In AD63, a civil war between three factions of Jews erupted in Jerusalem. In their internal battles, they sealed the gates, and trapped over one million people in the city. The opposing factions destroyed the storehouse of grain, causing a terrible famine. Hundreds of thousands of Jews, were either killed in the war, or died of starvation. The combatants would not allow the bodies to be buried; therefore, huge piles of rotting corpses were left to decay in the streets. It caused a horrific infestation pestilence, killing thousands of Jews every day. The civil war lasted seven years, bringing “Great Tribulation” to the Jews.
Nicolas Poussin's Destruction of Jerusalem,1625-26
The Romans Come to Judea
In AD68, Emperor Nero sent General Vespasian to end the civil war in Judea. He pacified Galilee, and, in AD69, prepared to march on Jerusalem. When Nero committed suicide, the General ordered his troops to stand down. The army declared Vespasian Emperor, while he was at the gates of Jerusalem. He returned to Rome, and sent his son, General Titus, to end the civil war in Jerusalem. Titus amassed a force of sixty-five thousand troops and, in AD70, lay siege to Jerusalem.
Francesco Hayez 1867
The Jews Set Fire to the Temple
Titus made several offers of peace, but the tyrants leading the civil war refused to capitulate. At that point, the Roman army began to attack the walls of the city.
In an effort to thwart the Roman advance on the temple, the Jews set fire to the cloisters surrounding the outer court. The fire quickly became an inferno, and began to encroach on the sanctuary.
David Roberts 1850
The fall of Jerusalem
When the Romans entered the temple, it was already in flames. Titus ordered his troops to extinguish the fire; unfortunately, it quickly became a supernatural conflagration that consumed the sanctuary to the very foundation stones.
In the end, one million, one hundred thousand Jews had been killed, and ninety thousand were taken captive as slaves. They were sent to row in Roman galleys, forced to fight as gladiators, or thrown to wild beast in the arenas of Rome; however, most were worked to death in the mines of Egypt. Precisely as foretold by Messiah, Jerusalem was utterly desolate. See Mat 24:15
The Dome of the Rock: all that remains of the Temple in Jerusalem, post Armageddon
Please observe the details of this extraordinary outcropping, and read the author’s description below.
All that remains of the Temple in Jerusalem, post AD70
Please notice what appear to be individual stones in the lower left hand corner of the picture, a symmetrical hole in the upper left, and what appear to be footprints in two places. One is easily visible approximately half-way down on the right side of the formation. I propose that some of the smaller stones of the temple, along with other less durable remnants, became trapped in the boiling magma as it cooled and congealed into this mass of brimstone. The temple mount, on which it sits, was exposed to the elements for centuries, and the weather washed away the top layer of debris. As the less durable material trapped in the brimstone deteriorated, these geometric voids and individual stones became visible. The dimpled portions, predominant on the right hand side, have the appearance of a viscous substance that was boiling and, as it slowly cooled, the bursting bubbles in the material left pockmarks in the surface. I am convinced that this “rock” is the brimstone seal to the Lake of Fire, which is located at the center of the Earth. It covers the bottomless pit, in which God has imprisoned Satan and his minions. Locked in that brimstone; is empirical evidence that, precisely as prophesied, a supernatural conflagration ended God’s interaction with the ancient Israelites. It is a permanent record of God’s existence, and empirical evidence affirming the history of ancient Israel. Geologists need to make an extensive study of this incredible formation.
Isaiah Prophesied the Destruction of the Temple:
Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
Our holy and our beautiful temple, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste. Para. Isa. 64:10-11.
Ezekiel Prophesied the Destruction of the Temple:
Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the source of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul loves; and your sons and your daughters whom you have left, shall fall by the sword. Ez. 24:21
Messiah Foretold the Destruction of the Temple:
And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to show him the buildings of the temple.
And Jesus said to them, See all of these things? Surely I say to you, There will not be left here one stone upon another, they will all be thrown down. Para. Mat.24.:1-3.
Messiah issued his prophecy in AD30. Forty years later, in AD70, the temple was destroyed to the foundation stones, and Jerusalem was utterly desolate. There is no prophecy for an additional temple in Jerusalem.
The Dome of the Rock in modern Jerusalem
Click on the picture below for a close-up view of all that remains of the temple in Jerusalem.
Dome of the Rock: All that remains of the Temple in Jerusalem, post AD70
