to go off to Bethel 09:58 and so on. And later on Esau came down here and his 10:02 descendents occupied this area. And they found it naturally a 10:07 very suitable place, very easily defended, not only 10:10 because of the seek which could be easily defended, but right up 10:14 on the hill behind me, up there is what is known as Sela. 10:18 Now Sela is the Hebrews word for rock, a very big rock. 10:21 And you can see it is a very big rock. It's flat on top. 10:24 And it has some cisterns up there, in fact the Arabs today 10:28 Um al Biara, the place of cisterns and so at the last 10:33 resort they were able to retire up there and obviously it would 10:38 be very hard to dislodge them. That's why the bible spoke 10:41 about the Edomites, as, You who live as an eagle. 10:45 You know, up in the nests. So it was very high. However it was 10:49 conquered by the Israelites under King David. 10:52 Joab, the army captain came down here and conquered it. 10:55 He killed most of the males, actually. And then later on 10:58 in the days of King Amaziah, of Judah, we have the record 11:02 in 2nd Chronicles, and in chapter 25 and verse 12 11:06 And the children of Judah took captive another 10,000 alive 11:10 brought them to the top of the rock and cast them down from the 11:13 top of the rock so that they were all dashed in pieces. 11:16 Well I can tell you, it's a long way down. I've been up there, 11:19 looked down. You wouldn't want to go down there. 11:21 And this is what happened during the days of Amaziah. 11:24 However as time went by, the Edomites became very arrogant 11:29 and in particular they allied with the Babylonians. 11:32 And they were very vindictive against the Israelites. 11:36 And so it was that we have the record in the book of Obadiah, 11:41 the prophet who spoke against Petra-verse 10. 11:44 For your violence against your brother Jacob shame shall cover 11:48 you. You shall be cut off for ever. In the day that strangers 11:52 carried captive his forces, when foreigners entered his gates, 11:56 you were as one of them. 11:58 It was very malicious on their part. In fact it tells us over 12:01 here in the book of Psalms just what they said as they 12:05 united with the Babylonians. Psalm 137: Remember O Lord, 12:09 against the sons of Edom, the day of Jerusalem who said, 12:11 Raze it, raze it to its very foundation. 12:14 They egged the Babylonians on to completely destroy Jerusalem. 12:19 And so Jeremiah came up with the prophecy in chapter 49. 12:24 Against Edom, Thus says the Lord of Hosts, I have made Esau bare. 12:29 I have uncovered his secret places. Just have a look around, 12:33 will you? There's just absolutely nothing left here. 12:35 Its as bare as anything. Oh you who dwell in the clefts of the 12:39 rock, who hold the height of the hill, thought you make your 12:42 nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from there, 12:46 says the Lord. Edom shall be an astonishment. 12:48 Everyone who goes by it will be astonished. 12:51 And you've just got to come here and listen to the exclamations 12:55 that people make-tourists make. They're just absolutely 12:57 astonished at what they see. No one shall abide there. 13:02 Well, these prophecies often take a long time in fulfillment. 13:05 In fact, it almost seems as if it wasn't going to happen. 13:08 But it did. 13:21 In the 4th century B.C. a people by the name of the Nabateans, 13:25 came to Petra and squeezed the Edomites out. 13:29 And we're on the way up to the most spectacular edifice that is 13:35 attributed to them and that's a place called al-Deir, 13:38 on the way of course we past these beautiful walls. 13:41 You'd think that they were murals, wouldn't you? 13:44 Only they're too good for that. Well, the Nabateans are actually 13:47 descended from a character by the name of Nabayat who was 13:51 descended from Ishmael, Abraham's son, and they pushed 13:56 the Edomites out. They occupied this place, 13:58 And so the period of the Nabateans begins. 14:42 This is the Nabateans sacrificial high place. 14:46 You know the bible says whenever Israel apostatized, 14:49 they offered sacrifices on every high hill and under every green 14:57 tree. It seems to have been a system they had back there. 15:01 There's being a lot of fanaticizing About this. 15:03 Some people imagine that there were animals or human sacrifices 15:07 offered here. Well, there's no scriptural evidence to 15:11 support such an idea and from the size of this slab, 15:14 I would say its quite obvious it has just been for animal 15:16 sacrifices. So this apparently is where animals were sacrificed 15:21 and no doubt their blood was taken up here to the place 15:27 where oblations were made and where sacrifices were poured out 15:32 you know the blood, water-holy water poured out on here and it 15:36 ran down here through this little drain here. 16:09 Well, as you can see, I made it to the top. And what a fantastic 16:16 thing this is! Just look at it, will you. Cut out of the solid 16:20 face of the mountain and so beautifully done, so symmetrical 16:24 and it's a masterpiece of sculpturing. 16:37 For many years stories of Petra's fabulous wealth must've 16:41 reached Roman ears. But it was 16:44 not until the year 106 A.D. that Roman armies finally marched 16:48 into Petra, conquered it. And established the Roman way of 16:51 life here. Behind me is a victory gateway which they 16:55 built to commemorate the event. They ran a paved road 16:58 right through Petra and built this beautiful colonnade. 