Lesson 4 : In detailing the fulfillment of God's prophecies to the Jews, the Bible details the history of the Nation of Israel (And surreptitiously details the history of the church age as well!) Last week we looked what seem to be parallel passages, but which proved to have one significant difference… What was that difference? _____________________________________________________________ The easiest way to figure out how the audience influences the intended message of the passage is to look at what each audience is warned to look for. MATTHEW CHAPTER 24 LUKE CHAPTER 21 7Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom 10Then he said to them: "Nation will rise against kingdom. There will be famines and against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. pestilence and earthquakes in various places. 8All 11There will be great earthquakes, famines and these are the beginning of birth pains… "Then you pestilences in various places, and fearful events will be handed over to be persecuted and put to and great signs from heaven. 12"But before all death, and you will be hated by all nations because this, they will lay hands on you and persecute of me. you. They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings The Great Tribulation and governors, and all on account of my name. 15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of The Destruction of Jerusalem desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let 20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by him understand), 16 “then let those who are in armies, then know that its desolation is near. Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the the housetop not go down to take anything out of mountains, let those who are in the midst of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not her depart, and let not those who are in the go back to get his clothes country enter her. 22 For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. What is Matthew's audience told to watch for? _____________________________________________ When will that happen (and how do we know? )_____________________________________________ What is Luke's audience warned to watch for? ______________________________________________ Lesson 4 Page 1 When does that happen and how do we know? _____________________________________________ Luke recorded Jesus' prophecy regarding the destruction of Jerusalem. That was actually a summary of a lot of other prophecy: Israel's History ( In Advance): Fall of Jerusalem through WWII. DATE Event resulting in destruction Prophetic Verse A Jewish revolt in Caesarea caused a skirmish between local authorities and the Jewish resistance, and the Roman contingent was defeated. Emperor Nero acted 67 AD quickly to enforce Roman rule: 60,000 Roman troops, carrying their standard (the eagle) before them, marched into Israel to squash all Jewish rebellion. 68 AD Roman troops, under the command of General Vespasian's, laid siege to and destroyed 985 villages (as well as the inhabitant's crops) on their way to surround Jerusalem. 69 AD Vespasian reaches Jerusalem and sets up camp atop the Mount of Olives to plan his attack on the walled city. Fate intervenes though, as Nero is deposed (and commits suicide) and rule in Rome is up for grabs. Vespasian, a favorite of the people, is called to Rome to become emperor. In the chaos his troops surrounded Jerusalem for about 18 months awaiting orders. This allowed virtually all of the early church to flee to safety. 70 AD The Roman armies, now under the command of Titus (Vespasian's son) begin the siege of Jerusalem in March. (Pilgrims had been allowed to go into the city for Passover, which swelled the population considerably, but not permitted to come out.) Jewish leaders burned food stores to encourage Jews to fight more ferociously. With food stores gone, the misery of the starving population was intense. Some women killed, cooked, and ate their own children to stay alive. 70 AD Jews in the city attempted to sneak food past the Roman guards while Titus constructed ramps and attempted to take the Antionia Fortress, high ground close to the temple on the northeastern end of the city. The Antonia Fortress was taken at the end of August, the fighting igniting fires that destroyed the temple. The city was completely under Roman control by September 7. 70 AD Despite orders to protect the temple (valued even by Rome), a Roman soldier threw a torch into the storehouse, and the temple burned. Gold stored in the temple melted and ran into the cracks between the stones. The Romans dismantled the temple, stone by stone to recover the gold. 70 AD By the end of the siege, about 1 million Jews had been slaughtered, with about 100,000 taken into captivity 70 AD Fleeing the destruction of Jerusalem, Jews begin to scatter to every corner of the earth 135 The Roman emperor Hadrian, in 135 AD, plowed much of Jerusalem AD under to create the Roman city Aelia Capitolina. A coin struck for the occasion displays the emperor with two oxen and a plow. Remaining Jews are expelled from Israel. Lesson 4 Page 2 135- Exiled, the Jews cover the globe, finding animosity and persecution everywhere they attempt on to settle, e.g. Europe: Jews were expelled from England in 1290, from France in 1396, from Austria in 1491, from Spain in 1492, and from Portugal in 1497. Extermination of the Jews in Europe was begun in the inquisiton in 1500 and continued for 300 years; in the meantime Hungary expelled them in 1744, Russia began in 1881 (continuing for the next century and half); Germany attempted extermination again beginning in 1933. 70 AD The Jewish nation does not exist from 70 AD to 1948. Scattered over the globe, the Jews -on have neither political nor religious systems in place until their return as a nation in 1948. 135 After the end of Roman rule, Israel became a desolate wasteland, a situation which remained 0n unchanged until the return of Jewish rule in 1948. American writer Mark Twain visited Israel in 1867: " the spell of a curse has withered its fields and fettered its energies… Palestine is desolate and unlovely… It is a hopeless, dreary, heartbroken land." 1500- Jews in Spain or Portugal are forced to outwardly practice Catholicism, often by kissing the 1800 crucifix (wood or stone) to avoid being executed 1800- Beginning in the late 1800s, thousands of Jews fleeing persecution in Eastern Europe return on to Israel and buy parcels of land from absentee landlords in cities like Beirut and Damascus. 1917 England adopts the Balfour Declaration which commits England to working towards Jewish return to their land. Two years later the empire reaches its peak, ruling so much of the world (just under 25%) that the sun literally never set on the British Empire. The close of WWI puts England in charge of creating a homeland for the Jews in Israel. England, however, covetous of Arab oil, forbade further immigration and dragged their feet on Israeli sovereignty. The British Empire, on which the sun literally never set in 1919, disintegrated and within just a few decades their holdings had decreased to about 1%. Lesson 4 Page 3 Israel's History ( In Advance): A NATION REBORN. The United Nations, who had controlled Israel since the Thus says the Lord, who stretches out the heavens, lays end of WWI, declared in early 1948 that it would pull the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of out its troops on May 15. On May 14, a committee of man within him: 2 “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup Jewish leaders met (1:30 pm) to finalize a declaration of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when of Jewish statehood. The meeting ended at 3:00 pm, statehood was proclaimed at 4:00 pm. The declaration they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. Zechariah became official when British rule ended at midnight. 12: 1-2 The US recognized Israeli statehood eleven minutes later. All the official steps that created Israeli statehood occurred in less than 24 hours! The new nation of Israel , after 2500 years, reunited the kingdoms of Judah and Israel that had split the kingdom 30 And I will multiply the fruit of your trees and the that David and Solomon ruled. (Both halves were increase of your fields, so that you need never again conquered and enslaved, one by Assyria and one by bear the reproach of famine among the nations. Babylon, and for nearly 2500 years were never again Ezekiel 36:30 united. In 1948, however, in the new nation of Israel, both areas came again under one Jewish ruler.) . I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will Many Israeli cities which had lain in ruins, including bring you to the place from which I cause you to be Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Jericho, and Hebron, carried away captive. Jeremiah 29: 14 are rebuilt and inhabited. Agricultural exports have increased 4000% since the 10 I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, Jews regained control of the land in 1948. Exports of all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited and the ruins agricultural products were virtually zero in the first few rebuilt. Ezekiel 36: 10 years of the new nation's existence, but now brings in $33 billion annually.