Christian
Churches of God
No. 298
War with Rome and the Fall of the Temple
(Edition 1.0 20060902-20060902)
The prophet Daniel was given a vision of the Seventy Weeks of Years. The events of the last week of years were a disaster for Judah and the Edomites. The prophecy can only be understood in relation to the Temple. Christians have generally mistranslated Daniel 9:25-27 for their own ends. The war with Rome and the behaviour of Judah over this time resulted in the dispersion of Judah until the time of the end.
Christian
Churches of God
E-mail: secretary@ccg.org
(Copyright © 2006 Wade Cox)
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War with Rome and the Fall of the Temple
The prophet Daniel deals with the Seventy Weeks of Years that cover the period from the command to build the Temple at Jerusalem to its destruction in 70 CE. The history is covered in the paper The Sign of Jonah and the History of the Reconstruction of the Temple (No. 13).
Daniel 9:25-27 Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. 26: And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off, and shall have nothing; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war; desolations are decreed. 27: And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week; and for half of the week he shall cause sacrifice and offering to cease; and upon the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator." (RSV)
We know that the first anointed one was Nehemiah, governor of Judah, who
constructed the walls and furbished the Temple with Ezra the scribe. That was
in the reign of Artaxerxes II. Ezra died in 323 BCE, the same year as Alexander
the Great, and the canon was compiled and closed by 321.
The end of the next sixty-two weeks of years saw another anointed one cut off and that was James, Bishop of Jerusalem and the brother of Jesus Christ. After the martyrdom of James in Jerusalem, the Church was placed in the charge of Simon (Simon Jose) the cousin of Jesus Christ and son of Mary and Clophas. Mary was the sister of Maryam (Mariam), the mother of Christ. Clophas became bishop of Jerusalem seemingly between the reign of James the brother of Christ (d ca 64 CE) and the assumption of Simon, son of Clophas and cousin of Christ (see Hippolytus Appendix to Origin of the Christian Church in Britain (No. 266)).
Simon took charge of the Church (after the death of Clophas) and they fled to Pella, being warned by the text of the prophet Daniel. The Church was in dire straits and was generally supported from the churches in Asia Minor.
The text in Daniel says that the prince who is to come shall make a strong covenant with many for the one week; and for half of the week he shall cause sacrifice and offering to cease. He goes on to say that upon the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator. The last sentence covers a great deal of time and is not related to the Seventy Weeks of Years, but rather until the system referred to is destroyed.
The week of years referred to is from 62 to 69 CE and the final year is 70 CE.
The culmination was at the end of the 490 years or Seventy Weeks of Years. Before the Passover in 70 CE, reportedly on 1 Abib, the Roman Army surrounded Jerusalem. This was the New Year. It was also at the exact end of the "Forty Years for Repentance" given to Judah from the Passover of 30 CE.
The last week of years was the seven years leading up to this day. In
that time the Church fled to Pella at the beginning of the week, after the
death of James (and probably that of Clophas). In the
middle of that week (or sabbatical period), a whole series of problems occurred
for Judea. The two factions of the Jews seized the City of David and the Temple
Mount, and began to wage war on each other from those strongholds. Josephus
records the disasters. He says the Romans did no worse to them than they did to
themselves.
Emile Schürer (History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ,
Vols. 1–3, T &T Clark, Rev. ed. 1987) gives a detailed history and this
paper is based on the accounts of Schürer and Josephus.
The procurator of Judea at the time was Gessius Florus (64-66 CE). He was the most base of the Roman procurators, and Josephus is at a loss for words to describe the baseness of his administration. Albinus was classed a “righteous man” compared to him. Albinus had conducted his infamous deeds in secret but Florus paraded them in public, and not content with the robbery of individuals, “he plundered whole cities and ruined whole communities. As long as the bandits were content to share the spoil with him they could carry on without hindrance” (Schürer, Vol. 1, p. 470, quoting Josephus, Wars of the Jews (B. J.). ii. 14, 2; and Antiq, xx 11, 1). Schürer considers the situation was beyond endurance and it only needed one spark and the explosion that followed was with elemental force.
Florus had until then contented himself with robbing the people, but in the middle of the week of years Florus robbed the Temple treasury in Jerusalem of seventeen talents. This provoked an uproar. Some wits got the idea of passing around baskets for donations to poor Florus, and Florus decided to punish them for their mockery. A great number of citizens, including Roman knights of Jewish birth, were seized at random, scourged and crucified. Queen Berenice happened to be in Jerusalem at the time and even she could not stop the procurator and his soldiers. This act took place on 16 Artemesius, or Iyyar of 66 CE.
This date is of significance to any Bible student. 16 Iyyar (or Iyar) is the 16th day of the Second month and is the day after which the Second Passover has been taken, and the last opportunity for repentance and Passover protection in that year. The Passover is taken from the Lord’s Supper on 14 Abib – or Iyyar for the Second Passover – out of one’s gates until the morning of the 15th, when after the night of the Passover on 15 Iyyar, the faithful repentant are allowed to return to their tents for the remainder of the Holy Day and Feast of Unleavened Bread. The 16th then commences at evening that day (Deut. 16:5-7). God allowed this period of the Second Passover for repentance and then unleashed the dogs of war.
On the following day, Florus ordered the citizens to
greet two cohorts of troops on their way back from Caesarea. The troops were
greeted, but they ignored the citizens on Florus’ orders. The citizens began to
shout abuse at Florus whereon the soldiers began to massacre the citizens. They
got back inside the city but a fierce street battle then ensued, and many were
massacred. The people succeeded in gaining the Temple Mount and cut the connection
to the Antonia fortress. Florus withdrew to Caesarea leaving a cohort in
Jerusalem and left the city leaders responsible for order.
Agrippa II was raised and educated in Rome. Claudius granted him the kingdom of his uncle Herod of Chalcis in the Lebanon ca 50 CE, and the same charge of appointing the Temple High Priests as his uncle had enjoyed. He probably stayed in Rome and did not go to Lebanon until after 52 CE, according to Schürer (ibid. p. 472). In 53 CE, in return for surrendering the small kingdom of Chalcis, he was granted the much larger realm of the tetrarchy of Philip consisting of Batanea, Trachonitis, and Gaulanitis, the tetrarchy of Lysanius (Abila) as well as the territory of Varus. After the death of Claudius (d. 54), Nero enlarged this territory still further by adding to it, important parts of Galilee and Peraea, namely the cities of Tiberias and Tarichea with their surrounding districts, and the city of Julius with its fourteen neighbouring villages (ibid. pp. 472-3).
At the time of the rebellion, Agrippa was in Alexandria and hurried back to Jerusalem. His sister, with whom he lived after the death of her husband (his uncle of Chalcis), was a bigoted and dissolute woman and mother of two. She married King Polemon of Cilicia, requiring him to submit to circumcision, but she soon returned to her brother. She was in Jerusalem at the time of the rebellion, as the result of a Nazirite vow of all things (cf. Schürer, ibid. pp. 474-5).
