Jesus and His Times

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Jerusalem's destructon, as read of in Daniel-Rops' book:

''But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, be sure that the time has come when she will be laid waste.'' Matt, 24: 15-22, Mark,13: 14-20; Luke, 21: 20-24) The words of Jesus.

Daniel-Rops: ''Forty years later at the beginning of the month of Nisan, in 70, a Roman army invested the Holy City. Four legions of Syrian and Numidian auxiliaries, 60,000 men with finest material equipment, were led by the Emperor Titus;'' --Continuing, ''The Jewish people, who had been hounded and humiliated by successive Procurators, thought they could repeat the heroic miracle of the Machabees and they rose against Rome.''

I'm skipping paragraphs; Here it is later: ''Titus, encamped on the Scopus, conducted his attack with care. For, in the beginning the Jewish position was a strong one; they had some 10,000 soldiers, plus 5,000 Idumeans, tough, seasoned mercenaries. The city was ringed by a triple wall, and fortified by eighty-two towers, also 400 ballista and other weapons captured some time before from a Roman legion. Internal unity was more or less achieved, and the siege began. The Romans ... had a redoubtable ally who could work [more] rapidly-- hunger, the famine which had been prophesied.'' -- On to: ''. . . No supplies can come in, and the defending soldiers have to loot to eat. Those who tried to escape from the city went straight to the arms of the Romans below, who sent them back with their hands cut off, if they were women, or crucified them in full sight of the city if they were men . . . As the famine went on, the most appalling incidents took place. It is recorded that soldiers who went into a house where they smelled burning were received by a madwoman who presented them with the dismembered limbs of her child upon a silver dish''

It goes on, describing the hundred days and more of suffering and resistance by the Jews. Little by little the Roman army advanced through the breached walls. With an immense slaughter the city was reduced to ruins, including the magnificent Temple'' -- which Titus had hoped to spare.

''Now that he had conquered . . . Titus tried to limit the disaster . . . ordered the fire to be extinguished. But the soldiers paid no heed, exasperated by the resistance; they killed, violated and massacred the priests in the courts, while the Bedouins --spread the fire, now futile in a military sense but felt somehow as inevitable and providential. 'It would have been impious,' said the victorious Roman, 'to hinder the divine judgment; these people were visibly being punished by God.'''*

There's a lot more. It's morbidly fascinating; and more so when seen in the light of Jesus' very direct prophesy. Later on, Daniel-Rops ties it in with Our Lord's equally grim predictions of the last days of the world.
*Copyrighted, E.P.Dutton & Co., Inc. New York

-- eugene c. chavez (chavezec@pacbell.net), February 02, 2001

Answers

The above in answer to yesterday's question by Michael.

-- Michael: williams007@aol.com February 01, 2001

-- eugene c. chavez (chavezec@pacbell.net), February 02, 2001.


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