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Author	: Bill Kochman
Publish	: Jun. 14, 2025
Update	: Jun. 14, 2025
Parts	: 25

Synopsis:




Continuing our discussion from part nineteen, what followed next as the temple continued to burn can only be described as pure misery and slaughter, as the Romans, now driven by both their uncontrolled passion and their greed for personal wealth, killed everyone who they encountered, whether young child or old man. Josephus reports that ten thousand people were slaughtered in the immediate temple area alone. Blood was everywhere, and there were so many slain bodies that the ground itself could not even been seen. Over these the Romans marched as they pursued those Jews who still remained alive. As we enter Book 6 Chapter 5 of "The Wars of the Jews", we read the following:

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"While the house [the temple] was on fire, everything was plundered that came to hand, and ten thousand of those that were caught were slain: nor was there a commiseration of any age, or any reverence of gravity but children, and old men, and profane persons, and priests, were all slain in the same manner; so that this war went round all sorts of men, and brought them to destruction, and as well those that made supplication for their lives, as those that defended themselves by fighting.

The flame was also carried a long way, and made an echo, together with the groans of those that were slain; and because this hill was high, and the works at the temple were very great, one would have thought the whole city had been on fire. Nor can one imagine anything either greater, or more terrible than this noise; for there was at once a shout of the Roman legions, who were marching all together, and a sad clamour of THE SEDITIOUS, who were now surrounded with fire and sword. The people also that were left above were beaten back upon the enemy, and under a great consternation, and made sad moans at the calamity they were under, the multitude also that was in the city joined in this outcry with those that were upon the hill.

And besides, many of those that were worn away by the famine, and their mouths almost closed, when they saw the fire of the holy house, they exerted their utmost strength, and brake out into groans and outcries again; Perea did also return the echo, as well as the mountains round about the [city], and augmented the force of the entire noise.

Yet was the misery itself more terrible than this disorder; for one would have thought that the hill itself, on which the temple stood, was seething hot, as full of fire on every part of it, that the blood was larger in quantity than the fire, and those that were slain more in number than those that slew them: for the ground did nowhere appear visible, for the dead bodies that lay on it, but the soldiers went over heaps of those bodies, as they ran upon such as fled from them.

And now it was that the multitude of THE ROBBERS were thrust out [of the inner court of the temple] by the Romans, and had much ado to get into the outward court, and from thence into the city, while the remainder of the populace fled into the cloister of that outer court. As for the priests, some of them plucked up from the holy house the spikes that were upon it, with their bases, which were made of lead, and shot them at the Romans instead of darts. But then, as they gained nothing by so doing, and as the fire burst out upon them, they retired to the wall, that was eight cubits broad, and there they tarried; yet did two of these of eminence among them, who might have saved themselves by going over to the Romans, or have borne up with courage, and taken their fortune with the others, throw themselves into the fire, and were burnt, together with the holy house, their names were Meirus the son of Belgas, and Joseph the son of Daleus.

And now the Romans, judging that it was in vain to spare what was round about the holy house, burnt all those places, as also the remains of the cloisters and the gates, two excepted; the one on the east side, and the other on the south; both which, however, they burnt afterward. They also burnt down the treasury chambers, in which was an immense quantity of money, and an immense number of garments, and other precious goods there reposited; and, to speak all in a few words, there it was that the entire riches of the Jews were heaped up together, while the rich people had there built themselves chambers [to contain such furniture.] The soldiers also came to the rest of the cloisters that were in the outer [court of the] temple, whither the women, and children, and a great mixed multitude of the people fled, in number about six thousand. But before Caesar had determined anything about these people, or given the commanders any orders relating to them, the soldiers were in such a rage, that they set that cloister on fire ; by which means it came to pass, that some of these were destroyed by throwing themselves down head-long, and some were burnt in the cloisters themselves. Nor did any one of them escape with his life."

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Let me remind you yet again that all of these things occurred in precise fulfillment of Jesus' prophecy about four decades earlier. While the fall of Jerusalem marked the end of the major part of the seven-year war, mop-up exercises continued for another three and a half years until 73 AD. This was due to the fact that there were still stubborn pockets of Jewish resistance such as the famed fortress of Masada, which I also discuss in the companion article called "The Fall of Masada".

As I mentioned earlier, the tragedy here is that so much of this death and destruction could have been avoided, had the Jews simply bowed to their Roman conquerors, and accepted it as God's chastisement, due to their cruel treatment of, and rejection of the Son of God. For years, both Jesus and the Apostles had warned of the great wrath to come, due to their treatment of God's Son.

Please consider the following set of verses as proof of this. Unlike many modern Christians who embrace the doctrine of Futurism, and who erroneously believe that these verses are describing some future period of wrath in our current times, these verses are actually talking about the wrath which the children of disobedience -- meaning the unbelieving Jews -- were forced to endure during the Great Tribulation of the First Jewish-Roman War which, as we have seen, took place during the First Century:

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate."