Agrippa and Berenice were curious to see and hear Paul (Acts 25:22 ff). His comment at Acts 26:28 indicates to Schürer that he was free from fanaticism and any real involvement in religious questions. The significance was that James was killed in Jerusalem and was a witness to the Kingdom. We have it recorded that Agrippa heard Paul in person. James was killed ca 62 CE at the end of the 69 weeks of years. Paul was beheaded in Rome in 66 CE. Thus, after the martyrdom of two of God’s witnesses, both in Jerusalem and in Rome, God then dealt with the system.
Agrippa had gone to Egypt to pay respects to the Prefect of Egypt, Tiberius Iulius Alexander. Agrippa returned quickly and he and his sister did all they could to avert the revolt. They sided with the peace party and from then on they were unswervingly on the Roman side, and lost a number of cities as a result. He and his troops were in the train of Cestius Gallus on the ill-fated expedition against Jerusalem. He was able to recover his territory by 67 CE after the Romans had recovered all of northern Palestine.
Nero died on 9 June 68 CE. (We know that both Paul, and later Peter were martyred in Nero’s reign). Titus and Agrippa then went to pay homage to the new Emperor Galba, but on the way they received news of Galba’s murder on 15 January 69 CE.
Titus returned to his father Vespasian, and Agrippa went on to Rome. After the election of Vespasian as emperor by the Egyptian and Syrian Legions in July 69 CE he returned to pay homage at the behest of Berenice, who was a strong supporter of the Flavian party. From then on Agrippa was in the continual company of Titus to whom Vespasian had entrusted the conduct of the war. After the fall of Jerusalem, Titus sponsored magnificent games at Agrippa’s capital, Caesarea Philippi. Agrippa’s capital was the centre of Roman rejoicing at the downfall of the Jewish people.
After the war, his lands were extended, and Josephus notes that Arcea in Northern Lebanon, which is north east of Tripolis, was in the kingdom of Agrippa (B. J. vii, 5, 1, see fn. 37 to Schürer, Vol. 1, p. 478). Josephus did not mention them in Wars (B.J. iii, 3, 5), presumably because they had not as yet been awarded to him, and Schürer holds this view (ibid., p. 478).
After the war, in 75 CE, Agrippa and Berenice arrived in Rome and there Berenice resumed the affair she had started with Titus in Palestine. The Jewish Queen lived with Titus on the Palatine while Agrippa was favoured with the rank of praetor. It was expected they would be married, but reaction in Rome was so strong that Titus was forced to send her away.
The Jubilee was in 77 CE. The destruction was completed in Jerusalem in 70 CE and the Romans had consolidated all power by the Seventh Sabbath in 76 CE, before the Jubilee in 77 CE.
After the death of Vespasian, Berenice returned to Rome on 23 June 79 CE, but Titus, as emperor, ignored her. Schürer thinks she returned to Palestine but little is known of her after that time.
Agrippa’s reign of his extended dominion lasted until 85 or 86 CE, when he was deprived of the Jewish colonies. Josephus notes, when he wrote Antiquities (xvii, 2, 2 (28)), that they were no longer part of his dominion. He seems to have reigned at least until the reign of Domitian. Schürer considers he died ca 92/93 CE and that Photius is unreliable in his date of 100 CE (op. cit. p. 481). With no children, his kingdom was incorporated into the province of Syria on his death.
The War with Rome lasted from 66 CE to about 74 CE, but the prophecies are concerned with the destruction of the Temple and the removal of the physical system, which ended in 70 CE.
The Conduct of the War
Agrippa had also made frequent use of the right to appoint the High Priests, and deposed and appointed High Priests until the outbreak of the rebellion in 66 CE.
On his return from Alexandria for the rebellion in 66 CE, Agrippa assembled the people in the Xystus, which was an open square in front of the Palace of the Hasmonaeans where he lived. He tried to get the people to restore order and submit to the hated Florus, but that was the last straw. The people rejected him with scorn and contempt and he returned to his kingdom.
The rebels also then occupied the Masada, the famous fortress adjacent to the Salt Sea in the south (now the Dead Sea).
The climate of rebellion was intense.
At the instigation of Eleazar the son of Ananias the High Priest, the daily sacrifice to the emperor was suspended and no more sacrifices from Gentiles were accepted. This was a reversal of the prayer made to God at the inauguration of the Temple by Solomon, and in effect, was a breach of the covenant undertaking between Israel and God regarding the Gentiles. This aspect is covered in the paper Rule of the Kings: Part III: Solomon and the Key of David (No. 282C) and was to have far- reaching consequences.
The suspension of the sacrifice to the emperor was tantamount to an open declaration of rebellion against Rome. All the persuasion of the leaders, chief priests and Pharisees failed.
The peace party, which consisted of the Chief Priests, Pharisaic notables and
the Hasmonaeans, i.e. those related to the Herodian House, saw they had failed.
They resorted to force and appealed to King Agrippa for support. He sent a
detachment of 3,000 cavalry under Darius and Philippus,
and with their aid they gained control of the Upper City while the Rebels
retained control of the Temple Mount and the Lower City. However, the king’s
forces were forced to evacuate the Upper City, and in vengeance the rebels set
fire to the palaces of Ananias the High Priest, and of Agrippa and Berenice. A
few days later in Lous or Ab, i.e. July/August, the rebels captured the Antonia
fortress and began to lay siege to the upper palace of Herod where the troops
of the peace party had taken refuge.
Resistance was impossible and the forces of Agrippa were given safe conduct. The Roman cohorts escaped to the three fortified towers of Herod’s Palace (Hippicus, Phasael and Mariamne). The rest of the palace was set ablaze on 6 Gorpiaeus (Elul). On the following day, the High Priest Ananias was seized in his hiding place and murdered. The Roman cohort in the three towers was forced to yield. The troops were promised safe conduct. However, when they laid down their arms, they were butchered to the last man (Schürer, pp. 486-487).
Jerusalem was thus victorious. In the other cities of Judea and Galilee bloody battles took place. Where the Jews prevailed they slaughtered the Gentiles, and where the Gentiles prevailed they slaughtered the Jews. Josephus says the effects of the revolt in Palestine extended as far as Alexandria (B.J. ii, 18, 1-8 (457-98); see also Schürer, p. 487).
After a long delay
reportedly in preparation, Cestius Gallus, governor of Syria, moved in to Judea
to put down the revolt.
The force consisted
of the 12th Legion and two thousand picked men of other legions, six
cohorts and four alae of cavalry together with a
large number of auxiliaries supplied under obligation by friendly kings,
including Agrippa.
Gallus’ force moved
from Alexandria by way of Ptolemais, Caesarea, Antipatris, and Lydda. They
arrived at Lydda at the Feast of Tabernacles in Tishri. They marched from there
to Jerusalem via Beth Horon, and arrived at Gibeon, fifty stadia from Jerusalem
(ibid.).
