Revelation...The Unveling
I want to start with a quote from Charles Spurgeon
Salvation is a theme for which I would fain enlist every holy tongue. I am greedy after witnesses for the glorious gospel of the blessed God. O that Christ crucified were the universal burden of men of God. Your guess at the number of the beast, your Napoleonic speculations, your conjectures concerning a personal Antichrist —forgive me, I count them but mere bones for dogs; while men are dying, and hell is filling, it seems to me the veriest drivel to be muttering about an Armageddon at Sebastopol or Sadowa or Sedan, and peeping between the folded leaves of destiny to discover the fate of Germany. Blessed are they who read and hear the words of the prophecy of the Revelation, but the like blessing has evidently not fallen on those who pretend to expound it, for generation after generation of them have been proven to be in error by the mere lapse of time, and the present race will follow to the same inglorious sepulcher. https://archive.spurgeon.org/eschat.php#statements
vs 2 And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?
vs 3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.
vs 4 And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put fine garments on you.”
Message to the Seven Churches
I come QUICKLY
7 Golden candlesticks=churches and Jesus in the midst
4 and said to him, “Run, speak to that young man, saying, ‘Jerusalem will be inhabited without walls because of the multitude of men and cattle within it. 5 For I,’ declares the Lord, ‘will be a wall of fire around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.’”
10 Sing for joy and be glad, O daughter of Zion; for behold I am coming and I will dwell in your midst,” declares the Lord. 11 “Many nations will join themselves to the Lord in that day and will become My people. Then I will dwell in your midst, and you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you. 12 The Lord will [g]possess Judah as His portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.
Revelation ch 1
Now, the 7 Candlesticks are the 7 Churches, Zechariah Prophesies About
Zecharaiah 3 1Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” 3Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments (us before Christ) and standing before the angel. 4He spoke and said to those who were standing before him, saying, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” Again he said to him, “See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes.” 5Then I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments, while the angel of the Lord was standing by.
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people
in the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the tender mercy of our God,
whereby the sunrise shall visit us[h] from on high
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Luke 1:76-79
For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. WE ARE TALKING ABOUT JESUS HERE!!!! BUT NOT JUST JESUS, THE 7 FOLD MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT THROUGH US, HIS CHURCH THROUGH THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Revelation 5:6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
Zechariah 4:10 For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.
The book of Revelation itself identifies the seven Spirits as equivalent to the Lamb's "seven eyes, which are . . . sent out into all the earth" (Revelation 5:6). These "seven eyes" probably allude to Zechariah 3:9 and 4:10, where they are shown to be "upon the stone," a symbol of the Branch or Messiah, and directly described as "the eyes of the LORD which scan [or rove] to and fro throughout the whole earth." In addition, Revelation 3:1 states Christ "has [or possesses] the seven Spirits of God," and Revelation 4:5 calls them "seven lamps of fire . . . burning before the throne.
The ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He pondereth all his goings" (Proverbs 5:21). "The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good" (chap. Proverbs 15:3).
John 15:25-26 26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. 27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.
Acts 2 29 “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, [i]according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, 31 he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. 33 Therefore being exalted [j]to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.
“Sit at My right hand,
35 Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” ’
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and strength,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the [reverential and obedient] fear of the Lord—
3
And He will delight in the fear of the Lord,
And He will not judge by what His eyes see,
Nor make decisions by what His ears hear;
4 But with righteousness and justice He will judge the poor,
And decide with fairness for the downtrodden of the earth;
And He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.
5 And righteousness will be the belt around His loins,
And faithfulness the belt around His waist.
During the time Zechariah was writing, Zerubbabel served as governor and a man named Joshua served as the high priest (Zechariah 3:1). Earlier, God had used Moses as the leader of the ancient Israelites and his brother Aaron as the high priest.
In the New Testament, Christ sent His disciples out “two by two” (Mark 6:7). Although they occasionally had others traveling with them, Paul and Barnabas worked together to take the gospel to the gentiles.
When two people work together, they can often be more productive than when working alone. Recognizing this principle, Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 states: “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up.”
