Lk. 19:41-44; 21:5-6,20-24, Jesus Warned About 70AD

The destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70AD is of major importance in the Scriptures.  Not only did Daniel prophecy the event (Dan. 9:26, when Messiah is cut off the city will be destroyed); the Lord Jesus Himself, less than 40 years before the event, spoke of this coming event.

·       Luke 19:41-44: As Jesus approached Jerusalem in what we call His “Triumphal Entry,” He wept over the city because of their rejection of Him.  He knew, and warned them, of the coming days when “your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another.”  This precisely describes what the Romans did.

·       Luke 21:20-24: Jesus is speaking to His disciples in this passage (20:45).  He warns them of the coming day “when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies,”  The result of this event would be that Jerusalem would “be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”

·       Matt. 24:1-2; Luke 21:5-6: The prophecy that “not one stone” of the temple “shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down” was fulfilled by what the Romans did.

In Hebrews, our understanding is that Jesus was warning believers, who were being tempted to return to the temple worship, at a time when returning to the city would result in their death at the hands of Rome.  Jesus’ prophecies of this event bolster this idea, that Jesus warned His Church about this event.  What Rome did was fully in the plan of God.

Here is a timeline of the events leading up to the destruction of the city.  It tells us that a warning to the Church in Judea a few years before 70AD would make a lot of sense.

·       64-66: rule of Florus; massacres of Jews in Caesarea, Jerusalem.

·       66: the revolt by the Jews begins; the Romans are expelled from Jerusalem.

·       Jews govern Jerusalem and surrounding area.

·       Nero sends Vespasian with 60,000 soldiers and pushes back into Jerusalem.

·       69: Vespasian becomes emperor.

·       Passover: the Jews were permitted to enter Jerusalem but not permitted to leave, providing greater burden on food supplies.

·       April 70: Titus (the son of Vespasian) besieges Jerusalem.

·       August 70: the Romans breach the final defense.  Jerusalem is burned, many are killed, others are enslaved.  The temple is destroyed.