The Jews attacked the
camp at Beth Horon and the Romans were in great danger but eventually repulsed
the Jews.
Gallus then moved
closer to Jerusalem and camped on Mt. Scopus, some seven stadia from Jerusalem,
on 26 Tishri. Four days later, on 30 Tishri (Hyperberetaeus), he occupied the
northerly suburb of Bezetha without resistance, and set it on fire.
He then attacked the
Temple Mount but failed and so he withdrew. Josephus cannot explain why he did
so. He was probably under-equipped and under-manned for the siege.
He retreated, and in
a gorge near Beth Horon, the Jews surrounded him completely and attacked him so
vehemently they routed the force. In order to escape with the nucleus of his force
to Antioch, he was forced to leave his war equipment behind to be later used by
the Jews.
The victors returned
to Jerusalem on 8 Dius, or Marcheshvan.
The peace party now
capitulated entirely and joined the rebels. The methodical preparation began
for the inevitable Roman counter-attack. The popular assembly in the Temple
elected Joseph ben Gorion and the High Priest Ananus to command the defence of Jerusalem.
Jesus ben Sapphias and Eleazar ben Ananias (both of High Priestly
lineage) were sent to Idumea to command its defence. Almost every one of the
eleven toparchies, or areas into which Judaea was divided, received its own
commander. Josephus ben Matthias, the future historian, was appointed to
command Galilee.
This was a difficult
command, as the Roman attack would undoubtedly arrive there first with the full
brunt of the Roman army against ill-trained citizens. The command reflected the
prominent position of Josephus in the aristocratic society of Judea. Although
not trained for it, he set about the task with enthusiasm.
He appointed the
government in Galilee along the pattern of the Sanhedrin, with a council of
seventy to deal with serious legal matters and capital cases.
A council of seven
was appointed in every town for lesser disputes.
He was to destroy the
Palace of Tiberias, but the rebels had already
achieved that task. He fortified all the major towns of Galilee making them
more or less defensible. The towns were Jotapata, Tarichea, Tiberias,
Sepphoris, Gischala, Mt. Tabor, and Gamala in Gaulanitis and many smaller
places. He called up 100,000 men and trained them on the Roman model.
Josephus’ steady and
solid preparation for the war was opposed by John of Gischala, a vehement
anti-Roman, in Galilee.
Josephus was not
fully committed to total opposition, and in Tarichea, where Josephus was
quartered there was a serious riot after Josephus was discovered to have
reclaimed booty from youths of the village of Dabaritta, who had taken it from
an official of Agrippa.
Resentment and
mistrust of Josephus rose to open insurrection. Josephus’ life was threatened
and only by cunning and self-humiliation was he able to avert the danger. Later
in Tiberias he was forced to flee murderers sent to
kill him by John of Gischala.
In the end, John of
Gischala had Josephus’ appointment revoked, and a force of 2,500 under four
dignitaries was sent to Galilee for this purpose. However, Josephus succeeded
in having the decree rescinded and the four emissaries recalled. When they
refused to comply he had them arrested and sent home.
The inhabitants of Tiberias, who continued to rebel, were put down by force.
The city defected a few days later in favour of Agrippa and the Romans, and was
again subdued by a ruse. According to Josephus, the city was of mixed
population and some supported the revolt and others supported Agrippa and the
Romans (B. J. ii, 21, 8-10 and Vita 32-34; 66-68).
Jerusalem used the
intervening period to train the young men in the use of weapons and to build
weapons and amass supplies to withstand the siege. By Passover 67 CE the city
was set to suffer their second and more serious assault.
Nero was in Achaea
when news of the defeat of Cestius Gallus reached him. He transferred command
of suppressing the Jewish revolt to the experienced Vespasian. The defeated
Gallus died shortly afterwards.
Provision for the
campaign was made during the winter.
Vespasian marched to
Antioch and marshalled his army there, and sent his son Titus to Alexandria to
bring him the 15th Legion stationed there.
As soon as possible,
at the end of the winter, he marched to Ptolemais where he meant to await
Titus, but before Titus arrived emissaries from Sepphoris in Galilee arrived
and requested a Roman garrison. Vespasian immediately marched 6,000 troops
under Placidus to garrison Sepphoris. Without
striking a blow the Romans took over one of the most important and heavily
fortified places in Galilee.
With the arrival of
Titus, the army now at Vespasian’s command consisted of three complete legions:
the 5th, 10th and 15th Legions; twenty-three
auxiliary cohorts, six alae of cavalry, and the
auxiliaries provided by Kings Agrippa, Antiochus of Commagene, Soaemus of
Emesa, and Malchis II of Nabataea, in all some 60,000 men.
Vespasian set out
from Ptolemais and camped at the border of Galilee.
The Jewish troops
under Josephus had encamped at Garis, 20 stadia from Sepphoris to await the
Romans (Vita 71 (395)).
The courage of the
Jewish troops failed even before the Romans had appeared, and they scattered.
The lowlands of Galilee fell to the Romans without a sword being struck.
Josephus was forced
to retreat to Tiberias. Vespasian now simply had to
defeat the fortresses piecemeal.
Josephus sent word to
Jerusalem for an army of equal quality to the Romans. The plea was too late.
The main part of
Josephus’ force occupied Jotapata. Josephus said the Romans had to build the
road to get the cavalry across, which they did from 17 to 21 Iyyar. Josephus
allegedly arrived there on 21 Artemesius (Iyyar) of 67 CE. (This time was at
the end of the Second Passover period of what would have been the section of
Unleavened Bread). Vespasian reached the city on the evening of the next day.
Josephus says the siege lasted 47 days (B.J. iii, 7, 33 and 8, 9 and
ended on 1 Panemus (B.J. iii, 7, 36).
Josephus is quite
clear that the city fell on 1 Panemus. He is also quite clear that the siege
was 47 days. He also states that the road works were undertaken four days before
his arrival on 21 Iyyar. Thus, the Roman advance guard for the siege must have
arrived at 14 Iyyar or in time for the Second Passover again. Once the road was
constructed the siege engines could be moved forward with Vespasian's main
body. The significance of using the Second Passover in Iyyar for both major
operations should not be lost on the Bible student. God is allowing this
situation to occur to deal with Judah.
The city of Jotapata
was taken on the New Moon of Tammuz in 67 CE. It had been a walled city in
Israel since the days of Joshua (cf. Mishnah, Arak.
9:6).
The first assault was
repulsed. The Romans then commenced the siege. Josephus describes the siege in
great detail in Wars of the Jews.
