JESUS PREDICTS THE FALL OF JERUSALEM

INTRODUCTION

Jerusalem is totally unique – there is no other place like it in all the world.  It’s one of the oldest cities in the world and is full of tradition, religion, and history.  The world’s greatest concentration of religious sites is found right here in the heart of Jerusalem.    

Surrounded by walls, this history-packed square kilometre is home to holy sites for Jews, Christians, and Muslims.   It’s the most sacred city in the world and is truly breathtaking. The Western Wall in the heart of the Jewish Quarter is the holiest site in Judaism.  

The Via Dolorosa that marks Jesus’ pathway to the cross (and [nowadays] the Church of the Holy Sepulchre), is the traditional site where Jesus died, was buried and resurrected.  It’s the holiest site in Christianity.  Then, the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque is said to be where Muhammad rose into the heavens, and makes Jerusalem the third holiest place for Muslims. 

All this and much, much more is packed into just one square kilometre.  And this most precious, most sacred, and most disputed square kilometre in the world is surrounded and protected by walls. 

The walls remind us that the city of Jerusalem has been surrounded by walls for its defence since ancient times.  But the walls haven’t always been able to protect the city.  During its long history Jerusalem has been attacked 52 times, captured and recaptured 44 times, besieged 23 times, and destroyed twice. 

 The first time Jerusalem was destroyed was by a great warrior king, Nebuchadnezzar, and his Babylonian army in 586 BC, just over 2,600 years ago. The Babylonians besieged and destroyed the city, plundered the temple and carried off many of its sacred golden vessels. 

The second, and last time Jerusalem was destroyed was in 70 AD, when the Roman general Titus besieged and attacked the city with 4 legions.   The Romans totally destroyed the city and the Jewish temple.  It was one of the most brutal, catastrophic, and devastating attacks in history.  Over a million people perished.  

Rome’s destruction of Jerusalem and its temple is one of the darkest chapters in history.  Not only is it a testament of the cruelty and efficiency of the Roman military machine, but also a story of lost opportunities and forgotten warnings.  You see, the Bible clearly predicted the catastrophic leveling of the city.    

In fact, just before his death, Jesus made seven specific and chilling predictions about the destruction of both Jerusalem and its temple.  And those predictions carry a special and relevant message for us today.  Join me here in Jerusalem as we relive the city’s destruction and investigate the sobering message it carries for us today.

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THE JEWISH TEMPLE

The spectacular gold-capped Dome of the Rock dominates the skyline of Old Jerusalem today.  It sits proudly on what Muslims call Haram-al-Sharif – ‘The Noble Sanctuary’ or what Jews call Temple Mount.  

They believe that this was the location of the sacred Jewish Temple.  It was here on this hilltop that Solomon built the first temple in the middle of the tenth century BC.

 And for almost 400 years it was the central Jewish place of worship.   Then in 586 BC, the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and the temple, and took the Jews captive to Babylon.  

About half a century later, Cyrus the Great, King of the Medes and Persians, defeated the Babylonian army, and decreed that the Jews could return to Jerusalem and rebuild their Temple. 

At the urging of the Jewish prophets Haggai and Zechariah, Zerubbabel began construction of the second temple in 521 BC, and completed it around 515 BC.  Then it was subsequently enlarged by the Hasmonean Dynasty, and then was completely renovated and enlarged further by Herod the Great, beginning in 20 BC.  

Herod the Great was the greatest builder of the ancient world, and possibly of all time.  He built new cities, palaces, fortresses, monuments, harbours and aqueducts.  

But the Jewish Temple was the pinnacle of his building endeavours.  No expense was spared.  It was one of the greatest buildings found anywhere in the Roman Empire.  In fact, Josephus, an ancient Jewish historian who saw the building, said that it was covered on all sides with massive plates of gold.  

The temple was one of the architectural wonders of the ancient world, and truly was a marvel to behold. It was the centre of Israel’s national and religious life.  

The Jewish people believed that their magnificent Temple was permanent and would last until the end of time, not only because of its excellent construction, but also because it was the very sanctuary of God and represented His presence among them – and so was virtually indestructible. 

JESUS AND THE TEMPLE

Jesus was familiar with the Temple and visited there often. In fact, his life from beginning to end was associated with the temple.  As an infant, his parents took him to the temple to dedicate him and “present him to the Lord”  (Luke 2:22-24).  

Twelve years later, when Mary and Joseph were visiting Jerusalem to celebrate Passover, they 

“,,,found him in the temple, sitting with the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions” (Luke 2:46). 

 During his ministry Jesus was frequently in the temple courts and in the temple.  He healed sick people there and spent a lot of time teaching in the temple.

