The Destruction of Jerusalem (Part 6 of 6)
At this point we should lay the historic foundation and take some time to look at the destruction of Jerusalem. After Jesus’ triumphant entry, He looked over Jerusalem and wept. Look at Luke 19
41 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it,
42 saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.
43 "For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side,
44 "and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation."
Jesus also added:
15 " Therefore when you see the ’abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand),
16 "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. – Matthew 24:15-16
This was the day that God’s people should have recognized. Not only did they fail to recognize it, but the leaders did everything in their power to prevent this day from arriving. Jesus foretold of this destruction on several occasions. In Luke 21 the disciples were talking about how marvelous and beautiful the temple was. The temple was the pride and glory of Israel. Jesus said that not one stone would be left on the temple. Because of these prophecies, the early Christians recognized the coming destruction and were able to escape.
Look again at Daniel 9:
26 "And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate."
Jesus’ prophecy refers back to this prophecy which says, “The people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary”. The prince is not referring to the Messiah, but the prince that shall come after the Messiah is cut off. Jesus added to it by saying that not one stone of the temple will be left on top of the other. The temple and the sanctuary are the same. When Rome came to destroy Jerusalem they fulfilled the destruction of the sanctuary, but that prince did not exalt himself as God and did not defile the temple.
Under the emperor Nero, the Jews revolted against Rome. Insurrectionists were a part of the Jewish mindset from the beginning of Roman occupation. When Jesus arrived on the scene, those who acknowledged Him as Messiah were looking for Him to free Israel from Rome and become a military leader as King David had been. When Jesus failed to meet the expectations of the people, they rejected Him completely. If we look back at the trial of Jesus, Pilot gave the people a choice to free Jesus or Barabbas. Barabbas was an insurrectionist who murdered others to promote his cause. The Jews chose the murderer over Jesus.
Under the burden of the insanity of Nero, the Jews launched an outright rebellion in AD 66. Several cities around Jerusalem were destroyed as a show of force. The rebellion continued until Vespasian began his march to destroy Jerusalem. Vespasian unexpectedly turned away from Jerusalem and all the Christians fled Jerusalem. A short time later, Vespasian’s son, Titus returned with the Roman armies to lay siege around Jerusalem. Even while Titus was marching to Jerusalem, his father, Vespasian was proclaimed Emperor of Rome, thus making Titus a prince of Rome. Daniel’s prophecy stated that the people of the prince to come would surround Jerusalem. Once again we can see the amazing accuracy of scripture. Only God could have foreknown that the coming general would become a prince before he arrived at Jerusalem.
While Jerusalem was encompassed around outside, they warred among themselves inside. Two ‘crime lords’, whom Josephus called the seditious, were jockeying for control of the city. These were very evil men who looked at the chaos as an opportunity to rise to power. One was named John and the other Simon. They thought nothing of killing each other and any who sided with the other. During their internal war, they burned storehouses of food in an attempt to make the other vulnerable. During the early years of the siege, food could be used to gain power. After destroying the storage, food was too scares to use for anything but survival. Out of spite they self-inflicted a famine that would not have occurred for many years if at all. After food became scarce, the followers of these two seditious men would go house to house searching for food to confiscate. They would frequently torture people to find out if they had or knew of hidden food.
Outside the walls Titus was determined not to destroy Jerusalem. He sent Josephus to be a negotiator with the seditious. They counted Josephus as a traitor and tried many times to kill him. Titus offered amnesty to any who departed the city willingly. Many people did escape this way, but immediately the seditious posted guards to prevent anyone from leaving the city. Anyone who was even suspected of planning an escape was violently killed. Titus broke through the outer wall of Jerusalem and then tore down the wall. He used this as a negotiating tool. This was Jerusalem’s strongest wall; therefore the inner walls would be less of a challenge. He then offered amnesty again. They refused.
During subsequent battles and failed raids by the Jewish soldiers, captured prisoners of war were crucified in front of the wall. Titus used the crucifixions to try to convince surrender. So many Jews were crucified that they could not find enough wood for the crosses.