In the end, despite
the use of cunning in sending people out in animal skins to bring in supplies
at night, and the use of boiling oil and fenugreek to make the siege engines
and bridges slippery and get under the soldiers armour, and the constant brave
resistance, the city fell. The bold sorties in this siege even saw Vespasian
himself wounded. The city was betrayed by a deserter, who revealed the true
state of fatigue to the Romans. The
morning watch could barely stay awake. Titus and a small force entered by stealth
in the morning watch and slaughtered the guards and the city could not repulse
the attackers when inside.
The men were killed
and many hid in caves. They were slaughtered by the Romans or took their own
lives. Josephus records that he survived, allegedly by drawing the lot to be
the last man in his cave to suicide, and then surrendered. He acted as a
prophet and it was confirmed by other witnesses that he had indeed foretold the
length of the siege. Josephus foretold that Vespasian would assume the throne,
and he was therefore treated more leniently.
The Romans killed all
the men except a few captives and saved alive only a few children and some
women as slaves. They levelled the city. Josephus was left alive to record the
events. The city was rediscovered in 1847 by E. G. Schultz at Jefat due north of Sepphoris.
On 4 Panemus,
Vespasian marched to Caesarea by way of Ptolemais where he allowed the army to
rest while he went to Agrippa at Caesarea Philippi. They had festivities there
for twenty days. Titus was then ordered to bring the legions from Caesarea
Maritima and they marched on Tiberias. The city
surrendered and was treated leniently for the sake of Agrippa.
They marched on
Tarichea. A bold stoke by Titus took that city at the beginning of Gorpiaeus or
Elul.
New Moons and the Second
Passover form significant time events in this war. God is speaking to Judah and
they are not listening.
Thus, in Galilee,
only Gischala and Mt. Tabor (Itabyrion) now remained to the rebels who also
held the important and strongly fortified Gamala in Gaulanitis.
The Romans attacked
Gamala next, and at first they appeared successful and entered the city.
However, the counter-attacks were so determined and so dreadful that the Romans
withdrew with very heavy losses, and it took all Vespasian’s authority to
restore order and morale (Schürer, ibid., p. 495).
On 23 Tishri
(Hyperberetaeus), Gamala finally fell. Mt Tabor had also been taken by a
detachment sent there during the siege at Gamala.
Titus was sent to
Gischala with a detachment of 1,000 cavalry. The city surrendered to Titus on
the second day. John and his Zealots had escaped the night before and fled to
Jerusalem.
Vespasian took the
army into winter quarters. He and the 5th and 15th
Legions camped at Caesarea. The 10th was stationed at Scythopolis.
Thus, by winter of 67
CE, all of northern Palestine was in the hands of the Romans.
The leaders of the
rebels had been at first instance the leaders that had been half-hearted or
part of the peace party. The fierce nationalists, called Zealots, blamed them
for the disastrous first year of the war. They were accused of not pressing the
war vigorously enough. That comment appears justified.
The Zealots then
began to seize control and get rid of the former leaders. They would not
voluntarily relinquish authority and so the bloody civil war commenced in the
winter of 67-68 CE.
John of Gischala was
leader of the Zealots. He escaped from Titus and went with his troop to
Jerusalem in about the beginning of November.
He rallied the young
men and stimulated them to greater action. The militant Zealot refugees from
the north were pouring in to Jerusalem as well as volunteers from elsewhere.
The Zealots soon had control of Jerusalem.
Their first move was
to get rid of all suspect Roman sympathisers. A number of the most prominent,
including Antipas of the Herodian House, were locked up and murdered in prison.
Another High Priest
was chosen by lot as the previous ones all belonged to the aristocratic party.
This was to be a great blow to the Sadducees, and eventually saw the rise of
the post-Temple rabbinical system from the Pharisees.
The High Priest
chosen was Phannias, from Apthia (also Phanni, Phanasus, Pinhas). Josephus says
he had not the least understanding of the High Priestly office, but he was a
man of the people and that was the main thing (B. J. iv, 3, 6-8).
The authorities in
Jerusalem, Gorion ben Joseph, Simon ben Gamaliel the Pharisee, and the two High
Priests, Ananus ben Ananus and Jesus ben Gamaliel tried to rid themselves of
the Zealots by force. As they were in the minority they were forced into the
inner forecourt of the Temple and, since no one wanted to storm the sacred
gates, they were locked in.
The Zealots sent
messages to the warlike Idumeans. These sons of Esau had been defeated by John
Hyrcanus and converted to Judaism some two and a half centuries before. A large
percentage of Judaea was Idumaean, as were the Hasmonaeans themselves.
The Idumeans appeared
before the walls of Jerusalem but they were not let in. That night, a fierce
storm was used as cover by the Zealots to open the gates and the combined force
immediately began robbing and murdering in the city. The establishment was too
weak to resist and a reign of terror began. The Zealots directed their murders
at the establishment, declaring them to be pro-Roman. The High Priests Ananus
and Jesus were murdered.
They even staged the
farce of a formal trial to give credibility to the murders, but the court
summoned for the trial acquitted the accused Zacharias ben Baruch, and so the
Zealots simply killed him with the statement: “We have our vote too” (Schürer,
ibid., p. 497-498).
The Idumeans by now
realised that the so-called treachery was only implicating law- abiding
citizens. They then withdrew.
The Zealots continued
the reign of terror with even less restraint. They killed Gorion and the part
of the well-to-do, and the authorities were so intimidated that there was no
longer resistance. John of Gischala was a tyrant in Jerusalem.
Protection of the Church at Pella
The Church had been
warned of this trauma through Daniel. Before the war, and after the death of
James, under Simon cousin of Christ it had fled to Pella long before the
Passover of 66 CE.
Eusebius records from
Josephus (HE III, V-VI) the dreadful details of the actions of the
people in the city. The Church had been spared the horror of the Zealots and
the dreadful famine that destroyed the city and its moral structure.
The Roman generals
considered that Jerusalem should be attacked immediately. With the fighting
going on in the city they considered it could be taken with ease.
Vespasian considered
that it was wiser to let the city give full vent to its internal hostilities,
and allow it to exhaust itself.
God had given
Jerusalem 40 years under the Sign of Jonah, and they were going to get every
day of the time allotted to them (see the paper The Sign of Jonah and the History
of the Reconstruction of the Temple (No. 13)).
They could have
repented and God would have saved them, even up until the last minute.
Instead, Vespasian
turned his attention to Peraea, which was where Pella was located. The area was
Gentile but had anti-Roman elements especially in the city of Gadara.
Gadara had requested
a garrison of Roman troops as protection against these elements.
Vespasian marched a
force there from Caesarea even before spring had arrived. He arrived there on 4
Dystrus, or Adar of 68 CE and occupied the city. He then returned to Caesarea.
Vespasian left a detachment of 3,000 infantry and 500 cavalry under Placidus, and that completed the subjugation of Peraea as
far as Machaerus. This had the effect of ensuring that the Church was left in
peace and saw none of the dreadful exterminations that took place in Judaea,
Galilee and Idumea.