Another indication why God will have two witnesses is because of the importance of having at least two people to testify in judicial matters. As Deuteronomy 19:15 states: “One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established” (also see Deuteronomy 17:6).
By having two witnesses, God is following His own law as He, through the two witnesses, warns people to repent of their sins prior to punishing them if they do not heed His instruction.
The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it. Luke 16:16
Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. John 1:45
Acts 13 4 But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down. 15 And after the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, “Men and brethren, if you have any word of [c]exhortation for the people, say on.”
16 Then Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said, “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen: 17 The God of this people [d]Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with [e]an uplifted arm He brought them out of it. 18 Now for a time of about forty years He put up with their ways in the wilderness. 19 And when He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land to them by allotment.
20 “After that He gave them judges for about four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet. 21 And afterward they asked for a king; so God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’ 23 From this man’s seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a[f] Savior—Jesus— 24 after John had first preached, before His coming, the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not He. But behold, there comes One after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to loose.’
26 “Men and brethren, sons of the [g]family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to you the [h]word of this salvation has been sent. 27 For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they did not know Him, nor even the voices of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled them in condemning Him. 28 And though they found no cause for death in Him, they asked Pilate that He should be put to death. 29 Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb. 30 But God raised Him from the dead. 31 He was seen for many days by those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses to the people. 32 And we declare to you glad tidings—that promise which was made to the fathers. 33 God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm:
‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.’
34 And that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to [i]corruption, He has spoken thus:
‘I will give you the sure [j]mercies of David.’
35 Therefore He also says in another Psalm:
‘You will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption.’
36 “For David, after he had served [k]his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and [l]saw corruption; 37 but He whom God raised up [m]saw no corruption. 38 Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; 39 and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. 40 Beware therefore, lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you:
41 ‘Behold, you despisers,
Marvel and perish!
For I work a work in your days,
A work which you will by no means believe,
Though one were to declare it to you.’ ”
Blessing and Conflict at Antioch
42 [n]So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. 43 Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.
44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God. 45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the things spoken by Paul. 46 Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. 47 For so the Lord has commanded us:
‘I have set you as a light to the Gentiles,
That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”
48 Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.
49 And the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region. 50 But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. 51 But they shook off the dust from their feet against them, and came to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
Luke 24 44 Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” 45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
46 Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, [l]and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And you are witnesses of these things. 49 Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city [m]of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”
1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must [a]shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. 3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.
Revelation 1 Kings and Priests
Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.
To Him who [b]loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6 and has made us [c]kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Revelation 5 Worthy Is the Lamb
has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eye
And a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.
2
has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.”[b]
Josephus on the fall of Jerusalem
Scriptural worldview
That the God of Israel was involved in the course of human history was an unquestioned assumption for Josephus, one that would not have raised many eyebrows amongst the members of his audience in the city of Rome. While they might not necessarily view the involvement of the gods as subject material for the historian, taking a more Thucydidean view of things,7 the typical Greek or Roman audience member or reader would nonetheless understand, if not accept, the judgement that certain aspects of the Jewish war against Rome could be explained only by divine involvement. The Flavian emperors themselves publicly claimed that their victory over the Jews could be attributed to divine favour.8 Thus, unsurprising in their ancient context are those moments in the narrative where Josephus credits certain events or outcomes to the transempirical.9 For example, at the critical moment of the Roman assault on the Temple Mount, it is 'some supernatural impulse' (δαιμονίῳ ὁρμῇ τινι - War 6.252) that motivates a certain soldier to hurl his flaming torch into the sanctuary. Elsewhere in his account, Josephus credits a 'supernatural storm' (θύελλα δαιμόνιος) with the success of the Romans in their siege of Gamala (War 4.76), while at Masada the turning point is a wind that changes direction 'as though by supernatural foresight' (καθάπερ ἐκ δαιμονίου προνοίας - War 7.318).10
We should not think, however, that the theological undercurrent in Josephus's account of the Jewish war was on this account simply reflective of a general belief in the existence and activity of the spirit world or of Josephus's close relationship with the Roman emperors, whose claim to divine favour he hereby parroted.11 For when we dig further into what Josephus considered the God of Israel was doing in the war, it becomes clear that Josephus's view is far from generic and far from Roman. Rather, God's involvement in the war as described by Josephus can only be understood through the lens of Scripture, as that was also the Jewish historian's sightline when seeking to explain the events he himself had observed and in which he had taken part.12
This is above all evident in the conviction that the Jewish people were the chosen ones who had a special relationship with their God that could not be broken by any defeat at the hands of a foreign world power. Josephus does, famously, state that 'God, who went the round of nations, bringing to each in turn the rod of empire, now rested over Italy' (War 5.367).13 While this picture of God changing his residence from Jerusalem to Rome fits in well with the Roman siege practice of evocatio deorum, whereby they called out the gods of conquered nations to join them prior to destroying the city (Nodet 2007:103), Josephus's narrative as a whole prevents us from casting this statement in an entirely Roman light.14 Instead, God's abandonment of his sanctuary and his support of the Romans in their suppression of the revolt are situated within the sin-punishment/obedience-reward paradigm that governed Josephus's interpretation of life for the chosen people of God.
