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Dear Friends

I am keeping this letter short so that you have time to read the feature article. The article will likely be the longest you ever receive from TheEndTimesProject, but you are encouraged to read it in its entirety. It addresses the leveling of the temple in 70 A.D. and provides the historical as well as Biblical evidence that puts to rest any theories that tie 70 A.D. into the prophesy of Matthew 24. First, a few quick words.

World Evangelism

I just recently learned of a remarkable story of evangelism that I would like to share with you. It shows how one man’s obedience can not only reach millions for Christ, but change a nation also.

Pastor Sunday Adelaja is the founder and pastor of, get this, "The Embassy of the Blessed Kingdom of God for All Nations." Now you might think from his name that he would be the pastor of an African church. Pastor Adelaja is from Nigeria, Africa, but as a bright and promising young student he received a scholarship from the Communist Party of Ukraine who hoped to indoctrinate him and others like him, and thereby spreading their ideology to other countries. He traveled to Ukraine, studied and graduated, but then something went terribly wrong. He got saved.

It was then that God called him to pastor in Ukraine where he had studied. Through many toils and struggles, including death threats and actual attempts, he lost site of himself and put his life totally in the hands of the God. Pastor Sunday, who is black, now leads a congregation of over 20,000 in a country that is 98 to 99% white. His church is in Kiev (Kyiv), the capitol of Ukraine and has many government officials as members. The impact of that church is changing the way that government is run.

But more than that it is changing lives for eternity. Over 1,000,000 people have been saved in the first 8 years of ministry. He has planted over 300 churches in several different countries, and has specific ministries for just about every kind of human need in his Kiev church.

You can visit the web site at http://www.godembassy.org/index_en.php .

News: Islam, the religion of the anti-Christ

You remember the trouble that Pope Benedict got into by quoting Pope Urban II concerning Islam when he said the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad are "evil and inhuman," particularly "his command to spread by the sword the faith." But did you catch what Ayman al-Zawahri, second in command for al-Qaida, had to say in response?

"If Benedict attacked us, we will respond to his insults with good things. We will call upon him and all of the Christians to become Muslims who do not recognize the Trinity or the crucifixion,"

The pope did offer a partial apology and has spoken with Muslim leaders, but it is unclear as to whether he is maintaining a dialogue of friendship/mutual disagreement with them, or if he is compromising Christian truths in order to meld with Islam. Al-Zawahri also spoke of Bush, the U.S. and allies in this manner:

“...how have you found us during this time? Losing and surrendering? Or are we launching attacks with God's help and becoming martyrs?" "We are a people who do not sleep under oppression and who do not abandon our revenge."

Meanwhile the al-Qaida leader in Iraq is actively recruiting scientist who are able to apply their expertise towards the destruction of those who oppose them.

"We are in dire need of you. The field of jihad can satisfy your scientific ambitions, and the large American bases (in Iraq) are good places to test your unconventional weapons, whether biological or dirty...."

Also from al-Qaida Iraq,

"We tell the worshipper of the cross that you and the West will be defeated, as is the case in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya....We shall break the cross and spill the wine....God will (help) Muslims to conquer Rome (Catholics)...God enable us to slit their throats, and make their money and descendants the bounty of the mujahideen,"(fighters of the jihad)

Do you still believe that the pope is going to lead wayward Christians in a revised Rome? Are you ready to deny the trinity and crucifixion and become a Muslim? Jesus, who Muslims respect as a prophet, said that God will not forgive us and answer our prayers if we do not forgive those who offend against us, yet Muslims continue to praise Allah for answered prayer in their war against those who seek peace and freedom. Could Jesus and Muhammad possibly be submitted to the same God?

With all due respect to Muslims who love and seek peace, those who reside in the Middle East where Islam began, and where the Qur’an is read in Arabic, are becoming more and more violent and intolerant. I urge you to find out who Jesus really is.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Did you know that Hezbollah has not only returned to the border with Israel, but has raised their flags along the border. The Hezbollah leader has shown some regret for his miscalculations which led to the war, but it seems that Hezbollah thinks that Lebanon (and Israel) belong to them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Did you know that Muslim clerics are estimating that thousands of Middle Eastern Muslims are converting to Christianity daily. And this is real Christianity where Jesus Christ is Lord and personal savior. Needless to say, it has the clerics very concerned.

Prayer

  1. Please continue to pray for Lebanon. They need assistance in rebuilding their lives, but more than that they need Jesus. And they need to see beyond the deception of Hezbollah as a friend and protecter. Pray for the Christian population of Lebanon, and pray that God would make Lebanon a stronghold for Christianity.
  2. Pray that God would continue to spread the influence of TheEndTimesProject.
  3. This is an important ongoing prayer request. There are over one billion Muslims in the world. Pray and stand in agreement that one hundred million Muslims will turn from Islam and receive Christ, either directly or indirectly through the truths that are being discussed on this site. Please speak it out loud from your heart to God’s heart right now. I agree for 1,000,000 Muslims saved by these truths. Get others to agree with you also.
  4. If you have Muslim friends pray for them as individuals.

Feature

What Does 70 A.D. Have To Do With Matthew 24?