When the spring was
fully under way, Vespasian again set off from Caesarea. His objective was to
subjugate the entire countryside so that Jerusalem was the last bastion and
when destroyed, all resistance would go with it.
He occupied
Antipatris, captured Lydda and Jamnia. He posted the 5th Legion
outside of Emmaeus. He then made incursions throughout Idumaea. Turning northwards, by way of
Emmaeus, he marched through Samaria to Neapolis (Shechem) via Corea. He arrived
in Corea on 2 Sivan (Daisius) and then went on to Jericho. He garrisoned
Jericho and Adida. He completely destroyed Gerasa
with a detachment under Lucius Annius.
Judea was completely
subjugated. Vespasian could now turn his attention on Jerusalem (cf. Schürer,
ibid., pp. 498-499). He turned back to Caesarea and started preparations, but
the death of Nero on 9 June 68 CE forced a complete revision of plans. The
whole empire might be in chaos and so he had to turn his attention there. In
that way God dealt with the situation, forcing Judah to evaluate itself for the
complete period of forty years.
Vespasian waited for
news, and in the winter of 68/9 CE news came that Galba had been proclaimed
emperor. He sent his son Titus to Rome to pay homage to the new emperor and
await commands. However, Titus only reached as far as Corinth when he was
informed of Galba’s assassination on 15 January 69 CE.
Titus then returned
to his father in Caesarea. Vespasian continued to play a waiting game.
Events forced
Vespasian to again move into Judaea when a Simon Bar-Giora (son of the
proselyte) who behaved in a very similar way to John of Gischala – fiercely
intolerant and a Zealot – began to assemble a band of followers in the
cease-fire. He and his followers then began to roam southern Palestine, robbing
and looting wherever they went.
Like locusts, they
destroyed everything in their path. After making a surprise attack on Hebron,
they made away with a valuable haul of plunder (Schürer, ibid., p. 499 cf. B.
J. iv, 9, 3-8).
Vespasian was forced
to act. On 5 Daisius, or Sivan 69 CE, after a full year of rest, he set off
again from Caesarea. He subjugated the districts of Gophna and Acrabata and the
towns of Bethel and Ephraim. He approached Jerusalem while his tribune Cerealis
conquered and destroyed Hebron, after they resisted. With the exception of
Jerusalem, and the three fortresses of Herodium, Masada and Machaerus, all
Palestine was subject to Rome (ibid., pp. 499-500).
Jerusalem had grown
very tired of John of Gischala, and in Simon Bar-Giora they saw a means of
ridding themselves of John. Thus, even before Vespasian had subjugated the
south, Simon turned to Jerusalem and was invited in to Jerusalem on the
suggestion of the High Priest, Matthias. He entered Jerusalem in Xanthicus, or
Nisan of 69 CE.
Instead of being
freed of the tyranny of John, they now had two tyrants who both saw anyone with
money as a common enemy.
God again acted to
give Jerusalem its full period of time and give Judah an opportunity to be
spared.
On Vespasian's return
to Caesarea, news reached him that the legions in the West had proclaimed
Vitellius as emperor. The legions in the East decided that they would rather
have Vespasian than the gourmandising Vitellius.
On 1 July 69 CE,
Vespasian was proclaimed emperor in Egypt. A few days later the Palestinian and
Syrian Legions followed suit. Before mid-July he was recognised as emperor
throughout the East.
Vespasian was then
forced to consolidate his power and had to leave the rebellious Jews until
later. The time was to be in accordance with God’s purpose and His calendar.
Vespasian received
embassies at Berytus and then went to Antioch. From there he sent Mucianus
overland to Rome with an army and he went to Alexandria. Whilst there he
received word that he had triumphed in Rome and Vitellius had been murdered on
20 December 69 CE.
He stayed in
Alexandria until the beginning of summer 70 CE, but sent Titus with an army to
Palestine to finish the Jewish war.
In the year’s interim
the situation in Jerusalem had actually become worse, if that was possible.
Instead of two
parties of Tyrants there were now three. Eleazar, Simon’s son, had split off
from John’s party of Zealots. The city was now split into three sections. Simon dominated the Upper City and a large
part of the Lower City. John dominated the Temple Mount, and Eleazar the inner
forecourt of the Temple. The three were in continuous conflict and the whole
city was a ceaseless battlefield.
Rather than allow the
prospect of each one gaining access to the food supplies at the expense of the
other, they set on fire the enormous stores of grain in Jerusalem and plunged
the city into starvation. They made sure that the city could not survive the
coming Roman siege out of a mindless, petty internecine conflict.
They deserved to be
put to the sword each and every one of them, and that sword was soon to descend
on them in the form of Titus and his army.
The army under Titus
was comprised of four legions. Apart from Vespasian’s 5th, 10th
and 15th Legions, he also had the 12th Legion, which had
been the legion in Syria under Cestius that started the first siege.
Commanders of
Vespasian’s Legions were:
Sextus Vettulenus
Cerealis 5th Legion
A. Larcius Lepidus
Sulpicianus 10th Legion
M. Tittius Frugi 15th
Legion
Commander of the 12th
is unknown.
The former procurator
of Judaea, Tiberius Iulius Alexander, assisted Titus.
He gave orders for
the remainder of the army to meet him at Jerusalem and he and the main body set
out from Caesarea. The 5th went by Emmaus and the 10th
went by way of Jericho. As well as the entire force of allied auxiliaries,
which had been strengthened, Titus had with him 2,000 men from Egypt and 3,000
drawn from the army on the Euphrates.
Schürer says Titus
reached the walls of Jerusalem a few days before Passover 70 CE (ibid., p.
502); other authorities say on 1 Abib 70 CE. That accords with the time-frame.
It is of no real consequence if it was 1 or 13 Abib. The Passover was the
judgment of God.
Titus had gone ahead
with a cavalry force of 600 and came under serious threat of capture by the
Jews, and only his own bravery saved him.
The fanatical bravery
of the Jews was well respected by the Romans. The 10th Legion
arrived and set up camp on the Mount of Olives. In the process it was attacked
with such ferocity that it almost suffered total defeat. The personal
intervention of Titus saw it stand its ground and it fought off the attack.
The internal fighting
continued unabated in the city. With the Romans at the gates, another massacre
took place at Passover 70 CE in Jerusalem. Eleazar’s men opened the gates of
the Temple forecourt to worshippers for the Passover. John of Gischala’s men
used this opportunity to smuggle in arms and killed Eleazar’s men and took over
the entire Temple Mount. This action returned the status quo to the two parties
of John and Simon.
Schürer gives a
description of the city in Volume 1 on page 503 and using also Josephus (B.
