In Mathew 24, Luke 21 and Mark 13, Jesus spoke about three future events: the destruction of the Temple, the end of the world, and his second coming. One of them has come to pass; the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in AD 70. His predictions on that event can be checked and we can thus evaluate his record as a prophet.
1. "And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down (Mathew 24:1, 2).
There is a reason the disciples were astonished when he said that not one stone would be left on another. According to Josephus, the stones that comprised the temple were 25 cubits by 12 cubits by 8 cubits. In another place he gives the dimensions of the stones in the Antonia Tower: 20 cubits x 10 cubits by 5 cubits. Construction of the temple commenced in the 18th year of Herod's reign, or BC 25. In John 2 it tells us it had been 46 years in the making, so it had been completed only a few years when he uttered these words. Today, the only stones remaining of this magnificent structure is the Western Wall, a remnant of the supporting wall of the temple compound. So this prediction came true.
2. He predicted the time of the destruction. It would happen to the generation then living. Luke 11:49-50 - "Of this generation". Luke 23:28-29 - "For your children". Jesus was cruxified in A.D. 29 or A.D. 30, and the temple was destroyed in A.D. 70. This prediction checks.
3. Luke 21:20 "And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto." The first Roman general Cestius began the conquest of Israel from the north. He made his way down to Jerusalem late in A.D. 66, was in the process of taking the city when, according to Josephus, he left for some inexplicable reason. No one knows why. The next general, Vespasian, was near the city when he was called to Rome to be the emperor. The saints in Jerusalem were given a second chance to escape.
4. He predicted the method of attack. Luke 19:41-44 "Cast a trench about thee and keep thee in." After Titus pierced the first two walls of the city, he built a wooden fence that hemmed them in. It was 4.9 miles long, and it was built in just 3 days. Now they could no longer forage for food.
5. Jesus wept over the City, and said it would be a time like no one had seen before. Matthew 24:21 "For then shall there be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor shall ever be." The actual siege of Jerusalem lasted 5 months. Because of in-fighting between rivaling factions, all of the grain stored in the City was burned. The situation became even more serious after the city was fenced in. Toward the latter end of the siege, the starvation was so horrific that women cooked and ate their own children.
6. Luke 21:24 "And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations......... " Josephus records that 1.1 million Jews were killed and 97,000 were taken away captive. In the aftermath of the war, so many slaves came on the market that slave prices in the Middle East were depressed for years.
7. Luke 21:24 "and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." After the Second Jewish Revolt ended AD 135, the Roman Emperor Hadrian banned Jews from the Holy City on pain of death. It was thereafter controlled by Gentiles until the re-establishment of Israel in 1948.
8. Daniel 9:27 said the sacrifice would cease in the middle of the week. There are a lot of references to 42 months and 3 1/3 years. The Daily Sacrifice ceased forever on August 4, A.D. 70. It had been 3 1/2 years since the Romans first invaded the country.
The Lord's predictions of the destruction of Jerusalem have been proven accurate down to the smallest detail. This gives us confidence in his promises for our lives and eternal future.
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