In the year 70 A.D. the city of Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman army and leveled to the ground. Four times in the Gospels we read the words of Jesus as He prophesies of the utter destruction of Jerusalem. However, in context three of those times are speaking about Jerusalem being leveled during the events at the end of the world. Only once did He speak specifically of 70 A.D..

There is a small group of believers that hold to a theory called Preterism which attempts to place most, if not all of end times prophecy in the past at the time of the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.. It is my opinion that these people have rejected the spiritual guidance of the Holy Spirit in understanding prophecy in favor of an intellectual approach, and thereby eliminating “The Blessed Hope” of Jesus’ appearing. Revelation from the Word of God comes from the heart to the mind and not the other way around. When we try to figure out God’s word intellectually we just mess things up. Most Preterists begin with the same spiritual heart felt revelation about the end times as the rest of us, but because other prevailing theories are arrived at intellectually, and do not fully address all of prophetic scripture, Preterists then respond by trying out their own intellectual theories, which don’t work either. (At the end of this article there are two additional responses to Preterist theories.)

Let’s begin by looking at three places that speak about the leveling of Jerusalem and how they tie into the end of the world when Jesus returns in the clouds to gather His New Testament elect after the Tribulation, but before the Wrath of God begins. After looking at these three sets of scripture we will look at the fourth which speaks of the razing of Jerusalem, but lacks any end times connection, and in fact, has nothing to do with the end of the world. We will then see historically how that fourth reference perfectly describes the siege of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

Jesus Foretells the Destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem.

In Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 19 and 21 Jesus declares that there will not be one stone left upon another in the temple and other buildings at the destruction of Jerusalem.

Matthew 24.

1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.

2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

Jesus responds to the comments of His disciples about the buildings (plural) of the temple by stating that they will all be leveled to the ground. In verses 4-13 He describes things that must happen before the end comes and all the buildings are destroyed. By verse 14 Jesus begins to tie all of His remaining comments to the end after the gospel has been preached to all the world. In verse 34 He declares that, “This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” He is speaking of everything from verse 14 on. In verses 15 and 16 Jesus speaks to future Jewish Christians who will be resident in Jerusalem when these things begin to come to pass, not Jews in general as some believe. The words that He spoke to His disciples have been passed on to the Church and rejected by most Jewish people. Notice that He says that YOU shall see the Abomination if you are alive when these things begin to come to pass. Notice also that it is the Abomination spoken of by Daniel. In italics we are told to “understand” what we are reading. Many scholars have tried to tie the prophecies of Daniel’s abomination to either Antiochus, the Syrian king of the divided Greek Empire who desecrated the temple long before Jesus spoke these words, or Titus who was the Roman officer who besieged Jerusalem in 70 A.D.. The prophecies of Daniel all make repeated reference to the end of time, and the destruction of the abomination and his kingdom by the returning Lord. That is what we are being instructed to understand. And lastly, notice the injunction to flee Jerusalem to the mountains.

15 When you therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

Verse 22 tells us that no human being will survive these days if God does not cut them short. The fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. was a localized event during the resubjugation of Israel to Rome. It could not have in any way triggered the destruction of all mankind. When we look at the fourth scripture reference mentioned above we will see clearly how verse 22 could not be speaking of 70 A.D.

22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

Verses 23-28 inform us that there will be an upsurge in the number of false christs after we, the people who are being forewarned by the Lord, see the Abomination. This was not a problem in Jerusalem, 70 A.D.. In 70 A.D. there was revival spreading around the world (the early rain [James 5:7]), and there were heretics, but there was not a legion of false christs in Jerusalem. There was no Abomination of Daniel in the temple either. There were many abominable Jews inside the city, and even in the temple, who both insured and hastened their own destruction at the hands of Titus, but none of them was the beast/abomination of Daniel, nor was Titus. I’ll speak to these things below.

Finally in verses 29-31 we are told that Jesus will arrive immediately after those days of tribulation which will arise after the abomination of Daniel, to remove His New Testament elect from the earth, or in other words, He will rapture the Church after the Tribulation. In the end of the chapter He makes it clear that the Wrath of God will follow the departure of the saints just as the flood followed Noah entering the ark which caught him up.

29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

In Mark 13 the same conversation between Jesus and His disciples is recorded but with more detail concerning the temple and other buildings. This time we see that they are speaking of more than just the buildings of the temple. Any building within range of site would have been included. There was one building with its walls which was right in full view of the temple which still stands today. What is now called the Haram esh-Sharif, but was known as Fort Antonia, from which the Romans kept watch over the city, was a vast structure that dwarfed the temple. The Haram esh-Sharif and Fort Antonia will be explored in a future newsletter.

Mark 1-6

1 And as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him, Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!

2 And Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

In Mark 13 we have the same warning from Jesus to those in Judea (the whole region around Jerusalem) to flee to the mountains after seeing the abomination of Daniel. Mark then continues with much of the same dialogue as Matthew 24.

Mark 13:14

But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains

Luke 21 does not mention the abomination of Desolation, but it does fill in the blanks concerning how things will unfold. We will not only see the abomination in the temple, but we will see the city surrounded by armies. It is important to note that Luke does not say that Israel will be surrounded by armies, but rather the city itself. THE KINGDOM OF THE BEAST explains how the temple is defiled weeks before the Great Tribulation begins, (Jesus said to flee Jerusalem after seeing the Abomination in the temple) and how the anti-Christ uses the peace accord to enter Jerusalem under the pretense of a security arrangement. He will then begin his slaughter of the Jewish people starting from the heart of the country and moving outward.

