Zechariah 14:3-4
Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward.
Yahweh's servant, The King of Babylon and his army sieged Jerusalem:
2 Kings 25:8 Now in the
fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of
king Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon,
to Jerusalem. 9 He burnt the house of Yahweh, and the king's house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house, burnt he with fire.
Jer 25:9
‘behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,' says the LORD, ‘and
Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, against its inhabitants, and against these nations all around, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, a hissing, and perpetual desolations.
Jer 27:6
‘And now I have given all these lands into the hand of
Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant; and the beasts of the field I have also given him to serve him.
Jeremiah 52:12 Now in the
fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, who stood before the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem: 13 and he burned the house of Yahweh, and the king's house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house, burned he with fire.
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If the King of Babylon could be Yahweh's servant, why not Vespasian or Titus?
Titus and His 10th legion camped on the Mount of Olives...........
First, the verses from the MoO narrative:
Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke's Temple/Jerusalem Discourses harmonized
Matthew 24
1 And Jesus coming out, departed from the Temple.
3 Yet of Him sitting on the Mount of the Olives, the Disciples came toward to Him according to own saying.............
6 “Yet ye shall be being about to be hearing battles and hearings of battles...but not as yet the End<5056>
Mark 13
1 And He going forth out of the Temple,
3 And of sitting of Him into the Mount of the Olives overlooking the Temple,
7 “Yet whenever ye should be hearing battles and hearings of battles, .....but not as yet the End<5056>
Luke 21
5 and of some saying concerning the Temple,
9 “Yet whenever ye should be hearing battles and tumults<181>, no may be being frightened<4422>, for is binding these to be becoming,
but not immediately the End<5056>
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Matthew 24 Mount of Olives and Titus's 10th Legion on Mt Olives 70ad
https://www.preteristarchive.com/JewishWars/timeline_military.html
CAST OF CHARACTERS:
Roman: Emperor Nero |
General Vespasian |
General Titus | The Roman Army || Jewish: General / Historian Josephus |
Factional Leaders in Jerusalem ||
Administrators of Roman Judea Targets:
Jerusalem |
Herod's Temple // Maps of the Roman Invasion // Theological Timeline
The Destruction of Jerusalem - George Peter Holford, 1805AD
The day on which Titus encompassed Jerusalem, was the feast of the Passover ; and it is deserving of the very particular attention of the reader, that this was the anniversary of that memorable period in which the Jews crucified their Messiah...............
The vial of divine wrath, which had been so long pouring out upon this devoted city was now emptying, and JERUSALEM, once "a praise in all the earth," and the subject of a thousand prophecies, deprived of' the staff of life, wrapt in flames, and bleeding on every side sunk into utter ruin and desolation.
This memorable siege
terminated on the eighth day of the ninth month, A. D. 70 : its duration was nearly five months,
the Romans having invested the city on the fourteenth day of the fourth month, preceeding.
APRIL, A.D. 70 - PHASE ONE
THE ROMAN ARMY ARRIVES AT JERUSALEM TO PREPARE THE SIEGE
The first night of
Titus' encampment with the 15th, 3rd and 18th Legions, the 5th Legion arrived from Emmaus and set camp north of the city on Mount Scopus.
Later the next day,
the famed 10th Legion (founded by Julius Caesar) marched in from Jericho and camped on the Mount of Olives, east of the city.
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Just a little bit of what was happening up to the 70ad destruction of Jerusalem. This site as a plethora of maps and pictures portraying the action going on back then........
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https://www.preteristarchive.com/JewishWars/timeline_military.html
MARCH, A.D. 66 - JERUSALEM
The Final Days of the Jewish Commonwealth ; Anarchy Erupts, and the Christians Flee
Numerous signs, prodigies, and portents are seen in the land of Judaea at the outset of the rebellion. Included in those recorded by Josephus, armed hosts and
chariots in the clouds are seen flying over all the land of Judaea; a light at night makes the temple appear as though it were on fire; Halley's Comet, in the appearance of a sword, flies over the region. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory says that the closest approach of the comet that year was in March, immediately prior to the revolt.
Christians seem to have associated this period with the warnings and admonitions of Jesus Christ in Matthew 24, because after the withdrawal of Gallus and the Battle of Beth-horon, a great number of people flee the city of Jerusalem, led by the Mother Church,
which headed east over the Jordan River to safety in the area of Pella, Jordan.
Early Christian settlements sprung up all over the Roman Decapolis Scythopolis [Bet She'an], Hippos [Susieh], Gadara [
Umm Qais], Pella [
Tabaqat Fahl], Philadelphia [Amman], Gerasa [Jerash], Dion [Adun], Kanatha [Kanawat], Damascus, and Raphana [Abila] . Today this region is within the Kingdom of Jordan and the Golan Heights. During the flight out of Palestine, a number of documents were apparently hidden in the Dead Sea area along the route -- DSS Caves 4 and 7-10 are of particular interest.