J. v 4) as follows:
“To understand the siege which now followed, it is necessary to possess a general idea of the layout of the city. [B. J. v 4] Jerusalem lay on two hills, a higher western one, and a smaller one to the east, divided by a deep ravine running from north to south, the so-called Tyropoeon. On the larger western hill stood the upper city, on the smaller eastern hill, the lower city. The latter was also called the ‘Acra’ because it was here that the fortress of Jerusalem built by Antiochus Epiphanes had formerly stood. [c.f. Schürer pp. 154-5] North of the Acra lay the site of the Temple, the extent of which had been considerably enlarged by Herod the Great. Adjoining the Temple area on its northern side was the Antonia fortress. The Temple site was surrounded on all four sides by a strong wall and thus constituted a small fort in its own right. The upper and lower cities were enclosed by a common wall which joined the western wall of the Temple area, then ran westward, swept around the upper and lower cities in a great southern curve, and finally came to an end at the south-eastern corner of the Temple site. Furthermore, the upper city must have been separated from the lower city by a wall running from north to south along the Tyropoeon. For Titus, when already in possession of the lower city, still had to direct his battering rams against the wall of the upper city. On the west, south and east, the outer wall stood on high precipices; only to the north was the ground reasonably level. Here, there was a second wall forming a northerly curve and enclosing the older suburb; and then, in a still wider northerly sweep, a third wall begun by Agrippa I and only completed during the revolt when necessity demanded it. This third wall enclosed the so-called New City or suburb of Bezetha.93 [The reader will recall Bezetha was burnt by the Romans earlier in the first action of Cestius. cf Schürer p. 488] As the city’s layout itself demanded, Titus directed his offensive against the northern side, hence against the outermost third, or from the standpoint of the attackers, first wall. It was only then, as the battering rams began their work at some three points, that the internal fighting ended and both parties, those of John of Gischala and Simon Bar-Giora, joined forces. In one of their attacks they fought with such success that it was due only to the intervention of Titus (who himself shot down twelve of the enemy) that the machines were saved. [B. J. v 6, 2-5] After fifteen days’ work, one of the powerful battering rams knocked a hole in the wall, the Romans broke in, and on 7 Artemisius (Iyyar, April/May) obtained a control of the first wall. [cf. Josephus B. J. v,7,2] ”
Five days after the capture
of the first wall, the second wall gave way to the Roman battering ram. Titus
moved in with select force but was repulsed by the Jews.
Four days later he
took it again and this time held it permanently. Again we have 12 and 16 Iyyar
as decisive dates around the Second Passover sequence.
Titus’ next step was
to throw up two ramparts against the city and two against the Antonia.
Each of the four
legions was tasked to build one of the ramparts. Simon Bar-Giora commanded
defence of the Upper City and John of Gischala commanded the Antonia (B. J.
v 9,2).
The Romans then
tasked Josephus with calling on the city to surrender, with no result.
Food was short and
the poor who went searching for food were captured and crucified in full view
of the city. Some were mutilated and driven back into the city (B. J. v
10, 2-5).
The Romans completed
the ramparts on 29 Iyyar 70 CE.
The Jews, under John
and Simon, had been biding their time until the ramparts were finished before
demolishing them.
John had dug a tunnel
under the ramparts against the Antonia and then set fire to the posts at the
opportune time. The result was that the tunnel collapsed and the ramparts fell
into the blaze and were destroyed. Two days later Simon Bar-Giora fired and
destroyed the ramparts against the Upper City (B. J. v 11, 4-6).
Titus then ringed the
city with a continuous stone wall before he started on new ramparts. This was
to cut off the city from all re-supply and starve it into submission. It was
completed in the amazing time of three days and continual armed guard prevented
any escape (B. J. v 12, 1-32)
The horrors of
starvation descended on the city as God had foretold (Lev. 26:29; Deut. 28:29;
Jer. 19:9; Ezek. 5:10) and as historically recorded (2Kgs. 6:28-29; Lam. 2:20;
4:10; Bar. 2:3). Maria of Beth-Ezob is one of those recorded as devouring her
own child (B. J. vi 3, 4; Euseb. HE iii, 6; & Jerome ad Joel
1:9 ff (CCL lxxvi, p. 170; cf. Schürer fn. 102, p. 504).
The sacred oil and
wine from the “Chamber of the House of Oil” situated in the southwest corner of
the Court of the Women was then forced to be used for profane purposes.
Josephus criticises this act but it is perfectly understandable (B. J. v
13, 6).
In twenty-one days
new ramparts had been built and this time four were constructed against the
Antonia. The timber this time had to be carried some 90 stadia (4.5 hrs
journey) to the site as the area had been denuded.
John of Gischala
attacked them on 1 Panemus or the New Moon of Tammuz but the attack failed due
to a lack of vigour in the execution and the Romans being doubly vigilant (B.
J. vi 1, 1-3).
The Jews withdrew and
the battering rams began. At first this was without success but the wall later
collapsed of its own accord, being so badly damaged. However, John of Gischala
had already erected a second wall behind the section that was damaged and it
was thus very difficult to scale.
On 3 Panemus (Tammuz)
Titus exhorted the troops to action, and a Syrian soldier named Sabinus and
eleven comrades scaled the wall but Sabinus and three comrades fell (B. J.
vi, 1, 3-6). On 5 Panemus, between twenty and thirty soldiers scaled the wall
at night and killed the first sentries. Titus pressed on quickly after them and
drove the Jews back to the Temple zone.
The Romans were driven
back again but they captured the Antonia and immediately set about razing it to
the ground (B. J. vi 1, 7-8).
The Jews had been
able to maintain the daily morning and evening sacrifice even though they
ceased sacrifice for Gentiles in 66 CE at the start of the revolt.
On the 17th
day of the Fourth month, Panemus or Tammuz, there were not enough men to
continue the sacrifice and, coupled with the shortages of the famine, the
sacrifice was suspended. Despite an attempt to revive it in the Bar Kochba
revolt, it has never been effectively reintroduced.
God removed the
sacrifice and the physical Temple, as it was fulfilled in Messiah and the
Church. The process of ritually killing animals will be recommenced in
Jerusalem after the Messiah restores Jerusalem, and the Temple is reconstructed
in accordance with the Key of David (see also the paper Commentary on Zechariah (No. 021K)).
Josephus was ordered
to make a further plea for surrender, which bore no result.
A further night’s
assault on the Temple failed and Titus was left with no choice but to make an
all-out assault.
The Temple was a
well-constructed virtual fort, which was basically a square with colonnaded
thick walls. The inner forecourt was also surrounded by thick walls, and formed
a second line of defence after the outer court had fallen.
Titus commenced by
constructing four ramparts on the outer walls. This time the materials had to
be brought over 100 stadia from Jerusalem.
The Jews were not
idle in the work. They stacked the western colonnade on the wall with
combustible material and made it appear to be deserted. The Romans climbed the
colonnade. When they were on the top the Jews set fire to it. The Romans were
unable to escape and died in the flames (B. J. vi 3, 1-2).