"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord."


"And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled."


"Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon THE CHILDREN OF DISOBEDIENCE."


"Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in THE CHILDREN OF DISOBEDIENCE:"


"For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on THE CHILDREN OF DISOBEDIENCE:"


"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;"


NOTE: Regarding Romans 1:18 above, when the Apostle Paul says "who hold the truth in unrighteousness", he is referring to the fact that Jesus is both the way, the truth and the life, and the righteousness of God. Paul then juxtapositions this with how the unbelieving Jews rejected the true righteousness which God offered through His Son, and preferred instead to foolishly place their hope in trying to establish their own righteousness through observance of the Mosaic Law. This is clearly explained in the following group of Bible verses:

"But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:"


"Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth."


Following are some additional Bible verses regarding the wrath of God:

"And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?"


"The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb . . . And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God."


"And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God . . . And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever."


"And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth . . . And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath."


"And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God."


". . . he that cometh after me . . . will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."


". . . He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."


"It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God . . . For our God is a consuming fire."


"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."


From reading so much of the writings of both Flavius Josephus and Tacitus, one cannot help but notice the unwillingness of the Jewish seditionists to compromise their strong personal convictions, which went hand-in-hand with their unbending, stubborn recalcitrance and absolute obstinate nature. This is clearly exemplified by the events which transpired at Masada, where they preferred to die first -- even if it was by their own hand -- rather than surrender. I am also reminded of what the unbelieving Jews said during the trial of Jesus Christ:

"Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified. And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified. When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. Then answered all the people, and said, HIS BLOOD BE ON US, AND ON OUR CHILDREN. Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified."


Tragically, that is EXACTLY what they got when God held them accountable, and harshly judged them during that very bloody First Jewish-Roman War. As we have seen, it resulted in the destruction of their beloved city, Jerusalem, and the temple compound, as well as in the death of over one million Jews, and the enslavement of almost 100,000 others, according to their own historian, Flavius Josephus. Returning to Book 6 of "The Wars of the Jews", some of you will no doubt recall that in His sermons which we find in the Gospels, the Lord clearly warned that false prophets would arise which would deceive the people. Consider the following Bible verses:

"And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many . . . For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."


"For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect."


As Josephus continues to describe the misery, chaos and death which occurred once the Romans had breached Jerusalem's three walls, and eventually the temple compound itself, he explains why so many people died within the temple compound. They were in fact deceived by a false prophet who convinced them that God would protect them if they fled into the temple. In fact, he says there were other false prophets who were in cahoots with the seditionists, and who did their bidding. Why were they deceiving the people in this manner? Josephus says that it was to keep the people from deserting over to the Romans, as we see by the following excerpt:

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"A false prophet was the occasion of these people's destruction, who had made a public proclamation in the city that very day, That 'God commanded them to get up upon the temple, and that there they should receive miraculous signs of their deliverance.' Now, there was then a great number of false prophets suborned by THE TYRANTS [the seditionists] to impose on the people, who denounced this to them, that they should wait for deliverance from God; and THIS WAS IN ORDER TO KEEP THEM FROM DESERTING, and that they might be buoyed up above fear and care by such hopes. Now a man that is in adversity does easily comply with such promises; for, when such a seducer makes him believe that he shall be delivered from those miseries which oppress him, then it is that the patient is full of hopes of such his deliverance.

Thus were the miserable people persuaded by these deceivers, and such as belied God himself; while they did not attend, nor give credit to the signs that were so evident, and did so plainly foretell their future desolation, but like men infatuated, without either eyes to see, or minds to consider, did not regard the denunciations that God made to them."

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Please note how Josephus mentions certain signs which were observed, and denunciations which God himself had made to them. Exactly what is he talking about? Well, as it turns out, according to what Josephus writes next, years before the rebellion had begun, and before Jerusalem fell to the Romans, God had begun giving the people of Jerusalem and other cities signs of their impending destruction and doom. Speaking of these matters, Josephus writes as follows:

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"Thus there was a star resembling a sword, which stood over the city, and a comet that continued a whole year. Thus also before the Jews' rebellion, and before those commotions which preceded the war, when the people were come in great crowds to the feast of unleavened bread, on the eighth day of the month Xanthicus, [Nisan], and at the ninth hour of the night, so great a light shone round the altar and the holy house, that it appeared to be bright day-time; which light lasted for half an hour. This light seemed to be a good sign to the unskilful, but was so interpreted by the sacred scribes, as to portend those events that followed immediately upon it.

At the same festival also, an heifer, as she was led by the high priest to be sacrificed, brought forth a lamb in the midst of the temple.

