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The Seventy Weeks and the Great Tribulation
(1921)
By
Philip
Mauro
CHAPTER XV
THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM AS DESCRIBED BY JOSEPHUS
In bringing now to the attention of our readers some of the things
recorded by Josephus in his well known history of the last days of Jerusalem
and the Jewish nation, it will be understood that we do not cite that work as
evidence whereby we are to interpret the Scriptures; for we interpret the Word
of God by comparing scripture with scripture. In fact we did not consult
Josephus, or any other human writer, until after our conclusions as to the
meaning of these prophecies (as stated in the foregoing pages) had been
reached. We cite his work simply for what it is recognized on all hands to be,
a trustworthy recital by an eyewitness of things which he had personal
knowledge of, which things show that the word of Christ was fulfilled in the
most literal way.
Farquharson quotes the following tribute to Josephus by Bishop Porteus:
"The fidelity, the veracity, and the probity of the writer are
universally allowed; and Scaliger in particular declares, that not only in
the affairs of the Jews, but even of foreign nations, he deserves more
credit than all the Greek and Roman writers put together. "
It is a matter of common knowledge that Jerusalem is, up to the
present time, trodden down of the Gentiles, even as the Lord said; and that
the Jews are still scattered among all nations. This is enough in itself to
assure us that the Lord's prophecy in Luke 21 (and hence every other prophecy
concerning the same event) has been, and is being, fulfilled. But surely it is
a matter of deep interest to know how, when, and under what circumstances,
those prophecies were fulfilled. The history of Josephus fully satisfies this
legitimate desire; and we reiterate our belief that his account of those great
events has been preserved providentially. Moreover, since Josephus was not a
disciple of Christ at the time of writing his history, he cannot be suspected
of having written his account of the destruction of Jerusalem with a view to
supplying a fulfilment of the Lord's prophecy. His account was published in
the year 75, so that it was written while the things he described were fresh
in his memory. Their publication at a time when the truth of the matters
related by him was known to thousands then living, is a further reason for our
having confidence in the narrative.
Josephus describes the troubles which began under Pilate, the Roman
governor, especially when he sent by night those images of Caesar which are
called ensigns into Jerusalem (Bk. II ch. 9, sec. 2). Those ensigns or images
of Caesar were particularly hateful to the Jews; and inasmuch as they were
conspicuously carried in the Roman armies, we have here a reason why the
latter were termed the abomination of desolation.
In the days when Cumanus was Roman Governor began the troubles, and
the Jew's ruin came on (II 12:1). At that time Herod Agrippa II (the Agrippa
before whom Paul appeared) was reigning as king over Galilee. He was by far
the best of the Herod family; but we have no record that he was ever fully
persuaded to accept Christ. At that time various calamities and disturbances
began to take place. Bands of robbers infested the country, and in the city
there arose an organized company of assassins called Sicarii, who slew men in
the daytime, and in the city. This they did chiefly at festivals, when they
mingled with the multitudes and, by means of daggers concealed under their
garments, they stabbed those who were their enemies. The high priest Jonathan
was one of their victims (II 13, 3).
Another class of trouble makers
were certain men who, though not thieves or murderers, yet laid waste the
happy state of the city no less than did those murderers. These were such men
as deceived and deluded the people under pretence of Divine inspiration.
It is easy to recognize in these men the false prophets whereof the Lord
warned His disciples. Continuing, Josephus says' These prevailed with the
multitude to act like madmen and went before them into the wilderness,
pretending that God would there show them the signals of liberty (II
13:4).
There was also an Egyptian false prophet, who got together thirty
thousand men that were deluded by him. These he led about from the wilderness
to the mount which is called the mount of Olives. This, according to Josephus,
was in the days when Felix was governor. Consequently it was at the time of
Paul's last visit to Jerusalem, which calls to mind that the chief captain
before whom Paul was taken after the disturbance in the Temple, supposed that
he was that Egyptian, which before these days madest an uproar, and leddest
out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers (#Ac 21:38). It
also brings to mind the definite warning of Christ, Wherefore, if they shall
say to you, Behold, He is in the desert, go not forth (#Mt 24:26).
