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View of the Hebrews - Chapter I
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CHAPTER I.
THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM.
The land of promise was long a land of wonders. The Hebrew nation there
was for many centuries the cradle of the truth and only church of God on
earth. There glorious things were wrought for her salvation. Patriarchs
had there prayed, sacrificed and praised. There Prophets had prophesied;
and the Almighty had often made bare his holy arm. There his people had
too often apostatized; had been expelled from their Canaan; and again
mercifully restored. There the ten tribes of Israel had renounced the
house of David, and their God; and were hence banished to some unknown
region of the world, to the present day; while the Jews were still
retained in the covenant of God. There God, manifest in the flesh, made
his appearance on earth;--performed his publick ministry;--atoned for the
sins of the world;--and ascended to glory. There the first heralds of the
gospel dispensation commenced their ministry; and thence the wonderful
scheme of grace was propagated through the nations.
Jerusalem was the capital of this earthly Canaan. Glorious things were
spoken of this city of our God.
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"Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, was this Mount Zion
on the sides of the north, the city of the Great King." This, for many
centuries, might be called God's Capital on earth. God said, alluding
primarily to this city; "For the Lord hath chosen Zion to be an habitation
for himself. Here will I dwell, for I have desired it." Here great things
were done in divine faithfulness; which led the psalmist to say; "God is
known in her places for a refuge. For lo, Kings were assembled; they
passed by together. They saw it, and so they marvelled; they were
troubled, and so they hasted away." "The Lord of hosts is with us; the God
of Jacob is our refuge." "In Salem stood his tabernacle; and his dwelling
place in Zion. There brake he the arrows of the bow, the shield and the
sword of the battle." This city of God long answered well to its
name.--Jeru, they shall see; Salem, peace. Long did the church, while they
walked with God, there see and enjoy peace.
But alas, we find recorded of this city, temple, and nation of the Jews, a
fatal reverse. They found the sentiment in their sacred oracles fulfilled;
"The Lord is with you while ye be with him; but if ye forsake him, he will
cast you off."
The Jews became carnal; crucified the Lord of glory; and they fell under
the denunciations and the full execution of his wrath. Their lawgiver
Moses and their prophets had long thundered against them solemn
denunciations, that if ever they should become of the character which they
did impiously assume, the most signal judgements of God should cut them
off. And the Messiah uttered against them, in consequence of their
rejecting him, a new edition of these fatal denunciations, which we find
in Matt. xxiv. Mark xii. Luke xix. 41--44. chap. xxi. and xxii. 27-30; to
which the reader if referred. These were to have a primary fulfilment in
the desolation of Jerusalem, and of the Jewish commonwealth. The primary
fulfilment Christ assured should take place on that generation. And the
denunciation was fulfilled.
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This fulfilment, inasmuch as it demonstrated the truth and divinity of our
Saviour, exhibited a type of the destruction of Antichrist, and of the
wicked at the end of the world; and shows the danger of rejecting the Son
of God--ought to be duly noted in the church, and frequently contemplated.
It is a subject too much neglected and forgotten in the present Christian
world. I design then, to give a concise description of the event, in which
Jesus Christ came in awful judgement upon the infidel Jews, and vindicated
his cause against his persecutors and murderers. But some preliminary
remarks will first be made.
This noted city was built on two mountains; and contained two parts,
called the Upper and Lower City. The former was built on Mount Sion; the
latter on Mount Acra. The city is suppose to have been founded by
Melchisedec, and then called Salem, or Solyma. The warlike Jebusites
possessed it when Israel entered Canaan.
In the higher city they long defended themselves against the Hebrews. Here
they remained, till David subdued them; and called their city The City of
David.
Herod the Great, when he repaired (or rather rebuilded) the temple, added
vast strength and embelishments to this city; which accounts for its
superb state and strength when it was destroyed.
Most of this city was surrounded with three walls. In some places, where
it was deemed inaccessible, it had only one. The wall first built was
adorned and strengthened with sixty towers. Fourteen towers rested on the
middle wall. The outside one, (most remarkable for its workmanship) was
secured with ninety towers.
The tower Psephinos was most celebrated. It was seventy cubits high; had
eight angles; and commanded a most beautiful prospect. Here the visitor
might (in a clear atmosphere) delight himself with a view of the
Mediterranean, forty miles to the west; and of the most of the Jewish
dominions. Some of these towers were nearly ninety cubits in height; and
famous
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for their beauty, elegance and curiosities. They were built of white
marble; and had the appearance of vast marble blocks. These huge piles
gave to the city, in the view of the adjacent country, a most majestick
appearance.
Near the highest of these towers stood the royal palace, of the most
commanding elegance. Incredible cost had furnished its pillars, porticos,
galleries, and apartments. Its gardens, groves, fountains, aqueducts, and
walks, presented the richest and most delightful scenery. This was the
beauty and elegance of the north side of Jerusalem.
On the eastside stood the temple, and the fort of Antonio, over against
Mount Olivet. This fort built on a rock of fifty feet in height, and of
inaccessible steepness, overlaid with slabs of marble. The castle of
Antonio stood in the centre of this fortress. The workmanship of this
castle made it more resemble a palace than a castle. A tower adorned each
square of this fortress; one of which was seventy cubits high, and
commanded a full view of the temple.
The temple was in many respects, the most astonishing fabrick ever beheld.
Its site was partly on a solid rock, originally steep on every side. The
lower temple had a foundation of vast dimensions, said to be three hundred
cubits from its lowest base. This foundation was composed of stones sixty
feet in length; and the lower part of the superstructure was composed of
stones of solid white marble, more than sixty feet long; and seven by nine
feet in bigness. Four furlongs compassed the whole pile of building; which
was one hundred cubits high; with one hundred and sixty pillars, to afford
both support and ornament.
In the front were spacious and lofty galleries, with cedar wainscot,
resting on uniform rows of white marble columns. Josephus asserts that
nothing could exceed the exterior part of the house of God, for exquisite
workmanship and elegance. Its solid plates of gold seemed to strive to
out-dazzle the rising sun. The parts of the building not covered with
gold, had, at a distance, the appearance of pillars of snow, or
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white marble mountains. And the grandeur of the internal workmanship of
this magnificent dome did not fail of being fully equal to its external
magnificence. Nothing superb, costly, or elegant, was spared. The
different part of the world had seemed to vie with each other, to pour
their most costly treasures into this wonderful treasury of Heaven. The
lower story was decorated with sacred furniture, the table of shew bread,
altar of incense, and the candlestick of pure beaten gold. The altar and
the table were overlaid with pure gold. Several doors of the sanctuary
were fifty-five cubits in height, and sixteen in breadth, overlaid also
with gold. The richest Babylonian tapestry, of purple, blue and scarlet,
and of exquisite workmanship, waved within these doors. Golden vines, with
leaves and clusters of grapes of gold, were suspended from the ceiling
five or six feet, of curious workmanship. The temple had a huge eastern
gate of pure Corinthian brass,--a metal in the highest esteem. It would be
a task to enumerate all the foldings of golden doors in the
chambers;--carved works, paintings and gildings;--vessel of gold; scarlet,
violet, and purple sacerdotal vestments; and all the incalculable piles of
riches in this temple of Jehovah. The most precious stones, spices, and
perfumes; everything that nature, art, or riches could furnish, were
stored within these stupendous and hallowed walls.