Moreover the eastern gate of the inner [court of the] temple, which was of brass, and vastly heavy, and had been with difficulty shut by twenty men, and rested upon a basis armed with iron, and had bolts fastened very deep into the firm floor, which was there made of one entire stone, was seen to be opened of its own accord about the sixth hour of the night. Now, those that kept watch in the temple came hereupon running to the captain of the temple, and told him of it; who then came up thither, and, not without great difficulty, was able to shut the gate again. This also appeared to the vulgar to be a very happy prodigy, as if God did thereby open them the gate of happiness. But the men of learning understood it, that the security of their holy house was dissolved of its own accord, and that the gate was opened for the advantage of their enemies. So these publicly declared, that the signal foreshowed the desolation that was coming upon them.

Besides these, a few days after that feast, on the one and twentieth day of the month Artemisius, [Jyar,] a certain prodigious and incredible phenomenon appeared: I suppose the account of it would seem to be a fable, were it not related by those that saw it, and were not the events that followed it of so considerable a nature as to deserve such signals: for, before sun-setting, chariots and troops of soldiers in their armour were seen running about among the clouds, and surrounding of cities.

Moreover, at that feast which we call Pentecost as the priests were going by night into the inner [court of the] temple, as their custom was, to perform their sacred ministrations, they said, that in the first place they felt a quaking, and heard a great noise, and after that they heard a sound as of a multitude, saying, "Let us remove hence."

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My friends, I don't need to tell you that these events -- in particular the mention of "chariots and troops of soldiers in their armour were seen running about among the clouds" -- sound very similar to some verses we find in the Bible which describe battles which are occurring in the Spiritual Realm, even though they are not visible to our human eye. As a good example, I am reminded of the battles which occurred between Angels and demon princes in the Book of Daniel. Likewise, there is the incident where the Prophet Elisha asked God to show his servant the chariots of fire which surrounded them. And there are other verses in the Bible which describe God's chariots and the spiritual warfare which rages all around us. Consider the following examples:

"And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha."


"The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place."


"For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many."


"Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand; A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness. They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks: Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded. They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief. The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?"


"And I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass. In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black horses; And in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot grisled and bay horses. Then I answered and said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these, my lord? And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth. The black horses which are therein go forth into the north country; and the white go forth after them; and the grisled go forth toward the south country. And the bay went forth, and sought to go that they might walk to and fro through the earth: and he said, Get you hence, walk to and fro through the earth. So they walked to and fro through the earth."


"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."


As I mention in my twelve-part series called "Who Is Babylon the Great?", after writing about the aforementioned divine signs, Josephus then describes a Saint of God who prophesied against Jerusalem, and warned of her coming destruction, for just over seven years, right up until the time of the 70 AD siege, until he was finally killed. Consider the following excerpt:

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"But, what is still more terrible, there was one Jesus the son of Ananus, a plebeian, and an husbandman, who four years before the war began, and at a time when the city was in very great peace and prosperity, came to that feast whereon it is our custom for every one to make tabernacles to God in the temple," began on a sudden to cry aloud, "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!" This was his cry, as he went about by day and by night, in all the lanes of the city. However, certain of the most eminent among the populace had great indignation at this dire cry of his, and took up the man, and gave him a great number of severe stripes: yet did not he either say anything for himself, or anything peculiar to those that chastised him, but still went on with the same words which he cried before.

Hereupon our rulers, supposing, as the case proved to be, that this was a sort of divine fury in the man, brought him to the Roman procurator; where he was whipped till his bones were laid bare; yet did not he make any supplication for himself, nor shed any tears, but turnings his voice to the most lamentable tone possible, at every stroke of the whip his answer was, "Wo, wo to Jerusalem!" And when Albinus (for he was then our procurator), asked him, "Who he was? and whence he came? and why he uttered such words?" he made no manner of reply to what he said, but still did not leave off his melancholy ditty, till Albinus took him to be a madman, and dismissed him.

Now, during all the time that passed before the war began, this man did not go near any of the citizens, nor was seen by them while he said so; but he every day uttered these lamentable words, as if it were his premeditated vow, "Wo, wo to Jerusalem!" Nor did he give ill words to any of those that beat him every day, nor good words to those that gave him food; but this was his reply to all men, and indeed no other than a melancholy presage of what was to come. This cry of his was the loudest at the festivals ; and he continued this ditty for seven years and five months, without growing hoarse, or being tired therewith until the very time that he saw his presage in earnest fulfilled in our siege, when it ceased; for, as he was going round upon the wall, he cried out with his utmost force, "Wo, wo to the city again, and to the people, and to the holy house!" And just as he added at the last, "Wo, wo to myself also!" there came a stone out of one of the engines, and smote him, and killed him immediately; and as he was uttering the very same presages, he gave up the ghost."

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Please go to part twenty-one for the continuation of this series.

⇒ Go To The Next Part . . .

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