Josephus likens the social conditions at that time to those of a body
which is thoroughly diseased, in that when trouble subsided in one place it
broke out immediately in another. For, says he, a company of deceivers and
robbers got together, and persuaded the Jews to revolt, and exhorted them to
assert their liberty (id. 6).
About this time Felix was succeeded by Festus (as is also recorded in
(#Ac 24:27), and he by Florus, who was the most wicked of all the Roman
governors, and the immediate occasion of the war. This was in the twelfth year
of Emperor Nero, A.D. 66. Josephus relates that when Cestius Gallus came to
Jerusalem at the passover season the people came about him not fewer in number
than three millions (II 14:3). This shows the immense numbers which gathered
in Jerusalem at that season.
Josephus relates with much detail the atrocities and barbarities which
the people suffered at the hands of the soldiers, and describes their agonies
and lamentations. On one occasion the soldiers, after plundering the citizens,
crucified many of them, the number of those slain (including women and
children) being about 3600 on that single occasion. It appears to have been
the deliberate purpose of Florus to goad the Jews into a revolt, so that
thereby his own acts of plunder and other crimes might be covered up (II 14,
9).
In ch. 16 (Bk. II) Josephus gives a speech by Herod Agrippa, in which
he used every persuasion and argument to restrain the Jews from the madness of
revolting against the Romans. He eloquently pictured the vast power and extent
of the Roman dominion as stretching from east to west, and from north to
south. Indeed, said Agrippa, they have sought for another habitable earth
beyond the ocean, and have carried their arms as far as the British Isles,
which were never known before (II 16, 4). It seems strange to us that one
of whom we read in the Bible should have spoken to the Jews in Jerusalem about
the British Isles.
King Agrippa, as a final argument, attributed the world wide success of
the Roman arms to the providence of God, for which reason he urged the Jews
that it was vain for them to contend against them, and he concluded his speech
with this strong appeal:
"Have pity therefore, if not upon your children and wives, yet upon this
your Metropolis and its sacred walls! Spare the Temple and preserve the Holy
House, with its holy furniture! For if the Romans get you under their power
they will no longer abstain from (destroying) them, when their former
abstinence shall have been so ungratefully requited. I call to witness your
Sanctuary, and the holy angels of God, and this country, common to us all,
that I have not kept back anything that is for your preservation. Josephus
adds that, When Agrippa had spoken thus, both he and his sister (Bernice)
wept, and by their tears repressed a great deal of the violence of the
people. "
Soon after this, however, the priests were persuaded that they should
refuse to receive any gift or sacrifice for any foreigner. And this was the
true beginning of our war with the Romans; for they (the temple authorities)
rejected the sacrifice of Caesar on this account (II 17, 2).
There were at that time two parties in Jerusalem. One turbulent
faction advocated immediate revolt against the Romans. The other party, led by
the priests and the chief of the Pharisees, realizing the madness of the
proposal, sought to restrain the seditious element; but finding they would not
listen to argument or persuasion, they sent to the governor Florus, and also
to Agrippa, for troops to quell the revolt. From that time the fighting began;
but the Jews killed one another in numbers far greater than those slain by the
soldiers. The Roman garrison was about that time besieged in the fortress of
Antonia (in the temple area), and was taken and either slain or dispersed (II
17, 7). A little later another Roman garrison, besieged at Mesada, which had
been Herod's stronghold, surrendered under promise that their lives would be
spared, but they were treacherously slain after they had laid down their arms
(II 17, 10). These actions, of course, aroused the Roman authorities, who
began to make preparations to subdue the revolters. In the city of Caesarea
(built by Herod the Great), above 20,000 Jews were killed in one hour, and all
Caesarea was emptied of its Jewish inhabitants; for Florus caught such as ran
away, and sent them to the galleys. This enraged the whole Jewish nation, so
that they laid waste the villages of Syria and elsewhere, burning some cities
to the ground.