Here were the city and the temple to be destroyed, for the infidelity,
malice, hypocrisy, and persecution of the Lord of glory, (in himself, and
his followers,) which characterized its rulers and people. Here a measure
of unprecedented atrociousness was just filled up, which should bring down
wrath upon them to the uttermost. This tremendous ruin our Lord foretold
and fulfilled.
The last noted entrance into Jerusalem of Him, who was God manifest in the
flesh, took place on the Monday before the scene of his sufferings. Amidst
the acclamation of multitudes he has hailed King of Zion, with every token
of joy and praise. The air
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rang again with their praises, uttered for all the mighty works they had
seen. They sang, Hosanna! Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of
the Lord! Peace in heaven; and glory in the highest. Our Lord (superior to
all their adulation, and knowing how soon the hosannas of some of them
would turn, "Crucify him;"--and being touched with sympathy and pity for a
devoted city, now going to fill up their guilty measure of
iniquity)--beheld the city, and wept over it." He said; "If thou hadst
known, even thou, in this thy day, the things which belong to thy peace!
but now they are hid from thine eyes! For the days shall come when thine
enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round; and keep.
thee in on every side; and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy
children within thee. And they shall not leave thee one stone upon
another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation."
The day but one after, Christ went into the temple for the last time, to
instruct the people. While he was thus employed, the high priest, elders,
Herodians, Sadducees, and Pharisees, gathered in turn around him, with a
malicious view to entangle him in his talk. Christ returned such answers,
spake such parables, and set home such reproof and conviction to their
souls, as not only to astonish and silence them; but to give them some
awful prelibation of the final judgement, which awaited them at his bar.
He thus, in a free and pungent address to the disciples, administered the
most dignified and keen reproofs for the cruelty, hypocrisy, and pride, of
the Scribes and Pharisees. He foretold the malicious treatment and the
disciples would meet with at their hands; and then denounced the vengeance
on that falling city, which for ages their crimes had been accumulating.
He forewarned that this cup of divine indignation should be poured on that
generation. His tender feelings of soul then melted in a most moving
apostrophe: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! thou that killest the prophets, and
stoned them that are sent unto thee! How often would I have gathered thy
children together, even as a hen
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gathereth her chickens under her wings; and ye would not! Behold, your
house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, ye shall not see me
henceforth, till ye say, "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the
Lord." Upon this our Saviour left the temple. The disciples took an
occasion to speak to Christ of the magnificence of sacred edifice; how it
was adorned with goodly stones and gifts. "Master, (said they,) see what
manner of stones and buildings are here." "Jesus said unto them; See ye
not all these things? Verily, I say unto you, there shall not be left here
one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." How very unlikely
must such an event have seemed! But it was indeed fulfilled upon that
generation.
Jesus and his disciples retired to the mount of Olives. Here the temple
rose before them in all its majestick elegance. The surrounding scenery
naturally suggested the conversation which followed. The disciples
petitioned;--"Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the
sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?" Their minds seem to have
been impressed with the preceding discourse; and they fell most readily
upon the same subject, and wished to know when such awful events should
come; and what warnings should announce their approach. Our Lord replied;
"Take heed that no man deceive you; for many shall come in my name,
saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many." As though he had said; This
shall be one signal token of the event, both as my denunciations relate to
a primary accomplishment in the destruction of Jerusalem; and to a more
general and dreadful fulfilment in the destruction of Antichrist in the
last days. Imposters shall abound. False religionsts shall deceive and
ruin many. Let us trace the fulfilment of this and several succeeding
predictions.
This was fulfilled in relation to Jerusalem. Not long after Christ's
ascension, the Samaritan Dositheus appeared and declared himself the
Messiah predicted by Moses. Simon Magus also declared himself
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"The Great power of God." Soon after, another impostor appeared from the
mongrel Samaritans. The church has never been annoyed by such kind of
Samaritans, who have ever been faithful in vile Imposters, crying "Lo,
here; and lo there." This impostor promised to exhibit to the people
sacred utensils said to be deposited by Moses in Mount Gerazim. Here a new
decision must be given from heaven, to the question between the Jews and
Samaritans, as to the place of worship; a thing which schismaticks have
ever been exceedingly fond; to derive some new light upon their party
question directly from above; as, though decisions already given were
insufficient.
Armed multitudes sallied forth to follow this Messiah, confident their
Great Deliverer had at last made his appearance. But Pilate, the Roman
governor, checked their fanaticism with the sword, and put their fancied
Messiah to death.
Another impostor, Theudas, arose. He had the address to persuade
multitudes to follow him into the wilderness, under his promise that he
would cause the river Jordan to divide. The Roman procurator, Fadus, with
a troop of horse, pursued them; slew the impostor, and many others; and
dispersed the faction. Deceivers, under the government of Felix, were
multiplied, leading off people into the wilderness under the promise and
fanatical expectation that they should there see signs and wonders. The
old Serpent often leads fanatical people into the wilderness of error and
delusion, under similar expectations. The vigilant eye of the Roman
governor rested on those Imposters, and was sure to frustrate their
designs, as oft as they appeared.
In the year 55, a notable Egyptian impostor, named Felix. Thirty thousand
followed him, under the persuasion that from mount Olivet they should see
the walls of Jerusalem fall to the ground at his command, for their easy
capture of the Roman garrison there; and their taking possession of
Jerusalem. They were attacked by the Roman governor; four hundred were
slain; and the rest dispersed. The
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Egyptian impostor escaped for his life. In the year 60, another pretended
Messiah appeared, engaging to break the Roman yoke, if they would follow
him into the wilderness; but the deceiver and his followers soon fell a
sacrifice to the vigilance of Festus, the governor. It would be too
unwieldy to mention all the vile Imposters of this period. They were a
just retribution of righteous Heaven upon the Jews, for having rejected
and put to death the true Messiah; and they fulfilled the warning given by
our Lord, of a host of deceivers at that period. How prone are men to
court deception. Christ had said to the Jews, `I am come in my Father's
name, and ye receive me not. If another should come in his own name, him
will ye receive.' This was fulfilled; and not only then, but in every age
to this day. Those who give the best evangelical evidence of their being
ambassadors of Christ, many will reject; while the confident and noisy
claims of egotists are by them fully allowed. "As in water face answers to
face; so the heart of man to man."
Our Lord proceeds; "And ye shall hear of wars, and rumours of wars: see
that ye be not troubled: for all these things shall come to pass; but the
end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation; and kingdom against
kingdom; and great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and
pestilences; all these are the beginning of sorrows."