Jesus reverenced and respected the temple and protected its sanctity.  He drove out the merchants and money changers who had turned it into a marketplace.  But Jesus knew that the temple’s days were numbered.  With prophetic insight he looked into the future and saw that Jerusalem and its magnificent temple were soon to be destroyed.  

And he wanted his disciples and followers to be prepared.  So, soon after his last visit to the temple he shared with his followers what was going to happen in the future, and specifically what was going to happen to the temple.  In fact, Jesus gave seven chilling predictions about the future of Jerusalem and the temple.  

SHOCKING PREDICTIONS

It all started a few days earlier when he arrived in Jerusalem.  When Jesus came over the crest of the Mount of Olives and looked over the city, he wept over it.  He looked into the future and down through the pages of history and saw the horror and destruction that was going to befall the city, its temple, and its inhabitants in less than 40 years’ time.  

Jesus’ heart was weighed down with the fate of his beloved people.  He was concerned about the utter devastation of the city he loved and the people he called his own. 

It broke his heart and he cried out: 

“ If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace – but now it is hidden from your eyes.  The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you and encircle you and hem you in on every side.  (Luke 19:42,43)

“They will dash you to the ground, you and your children within your walls.  They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognise the time of God’s coming to you.”  (Luke 19:44)

So, there we have the first of Jesus’ predictions regarding Jerusalem. Enemies will:  

1. Build an embankment (a wall) around you.
2. Surround the city and hem you in (lay siege to the city).
3. Destroy the city – not one stone will be left on another (the city will be levelled).

Now, that’s a devastating list of predictions about any city. But it was unbelievable that it could possibly happen to Jerusalem! Yet there was even worse to come. When Jesus was leaving the temple for the last time, the disciples proudly pointed out the magnificent stones and buildings, and exclaimed,

“Look Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!” (Mark 13:1)

Well, Jesus’ response could not have been more shocking: 

“Do you see all these great buildings?  Not one stone here will be left on another, everyone will be thrown down” (Mark 13:2)  

No doubt the disciples’ hearts skipped a beat, and their breath was taken away by these words of Jesus. But there’s his next prediction – prediction number 4:

 The Temple will be destroyed. Not one stone will be left standing on another. 

These predictions are going from bad to worse.  And yet there’s still more to come. Jesus wasn’t finished yet.  He went on to say: 

“They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations.  Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (Luke 21:24)

Here’s the next lot of predictions:

5. The inhabitants of Jerusalem will be killed.
6. The Jews will be scattered among the nations.

And finally,

7. Gentiles will inhabit Jerusalem.

It certainly was a chilling list of predictions.  They were just too terrible to contemplate.  Could they ever really happen?   Well, here’s the record of history.  Here’s what happened.  The Romans had been occupying Judea since 63 BC.  

Tensions between the Romans and the Jews had been growing, and came to a head when Emperor Nero’s appointed governor, Florus, plundered the Jewish Temple of its treasury in 66AD.  

After Florus plundered the temple, Jewish forces defeated the Roman garrison stationed in Jerusalem and then defeated a larger force sent in from Syria.  Well, this infuriated the Romans, and Nero asked his decorated general Vespasian and his son Titus to subdue the Jews and bring law and order to the country. 

PROPHECY FULFILLED

Under the leadership of Vespasian, and with an 80,000-strong army, the Romans quickly conquered Galilee and then set their sights on the stronghold of Jerusalem.  By 70 AD, Vespasian had returned to Rome to become Emperor, leaving his son Titus to lead the army against Jerusalem.

With four legions under his command, Titus quickly took control. He posted his 10th legion right here on the Mount of Olives, directly east of and overlooking Temple Mount.  The 12th and 15th legions were stationed on Mount Scopus further to the east, and commanding all ways to Jerusalem from east and north.  The 5th legion was held in reserve.  

Now, Titus was a master military tactician and had developed good methods of breaking into walled cities and conquering his enemies.  So, rather than launching a full-frontal attack straight off, he decided to first implement a vigorous siege against Jerusalem and its citizens. 

First, they built a 7km siege wall, or embankment, right around the city.  It prevented anyone from entering or leaving.  No food and water supplies were allowed into the city.  Jerusalem was sealed off. There was no escape!

Then Titus ensured that the city was completely surrounded and encircled by his soldiers and auxiliaries.  With his four legions strategically placed, all roads and thoroughfares into Jerusalem were secured and blocked by well-guarded checkpoints.  Jerusalem’s inhabitants were hemmed in on every side.

