October 13: PARALLEL EVENTS (part 3)

The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up. Revelation 8:7

The first trumpet was sounded by the angel only after the Christians had fled the city, for they had obediently heeded the Savior’s words: “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (whoever reads, let him understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.” (Matthew 24:15-16) “… when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near.” (Luke 21:20)

In the fall of 66AD, the Roman army, under general Cestius, surrounded Jerusalem and laid siege. Luke’s quote of the warning given by Jesus particularly included His followers inside the city, for the infant church was growing, reaching more and more Jews whose hearts were open to the truth. The long-held pagan standard was posted around the city: banners and signs with artistic renderings of the sun with the inscription Sol Invictus (Invincible Sun). Of all deities among the pagans, the sun god was venerated as the greatest and most powerful. This idolatry was an abomination to God. Daniel spoke and wrote of it (see Daniel 8:11-13; 9:27; 11:31; 12:11). The prophet Ezekiel also wrote of the Jewish leaders who amalgamated this particular idolatry into their worship (Ezekiel 8).

Incredibly, Cestius abandoned the siege for no apparent reason. Every Christian safely exited the city and the surrounding Judean hills, praising God for His providence. Around the time of Passover in the spring of 70AD, Roman forces resumed the siege, this time under general Titus. Calamity after calamity, horror after horror came upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all the visiting Jews. Famine and pestilence quickly dominated every corner within the city walls. The warnings of Deuteronomy 28: 56-57 and the vision of Jeremiah 4:10 became reality. “The Roman leaders endeavored to strike terror to the Jews and thus cause them to surrender. Those prisoners who resisted when taken were scourged, tortured, and crucified before the wall of the city. Hundreds were daily put to death in this manner, and the dreadful work continued until along the valley of Jehoshaphat and at Calvary, crosses were erected in so great numbers that there was scarcely room to move among them. After the destruction of the temple, the whole city soon fell into the hands of the Romans. The leaders of the Jews forsook their impregnable towers, and Titus found them solitary. He gazed upon them with amazement, and declared that God had given them into his hands. Both the city and the people were razed to their foundations. More than a million of the people perished; the survivors were carried away as captives, sold as slaves, dragged to Rome to grace the conqueror’s triumph, thrown to wild beasts in the amphitheaters, or scattered as homeless wanderers.” E.G.White THE GREAT CONTROVERSY (p.32,35) The rejecters of their Messiah had forged their own national fetters. Remember their words before Pilate:

“Let [Jesus] be crucified… His blood be on us and on our children” and “We have no king but Caesar” (Matthew 27:22,25; John 19:15)