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MAY, A.D. 66 - JERUSALEM
Stage 2: General Revolt in Jerusalem ; Zealot Occupation of Masada: August-September 66
The Factions in Jerusalem During the Roman Siege
The Roman Procurator Florus demands 17 talents from the Jewish Temple treasury. This is the triggering insult for the Jews to begin their revolt. The Roman garrison in Jerusalem is overrun by rebels, who take control of the city. The rebels cause cessation of all sacrifices to the Roman Emperor, thus challenging Rome head-on
Florus cannot handle the situation, so the (Roman) Syrian Governor, Cestius Gallus, is called in to subdue the rebellion. He attacks Jerusalem, gets up to the walls of the city, then unexpectedly withdraws, suffering heavy losses in retreat.
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A.D. 66-69 - GALILEE
PROGRESS OF THE LEGIONS UNDER VESPASIAN
After the humiliation of Gallus -- who subsequently died (some said of shame) -- Nero commands General Vespasian (Titus Flavius Vespasianus) to take over command of the Jewish War.
While civil war rages in Jerusalem, Vespasian decides to give time for the infighting in the city to weaken the Jewish defense against his armies. He then proceeds to subdue Galilee with the aid of his son
Titus. After a number of sieges and clashes, he succeeds in calming northern Judaea
JOSEPHUS CAPTURED IN THE SIEGE OF JOTAPATA
Jewish General
Josephus in captured in siege of Jotapata. After a short imprisonment, he serves the Roman field marshals until the completion of the war. After the war, Josephus is adopted into the Flavian family, and he writes the definitive history of the Roman-Jewish War
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"THE YEAR OF THE FOUR EMPERORS"
Four emperors possess the ultimate world power in Rome in quick succession during this unsettled period. The first is
Nero (Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus), who ends the reign of the Julio-Claudian dynasty by committing suicide on June 9th, 68.
His last words were
"Qualis artifex Pereo" which is translated
"what an artist dies in me"
General Galba in Spain declares himself emperor while Nero is still alive, and takes power upon his arrival in Rome.
In January, 69,
Galba is murdered by Otho who proclaims himself emperor.
On April 15th,
Otho commits suicide and his rival, Vitellius becomes emperor. In June, Vespasian resumes operations in Judea.
In July, Vespasian is proclaimed emperor by the army. He transfers command of the Jewish war to his son Titus and heads for Rome. On December 20th, 69, Vitellius is beheaded in Rome and Vespasian is installed as emperor there.
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A.D. 70 - JERUSALEM
TITUS TAKES OVER WAR AND HEADS STRAIGHT TO JERUSALEM
They will take away your turban and remove your crown; everything will be changed; the low will be high and the high brought low. To ruin, and to ruin on ruin, am I going to bring it, to such ruin as was never known before this man came who is appointed to inflict the punishment which I am determined to impose on it." (
Ez.21:23-27).
With Vespasian taking over the government of the Roman Empire, his son
Titus Flavius Vespasianus (AD 9-79; Joint Emperor AD 69-79 ; Sole Emperor 79-81) takes over as field marshal of the Roman forces opposing the Jewish revolt. Titus and Tiberius Alexander, Prefect of Egypt, march to Caesarea from Alexandria, bringing with them reinforcements from the 18th and 3rd Augusta Legions. The 12th Legion marched down from Syria, and three thousand legionaries of the 23rd and/or 24th Legions marched west from the Euphrates. In April, 70, Titus led the 12th and 15th Legions and the 3rd Augusta and 18th Legion cohorts out of Caesarea towards Jerusalem. Upon arriving, he encamped on Mount Scopus, north of the city.
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APRIL, A.D. 70 - PHASE ONE
THE ROMAN ARMY ARRIVES AT JERUSALEM TO PREPARE THE SIEGE
The first night of
Titus' encampment with the 15th, 3rd and 18th Legions, the 5th Legion arrived from Emmaus and set camp north of the city on Mount Scopus.
Later the next day,
the famed 10th Legion (founded by Julius Caesar) marched in from Jericho and camped on the Mount of Olives, east of the city.
Instead of waiting to starve the Jews into submission, Titus decides to assault many different parts of the city and overwhelm the defenders. Titus was early on in the middle of the fighting with his soldiers. At least two times, Titus and his detachment are surrounded by defenders, only to escape unharmed.
‘Admirable as were the engines constructed by
all the legions, those of the tenth were of peculiar excellence. Their scorpions were of greater power and their stone-projectors larger, and with these they not only kept in check the sallying parties, but those also on the ramparts.
The stones that were thrown were of the weight of a talent, and had a range of two furlongs and more. The shock, not only to such as first met it, but even to those beyond them for a considerable distance, was irresistible. The Jews, however, at the first, could guard against the stone; for its approach was intimated, not only to the ear by its whiz, but also, being white, to the eye by its brightness. Accordingly they had watchmen posted on the towers, who gave warning when the engine was discharged and the stone projected, calling out in their native language, "
The son is coming," on which those towards whom it was directed would separate, and lie down before it reached them. Thus it happened that, owing to these precautions, the stone fell harmless. It then occurred to the Romans to blacken it; when, taking a more successful aim, as it was no longer equally discernible in its approach, they swept down many at a single discharge.’ Josephus, Jewish Wars,
bk. v. chap. vi. 3.
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