The portentous thunders of wars and rumours of wars may be said to have
occupied most of the time from the death of our Saviour, to the
destruction of Jerusalem. The historick pages, which treat of these times,
are stained with blood. A war between Herod and Aretas, king of Arabia,
opened the bloody scene, after a short season of peace. In Selucia, the
Greeks and Syrians rose against the Jews, who fled thither from the
pestilence in Babylon, and slew fifty thousand of them. Five years after,
the Jews in Perea and the people of Philadelphia contended about the
limits of a city, when many of the Jews were slain. Four years after this,
an insult being offered to the
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Jews within the precincts of the temple, by a Roman soldier; and being
violently resented; a Roman force rushed upon them, which so terrified the
Jews, that they fled in vast disorder, and ten thousand of them lost their
lives in the streets. After another four years, the Jews ravaged the
country of the Samaritans, in consequence of their having murdered a
Galilean, who was going to keep the passover. Many were slain. Soon after,
a contention arose between the Jews in Caesarea and the Syrians, relative
to the government of Caesarea. In the first encounter more than twenty
thousand Jews were slain. This contention raged in many cities where the
Jews and Syrians dwelt; and mutual slaughter prevailed. And in five other
cities the carnage among the Jews was dreadful. At Damascus ten thousand
Jews were slain in one hour. And at Seythopolis thirteen thousand were
slain in one night. In Alexandria the Jews rose upon the Romans; and had
fifty thousand of their people slain, without any regard to infancy or
age. Soon after, in a contention at Totapata, forty thousand Jews
perished. These contentions rose and increased till the whole Jewish
nation took up arms against the Romans. and brought on themselves their
final destruction. Thus the prediction of our Saviour quoted, received in
those days a striking primary fulfilment.
Our Savious added; "And great earthquakes shall be in divers places."
These significant warnings too were accomplished in those days. Two are
recorded by Tacitus; one at Rome in the reign of Claudius; another at
Apamea, in Syria, where were many Jews. So destructive was the one at the
latter place, that the tribute due to the Romans was for five years
remitted. One also was terrifick at Crete; one at Smyrna; one at Miletus;
one at Chios, and one at Samos; in Philastratus. Soon after, in the reign
of Nero, both Tacitus and Easebius inform, that Easebius inform, that
Huerapolis and Colosse, as well as Laodicea, were overthrown by the
earthquakes. Another is noted at Rome; one at Campania; and others
tremendous are mentioned as taking
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place at Jerusalem in the night, just before the commencement of the last
siege of that city. Of these, Josephus gives the following account: "A
heavy storm burst on them, during the night, violent winds arose, with
most excessive rains, with constant lightning, most tremendous thunders,
and dreadful roarings of earthquakes. It seemed as if the system of the
world had been confounded for the destruction of mankind. And one might
well conjecture that these were signs of no common event."
The famines predicted by Christ were likewise fulfilled. The one foretold
by Agabus, noted in the Acts of the Apostles, was dreadful, and of long
continuance. It extended through Greece and Italy; but was most severely
felt at Judea, and especially at Jerusalem. The contributions noted as
brought by Paul from abroad, to relieve the poor brethren there, were sent
during this sore famine. Authors of that time mention two more famines in
the empire, previous to the one occasioned by the seige of Jerusalem.
"Pestilence" too, the Saviour adds. Two instances of this signal judgement
took place before the last Jewish war. The one took place at Babylon,
where many Jews resided; the other at Rome, which swept off vast
multitudes. Other lighter instances of this calamity occurred, in various
parts of the empire; as both Tacitus and Suctonius record.
Our Lord also adds, "And fearful sights and great signs shall there be
from heaven," Josephus (who can never be suspected of wishing to favour
any prediction of Christ; and who probably knew not of any such
prediction, when he wrote,) gives accounts of events, which strikingly
answer to this premonition. Speaking of the infatuation of his countrymen,
in running after Imposters, while they neglected the plainest admonitions
from heaven, he gives account of the seven following events;
1. He says; "On the 8th of the month Zanthicus, (before the feasts of
unleavened bread.) at the ninth hour of the night, there shone round about
the altar and the circumjacent buildings of the temple, a light
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equal to the brightness of day; which continued for the space of half an
hour."
2. "About the sixth hour of the night, (says Josephus,) the eastern gate
of the temple was found to open without human assistance." This gate was
of solid brass; and so large and heavy, as to require twenty men to close
it. And Josephus says, " it was secured by iron bolts, and bars, that were
let down into a large threshold consisting on one entire stone." The Jews
themselves concluded, from the miraculous nature of this event, that the
security of the temple had fled. When the procurator was informed of it,
he sent a band of men to close the door; who with great difficulty
executed their orders.
3. Again, the same celebrated Jewish author says: "At a subsequent feast
of pentecost, while the priests were going by night into the inner temple,
to perform their customary ministrations, they first felt (as they said,)
a shaking accompanied by an indistinct murmuring; and afterwards voices as
of a multitude saying in a distinct and earnest manner: "Let us depart
hence." How striking was this miraculous premonition. It commenced with a
shaking, to call and fix the attention of these Jewish priests. Then was
heard an indistinct murmur. This would make them listen with all possible
heed. Then they heard the distinct voices, as of a multitude in great
earnestness and haste;--"Let us depart hence!" And their last fatal war
with the Romans commenced before the next season for the celebrating this
feasts.
4. Another sign was the following. The same author says; "A meteor,
resembling a sword hung over Jerusalem, during one whole year." This could
not have been a comet, for it was stationary a whole year, and seems, from
the words of Josephus, to have been much nearer than a comet, and appeared
to be appropriated to that city. This reminds one of the sword of the
destroying angel, stretched out over Jerusalem, I Chro. xxi. 16. This
stationary position of the sword for a year, was a lively indication that
the impending ruin was fatal.
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5. Josephus says again: "As the high priests were leading a heifer to the
altar to be sacrificed, she brought forth a lamb in the midst of the
temple."--Most striking rebuke to those infidel priests, who had rejected
the Lamb of God who had shed his blood once for all, and abrogated the
Levitical sacrifices; which they were impiously continuing. This wonder
was exhibited in the temple, the type of the body of Christ, and at the
passover, when at a preceding passover Jesus was arrested and sacrificed;
and it took place before the high priests and their attendants; so that
they could never complain for want of evidence of the fact.
6. This author says: "Soon after the feast of the passover, in various
parts of the country, before the setting of the sun, chariots and armed
men were seen in the air passing round about Jerusalem." This strange
sight occurring before sunset, and being seen in various parts of the
country, must have been a miraculous portent; a sign from heaven. The Jews
had said, "What sign showest thou, that we may see and believe." Now they
had their signs in abundance; yet they would not believe.
