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Did You Know? Was Jerusalem Ever Surrounded By Pointed Stakes? Matthew 19:43+44 ...days will come upon you when your enemies will build around you a fortification of pointed stakes and will encircle you and besiege you from every side. They will dash you and your within you to the ground, and they will not leave a stone upon a stone in you, because you did not discern the time of your being inspected. Jesus' words came true in the year 70 C.E. when the Romans, commanded by Titus, erected a siege wall, or palisade, around the city. Titus' objective was threefold - to prevent the Jews from fleeing, to encourage their surrender and to starve the inhabitants unto submission. It worked! According to Flavius Josephus, a first-century historian, once the decision to build this palisade was made, the various legions and lesser divisions of the Roman army competed with one another to see which could complete its assigned section of the wall first. The countryside to a distance of some 16 kilometers around the city was stripped of trees, and the palisade, which proved to be about 7 kilometers long, took a mere three days to complete. At that, says Josephus, "all hope of escaping was now cut off from the Jews." Reduced to famine and to murderous struggles amoung its various armed factions, the city fell to the besiegers some five months later. It is estimated that around one million people died in that siege. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Of further interest, is Jesus' words at Luke 21:20-24 However, when you see Jerusalem surrounded by encamped armies, then know that the desolating of her has drawn near. Then let those in Judea begin fleeing to the mountains, let those in the midst of her leave, and let those in the countryside not enter into her, because these are days for meting out justice in order that all the things written may be fulfilled. Woe to the pregnant women and those nursing a baby in those days! For there will be great distress on the land and wrath against this people. And they will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the nations until the appointed times of the nations are fulfilled.(1914) Book II Insight On The Scriptures says: Jesus had called Jerusalem "the killer of the prophets and stoner of those sent forth to her." (Matthew 23:37; compare vss 34-36) Though many citizens showed faith in God's , the city as a whole continued to follow the pattern of the past. For this, "her house was abandoned to her." (Matthew 23:38) In 66 C.E. a Jewish revolt brought Roman forces under Cestius Gallus to the city, surrounding it and making a thrust right up to the temple walls. Suddenly Cestius Gallus withdrew for no apparent reason. This allowed Christians to put into action Jesus' instruction to flee the city. Eusebius, in his Ecclesiastical History(III, v. 3), states that the Christians fled from Jerusalem and the whole land of Judea to a city of Perea that was called Pella. Anyone hesitating about fleeing was caught up in the city's internal political struggles and stopped from leaving. Jerusalem's reprieve was short -lived. Once the blockade was renewed by Titus the city factions began quarreling and fought, much of the food supply was destroyed, and those caught attempting to leave the city were slain as traitors. Josephus, relates that in time the famine became so grave that the people were reduced to eating wisps of hay and leather, even their own . (Compare La 2:11, 12, 19, 20; De 28:56+57) Through all this misery Titus' offers of peace were consistently rejected by the stubborn city leaders. In just 4 months and 25 days, from April 3 to August 30 70 C.E., the conquest had been effected. The tribulation, though intense, was remarkably short. The unreasoning attitude and actions of the Jews within the city doubtless contributed to this shortness. Though Josephus puts the number of dead at 1,100,000, there were survivors. (Compare Matthew24:22) Ninety-seven thousand captives were taken, many of whom were sent as slaves to Egypt (ironic), or were killed by sword or beasts in the theaters of the Roman provinces, and this too, fulfilled prophecy. (De 28:68) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It is interesting to note, book II Insight On The Scriptures says: "Though much research and excavations have been carried out, few concrete facts have been determined as to the city of Bible times. Various factors have restricted investigation or limited its value. Jerusalem has had almost continuous occupation in the Common Era (C.E.), thus severely reducing the area available for excavation. Then, too, the city was destroyed a number of times, with new cities built on top of the ruins and often made, in part, from material of those ruins. The piling up of debris and rubble, in some places about 30 meters (100 feet) deep, has obscured the early contours of the site and made the interpretation of the excavated evidence a precarious task. Some wall sections, pools, water tunnels and ancient tombs have been unearthed, but very little written material. Principal archaeological discoveries have come from the SE hill, which now lies outside the city walls. The main sources of information regarding the ancient city, therefore, remains the Bible and the description of the first-century city given by Jewish historian Josephus. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A History Of Jerusalem's Fall In 607 B.C.E., during Tammuz (the postexilic name given to the fourth Jewish month of the sacred calendar [but the tenth of the secular calendar]) the city walls were breached and a month later, on 10 Ab, Nebuchadnezzar's agent, Nebuzaradan, entered the conquered city and began demolition.The temple and other buildings were burned and the walls pulled down. Jerusalem's king (Zedekiah) and most of the people were taken to Babylon and the treasures were carried away as plunder. (2 Ki 25:1-17; 2 Ch 36:17-20; Jer 52:12-20) Thus, a period of 70 years 'desolation' set in, even as prophesied (Jer 25:11; 2Ch 36:21) and the statement by archaeologist Conder that "the history of the ruined city remains a blank until Cyrus" is true not only of Jerusalem but also of the entire realm of the kingdom of Judah. Unlike the Assyrians, the Babylonian king moved no replacement peoples into the conquered region. As we know, the city was rebuilt and the wall completed by Nehemiah in 455 B.C.E., which interestingly, began the 70 prophetic "weeks" involving the 'coming of Messiah'. (Ne 4:1-23; 6:15; 7:1; Dan 9:24-27) The changeover from Medo-Persian to Greek control came in 332 B.C.E. and following Alexander's death, when the Greek empire was split between his four generals, the city came under the Ptolemies control who ruled out of Egypt. (Dan 8:5-7, 20+21) In 198 B.C.E. Antiochus the Great, ruling in Syria, after taking the fortified city of Sidon, captured Jerusalem, and Judah became a dominion of the Seleucid Empire.(Dan.11:16) n the year 168 B.C.E., Syrian king Antiochus IV (Epiphanes) dedicated the temple to Zeus (Jupiter) and profaned the altar by an unclean sacrifice. (see 1Maccabees 1:57, 62; 2Maccabees 6:1,2+5) This led to the Maccabean (Hasmonaean) revolt. After three years of struggle, Judas Maccabaeus gained control of the city and the temple and rededicated Jehovah's altar to true worship on the anniversary of its profanation, Chislev 25, 165 B.C.E. (1Maccabees 4:52-54; 2Maccabees 10:5; compare John 10:22) The war against the Seleucid rulers had not ended , however, and the Jews appealed to Rome for help and thus a new power came on the scene in about 160 B.C.E. (1Maccabees 8:17) In 104 B.C.E. Aristobulus, Jerusalem's high priest assumed the title of king even though he was not of the Davidic line. Jerusalem was no 'city of peace' during this period. Internal quarrels, fired by selfish ambitions and worsened by rival religious factions - Sadducees, Pharisees, Zealots and others - gravely weakened the city. A violent quarrel resulted in Rome's being called on to arbitrate the dispute. Under General Pompey, Roman forces besieged the city in 63 B.C.E. in order to enter the city and end the dispute. Twelve thousand Jews reportedly died, many at the hands of fellow Israelites. The Indumean Antipater II was now installed as Roman governor for Judea, a Maccabean being left as high priest and local ethnarch in Jerusalem. Later, Antipater's Herod (the Great) was appointed by Rome as 'king' over Judea. He did not get control over Jerusalem until 37 or 36 B.C.E. from which date his rule effectively began. Herod's rule was marked by an ambitious building program, and the city enjoyed considerable prosperity. A theater, gymnasium and hippodrome as well as other public buildings were added. Herod also built a well-fortified royal palace, evidently on the W side of the city, S of the present-day Jaffa Gate where archaeologist believe they have found the foundation of one of the towers. Another fortress, the Tower of Antonia, lay near the temple and was connected with it by a passageway by which the Roman garrison could gain quick access to the temple areas, as likely occurred when soldiers rescued Paul from a mob there. (Ac 21:31+32) Herod's greatest work was the reconstruction of the temple and its building complex.(John 2:20) The total area encompassed was about double that of the previous temple area. Part of the wall still stands today and is known as the 'Western or Wailing Wall. (Matthew 24:2; Mark 13:2; Luke 21:6) The Christian Greek Scriptures now carry forward the description of events involving Jerusalem. Herod died, evidently in the year 1B.C.E. after issuing the order to kill all the babies, about two years old, in Bethlehem and his Archelaus inherited rulership but was removed by Rome for misdemeanors and thereafter governors, who were directly appointed by Rome, ruled. (Luke 3:1) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From all this you can see the political chaos that Jesus was born into and the roaring expectation that abounded when He began His ministry. The Davidic line had long ended and pure worship had long been replaced, once again, with the likenesses of the nations around Israel. Knowing that the Messiah was to be of the Davidic line, it is not to be wondered at why the crowds wanted to make Jesus king. Happily, though, He 'was no part of this world', that is, the machinations of satan's political system, and He ducked away from the crowd. (John 6:14+15; 18:36) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I hope you have enjoyed this summary of events leading up to Christ's ministry. I hope it sheds light for you on the political situation at that time. I found that it helped to open up my understanding of the Scriptures to quite a degree and made them much more about 'real' people and situations. Such political machinations are just the same as we ourselves live with today. Nothing really changes in satan's dealings with mankind except that today it is even more intense. Yours in seeking to understand, Katidid. |
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