The ramparts were
finished on 8 Ab or Lous. The rams were brought forward and the siege work
began. The walls were too thick and Titus was forced to fire the gates to gain
access to the Outer Court. One might ask why he did not try that first.
By 9 Ab the gates
were completely burned. Josephus alleges that Titus held a council of War and
it was decided to spare the Temple itself (B. J. vi 4, 3).
On 10 Ab the Jews
made two counter-attacks from the Inner Forecourt of the Temple.
In repulsing the
second attack, one of the Roman soldiers who had been busy quelling the fire in
the colonnade threw a brand into the Temple proper.
Josephus alleges that
Titus, when informed, rushed with the commanders and troops to try and save the
Temple. In the mêlée his commands were ignored and the fire took hold.
He reportedly wanted
to save the Temple but the enraged soldiers not only ignored his commands, they
also threw in new firebrands. Titus was just able to inspect the interior
before it was destroyed (B. J. vi 4, 6-7).
Josephus gives the
date of the destruction of the Temple at 10 Ab (B. J. vi 4, 5). However,
the rabbinical traditions date the destruction at the beginning of the 9 Ab (m
Taan. 4:6) in the evening (b Taan. 29a) at the end of the Sabbath day.
The truth is, more
probably, that Josephus wanted to whitewash Titus of the act of barbarism.
Sulpicius Severus (Chron, ii 30, 6-7) gives an alternative view and
Orosius (vii 9, 5-6) also ascribes the destruction to Titus, while Schürer
notes that W. Weber upholds this view.
Schürer notes that
Valeton has criticised the false view of Josephus in failing to record the
details of the War Council’s express decision to occupy the Temple and take it
by force and thus destroy it if necessary. Valeton claimed that a direction of
Vespasian had been issued but the council would have then been
superfluous.
The Roman ensigns
were brought in to the Temple and placed against the East Gate. The soldiers
offered sacrifice to them. Josephus
records that Titus was proclaimed Imperator after the great sacrifice.
The chambers in the
walls of the Temple housed the priests. They were forced to come down out of
hiding through thirst and were all put to death.
Titus spoke with the
Jews who enraged him by trying to dictate terms, and he ordered the destruction
of Jerusalem. The Romans set fire to the archives and the Acra, to the council
house and the Ophlas.
The aristocracy
pleaded with him again and he allowed some to be taken to Rome as security (B.
J. vi. 6, 1-3).
Josephus records the
intense barbarity of the Jewish rebels in the city at this time. The Zealots
had fled to the Upper City. The city had been plundered and the spoils taken to
the Upper City and the Romans were annoyed that the plunder was concentrated
there.
The Zealots, too weak
to fight the Romans, lay in hiding and slaughtered everyone that sought to
escape to the Romans. There was nowhere in the city that was not littered with
the corpses of those who died from the famine or the slaughter. They tried to
hide in the caverns under the city and they set more places on fire than did
the Romans themselves. The people who fled out of the houses from the fires,
were killed by the Zealots without mercy. They swallowed food taken with their
blood and fought over the plunder. Josephus says that he thinks that, if they
had not been destroyed, they would have eaten the dead bodies themselves (B.
J. vi 7, 1-3).
On 20 Ab Titus gave
orders for the raising of siege banks against the Upper City of Mt. Zion.
The four legions
erected their banks on the West side of the city against the Royal Palace. The
auxiliaries and their levies erected from the Xystus to the bridge and the
tower that Simon had fortified against John.
An attempt by the
Idumeans to defect was agreed on by Titus, but Simon intercepted the five
emissaries on their return and they were killed and the leaders put in custody.
However, the deserters continued to grow.
They deserted with
their families. The price of slaves was so low they had little value as the
captives were so many and the buyers were so few. The priest Jesus son of
Thebuthus obtained security from Caesar, and with Phineas the treasurer
delivered up a deal of the treasure of the Temple including candlesticks of
gold as well as cloth of purple and scarlet for the veils and other expensive
items. However, they were given the same pardon as those who deserted empty
handed (B. J. vi 8, 1-3). The gold taken in plunder was so great that it
halved the value of gold in Syria after the siege.
The siege banks were
finished on the Seventh day of Elul or Gorpieus in eighteen days. Many had
deserted and hid. The tyrants and the force that resisted the Romans collapsed
through weakness and terror, and they left the towers that were themselves too
strong to be overcome by siege engines.
Josephus considers
that God Himself ejected them out of the towers after all they had done in the
city. They fled immediately to the valley that was under Siloam. They
counter-attacked the Romans but were weak and were repulsed by the guards.
The Romans then went
into the city killing and burning everyone in it. Their plunder was hampered by
the fact that the upper rooms of the houses were stacked with the bodies of the
dead through famine. The city was burning as 8 Elul commenced and was
completely in Roman hands (B. J. vi, 8, 4-5).
The survivors were
either executed, or sent to the mines or they were reserved for gladiatorial
combat.
The mines were in
Egypt and thus the promise of God to send them back into Egypt for breach of
His covenant was fulfilled. The handsomest and strongest of the men were
selected for the triumph. John of Gischala was driven by hunger from the caves
and was spared with life imprisonment. Simon Bar-Goria, arrested some time
later, was kept for the triumph.
As we observed at the
beginning, only the three towers of Herod’s palace (Hippicus, Phasael and
Mariamne) and one part of the wall was left standing.
Titus celebrated with
rewards for valour, sacrifices and festive banquets.
The Sequel to the War from 71 to 74
CE
Titus left the 10th
Legion to garrison Jerusalem.
He marched the rest
of the army to Caesarea Maritima, where the booty and the prisoners were
deposited in safe custody.
Titus then went to
Caesarea Philippi, seat of Agrippa, where some of the prisoners were forced to
fight wild animals, or take part in gladiatorial games. He returned to Maritima
and celebrated his brother Domitian’s birthday (24 October) with more games and
on 17 November at Berytus he celebrated his father Vespasian’s birthday in like
manner.
The Jewish prisoners
were forced to kill each other in gladiatorial combat in cities over the entire
march to Antioch. They then marched to Zeugma on the Euphrates and back to
Antioch. They then returned to Egypt and discharged the legions at Alexandria
(Schürer, Vol. I, p. 509).
Seven hundred choice
prisoners and Simon and John were reserved for the triumph. Although they had
been granted a triumph each, Vespasian, Domitian and Titus shared the one
triumph in 71 CE. Simon, in accordance with ancient custom, was carried from
the triumph to prison and then executed.
Among the prizes of
war carried in the triumph, the two golden objects from the Temple formed the
major prizes (in the eyes of the Jews at least). These were the Table of the
Shewbread and the Seven-branched lampstand (B.J. vii 5,5).
Vespasian placed it
in the Temple of the Goddess of Peace (Pax) which he had rebuilt but which was
later burned down under Commodus (Herodian i 14, 2, cf. Schürer, p. 510,
fn. 132).
