Joseph was glad to be in the little town of Wadi Musa. He and his Mother and Father joined the other Israelis going to the old adobe building that housed the gift shop. It was a beautiful March day and the sun was smiling on them, as if it knew that the Jewish people were headed for their final home on this earth.

There was a long line in the gift shop, so Joseph and his Father waited to get their drinks while Debbie Kahn looked around the store. When they got their drinks they walked around in the morning sunshine. It felt good to stretch their legs after the long ride in the cramped truck.

"It's a pretty country, in a strange way," Debbie said as she looked around at the rocky countryside. Small green bushes dotted the brown barren landscape.

"It looks like hills," Joseph said. He was anxious to get started and was glad when they joined the others in a group gathering around their guide, Allee.

"He's an Arab," Joseph's Mother whispered in alarm.

"A Christian Arab," Joseph's Father said. "In Jesus all people are equal. That's hard for our people to realize."

"It is," Joseph agreed.

"It's a 45 minute walk into Petra," Allee explained to the group when they were gathered. "We have horses for the women to ride. The men will walk."

"I'll be glad to." Joseph had been sitting long enough, he was ready to walk off some of his energy.

"At one time the British government was going to build a road into Petra," Allee said as he pointed to a slit in the rock behind them where a rocky path barely showed. "But the Arab people protested. Jordan is a small country and Petra is one of our biggest tourist attractions so we have been paid well to take tourists into the city."

An Arab man helped Debbie on a horse. "I'm not used to horses," Joseph's Mother told the dark, silent man with the scarf on his head.

"You'll do." He gave her a toothless grin, as he started leading the horse toward the slit in the rocks. Joseph and his Dad walked beside her. Suddenly the path started going downhill, rocky cliffs towered over them.

"There are mountains here," Debbie Kahn said in surprise as they ascended into a valley.

Allee put his hand up as he turned toward the crowd and they stopped to listen to him. "Our people have known about Petra for centuries, but the outside world knew nothing of it until a Christian, Allen Burkhardt, in the year of 1812 came to this land and posed as a Moslem so he could get into Petra."

"See the drainage cuts in the rock. They bring water to Petra." Allee pointed to long channels that were cut high into the rocks following the path. "There are also two wells in the city itself."

The landscape held a strange fascination.

"Petra means rock and was first the city of Sela in the Christian Bible. It was the city that refused to let Moses lead his people through their country. It has been preserved by the Lord down through the years as a place set aside to which His people could go. There are many references to 'the rock' in David's Psalms." Allee's arm swept towards the countryside and Joseph's eyes took in the vast beauty.

"Archeologists first came to Petra in 1929 and began to restore the monuments." Allee continued. "They were following God's plan, but they didn't realize it was His plan." He turned around. "The path we are on is known as the inner siq."

He started down the stone covered way that went downhill into the valley. The mountains were taller now, as the path wound its way around and grew narrow.

"It's nearly dark in here," Joseph said as he looked up at the cliffs that towered overhead. The rocks almost touched each other but as they walked on the path widened. Someone started to sing a song from the Psalms, the sound echoed through the canyon as they walked.

For 45 minutes the group sang hymns of praise as they made their way through the canyon. Then suddenly they came through a narrow spot in the path where the rock grew closer and taller. The singing stopped and silence filled the air, as the face of a cliff came into view. There in front of them, lit up by the early morning sun was a huge dawn-tinted two story Roman temple.

"It's carved into the rock," Joseph's Mother gasped as she gazed at the large temple with its huge pillars.

"This is the Kazneh or the treasury." Allee said as the group stood before the enormous mountain structure, its pillars so elevated. He pointed to the top. "Legend says that Pharoah left his treasure in that urn." He said. "Many riflemen have tried to shoot the urn open to get the treasure. You can see the bullet holes. No one has yet succeeded."

"Perhaps now is the time that God will reveal the treasure." He smiled as he turned. "Later when you have slept and are feeling up to it, there will be time and opportunity to explore this temple and all of the others in this rose-red land."

As Allee walked on through the widening gap, black holes peered out at the travelers. "We are now entering the outer siq. The holes are caves." Allee said. "Some were tombs, others were homes. You will live in caves in Petra."

"I wonder what it will be like to live in a cave," Joseph said and once more he remembered Ben and his life since he left his home.

"There are telephones and electricity." Joseph's Father pointed to the poles and wires.