This framework was inspired by principles that were established in the Jewish Scriptures, in particular the book of Deuteronomy, which was of central importance in the Second Temple period, as the large number of copies amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls clearly attests.15 The framework is most explicitly laid out in Moses' speech describing the blessings and curses of the covenant.16 In his rendition of this speech in his Jewish Antiquities, Josephus himself echoes the scriptural message that covenant obedience would be rewarded and disobedience harshly punished (Ant. 4.189-191, 312-314), although he does tailor the message to reflect more exactly the destructions of 586 BC and AD 70.17 In fact, he identifies this as the key message of Antiquities:
[O]ne who would wish to read through it would especially learn from this history that those who comply with the will of God and do not venture to transgress laws that have been well-enacted succeed in all things beyond belief and that happiness lies before them as a reward from God. But to the extent that they dissociate themselves from the scrupulous observance of these laws the practicable things become impracticable, and whatever seemingly good thing they pursue with zeal turns into irremediable misfortunes. (Ant. 1.14; cf. 1.20, 23, 72; 6.307; 7.93; 17.60; 19:16)
That Josephus had this principle in mind also when he was composing Jewish War is clear from his description of the disasters that befall individuals such as Aristobulus, Herod, Simon bar Giora, John of Gischala, and the Roman governor Catullus as direct consequence of their wicked actions.18 The causal link he makes between their actions and their just deserts is grounded in the principle that God punishes sins.
Josephus also locates his explanation for the destruction of the temple within this framework. As Klawans has observed, 'simply put, Jerusalem fell for its sins (War 6.95-102; cf. Ant. 20.166)' (2010:290). Precisely which sins these were is not laid out consistently in War, but we should not expect Josephus to have a fully worked out theological explanation (Price 2005:117-119). He was wrestling with the catastrophe that had overcome his people. Throughout the narrative, however, there is the clear message that certain actions brought about the displeasure of God and led to the punishment of his people at the hands of the Romans. These actions included especially the murder of innocents (War 4.314-325, 334-344; 5.15-18; 6.200-213), the desecration of the temple by bloodshed (War 4.150-151, 201, 215; 5.15-18, 100-105; 6.95-110), and the violation of the Sabbath and festivals (War 2.456; 4.102-103, 402; 5.100-105), all of which contributed to the heaping up of sins that could only result in God's abandonment of his sanctuary and the punishment of his people.19
While the concept of pollution was also familiar to Josephus's non-Jewish readers or audience members (Mason 2008:335, n. 2804), the context within which the punishment is set reveals that Josephus is nonetheless dealing with a uniquely scriptural framework. For the purpose was ultimately not retribution but correction. There was a special relationship between God and Israel that precluded the complete abandonment of his people, as Antiquities in particular makes clear (Spilsbury 1998:182-190). Thus, for example, Josephus has Moses declare to the Israelites following their rebellion at the borders of Canaan, 'For this reason He would not destroy all, nor would He annihilate their race, which He held in greater honor than all the rest of humankind' (Ant. 3.313).20 Implicit in his account of the war is, therefore, the expectation that God would return to his chosen people and, even, that his sanctuary would be restored.21 This is one of the implications of Josephus's close linking of the second destruction with the first, even to the date (War 6.250, 268-269).The proscribed time of punishment and the rebuilding of the temple then fuelled the hopes and expectations that now God's displeasure was also temporary.22 For the covenant remained, even during times of punishment, and repentance would lead to a restored relationship, as the prophets made abundantly clear.23 In his account of Moses' speech, therefore, Josephus adds that, after their suffering, 'the God who created you will give back to your citizens both your cities and your Temple, the loss of these will occur not once, but often' (Ant. 4.314).24
