The Masada Mystery Pt. 1 May 19th 2013 Dr. Mike Fogerson
24 "Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.25 "So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.26 "Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing , and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. Dan 9:24-26 (NASB)
A If you go to Israel, wilderness, near lowest place on earth, Dead Sea.
1 There is a plateau mountain, that in Biblical times served as a royal palace, Masada.
a Harod’s chief royal fort, a place to retreat in case of invasion.
b 40 B.C., Herod the great fled there during an uprising.
aa He kept it, maintained it, if his people ever rose again.
2 Daniel says, Messiah will come, Temple will be rebuilt (back then)
a Temple did get rebuilt, Messiah came only to be cast off.
b The Temple will be destroyed.
aa 70 A.D. Jerusalem & Temple were destroyed.
bb Whoever Messiah was had to come prior to 70 AD.
c Daniel puts these events together, Messiah will come & Temple will be destroyed.
3 20 "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near. Luke 21:20 (NASB)
a This came to pass in 66 A.D.
aa A rebellion broke out in Jerusalem against Nero, to shake the Roman Empire’s rule from the land.
bb In the beginning the Romans lost, Beth Hora, & set up a Jewish provisional revolutionary government.
cc Nero sent a huge army from Rome, let be General Vespasion.
dd Vespasion invaded Galilee & crushed the rebellion there.
b In 68 A.D. Nero committed suicide & Vespasion left Israel to proclaim himself emperor of Rome.
aa He sent his son Titus to Israel and in the spring of 70 A.D. he surrounded Jerusalem.
bb Breached outer wall, 2nd wall, fighting in the narrow streets, & used battering rams to enter the Temple Mount.
c Titus put a stop to anything/anyone from entering/leaving the city. (Starve them into submission)
aa In the beginning of the month of Av, on the very day that the first temple was destroyed in 586 B.C. the Temple of Jerusalem was set ablaze.
bb Just as Messiah had prophesied not one stone was left upon another & Jerusalem with it.
cc Most of the people in Jerusalem had either died or been sold into slavery in the worlds slave market, or executed.
dd The jews were crucified all over the land... but some resisted & fled to the wilderness, taking ancient scrolls & Temple treasures to be hidden away.
B Masada was attacked by a band of Jewish zealots & they took it over.
1 lived on this ancient fortress with their families. (Well supplied & could sustain from for a very long time)
a To finish the destruction of Israel, the Romans had to capture Masada.
aa Under Flarius Silva, the Romans surrounded Masada to prevent escape.
bb On the western slope he built an assault ramp.
cc Used battering rams, catapults, flaming torches.
b When the Jews realized their cause was lost, they gathered together.
aa Their leader was Eliasa, bk. name Lazerus.
bb He gave his people an impassioned speech about it being better to die free then go into the hands of the Romans.
cc Drew lots, appointing a few men to kill the others, & from that lot, drew lots to see who would kill them, then kill himself.
c The Romans finally reached the top of Masada.
aa Only to find the inhabitants had all killed themselves.
bb There were a few in hiding who bore witness to what had happened.
cc Silva erected a Roman standard & declared Israel dead to history.
2 In Rome, a new coin minted called Judea Captina, celebrating the end of Israel from the world.
a The coin had a woman (representing Israel) sitting under a palm tree with a Roman solider standing over her.
b In Rome, built the Arch of Titus. (Still there today)
aa Depicting Israel destruction.
bb The soldiers carrying away the looted furniture from the Temple, celebrating the death of Israel.
3 On that rock fortress near the Dead Sea, Israel ceased to exist.
a Masada became its grave.
aa It was here, the bones of Israel’s soldiers lay from 2,000 years.
bb While they lay there, amazing things happened to the Jewish people.
b 64 "Moreover, the Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth; and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone, which you or your fathers have not known.65 "Among those nations you shall find no rest, and there will be no resting place for the sole of your foot; but there the Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and despair of soul.66 "So your life shall hang in doubt before you; and you will be in dread night and day, and shall have no assurance of your life.67 "In the morning you shall say, 'Would that it were evening!' And at evening you shall say, 'Would that it were morning!' because of the dread of your heart which you dread, and for the sight of your eyes which you will see. Deut 28:64-67 (NASB)
aa The Jewish people are taken captive into all nations.
bb The fall of Jerusalem / Masada sets into play a cataclysmic series of events that will affect world history throughout the ages.
C On Judaism, it changes the face of Judaism.
