Jackson Snyder presents www.Bible-News.comThe Seeing Generation: Preparation for
The Second Coming Made Plain
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Preview: Eusebius - The Church History Preview: Josephus: The Essential Works
Revelation 13:11. Then I saw another beast which rose out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. 12. It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed.
Revelation 11:1. THEN I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told: “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, 2. but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample over the holy city for forty-two months. 3. And I will grant my two witnesses power to prophesy for one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” 4. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands which stand before the Lord of the earth. 5. And if any one would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes; if any one would harm them, thus he is doomed to be killed. 6. They have power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they desire. 7. And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends from the bottomless pit will make war upon them and conquer them and kill them, 8. and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which is allegorically called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. … 14. The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.
Acts 26:1. AGRIPPA SAID to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense: 2. “I think myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews, 3. because you are especially familiar with all customs and controversies of the Jews; therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently. … 22. To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: 23. that the Messiah must suffer, and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to the people and to the Gentiles.” 24. And as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are mad; your great learning is turning you mad.” 25. But Paul said, “I am not mad, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking the sober truth. 26. For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak freely; for I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this was not done in a corner. 27. “King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” 28. And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time you think to make me a Christian!” 29. And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am -- except for these chains.” 30. Then the king rose, and the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them; 31. and when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, “This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.” 32. And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”
Luke 21:16. You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and kinsmen and friends, and some of you they will put to death; 17. you will be hated by all for my name's sake. 18. But not a hair of your head will perish. 19. By your endurance you will gain your lives. 20. But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. 21. 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; 22. for these are days of vengeance, to fulfil all that is written.
The Story of Augustus
Next day! Now look, a picture shows how
lank and lean Augustus grows!
Look at him, the fourth day’s come! He
scarce weighs a sugar-plum; Revelation 11 John’s told to measure the Temple in Jerusalem: To measure the temple is to decide whether the religious institution itself measures up to the standards that the Almighty has set. The implication is that Judaism didn’t measure up – especially after Yahweh sent messengers to again proclaim true worship. Yet Jews of the temple cult mortally persecuted true worshippers and had two witnesses, Jesus and James, assassinated. The Revelator tells us that when the testimony of the two witnesses is complete, the Beast will make war, and Yahweh will allow great woes to befall the city because the government wouldn’t heed Yahweh’s holy ones. Today, we’ll see the woe of Jerusalem, and the provision Yahweh made to rescue his own.
Review In the last two installments, we’ve been talking about “the Beasts” of Revelation 13 & 17 – that there’re two: the first is a seven-headed beast with an eighth head (Revelation 17:11). This Beast arises out of the sea and represents the Roman Empire of John’s time. The Beast’s heads are emperors; one (Vespasian) was reigning when John wrote: so we know the vision was written down and circulated between AD 69 and 79. Then we discovered the second beast, a two-horned monster that arises on the land of Israel with the great might of the first Beast. This second beast of Revelation 13:11 represents the Roman armies; its “two horns” are generals: the aforementioned Vespasian (before his reign as emperor) and his son, Titus. We heard from the Acts of the Apostles that many thousands of Jews in Jerusalem had come to believe in Jesus, and how a glorious revival broke out on account of the preaching of the Apostles, and especially James the Just, Jesus’ brother. James had been their leader since Jesus’ ascension (Acts 15). We listened to the testimony of Hegesippus (d. 189) who wrote of James’ holiness, entrapment and assassination by the high priest Ananus, who, with the Sadducees and Pharisees, threw James from the parapet of the Temple. We attended to the eyewitness account of Josephus (b. 37) – how James’ murder set off a rebellion in the land – Jews verses Romans (i.e. Greeks) – to which the evil Nero sent his armies to put down. General Vespasian swept toward Jerusalem from the north while Titus came in from the south. Soon after sending the troops into Israel, the Roman Empire (i.e. the first Beast) suffered a fatal wound when Nero committed suicide. Though Nero died, the Beast was healed (in a manner of speaking) when General Vespasian returned to Rome to rule in his stead, leaving Titus to finish off Jerusalem with the Tenth Legion, symbolized as “ten crowned horns” (Revelation 17:7). Finally, while besieging Jerusalem, we learned that General Titus had close associations with three persons who were favorable to the Faith: first, Bernice, his mistress, the sister of King Herod Agrippa II (29 – 90), one of the last descendants of the royal Jewish family of the Maccabees. (He has relatives today!) Bernice is mentioned in Acts 25 and 26, and was present during Paul’s trial before Governor Festus. It was Bernice’s brother Agrippa who said to Paul, “A little more, and your arguments would make a Christian of me” (Acts 25:28 NJB). Bernice and Titus were genuinely in love. The third of Titus’ confidantes was the historian Josephus, who started his career as an Essene, and ended it writing very favorably about John the Baptist, James and Jesus, confirming Jesus as “The Messiah.” So it’s here that we take up the story of the siege of Jerusalem, remembering that Yahweh always has his people in the right place at the right time. For his placing of King Agrippa, Bernice and Josephus around General Titus was to have a profound effect upon “Christians” trapped within the doomed city, for Jerusalem was surrounded by armies, and desperate men within meant to keep it!