Thus, far from suggesting that God's presence on the side of the Romans supported their own self-image as uniquely favoured by the gods, Josephus denied the Romans − and the Flavians in particular − ultimate credit for the victory and subordinated them to God's purposes for his own people. Moreover, while confirming the special status of his own people, he hinted at the temporary nature of the Romans' own empire (Ant. 4.115-116; 10.209-210). For the corollary was that eventually God would no longer be on the side of the Romans and the rod of rule would pass again to another nation.25 The Jewish nation, on the other hand, despite her present situation, was the stone of Daniel's prophecy that would destroy the kingdom of iron (Rome) and fill the whole earth (Ant. 10.210; Dn 2:31-45; cf. Spilsbury 2003:19-20; Spilsbury & Begg 2005:265-267).
For Josephus, then, the nagging question of God was to be answered by viewing the destruction of the temple within the framework of salvation history presented in the Jewish Scriptures. The catastrophe that had befallen the Jewish nation could only be understood as a further outworking of the sin-punishment paradigm that was laid out in the book of Deuteronomy and applied to the history of Israel by the prophets. This scriptural worldview allowed Josephus to maintain the conviction that the Jewish people were special to the God of Israel and that their present lot was provisional.
Scriptural exegesis
For Josephus, however, Scripture provided not only a framework for the unfolding of history but also a rich resource of prophetic pronouncements that underlined the appropriateness of viewing the destruction as part of a Heilsgeschichte . At the heart of this second use of Scripture lay Josephus's characterisation of himself as a sort of prophet,26 a latter-day Jeremiah,27 and his work as a natural continuation of the work of the prophets in composing history.28 Nevertheless, his own 'prophecy' and those of his contemporaries differed significantly from the biblical prophets, who spoke directly with God (Price 2007:191). Josephus never claims to have had this privilege himself.29 Instead, the prophetic pronouncements regarding the events of AD 70 were made on the basis of a certain understanding of Scripture, namely that it had the power to speak directly to contemporary events. That is, beyond their contribution to the development of the worldview described above, the prophecies in Scripture were also able to be interpreted in such a way that they could be applied to the present and near future.30
Thus Josephus encourages his readers to pick up the book of Daniel 'to learn about the hidden things that are to come' (Ant. 10.210), and later claims that Daniel predicted not only the events that occurred under Antiochus IV Epiphanes, but also those of Josephus's own day (Ant. 10.276). He also presents the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel as having foreseen the destruction of the temple in AD 70.31 Exactly where Josephus thought Jeremiah's prophecy had the events of the 1st century AD in view is unclear,32 but what is apparent is that Josephus expected Scripture to speak to contemporary events. Underlying this expectation was, of course, a certain confidence that the destruction did not fall outside the control or plan of the God of Israel. In the aftermath of the war, therefore, connecting the earlier destruction with the tragedy of AD 70 must have provided a level of comfort and reassurance, as well as a further answer to the nagging question of God.33
We should not necessarily limit this phenomenon of 'charismatic exegesis' (Aune 1983:133; Gaston 1970:440-443) to the post-eventum reality when Josephus sat down to compose his account of the revolt.34 For Josephus presents the phenomenon as widespread already prior to the revolt, not only by figures such as himself, priests who, he asserted, knew the Scriptures especially well,35 but also others, such as the Essenes.36 The common people could of course, in Josephus's enlightened estimation, be seriously mislead by wrongly interpreted prophecy, such as those who gathered together at the time of Herod's capture of the city in 37 BC, and 'indulged in transports of frenzy and fabricated numerous oracular utterances to fit the crisis' (War 1.347).37