1 When the Temple was destroyed the Pharisees ascended instead of the priests.
a Judaism became a rabbinic religion instead of a priest/temple religion.
b People believe what is Judaism today is what has been handed down, not really.
aa What we see today is because the Pharisees got the upper hand.
bb Judaism today is not based on sacrifices/Grace of God but on Mitkras. (good works)
2 It had ramifications on the church. (Gentile believers)
a Jerusalem was gone. (Center of Christianity too)
aa Christianity was shattered! The mother of church or Mt. Zion was gone.
bb Now Rome was the center.
b Christianity lost its Jewish roots, heritage, flavor, destiny
c Paul warns in Romans 11.18
18 do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you. Romans 11:18 (NASB)
aa He said don’t boast against the Jewish people if you aren’t Jewish by birth, your still one olive tree.
bb For 2,000 years there was one olive tree split in the middle.
cc The church hated the synagogue & the synagogue hated the church & the Lord’s in the middle of both.
3 It affected Jewish believers (No community, no homeland, no identity, not accepted by Jews... faded away)
a It affected world history (Jews were scattered all over the world)
aa A people born to be kings, priests, farmers, princes were now wanderers.
bb 2,000 years of persecution, yet the last 2,000 have been pivotal to human history.
b We’ve seen the emergence of Communism, Capitalism, Hollywood, atomic age, industrial revolution - you name it.
aa Sigmund Freud to Jerry Sienfield; Albert Einstein to Bob Dylan
bb Karl Marx to Marx Brothers
cc All trace their roots to blazing flames of Jerusalem & Masada.
D So as the people go out around th world, so to does the Gospel.
1 When a nation is destroyed & scattered with no king, no government, no army, no language... it disappears from history.
a Museums around the world are filled with remnants of nations that have disappeared from history.
aa Nations come and go!
bb History books are filled with nations that are no longer here.
cc Many nations die & they never come back to like again.
b You should have never seen a jew according to all the Laws of history. (Only in a museum or read about in the Bible)
aa But the Jewish people still live. (By miracle of God)
bb God promised Israel/Jews they shall not pass away.
cc Not because their better, your own goodness but so you’ll be my witness as to my existence.
2 There’s no Hitte stand-up comedians, no Acadian sitcoms.
a In the ruins of Masada, the Romans could feel pretty secure. They solved their Jewish problem, never again would there be a nation called Israel.
aa They took out Jerusalem’s name & called it a pagan city, erected a pagan Temple, banned any Jew from entering Jerusalem.
bb Changed the name of Israel to a pagan name, Palestine, based on the name of the ancient enemies fo Israel (Philistine)
cc Worked for nearly 2,000 years, pushed Hews further & further & further away. (More separated, disengaged)
dd Russia, Germany, Europe, America, N.Y. Brooklyn...all linked to 70 AD, the destruction of Jerusalem/Masada.
b They wandered as outcasts as foretold by Moses, Prophets, Messiah, to be scattered among the nations.
aa banned, put in ghettos, expelled.
bb Crusades/inquisitions all slaughtered Jews.
cc Russia, the Pograns slaughtered Jews.
dd Wherever they were, they were hated, unwanted, unwelcome.
3 All hell broke out against them!
a If they are witnesses fo God’s existence, hell is against them!
b Not just laws of history against them so are all the forces of hell!
aa Never has a nation been so hated, so attacked.
bb A people without land & a land without a nation.
E 32 'I will make the land desolate so that your enemies who settle in it will be appalled over it.33 'You, however, I will scatter among the nations and will draw out a sword after you, as your land becomes desolate and your cities become waste. Lev 26:32-33 (NASB)
1 For 2,000 years this is what happened to the land.
a Fields, harvests, vineyards, trees passed away. (Barren, desolate)
b Land filled with Malaria, swamps, dust bowls, depopulated, deforested, waste land.
aa 18th century visitor to Jerusalem & inhabitants called it, “A skull inhabited by flies.”
bb “This land has a curse on it. It’s barren, dead, cursed. No way will it ever rise.” - Mark Twain
2 By the 18th century most of the church had given up on Israel.
a We’re chosen now, we’re the New Israel; The prophesies weren’t literal.
aa Transferred to the church, not about Jews.
bb “God’s done with Israel.” Said most of the church.
b Through the last 2,000 years there were/are those Christians who have blessed, prayed for Israel/Jews.
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Mike Fogerson
