When Israel is attacked we know that God will allow them to be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity.
deja vu all over again?
THE WAR OF THE JEWS
For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall. (Matthew 24:21).
For the days shall come upon you when your enemies will throw up a bank before you, and surround you, and hem you in on every side, 44 and will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation. (Luke 19:43-44).
The ministry of Jesus was very specific in its exclusion of the head officials of Israel. During His three years of preaching, teaching and healing, He specifically avoided contact with Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee, with Pontius Pilate, the procurator of Judea, and with Caiaphas, the High Priest at Jerusalem.
Although He was no stranger to the city of Jerusalem, it was a stated fact that He never spent the night within the city. When He did visit the Temple, He made it His practice to spend His evenings in one of the small villages outside the city.
On the last week of His ministry, He came for the last time to Jerusalem. It was the season of the Passover. As He appeared openly in the Temple, the multitudes saw Him challenge the religious leaders.
Finally He was betrayed by one of His own disciples and arrested. He was brought before Caiaphas, the High Priest. Several charges were brought against Him, but none could be substantiated. Finally Caiaphas cut to the heart of the matter by asking Jesus if He were truly the Messiah, the Son of God. Jesus answered in the affirmative. The trial ended at this point as Caiaphas judged Him guilty of blasphemy.
It must be remembered that this was the only charge for which Jesus was ever found guilty. Since the Jews did not possess the legal right to enforce capital punishment, they took Jesus to Pilate in the Antonia Fortress. Pilate found Him innocent and tried to pass the buck by sending Jesus to Herod Antipas who happened to be in town for the Passover. Antipas also found Him innocent and refused to judge the case. When Jesus was brought back to Pilate, the procurator protested the innocence of the accused. In desperation, Pilate offered to release Jesus on the basis of a popular custom of clemency, due to the Passover. The crowd called for a convicted murderer named Barabbas instead.
And when Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the multitude, saying, "I am innocent of this Man's blood; see to that yourselves."
And all the people answered and said, "His blood be on us and on our children."
Then he released Barabbas for them; but after having Jesus scourged, he delivered Him to be crucified. (Matthew 27:24-26).
The crowd called for a curse to be brought upon themselves and their children. It would be in this same courtyard that the Romans would break through in 70 A.D. and slaughter the unbelieving Jews of Jerusalem.
JERUSALEM AND THE EARLY CHURCH
Although Jesus was crucified and buried, He refused to stay dead. Even a Roman guard could not keep Him in the grave. He arose and made numerous appearances before finally being caught up bodily into heaven.
1. The Pentecost Incident.
The disciples of Jesus remained in Jerusalem following His ascension, waiting for an event which He had promised. They waited for ten days, and the, on the day of the Feast of Pentecost, something spectacular happened.
And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent, rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. (Acts 2:1-4).
Jews were gathered together from all over the world to celebrate this Feast. Suddenly, in the midst of the crowded city, something took place that can only be explained in terms of the supernatural.
The followers of Jesus began to speak in other languages, relating the news the Jesus has risen from the dead. When the crowd gathered around to see what all of the commotion was about, Peter stood up and delivered a passionate sermon. As a result, 3000 people were baptized.
2. Persecutions.
The initial persecutions of the early Jerusalem church were conducted exclusively by the Jewish religious leaders. These involved beatings and imprisonment. They escalated to the point where a mob took Stephen and stoned him to death.
Instead of destroying the church, these persecutions had the result of scattering the Christians to other lands. Within a few years, churches began to grow up in foreign cities.
THE ROAD TO REVOLUTION
Conditions in Judea were made rise for a revolution by the continued mismanagement of the Roman procurators.
1. Early Procurators.
Following the deposing of Archelaus from the position of Ethnarch (A.D. 6), the province of Judea was placed under a series of Roman procurators.
Pontius Pilate (26-36 A.D.) has the distinction of crucifying Jesus. He made several other mistakes in ruling the province, bringing graven images of eagles into Jerusalem and then confiscating Temple funds for civil projects.
In 39 A.D. the Emperor Caligula demanded that a statue of himself be set up for worship in the Temple in Jerusalem. The Jews pled their case to the Legate in Syria and the action was postponed. Before it could be carried out by force of arms, Caligula was assassinated and the order was rescinded.
2. Herod Agrippa I (41-44 A.D.).
All of Palestine was united for a brief period under the rule of Herod Agrippa 1st in A.D. 41. This time was a brief period of peace for the Jews.
3. Ventilius Cumanus.
Following the death of Agrippa, Judea was placed back under the authority of a Roman governor.
a. The Passover Incident.
Josephus describes one of the events which took place under the procuratorship of Cumanus. It took place on the Passover.
For when the multitude were come together to Jerusalem, to the feast of unleavened bread, and a Roman cohort stood over the cloisters of the temple (for they were always armed and kept guard at the festivals, to prevent any innovation which the multitude thus gathered together might make), one of the soldiers pulled back his garment and cowering down after an indecent manner, turned his buttocks to the Jews and spoke words as you might expect upon such a posture. At this the whole multitude had indignation and made a clamor to Cumanus, that he would punish the soldier; while the rasher part of the youth, and such as were naturally the most tumultuous, fell to fighting and caught up stones and threw them at the soldiers. (Wars of the Jews 2:12:1)
Cumanus tried to smooth things over, but the crowd would not be quieted. He called for more reinforcements and a panic ensued. Josephus estimates that 20,000 people were killed in the riot.
b. The Samaritan Conflict.
