furlongs. He said further that he would shew them from hence, how, at his command, the walls of Jerusalem would fall down; and he promised them that he would procure them an entrance into the city through those walls when they were fallen down."

(See also Josephus-Wars, Book II. chap. 13. §§. 4, 5.) Acts xxi. 38.-Art not thou that Egyptian which before these days madest an uproar, and leddest out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers?

Josephus-Wars. Book VI. chap. 5. §§. 2, 3.—“Now there was then a great number of false prophets suborned by the tyrants to impose upon the people, who denounced this to them, that they I should wait for deliverance from God. Thus were the miserable people persuaded by these deceivers, and such as belied God Himself."

2.-That they should hear of wars, and rumours of wars.

Prophecy.

Matthew xxiv. 6, 7.—And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars.1 See that ye be not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

(See also Mark xiii. 7, 8; and Luke xxi. 9, 10.)

Fulfilment.

The violent deaths of four Roman Emperors, Nero, Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, within eighteen months immediately preceding the siege of Jerusalem, attest the agitated and threatening condition of the empire. Caligula had also threatened the Jews with an invasion for refusing to set up his statue in the temple; and his death only released them from the dread of the consequences of his

2

"Wars and commotions."

2 See Gibbon, etc.

resentment, and this impending "rumour of war."—(JosephusWars, Book II. chap. 10.) But Josephus furnishes us, also, with abundant instances of "commotions," insurrections, and massacres. In his preface to his "Wars," he remarks, "Now at the time when this great concussion of affairs happened, the affairs of the Romans were themselves in great disorder. Those Jews, also, who were for innovations then arose, when the times were disturbed; they were also in a flourishing condition for strength and riches, insomuch that the affairs of the East were then exceeding tumultuous; while some hoped for gain, and others were afraid of loss in such troubles; for the Jews hoped that all of their nation which were beyond Euphrates would have raised an insurrection together with them. The Gauls also in the neighbourhood of the Romans were in motion, and the Celta were not quiet; but all was in disorder after the death of Nero. And the opportunity now offered induced many to aim at the royal power; and the soldiery affected change out of the hopes of getting money." In Book II. chap. 3-5, he narrates an insurrection put down by Varus, who crucified about 2,000 of the seditious. And in chap. 12, he gives an account of tumults under Cumanus, attended with great loss of life. In chap. 18, he describes numerous massacres of the Jews; first at Cæsarea, where the people rose upon them and killed 20,000, and, he adds, "all Cæsarea was emptied of its Jewish inhabitants." 2 At which the Jews were so greatly exasperated, that they destroyed the Syrian villages. "However, the Syrians were even with the Jews in the multitude of the men whom they slew." At Scythopolis, he states, 13,000 were destroyed; at Askelon, 2,500; Ptolemais, 2,000, and at Tyre, Hippos, Gadara, and other places, so that, "It was then common to see cities filled with dead bodies, still lying unburied, and those of old men, mixed with infants, all dead and scattered about together; women also lay amongst them, without any covering for their nakedness: you might then see the whole province full of inexpressible calamities, while the dread of still more barbarous

1 A.D. 47.

2 A.D. 66. This is regarded as the origin of the Jewish War.

practices which were threatened, was everywhere greater than what had been already perpetrated."-" Wars," Book II. ch. 18, §. 2. The people of Damascus massacred 10,000 Jews; while at Alexandria, in consequence of a commotion between the Greeks and the Jews, the Roman legions were let loose upon them, who massacred" persons of every age, till all the place was overflowed with blood, and 50,000 of them lay dead upon heaps." How well did these sanguinary contests of races and nationalities fulfil our Lord's words, that "nation should rise against nation," and they should hear of wars and commotions."

3. That there should be Famines, Pestilences, and Earthquakes. Prophecy.

Matthew xxiv. 7, 8.—And there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.--(See also Mark xiii. 8; and Luke xxi. 11.)

Fulfilment.

Acts xi. 27, 28.—And in those days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch. And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Cæsar.