7. The last and most fearful sign Josephus relates; that one Jesus, son of
Ananus, a rustic of the lower class, appeared in the temple at the feast
of tabernacles, and suddenly exclaimed, "A voice from the east--a voice
from the west--a voice from the four winds--a voice against Jerusalem and
the temple--a voice against the bridegrooms and the brides--a voice
against the whole people!" These words he continued to exclaim through the
streets of Jerusalem by day and by night, with no cessation (unless what
was needed for the support of nature) for seven years! He commenced in the
year 63, while the city was in peace and prosperity, and terminated his
exclamations only in his death, amidst the horrors of the seige, in the
year 70. This strange thing, when it commenced, soon excited great
attention; and this Jesus was brought before Albinus, the Roman governor,
who interrogated him, but could obtain no answer except the
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continuation of his woes. He commanded him to be scourged, but to no
effect. During times of festivals, this cry of his was peculiarly loud and
urgent. After the commencement of the seige, he ascended the walls, and in
a voice still more tremendous than ever, he exclaimed, "Wo, wo to this
city, this temple, and this people!" And he then added, (for the first
time for the seven years,) "Wo, wo to myself!" The words were no sooner
uttered, than a stone from a Roman machine without the walls, struck him
dead on the spot!
Such were the signs in the heavens and in the earth, which just preceded
the destruction of Jerusalem. Several of them are recorded by Tacitus as
well as by Josephus. The veracity of Josephus as a historian is probably
allowed by all. Scaliger affirms that he deserves more credit as a writer
than all the Greek and Roman historians put together.
From the conquest of Jerusalem by Pompey, sixty years before Christ, the
Jews repeatedly had exhibited a most rebellious spirit against the Romans.
The Jews had basely said to Pilate concerning Christ, "If thou let this
man go, thou art not a friend of Caesar." But the fact was, they
persecuted Christ because he would not erect a temporal throne in
opposition to Caesar. Any impostor who seemed prepared to do this, they
were ready to follow; and were ready to improve every apparent occasion to
evince their decided hostility to the Romans. And they barely needed a
prophet's eye to discern that this spirit and conduct (manifest on all
occasions) would soon draw against them the Roman sword.
Judas, a Gaulonite, and Saddue, a Pharisee, had rallied the Jews with the
idea that their paying tribute to the Romans would not fail to confirm
them in the most abject slavery; in consequence of which, their enmity
often burst forth with malignant violence,--Tumults and riots increased;
and Florus, the Roman governor of Judea, by his cruel exactions, increased
this spirit among the Jews. Eleazer, son of the high priest, persuaded the
officers of the temple to reject
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the offerings of foreigners, and to withhold publick prayers for them. The
Roman government felt the insult; and a basis was soon found to be laid
for a Roman war! Feuds and contentions increased in Judea, till Cestius
Gallus marched an army thither from Syria to restore order. His march was
marked with blood and desolation. The city of Zebulon, Joppa, and other
villages in his way, he plundered and burned. Eight thousand four hundred
of the inhabitants of the former place, he slew. The district of Narbatene
he laid waste, and slew two thousand of the Jews in Galilee; reduced the
city of Lydda to ashes, and drove the Jews, (who made desperate sallies
upon him) till he encamped within a hundred miles of the capital. Soon
after he entered Jerusalem, and burned some part of the city. But through
the treachery of his own officers, he made an unexpected flight. The
enraged Jews pursued him, and slew about sixty thousand of his men. Many
of the rich Jews, alarmed at the Roman invasion, fled from Jerusalem, as
from a floundering ship. Some suppose many of the Christians now fled to a
place called Pella in the mountains of Judea. Matt. xxiv. 15-17.
Nero being informed of the defeat of Cestius, gave the command to
Vespasian to press the war against the rebellious Jews. He and his son
Titus soon collected an army of sixty thousand men. In A.D. 67, he marched
from Ptolmais. to Judea, marking his steps with ravages and desolation.
Infancy and age fell before the furious soldiery. All the strong towns of
Galilee and many of those of Judea fell before the victorious arms of
Vespasian, who slew not less than one hundred and fifty thousand
inhabitants. Signal vengeance was taken on Joppa, which had in part been
rebuilt, after it had been by Cestius reduced to ashes. Vespasian was
enraged at the frequent piracies of this people. The Jews of this place
fleeing before him, betook themselves to their shipping. But a furious
tempest overlook those who stood out to sea, and they were lost. The
others were dashed vessel against vessel, or against the rocks. Some in
their distress
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laid violent hands on themselves. Such as reached the shore were slain by
the enraged Romans. The sea for some distance was stained with their
blood. Forty thousand are said to have been swallowed up in the waves; and
not one escaped to relate their catastrophe. Truly this was "distress of
their nation, with the sea and the waves thereof roaring!"
Vespasian returned from Jericho to Caesarea, to prepare for a grand seige
of Jerusalem. Here he received intelligence of the death of the emperor
Nero. This led him to suspend for the present the execution of his plan
against the Jews. This respite to that devoted people continued about two
years, and but encouraged them to deeds of greater enormity.
A spirit of faction now appeared in Jerusalem.--Two parties first, and
afterwards three raged there; each contending with deadly animosity for
the precedence. A part of one of these factions having been excluded from
the city, entered it by force during the night; and to such madness were
they abandoned, that they butchered on that fatal night less than eight
thousand five hundred of men, women and children, whose mangled bodies
appeared the next morning strewed in the streets of Jerusalem. These
abandoned murderers plundered in the city; murdered the high priests
Ananus and Jesus, and insulted their dead bodies. They slew their brethren
of Jerusalem, as though they had been wild animals. They scourged and
imprisoned the nobles, in hopes to terrify them to become of their party;
and many who could not be thus won, they slew. In this reign of terror,
twelve thousand of higher orders of the people thus perished; and no
relative dared to shed a mourning tear, lest this should bring on him a
similar fate. Accusation and death became the most common events.--Many
fled but were intercepted and slain. Piles of their carcasses lay on
publick roads; and all pity, as well as regard for human or divine
authority, seemed extinguished.
Too add to the horrid calamities of the times occasioned by the bloody
factions, Judea was infested by bands
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of robbers and murderers,plundering their towns and cutting in pieces such
as made any resistance, whether men, women or children. Here were
exhibited the most horrid pictures of what fallen man is capable of
perpetrating when restraints are taken off; that they would turn their own
towns and societies into scenes of horror like kennels of mad animals.
One Simon became commander of one of these factions; John of another.
Simon entered Jerusalem at the head of forty thousand banditti. A third
faction rose: and discord blazed with terrific fury. The three factions
were intoxicated with rage and desperation, and went on slaying and
trampling on piles of the dead, with an indescribably fury. People coming
to the temple to worship, were murdered, both natives and foreigners.
Their bodies lay in piles, and a collection of blood defiled the sacred
courts.
John of Gischala, head of a faction, burned a store of provisions. Simon,
at the head of another faction, burned another. Thus the Jews were
weakening and destroying themselves, and preparing the way for "wrath to
come upon them to the uttermost."