Luke 21

5 And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said,

6 As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.

21 Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.

Luke continues in verses 27-35 to tie this discourse into the same time frame as Matthew and Mark. He mentions the Lord coming in the clouds and that it will all come to pass in a single generation. And then he finishes up by speaking to the world wide nature of these events when he says “as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.”

That brings us to the fourth place where Jesus mentions the destruction of Israel. Luke 19:41-47. Let’s read it first before commenting on it.

Luke 19:41-47

41 And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,

42 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.

43 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,

44 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.

45 And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought;

46 Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves.

47 And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him,

I included the last three verses because they help to highlight who Jesus was speaking about this time and why. He is not responding to His disciples here, but simply speaking from out of His heart the tragedies that would soon befall Jerusalem. He is speaking of those Jews who rejected Him and continued to watch for a Messiah who would free them from Roman occupation and set up His kingdom to reign from Jerusalem. Notice that there is no instruction to believers to flee to the mountains this time. Why is that? Because He was not speaking to His New Testament elect at this point, but about those who would soon be turned over to the hand of the enemy because of the blindness of their souls and the corruptness of their religion. The Messiah had arrived, but they were so consumed by their own ways that they were not going to allow Him to ruin “a good thing.” It was the day that the Jewish nation had prepared the way for and anxiously waited for, but for many the arrival of their Messiah only highlighted the evil desires of their hearts and the foolishness of their ambitions. Their day had come but they wanted nothing to do with it because it did not fit into their plans. Consequently, Jesus had no choice but to turn those Jews over to the Romans from whom they desired deliverance under the leadership of a militant Messiah.

In each of the four passages mentioned above Jesus declares that many buildings, including the temple, will be destroyed at least down to the foundation (not one stone upon another), but the first three are inextricably tied to the time of the end, the abomination of Daniel, and the appearing of Jesus for believers. In each there is a warning of certain peril for those who remain in the city. In the fourth reference there is a prophesied doom for the city and its residents, but no warning to anyone to flee. Of course, believers would have fled assuming this to be the time of the abomination, however, because of how events unfolded they would not have had the same opportunity for fleeing that they will have at the end of time when the abomination of Daniel enters the temple. Those events will be explained as we go along. There is no record of believers being in Jerusalem during the Roman siege, but that siege is not the same event spoken of in the first three passages.

How Jerusalem was Taken in 70 A.D.

Verses 43 and 44 above provide a perfect description of the Roman siege of 70 A.D., but will be a very unlikely scenario in the future after the temple is rebuilt. Rome did cast a trench about Jerusalem, and compass it about, and keep them in on every side.

In the New King James the word trench is changed to embankment which may partly be due to the historical fact that the Romans did build embankments up against the walls of Jerusalem in an attempt to surmount the walls. However, this proved to be suicidal because, as the Jewish historian Josephus relates, the Jews who were controlling things from the inside were fighting as madmen with no regard for their own lives. Whenever the Romans began to ascend the embankments the Jews would come out from above to fight with them and catch the embankments on fire. Titus, the Roman commander, thought better than to continue with that plan which would have caused the unnecessary death of many of his soldiers.

In Strong’s Concordance the word trench has a different meaning. It is derived from a word which means to sharpen to a point. The definitions are given as a stake, a palisade or rampart with the word trench just sort of added on at the end. This is the only place where the word is used in the New Testament, and it in no way implies an open trench. A palisade was a stout stick sharpened on one end and stood upright in a trench with the point facing upward. A rampart in this context was a defensive or protective barrier made of these palisades. The Romans first dug a shallow trench around Jerusalem for the purpose of embedding the blunt ends of the stakes in the ground with the tips pointing to the sky, thus building a palisade/rampart around Jerusalem to both keep the Jews from coming out to forage for food, and to provide for their own security from sudden frenzied attacks from the Jews as they had already done on several occasions. Jerusalem was surrounded by three walls with the outer wall measuring 33 furlongs (just over 4 miles)(Book 5, Chapter 4.3)*. The fence that the Romans built outside this outer wall was 40 furlongs (5 miles long)(Book 5, Chapter 12.2)* and had 13 garrisons which added 10 additional furlongs (1.25 miles). This entire structure took only 3 days to construct.

Why the Siege By Rome Had Nothing To Do With the Abomination of Daniel

We must first get acquainted with some of the major participants on both sides, before we can dismiss any allusions of this being the time of tribulation mentioned in the first three passages, and to eliminate all these participants from suspicion of being the abomination who will stand in the temple. *All quotes are from Josephus, (The Wars Of The Jews) the Jewish historian who not only wrote what he saw, but served as an interpreter between the Romans and the Jews after being captured by the Romans. He had access to the Roman commanders Vespasian and Titus, he knew many of the inhabitants of Jerusalem on a personal as well as professional level, and he had access to those Jews who escaped the city during the siege.