Thus, also the destruction was said to have been portended not only by signs and wonders in the heavens (War 2.650; 6.288-300; Tacitus, Ann. 5.13), but also by the circulation of existing prophecies that were applied to events of the near future. Josephus reports that, 'there was a certain ancient oracle of those men, that the city should then be taken and the sanctuary burnt, by right of war, when a sedition should invade the Jews, and their own right hand should pollute the temple of God' (War 4.388).38 Later on, he clarifies the content of this oracle and also makes reference to another (War 6.311-313),39 which he links to the accession of Vespasian and may have served also as the basis for his own famous prediction (War 3.401-403). The circulation of this latter oracle receives (likely) independent confirmation in the writings of Tacitus (Hist. 5.13.2) and Suetonius (Vesp. 4.5), lending support to its historicity.40 The precise writings behind the oracle are, however, unclear - the most likely being the prophecy of Daniel (2:31-45 and/or 9:24-27).41
How these oracles became popular is unclear, but we can perhaps imagine that a priestly figure such as Josephus himself shared his charismatic exegesis of a scriptural passage with those under his influence. When the events that shortly transpired began to give credence to the veracity of the prediction, its popularity and circulation increased. In other cases, however, the use of Scripture to mediate present and future events was not as convincing. Thus a certain Jesus ben Ananias, a 'foolish peasant' (τῶν ἰδιωτῶν ἄγροικος) whom Josephus describes as predicting the coming destruction already 4 years prior to the outbreak of the revolt itself, was beaten severely for his message of doom, first at the command of the Jewish leaders and then of Albinus, the Roman procurator. In his mouth Josephus places reminiscences of Jeremiah's earlier prophecy (7:34; cf. 16:9; 25:10; 33:11) when this Jesus cries, 'A voice from the east, a voice from the west, a voice from the four winds, a voice against Jerusalem and the holy house, a voice against the bridegrooms and the brides, and a voice against this whole people!' (War 6.301).
While the historicity of such a figure is hard to determine, Josephus's own narratives provide a setting within which a Jesus ben Ananias fits. While this Jesus may have been dismissed at the time as a lunatic, he was not alone in his conviction that present and future events could be interpreted and understood through careful reading of Scripture. Perhaps the problem with a 'foolish peasant' such as Jesus ben Ananias was not that his message was not believed by the leaders, but that he broke a priestly or aristocratic monopoly on the application of scriptural prophecies and principles to contemporary events. In any case, we can recognise in summary that both before and after the destruction, Josephus and his contemporaries made sense of the tragedy by appealing to Scripture. There was true comfort to be found in the conviction that their God was at work in history for their ultimate benefit, even when the present seemed to belie their confidence in this reality. There was always hope.
Jesus on the fall of Jerusalem
The picture both pre-and-post-eventum that can be drawn from Josephus provides a valuable context within which also to analyse certain sayings of Jesus recorded in the gospels of Matthew and Luke that provide evidence of similar efforts to articulate what God was doing in AD 70. For the purposes of this article I will leave aside the question of exactly whose efforts these were - Jesus himself or the gospel writers - and will simply consider the overall themes that emerge, noting the contact points with Josephus where appropriate. I hope to demonstrate thereby that these predictions flow out of a Heilsgeschichtliche worldview similar to that of Josephus and need not be dismissed, even by those who principally reject the possibility of prophecy, as vaticinia ex eventum. In my analysis, I will focus my attention, as I did with Josephus, on those places where Jesus articulates the meaning or purpose of the destruction (Lk 19:41-44; 21:20-24; Mt 23:34-35 //Lk 11:47-51; Mt 23:37-39 // Lk 13:34-35).
The simplest explanation was for Jesus the same as we observed above for Josephus: 'simply put, Jerusalem fell for its sins' (Klawans 2010:290). But more than that can also be said. For Jesus also views the destruction as the fulfilment of previous prophecy. Thus, in the Lukan version of his well-known discourse on the Mount of Olives, Jesus follows his prediction of the siege of Jerusalem with this assessment, 'For this is the time of punishment in fulfilment of all that has been written' (Lk 21:22).42 With the phrase 'all that has been written' (πάντα τὰ γεγραμμένα),43 the events of AD 70 are cast as the climax of scriptural prophecy and as part of the march of human history that received its shape in these same writings. Elsewhere in Luke's gospel, Jesus similarly points to his upcoming death and resurrection as the fulfilment of πάντα τὰ γεγραμμένα (18:31; 24:44).
