70 A.D.

This has been a hot subject for some time now. I know God is justified in allowing this, I bow down to his judgement. But on the otherside there was a very deep anguish even to the first generations of christians that such would happen to the beloved of God even though the jews were then their harshest persecutor.

Then I remembered what occured to king Dav on the death of King Saul in 1 Samuel:

Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and so did all the men who were with him.12 And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the people of the LORD and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.

And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and Jonathan his son,18 and he said it should be taught to the people of Judah; behold, it is written in the Book of Jashar. He said:

"Your glory, O Israel, is slain on your high places!
\t\tHow the mighty have fallen!

\tTell it not in Gath,
\t\tpublish it not in the streets of Ashkelon,

\tlest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice,
\t\tlest the daughters of the uncircumcised exult.
\t"You mountains of Gilboa,
\t\tlet there be no dew or rain upon you,
\t\tnor fields of offerings!

\tFor there the shield of the mighty was defiled,
\t\tthe shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.
\t"From the blood of the slain,
\t\tfrom the fat of the mighty,
\tthe bow of Jonathan turned not back,
\t\tand the sword of Saul returned not empty.
\t"Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely!
\t\tIn life and in death they were not divided;
\tthey were swifter than eagles;
\t\tthey were stronger than lions.

\t"You daughters of Israel, weep over Saul,
\t\twho clothed you luxuriously in scarlet,
\t\twho put ornaments of gold on your apparel.
\t"How the mighty have fallen
\t\tin the midst of the battle!

\t"Jonathan lies slain on your high places.\t
I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan;
\tvery pleasant have you been to me;
\t\tyour love to me was extraordinary,
\t\tsurpassing the love of women.
\t"How the mighty have fallen,
\t\tand the weapons of war perished!"

Lament over Jerusalem (Mat 23:37)

\t"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!See, your house is left to you desolate.39 For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'"

Luke 21:20-24

"But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people. They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

Romans 11:25

Lest you be wise in your own sight, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

Jeremiah 31:10

"Hear the word of the LORD, O nations,
and declare it in the coastlands far away;
say, 'He who scattered Israel will gather him,
and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.'

Ezekiel 11:17

"Therefore say: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the land of Israel again.'

In 66 AD, Jewish zealots openly revolted against the roman empire, completely driven the roman forces out of Jerusalem and killed more than 600 of them. The high priest who tried to pacify the revolt was also executed.

Emperor Nero in response, gave this univocal command, destroy Jerusalem, level the temple. Vespasian and his son Titus were given the charge. Josephus (the historian) was the commander of Jewish forces as they fought alone the great Roman power at the misgiving of their surrounding nations. The Jews were proven to be formidable foe that Rome committed its full might for this campaign. If the Jews will win, the whole empire may revolt.

Bloody factions, however, rose among the Jews, which resulted to their slaughter of one another. Extremist Jewish patriots plotted against Josephus, who ended as collaborator to the Romans. He adopted the Vespasian's family name Flavius for the favors given to him by Vespasian who later became the emperor of Rome succeded by his son Titus, the builder of 'Roman Colloseum'. Titus reign as emperor was marked with catastrophic events and disasters in Rome.

By 68 AD, the revolt in the northern province fell and the whole Roman force was then set to the annihilation of Jerusalem. During this year, emperor Nero committed suicide, Vespasian was declared to the throne, and Titus became fully in-charge towards the siege of the Jewish capital.

Titus surrounded Jerusalem with the Roman Legions, progressively choking the life of the Jews, cutting off the water and food supply. After bitter and desperate resistance, the wall of Jerusalem was breached in 70 AD. The huge stream of Roman attackers slaughter any Jew they met on their rampage. More than one million Jews perished in the Jerusalem siege, about 350,000 more perished in other places, several thousand starved, thousands more enslaved to hard labor or butchered in Roman amusement arena, and thousands upon thousands carried into banishment and captivity. The seven-branched candlestick, the golden table of the shew-bread and the golden trumpets were carried through the streets of Rome in celebration.

Jerusalem was utterly destroyed, the only jewish relic spared to witness for us today is the 'wailing wall'.

The second temple took more than half century to finish. Its grandeur and magnificence was striking to behold. In just four years after its completion it was totally wiped out, as the Lord Jesus declared.

Luke 21:5-6

And while some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, "As for these things that you see, the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down."

The Jewish rebellion was finally extinguished in 73 AD with the tragic fall of Masada.
.......................................................

What can we say, that the solemn and grand covenant of God with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob after all ended upon pile of ruins, pools of blood, dead bodies, smoke & raging fire, ashes, and to hopeless and wandering souls.

Year 70 AD, Amidst the deafening sounds of death, pain, & destruction , there was was a foreboding sense of of total silence and darkness upon the souls of Israel. The light of their hopes went out, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.'

Ezekiel 37: The Valley of Dry Bones\t

The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones.2 And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry.3 And he said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?"

On May 14, 1948, 4 pm, PM David Ben-Gurion pursuant to UN Resolution 181 dated November 29,1947, read a 979-word declaration of independence of the State of Israel in Tel Aviv. The new state was recognized soon by the superpowers, the USA after few hours and the USSR after three days.

