Jesus doesn't get mad he gets even
There is no excuse for your atheism, Two prophets and one historian
gave us a detailed description of the destruction od Jerusalem in 70AD.
The Granfinale of the writen word of God..
Jesus, Zecheriah, and Josephus gave identical ****tants. At various times
during his ministry, Jesus predicted the divine judgments that
eventually befell Jerusalem and the Jews.
Josephus' interpretation of the war is so consistent with the prophecy
of Jesus that it seems as though he had Jesus' prophecy in front of him
as he wrote. I see no evidence, however, that this was the case. And
this lack of evidence suggests that, as Josepbus said, he really was
inspired to understand the meaning of the war.
During Jesus's last week of mortal life, he not only identified for his
disciples the time and the kinds of problems incident to that dark day,
but also the ways by which they could avoid suffering the consequences.
The Jews took their major step toward the prophesied destruction when
they revolted against the Romans in A.D. 66. Merely four years later,
sword, famine, and fire had levelled the city of Jerusalem; soldiers of
Rome had levelled Jewish homes vacated recently by the dead and the
captives; Jerusalem itself was desolate. Only forty years had passed
since Jesus had predicted it. Undoubtedly, many of those who died on
Jerusalem's streets had heard Jesus' warnings of disaster and his
instructions on how to avoid it.
Today, the hour of God's judgments is being announced again in the land.
For this generation at risk it is reassuring to see how God saves those
who listen to him.
Many accounts of that war were written, but the only one that has
survived was written by Josephus, a twenty-nine-year-old
commander-in-chief of the Galilean sector, who was in an admirable
position to write about it.
He knew much of the thinking that had produced it and was an
eye-witness to many of its events. He knew the major Jewish leaders and,
after his capture, knew also the Roman commanders, Vespasian and Titus.
He observed the progress of the war from within the Roman camp and kept
track of its details by regular interviews with Roman and captured
Jewish participants. He saw the fall of Jerusalem, the burning of its
temple, and the leveling of the city.
Consequently, his firsthand knowledge of that war makes his record an
excellent source for studying the fulfillment of Jesus' prophecy.
Especially so, since he felt that God had inspired him to understand
what was happening and had preserved his life so that he could tell it.
Josephus, Divine Recorder of the War, Understood It
As the Galilean general, he faced the Romans at the city of Jotapata.
When it finally fell after a forty-day siege and he surrendered, he
recalled many dreams that he had recently had but had not understood.
Referring to himself in the third person, he said: 'There came back into
his mind those nightly dreams, in which God had foretold him the
impending fate of the Jews and the destinies of the Roman sovereigns."
As a priest, he knew how to interpret dreams and knew the prophecies in
the scriptures. At that hour he was inspired to read their meaning."
Recalling the dreadful images of his recent dreams, he offered up a
silent prayer to God. "Since it pleases thee . . . who didst create the
Jewish nation, to break thy work, since fortune has wholly passed to the
Romans, and since thou hast made choice of my spirit to announce the
things that are to come, I willingly surrender to the Romans and consent
to live; but I take thee to witness that I go, not as a traitor, but as
thy minister."1
lenny
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