Josephus

Flavius Joseph, Son of Matthias. Historian, high priest and general in the Jewish war against Rome. He was made governor of Galilee and built walls around several cities for defense against the Romans. Josephus set about to accurately describe the war of the Jews for posterity sake. His efforts were, likewise, motivated by a desire to silence an abundance of hype and outright lies being spread concerning the actions of both the Romans and the Jews during the war. Josephus was commanding the armies at Jotapata when he prophesied their doom at the hands of the Romans. His warnings fell on deaf ears and the people chose to die fighting rather than to surrender or send for reinforcements. God spared Josephus at the fall of Jotapata, at which time he became a prisoner of Vespasian who chose to keep him alive. Immediately he prophesied to Vespasian his rise to the thrown of Rome. Josephus became the interpreter between both Vespasian and Titus, and the Jews.

Josephus’ prayer to God before surrendering himself to the Romans.

"”Since it pleaseth thee, who hast created the Jewish nation, to depress the same, and since all their good fortune is gone over to the Romans, and since thou hast made choice of this soul of mine to foretell what is to come to pass hereafter, I willingly give them my hands, and am content to live. And I protest openly that I do not go over to the Romans as a deserter of the Jews, but as a minister from thee.”"(Book 3, Chapter 8.3)

Josephus foretells Vespasian’s ascent to the thrown.

"”Thou, O Vespasian, thinkest no more than that thou hast taken Josephus himself captive; but I come to thee as a messenger of greater tidings; for had not I been sent by God to thee, I knew what was the law of the Jews in this case? and how it becomes generals to die. Dost thou send me to Nero? For why? Are Nero's successors till they come to thee still alive? Thou, O Vespasian, art Caesar and emperor, thou, and this thy son. Bind me now still faster, and keep me for thyself, for thou, O Caesar, are not only lord over me, but over the land and the sea, and all mankind; and certainly I deserve to be kept in closer custody than I now am in, in order to be punished, if I rashly affirm any thing of God.”"(Book 3, Chapter 8.9)

Vespasian

Vespasian was the Roman general who was given the task of bringing the Jewish nation back into submission after the Jews took advantage of disarray and weakness in the Roman government to attempt their own liberation. At the death of Nero, Vilellus was made emperor of Rome to the dissatisfaction of many. Vespasian's soldiers chose to declare him emperor instead. After much hesitation he accepts the responsibility and after 8 months Vilellus was beheaded in the streets by the citizens of Rome, and they celebrated at the arrival Vespasian, thus fulfilling the words of Josephus to his rise to emperor.

Although many tend to view Rome as only a heathen nation, Vespasian set himself apart with some humility, much nobility, and his compassion and good sense far out weighing any acts of cruelty.

“These were the discourses the soldiers had in their several companies; after which they got together in a great body, and, encouraging one another, they declared Vespasian emperor, and exhorted him to save the government, which was now in danger. Now Vespasian's concern had been for a considerable time about the public, yet did he not intend to set up for governor himself, though his actions showed him to deserve it, while he preferred that safety which is in a private life before the dangers in a state of such dignity; but when he refused the empire, the commanders insisted the more earnestly upon his acceptance; and the soldiers came about him, with their drawn swords in their hands, and threatened to kill him, unless he would now live according to his dignity. And when he had shown his reluctance a great while, and had endeavored to thrust away this dominion from him, he at length, being not able to persuade them, yielded to their solicitations that would salute him emperor.”

Although Vespasian acknowledged many god’s he often gave credit to the God of heaven for presiding over many of the affairs that he was involved in. In this quote he advises the Romans not to attack Jerusalem while the Jews inside attack each other.

“”God acts as a general of the Romans better than he (Vespasian) can do, and is giving the Jews up to them (the Romans) without any pains of their own, and granting their army a victory without any danger; that therefore it is their best way, while their enemies are destroying each other with their own hands, and falling into the greatest of misfortunes, which is that of sedition, to sit still as spectators of the dangers they run into, rather than to fight hand to hand with men that love murdering, and are mad one against another.””

Titus

Titus was the son of Vespasian who took over the armies of Rome in the war with the Jews after his father’s rise to the throne. He showed much of the same characteristics of his father of being courageous, of good leadership qualities and he had the respect of his soldiers. He showed compassion and good sense in dealing with people, and his harsher side was confined to dealing with his enemies who refused to surrender. Titus was the commander that took Jerusalem in 70 A.D..

Josephus describes the often displayed demeanor of Titus in contrast to the tyrants who controlled Jerusalem from within.

“For that it was a seditious temper of our own that destroyed it, and that they were the tyrants among the Jews who brought the Roman power upon us, who unwillingly attacked us, and occasioned the burning of our holy temple, Titus Caesar, who destroyed it, is himself a witness, who, during the entire war, pitied the people who were kept under by the seditious, and did often voluntarily delay the taking of the city, and allowed time to the siege, in order to let the authors have opportunity for repentance.”

Titus grants liberties to the Jews and pities Jerusalem after its destruction in the words of Josephus.

“Titus .... permitted the Jews of Antioch to continue to enjoy the very same privileges in that city which they had before, and then departed for Egypt; and 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 as its ancient splendor, 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 that 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.”