Josephus’ Testimony as to the Destruction of Jerusalem Now we begin with Josephus’ testimony of the final siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD and the three woes, spoken of by the Revelator. Josephus was right there, and these words are his – remember that Josephus was a dedicated Jew (which I excerpt and paraphrase some) (read it fast):
Now, as Titus was on his march he chose out 600 select horsemen, and
went to take a view of the city, when suddenly an immense multitude
[of Jews] burst forth from the gate … and intercepted him and a few
others. [Titus] had on neither helmet nor breastplate, yet though many
darts were hurled at him, all missed him, as if by some purpose of
Providence and, charging through the midst of his foes, he escaped unhurt.
Part of the [Roman] army now advanced to Scopos, within a mile of the
city, while another occupied a station at the foot of the Mount of Olives.
Titus … ordered the second wall to be attacked, and for five days the
conflict raged more fiercely than ever. The Jews were entirely reckless
of their own lives, sacrificing themselves readily if they could kill
their foes. On the fifth day they retreated from the second wall, and
Titus entered that part of the … city … with 1,000 picked men.
On the tenth of August, the same day … on which Nebuchadnezzar
destroyed the Temple built by Solomon, the cry was heard that the Temple
was on fire. The Jews, with cries of grief and rage, grasped their swords
and rushed to take revenge on their enemies or perish in the ruins. And now the Romans were not disposed to display any mercy, night alone putting an end to the carnage. During the whole of this siege of Jerusalem, 1,100,000 were slain, and the prisoners numbered 97,000. (Read about The fall of the Temple in Jerusalem: Flavius Josephus in Outline of Great Books Volume I.) This account has such a biblical ring that we can envision the Revelation coming alive in Josephus’ account. Revelation 9:14. “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15. So the four angels were released, who had been held ready for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, to kill a third of man. 16. The number of the troops of cavalry was twice ten thousand times ten thousand…. 17. And … I saw the horses in my vision: the riders wore breastplates … of fire and … sulphur, and the heads of the horses were like lions’ heads, and fire and smoke and sulphur issued from their mouths. 18. By these three plagues a third of man was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulphur….
As for the Temple In the aftermath: … The Romans laid [the city] bare. Bodies … were stacked like cords of firewood…. Everyone fell by the sword or fire. General Titus commanded his legions not to destroy or burn the Temple. But they disobeyed and set it ablaze. Hundreds of Levites ran into the burning temple rather than become Roman casualties. It was so hot in there that the millions of pounds of silver and gold melted – the precious metal liquefied and ran like water out of the cracks in the stone. Soldiers pried these massive stones apart for the boiling loot. When the [Romans were] finished, the Temple, its money and all inside were totally annihilated…. An eyewitness tells the incredible story about one of the [Levitical priests]. When the smoke had risen in thick columns and flames leaped through the roof of the grand structure, one of the priests climbed to the top of the highest Temple tower with the key to the holy place in his hand. Atop the pinnacle of the Temple, in smoke and flames, he held the key high and cried, “LORD! If you no longer judge us worthy to run Your house, take the key back!” … A giant hand descended out of the clouds of smoke and took away the key as the priest succumbed to the flames (Josephus). (Quoted from J. Snyder, “Out of the Napkin.”)
And What of the Believers? As we recount the casualties of Jerusalem, and that the Jews killed any of their own who would be peacemakers, we wonder what became of the “Christians” therein, since they were pacifists. Had it not been for a spiritual gift and a miracle, the movement might’ve been wiped out by zealous Jews or burned out by avenging Romans. Forty years before, Jesus prophesied, “Do you see these buildings? There’ll not be one stone left upon another that’ll not be thrown down” (Mark 13:1,2). “The days will come when your enemies will cast a bank about you and hem you in on every side” (Luke 19:43). “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its destruction is near” (Luke 21:20). “Flee into the mountains: Whoever’s on the housetop – don’t come down to take any thing out of his house: Whoever is in the field – don’t return to take his clothes” (Matthew 24:15-18). Jesus was prophesying what would be happening in Jerusalem exactly one biblical generation later, when Jerusalem was surrounded by Roman legions. And the disciples in Jerusalem with James certainly preached this prophetic word as good news, so that those with faith would know what to watch for so when saw, they could be saved.
