Josephus really intrigues me.
There is a question now whether or not he had access to a copy of Revelation based on some of his writings concerning 70ad Jerusalem?
I think this would make for a fascinating discussion, whether one is preterist, futurist, amill, etc.
First off, like the Apostle Paul, he is said to have been both a Jew and Pharisee, according to this source.
If so, wouldn't he have had some contact with some of the Apostles or Disciples of Christ at one time?
Discuss..........
Flavius Josephus | Jewish priest, scholar, and historian
Flavius Josephus, original name
Joseph Ben Matthias, (born ad 37/38, Jerusalem—died ad 100, Rome), Jewish priest, scholar, and historian who wrote valuable works on the
Jewish revolt of 66–70 and on earlier Jewish history. His major books are
History of the Jewish War (75–79),
The Antiquities of the Jews (93), and
Against Apion.
Flavius Josephus was born of an aristocratic priestly family in
Jerusalem. According to his own account, he was a
precocious youth who by the age of 14 was consulted by high priests in matters of Jewish law. At age 16 he undertook a three-year sojourn in the wilderness with the hermit Bannus, a member of one of the
ascetic Jewish sects that flourished in Judaea around the time of Christ.
Returning to Jerusalem, he joined the
Pharisees—a fact of crucial importance in understanding his later collaboration with the Romans. The Pharisees, despite the unflattering portrayal of them in the New Testament, were for the most part intensely religious Jews and adhered to a strict though nonliteral observance of the Torah.
History of the Destruction of Jerusalem & Josephan Studies Archives
JOSEPHUS, OLIVET DISCOURSE AND BOOK OF REVELATION
The Destruction of Jerusalem - George Peter Holford, 1805AD
Proof that Matthew 24 was fully fulfilled in 70 AD!
Also see: Rapture refuted
Was Flavius Josephus familiar with the Apocalypse of John?
John's Revelation - “And there were noises and
thundering and
lightnings; and there was a great
earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth.” (16:18)
Josephus - “for there broke out a prodigious storm in the night, with the utmost violence, and very strong winds, with the largest showers of rain, with continued
lightnings, terrible
thunderings, and amazing concussions and bellowings of the earth, that was in an
earthquake. These things were a manifest indication that some destruction was coming upon men, when the system of the world was put into this disorder; and any one would guess that these wonders foreshowed some grand calamities that were coming” (“Wars of the Jews” 4:4:5)
John's Revelation - "Now
the great city was
divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was
remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath.” (16:19)
Josephus - “it so happened that the sedition at
Jerusalem was revived, and
parted into three factions, and that one faction fought against the other; which partition in such evil cases may be said to be a good thing, and the
effect of divine justice.” (5:1:1)
John's Revelation - “And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hail
stone about the
weight of a talent.” (16:21)
Josephus - “Now the
stones that were cast were of the
weight of a talent, and were carried two furlongs and further. The blow they gave was no way to be sustained, not only by those that stood first in the way, but by those that were beyond them for a great space. As for the Jews, they at first watched the coming of the stone, for it was of
a white color, and could therefore not only be perceived by the great noise it made, but could be seen also before it came by its brightness;” (5:6:3).....................
