following striking remarks on the fall of the temple-" Now although anyone would justly lament the destruction of such a work as this was, since it was the most admirable of all the works that we have seen or heard of, both for its curious structure and its magnitude, and also for the vast wealth bestowed upon it, as well as for the glorious reputation it had for its holiness; yet might such a one comfort himself with this thought, that it was fate that decreed it so to be, which is inevitable, both as to living creatures, and as to works and places also." And thus was destroyed the temple and worship of the Jews, and the old Dispensation which was now to be superseded by a "better Testament." "For the law made nothing perfect, but it was the bringing in of a better hope, by the which we draw nigh unto God." (Heb. vii. 19.) And thus was accomplished "the coming of Christ in His kingdom," who is become "an High Priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands." (Heb. ix. 11.)1 9.-The complete Destruction of Jerusalem, and the razing of it to its foundations. Prophecy. Luke xix. 41-44.-And when He was come near He beheld the city and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that 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 in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. 1 "And it is now no more, Nor ever shall be to the end of time The temple of Jerusalem!" Milman's Fall of Jerusalem. Matt. xxiii. 37, 38.-O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold your house is left unto you desolate. (See also Matthew xxii. 7.) Fulfilment. "Now as soon as the army had no more people to slay or to plunder, because there remained none to be the objects of their fury (for they would not have spared any, had there remained any other such work to be done), Cæsar gave orders that they should now demolish the entire city and temple, but should leave as many of the towers standing as were of the greatest eminency; that is, Phasaelus, and Hippicus, and Mariamne, and so much of the wall as enclosed the city on the west side. This wall was spared, in order to afford a camp for such as were to lie in garrison; as were the towers also spared in order to demonstrate to posterity what kind of city it was, and how well fortified, which the Roman valour had subdued; but for all the rest of the wall, it was so thoroughly laid even with the ground by those that dug it up to the foundation, that there was left nothing to make those that come thither believe it had ever been inhabited. This was the end which Jerusalem came to by the madness of those that were for innovations; a city otherwise of great magnificence, and of mighty fame among all mankind." (Book VII. ch. 1.) See also Book VI. ch. 9, last lines. I have italicised those words of Josephus which confirm so remarkably the exact accomplishment of the prophecy of our Lord, by the complete demolition of the city. The Talmudists also relate that Turnus Rufus, as they call Terentius Rufus, the officer left by Titus to complete the work of destruction, " ploughed up Zion as a field, and made Jerusalem become as heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest." See Micah iii. 12. Josephus further states that when Titus journeyed through Syria after the war, 66 as he came to Jerusalem in his progress, and compared the melancholy condition he saw it then in with the ancient glory of the city, and called to mind the greatness of its present ruins, as well of its ancient splendour, he could not but pity the destruction of the city,—so far was he from boasting that so great and goodly a city as that was had been by him taken by force; nay, he frequently cursed those who had been the authors of their revolt, and had brought such a punishment upon the city: insomuch that it openly appeared that he did not desire that such a calamity, as this punishment of theirs amounted to, should be a demonstration of his courage." (Book VII. ch. 5.) And thus, incredible as seemed the destruction of Jerusalem at the time when our Lord pronounced its doom; strong as it seemed to resist all the assaults of any besieging force; impregnable, if properly defended, against all the efforts of offensive warfare as practised in that day-so that Titus, with all the irresistible power of the Roman empire and its invincible legions, could not attribute his success to his own skill or the indomitable valour of his army, but only to divine intervention-this triple-walled stronghold was "laid even with the ground," in the precise manner, in the exact period, and with all the accompanying circumstances which our Lord prophesied regarding this city and people; and over which He wept as he pronounced those sorrowing words, "Your house is left unto you desolate." "Yet, guilty city, who shall mourn for thee? Shall Christain voices wail thy devastation? Upon thy late yet dreadful expiation. 10.—All these predicted Judgments to be accomplished ere the lapse of the then existing generation. Prophecy. Luke xxi. 32, 33.-Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away: but My words shall not pass away. (See also Matthew xxiv. 34, 35; x. 23; xxiii. 36; and Luke xi. 51.) Fulfilment. These words of our Lord having been uttered in the year 33, whilst the destruction of Jerusalem occurred in the year 70, or about thirty-seven years afterwards, sufficiently demonstrates the accomplishment of all these predicted judgments within the period named by our Lord. Who but He whose "testimonies are very sure," could have predicted of all these occurrences so surely and so authoritatively, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away." 11. Of the Apostle John's surviving to this consummation. Prophecy. Matthew xvi. 28.-Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom. See also Mark ix. 1; and Luke ix. 27. John xxi. 22, 23.-Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou Me. Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? U Fulfilment. The expression" Son of Man coming in His kingdom," Matt. xvi. 28, is rendered by Mark ix. 1, "Kingdom of God come with power," and viewed in connection with Matthew x. 23, and Luke xxi. 29-33, can only refer to the abolition of the Jewish Dispensation by the destruction of the polity and religious worship of the Jews, when the "kingdom of God," instead of being limited to the Jews, should embrace the whole world, agreeably to the New Dispensation, or "better testament," which has made both Jew and Gentile one in Christ. As St. John survived many years after the Destruction of Jerusalem, dying about A.D. 100, he was therefore spared to the coming of his Lord in His kingdom; and long after the other apostles had sealed their testimony by martyrdom, he was favoured with the vision of that wondrous Revelation respecting the kingdom of God, with which the Scripture canon is sealed. 12.-The Jews to be destroyed as a nation, and scattered among all people; and Jerusalem to remain under the dominion of the Gentiles till the latter are converted. Prophecy. Luke xxi. 24.-And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. Matthew xxi. 43, 44.-Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone1 shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. 1 The "Stone of stumbling," made the precious "headstone of the corner;" the uncreated "Rock of ages," "cut out without hands," to subdue and have dominion over all the nations of the earth, and which will inevitably crush into the dust all that is opposed to its progressively extending dominion.See Daniel ii. 44, 45; and Note thereon p. 54, also, foot note p. 184. |