John

John was a Jewish thief and a leader of thieves. He was an insurrectionist, a tyrant and a cruel and merciless murderer. He used craftiness and lies to lead others, and he used deceit to escape from the hand of Vespasian as he fled by night on the Sabbath from the small city of Gischala to Jerusalem. John used the temple as a fortress from which he tormented the people and killed the innocent. He killed the priest and sought out other men of dignity to kill.

Josephus describes those who follow John.

“These men made the temple of God a strong hold for them, and a place whither they might resort, in order to avoid the troubles they feared from the people; the sanctuary was now become a refuge, and a shop of tyranny. They also mixed jesting among the miseries they introduced, which was more intolerable than what they did; for in order to try what surprise the people would be under, and how far their own power extended, they undertook to dispose of the high priesthood by casting lots for it.” (Book 4, Chapter 3.7)

The Idumeans

Idumea is the area generally to the south of Judea where Jerusalem is located. The Idumeans were Jewish nationalist of a baser sort. Before Jerusalem was surrounded by the Roman army John persuaded the Idumeans to come to his aid under the guise of ridding the city of traitors who would surrender to Rome. The Jews of the city who were not with John in the temple refused the Idumeans entry into the city, but because of a very violent thunder storm in the night the guards were dismissed under the assumption that the Idumeans would not even venture to try anything that night. However, John’s men allowed them entry and a murderous rampage ensued.

What Josephus said about the Idumeans.

“For they (John and his men) knew well enough that these would immediately comply with their desires, as being ever a tumultuous and disorderly nation, always on the watch upon every motion, delighting in mutations; and upon your flattering them ever so little, and petitioning them, they soon take their arms, and put themselves into motion, and make haste to a battle, as if it were to a feast.” (Book 4, Chapter 4.1)

The attack of the Idumeans inside the city.

“The zealots (John’s men who allowed the Idumeans into the city) also joined in the shouts raised by the Idumeans; and the storm itself rendered the cry more terrible; nor did the Idumeans spare any body; for as they are naturally a most barbarous and bloody nation, and had been distressed by the tempest, they made use of their weapons against those that had shut the gates against them, and acted in the same manner as to those that supplicated for their lives, and to those that fought them, insomuch that they ran through those with their swords who desired them to remember the relation there was between them, and begged of them to have regard to their common temple. Now there was at present neither any place for flight, nor any hope of preservation; but as they were driven one upon another in heaps, so were they slain. Thus the greater part were driven together by force, as there was now no place of retirement, and the murderers were upon them; and, having no other way, threw themselves down headlong into the city; whereby, in my opinion, they underwent a more miserable destruction than that which they avoided, because that was a voluntary one. And now the outer temple was all of it overflowed with blood; and that day, as it came on, they saw eight thousand five hundred dead bodies there. But the rage of the Idumeans was not satiated by these slaughters; but they now betook themselves to the city, and plundered every house, and slew every one they met; and for the other multitude, they esteemed it needless to go on with killing them, but they sought for the high priests, and the generality went with the greatest zeal against them; and as soon as they caught them they slew them, and then standing upon their dead bodies, in way of jest...Now after these were slain, the zealots and the multitude of the Idumeans fell upon the people as upon a flock of profane animals, and cut their throats; and for the ordinary sort, they were destroyed in what place soever they caught them. But for the noblemen and the youth, they first caught them and bound them, and shut them up in prison, and put off their slaughter, in hopes that some of them would turn over to their party; but not one of them would comply with their desires, but all of them preferred death before being enrolled among such wicked wretches as acted against their own country.” (Book 4, Chapter 5.1,2&3)

The Idumeans eventually come to their senses, repent and leave the city.

“But by this time the Idumeans repented of their coming, and were displeased at what had been done...After which these Idumeans retired from Jerusalem, and went home; which departure of theirs was a great surprise to both parties; for the people, not knowing of their repentance, pulled up their courage for a while, as eased of so many of their enemies, while the zealots grew more insolent not as deserted by their confederates, but as freed from such men as might hinder their designs, and put some stop to their wickedness. Accordingly, they made no longer any delay, nor took any deliberation in their enormous practices, but made use of the shortest methods for all their executions and what they had once resolved upon, they put in practice sooner than any one could imagine. But their thirst was chiefly after the blood of valiant men, and men of good families; the one sort of which they destroyed out of envy, the other out of fear; for they thought their whole security lay in leaving no potent men alive...” (Book 4, Chapter 5.5&6.1)

Simon the son of Giora

Simon was a man of cunning who controlled Acrabattene province but was driven out by the high priest. He joined himself to thieves who were laying waste to all of Judea and went on to take Idumea. The zealots of John began to fear Simon as a possible adversary and launched raids against him from the city. The people of Jerusalem, however, eventually turned to Simon in their desire to defeat John, and admitted him into the city.

Simon earns the trust of the Judean thieves.