"But," says Josephus, the Syrians
were even with the Jews in the multitude of the men they slew. The disorders
in all Syria were terrible. Every city was divided into two armies, and the
preservation of the one party was in the destruction of the other. So the
daytime was spent in shedding of blood, and the night in fear, which was, of
the two, the more terrible * * *
It was then common to see cities filled with dead bodies, still lying
unburied; those of old men mingled with infants, all scattered about
together. Women also lay among them without any covering. You might then see
the whole province full of inexpressible calamities. "
In some places the horrors were worse because Jews fought against
Jews. In Scythopolis alone above 13,000 were slain at one time (II 18:1 &
2). Josephus relates the case of one prominent man who, because of the
terrible things happening all around, and in order to save his family from a
worse fate, killed first his father and mother with the sword--they willingly
submitting--and afterwards his wife and children, finally taking his own life
(II 18:3). This incident will give us at least a faint idea of the awful
conditions of those 'days of vengeance, and of wrath upon this people.
Many pages are filled with accounts of the slaughter of the Jews in
various places. Reading them we are impressed with the Saviour's saying that
except those days should be shortened there should no flesh be saved (#Mt
24:22). The calamities were beyond description. Thus, at Alexandria, where the
Jews had enjoyed the greatest privileges for centuries, they were incited to
rise in revolt by the seditious element, and were destroyed unmercifully, and
this, their destruction, was complete. Houses were first plundered of what was
in them, and then set on fire by the Romans. No mercy was shown to the
infants, and no regard had to the aged; but they went on with the slaughter of
persons of every age, till all the place was overflowed with blood, and fifty
thousand of them lay dead in heaps (II l8:8).
THE STRANGE RETREAT OF CESTIUS
The Roman general, Cestius, now
led his army from Syria into Judea, destroying widely, and laid siege to
Jerusalem. He made such rapid progress that the city was on the point of
being captured. The seditious element fled in large numbers, and the
peaceable inhabitants were about to throw open the gates to the Romans, when a
remarkable thing took place, so unaccountable from any natural standpoint
that it can only be attributed to the direct intervention of God, and for the
fulfilment of the word of Christ. Josephus tells how the people were
about to admit Cestius as their benefactor, when he suddenly recalled his
soldiers and retired from the city without any reason in the world. Had he not
withdrawn when he did, the city and the sanctuary would, of course, have been
spared; and Josephus says it was, I suppose, owing to he aversion God
already had towards the city and the sanctuary that he (Cestius) was
hindered from putting an end to the war that very day (II 19:6).
But the translator of the history, Wm. Whiston, adds a note at this
point, which we quote in full:
"There may be another very important and very providential reason
assigned for this strange and foolish retreat of Cestius, which, if Josephus
had been at the time of writing his history a Christian, he might probably
have taken notice of also; and that is the opportunity afforded the Jewish
Christians in the city, of calling to mind the prediction and caution
given them by Christ that 'when they should see the abomination of
desolation' (the idolatrous Roman armies, with the images of their idols in
their ensigns) ready to lay Jerusalem desolate, 'stand where it ought
not,' or 'in the holy place'; or 'when they should see Jerusalem encompassed
with armies,' they should then 'flee to the mountains.' By complying with
which, those Jewish Christians fled to the mountains of Perea, and escaped
this destruction. Nor was there perhaps any one instance of a more unpolitic,
but more providential conduct, than this retreat of Cestius visible during
this whole siege of Jerusalem, which (siege) was providentially such a
'great tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the world to that
time; no, nor ever should be'.
It was very apparent to this learned translator, and must be apparent,
we should think, to all who are acquainted both with the three inspired
records of our Lord's Olivet prophecy, and also with the historical facts so
wonderfully preserved in this history by Josephus, that the three accounts
refer to the same event, that the abomination of desolation was the armies of
imperial and pagan Rome, and that the unparalleled sufferings of the Jews
during those five years of terror, were the great tribulation foretold by the
Lord in Matthew 24:21.
THE DAYS OF VENGEANCE
Josephus devotes nearly two hundred large pages (they would fill
upwards of four hundred ordinary size) to the account of the events of' those
'days of vengeance,' which l (as we have seen) involved not only the Jews in
Palestine, but Jews all over the world. We can refer to but a very few of
those tragic events; but, inasmuch as not many of our readers have access to
the history of Josephus, we believe we are rendering them a service in giving
the best idea we can, in small compass, of the happenings of those times.
