[Campbell]
Prophecy, indeed, seems designed to confirm faith as the events occur, as well as to produce faith by contemplating those which have been fulfilled. But we shall find that, beside the predictions uttered by the Savior concerning his own demise, and all the circumstances attendant upon it, he foretold one event of such notoriety and importance as to confirm the faith of one generation and to produce faith in all subsequent generations. This I specify as one of great interest and notoriety. This was the destruction of Jerusalem, the temple, and the dispersion of the nation with all the tremendous adjuncts of this national catastrophe.
Upon one occasion, when the sun was beaming upon the beautiful gate of the temple, which radiated with all conceivable splendor, when that edifice stood in all the glistening beauties of the precious metals, costly stones, and the finest specimens of architecture, the Savior took occasion to tell its fate, and that of the people who frequented it, in [369] such language as precluded the possibility of mistake in the interpretation. No prediction was more minute or more circumstantial than this one, and none could be more literal or direct. Both Matthew and Luke give us this prediction; the former in the 24th, and the latter in the 21st chapter of his testimony. The complete desolation of the temple to the foundation, to the removing of every stone, is foretold. The compassing of the city with armies, the slaughter of the inhabitants, and the captivity of those who escaped, are described. The fortunes of his disciples at this time, with all the terrors of the siege, and all the tremendous prodigies in the heavens and the earth accompanying these desolations, are named. And in the conclusion the audience is assured that all these things should happen before forty years--"before that generation should pass away." Now, this prophecy was written, published and read through Judea, and mentioned in the apostolic epistles for years before it happened; and a general expectation of this event pervaded the whole Christian communities from Jerusalem to Rome, and, indeed, through all the Roman provinces. The allusions to these predictions are frequent in the apostolic writings. It was necessary they should, for this reason; the Jews, as long as they possessed the government of Judea, the temple, and the metropolis; as long as they had any particle of influence at home or abroad, they used it with relentless cruelty against the Christians. The Apostles had to succor the minds of their persecuted brethren, and exhort them to patience and perseverance by reminding them of the speedy dispersion of them among the nations. So that all the Christians throughout the Roman empire looked for this catastrophe; and so it came to pass that such of the Christians as were in Jerusalem and Judea, about the time of the siege of Titus, fled according to the directions given by the Savior; and thus not a believing Jew perished in the siege.
We lose many of the allusions to this event in the epistles, from our irrational modes of explanation, and neglect of the history of those times. Of these allusions the following specimens may suffice: To the church at Rome Paul says: "God will bruise Satan, or the adversary, under your feet soon"--not the Devil, as some ignorantly suppose. Adversary, in English, is Satan in Hebrew. "Get thee behind me, Satan," is a terrible translation of the Savior's address to Peter. The synagogue of Satan was only a synagogue of unbelieving Jews adverse to Christianity. "Brethren in Rome," says Paul, "God will soon put down the adversary of your religion, the Jews, who persecute you. Yes, their power to oppose you will soon be past." This clearly alludes to the expectation founded upon the prediction before us. [370]
Paul more plainly intimates the destruction of the Jewish power in his first letter to the Thessalonians, written eighteen years before the siege: "Brethren in Thessalonica, you have suffered from your Gentile brethren such persecution as the congregations in Judea have suffered from their Jewish brethren, who both killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have greatly persecuted us, and do not please God, and are contrary to all men; hindering us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved; that they are always filling up the measure of their iniquities. But the WRATH OF GOD is coming upon them at length."
Indeed, so frequent were the allusions to this prophecy, both in the public discourses and writings of the apostles, that their enemies began to mock them, and treat them as if they had been imposing upon the credulity of their cotemporaries. Hence, such allusions as these: "Where is the promise of his coming; for, from the times the fathers have fallen asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation?" Thus was Peter upbraided six years before the siege. The old Apostle, however, is not discouraged, being assured that he would make good his promise. "Yes," says he, "they think that we have too long talked of the coming of the Lord to avenge the iniquities of these people. They think that we mock your fears, and they say, 'The Lord long delays his coming to execute his vengeance upon this stubborn people.' But, my brethren, the Lord does not delay in the manner some account delaying; but he exercises long-suffering toward us, that all might be brought to reformation."
In the letter to the Hebrews, written about six or seven years before the siege, Paul speaks to the persecuted Jewish brethren in the same style: "Yet a very little while, and he that is coming will come, and will not tarry." "Persevere, then, brethren, in doing the will of the Lord, that you may obtain the promised reward." James, too, in his letter of the same date, addresses both to the believing and unbelieving Jews on the impending vengeance. The wealthy and infidel Jew he commands to "weep because of the miseries coming upon them;" and for suffering Christians he animates with the hope that "the coming of the Lord is nigh." Thus do all the Apostles speak of this event with the same certainty as if it had actually happened.
I need not detail the awful accomplishment of this prediction. Josephus has done this in awful colors. Tacitus, too, relates some of the circumstances. Every word of the prediction was exactly fulfilled, even to the plowing up of the foundations of the temple. It is remarkable that, on the tenth day of August, the very same day the [371] temple and city were laid waste by the Babylonians, the temple was burned by Titus' army.3
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It is becoming more and more clear to me that we need a preterist bible translation. As mentioned in this article so many words are mistranslated due to a misunderstanding of the biblical times. The fiery judgement predicted by Jesus also means we must take a fresh look at the way in which the word Hell has been mistranslated. Mike
Is this the Campbell of the Campbellites? I am not being sarcastic, I am just currious if this is the CoC Campbell or not.
Yeah, this is that Alexander Campbell, although most whom people call "Campbellites" would consider the term "Campbellite" derogatory. Kenneth P.