Soon the city was gripped in an ever-tightening death-siege.  But there was worse to come. With the city secured and completely sealed off, the deadly heavy artillery and weaponry were assembled and rolled into place. 

The plan was to strike terror into the defenders and to bully, intimidate, batter, and starve the inhabitants into submission and surrender. 

DESTRUCTION AND CARNAGE

The siege, along with the display of brute force had the desired effect on the Jerusalem’s inhabitants locked up inside the city walls.  Mayhem and chaos broke loose as starvation threatened the trapped inhabitants.

Soon, the situation inside the city became desperate.  Hunger became so intense that the citizens became insane with starvation, resorting to murdering one another over food.  

The scene was one of utter destruction. Thousands died of starvation and accompanying illness. It was one of the starkest examples of human suffering during wartime, in history.

With the defenders and inhabitants of Jerusalem weakened and starving, Titus unleashed his vast and deadly array of Roman weaponry and firepower on the city. The huge wooden catapults bombarded the city with rocks, smashing everything they hit, and causing panic among the people.

The siege towers were rolled up to the city walls.  They were filled with soldiers, and the towers were tall enough to allow archers to shoot arrows directly into the city itself.  They also had different levels with platforms that allowed soldiers to climb onto the walls and access the city.

Along with the siege towers the Romans dragged their great battering rams into place.  They were used to pound and destroy the city walls and gates, causing them to crumble and collapse.

When the walls were finally breached, it opened the way for the soldiers to advance.  First using their ladders, and then on foot, they clamoured through the openings and poured into the city.

Soon, mounted troops and their accompanying foot soldiers stormed through the streets and alley ways.  They attacked, pillaged and killed without mercy.  No one was spared.  Men, women and children were put to the sword.  Those trying to flee were brutally cut down.  

It was absolute carnage.  The historian Josephus, who was an eyewitness to the event, claims that over a million people were killed in the attack. No buildings were spared either. 

THE TEMPLE DESTROYED

When Titus gave the soldiers their final instructions, he specified that the Temple was not to be harmed.  He gave strict instructions that it was not to be burnt or destroyed.  The building was too valuable to be carelessly torched in a skirmish.  

Besides, he had his eye on the temple treasure.  He’d heard about all the gold in and on the building, and the valuable temple furnishings, and he wanted them. 

But many Jews and zealots had taken refuge in the temple, and as the soldiers tried to enter, they were ambushed and one of them seriously wounded.  The soldiers retaliated and soon fierce hand to hand combat had broken out on the temple steps. In the chaos of the assault a soldier threw a single lighted torch into the temple and immediately the cedar lined beams around the holy place went up in flames. 

Infuriated with the resistance and guerrilla warfare of the Jewish zealots, the Roman soldiers began to hurl more firebrands into the temple. They also attacked and slaughtered as many zealots, Jews, and priests as they could when they tried to escape the burning temple.

Horrified, Titus rushed forward to try to contain the situation, but it was too late. He managed to salvage the golden menorah and some of the other temple furniture and treasure to take back to Rome.  But nothing could be done to save the temple.  It went up in flames.  The intense flames of the temple fire melted the gold and silver, and it ran down between the rocks and into the cracks and crevices of the stones.  

Titus wanted that gold and silver.  And so he ordered his soldiers to totally dismantle what was left of the Temple stone by stone, to extract the gold and silver.  And so, quite literally, not one stone was left standing upon another. The Temple itself was totally destroyed, along with the rest of the city. 

When you visit Temple Mount today, there’s a Herodian street with shops along the side of it dating from 70 AD, that’s been unearthed by archaeologists along the southern end of the Western Wall.  The street itself is buckled from the weight of the piles of huge stones, which still lie where they fell when the Roman soldiers threw them down from Temple Mount in 70 AD. 

A NATION DISPERSED

The fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD was a defining moment for the Jewish nation. Over one million Jews were killed and nearly 100,000 were taken captive and sold into slavery.  Jerusalem and its temple were burnt to the ground and razed to their foundations.  

With no capital city, no national leadership, and no religious centre, huge numbers of Jews left Judaea to make a home elsewhere.   This diaspora, or dispersion, out of their ancestral homeland, saw Jews scattered to the four corners of the world. They were stateless and forced to live in other countries.

And this was exacerbated even further following the defeat of the Jewish zealot Bar Kokhba’s rebellion by Emperor Hadrian 65 years later in 135 AD, when Jews were forbidden to even enter Jerusalem.  And so, as a result Jerusalem was occupied by non-Jews – Gentiles – for centuries. 

Now, as we’ve re-lived the horrifying historical events associated with the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD we notice that they perfectly match the chilling predictions that Jesus made.  Jesus’ 7 predictions came true even to the smallest detail:

 Build a wall around you.