In addition to the above famine occurring A.D. 45, in Palestine, there were others in Rome, Judæa, and different parts of the Empire during the same reign. Josephus mentions one, in which he says, "Many people died for want of what was necessary to procure food withal."—(Antiq., Lib. XX. ch. 2.) And for several years Judæa suffered from famines, and from pestilence, the natural accompaniment of them. Josephus (Antiq., Book XVIII. ch. 9, §. 8) records a pestilence which raged among the Jews, A.D. 40, and caused them to remove to Seleucia. Tacitus, (Lib. XVT. 13,) mentions a pestilence occurring in Italy, A.D. 66. Whilst with regard to earthquakes, Tacitus, (Annals, Lib. XII. ch. 43; XIV.

27, and XV. 22), states that the cities of Laodicea, Colosse, Hierapolis, and Pompeii,1 were overthrown in the reign of Nero. Suetonius, (Vita Claudii, Cap. XVIII.,) mentions an earthquake at Rome in the reign of Galba; and others are recorded as occurring in Smyrna, Miletus, Samos, and Chios.

4.-That there should be fearful Sights and Signs.

Prophecy.

Luke xxi. 11.—And fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

Fulfilment.

"Thus were the miserable people persuaded by these deceivers, and such as belied God Himself; while they did not attend nor give credit to the signs that were so evident, and did so plainly foretell their future desolation; but like men infatuated, without either eyes to see, or minds to consider, did not regard the denunciations that God made to them. Thus there was a star resembling a sword, which stood over the city, and a comet that continued a whole year." He goes on to relate, that at the feast of unleavened bread, “at the ninth hour of the night, so great a light shone round the altar and the holy house, that it appeared to be bright daytime. Moreover, the eastern gate of the inner court of the temple, which was of brass, and vastly heavy, and had been with difficulty shut by twenty men, and rested upon a basis armed with iron, and had bolts fastened very deep into the firm floor, which was there made of one entire stone, was seen to be opened of its own accord about the sixth hour of the night.” And he adds, that though the vulgar deemed it a happy prodigy, "the men of learning understood it, that the security of their holy house was dissolved of its own accord, and that the gate was opened for the advantage of their enemies. So these publicly declared that this

1 A.D. 63 was the first of a series of earthquakes premonitory of the grand catastrophe which overwhelmed Pompeii in A.D. 79.

Ananus, a plebeian and

signal foreshowed the desolation that was coming upon them. Besides these.. a certain prodigious and incredible phenomenon appeared before sun-setting chariots and troops of soldiers in their armour were seen running about among the clouds, and surrounding of cities. Moreover at that feast which we call Pentecost, as the priests were going by night into the inner temple, as their custom was, to perform their sacred ministrations, they said that in the first place they felt a quaking, and heard a great noise; and after that they heard a sound as of a great multitude, saying, "Let us remove hence.” 1 "But what is still more terrible, there was one Jesus the son of an husbandman, who four years before the war began, and at a time when the city was in very great peace and prosperity, came to that feast whereon it is our custom for every one to make tabernacles to God in the temple, began on a sudden to cry aloud, "A voice from the east, a voice from the west, a voice from the four winds, a voice against Jerusalem and the holy house, a voice against the bridegrooms and the brides, and a voice against this whole people!" And this, notwithstanding reproofs and blows, "he continued for seven years and five months, until one day during the siege he repeated, Wo, wo to the city again, and to the people, and to the holy house! And just as he added at the last, Wo, wo to myself also!' there came a stone out of one of the engines, and smote him, and killed him immediately."-(Josephus- Wars, Book VI. ch. 5.) Josephus also relates, (Book VI. ch. 4,) that a great storm with lightning, terrible thunderings, and earthquake, occurred at the commencement of the war, and observes, "These things were a manifest indication that some destruction was coming upon men, when the system of the world was put into this disorder, and any one would guess that these wonders foreshowed some grand calamities that were coming." Now, whatever may have been the nature of these portents, it is sufficient fulfilment of our Lord's prophecy that they were regarded as signs from heaven.

1 See the account of this by Tacitus, Hist. Lib. V. c. 13.