In the midst of these dismal events, an alarm was made that a Roman army
was approaching the city! Vespasian becoming emperor, and learning the
factious and horrid state of the Jews, determined to prosecute the war
against them, and sent his son Titus to reduce Jerusalem and Judea. The
Jews, on hearing of the approach of the Roman army, were petrified with
horror. They could have no hope of peace. They had no means of flight.
They had no time for counsel. They had no confidence in each other. What
could be done? Several things they possessed in abundance. They had a
measure of iniquity filled up; a full ripeness for destruction. All seemed
wild disorder and despair. Nothing could be imagined but the confused
noise of the warrior, and garments rolled in blood. They knew nothing was
their due from the Romans, but exemplary vengeance. The ceaseless cry of
combatants, and the horror of faction, had induced some to desire the
intervention of a foreign foe
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to give them deliverance from their domestic horrors. Such was the state
of Jerusalem when Titus appeared before it with a besieging army. But he
came not to deliver it from its excruciating tortures; but to execute upon
it divine vengeance; to fulfil the fatal predictions of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that "when ye see the abomination of desolation standing in the
holy place--when ye see Jerusalem compassed about with armies,--then know
that the desolation thereof is nigh." "Wheresoever the carcass is, there
shall the eagles be gathered together." Jerusalem was now the carcass to
be devoured; the Roman eagles had arrived to tear it as their prey.
The day on which Titus had encompassed Jerusalem, was the feast of the
passover. Here let it be remembered, that it was the time of this feast,
(on a preceding occasion) that Christ was taken, condemned and executed.
It was at the time of this feast, that the heifer, in the hands of the
sacrificing priests, brought forth a lamb. And just after this feast at
another time, that the miraculous besieging armies were seen over
Jerusalem, just before sunset. And now at the time of the passover, the
antitype of this prodigy appears in the besieging army of Titus.
Multitudes of Jews convened at Jerusalem from surrounding nations to
celebrate this feast. Ah, miserable people,--going with intent to feed on
the paschal lamb; but really to their own final slaughter, for rejecting
"the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world!" The Jews had
imprecated the blood of the true Paschal Lamb, (by them wantonly shed) on
themselves and on their children. God was now going in a signal manner to
take them at their word. He hence providentially collected their nation,
under sentence of death, as into a great prison, for the day of execution.
And as their execution of Christ was signal, low degrading,--the death of
the cross; so their execution should be signal and dreadful. The falling
city was now crowded with little short of two millions of that devoted
people. The event came suddenly and unexpectedly to the Jews, as the
coming of a thief,
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and almost like lightning. Josephus notes this; and thus without design,
shows the fulfilment of these hints of Christ, that his coming should be
like a thief in the night, and like lightning under the whole heavens.
The furious contending factions of the Jews, on finding themselves
environed with the Roman armies, laid aside (for the moment) their party
contentions, sallied out, rushed furiously on their common foe, and came
near utterly destroying the tenth legion of the Roman army. This panic
among the Romans occasioned a short suspension of hostilities. Some new
confidence hence inspired the hopes of the Jews; and they now determined
to defend their city. But being a little released from their terrors of
the Romans, their factious resentments again rekindled, and broke out in
great fury. The faction under Eleazer was swallowed up in the other two,
under John and Simon. Slaughter; conflagration and plunder ensued. A
portion of the centre of the city was burned, and the inhabitants became
as prisoners to the two furious parties. The Romans here saw their own
proverb verified: "Quos Deus vult perdere prius dementat." "Whom God will
destroy, he gives up to madness."
The invading armies knew how to profit by the madness of the Jews. They
were soon found by the Jews to have possession of the two outer walls of
their city. This alarm reached the heart of the factions, and once more
united them against the common enemy. But they had already proceeded too
far to retreat from the effects of their madness. Famine, with its ghastly
horrors, stared them in the face. It had (as might be expected) been
making a silent approach; and some of the more obscure had already fallen
before it. But even this did not annihilate the fury of faction, which
again returned with redoubled fury, and presented new scenes of wo. As the
famine increased, the sufferers would snatch bread from each other's
mouths, and devour their grain unprepared. To discover handfuls of food,
tortures were inflicted. Food was violently taken by husbands from wives,
and
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wives from husbands; and even by mothers from their famishing infants. The
breast itself was robbed from the famishing suckling, as our Lord
denounced: "Wo to them that give suck in those days."
This terror produced a new scene of righteous retribution. Multitudes of
the Jews were forced by hunger to flee to the enemy's camp. Here instead
of pitying and receiving them, the Romans cut off the hands of many, and
sent them back; but most of them they crucified as fast as they could lay
their hands on them; till wood was wanting for crosses, and space on which
to erect them! Behold here thousands of those despairing Jews suspended on
crosses round the walls of Jerusalem! Verily "the Lord is known by the
judgements that he executeth!" Yea, this did not suffice. Behold two
thousand Jews, who had fled to the mercy of their invaders, ripped open
alive (two thousand in one night!) by Arabs and Syrians in the Roman
armies, in hopes of finding gold, which these Jews had (or their enemies
fancied they had) swallowed to carry off with them!
Titus being a merciful general, was touched to the heart at the miseries
of the Jews; and in person he tenderly entreated the besieged to
surrender. But all the answer he obtained for his tenderness was base
revilings. He now resolved to make thorough work with this obstinate
people; and hence surrounded the city with a circumvallation of thirty
nine furlongs in length, strengthened with thirteen towers. This, by the
astonishing activity of the soldiers, was effected in three days. Then was
fulfilled this prediction of our blessed Lord; " Thine enemies shall cast
a trench about thee, and keep thee in on every side."
As the city was cut off from all possible supplies, famine became more
dreadful. Whole families fell a sacrifice to it; and the dead bodies of
women, children, and the aged, were seen covering roofs of houses, and
various recesses. Youth and the middle aged appeared like spectres; and
fell many of them dead in public places. The dead became too numerous to
be interred. Many died while attempting to
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perform this office. So great and awful became the calamities, that
lamentations ceased; and an awful silence of despair overwhelmed the city.
But all this failed of restraining the more abandoned from most horrid
deeds. They took this opportunity to rob the tombs; and with loud infernal
laughter, to strip the dead of their inhabitants of death; and would try
the edge of their swords on dead bodies, and on some while yet breathing.
Simon Georas now vented his rage against Matthias, the high priest, and
his three sons. He caused them to be condemned, as though favouring the
Romans. The father asked the favour to be first executed, and not see the
death of his sons; but the malicious Simon reserved him for the last
execution. And as he was expiring he put the insulting question, whether
the Romans could now relieve him?
Things being thus, one Mannaeus, a Jew, escaped to Titus, and informed him
of the consummate wretchedness of the Jews; that in less than three months
one hundred and fifteen thousand and eight hundred dead bodies of Jews had
been conveyed through one gate, under his care and register; and he
assured him of the ravages of famine and death. Other deserters confirmed
the account, and added, that not less than six hundred thousand dead
bodies of Jews had been carried out at different gates. The humane heart
of Titus was deeply affected; and he, under those accounts, and while
surveying the piles of dead bodies of Jews under the walls, and in the
visible parts of the city, raised his eyes and hands to heaven in solemn
protestation, that he would have prevented these dire calamities; that the
obstinate Jews had procured them upon their own heads.