Schürer considers
that Geiseric took them to Africa after the Vandals sacked Rome in 455 CE, and
then they were transported to Constantinople by Belisarius after he destroyed
the Vandal empire in 534 CE (ibid.).
Palestine was not as yet completely subdued even though Jerusalem and the north had been virtually destroyed.
The fortresses of
Herodium, Machaerus and the now famous Masada were still in rebel hands.
Lucilius Bassus, the
governor of Palestine, was assigned with the task of their reduction.
Josephus indicates that the siege and defeat of Herodium was accomplished without much difficulty (B. J. vii 6, 1). Machaerus took longer but it surrendered also before the final attack took place. Machaerus was situated on the southern border of Peraea next to Nabataean territory. It is the present day Khirbet el Mukawer. Originally fortified by Alexander Jannaeus, it was demolished by Gabinus (Antiq., xiv 5, 4). It was refortified by Herod the Great (B. J. vii 6, 2 cf. also Schürer 1, p. 511, fn. 135, re Pliny NH v 16 and its importance).
A young man named Eleazar distinguished himself in the defence but was captured. The Romans threatened to crucify him in full view of the fortress and the fortress decided to surrender. That was a strange reaction, but the fortress was completely isolated now with Masada in the south as the only other rebel stronghold and so it may have been a prudent decision (B. J. vii 6, 1-4).
Lucilius Bassus died over the campaign and it was left to his successor Flavius Silva to reduce Masada.
The Masada (lit. mountain stronghold) was reduced after a long campaign. The siege works of 73 CE are still evident (see plates). It could only be approached from this one direction (see also Strabo xvi 2, 44 and Schürer ibid., fn. 137).
The Masada had been held since the very beginning of the War when the Sicarii under Eleazar son of Yair, who was a descendent of Judas the Galilean, fortified it.
The side facing the Salt Sea is precipitous and cannot be approached by siege weapons. Only in one place at the ramp could a battering ram be employed, and the defenders had already anticipated the breach and erected a mound of wood and earth, which was of such elasticity that the ram was ineffective against it (Schürer, ibid.).
The Romans managed to
reduce this obstacle by fire.
Eleazar saw that the
Romans would inevitably overcome them. He advised them in a speech that the
entire garrison kill their own families and then themselves (cf. B. J.
vii, 8, 6).
This was done and the
Romans entered the dead mountain stronghold to find the entire garrison of men,
women and children dead. There was no butchery left for them to do.
Josephus records that
the mass suicide of Masada occurred on 15 Xanthicus, or Abib of 74 CE. Thus, on
the First Holy Day of the Passover the entire garrison took their own lives.
The symbolism is
absolute. Instead of the Death Angel passing over Judah on this Passover in 15
Nisan they had rejected Christ and the Sacrifice. The people were given forty
years to repent. They did not do so and the last half of the last weeks of
years saw the war begin. By 70 CE the north had been reduced. By 10 Ab the
Temple had been destroyed. By Passover 74 CE the entire resistance in Judaea
had been quelled and the nation was in dispersion.
What was inexcusable
was that the nations round about took the occasion of the revolt to allege
grievances against the Jews and then began to slaughter Jews everywhere. In
Damascus, the Syrians began the slaughter, but there was not one Syrian city
that did not slay its Jewish inhabitants. Damascus slit the throats of eighteen
thousand Jewish men, women and children. Egypt slew over sixty thousand Jews (B.
J. vii, 8, 7).
Jews were tortured to
death by fire and rack. Some were fed to wild beasts but saved alive, only half
eaten, and then fed to the beasts a second time to afford more sport and
derision to the crowds (B. J. ibid.). In this way they were further
dehumanised. God has specific direction concerning these acts, and Zechariah
covers the prophecies among others (see the paper Commentary on Zechariah (No. 021K)).
After the fall of the
Masada there was still a place of sacrifice operating and that was in
Leontopolis. Vespasian ordered it closed in 71 CE but resistance still occurred
into 74 CE there at Alexandria and also in Cyrene. Schürer quotes Josephus (B.
J. vii 10, 1-3) stating that the disturbances in Alexandria led to the closure
of the Temple at Leontopolis, which had been built by the High Priest Onias IV
ca 160 CE, fulfilling Isaiah 19:18-23. Josephus says that the Temple was in
operation there for three hundred and forty three years (B. J. vii, 10,
4). He says that Lupus, governor of Alexandria, went there on Caesar’s orders
and removed some of the donations there, and shut it up. The duration of the
Temple, according to Josephus, places the construction of the Temple at some
270-272 BCE. That date is before Onias IV. Thus there must have been some basis
for the existence of a Temple there before Onias IV went there, or Josephus is
entirely in error.
The Sicarii had fled
to Alexandria and, not content with having raised Palestine to insurrection,
incited revolt in Alexandria and killed the Jewish leaders that opposed them.
The object of their refusal was that they were required to name Caesar as Lord
when only God was the Lord. The Alexandrians turned on them, as did the Thebans
turn on those who had escaped to Thebes and handed them over to torture.
Josephus records how stoically the adults and most amazingly the children
endured the torture without confessing Caesar as Lord (B. J. vii 10, 1).
The Sicarii, under a
man named Jonathan, also stirred up revolts in Cyrene among the poor and
credulous. Catallus the governor of the Libyan Pentapolis heard of the
inducement of the poor to march into the desert under Jonathan to see the signs
and wonders he promised them. Catallus sent a body of troops, both cavalry and
foot, and intercepted them. They slaughtered a great many of the unarmed
civilians. Jonathan escaped but was recaptured after an extensive search. He
then blamed the rich Jews for his actions and Catallus was able then to plunder
the Jewish populace. He had the Sicarii falsely accuse wealthy Jews, and three
thousand of them were killed and their property added to Caesar’s revenues. To
avoid retribution for these crimes he then had Jonathan and the Sicarii give
false witness against the wealthy Jews both at Alexandria and at Rome, so that
he extended the persecution to Jews in the most prominent cities of the
Mediterranean (B. J. vii, 11, 2-3).
Catallus went to
Rome, taking Jonathan and his followers with him – all bound. He hoped to cover
the crime but Vespasian conducted an inquiry into the matter and acquitted the
Jews accused by Catallus and Jonathan. Jonathan was then tortured and burnt
alive. Vespasian did not discipline Catallus, but Catallus fell ill and died
miserably shortly thereafter, disturbed in both body and mind. His entrails
were corrupted and extruded from his body and he died (B. J. vii, 11,
3-4). Josephus holds this to be an example of divine providence punishing
wicked men.
The Jewish Wars thus
ended in disaster for Judah, and the nation was dispersed. Every attempt to
restore the nation and the physical Temple was thwarted. The Church was also
persecuted but from this time existed in the wilderness for two thousand
years.
The restoration and
conversion of Judah is underway and this period of the Last Days will see the
restoration of the system under Messiah at Jerusalem.
q