The Destruction of Jerusalem: The Whole Being Intended to Illustrate the Fulfillment of the Predictions of Moses and the Messiah (1840)

"FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS was born at Jerusalem thirty-seven years after CHRIST. He was of the order of the priesthood, and was an ornament of the sect of the Pharisees, to which he belonged. After the revolt of the Jews from the Romans, he was appointed a principal general of the Jewish army, and conducted the defense of Galilee with remarkable skill and courage. Being ultimately besieged in the fortified town of Jotapata, and having for a long time defended it, he was ultimately captured with the place by Vespasian, the Roman general. He was treated with kindness and respect, and continued in the Roman army until the close of the war, acting as interpreter between the Romans and Jews. After this, he went with Titus, the son and successor of Vespasian, to Rome, and wrote the history of the war. Haying been an eye witness of the scenes which he describes, he has given a most authentic account of the miseries as well as of the unparalleled crimes of his nation. Though a Jew, and by no means intending to favor Christianity, and though he suppresses most of what related to its Author, yet his history of facts shows the fulfilment of the predictions of Jesus of Nazareth, as well as those of Moses, to the very letter.

In the following pages some of the principal prophecies are selected from Moses and Jesus Christ, and placed at the head of each chapter, that the reader may more readily perceive their literal and precise accomplishment. In the Introduction a descriptive sketch of Palestine, together with a brief view of the previous history of Jerusalem, is given. At the conclusion of the abridgment, a few remarks are added, as well as an epitome of the modern history of Jerusalem. The work is intended chiefly for sabbath schools, but will be found suitable to persons of any age, should they choose to give it a perusal." (Preface)

PASSAGES LISTED AS FULFILLED IN THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM

"But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near. Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are in the midst of the city must leave, and those who are in the country must not enter the city; because these are days of vengeance, so that all things which are written will be fulfilled.” —Jesus Christ, Luke 21:20-22; NASU

“But it shall come about, if you do not obey the LORD your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: . . . The LORD will send upon you curses, confusion, and rebuke, in all you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken Me.” — Predictions of Moses, Deut. 28:15, 20; NASV)

"But it shall come about, if you do not obey the LORD your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: . . . Your carcasses will be food to all birds of the sky and to the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away. The LORD will smite you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors and with the scab and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed. The LORD will smite you with madness and with blindness and with bewilderment of heart; and you will grope at noon, as the blind man gropes in darkness, and you will not prosper in your ways; but you shall only be oppressed and robbed continually, with none to save you.” — The Predictions of Moses, Duet. 28:15, 26-29; NASU

"The LORD will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as the eagle swoops down, a nation whose language you shall not understand, a nation of fierce countenance who will have no respect for the old, nor show favor to the young. Moreover, it shall eat the offspring of your herd and the produce of your ground until you are destroyed, who also leaves you no grain, new wine, or oil, nor the increase of your herd or the young of your flock until they have caused you to perish. It shall besiege you in all your towns until your high and fortified walls in which you trusted come down throughout your land, and it shall besiege you in all your towns throughout your land which the LORD your God has given you. — Predictions of Moses, Deut. 28:49-52; NASU

"For I know that after my death you will act corruptly and turn from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days, for you will do that which is evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger with the work of your hands." — Predictions of Moses, Deut. 31:29; NASU

“The days shall come that thine enemies shalt cast a trench about thee, (will enclose thee with a rampart, – Campbell’s translation) and compass thee around, and keep thee in on every side.” Prediction of Messiah, Luke 19:43.

"The man who is refined and very delicate among you shall be hostile toward his brother and toward the wife he cherishes and toward the rest of his children who remain, so that he will not give even one of them any of the flesh of his children which he will eat, since he has nothing else left, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will oppress you in all your towns. The refined and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and refinement, shall be hostile toward the husband she cherishes and toward her son and daughter, and toward her afterbirth which issues from between her legs and toward her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of anything else, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will oppress you in your towns.” — Deuteronomy 28:54-57

“. . . and there will be great earthquakes, and in various places plagues and famines; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.” — Predictions of Jesus; Luke 21:11

“Then you shall be left few in number, whereas you were as numerous as the stars of heaven, because you did not obey the LORD your God. It shall come about that as the LORD delighted over you to prosper you, and multiply you, so the LORD will delight over you to make you perish and destroy you; and you will be torn from the land where you are entering to possess it. Moreover, the LORD will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth; and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone, which you or your fathers have not known. Among those nations you shall find no rest, and there will be no resting place for the sole of your foot; but there the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and despair of soul. So your life shall hang in doubt before you; and you will be in dread night and day, and shall have no assurance of your life. In the morning you shall say, 'Would that it were evening!' And at evening you shall say, 'Would that it were morning!' because of the dread of your heart which you dread, and for the sight of your eyes which you will see. The LORD will bring you back to Egypt in ships, by the way about which I spoke to you, 'You will never see it again!' And there you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but there will be no buyer.” — The Predictions of Moses, Deuteronomy 28:62-68

“. . . and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” Luke 21:24