Further unrest was unleashed when a Jewish pilgrim traveling from Galilee to Jerusalem was murdered while passing through Samaria.
A Jewish mob, upon hearing the news, set out from Jerusalem to take vengeance upon the Samaritans.
Cumanus was recalled to Rome to answer for his inability to keep the peace. Cumanus was deposed and banished.
4. Antonius Felix (52-60 A.D.).
Felix had been the governor of Samaria and had been just as remiss as Cumanus in keeping the peace.
However, Felix had some strong political connections in Rome so that Cumanus was given the blame while Felix was given the position of procurator of Judea, Samaria and Galilee.
It was while Felix was procurator that the Apostle Paul came to the Temple in Jerusalem. Antagonistic Jews began a riot and the Roman garrison in the Antonia Fortress intervened, arresting Paul. Finding that he could not receive a fair trial in Jerusalem, Paul appealed to his Roman citizenship and was therefore transported to Caesarea to appear before Felix.
Felix heard the case, but refused to make a final decision. Paul was kept under house arrest for a period of two years. During this time, Felix had regular audiences with him.
5. Porcius Festus (60-62 A.D.).
When Festus came to power, there was already a complete breakdown of law and order in Palestine. Realizing the nature of the situation, he resolved to do nothing that would add to it. At the same time, he realized that he had little familiarity with Jewish laws and customs.
Accordingly, he brought in Agrippa 2nd to hear the case of Paul and agreed with the result that Paul was innocent of any wrongdoing. However, since Paul had already appealed to Caesar, he was sent to Rome. Festus did not rule for long, dying early in his tenure of office.
6. Albinus (62-65 A.D.).
It was remarked once that Roman governors generally spent their first year in office collecting taxes to pay the bribes which had served to acquire the governorship, the second year collecting taxes to pay the bribes to the judges who would try them for mismanagement, and the remainder of their years collecting taxes from which to make them wealthy for life. Albinus was an excellent example of this.
He did not only, in his political capacity, steal and plunder everyone's substance, nor did he only burden the whole nation with taxes, but he permitted the relations of such as were in prison for robbery... to redeem them for money. (Wars of the Jews 2:14:1)
7. Gessius Florus (65-66 A.D.).
Florus was even worse than Albinus. Thousands were put to death in senseless slaughter. Even Roman citizens were crucified.
Bernice, the sister of Agrippa 2nd tried to intercede, but her requests were ignored and she was forced to flee for her own life.
As Jerusalem balanced on the brink of revolt, Agrippa 2nd himself came to the city to urge the Jews to be patient. The crowds pelted him with stones.
THE REVOLT
There had been a growing antisemitism in Palestine for many years now, especially in those cities which were predominantly Greek. This flared into an eruption when a pagan sacrifice was made at the entrance of the synagogue in Caesarea.
1. The Temple Sacrifice.
For many years there had been a regular sacrifice offered in the Temple on behalf of the Roman Emperor. Eleazer, the Temple captain, ordered that these sacrifices be stopped.
2. Florus at the Temple.
Florus, the Roman procurator, responded by marching to Jerusalem with the soldiers under his command and raiding the Temple Treasury. When the Jews protested, he set his troops on the people, allowing them to murder, rape, and plunder at will. About 3600 Jews were killed.
3. Jerusalem Liberated.
The spark of revolt was now fanned into an open flame. The Romans within the city of Jerusalem were slaughtered. In the riot that followed, the High Priest was killed and his house burned along with the official archives in which all public records were kept.
4. Capture of Masada.
Menahem, son of Judas the Galilean, attacked and captured the fortress of Masada with its armory.
THE ROMAN DEFEAT
Josephus speaks of an ambiguous oracle that was also found in their sacred writings, how "about that time, one from their country should become governor of the habitable earth." The Jews took this prediction to belong to themselves in particular, and many of the wise men were thereby deceived in their determination (Wars of the Jews 6:5:4).
1. The Attack of the 12th Legion.
Cestius Gallus, the Roman governor of Syria marched against Israel with the 12th Legion. He fought his way into Jerusalem, but was stopped before the walls of the Temple.
For a week he made repeated attacks until the defenders were on the point of surrender. At the last moment and for no apparent reason, he pulled back and retreated from the city.
As he began to withdraw, the Jews counterattacked, inflicting enormous losses. The 12th Legion lost its eagle and its siege equipment.
2. The Results of the Jewish Victory.
This loss turned the revolt into a full-scale war for independence. The Jews were ecstatic. They set up their own government in Jerusalem, organized the country into seven military districts, and minted their own silver coins.
Only one group saw these events through different eyes. The Jewish Christians in Judea remembered the warning of Jesus.
Luke 21:20-22
But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is at hand. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are in the midst of the city depart, and let not those who are in the country enter the city, 22 because these are days of vengeance, in order that all things which are written may be fulfilled. "
The Christians remembered these words and they began to pack up and move out of Judea.
cont...>>
THE WAR OF THE JEWS AND THE FALL OF JERUSALEM
