"the young, that they should destroy the "fruit of the cattle, and the fruit of the land, "and that they should besiege the people in "all their gates, until their high and fenced "walls came down, wherein they trusted 66 throughout all their land," and that the Jews should eat "the fruit of their own body, "the flesh of their sons and of their daughters, which the Lord their God had given "them, in the siege, and in the straightness "wherewith their enemies should distress "them *." 66 In the literal accomplishment of these denunciations Josephus informs us, that Vespasian and his army, which was brought from Britain, entered Judea from the east, and when 'come to Gadara, slew all, man by man, not shewing mercy to any, such was their hatred to the nation. The like slaughter was made at Gamala, only two women escaping by concealment, and not even children being spared. At Jerusalem, the impetuosity and perseverance of the besieging army, and the resistance and obstinacy of the besieged, the closeness of the circumvallation, and the des * Deut. xxviii. 49, 50. 58. perate sallies of the Jews; the extent of the famine, and the horrors which it occasioned, are utterly unparalleled: so that the tender and delicate woman manifested literally those unnatural cruelties towards her husband and children, which are so strongly described by Moses * Josephus states, that five hundred persons were, upon an average, daily taken prisoners, who excited the compassion of Titus, but least he should be embarrassed by the custody of men whose courage and despair were so remarkable, he relinquished them to the soldiers, who tortured and crucified them before the walls of the city in such numbers, "that room was wanting "for the crosses, and crosses for the bo"diest." Upon other occasions, however, Titus, in contemplating the wretched spectacle of men, emaciated and disfigured by the dreadful effects of famine, and massacred by his soldiers for the gold which they had swallowed when they deserted to them, issued the strictest orders, and adopted the strongest *Levit. xxvi. 29. Deut. xxviii. 56. et de Bell. Jud. lib. vi. c. 3. P. ↑ De Bell. Jud. lib. v. c. 11. p. 1247. measures to protect them: and when he beheld the dead and putrifying bodies which were cast from the walls, he uttered a groan, and spreading out his hands to heaven, he called God to witness, that it was not his doing; and he assured the soldiers, with peculiar confidence, that they were assisted by God himself. On entering the city also, when he contemplated the height and solidity of the fortresses, the magnitude of the individual stones, and the exact and well-compacted harmony with which they were joined, and considered their breadth and length, he exclaimed: "We have fought "with God on our side, who thrust down the "Jews from these fortifications; for what "could the hands or machines of men avail against these towers *?" 66 Our Saviour had forewarned his disciples, that there should arise false Christs and false prophets, who should shew great signs and wonders; and that if they should say unto them, "behold he is in the desert, be"hold he is in the secret chamber, they "should not go forth." Josephus represents many such impostors to have increased * De Bell. Jud. lib. v. c. 12. lib. vi, c. 9. p. 1290. et passim. the infatuation of the people, and exasperated the enemy, by urging the Jews to the most insolent and contemptuous defiance of the Romans, in the confidence of miraculous deliverance. Our Saviour instructed the Jews to pray to God, that their flight might not be on the sabbath; and it appears from Josephus, that very remarkable calamities resulted from a flight on that day from Gischala, besieged by Titus, while those who remained in the town experienced the clemency of Titus*. It appears also, that the superstitious regard which they paid to the day, so as to be prevented from defending themselves, even in cases of extreme necessity, occasioned the taking of their city by Titus, as it had before subjected them to defeat by Pompey and Sosius †. The Jews, it was foretold by Christ, were to be left few in number. It is related by Josephus, that upwards of eleven hundred thousand of them were destroyed from the entrance of the armies into Judea and it ; appears by the enumeration made by Bishop * De Bell. Jud. lib. iv. c. 2. + De Bell. Jud. lib. vi. c. 5. lib. xii. c. 6. de Bell, Jud. 1 Maccab. ii. 32. Cont. Apion. lib. i. See Antiq. viii. 1. xiv. c. 4. lib. iv. c. 2. lib. vii. c. 3. Newton, that the number of their slain exceeded one million three hundred and fifty thousand, and that ninety-seven thousand of them were taken captives *. The siege of Jerusalem began at the passover, when the city was filled with assembled multitudes. The historian states also, that during the siege upwards of seven hundred thousand persons were carried out to burial through the gate, besides the unnumbered multitudes thrown over the walls. Tacitus reports six hundred thousand to have perished. In any case we may subscribe to the remark of Josephus, that in reality it was God who condemned the whole nation, and turned every course that was taken for their vation, to their destruction †. preser Our blessed Saviour declared, that Jerusalem should be destroyed before a generation should be passed away, or the Gospel preached to all nations. He declared that the enemies of the city should lay it even with the ground, and not leave one stone on another; and Micah had before pre De Bell. Jud. lib. v. c. 3. lib. vii. c. 11. lib. vi. c. 5. + Lib. v. c. 2. Comp. Isai. xiii. 10. with Matt. xxiv. 11. Luke xix. 44. |