During one attack on the wall, the Jews made an unexpected retreat. Against the orders of Titus, many Roman soldiers scaled the walls to pursue the Jewish soldiers only to find that it was a trap. The Jews had covered the wooden platforms with straw and set it on fire at their retreat. Hundreds of Roman soldiers were trapped on the burning walls and died. This event along with the taunting of the Jews and years of waiting created a hatred for the Jews among the Roman soldiers. Titus gave another offer for surrender but the Jews refused. The inhabitants were starving and dying so fast that the bodies could not be buried, but the seditious refused surrender.
Finally Titus ordered an assault on the final wall of the city. The Romans broke through and began the Jewish massacre. Titus gave strict orders not to harm the sanctuary, however, Jesus made it clear that the sanctuary would be destroyed and no two stones would remain on top of each other. Prophecy prevailed over Titus’ orders. The soldiers were now caught up into such a battle frenzy so that orders were no longer to be heard. Josephus described the out-of-control soldiers as men under the ‘Divine fury’. One solder stood on the shoulders of another and set fire to the wooden structure of the golden window of the temple. The fire quickly spread to the upper rooms and then became a raging inferno. The Jews left off fighting because the temple was their highest priority. Titus sent soldiers into the temple to fight the fire, but it was futile. Once the fire became hopelessly out of control, Titus ordered his men back and cried as he watched the temple burn. The heat of the fire melted the gold that decorated the temple and it seeped into the walls. Once the fire burned out, Titus ordered the rocks pried apart so the gold could be recovered.
Titus did everything within his power to prevent the destruction of Jerusalem but failed. He then tried to protect the temple, but also failed. The destruction of Jerusalem was fulfilled exactly as the prophecies in Daniel and Jesus foretold. The judgment was severe and was the direct result of their rejection of peace.
Some believe that God blinded the Jews so that they would reject Jesus as the Messiah and fulfill prophecy. I disagree. God foretells what will happen because He sees the end from the beginning. What will happen is not necessarily what God intended for His people. For example, the Bible says that the plan of redemption through Christ was established before the foundation of the world. Not only did God know that Adam would sin and sin would separate man from God, but God already had a plan to reconcile us to Himself before Adam even had an opportunity to sin. God did not make Adam sin. Adam had everything that a man could possibly want, yet he chose the temptation over paradise.
God did not make the Pharisees plot against Jesus. He did not cause them to conspire. He did not make them love the power they held over the people and love their wealth gained through the business of running the temple. He did not make them love things over their love for God. They loved themselves and their own ways and hated what God revealed about Himself. They first rejected truth and then fought to establish a lie that would fit their desires.
The Jews were not blinded so that they would reject the Messiah. The Jews were blinded because the refused to accept the truth and their Messiah. 2 Thessalonians 2 says:
10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,
12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
We will see this passage again because it applies to the acceptance of the beast of Revelation. It also applies here because the principle is the same. God is merciful. Only after truth is rejected does God allow men to be blinded by the lie. If someone wants the lie, God will deliver them to the lie. We all chose a master. We will either love God and submit to Him, or we will love sin and submit to sin. The Bible says that we are slaves of the one we submit ourselves to. The blinding of the Jews and the destruction of Jerusalem was because they refuse to recognize their visitation. After Jesus presented Himself as King, He wept over the city and made it clear that peace was God’s intention. Remember our passage from Luke 19? Jesus wept over the city and said the truth was ‘hidden from your eyes’ because they rejected what God provided for their peace.
First, Jesus wept over the coming judgment. Even though God knew He would be rejected, God did not intend for the Jews to reject Him – and it is certain that He did not force it to happen! The Bible makes it clear that the Messiah’s visitation was intended for their peace. This Bible also tells us when God’s people were blinded. “Now they are hidden from your eyes”. It was after the rejection that Israel was blinded, not before. We are clearly told the reason for God’s judgment. It was because they did not know the time He visited them. The entire Old Testament points to His coming, yet they did not see it because they desired something other than God.
The same is true for all who reject God’s plan in their life. God may indeed foretell the consequences for sin, but God’s intention is for our good. Just because God can see the end from the beginning and knows what choice we will make, does not mean that God has intended us to make sinful choices. God knew Israel would fail and as we will soon see, He has already foretold how He will show grace to them again. This is true in the individual’s life as well. God foreknew what path we would take. Sinful choices do have severe consequences. God allows our sins to judge us but He also shows grace and has a plan for our redemption. Regardless of how badly we have blown it, God’s grace remains unmerited for all. When we repent, He welcomes us home with open arms.