17:02 There were shops here. And so from then on you have the Roman 17:07 way of life here. 17:13 And here is a theater that was used in Roman times. 17:16 You know this could hold 30,000 spectators, so a lot of people 17:19 living here and you can see when they cut it or carved through 17:23 some of the tombs and left gaping holes there. Well some 17:27 body could get a good view from up there. 17:34 The tomb that you see up here on the left is thought to represent 17:39 the facade of a Roman palace. Actually this whole group of 17:42 tombs is of Roman style, adopted during the Roman period 17:46 by the Nabateans. The one away over there on right, 17:50 you see the one with the arches, well that's rather interesting 17:52 if you take a close look at it. 18:06 Early in the Christian era, Christianity came to Petra. 18:11 And this place was converted into a vast cathedral. 18:16 And what a place to worship! 18:24 In the 7th century A.D. Islam came here. But then the trade 18:31 routes began to alter. Caravans no longer threaded their way 18:36 through Petra. And the city began to die. 18:39 People drifted away and by the year 1200 A.D. the last record 18:45 we have is of the crusaders building a small fortress on the 18:49 hill. And then the valley lapsed into silence and there were only 18:54 the occasional nomads weaving their way around the valley. 19:43 Do you realize that what happened to Petra is a symbol 19:49 of what is going to happen to the whole world. 19:52 Let's turn back to the prophet of Petra, Obadiah. 19:57 And in his little book talking about Petra, he finishes up 20:03 by saying this. Verse 15, For the day of the Lord is upon 20:09 all the nations and it is near. And they shall be as though 20:14 they had never been. So you see it's not just a case of what 20:18 was going to happen to Petra. Obadiah was given a message 20:22 concerning the entire world at the end of time. And this, 20:27 of course, is consistent with what the other prophecies say. 20:31 For instance, in first Thessalonians, chapter 4, 20:34 and in verse 16, the great apostle Paul says, For the Lord 20:40 himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of 20:43 the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead 20:47 in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain 20:52 shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet 20:56 the Lord in the air. What a great day that will be. 20:59 All the good people who are ready to meet the Lord 21:02 will be raised from the dead and they'll be swept up from 21:05 this world with those who are ready who are living to meet 21:08 Christ in the air. Thou wilt forever be with the Lord. 21:10 Okay, what about those who are not ready? In Luke chapter 17 21:16 and in verse 28, it says, Likewise as it was also in the 21:21 days of Lot. They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, 21:24 they planted, they built but on the day that Lot went out of 21:27 Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and 21:30 destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the 21:34 Son of man is revealed. And so the same thing's going to happen 21:39 All those who are not ready will be destroyed. 21:43 Now let me ask you a question. If all the good people go to 21:48 heaven and all the rest are destroyed, tell me, How many 21:53 people are going to be left alive in this world? 21:55 To answer that question, I turn to a very interesting prophecy 22:00 in Revelation, chapter 20, verse one where it says, 22:04 then I saw an angel coming down from heaven having the key 22:09 of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 22:12 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old who is the devil 22:16 and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 22:19 Now apparently what John saw in vision was one of these big 22:25 water systems that we've seen around the middle east, 22:27 you know, with a big stone on it's mouth and this angel 22:31 grabbed the devil, threw him into this pit. John couldn't see 22:35 the bottom to it so he called it a bottomless pit. 22:37 And then he put the stone on top of it, sealed it up, and he was 22:41 kept there for a thousand years. Now its quite apparent that this 22:45 symbolizes the condition of the world during the thousand years. 22:50 This world is going to be desolate. Its going to be 22:54 uninhabited. Its going to be just bare like this piece of 22:59 Petra that we have behind us here. 23:08 Well, just look at that. Absolutely desolate. 23:11 And that's the way the world's going to be for 1,000 years. 23:15 How come? Well, when Christ returns this world is just 23:19 going to be devastated. The bible tells us that mountains 23:23 are going to come crashing down into the plains. 23:25 Inhabited cities are just going to crumble. These proud 23:30 buildings that are in the world today, they're just going to 23:32 topple down. The inhabited islands are going to sink 23:36 beneath the foaming billows of the sea. 23:38 Everything is just going to be turned upside down. And inasmuch 23:41 as all God's people have been taken up there to heaven, 23:45 God's dwelling place, a very real place, wonderful place. 