Titus Sacks Jerusalem and Destroys the Temple in 70 AD

Critics often assert that there are no secular historical events that prove Jesus, outside the narratives of the New Testament. I have compiled over 130 of these events here on my website. One of these events that is among the most stunning, is the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Romans, in 70 AD.

An often ignored artifact of the New Testament, the genealogies of Jesus, validated by secular history

A secondary fact of the 70 AD destruction of Israel and the Temple, that validates the New Testament

The Witness Of Early Writing

In 32 AD, Jesus predicted the destruction of Jerusalem and said that not one stone of the Temple would be left upon another.

“When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then let those in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled… There will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”[7]

“Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”[4]

Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, recorded that just 38 years after Jesus spoke these words the Roman general, Titus, sacked Jerusalem and obliterated the Temple.

These were the most important events of the first century for the Jewish nation, yet they are absent from the entire New Testament. The only possibility that the writers of the four Gospels and the letters of Paul, Peter, James, and Jude would not have written about these crucial events is if the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple had not yet taken place before the Gospels were written.

The fact that these two critical events in the history of the Jews were never mentioned in the New Testament is empirical evidence that the New Testament was written before 70 AD.

If the books of the New Testament were written after 70 AD, it is certain that the writers would have been eager to demonstrate that Jesus’ prophecy was fulfilled in their Gospels. Paul would have also indicated these important events in his 13 letters.

When Jesus predicted Peter’s betrayal, Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record the fulfillment of this prophecy. This is because this event happened before the writing of these three Gospels. The destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple were not included in the New Testament because they had not yet taken place.

These facts prove that the New Testament letters, including the four Gospels but not including Revelation, were all written before 70 AD, when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple.

In my book, “These Things Were Written: An Expositional Treatise of the Life, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus,” I document fourteen prophecies that Jesus spoke while on earth. Concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, Jesus predicted this event just before He was crucified and resurrected.

Prophecies 12-14 are included in this essay, in corroboration of the secular events of Roman history that prove Jesus is a genuine person from History, crucified and risen from the dead.

Prediction 12: Jesus predicts the encirclement of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple. These events would happen within one generation of those who heard this prophecy

“For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”[1]

“Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.”[2]

The context of Jesus’ revelation of Jerusalem’s destruction to the disciples, in Luke 19:29-21:24, is spoken directly after Palm Sunday, 32 A.D. Jesus is describing the judgment that will come upon Israel for her rejection of Him as the Messiah. The fulfillment of this prophecy occurred within one 40-year generation, in 70 A.D.[⁠3] Titus brought his army against Jerusalem, sacked the city and destroyed the Temple, burning it to the ground. Literally, not one stone was left upon another, just as Jesus had predicted.

Matthew Chapter 24 is essentially the same account that Luke records, as Jesus is seen at the Temple with the disciples when He tells them that not one stone shall be left upon another. This occurred during Titus’ siege of Jerusalem, just as Jesus had predicted.

“Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”[4]

Prediction 13: During the taking of Jerusalem, the Jews will be scattered over the face of the earth.

“And they (those in Jerusalem and Judea, vs 20-21) will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”[5]

The Jewish historian, Josephus, describes the destruction of Jerusalem and the murder of 1.1 million Jews, as well as another 97,000 Jews who were taken as captives of war. Thousands of other citizens of Jerusalem were sold as slaves, with many more being dispersed all over the world. This entire event is recorded by Josephus in the “Book of Wars,” Book 5, Chapter 22, Sections 1-3.*⁠[6]

Sidebar: The recording of events from 70 A.D. by a non-biblical source, by Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, is a substantial source of authentication for the New Testament accounts concerning the predictions of Jesus.

Jesus warned His disciples, ahead of time, to flee Jerusalem before the siege began in 66 A.D. He told them to watch for this sign:

“When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then let those in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled… There will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”.[7]

How the first siege of Jerusalem began in 66 A.D

Flavius Josephus writes that the entire difficulty began at Caesarea in 66 B.C., when local Greek citizens set about offering birds as sacrifices in front of a local synagogue.[⁠8] Though the Jewish authorities protested vehemently, the Roman army garrison located nearby did nothing to stop the Greeks. One of the clerks from the Jewish Temple, Eleazar ben Hanania, ordered the cessation of normal prayers and sacrifices that had been conducted for the Roman emperor at the Jewish Temple. In response, the Romans dispatched troops under order from the Roman governor, Gessius Florus, to seize 17 talents of gold from the Temple treasury of the Jews, claiming that the gold was for the emperor. As the local population of Jews learned of the stolen gold from their beloved Temple treasury, in an effort to ridicule the Roman governor in his alleged poverty—the people began to pass around a woven basket, to take up a collection for Gessius Florus.⁠[9] This open contempt of his authority caused Florus to dispatch soldiers to Jerusalem on the following day, to arrest many of the leaders of the Jews in Jerusalem. Several men were scourged and crucified, according to the accounts written by Josephus.[10[

This atrocity against the Jews resulted in many Jewish soldiers from Judea to launch an attack against the Roman garrison in Jerusalem.