Truman's decision to support the establishment of Israel was not without strong, bitter, and threatening oppositions. As feared by then US State secretary George Marshall, the Arab nations immediately declared war for the annihilation of the new State, the seemingly unending bloody predicament of the Jewish people continues.

Will God really resurrect the dry bones again, is the new of state Israel the fulfillment of that prophecy.

The first christians were aware of the coming destruction of Jerusalem having been warned by the Lord Jesus himself.

According to Eusebius, the christians in Jerusalem commanded by divine revelation, had fled to take refuge at a certain town beyond Jordan called Pella.

70 AD is the day of vengeance and judgement to the sins of Jacob.

Zechariah 12 & 14 declare the day of Jacob's redemption over those who seek to destroy him by the mighty power of the Holy one of Israel. They will look upon Him whom they have pierced and will proclaim "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord."

The re-gathering of Jacob from exile to their God given land
will make them and Jerusalem a "Cup of staggering and a heavy stone to the nations".

The days of "Jacob's trouble" is coming, days of his tribulation and purification, to remove his dross. They will be yet another days of fiery battles & trials, but his enemies will not prevail for his Messiah Himself will fight for him.

As the Holy One had so declared, so it shall come to pass.

Once again, after almost two thousand years the world and the church can once again gaze upon a Jewish presence in Palestine/Canaan and once again Jerusaelm is surrounded by hostile Gentile armies intent on taking its ownership from the Jews and removing the Jews from the face of the earth. If 70 AD was the irrevocable ending of so much and the supposed irrevocable divorcing of Israel why have we come full circle and basically are looking at the same situation again and the Son of Man has not returned and is still to make His second advent?

As I was contemplating on these, it came to me that the real culprit is SIN that has so gripped the mankind. We really need a saviour that will free us from the penalty & bondage of sin, otherwise, mankind is always bound for pain and destruction.

But blessed be the Lord our God who will one day give us final victory over sin and death. His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

John 1:13
Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

These three things, bloods, the will of the flesh, the will of man, bring to the sons of men power and rank, which are noble, but natural and human. For, indeed, it was on these three the Jews used to lean, being wont to boast either of their ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, Israel, Juda, Benjamin, Levi, Aaron, David, etc., or of both parents, but more especially of their fathers, and fancied that owing to these they could not but be pleasing to God; but John declares that these very things have no weight [with Him].

But of God - To the natural generation of men is opposed generation of God. And although the former, as the latter, is in reality single, yet the former being expressed in a threefold manner carries with it a threefold mode of viewing the latter. We are therefore taught, that they become Sons of God, who are born, not as the sons of men, such as themselves also were by original descent, after the manner of men, but of God. That is, not of bloods, but of the heavenly and supreme Father, from whom the whole of the blessed and holy family is named. Bengel

Not of blood - The Greek word is plural; not of "bloods" - that is, not of "man." Compare Matthew 27:4. The Jews prided themselves on being the descendants of Abraham, Matthew 3:9. They supposed that it was proof of the favor of God to be descended from such an illustrious ancestry. In this passage this notion is corrected. It is not because men are descended from an illustrious or pious parentage that they are entitled to the favor of God; or perhaps the meaning may be, not because there is a union of illustrious lines of ancestry or "bloods" in them. The law of Christ's kingdom is different from what the Jews supposed . Barnes

Matthew 3:9
And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say to you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham.

God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. To "raise up children" is an Hebrew way of speaking, and the same with or to "raise up seed", or a "name" to another, Genesis 38:8 and signifies to beget children for another, who are to be called by his name. Some by "the stones" understand the Gentiles, comparable to stones, both for the hardness of their hearts, and their idolatry in worshipping stocks and stones; of and among whom God was able to raise, and has raised up, a spiritual seed to Abraham; who are of the same faith with him, who walk in his steps, and whose father he is: but then it must be supposed, according to this sense, that there were some Gentiles present, since John calls them "these" stones, pointing to some persons or things, that were before him; wherefore I rather think that this phrase is to be taken literally, and that John pointed to some certain stones that were near him, within sight, and which lay upon the banks of Jordan, where he was baptizing; for what is it that the omnipotent God cannot do? He could as easily of stones make men, as make Adam out of the dust of the earth, and then make these men, in a spiritual sense, children of Abraham; that is, believers in Christ, and partakers of his "grace; for if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise", Galatians 3:29. So that God stood in no need of these persons, nor had they any reason to boast of their natural descent from Abraham; since this in spiritual matters, and in things relating to the Gospel dispensation, would stand them in no stead, or be of any advantage to them . Gill

Indeed, it is not the blood but the solemn covenant, declarations, and promises God.

The pharisees were wrong, it is the Lord God who said "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy" Whatever he said, it is and it shall.

If He grants new life to us gentiles through our Lord Jesus Christ then so be it, we do not need to be from the blood of Jacob, neither need to be circumcised, become citizen of Israel, nor observe their traditions, but that we respect and bless each other in fear of God.

As the lord God had accepted Abraham through faith, He declared that He will do the same to them who believes and obey the Lord Jesus Christ, whether Jews, Greeks, Americans, or Arabs.

Great is our God who is faithful, merciful, and true.