Josephus, the Jew, now earnestly entreated the leader John and his
brethren to surrender to the Romans, and thus save the residue of the
Jews. But he received in return nothing but insolent reproaches and
imprecations; John declaring his firm persuasion that God would never
suffer his own city, Jerusalem, to be taken by the enemy! Alas, had he
forgotten
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the history of his own nation, and the denunciations of the prophets?
Micah had foretold that in this very calamity they would presumptuously
"lean upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord among us? No evil shall come
upon us." So blind and presumptuous are hypocrisy and self-confidence!
"The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord
are these."
The famine in the city became (as might be expected) still more deadly.
For want of food of the Jews ate their belts, sandals, skins of their
shields, dried grass, and even ordure of cattle. Now it was that a noble
Jewess, urged by the insufferable pangs of hunger, slew and prepared for
food her own infant child! She had eaten half the horrible preparation,
when the smell of food brought in a hoard of soldiery, who threatened her
with instant death, if she did not produce to them the food she had in
possession. She being thus compelled to obey, produced the remaining half
of her child! The soldiers stood aghast; and the recital petrified the
hearers with horror; and congratulations were poured on those whose eyes
death had closed upon such horrid scenes. Humanity seems ready to sink at
the recital of the woful events of that day. No words can reach the
horrors of the situation of the female part of the community at that
period. Such scenes force upon our recollection the tender pathetic
address of our Saviour to the pious females who followed him, going to the
cross: "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me; but weep for yourselves
and for your children; for behold the days are coming, in which they shall
say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the breast
that never gave suck." Moses had long predicted this very scene. "The
tender and delicate woman among you, (said he,) who would not venture to
set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness; her eye shall be
evil towards her young one, and toward her children, which she shall bear;
for she shall eat them, for want of all things, secretly in the siege and
straitness wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy
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gates."Probably the history of the world will not afford a parallel to
this. God prepared peculiar judgements for peculiarly horrid crimes!
"These be the days of vengeance; that all things that are written may be
fulfilled." Josephus declares, that if there had not been many credible
witnesses of that awful fact, he never would have recorded it; for, said
he, "such a shocking violation of nature never has been perpetrated by any
Greek or barbarian."
While famine thus spread desolation, the Romans finally succeeded in
removing part of the inner wall, and in possessing themselves of the high
and commanding tower of Antonio, which seemed to overlook the temple.
Titus with his council of war had formed a determination to save the
temple, to grace his conquest, and remain an ornament to his empire.--But
God had not so determined. And "though there be many devices in a man's
heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord that shall stand." A Roman
soldier, violating the general order of Titus, succeeded in hurling a
brand of fire into the golden window of the temple; and soon (as righteous
Heaven would have it!) the sacred edifice was in flames. The Jews
perceiving this, rushed with horrid outcries to extinguish the fire. Titus
flew to the spot in his chariot, with his chief officers and legions. With
loud command, and every token of anxiety, he enforced the extinguishing of
the fire; but in vain. So great was the confusion, that no attention was
paid to him. His soldiers, deaf to all cries, assiduously spread the
flames far and wide; rushing at the same time on the Jews, sword in hand,
slaying and trampling down, or crushing them to death against the walls.
Many were plunged into the flames, and perished in the burning of the
buildings of the temple. The fury of the Roman soldiers slaughtered the
poor, the unarmed, and the rich, as well as men in arms. Multitudes of
dead bodies were piled around about the altar, to which they had fled for
protection. The way leading to the inner court was deluged with blood.
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Titus finding the fire had not reached the inner temple, entered it with
his superior officers, and surveyed its magnificence with silent
admiration. He found it to exceed all he had heard. This view led him to
renew his efforts to save this stupendous pile of building, though so many
of the out-buildings were gone. He even entreated his soldiers to
extinguish the flames, and appointed an officer to punish any who should
disobey. But all his renewed efforts were still in vain. The feelings of
his soldiery were utterly unmanageable. Plunder, revenge, and slaughter
had combined to render them deaf and most furious. A soldier succeeded in
firing the door posts of the inner temple, and the conflagration soon
became general.
One needs a heart of steel to contemplate the scenes which followed. The
triumphant Roman soldiers were in a most ungovernable rage and fury.--They
were indeed instruments prepared for their work, to execute the most
signal vengeance of Heaven; the flame which was now reaching its height!
The Romans slew of the Jews all before them; sparing neither age, sex, or
rank. They seemed determine to annihilate the Jewish race on the spot.
Priests and common people; those who surrendered, and those who still
fought; all were alike subjects of an indiscriminate slaughter. The fire
of the temple at length completely enveloped the stupendous pile of
building. The fury of the flames exceeded description. It impressed on
distant spectators an idea that the whole city was in flames. The ensuing
disorder and tumult, Josephus pronounces to have been such as to baffle
all description. The outcry of the Roman legions was as great as they
could make. And the Jews finding themselves a prey to the fury of both
fire and sword, exerted themselves in the wildest accents of screaming.
The people in the city, and those on the hill, mutually responded to each
other in groans and screeches. People who had seemed just expiring through
famine, derived new strength from unprecedented scenes of horror and
death, to deplore their
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wretchedness. From mountain to mountain, and from places distant,
lamentations echoed to each other.
As the temple was sinking under the fury of the raging element, the mount
on which it stood seemed in that part of it, (says the historian) to
"impress the idea of a lake of liquid fire!" The blood of the slain ran in
rivulets. The earth around became covered with the slain; and the
victorious Romans trampled over those piles of the dead, in pursuit of
thousands who were fleeing from the points of their swords. In a word, the
roar and crackling of fire; the shrieks of thousands in despair; the dying
groans of thousands, and the sights which met the eye where-ever it was
turned, were such as never before had any parallel on earth. They probably
as much exceeded all antecedent scenes of horror, as the guilt which
occasioned them, in their treatment of the Lord of Glory, exceeded all
guilt ever before known among men.
A tragical event had transpired worthy of particular detail. Before the
temple was wrapped in flames, an impostor appeared among the Jews,
asserting a divine commission; and that if the people would follow him to
the temple, they would see signs, wonders and deliverance. About six
thousand (mostly women and children) followed him, and were in the
galleries of the temple, waiting for this promised deliverance, when fire
was set to that building. Not one escaped. All were consumed in the
conflagration of the secret edifice! What multitudes are by false prophets
plunged in eternal fire!
The place of the temple now presented a vast pile of ruins. Here
terminated the glory and existence of this stupendous building, this type
of the body of Christ and of his church; this type of the millennium, and
of heaven. Here it reached its close, after the period of one thousand and
thirty years, from the time of its dedication by Solomon; and of six
hundred and thirty nine years, from its being built in the days of Haggai;
after the seventy years captivity. It is singular, that it should be
reduced to ashes not only soon after
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the feast of the passover, which convened so many thousands of Jews to
Jerusalem to meet the ruins of their city and nation; but that it should
be consumed on the same month, on the same day of the month, on which the
Babylonians had before destroyed it by fire.