Precisely why this punishment was deserved is made clearer in the other predictions that were ascribed to Jesus. Above all, the message is that God was punishing the Jewish leaders for their rejection and violent treatment of the prophets. Thus, in a passage recorded with almost identical wording in Matthew and Luke, Jesus cries out:
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. (Lk 13:34-35a // Mt 23:37-39)44
In the gospel of Matthew, this lament occurs in the context of Jesus' pronouncement of seven woes on the teachers of the law and the Pharisees. Here the charge is made even more explicit when Jesus says:
And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation. (Mt 23:35)
In the immediate context it is clear that the blood of the prophets is particularly in view (vv. 29-34), as the Lukan parallel also demonstrates (Lk 11:47-51).
This charge was not novel. Rather, its roots could be found in a scriptural pattern of history. Thus the Chronicler also linked the first fall of Jerusalem with the treatment of the prophets:
The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. But they mocked God's messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy. (2 Chr 36:15-16; cf. 17-19)45
The same explanation is given in the book of Jeremiah (Jr 7:21-35; 25:4; 29:17-19; cf. Horsley 1999:110), which held an important place not only for Josephus, but also for Matthew (Mt 2:17; 16:14; 27:9; cf. Konradt 2007:195-232,esp. 216-226). In the 1st century, even apart from its scriptural resonances, the charge may have been all the more distressing given the recent killings of such (pseudo-)prophetic figures as Theudas and the Egyptian, to whom some, at least, credited genuine prophetic abilities.46 For Jesus, however, the pronouncement seems to be intended as an inclusio, to encompass the scope of scriptural history-bookended by the first death, Abel, and the last, Zechariah,47 which is where the meaning of the coming destruction is then located.48
Closely linked to this emphasis on the killing of the prophets is the theme of innocent or righteous blood, the spilling of which is condemned throughout the Hebrew Scriptures (Gn 4:8-16; 9:5-6; Lv 17:4b; Dt 19:1-13; 21:1-9; Jr 7:6; 22:17; 26:15; Jl 3:19; Lm 4:13), and connected with the outpouring of the wrath of God (Lv 18:25; Nm 35:33-34; Dt 19:4-13; 32:35, 43; Ps 79:10). Josephus also made this link, while judging those murders that occurred within the temple grounds as particularly heinous and thus especially culpable (Ant. 20.163-166; cf. War 4.150-151, 201, 215; 5.15-18, 100-105; 6.95-110). In the case of Jesus' prediction, the emphasis is not only on the death of the prophets in the distant past, including Zechariah who was killed between the temple and the altar,49 but also on the continuing and forthcoming tragedies (Peels 2001:596).
These culminate, of course, in the coming death of Jesus himself, which stands, particularly in Matthew's gospel, as the climax of the shedding of righteous blood. Matthew highlights this by employing as inter-text Lamentations 4:13, which provides the reason for the first destruction: 'But it happened because of the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed within her the blood of the righteous' (cf. Moffitt 2006). Jesus is represented by Matthew as 'the righteous man' par excellence, which is developed in the narrative through the dream of Pilate's wife (27:19), Pilate's hand-washing (27:24), and the people's response (27:25).50 According to Matthew's gospel, then, Jesus' death could only result in a second temple destruction.
Luke, on the other hand, emphasises the related theme of the rejection of God's messengers, also culminating with Jesus, in keeping with Luke's emphasis on Jesus' status as prophet (4:14-21, 24-30; 7:11-17, 22; 13:33; 24:19). Thus, in his lament over Jerusalem, Jesus predicts the coming destruction in rich Old Testament language connected to the previous destruction,51 ending with this explanation, 'They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognise the time of God's coming to you ' (οὐκ ἔγνως τὸν καιρὸν τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς σου - Lk 19:44, my emphasis). Jesus' coming was, therefore, the ultimate visitation, which was supposed to bring peace, (see v. 41; cf. 1:79; 2:14) but instead brought judgement because of the unbelieving response.52 These explanations of Matthew and Luke are, of course, a sharp divergence from that of Josephus. Nevertheless, they share the foundation upon which they constructed their explanations, namely that the first tragedy, as it was processed and described in Scripture, provided the key to understanding the second.