“However, his manner so well agreed with theirs, and he seemed so trusty a man, that he went out with them, and ravaged and destroyed the country with them about Masada; yet when he persuaded them to undertake greater things, he could not prevail with them so to do; for as they were accustomed to dwell in that citadel, they were afraid of going far from that which was their hiding-place; but he affecting to tyrannize, and being fond of greatness, when he had heard of the death of Ananus, he left them, and went into the mountainous part of the country. So he proclaimed liberty to those in slavery, and a reward to those already free, and got together a set of wicked men from all quarters. And as he had now a strong body of men about him, he overran the villages that lay in the mountainous country, and when there were still more and more that came to him, he ventured to go down into the lower parts of the country, and since he was now become formidable to the cities, many of the men of power were corrupted by him; so that his army was no longer composed of slaves and robbers, but a great many of the populace were obedient to him as to their king.” (Book 4, Chapter 9.3&4)

Simon outside the walls of Jerusalem before the arrival of the Romans.

“However, Simon waited for such as ran away from John, and was the more bloody of the two; and he who had escaped the tyrant within the wall was destroyed by the other that lay before the gates, so that all attempts of flying and deserting to the Romans were cut off, as to those that had a mind so to do.” (Book 4, Chapter 9.10)

How Simon gained access to Jerusalem.

“So they (people of Jerusalem) assembled themselves together, and the high priests with them, and took counsel after what manner they should avoid their assault. Now it was God who turned their opinions to the worst advice, and thence they devised such a remedy to get themselves free as was worse than the disease itself. Accordingly, in order to overthrow John, they determined to admit Simon, and earnestly to desire the introduction of a second tyrant into the city...” (Book 4, Chapter 9.11)

Eleazar

Eleazar started out with John but revolted against him and made war against him within the city of Jerusalem as did Simon and the other residents of the city. For a time Eleazar controlled the temple.

“For Eleazar, the son of Simon, who made the first separation of the zealots from the people, and made them retire into the temple, appeared very angry at John's insolent attempts, which he made everyday upon the people; for this man never left off murdering; but the truth was, that he could not bear to submit to a tyrant who set up after him. So he being desirous of gaining the entire power and dominion to himself, revolted from John.... seized upon the inner court of the temple and laid their arms upon the holy gates, and over the holy fronts of that court. And because they had plenty of provisions, they were of good courage, for there was a great abundance of what was consecrated to sacred uses, and they scrupled not the making use of them; yet were they afraid, on account of their small number; and when they had laid up their arms there, they did not stir from the place they were in. Now as to John, what advantage he had above Eleazar in the multitude of his followers, the like disadvantage he had in the situation he was in, since he had his enemies over his head; and as he could not make any assault upon them without some terror, so was his anger too great to let them be at rest; nay, although he suffered more mischief from Eleazar and his party than he could inflict upon them, yet would he not leave off assaulting them, insomuch that there were continual sallies made one against another, as well as darts thrown at one another, and the temple was defiled every where with murders....And now there were three treacherous factions in the city, the one parted from the other. Eleazar and his party, that kept the sacred first-fruits, came against John in their cups. Those that were with John plundered the populace, and went out with zeal against Simon. This Simon had his supply of provisions from the city, in opposition to the seditious. When, therefore, John was assaulted on both sides, he made his men turn about, throwing his darts upon those citizens that came up against him, from the cloisters he had in his possession, while he opposed those that attacked him from the temple by his engines of war. And if at any time he was freed from those that were above him, which happened frequently, from their being drunk and tired, he sallied out with a great number upon Simon and his party; and this he did always in such parts of the city as he could come at, till he set on fire those houses that were full of corn, and of all other provisions. The same thing was done by Simon, when, upon the other's retreat, he attacked the city also; as if they had, on purpose, done it to serve the Romans, by destroying what the city had laid up against the siege, and by thus cutting off the nerves of their own power. Accordingly, it so came to pass, that all the places that were about the temple were burnt down, and were become an intermediate desert space, ready for fighting on both sides of it; and that almost all that corn was burnt, which would have been sufficient for a siege of many years. So they were taken by the means of the famine, which it was impossible they should have been, unless they had thus prepared the way for it by this procedure.” (Book 5, Chapter 1.2&4)

War With Rome Was Secondary to the Wars That Were Raging Inside the City

So now we have the scene set for us. With the city full of murders and seditions and in such disarray that they even destroy their own food supplies, Titus approaches Jerusalem under orders of his father, Vespasian, who had departed for Rome. The number of rebels in the city was significant. Simon alone had 40,000 men before entering the city. However, after the arrival of Titus, Josephus numbered the total of the zealots combined from each faction at less than 40,000. The entire city could hold hundreds of thousands of inhabitants, many of whom fled to the city for refuge and found rebellion and murder instead. With Titus on the outside of the outer walls of Jerusalem the tyrants inside continued to war against each other, only breaking long enough to fight the Romans when occasion arose.

“The citizens themselves were under a terrible consternation and fear; nor had they any opportunity of taking counsel, and of changing their conduct; nor were there any hopes of coming to an agreement with their enemies; nor could such as had a mind flee away; for guards were set at all places, and the heads of the robbers, although they were seditious one against another in other respects, yet did they agree in killing those that were for peace with the Romans, or were suspected of an inclination to desert them, as their common enemies. They agreed in nothing but this, to kill those that were innocent. The noise also of those that were fighting was incessant, both by day and by night; but the lamentations of those that mourned exceeded the other; nor was there ever any occasion for them to leave off their lamentations, because their calamities came perpetually one upon another.” (Book 5, Chapter 1.5)

Although the people tried to escape to the Romans the madmen inside stood watch against any who tried to escape and killed them. Titus was of a mind constantly to allow those who fled to live, but because the tyrants inside used that as an occasion to kill more Romans through deceit, the Romans began killing many indiscriminately. Many of the richer Jews began to swallow gold coins as they escaped, but after it was discovered the soldiers began cutting them open to get the gold. The poor were also killed in this manner in search of gold.

