How will the sick, elderly and weak get to the safe place?

This is a question that I have been asked a few times now and it is a good one.  One thing I have noticed is that when we are faced with a seemingly new theory some of us naturally try to prove or disprove this theory in our heads by looking for the faults or inconsistencies in the theory.  Fair enough–but the short answer to this question is that I don’t really know because the Bible doesn’t spell out all the details.

The Israelites left Egypt on the wings of an eagle

But I do think that we can get some guidance from Scripture when we look at the example of the Israelites back in Moses’ day.  Just before Joseph died he did not know how God would take the Israelites back up to the Promised Land hundreds of years later.  He just knew that God would fulfill His promise to Abraham and that somehow God would come to their aid.  That was his final statement to the sons of Israel just before he died.¹  And sure enough when Moses led the people out of Egypt he made sure that he took Joseph’s bones and remembered Joseph’s last words that God would surely come to their aid.²  And we know that God did indeed protect and lead His people to the Promised Land eventually arriving after 40 years.  They had the pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night for leading and protection.  God also wonderfully provided food (manna and quail) and water along the way and their shoes and clothing did not wear out either.³  Another passage tells us a bit more information in that their feet did not swell either during those 40 years,⁴ an indication that they also received physical help.  This was despite extremely harsh conditions in the desert.  The point is that the sick, the elderly and the weak will more than likely need physical help to get there so these verses do offer a glimpse of how God can and will come to our aid.  When the Israelites reached Mt. Sinai on the other side of the Red Sea after a month of walking, God told Moses to remind them how God had wonderfully provided for them in Egypt and how He had carried them on eagle’s wings as it were and brought them to Himself to the mountain.⁵  And this is an amazing key verse fast forwarding to a future time when the woman will also be given the two wings of a great eagle so that she might also be able to “fly” to the place prepared for her in the desert.⁶  

God will perform miracles for the woman to get to safety

This verse is the key I believe in how God will get the woman to the safe place in the wilderness.  Just as God helped the Israelites when they escaped in the wilderness of Sinai 3500 years ago, He will also help the woman to escape as the Antichrist comes up out of the Abyss at the halfway point of the last 7 years at the 5th trumpet judgment.  God will have to perform miracles in getting His people firstly to Mt. Zion and Jerusalem where deliverance will be.⁷  And after that the miracles will need to continue as everyone in Judea who heeds the warning of Matt. 24:15 will flee to the mountains.  The only other mountains possible are the mountains of Jordan on the other side of the Jordan Valley.  Upon close examination of my timeline you will see that time for the woman will be short and she will have to make haste as the sign to flee will be the observance of the Abomination of Desolation (some sort of sacrilegious image) standing in the holy place.⁸  This will certainly be a huge test for those fleeing under duress and persecution of the serpent as he tries to stop the woman by sending out a torrent of water.⁹  But again God comes to her aid just as Joseph promised the Israelites and swallows the flood which could be a metaphor for an army.  Jesus instructs His disciples that they should pray that their flight to safety will not take place in winter.  This could either be either that it is cold or possibly because of flash floods in the desert at that time.  He also says to pray that the escape does not occur on the Sabbath typically because everything shuts down on the Sabbath and it is hard to move around.  On the Sabbath days and holy days there is virtually no vehicle traffic and great crowds of people walk in the middle of the roads making it hard to travel.

Trust in God’s character

So how will the sick, the elderly, the disabled and the weak get firstly to Jerusalem in Israel and then escape 165 km (6 hours drive) possibly on foot to southern Jordan across the Jordan Valley?  Sounds extremely unlikely at best and almost impossible.  During my extensive teaching of the Creation to Christ course one thing that I emphasised was that when we are faced with an impasse or dilemma in knowing the answer to a question that seems unanswerable then all we have left is the character of God.  There are many questions when studying the stories of the Old Testament that go against our modern day sensibilities and modern day sense of right and wrong.  For example, why did God allow the situation where the righteous Lot offered his daughters to be raped by Sodom’s homosexual men instead of the two angels?  We can’t work that out and I was faced with this question by my students several times.  When we are butted up against the inexplicable like that all we have sometimes is the character of God in knowing that God is good.  Or another question that often comes up is why would God allow abortion or suffering or why would God allow people who have never heard the gospel to go to hell etc etc.  The questions and dilemmas seem endless.  We may have answers but often we don’t know the answers to meaty questions but we do know that God’s character is loving, that He is all-powerful, He is not a liar, that He sees everything that goes on and that He is not capricious (inconsistent).  And I think the question of this article is one of those hard to answer questions–I really don’t know the logistics of how everyone will get there especially now that international borders are firmly closed.  This seems incredibly difficult for the elderly, sick and weak.  But one thing I do know is that God will be able to make it happen if this is His will because I trust in His character.  We have the example of the Israelites in that they received physical help, protection and guidance.  These are all things that we will need.  Perhaps it won’t actually be a pillar of fire and cloud but it may be that we have the guidance and help of our guardian angels.¹⁰

Watch and pray

Despite the shortage of details of how we will all get there, including the sick, the elderly and the weak, we will get there if we desire it.  And I think that really is the key at this time.  The way will need to open up, borders will need to open up, we will need finances and passports to possibly get there.  Our only responsibility at this point is to have the desire and wish to get there and to pray that we can escape–the basis of my whole website–Luke 21:36.  Two things only are needed according to this verse (it says nothing about physical limits):  We need to watch for the signs of when to escape which is when we see the Abomination of Desolation standing in the holy place (Temple)¹¹; We also need to pray that we are able to escape or flee when we need to.  If we watch and pray accordingly then I am sure that God will answer your prayers and wishes.

Conclusion

In conclusion, if I am correct, it surely will be an amazing journey as we make our way to the place of refuge described in Psalm 91.  You only need to watch, pray and obey!  Quite simple but in the meantime don’t lose hope or courage especially if you find yourselves in the category of being sick, elderly or weak.  God will make the path clear for you.  Just like the Israelites we will be crossing seas and borders and I believe that we will receive divine guidance and help along the way.  Just like Joseph said, “God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised…”¹²