Josephus records another striking event, which seemed a sign of the
destruction of Jerusalem. He says; (addressing the Jews who survived this
ruin) "The fountain flows copiously for Titus, which to you were dried up.
For before he came, you know that both Siloam and all the springs without
the city failed; so that water was brought by the amphora, (a
vessel.)--But now they are so abundant to your enemies, as to suffice for
themselves and their cattle. This wonder you also formerly experienced,
when the king of Babylon laid siege to your city."
The priests of the temple, after the destruction of their sacred edifice,
betook themselves (those who had thus far escaped the general slaughter)
to the top of one of its broken walls, where they sat mourning and
famishing. On the fifth day necessity compelled them to descend, and
humbly to ask pardon of the roman general. But Titus at this late period
rejected their petition, saying; " As the temple, for the sake of which I
would have spared you, is destroyed; it is but fit the priests should
perish also" All were put to death.
The obstinate leaders of the great Jewish factions, beholding now the
desperateness of their cause desired a conference with Titus. One would
imagine they would at least now lay down their arms. Their desiring an
interview with the triumphant Roman general, appeared as though they would
be glad to do this. But righteous Heaven designed their still greater
destruction. Titus, after all their mad rebellions, kindly offered to
spare the residue of the Jews, if they would now submit. But strange to
relate, they refused to comply. The noble general then, as must have been
expected, was highly exasperated; and issued his general order that he
would grant no further pardon to
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the insurgents. His legions now were ordered to "ravage and destroy." With
the light of the next morning, arose the tremendous flame of the castle of
Antonio, the council chamber, register's office, and the noble palace of
the queen Helena. These magnificent piles were reduced to ashes. The
furious legions, (executioners of divine vengeance, Ezek. ix. 5, 6,) then
flew through the lower city, of which they soon became masters,
slaughtering and burning in every street. The Jews themselves aided the
slaughter.--In the royal palace, containing vast treasures, eight thousand
four hundred Jews were murdered by their seditious brethren. Great numbers
of deserters from the furious leaders of faction, flocked to the Romans;
but it was too late. The general order was given, all should be slain.
Such therefore fell.
The Roman soldiers however, being at length weary with butchery, and more
than satisfied with blood, for a short time sheathed their swords, and
betook themselves to plunder. They collected multitudes of
Jews,--husbands, wives, children, and servants; formed a market; and set
them up at vendue for slaves. They sold them for any trifle; while
purchasers were but few. Their law- giver, Moses, had forewarned them of
this; Deut. xxvii. 68: "And ye shall be sold for bond men, and bond women;
and no man shall buy you." Tremendous indeed must the lot of those be, who
reject the Messiah, and are found fighting against the Son of God. Often
had these Jews heard read (but little it seems did they understand the
sense of the tremendous passage) relative to the Jewish rejectors of
Christ, "He that sitteth in the Heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have
them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them
in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces
like a potter's vessel." Thus saith the Lord, say, A sword, a sword is
sharpened, and also furbished: it is sharpened to make a sore slaughter;
it is furbished that it may glitter; (said God by the prophet, Ezek. xxi.
alluding
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to this very event;) the sword is sharpened, and it is furbished to give
it into the hand of the slaver. Cry and how, son of man; smite upon thy
thigh; smite thy hands together, and let the sword be doubled a third
time; the sword of the slain. I have set the point of the sword against
all gates, that their hearts may faint, and their ruins be multiplied: Ah,
it is made bright! it is wrapped up for the slaughter."--Such, and much
more, were the divine denunciations of this very scene, which the infidel
Jews would not escape, but would incur! And even a merciful God shrunk not
from execution! Let antichristian powers, yea, let all infidels and gospel
despisers, consider this and tremble!
The whole lower city now in the possession of the Roman legions, (after
the respite noted,) was set on fire. But the insolence of the devoted Jews
in a part of the higher city remained unabated. They even insulted and
exasperated their enemies, as though afraid the work of vengeance might
not be sufficiently executed.
The Romans brought their engines to operate upon the walls of this higher
branch of the city, still standing; which soon gave way before them.
Before their demolition, Titus reconnoitred the city, and its
fortifications; and expressed his astonishment that it should ever fall
before his army. He exclaimed, "Had not God himself aided our operations,
and driven the Jews from their fortresses, it would have been absolutely
impossible to have taken them. For what could men and the force of engines
have done against such towers as these?" Yes, unless their Rock had sold
them for their iniquities, no enemy could have prevailed against
Jerusalem. Josephus, who was an eye witness of all the scene, says; "All
the calamities, which ever befel any nation, since the beginning of the
world, were inferior to the miseries of the Jews at this awful period."
The upper city to fell before the victorious arms of the Roman conquerors.
Titus would have spared all who had not been forward in resisting the
Romans; and gave his orders accordingly. But his soldiers, callous
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to all the feelings of humanity, slaughtered the aged and sick, as well as
the mass of the people. The tall and most beautiful young men, however,
were spared by Titus to grace his triumph at Rome. Of the rest, many above
the age of seventeen were sent in chains to Egypt to be disposed of as
slaves. Some were reserved to be sacrificed on their ampitheatres, as
gladiators; to be slain in sham fights, for the sport of their conquerors.
Others were distributed through the empire. All who survived, under the
age of seventeen, were exposed for sale.
The triumphant general commanded what remained of the city, to be razed to
its foundation, except three of the mast stately towers, Mariamne,
Hippocos, and Phasel. These should stand as monuments of the magnificence
of the place, and of his victory. A small part of the wall of the city at
the west also, he commanded should be spared, as a rampart for his
garrison. The other parts of the city he wished to have so effectually
erased, as never to be recognized to have been inhabited. The Talmud and
Mamonides relate that the foundations of the temple were so removed, that
the site of it was ploughed by Terentius Rufus. Thus our Savious
predicted, that "there should be left one stone upon another."
One awful occurrence is noted as transpiring during the scenes; that
eleven thousand Jews, under the guard of one Fronto, a Roman general, were
(owing to their own obstinacy, and to the scarcity of provisions)
literally starved to death!
Josephus informs that eleven hundred thousand Jews perished in this siege
of Jerusalem; that two hundred and thirty-seven thousand perished in that
last war in other sieges and battles; besides multitudes who perished by
famine and pestilence: making a total of at least fourteen thousand. Some
hundreds of thousands, in sullen despair,laid violent hands on themselves.
About ninety-seven thousand were captured, and dispersed. Relative to the
two great leaders of the Jewish factions, Simon and John, they were led to
Rome, to grace the triumph of Titus; after
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which Simon was scourged and executed as a malefactor; and John was
committed for life to dungeon. Thus ended their violent contentions.