During the course of the siege Titus had every tree around Jerusalem cut down for the construction of embankments and a palisade. Near the end of the siege the Romans were bringing materials in from 90 furlongs away (11.25 miles) for these purposes after stripping the land bare to the ground around the city. As time wore on and the rebels grew faint for a lack of food to steal, Titus used his battering rams to enter the third wall. He then was able to gain the Roman fortress of Antonia, which sits across from the temple, and he used this as a final command post as he prosecuted the war. During this whole time while the reprobates controlled the city and the temple the Daily Sacrifice continued to be offered until just before Titus gaining access to Fort Antonia.

Titus once again tries to reason with John and Simon to spare the city, the temple, the people and even their own lives, but they refuse. As the war intensifies fire is set to several of the cloisters that run between the temple and Fort Antonia. Afterwards the gates of the temple are set on fire. Titus, in an attempt to stop the fire sends his soldiers to extinguish it, but are hindered by the zealots. Contrary to the orders given, one of the soldiers places burning debris into a window of one of the side rooms of the temple, and thus on the exact same day of the month that King Nebuchadnezzar burnt the temple in 587 B.C. this temple is set ablaze. Before the temple was burnt the rebels went about burning portions of the city, both in search of prey and to deny the Romans the privilege. When the temple was set ablaze the Jewish madmen hastened it in order to deny it to the Romans. After the temple was burnt Titus gave orders to burn the rest of the city and to dismantle every building down to the ground except Fort Antonia which housed the soldiers that would remain.

After the temple was burnt, and before the remainder of the city was burnt, and the fate of the city was already evident, the tyrants petitioned Titus to allow them to go into the desert and leave the city to him. After all that had transpired, and seeing that they were already enclosed as doomed prisoners, he denied their request and sent his soldiers to finish the job. As the final war raged on into the final days the reprobates continued to slay any that tried to flee to the Romans.

In the end 1.1 million people were slain within the city and 97,000 were carried captive. Out of those captives many were killed in various ways before crowds as the prey of war, and the others became slaves.

Where is the Abomination of Daniel?

­The abomination is mentioned in Daniel 11:31, 12:11 and 9:27. “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.” To get the complete picture of the abominable one we have to look at Daniel 7,8,9,11 and 12 where he is described with much detail. Some believe that Antiochus IV, who stopped the sacrifice and polluted the temple in 167 B.C., was the abomination, however, although the prophecies fit him in part they are by no means complete in him. The fact that Jesus said that the abomination of Daniel was yet to come should be enough to get past the theories of Antiochus IV completing the prophecies in the past. On the other hand, Revelation 17:8 tells us that “the beast that was, and is not, and yet is,” is being restrained in the bottomless pit until the end when he will be released. It could very well be Antiochus who comes from the pit to complete the prophecies of Daniel.

­The seventy weeks of Daniel do not fit in with the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. There were to many years between the death and resurrection of Jesus and the fall of Jerusalem. Which is exactly how we come up with Daniel’s seventieth week that is yet to be fulfilled.

­Daniel said that the beast who is the abomination, and who will set up the abomination will put a stop to the Daily Sacrifice for 2300 days. These are real days because in Daniel 12 he accounts for 1335 of those days during the Tribulation. So far it has been over 1900 years since the last sacrifice was offered.

­Between Daniel and the New Testament we see that the beast, as the abomination, will enter the temple himself, claim to be God, and then set up another abomination, which is the image of the beast. None of this was accomplished in 70 A.D. All the warnings of these things are to true believers, and were passed prophetically from the Jews to Christians, even by Jesus Himself, and are not just to the Jewish nation. If they were all focused only on the Jews it would still be impossible to link them to 70 A.D..

­If you go back to the four main passages from the Gospels you notice that the first three speak of the buildings which were within sight of the temple and that they would all be destroyed. They were not. The outer walls of the Haram Esh-Sharif, wherein lies the the “Western [Wailing] Wall,” remain to this day in defiance of Jesus prophecy. Why? Because that end times prophecy has not been fulfilled. However, in Luke 19 Jesus was speaking to the destruction of Jerusalem for its current sinfulness and blindness. The fortress of Antonia which we call the Haram esh-Sharif was joined to Jerusalem, but was not a part of the city. It was controlled by the Romans while the Romans kept watch over the city, and the city had absolutely no control over the fortress. It was a non-Jewish Roman enclave and therefore it was not destroyed. It will be destroyed with the final temple.

­Vespasian and Titus his son both showed themselves to be men of some honor and compassion as they guided their affairs, even in war. They are not the beast and false prophet. They would have saved lives and Jerusalem if not for the madmen who took the city captive.

­Eleazar and John both desecrated the temple, shed much blood within it and planned their other evil deeds from within its walls. Yet they did not claim to be God, but did in fact, claim a higher morality as the defenders of God’s temple. Eleazar separated from John because of his contempt towards being submitted to him. He later rejoined John in the temple, but he never elevated John or make an image of him. His final submission was due only to self preservation.