After the retreat of Cestius, there was a slaughter of about 10,000
Jews at Damascus; and then, it being evident that war with the Romans was
inevitable, the Jews began making preparations to defend Jerusalem. At that
time Josephus, the writer of this history, was appointed general of the armies
in Galilee. He seems to have had great ability and success as a soldier,
though he was finally overpowered and captured by the Romans. Concerning one
of his military operations his translator says' I cannot but think this
stratagem of Josephus to be one of the finest that ever was invented and
executed by any warrior whatsoever.
At this point the emperor Nero
appointed Vespasian, a valiant and experienced general, to the task of
subduing the Jews; and Vespasian designated his son Titus to assist him. They
invaded Judea from the north, marching along the coast, and killing
many--18,000 at Askelon alone. Thus Galilee was all over filled with fire and
blood; nor was it exempt from any kind of misery or calamity (III 4:1).
Josephus opposed the Roman invasion with such forces as he had, but one by one
the cities were taken and their inhabitants slain. Finally, Josephus himself
was driven to take refuge in Jotapata???, which, after long and desperate
resistance, was taken by Vespasian. The incidents of this siege were terrible;
and among them were events which forcibly recall the Lord's words, But woe to
them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days. The Romans
were so enraged by the long and fierce resistance of the Jews that they spared
none, nor pitied any. Many, moreover, in desperation, killed themselves. The
life of Josephus was spared in a manner which seems miraculous (III 8:4-7),
and he was taken captive to Vespasian, to whom he prophesied that both he and
Titus his son would be Caesar and emperor. .... From that time till the end of
the war Josephus was kept a prisoner; but he was with Titus during the
subsequent siege of Jerusalem, in which the atrocities and miseries reached a
limit impossible to be exceeded on earth. Only the state of the lost in hell
could be worse.
After Jotapata fell, Joppa was taken, and then Tiberias and Taricheae
on Lake Gennesaret. Thousands were killed, and upwards of 30,000 from the last
named place alone were sold into slavery. Having now completely subdued
Galilee, Vespasian led his army to Jerusalem.
For a right understanding of Matthew 24:15-21 it is important to know
that the Roman armies were, for more than a year, occupied with the
devastation of the provinces of Galilee and Judea, before Jerusalem was
besieged. It should be noted also that Christ's first warnings to flee were to
them which be in Judea (#Mt24:16). This makes it perfectly certain that the
abomination of desolation standing in the holy place, which was the appointed
signal for them which be in Judea to flee into the mountains, was not an idol
set up in the inner sanctuary of the Temple. For the desolation of Judea was
completed long before Jerusalem and the Temple were taken.
At the time Vespasian led his armies to Jerusalem, that doomed city was
in a state of indescribable disorder and confusion insomuch that, during the
entire siege, the Jews suffered far more from one another inside the walls
than from the enemy outside. Josephus says there were disorders and civil war
in every city, and all those that were at quiet from the Romans turned their
hands one against another. There was also a bitter contest between those that
were for war, and those that were desirous for peace (IV 3:2).
Josephus further tells of the utter disgrace and ruin of the high
priesthood, the basest of men being exalted to that office; and also of the
profanation of the sanctuary.
The most violent party in the city was the Zealots. These called to
their aid a band of blood thirsty Idumeans, who set upon the people who were
peaceably inclined, and slaughtered young and old until the outer temple was
all of it overflowed with blood, and that day they saw 8500 dead bodies there.
Among the slain was Ananias, formerly high priest, a venerable and worthy man,
concerning whom Josephus said:
"I should not mistake if I said that the death of Ananias was the
beginning of the destruction of the city, and that from this very day may be
dated the overthrow of her wall, and the ruin of her affairs; that being the
day whereon they saw their high priest, and the procurer of their
preservation, slain in the midst of their city. * * * And I cannot but think
it was because God had doomed this city to destruction, as a
polluted city, and was resolved to purge His sanctuary with fire, that He
cut off these, their great defenders, while those that a little before had
worn the sacred garments and presided over the public worship, were cast out
naked to be the food of dogs and wild beasts. * * *
Now after these were slain the Zealots and the Idumeans fell upon the
people as upon a flock of profane animals, and cut their throats."