1. Surround the city.
2. Destroy the city. 
3. Destroy the Temple. 
4. Kill the inhabitants.
5. Scatter the Jews among the nations.
6. Gentiles will inhabit Jerusalem.  

WARNING AND ESCAPE

Now, there was one group of Jews who escaped the terror and trauma of the Roman siege.  You see, Jesus gave both predictions and warnings.  He said:

“So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel standing in the holy place (let the reader understand) then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains” (Matthew 24:15-16)

Now, this refers to the Roman standards bearing the insignia of both the empire and the imperial cult – a false system of religion – being planted in the area the Jews considered to be holy ground. This referred in particular to the sacred Temple, but also covered Jerusalem, and extended several metres beyond the city walls. 

Jesus warned his followers that when they saw this happen, they were to prepare to leave the city, because its destruction would be imminent. And the Jewish Christians took Jesus’ words very seriously.  

As the storm clouds gathered, and when the Roman armies besieged Jerusalem in 67AD before Titus arrived, the followers of Jesus were ready. Jesus’ warning indicated that when the time came to leave, they should do so without delay, and that’s exactly what they did. 

During a temporary respite, when the Romans unexpectedly [lifted] their siege of Jerusalem, all the Christians fled, and it is said that none of them lost their lives.  They listened to Jesus. They took his words seriously, and they survived.

MESSAGE FOR TODAY

Now, there’s a powerful message there for us today living in the 21st century.  Because just as surely and as accurately as Jesus predicted the fall of Jerusalem, He also foretold His Second Coming and what will take place just before he returns – so that his followers can prepare and be ready.

Do you remember the disciple’s question when Jesus told them that the Jerusalem Temple would be destroyed?  The very thought of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple was so shocking and distressing to the disciples that they automatically assumed that these events must be connected to the end of the world.  

And so as soon as they could, they asked Jesus for clarification.  

“When will this happen?  What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the world?” (Matthew 24:3 CEV) 

Just as Jesus provided 7 predictions about the fall of Jerusalem, so he also provided 7 predictions about his coming and the end of the world.  The first is a microcosm of the second.   

The destruction of Jerusalem doubled as a prophetic description of the state of the world immediately prior to Jesus’ second coming.  Jesus gave 7 signs about the world we live in today.  They’re outlined in Matthew 24; Mark 13; and Luke 21.  Here they are:

1. False Christs and false prophets (Matthew 24:4,5; Mark 13:5,6; Luke 21:8).  Jesus said that there would be deception and confusion in the religious world.

2. Wars and rumours of wars (Matthew 24:6; Mark 13:7; Luke 21:9,10).  Jesus said there would be an increase in military activity and tensions and conflict between nations.

3. Earthquakes, famines, and pestilences (Matthew 24:7; Mark 13:8; Luke 21:11).  Jesus said there will be an increase in the frequency and intensity of natural disasters and pestilences – which is another word for pandemics, plagues and disease.

4. Persecution (Matthew 24:9; Mark 13:9-13; Luke 21:12-19).  Jesus said his followers would be victimised, discriminated against, and mistreated.

5. Apostacy (Matthew 24:10-13) Jesus said many would defect and turn away from following him and abandon their faith. 

6. World Evangelism (Matthew 24:14; Mark 13:10). Jesus said the good news, the Gospel, will go to all the world.

And finally,

7. The Abomination of Desolation (Matthew 24:15; Mark 13:14; Luke 21:20). Jesus said a Roman-based power will become prominent, and promote and impose false religion and in particular, a false gospel.

So, there they are – 7 signs, things that are going to happen that will tell us that Jesus is coming soon. When we look at the world we live in today one thing is clear: the signs that Jesus laid out for us signalling the nearness of his coming are being fulfilled before our eyes. 

We live in exciting times. The spiralling chaos we see around us points forward to the most glorious event the world has ever seen. Jesus is coming soon. The question is, are we ready to meet him? 

SPECIAL OFFER AND CLOSING PRAYER

If you would like to know more about the second coming of Jesus, and how you can make sure you’re ready to meet Him, then I’d like to recommend the free gift we have for all our Incredible Journey viewers today.

It’s the booklet, Signs of His Return. This booklet is our gift to you and is absolutely free. I guarantee there are no costs or obligations whatsoever. So, make the most of this wonderful opportunity to receive your free gift today.

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Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for providing us with information and evidence that Jesus is coming soon.  We want to take this information seriously and ensure that we are ready to meet Jesus when he comes.  Please bless us and our families, and grant us all a place in your kingdom.  We pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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