­The battles between Simon, John and Eleazar defy any description of the unity of the beast and the false prophet.

­Revelation 10 paints a picture of the two witnesses on the inside of the temple eventually being slain by the beast on the outside. Nothing about Revelation 10 fits Jerusalem 70 A.D.. John, Simon and Eleazar did not give a testimony from God as the two witnesses. None of them was a witness to God, and there was not a party or resurrection after they died.

­Through Josephus’ record of the fall of Jerusalem we see many proofs that Jerusalem was indeed delivered over to the Romans as a divine judgment. Even Titus and Vespasian made frequent mention of those multiple events where it seemed impossible to dismiss the active presence of divine intervention. As promised in the Old Testament, the Jewish nation brought upon itself its own destruction by their own sins, not the least of which being the delivering up of their Messiah to be crucified, and delivered into the hand of the enemy.

­Luke 19 is the only utterance of the destruction of Jerusalem that can apply to 70 A.D.

A Final Thought

It blows the mind to read about how the Jews disintegrated into such a low estate, and how those who were simply seeking to save their own lives where drawn into the same peril as the rebels. However, it seems to paint a picture of the Middle East Muslim world of the near future where all human sensibilities are lost as millions go on a killing spree for their god. Those around them who serve the same god, while not subscribing to the same level of rage, will find themselves draw in nevertheless.

Two Preterist Mistakes

First let’s read this parable and then we will look at how Preterist misuse it.

Matthew 13

24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:

25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.

26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.

27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?

28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?

29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.

30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

The first thing to acknowledge is that it is a parable. Parables are basically stories that use simple analogies to convey or reinforce a greater truth. The greater truth here is that there is a war between good and evil going on in the world right now but, in the end good is going to defeat evil. Preterist use this parable to say that those who are evil will be removed from the earth before those who are good. The “Blessed Hope” in reverse, if you will. However, if we look closer at the analogy about reaping we will see that it does not say that at all.

Tares are not much of a problem in modern agriculture because of herbicides which are used to control them, but when using primitive methods such as a sickle it is a different story. If you trample down the wheat or loosen the ground around it by pulling out tares, then the wheat is not going to be reaped properly. Therefore, the wheat and the tares are reaped together. Afterwards, the tares are separated out and burned, and the wheat is stored away in the barn.

Not only is it a matter of reaping technique, but time is of the essence when doing it by hand. When it’s time to reap, and you have other crops and other menial duties to perform, you do not sabotage your progress by trampling the crop to the ground where it cannot be reaped.

Again, this is just a parable, and as most people are aware, the reaping of the righteous and unrighteous does not happen simultaneously, but at nearly the same time. Over the broad expanse of eternity a few years of separation can be considered a single point in history.

One other Preterist view that I would like to speak to is that pertaining to the line of scripture recorded below. Notice the underline.

Luke 9

26 For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.

27 But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God.

28 And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray.

29 And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering.

30 And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias:

31 Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.

32 But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him.

There have been many debates about whether Jesus words were fulfilled eight days later in verse 8, after His resurrection, forty or so years later in Jerusalem, or in the future. I'd like to start by saying that verse 26 (His coming in glory) is not connected to verses 28-32 (the mount of transformation) as though speaking of a single event. There were only three hand-picked men present when Jesus was transformed with Moses and Elias. Jesus did not take Peter, John and James with Him to prove whether or not they would be ashamed of Him (verse 26). Furthermore He did not “come in His glory,” but was rather transformed. So Jesus was not speaking of His transformation when He mentioned His coming in glory in verse 26.

But what about verse 27? Here’s the problem with verse 27. Jesus said that some of them would not taste of death until after they saw the kingdom of God. He did not say that they will not taste of death period. He was not talking about them being raptured, because then they would not need to taste of death at all. If the Rapture occurred in 70 A.D. as some believe, then those whom Jesus was speaking of would have been left out and died as the rejects of Christ after the rest of the church was gone. So if the Rapture occurred at 70 A.D. or earlier He would be telling them that they were going to be left behind and die of old age or other causes. If He is speaking of the future Rapture, that one that has not occurred yet, He is still saying the same thing. In other words, there are some of those to whom He was speaking who are still alive but will “taste of death” after the rest of the Church is gone to be with the Lord.

I say nonsense to both of those ideas. Verse 27 ensures a life expectancy for those of whom He speaks up to that point where they see the kingdom of God, but then certain death afterwards. Although the two thoughts follow one another in the recorded statement above (coming in glory, and seeing His kingdom come), Jesus was not tying them together as a single event. He will come in His glory in the future, however, when He said they would see Him come in His kingdom He was speaking of His resurrection and glorification, not His later return in glory. Many were witnesses to His resurrection and glorification, and some wrote it down in the Gospels and epistles. After that they died!

Throughout the Bible Jesus and God both pull together far flung events, and spiritual and natural thoughts into single utterances. If you try to make all of the above passage into a single event you have to do it everywhere. It’s better to just allow the Holy Spirit to open these things to our understanding.

If you know a Preterist feel free to forward this letter or copy it.