This is what it looks like to flee to the wilderness!

Mat 24:15-16 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

flee to the wilderness

Photo credit: Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung http://www.flickr.com

Today there are over 650,000 registered Syrian refugees living in camps in the nation of Jordan. They are being fed and cared for by the UN, EU, and many charity organizations. The Bible tells us that the city of Damascus will empty itself of its residents. That day is getting very near! According to Amos 1:5 the Damascus residents will flee to the refugee camp in the town of Kerak, Jordan. During the Great Tribulation the Jews living around Jerusalem will also fee to the wilderness of Jordan. They will also flee very near Kerak in the Moab Province of Jordan. The Jewish refugees will be fed in Jordan for three and one half years.

10 million Syrian refugees

Damascus will flee to Jordan!

By Craig C. White

The Prophet Jeremiah tells us that the citizens of Damascus, Syria will flee from the city before its destruction. Today over 10 million Syrians have already fled their homes. Many have fled from Damascus. Many others have also fled to Damascus. Ultimately the inhabitants of Damascus will leave the city behind along with its young men and soldiers. The armed forces defending Damascus today are looking more like the forces described in Jeremiah 49:26.

Jeremiah 49:23-26 Concerning Damascus. Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea; it cannot be quiet. 24 Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail. 25 How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy! 26 Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.

There are currently some 4 million Syrian refugees registered in neighboring countries. Over 9 million Syrians have been displaced from their homes. Even Iraqi refugees that once fled to Syria are now returning to Iraq; many of them are Christians. Here is an account of their numbers as of July 2015.

Syrian refugees in neighboring countries:
Lebanon: 1,172,753
Turkey: 1,805,255
Egypt: 132,375
Iraq: 251,499
Jordan: 629,128 (equal to nine percent of Jordan’s population)

For more stats see The UN refugee agency UNHCR http://www.data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/syria.php

The Prophet Amos also condemns Damascus. This prophecy was fulfilled when Tiglath-pileser the Assyrian king conquered Damascus (734 B.C.) and carried the Syrian (Aramean) captives away to Kir which is a mountainous region in western Jordan. However, like many Bible prophecies this may also refer to a future event. There are currently over 620,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan.

In Amos 1:5 below, the plain of Aven is a valley in the northeast part of Lebanon near the Syrian border. Today it is called the Bekaa valley. It has been suggested that Saddam Hussein hid WMD’s here before the invasion of Iraq.

Amos 1:3-5 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron: 4 But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour the palaces of Benhadad. 5 I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden: and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith the LORD.

Today the Syrian Army is fighting Al-Qaeda rebels on many fronts. Damascus is under siege but many citizens still remain. About 80,000 Syrian Army troops were fighting inside of Damascus as of November 2013. These numbers include non-military security men or civil guard (see Jeremiah 49:26). According to Amos 1:5 above; the people of Syria will flee to Jordan. 620,000 have already fled there. In Jeremiah 49:23 we are told that Syria’s northwestern cities will hear of an invasion coming from the Turkish border. When the city of Damascus is attacked from the north by Turkey then Jordan may be the only route of escape.