"Our people have cleaned out the water channels and reservoirs," Allee told the crowd. "Some sheep herders and goat herders have lived here for years and those of us who became Christians since the rapture have worked for the past three years to prepare this place for you. Even before that time Christians brought in Bibles and supplies they knew you would need."

"Isn't it great?" Frank Kahn said as he looked at the dark yawning mouths that stretched out before them. "We didn't even know He was our Messiah and yet He was preparing a place for us. Are you okay?" He asked as he looked at his wife.

"These are tears of joy," she said as she wiped her eyes.

The outer siq was wider than the first passageway. Suddenly there stood before them a giant amphitheater, cut into the rock. It towered over and around them. In the front there was a stage.

"This is the theater." Allee said. "It was one of the first things excavated. Probably built by the Romans when they took over Petra in 106 A.D. it has been excavated by the Department of Antiquities and is now in fine shape so we will be able to use it for worship services and special entertainment. It seats almost 8,000 people." He laughed. "Who knows? Maybe we'll form some baseball and football teams?"

Life seemed a little more normal when Joseph thought about playing sports again. He could get excited about a good football or baseball game and probably play on a team. The theater was built of the same sandstone as the surrounding countryside. It was so large that he marveled at God's grace in using the Romans, so many years ago, to prepare such a great football stadium.

The valley opened up now and throughout the countryside there were hills with caves and doorways. Tall temples dotted the landscape. Small green bushes were the only vegetation in view.

Some tall, two story adobe buildings of red sandstone had been built into the hillside and other flat topped buildings with courtyards between them sat near the caves.

"Welcome to Petra." Allee waved his arm toward the flat country that was surrounded by hills with what appeared to be hundreds or even thousands of open caves.

"These were the tombs and houses of an ancient people," he said. "They are now to be the homes of God's chosen people. Each family will be given a plot of ground and living quarters where you can continue with your life, for you will be here for three and a half years until the Messiah comes back."

People were moving and working on the caves. Tents filled the valley. "Some of your people have already moved in. We are lucky that it is March, for it is our finest season. The heat of summer has not arrived yet, but the winter rains are gone. By next winter you will be settled. For the past three years since so many of us have realized who Christ is, we have worked so we could start to build this City. The buildings you see are just a beginning and you can work to make comfortable homes for yourself. The plot of land you will receive is large enough to do as you want, plant a garden, keep sheep or whatever you want to do. Seeds are available and we have some animals. You can build a home on your land or live in the caves."

"How wonderful God is." Debbie Kahn looked around at the countryside. "It is a marvelous and beautiful place and to think He has used so many people to prepare a home just for us. How can He be so kind when we rejected Him for so long?"

Joseph's father shook his head but his eyes sparkled and Joseph suspected he too had tears in them.

They stood in line to receive a paper that told them where they would live and were given two caves, one for his parents and one for Joseph who was considered a man. A small plot of land in the valley below was assigned to them. Steps built into the stone led them to the caves which had numbers marked on them.

"It's like being a pioneer," Joseph said.

"Yes," his Mother agreed.

"But we also have a community, so it is even better," his father said.

"Let's see what the caves look like," Joseph's Mother said as they walked around their new land. It was flat and barren. "I'm so weary I think I could sleep on the ground."

"I'm a little tired too," Joseph said as he realized how little he had slept on the airplane.

They climbed the steps to their caves and looked in the larger cave that would be the Kahn's new home.

"A bed," Debbie Kahn explained as she saw the double bed in the far corner. "A real bed and it has been made up."

The mattress was straw but on it were sheets and pillows and on top was a handmade afghan.

"How hard someone has worked, look even the rug is handmade," she said as she looked at the rag rug that was on the bare ground. Someone had put a small set of shelves beside it. A candle sat on top of it. They put down their few possessions.

Across the front of the cave someone had strung wire and hung a drape from it for privacy.

"Let's go look at your cave, Joseph," his mother said and they went to the cave that sat next to theirs and would be Joseph's room now.

It was smaller than the first one but the same loving care had gone into that cave. A single bed sat in the back with a colorful afghan across it, a set of shelves and a multicolored rag rug on the floor made it look like home.

"Well," Joseph said as he put his suitcase down. "Who has ever had a finer room?" He threw himself on the bed.

"It's not the most comfortable bed," he laughed, "But it sure feels good."

"We'll leave you now, son," his mother said. "I need to get some sleep."

"Pull the curtain as you go out," he laughed and as he took his shoes off Joseph wondered at such luxury that the Lord had prepared for them.