An officer of the Roman army, Cestius Gallus, gathered an assembly of troops from the Syrian legion of 12th Fulminata for a total of 30,000 soldiers, to suppress the uprising of the Jews. When Gallus reached Caesarea and Jaffa, according to Josephus, he murdered 8,400 Jews.⁠[11]

This conflict between the Jews and the Roman authority continued to escalate until 70 A. D., when the entire city of Jerusalem and the Temple itself were destroyed.

Those who believed Jesus’ prophecy escaped

The Jews who had believed in Jesus as their Messiah evacuated Jerusalem after its first siege in 66 A.D., ahead of the final Roman siege in 70 A.D. Just as Jesus had predicted, there was a massive slaughter of those who remained in Jerusalem and did not believe the words of His prophecy.[12]

The Roman army general, Titus, who later became the emperor of the Roman Empire, came with his second in command, Tiberius Julius Alexander. Titus brought his army to the western side of Jerusalem—three legions of soldier from 5th Macedonica, 12th Fulminata, and 15th Apollinaris. On the east side of Jerusalem, Titus brought 10th Fretenis, near the Mount of Olives.⁠[13]

The strategy of Titus was simple: cut off the food and water supplies to Jerusalem and starve the people into submission.

Many people died of starvation during this siege of Titus, as the food supplies of the Jews inside the city of Jerusalem were depleted. Some people resorted to eating the flesh of their dead in order to survive. This was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah 11:9, “Let those that are left eat each other’s flesh.”

During Passover, Titus allowed the pilgrims, who came to Jerusalem for worship, to enter the city, to celebrate Passover, but then refused to allow them to depart. A few attacks by the Jews on the Roman soldiers killed some of Titus’ men. In an insightful move by Titus, he dispatched his men to bring the Jewish historian, Josephus, back to Jerusalem in order to convince the Jews to surrender peacefully. Instead, the Jews put an arrow into Josephus, viewing him as a traitor for seeking the surrender of Jerusalem to the Romans.⁠[14]   

In one of the attacks by the Jews, Titus was nearly killed.

About the middle of May, 70 A.D., Titus ordered the construction of a siege wall all around the city of Jerusalem, and destroyed the newly-built third wall with a battering ram. The Antonia Fortress of Herod was taken just north of the Temple Mount. As fighting ensued inside Jerusalem, the Jews were forced into the Temple, as a second attempt at negotiating a ceasefire failed.⁠[15]

One of the Roman soldiers threw a burning spear into the wall of the Temple, setting it on fire. Titus did not plan to destroy the Temple, but we should remember that Jesus had predicted that “not one stone would be left upon another,” when He pronounced judgement on the Jews for their rejection of Him as the Messiah. Titus had planned to take the Temple and turn it into a Roman temple, dedicated to the Roman emperor. Instead, the fire spread throughout the Temple building and quickly destroyed the entire structure.⁠[16]

According to 2 Chronicles 3:8, the gold that lined the entire inner room of the Holy of Holies was about 23 tons. At $1,500.00 per ounce (2013), this would place the value of the gold inside the Holy place at 1 billion, 104 million dollars.⁠[17]

As the fire accelerated into an intense heat, the priests trapped inside the Holy Place were burned alive. The gold that lined the entire inner room of the Holy Place melted and ran into the cracks of the foundation stones. In their greed, the Roman soldiers, seeing the melted gold now cooled and laying between the stones of the Temple, pried up one stone after another until the Temple was obliterated. In this way, the literal words of Jesus that not one stone shall be left upon another was fulfilled.

On “Tisha B’Av,” August 9th of 70 A.D., the Temple was destroyed. By September 7th, 70 A.D., Jerusalem was completely under control of the Romans. In a certain act of divine providence, the first Temple was also destroyed by the Babylonians on the same day as the second Temple—August 9th of 586 B.C.⁠[18]

Although this prophecy was fulfilled in 70 A.D. by the Roman siege on Jerusalem and the burning of the Temple, there appears to also be a later fulfillment of this same prophecy. During the midway point of the seven-year Tribulation, the antichrist will come against Jerusalem to destroy the Jews, and they will also flee the city for what will certainly be the rock city of Petra in Jordan.