The Testimony of Eusebius The early church historian Eusebius tells us that this debacle came upon Jerusalem because it’s rulers killed the Son of Man, Stephen after him, James of Zebedee after him, James the Just after him. Eusebius concludes his account of the “Last Siege of the Jews“ in these words, referring to the Josephus’ story previously quoted. Eusebius writes, [Josephus] records that the multitude … to the number of three million souls were shut up in Jerusalem “as in a prison” …. For it was right that … as they had inflicted suffering upon … the Messiah of God … shut up “as in a prison,” they should meet with destruction at the hands of divine justice. But passing by the … calamities they suffered …, I think it necessary [that] … those who read this work may have some way of knowing that God was not long in executing vengeance upon them for their wickedness against [his] Anointed Ones. {end quote} But I’d like you to know that these “Anointed Ones” weren’t in the city when the hammer fell. For soon before the end, Titus declared an amnesty (Josephus; Jewish Wars, Book V, XII, 4.). The peaceful could leave out of the doomed walls before ultimate destruction. Eusebius reports that: The people of the assembly in Jerusalem had been commanded by a revelation … to leave the city [for] … a town of Perea called Pella. And when [believers] came out of Jerusalem [it was] as if the … city … and the whole land … were entirely destitute of holy men. [It was then that] the judgment of God … overtook those who had committed outrages against Messiah and his apostles, and totally destroyed that generation of impious men. So, as it’s written in Revelation 11, not only were the faithful witnesses spirited away in the nick of time because they were watching and waiting, but those who persecuted them were themselves annihilated, even down to the last man.
The Testimony of Epiphanius The bishop of Cyprus, Epiphanius, who ministered during the early fourth century, weighs in on this “great escape.” He writes:
When the city was about to be … sacked by the Romans, all the disciples
were warned beforehand by an angel to remove from the city, doomed
as it was to utter destruction. On migrating from it they settled at Pella
… across the Jordan (de Mens. et Pond., 15). Of course, Epiphanius is referring to Jesus prophecy that we quoted earlier – that when the time came, and it would come, they must be ready to run.
Titus, an Amnesty?
As to the amnesty itself – Titus was a cruel and evil beast unlikely to
offer a reprieve for anyone. After
I believe that Titus showed mercy on account of Bernice, the princess of Judah, who’d heard Paul preach, who’d loved Titus; and on account of King Herod Agrippa, who was a very devout man, who listened intently to the preaching of Paul; and on account of Josephus, who was so admired by Titus as to have been honored as a Flavian, who’d publicly witness to Jesus’ Messiahship. ¿And who placed Bernice, Agrippa and Josephus in Titus’ inner circle? I believe the same angel who brought the warning to believers, that is, the Holy Spirit, put these men and this woman in place. Furthermore, it was no accident that St. Paul, who had probably died years before the siege, did nevertheless take a major role in preserving the Jerusalem Christians. For didn’t Paul preach to Bernice and Agrippa, “King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets?” And didn’t Paul then answer his own question, “I know that thou believest”? And didn’t Agrippa reply, “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian” (Acts 26:27-29). Undoubtedly, Agrippa, Bernice and even Josephus had been persuaded by 70 AD; and perhaps they had persuaded one very important other, one who was the seventh head of “the Beast.” Had Titus become a secret Christian? (Not likely when you consider his work for paganism.)
The Reign of Titus In a final note, we consider the reign of Titus as emperor. The Revelator prophesied that he would only reign a little while: and that he did – 2 years, 2 months, 20 days – before he died of malaria exacerbated by his brother’s treatment in the snow box. (We turn our attention to the brother next time.) It was nine years after the Siege of Jerusalem that his father Vespasian died and Titus became emperor. During those years, Titus commanded the Praetorian Guard, German mercenaries who were to protect the emperor. Titus was known for wise cruelty – protecting his father’s reign and his future succession to power by any means. The notables of Rome were fearful of the day that Titus would ascend; they expected the reincarnation of the bloodthirsty Nero. But when Titus finally came to power, he ruled in the very opposite manner. My final quote is from the modern historian Chris Scarre about Titus, the seventh head. Scarre writes:
[Titus] gained one of the best reputations of any Roman emperor. His
goodness became legendary. A famous story told how on one occasion, ‘[he]
remembered at dinner that he had done nothing for anybody all that day,
[and] gave utterance to the memorable … remark,’ “Friends, I have lost a
day.”‘ This, and many other acts of charity, were recorded to his credit. If I can further speculate in regards to his associations of ten years before, might the evil Titus (as he was called), have succumbed to the same power that Paul introduced to King Agrippa? Flavius Titus, “Believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest.” And now that you know the story of the Seventh Head, let me ask you, “Friend, do you now believe the prophets?” I KNOW … that thou believest. And if the words of the prophets saved believers from the flames of Jerusalem then, they can save YOU now. Take heed! Watch the world in expectation; for the return of Messiah is sure. Do all to make your salvation sure. |
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Jackson Snyder (801) 605-1715 Vero Beach, FL |
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all,
Titus is both the seventh head of THE SEA BEAST and the horn
of THE LAND BEAST. He’s the BEAST that wears the ten crowned horns
upon his head, for the tenth legion (represented by the horns) belonged to
him. ¿What influenced this man, known to have little or no mercy; a man
with a cruel and perverted past, whose victory over Israel would usher him
into the imperial palace – ¿what would nurture mercy in him? – mercy such
as to allow the Order of Melchizedek and the Christians go forth while the
other sects of the Jews left behind in the holocaust of the city?