Josephus also tells of the terrible torments inflicted upon nobles and
citizens of the better sort who refused to comply with the demands of the
Zealots. Those, after being horribly tortured, were slain, and through fear,
none dared bury them. In this way 12,000 of the more eminent inhabitants
perished (IV 5:3). We quote further:
"Along all the roads also vast numbers of dead bodies lay in heaps; and
many who at first were zealous to desert the city chose rather to perish
there; for the hopes of burial made death m their own city appear less
terrible to them. But those zealots came at last to that degree of barbarity
as not to bestow a burial either on those slain in the city or on those that
lay along the roads; as if * * * at the same time that they defiled men with
their wicked actions they would pollute the Deity itself also, they left the
dead bodies to putrefy under the sun. (IV. 6. 3).
About this time above 15,000 fugitive Jews were killed by the Romans, and
the number of those that were forced to leap into the Jordan was prodigious.
* * * The whole country through which they fled was filled with slaughter,
and Jordan could not be passed over, by reason of the dead bodies that were
in it (IV. 8. 5, 6).
VESPASIAN RECALLED. TITUS PLACED IN CHARGE
At this point Vespasian was called to Rome by reason of the death of
the emperor Nero, and the operations against the Jews devolved upon Titus.
Vespasian himself was soon thereafter made emperor.
Meanwhile another tyrant rose up, whose name was Simon, and of him
Josephus says: Now this Simon, who was without the wall, was a greater terror
to the people than the Romans themselves; while the Zealots who were within it
were more heavy upon them than both the other. Those Zealots were led by a
tyrant named John; and the excesses of murder and uncleanness in which they
habitually indulged are indescribable (see Bk. IV, ch. 9, sec. 10).
In order to overthrow John, the people finally admitted Simon and his
followers. From that time onward the civil warfare within the city became more
incessant and deadly. The distracted city was now divided into three factions
instead of two. The fighting was carried even into the inner court of the
temple; whereupon Josephus laments that even those who came with sacrifices to
offer them in the temple were slain, and sprinkled that altar with their own
blood, till the dead bodies of strangers were mingled together with those of
their own country, and those of profane persons with those of priests, and
the blood of all sort of dead carcases stood in lakes in the holy courts
themselves (V 1:3).
Surely there never were such conditions as these in any city before or
since.
Among the dire calamities which befell the wretched people was the
destruction of the granaries and storehouses of food;so that famine was soon
added to the other horrors. The warring factions were agreed in nothing but to
kill those that were innocent. Says Josephus:
"The noise of those that were fighting was incessant, both by day and by
night; but the lamentations of those that mourned exceeded the noise of the
fighting. Nor was there ever any occasion for them to leave off their
lamentations, because their calamities came perpetually, one upon another. *
* * But as for the seditious bands themselves, they fought against each
other while trampling upon the dead bodies which lay heaped one upon
another, and being filled with a mad rage from those dead bodies under their
feet, they became the more fierce. They, moreover, were still inventing
pernicious things against each other; and when they had resolved upon
anything, they executed it without mercy, and omitted no method of torment
or of barbarity" (V. 2. 5).
At the time described in the preceding paragraphs, the Roman armies had
not yet reached the city, and inasmuch as the Passover season now came on, and
things seemed to quiet down momentarily, the gates were opened for such as
wished to observe the great feast. The translator, in a footnote, says:
"Here we see the true occasion of those vast numbers of Jews that were in
Jerusalem during this siege by Titus and who perished therein. For the siege
began at the feast of Passover, when such prodigious multitudes of the Jews
and proselytes were come from all parts of Judea, and from other countries.
* * * As to the number that perished during this siege, Josephus assures us,
as we shall see hereafter, they were 1,100,000, besides 97,000 captives.