Prediction 14: From the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, the land of Israel will be ruled and overrun by the Gentiles

“And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”[19]

Jesus warned the citizens of Israel that their denial of Him as their Messiah would leave their land desolate. Titus’ siege upon Jerusalem did, in fact, leave the city in ruins, and allowed for the fulfillment of Luke 21:24: Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Jesus said: “This all happened because you did not know the time of your visitation.”[20]

Jesus’ prediction that Jerusalem would be trampled by the Gentiles was literally fulfilled at the seizing of Jerusalem by Titus.

Since 70 A.D., Jerusalem has continually remained under Gentile domination for almost 2,000 years. Not until 1967 did the Jews once again gain authority over Jerusalem. The complete rulership of all the land that God originally gave Israel will not occur until after the Rapture of the church takes place and the end of the seven-year Tribulation. The Arrival of Jesus to the earth a second time, with His church, will end the times of the Gentiles.[⁠21]

Antiquity proves that Jesus is a true Prophet of God

The facts of history do not lie. Every event that Jesus described in detail came to pass precisely as He said they would. These fourteen prophecies and their fulfillments leave us with sufficient evidence to conclude that Jesus is a Prophet like Moses.

“For Moses truly said to the fathers, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.”[22]

These are but a few of the hundreds of impossible circumstances, which are presented in this book, describing Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. This publication is a treatise on the empirical evidence that has been left to us from both the Bible and secular history. The remaining part of this section is devoted to some of the more extraordinary events recorded in the text of the Bible that define the events of Jesus Christ as unparalleled amongst all the events of antiquity.

• Understanding The Two Genealogies Of Jesus
• The Record Of Secular History And Jesus
• The Secular Record of History, Proves That Jesus Rose From The Dead
• The Promise Of Resurrection: Ten Prophecies Of Messiah Rising From The Dead

NOTES:

[A] 1. Smith’s Bible Dictionary: Genealogy. In Hebrew the term for genealogy or pedigree is “the book of the generations;” and because the oldest histories were usually drawn up on a genealogical basis, the expression often extended to the whole history, as is the case with the Gospel of St. Matthew, where “the book of the generation of Jesus Christ” includes the whole history contained in that Gospel. The promise of the land of Canaan to the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob successively, and the separation of the Israelites from the Gentile world; the expectation of Messiah as to spring from the tribe of Judah; the exclusively hereditary priesthood of Aaron with its dignity and emoluments; the long succession of kings in the line of David; and the whole division and occupations of the land upon genealogical principles by the tribes, occupation of the land upon genealogical principles by the tribes, families and houses of fathers, gave a deeper importance to the science of genealogy among the Jews than perhaps any other nation. When Zerubbabel brought back the captivity from Babylon, one of his first cares seems to have been to take a census of those that returned, and to settle them according to their genealogies. Passing on to the time of the birth of Christ, we have a striking incidental proof of the continuance of the Jewish genealogical economy in the fact that when Augustus ordered the census of the empire to be taken, the Jews in the province of Syria immediately went each one to his own city.

The Jewish genealogical records continued to be kept till near the destruction of Jerusalem. But there can be little doubt that the registers of the Jewish tribes and families perished at the destruction of Jerusalem, and not before. It remains to be said that just notions of the nature of the Jewish genealogical records are of great importance with a view to the right interpretation of Scripture. Let it only be remembered that these records have respect to political and territorial divisions as much as to strictly genealogical descent, and it will at once be seen how erroneous a conclusion it may be that all who are called “sons” of such or such a patriarch or chief father must necessarily be his very children. Of any one family or house became extinct, some other would succeed to its place, called after its own chief father. Hence of course a census of any tribe drawn up at a later period would exhibit different divisions from one drawn up at an earlier. The same principle must be borne in mind in interpreting any particular genealogy Again, when a pedigree was abbreviated, it would naturally specify such generations as would indicates from what chief houses the person descended. Females are named in genealogies when there is anything remarkable about them, or when any right or property is transmitted through them. See (Genesis 11:29; 22:23; 25:1-4; 35:22-26; Exodus 6:23; Numbers 26:33)