23:48 And all those who are lost are going to be dead. 23:51 there's just going to be nobody, nothing left in this world 23:55 for a thousand years. And the devil is going to have to join 23:59 in the ranks of the unemployed. He'll be out of a job. Nobody to 24:02 tempt. Nobody to annoy. No trouble to do. And so he just 24:06 going to be engaging in a lot of bickering and arguing with 24:09 all his fallen angels for a thousand years. 24:11 Serves him right. Well what happens then? 24:14 It says in Revelation 20 and in verse 7, Now when the thousand 24:20 years of have expired, Satan will be released from his prison 24:24 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the 24:27 four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, 24:29 to gather them together to battle, whose number is as 24:32 the sand of the sea. Now here's lots of people, Where do they 24:35 come from? I think the answer is in verse 5, where it says, 24:39 The rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand 24:44 years were finished. So at the end of the thousand years, 24:48 apparently, the wicked people are going to be raised from the 24:52 dead. And the devil is going be in a job again. 24:56 Here are all the people to deceive and goes out and says, 25:00 Look, let's get going. We've got something to gain here. It 25:04 says, verse 9, They went up on the breadth of the earth and 25:06 surrounded the camp of the saints, and the beloved city. 25:09 Oh, where did this beloved city come from? It tells us in 25:13 Revelation 21, verse 2, Then I, John, saw the Holy City, New 25:18 Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. 25:20 At the end of this thousand years God's people inside 25:24 this beautiful, wonderful city come floating down 25:27 and it settles on this earth. And so the devil goes out and he 25:30 says, Look! we ought to be inside there, we're the rightful 25:33 owners of this world. Come on, let's go up and attack them. 25:36 There are more of us than there are of them. Futile, of course. 25:41 Because you're up against God. But that's what he does. 25:43 It says, however, and fire came down from God out of heaven 25:48 and devoured them. And the devil who deceived them was 25:51 cast into the lake of fire and brimstone. Just as the world was 25:56 deluged with water in the days of Noah-came pouring down out of 26:00 the sky and turned this whole world into a vast lake of water 26:04 so at the end of the thousand years fire is going to come down 26:08 pouring out of the sky, and its going to turn this whole world 26:12 into a vast lake of fire. And it says in verse 13-14, I'm sorry, 26:18 then death and Hades, that's the grave, were cast into the lake 26:22 of fire. This is the 2nd death. Now nobody's going to enjoy 26:28 dying. I've told you, you don't need to be afraid of death, 26:31 if you're ready for it. But nobody's going to enjoy dying. 26:34 Who wants to die a 2nd time? And yet here are people who have 26:38 rejected Christ, who have rebelled against his laws 26:42 and government and they're going to die a second time 26:46 in this lake of fire. Now this lake of fire is the only hell 26:50 fire the bible talks about. People don't go soon as they die 26:54 and get burned and frazzled for millions of years. That's not 26:58 the way God deals with people. And the bible doesn't teach 27:01 that. This is hell fire. This is the lake of fire and it does its 27:06 work completely. It completely burns them up, so that 27:09 they'll be finally destroyed and the devil, all his wicked angels 27:13 and all his followers are going to be completely devoured 27:17 in this lake of fire. 27:20 Well, when those fires have finished their deadly work, 27:23 and cleared away. When the tragedy of sin is forever ended, 27:30 God is going to make a beautiful new world, a lovely new world 27:34 just like it was in the garden of Eden and perhaps even better. 27:38 It tells us here in the 2nd book of Peter, chapter 3, 27:42 and in verse 2, But the day of the Lord will come as a thief 27:47 in the night in the which the heavens will pass away 27:50 with a great noise and the elements will melt with fervent 27:53 heat, looking for and hasting the coming of the day of God; 27:57 because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire 28:01 and the elements will melt with fervent heat, nevertheless, 28:05 we according to his promise look for new heavens 28:09 and a new earth. I think we could do with a new heavens 28:13 and a new earth, don't you? A beautiful new earth, 28:17 where nothing ever goes wrong. But then Peter asks a very 28:21 significant question. He says this, Therefore since all these 28:26 things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to 28:31 be? How do you like that question? What manner of persons 28:35 ought you to be? You know I hope you've enjoyed these programs 28:41 we've presented to you. You've seen me a lot on these programs. 28:45 I've never met you, but I feel as though I've been talking 28:50 to you and I want to meet you. I'd like to meet you in that 28:55 wonderful kingdom. You know, there's something we should 28:58 consider, and that is at the end of that thousand years, all 29:02 humanity is going to be alive together at one place. 29:06 I mean, some will be inside God's city, and the others 29:10 will be outside. I sure want you to be inside. 29:14 I want to meet you there. Won't you promise me, please 29:20 promise me that you will accept Jesus Christ as your Savior 29:24 and do everything he tells you to do so that we can meet 29:29 together at Jesus' feet. |
Revised 2014-12-17