This is notable as the last Passover. That joyous feast of
remembrance of God's great deliverance of His people out of Egypt ended in an
orgy of blood. The tyrant John took advantage of this opportunity to introduce
some of his followers, with concealed weapons, among the throngs of
worshippers in the temple, who slew many, while others were rolled in heaps
together, and trampled upon, and beaten without mercy.
And now, though the Roman armies were at their gates, the warring
factions began again to destroy one another and the innocent inhabitants.
"For", says Josephus, they returned to their former madness, and
separated one from another, and fought it out; and they did everything that
the besiegers could desire them to do. For they never suffered from the
Romans anything worse than they made each other suffer; nor was there any
misery endured by the city which, after what these men did, could be
esteemed new. It was most of all unhappy before it was overthrown; and those
that took it did it a kindness. For I venture to say that the sedition
destroyed the city, and the Romans destroyed the sedition. This was a much
harder thing to do than to destroy the walls. So that we may justly ascribe
our misfortunes to our own people (V. 6. 2).
This is the most astonishing feature of this great tribulation; for
surely there never was a besieged city whose inhabitants suffered more from
one another than from the common enemy. In this feature of the case we see
most clearly that it is one of judgment; and that, as the apostle Paul said,
the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.
At this point the siege began in earnest. Titus, however, sent Josephus
to speak to the Jews, offering them clemency, and exhorting them to yield.
Josephus made a most earnest plea to them not to resist the might of Rome,
pointing out that God was no longer with them. But it was to no
purpose. So the siege proceeded outside, and the famine began to rage inside,
insomuch that children pulled out of their parents' mouths the morsels they
were eating, and even mothers deprived their infants of the last bits of food
that might have sustained their lives.
The fighters, of course, kept for their own use what food there was,
and it seems that they took a keen delight in seeing others suffer. It was a
species of madness. They invented terrible methods of torments, such as it
would not be seemly for us to describe. And this was done, says Josephus, to
keep their madness in exercise (V 10:3). The most horrible and unbelievable
torments were inflicted upon all who were suspected of having any food
concealed. The following passage will give an idea of the conditions:
"It is impossible to give every instance of the iniquity of these men. I
shall therefore speak my mind here at once briefly:--that neither did any
other city suffer such miseries, nor did any age ever breed a generation
more fruitful in wickedness than this was, from the beginning of the world.
(This forcibly brings to mind the Lord's own words.) Finally they brought
the Hebrew nation into contempt, that they might themselves appear
comparatively less impious with regard to strangers. They confessed, what
was true, that they were the scum, and the spurious and abortive offspring
of our nation, while they overthrew the city themselves, and forced the
Romans, whether they would or no, to gain a melancholy reputation by acting
gloriously against them; and did almost draw that fire upon the temple which
they seemed to think came too slowly" (V. 10. 5).
Under pressure of the famine many Jews went out at night into the
valleys in search of food. These were caught, tortured and crucified in sight
of those on the walls of the city. About five hundred every day were thus
treated. The number became finally so great that there was not room enough for
the crosses, nor crosses enough for the victims. So several were ofttimes
nailed to one cross.
A little later the Roman armies
encompassed the entire city, so that there was no longer any egress therefrom.
"Then, says Josephus, did the famine widen its progress and devour the
people by whole houses and families. The upper rooms were full of women and
children dying by famine; and the lanes of the city were full of the dead
bodies of the aged. The children also and the young men wandered about the
marketplaces like shadows, all swelled with the famine, and fell down dead,
wheresoever their misery seized them (V. 12. 3).
Thus did the miseries of Jerusalem grow worse and worse every day. * * *
And indeed the multitude of carcases that lay in heaps, one upon another,
was a horrible sight, and produced a pestilential stench which was a
hindrance to those that would make sallies out of the city and fight the
enemy (VI. 1. 1).
The number of those that perished by famine in the city was prodigious,
and their miseries were unspeakable. For if so much as the shadow of any
kind of food did anywhere appear, a war was commenced presently, and the
dearest friends fell a fighting one another about it.