The Roman army, before they left Jerusalem, not only demolished the
buildings there, but even dug up their foundations. How fatal was the
divine judgement on this devoted city. Five months before it was the
wonder of the world; and contained, at the commencement of the siege, more
than a million and a half of Jews, natives and visiters; now it lay in
total ruins, with not "one stone upon another;" as Christ had denounced.
These ruins Eusebius informs us he beheld. And Eleazer is introduced by
Josephus as exclaiming; "Where is our great city, which it was believed
God inhabited." The prophet Micah had predicted; "Therefore shall Zion for
your sakes be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and
the mountain of the Lord's house as the high places of the forest." A
captain of the army of Titus, did in fact plough where some part of the
foundation of the temple stood, as the Talmud records, and thus fulfilled
this prediction.
Jesus Christ had foretold of this destruction, that "there should be great
tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world." And of the
event Josephus says; "If the misfortunes of all nations from the beginning
of the world, were compared with those which befel the Jews, they would
appear far less." Again; "No other city ever suffered such things; as no
other generation from the beginning of the world, was ever more fruitful
in wickedness."
Other parts of Judea were still not subdued. Macherus was attacked.
Seventeen hundred Jews surrendered and were slain; also three thousand
fugitives taken in the woods of Jardes. Titus at Caesarea celebrated in
great splendour the birth day of his brother Domitian. Here a horrid
scene, according to the bloody customs of those times, was presented. To
grace this occasion more than two thousand five hundred Jews fell; some by
burning; some by fighting with wild beasts; and some by mutual combat with
the sword.
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Massada was besieged. The Jewish commander, in despair, induced the
garrison first to destroy their stores, and then themselves. They (nine
hundred and sixty in number) consented to the horrid proposal. Men, women,
and children took their seats upon the ground, and offered their necks to
the sword. Ten men were selected to execute the fatal deed. The dreadful
work was done. One of the ten was then chosen to execute the nine, and
then himself. The nine being put to death, and fire being set to the
place, the last man plunged his dagger into his own heart.
Seven persons, (women and children,) found means to conceal themselves,
and escape the ruin. When the Romans approached. these seven related to
them these horrid events.
Most of the remaining places now, through sullen despair, gave up all
opposition, and submitted to the conquerors. Thus Judea became as a
desolate wilderness; and the following passage in Isaiah had at least a
primary accomplishment; "Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant;
and the houses without man; and the land be utterly desolate; and the Lord
have removed man far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of
the land."
A line of prophecies is found in the sacred oracles, which relate to a
signal temporal destruction of the most notorious enemies of the kingdom
of Jesus Christ. Those were to have a two fold accomplishment; first upon
the Jews; and secondly upon the great Antichrist of the last days,
typified by the infidel Jews. Accordingly those prophecies in the Old
Testament are ever found in close connexion with the Millenium. The
predictions of our Saviour, in Matt. xxiv. Mark xii. and Luke xxi. are but
a new edition of these sacred prophecies. This has been noted as "the
destruction of the city and temple foretold." It is so indeed, and
more.--It is also a denunciation of the destruction of the great
Antichrist of the last days. The certainty of this will appear in the
following things, as New Testament writers decide. The Thessalonians,
having heard what our Lord denounced, that all those things he
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had predicted should take place on that generation, were trembling with
the apprehension, that the coming of Christ predicted, would then very
soon burst upon the world. Paul writes to them, (2 Thes.ii.) and beseeches
them by this coming of Christ, not to be shaken in mind, or troubled with
such an apprehension. For that day, (that predicted coming of Christ, as
it related to others beside the Jews,) was not to take place on that
generation. It was not to come till the Antichristian apostacy come first;
that man of sin was first to be revealed. This long apostacy was to be
accomplished before the noted coming of Christ in its more important sense
be fulfilled. After the Roman government, which hindered the rise of the
man of sin, should be taken out of the way, Paul says, "Then shall that
wicked one be revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his
mouth, and destroy with the brightness of his coming." Here then is the
predicted coming of Christ, in its more interesting sense, in the battle
of that great day, which introduces the Millennium. Here is a full
decision that these noted denunciations of Christ alluded more especially
(though not primarily) to a coming which is still future.
The same is decided by Christ himself, in Rev. xvi. After the sixth vial,
in the drying up of the Turkish Euphrates, three unclean spirits of
devils, like frogs, go forth to the kings of the earth, and of all the
world, to gather them to the great battle. The awful account is
interrupted by this notice from the mouth of Christ; verse 15, "Behold, I
come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments;
lest he walk naked, and they see his shame." This is as though our Lord
should say; now the time is at hand, to which my predictions of coming as
a thief, principally alluded. Now is the time when my people on earth
shall need to watch, as I directed, when predicting my coming to destroy
first the type of Antichrist, and secondly the antitype.
The predictions in the prophets, which received an incipient fulfilment in
the destruction of Jerusalem,
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were to receive a more interesting fulfilment in Christ's coming to
destroy his antichristian foes. Hence it is that the seventh vial is
called (Rev.xvi. 14) "the battle of that great day of God Almighty;"
clearly alluding to that great noted through the prophets. And of the same
event it is said, Rev. x.7; "the mystery of God shall be finished, as he
hath declared to his servants, the prophets." Here again the allusion
clearly is to the many predictions in the prophets of the destruction of
the enemies of Christ's kingdom, which were to receive an incipient
fulfilment in the destruction of Jerusalem; and a far more interesting
one, in the sweeping from the earth the last antichristian powers, to
introduce the millennial kingdom of Christ. We accordingly find those
predictions through the prophets clearly alluding to the last days, and
the introduction of the Millennium.
Viewing the destruction of Jerusalem then, as but a type of an event now
pending upon antichristian nations, we peruse it with new interest; and it
must be viewed in the light of a most impressive warning to this age of
the world.--The factions, madness, and self ruin of the former, give but a
lively practice comment upon the various predictions of the latter. Three
great and noted factions introduced the destruction of Jerusalem. And of
the destruction of Antichrist we read (perhaps alluding to that very
circumstance) Rev.xvi. 19; "And the great city was divided into three
parts." Then it follows; "and the cities of the nations fell; and great
Babylon came in remembrance before God to give unto her the cup of the
wine of the fierceness of his wrath." In the desolation of Gog and his
bands, faction draws the sword of extermination. "I will call for a sword
against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord God; every man's
sword shall be against his brother." Ezek xxxviii. 21.
The great coalition against the Jews, in the time of Jehoshaphat, was
destroyed by the sword of mutiny and faction: See 2 Chron.xx. And in
allusion to this very battle which God fought for his church, the vast
coalitions of Antichrist, in the last days, when the
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Jews are restored, is said to be gathered "to the valley of Jehoshaphat:"
See Joel iii. The various circumstances of the destruction of Jerusalem
afforded a lively incipient comment on the many denunciations of the
battle of that great day of God Almighty, which awaits the antichristian
world; while it is fully evident, that the passages more especially allude
to the tremendous scenes of judgement, which shall introduce the
Millennium.
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