DISSERTATION XX.

Of the SIGNS that were to take place after the Siege.

SECTION III.

AFTER the precursory and attendant Signs of the destruction of Jerusalem, Christ proceeds to the completion of that sad event; which he seems to have thought proper to describe in the following highly wrought metaphorical language:-"Immediately after the tribulation of those days, shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light; and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken." (Matt. xxiv. 20.) This is only, in the powerful style of prophecy, indicative of mighty commotions and great revolutions upon earth. Isaiah, foretelling the destruction of Babylon (chap. xiii. 9, 10.); and Ezekiel that of Egypt (xxxii. 7, 8.);

each use precisely similar language; and Daniel (viii. 10.), and Joel (ii. 30.), do the same, when predicting the downfal of Jerusalem. Our Saviour thus again figuratively proceeds, " And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." (Matt. xxiv. 30.) That is, the destruction will be so remarkable, as to present a manifestation of Christ's divine power, as striking as if He were personally to appear in the heavens; and that all the Jewish tribes shall mourn; and some shall turn and acknowledge Him. "And he shall send his angels with the great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the one end of heaven to the other." (verse 31.) This figurative passage may be interpreted simply thus-After the destruction of Jerusalem, Christ, by his angels or ministers, shall gather unto himself a glorious church out of all the nations under heaven; the Jews shall be "thrust out;" and others "shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God." (Luke xiii. 28, 29.) All which was so punctually fulfilled, as not to need further elucidation.

That this is a correct interpretation and application

of the prophecy seems clear; as well from the fact of other prophets having previously spoken of great revolutions of states (as has been already observed), in the same strongly figurative language; as also from the words which precede it," immediately after the tribulation of those days;" showing that Christ was not speaking of any distant event, such as the end of the world (as some commentators have imagined it solely to refer to1); but as something immediately consequent upon what had been just mentioned; and that, evidently, is the destruction of Jerusalem. And this seems to be corroborated by what is added by St. Luke (xxi. 24), " And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled." It has been already stated, that upwards of a million perished during the siege; and in the History of the Jewish Wars, it is computed, that upwards of a million, and three hundred thousand subsequently,

1 All the particulars above stated, show the correct application of this part of the prophecy to the destruction of Jerusalem; and also the incongruity of the opinions held by some, that our Saviour broke off suddenly from his immediate subject, and carried His hearers forward to a prophetic view of the end of the world; and that He then resumed it again, with respect to Jerusalem. But it is admitted, that this prophecy, like many others, had a double application; one to the destruction of Jerusalem, and a second to the end of the world; the former being a sort of type of the other. (See the next Section.)

"fell by the edge of the sword," in various regular engagements; besides vast numbers that were slain in other ways. This amount might appear incredible, did not their own historian, Josephus, so circumstantially relate the particulars as he has done; and thereby establish its historical truth.

The number of those "led away captive," too, was very great. The Roman generals selecting the handsomest youths to grace their triumphs, distributed vast numbers to work as slaves in their different provinces, and many even to fight with wild beasts in their public shows. And it is an historical fact, that to this day the Jews are scattered as a degraded people amongst "all nations" of the earth.

And as her inhabitants were thus scattered, so has Jerusalem itself been "trodden down of the Gentiles;" their land hath never since been in possession of the Jews; but hath constantly been subjected to some other nation: first, to the Romans; afterwards, to the Saracens; then to the Franks; next to the Mamelucs ; and, lastly, to the Turks, in whose power it now is.

It has been stated that Titus, having commanded the city, as well as the temple, to be destroyed, it was so entirely demolished (three towers only and a portion of the wall being left as a sort of barrack for his soldiers), that there was no likelihood of its ever being inhabited again. And on his passing through it, sub

sequently to Egypt, he could not refrain from cursing the authors of the rebellion, which had compelled him to destroy so fine a city. The Roman emperor, Ælius Adrian, about fifty years afterwards, rebuilt a portion (though not all on the same spot), and called it Ælia, making it a sort of Roman colony, and dedicating a temple to Jupiter Capitolinus there. A seditious insurrection of the remaining Jews', to recover their power in their native city, was followed by a terrible overthrow and slaughter; so that almost all Judea was desolated; vast numbers, also, were sold as slaves; the colony was re-established; and the emperor ordered a hog in marble to be set up over the gate leading to Bethlehem, forbidding any Jew to enter the city upon pain of death.

Thus, then, the very name of Jerusalem began to fall into disuse, and be forgotten in that of Ælia ; until the time of Constantine the Great, the first emperor who became Christian. Under him the memory of it was revived; and he began to enlarge it, and beautify it with buildings and churches: when the Jews, from hatred to the Christian name, rebelled, and were again severely treated. They were afterwards

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This insurrection was headed by a vile robber and murderer, called Barchochab, or son of star," who pretended to be the " star out of Jacob," prophesied of by Balaam. (Numb. xxiv. 17.) See also Dissertation XXIV. Chap. vi. ver. 3 and 4.