In this connection Josephus relates in detail the case of a woman,
eminent for her family and her wealth, who, while suffering the ravages of
famine, slew her infant son and roasted him, and having eaten half of him,
concealed the other half. When presently the seditious Jews came in to search
the premises, and smelt the horrid scent of this food, they threatened her
life if she did not show them what food she had prepared. She replied that she
had saved for them a choice part, and withal uncovered what was left of the
little body, saying, Come, eat of this food; for I have eaten of it myself. Do
not you pretend to be more tender than a woman, or more compassionate than a
mother. Even those desperate and hardened men were horrified at the sight, and
stood aghast at the deed of this mother. They left trembling; and the whole
city was full of what the woman had done. It must be remembered that all this
time the lives of all in the city would have been spared and the city and
temple saved, had they but yielded to the Romans. But how then should the
Scripture be fulfilled? (see #De 28:56,57) Soon after this the temple was set
on fire and was burned down, though Titus tried to save it. Josephus says:
But as for that house, God had for certain long ago doomed it to the
fire; and now that fatal day was come, according to the revolution of ages.
It was the tenth day of the month Ab, the day upon which it was formerly
burnt by the king of Babylon (VI. 4. 5).
Further Josephus says:
"While the holy house was on fire everything was plundered that came to
hand, and ten thousand of those were slain. Nor was there commiseration of
any age, or any reverence of gravity; but children, old men, profane
persons, and priests were all slain in the same manner. * * * Moreover many,
when they saw the fire, exerted their utmost strength, and did break out
into groans and outcries. Perea also did return the echo, as well as the
mountains round about Jerusalem, and augmented the force of the noise."
Yet was the misery itself more terrible than this disorder. For one would
have thought that the hill itself, on which the temple stood, was seething
hot, as if full of fire on every part, that the blood was more in quantity
than the fire, and that the slain were more in numbers than they who slew
them. For the ground did nowhere appear visible because of the dead bodies
that lay upon it (VL 5. 1).
In describing how a number were killed in a certain cloister, which
the soldiers set on fire, Josephus says:
"A false prophet was the occasion of the destruction of those
people, he having made a public proclamation that very day that God
commanded them to get upon the temple and that they should receive
miraculous signs of their deliverance. There was then a large number of
false prophets suborned by the tyrants to impose on the people, who
announced to them that they should wait for deliverance from God
(VI. 5. 2).
In this detail also the Lord's Olivet prophecy was most literally
fulfilled.
When at last the Romans gained entrance into the city, the soldiers
had become so exasperated by the stubborn resistance of the Jews, that they
could not be restrained from wreaking vengeance upon the survivors. So they
indulged in slaughter until weary of it. The survivors were sold into slavery,
but at a very low price, because they were so numerous, and the buyers were
few. Thus was fulfilled the word of the Lord by Moses, And there ye shall be
sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you
(#De 28:68).
Many were put into bonds and sold to slavery in the Egyptian mines,
thus fulfilling several prophecies that they should be sold into Egypt again,
whence God had delivered them (#Ho 8:13; 9:3).
In concluding this part of his history Josephus gives the number of
those who perished (a million one hundred thousand) and of those sold into
slavery (ninety seven thousand), and explains, as we have already stated, that
they were come up from all the country to the feast of unleavened bread, and
were on a sudden shut up by an army. And he adds:
"Now this vast multitude was indeed collected out of remote places, but
the entire nation was now shut up by fate as in prison, and the Roman army
encompassed the city when it was crowded with inhabitants. Accordingly the
multitude of those that perished therein exceeded all the destructions that
either men or God ever brought upon the world" (VI. 9. 4).
Thus ended, in the greatest of all calamities of the sort, the
national existence of the Jewish people, and all that pertained to that old
covenant which was instituted with glory (#2Co 3:7,9,11), but which was to be
done away.
Here may be seen an example of the thoroughness of God's judgments,
when He arises to do His strange work. Judgment must begin at the house of
God; and in view of what is brought to our notice in this history of Josephus,
how impressive is the question, And if it begin at us, what shall the end be
of them that obey not the gospel of God? (#1Pe 4:17).
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