A final example of this convergence can be found in Jesus' prediction that the temple or, perhaps, Jerusalem (Gaston 1970:345-346), would be left 'deserted' or 'desolate' (ἔρημος) (Lk 13:35 // Mt 23:38).53 The meaning of this prediction seems to be that the destruction would be preceded by the withdrawal of the Shekinah, the divine presence (Borg 1998:190, 196-197). Within the context of Matthew in particular this is understood as a foreshadowing of Jesus' departure from the temple and the rending of the temple veil during his crucifixion, both of which served as signposts that the temple was now forsaken.54 This was not, however, a strictly 1st century expectation. It is also the prophetic language of Ezekiel and Jeremiah. In the former book of prophecy, the condemnation of the idolaters who profaned the temple is connected directly with the departure of the glory of God (10:18-19; 11:22) prior to the judgement of the city (11:7-12). In the book of Jeremiah as well, the prophet writes: 'I [God] have forsaken my house, I have abandoned my heritage, I have given the beloved of my soul into the hands of her enemies' (12:7; cf. 6:8; 22:5-9).
The divine desertion of the temple with its eventual ruin was thus rooted in the prophetic writings dealing with the first destruction and to be expected in the events leading up to the second. It is not surprising, therefore, to find this a common theme amongst Jesus' contemporaries. Josephus, as we mentioned briefly above, describes the departure of the glory of God from the temple on multiple occasions (War 2.539; 5.412; 6.299; Ant. 20.166), as does the author of 2 Baruch (8.2; 64.6). In fact, the story circulated so widely that the Roman historian Tacitus imagined the scene vividly in his own account of the revolt.55 All agreed, then, that the God of Israel had abandoned his temple before it was consigned to flames by the Roman army.
But despite the overall doom and gloom of Jesus' messages concerning the coming destruction of the temple and the city, not all was lost. In the scriptural prophecies elements of judgement and salvation were frequently placed side by side (Jr 13:15-17; 8:19ff.; 23:9ff.). Thus also Jesus, rooting the tragedy of AD 70 in salvation history, demonstrates a firm expectation of the return of divine favour, adding to his prediction of the temple's desolation, 'And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord"' (Lk 13:35 // Mt 23:39). Here then he speaks of a reversal, of the return of God's presence, at such a time as repentance is shown and the final prophet, Jesus himself, accepted. Far from being a definite rejection of Israel, as many have suggested (e.g. Garland 1979:197, 203, 210-215; Newport 1995:68-76), Jesus' words presuppose that the special relationship between Israel and her God continued to determine the events of history, including future restoration (cf. Borg 1998:197; Davies & Allison 2004:3:324-325; Moffitt 2006:320). This is consistent with the message of other early Christian texts that the church was the new Israel not by displacing the Jews, but by fulfilling the original purpose of Israel, namely to bring the Gentiles into covenant with God (Eph 2:19-22; Heb 2:16; 7:22; 8:6-13; 1 Clem. 31:2). Thus, for Jesus as for Josephus, the destruction of the temple in AD 70 was unquestionably a watershed in the Heilsgeschichte of the relationship between the God of Israel and his chosen people, but it was by no means its telos .
Concluding thoughts
The outcome of considering Jesus' predictions as they have been recorded is the recognition that the Jesus who appears in the gospels of Matthew and Luke has a consistent understanding of the coming destruction, a viewpoint that is, moreover, fully recognisable within its 1st century setting. The meaning of the events of AD 70 provided by Jesus is as Jewish as that given by the historian Josephus. And why should it not have been? Their worldviews were similarly shaped by the scriptural lenses through which they looked backwards and forwards in time. For them, history was directed by and acted upon by the God of Israel, and, therefore, the place to find answers was within Scripture, the source and deposit of his divine revelation.
http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0259-94222015000200055
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