2. Under Herod I. all genealogical rolls kept in the Temple were destroyed (Sachs, “Beiträge,” ii. 157). The loss of official genealogies was deeply deplored as a calamity, more especially because of their importance for the understanding of the books of Chronicles (Pes. 62b; B. B. 109). How prolific these Biblical books were in provoking genealogical conceits is shown by the statement that 900 camel-loads of commentary existed on I Chron. viii. 37 to ix. 44 (Pes. 62b). Much mischief must have been done by this speculation on family origins and pedigrees; at least the provision requiring caution in instruction in genealogy and limiting the hours for it (Pes. 76) would seem to indicate as much. Family pride is rebuked also in the familiar saying that a “mamzer” (bastard), if learned in the Law, outranked an ignorant high priest (Hor. 11); in fact, the priestly insistence upon purity of pedigree was fully counterbalanced by the demand for knowledge, which, through Phariseeism (nobility of learning) as opposed to Sadduceeism (priestly nobility), gradually succeeded in developing a new aristocracy, that of the mind, in the place of the old one (Ẓadoḳite) of blood. Many stories preserve the memory of the struggle for recognition of the one or the other claim to distinction which agitated learned and unlearned Israel in the early Christian centuries (Ḳid. 70a, 71a, b).

3.Of spurious genealogies, specimens of which Sprenger (“Das Leben und die Lehre Mohammad”) adduces, Jewish literature has a goodly number to show (Seder ‘Olam Zuṭa; Zunz, “G. V.” 2d ed., 1892, pp; 142 et seq. ; Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela, Asher’s ed., ii. 6 et seq.). Yet this is not proof that all the pedigrees current among Jews were of this class (Zunz, “Analekten,” No. 15, p. 46). The tribes of Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, according to Midr. R. to Num. xiii., preserved while in Egypt their “yiḥus” (genealogy) to prove the purity and legitimacy of their descent. Upon this yiḥus the Jews have always laid great stress, as have also the Gentiles (Yeb. 62a; Yer. Yeb. ii. 4a). Marriage was invalidated if any deception regarding one’s yiḥus was discovered, even if the actual rank was higher than the assumed (Yer. Ḳid. ii. 62c). Silence when taunted with low origin creates the presumption that the person taunted is of high stock (Ḳid. 71b). , the “chain of genealogies,” is spoken of (Gen. R. lxxxii.), and the word  has passed into literature to designate historical annals. Sources: Bibliography: Hamburger, R. B. T. ii., Jewish Encyclopedia dot com.[1] Luke 19:43-44
[2] 2 Matthew 24:34
[3] Numbers 32:14, the generation of those who complained against the Lord in the desert is describes as being 40 years.
[4] Matthew 24:1-2
[5] Luke 21:24
[6] Josephus, the “Book of Wars”, Book 5, chapter 22, sections 1-3
[7] Luke 21:20-24
[8] Flavius Josephus, The Wars of the Jews II.14.5
[9] Flavius Josephus, The Wars of the Jews, Book 2, Chapter 14, Section 6.
[10] Flavius Josephus, “The Wars of the Jews”, Book 2, Chapter 14, Section 9.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Levick, Barbara (1999). Vespasian. London: Routledge, pp. 116–119. ISBN 0-415-16618-7
[13 Ibid.]
[14] Flavius Josephus. The Wars of the Jews or History of the Destruction of Jerusalem. BOOK VI. Containing The Interval Of About One Month. From The Great Extremity To Which The Jews Were Reduced To The Taking Of Jerusalem By Titus.. Book VI. Chapter 1.1.
[15 Ibid.]
[16 Ibid.]
[17] According to the New Living Translation by Thomas Nelson, Open Bible Commentary, Page 580.
[18] Flavius Josephus. The Wars of the Jews or History of the Destruction of Jerusalem. BOOK VI. Containing The Interval Of About One Month. From The Great Extremity To Which The Jews Were Reduced To The Taking Of Jerusalem By Titus.. Book VI. Chapter 1.1.
[19] Luke 21:24
[20] Luke 19:44
[21] “And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (Luke 21:24).
[22] Acts 3:22-26

Categories: Apologetics, Archeological Confirmation, Building the Third Temple, Historical Validity of the New Testament, Jesus is the Messiah, Messianic Prophecies, Messianic Prophecy Bible, Prophecy proven by History, Resurrection Proven by Secular Sources, Robert Clifton Robinson, Salvation is a free gift, Salvation through Jesus, Secular Sources for Jesus, Secular sources for Jesus, The Historical Crucifixion of Jesus, The Historical Jesus

Tags: 70 A.D., Confirmation of Jesus Crucifixion from Secular Sources, Jesus from secular sources, Jesus Genealogies, Titus