Vespasian advanced with his army from Antioch, initiating the assault on Galilee, where one hundred thousand young Jews rallied under the command of Josephus Flavius. However, this hastily assembled and untrained Jewish force could not withstand the seasoned Roman legions. Consequently, Galilee, Samaria, and many cities of Judea fell one after another, enduring great devastation, and Josephus Flavius was captured. Gadara was the first to succumb, resulting in the slaughter of men, women, and children en masse. During the siege of Jotapata, 40,000 Jews were killed, and 1,200 were taken as captives. In Ascalon, 10,000 lost their lives, while 27,000 were killed in Japhia, with the remaining women and children sold into slavery. In Samaria, on Mount Gerizim, 11,000 were slain. In Joppa, 8,400 perished and 4,200 were drowned. In Tarichea, 2,200 were killed, and 6,000 were taken prisoner. At Gamala, 4,000 died, and 5,000 jumped from the cliff to their death. Of those taken captive, 30,400 were sold into slavery. After vanquishing Galilee, Samaria, and almost all of Judea, Vespasian intended to advance on Jerusalem, but news of Emperor Nero's demise briefly halted his military campaign. After being proclaimed emperor by his troops, he returned to Rome, entrusting the war to his son Titus. Titus approached Jerusalem just before the Jewish Passover feast in 70 A.D. The Christians, mindful of Christ’s covenant, escaped Jerusalem even before the siege, finding refuge beyond the Jordan in safer wilderness areas.
Josephus Flavius bears witness that omens alluded to the coming devastation before the siege of Jerusalem: A star resembling a sword hovered over the city for an entire year; before the onset of conflict, during the feast of unleavened bread, the area around the altar and sanctuary was illuminated as bright as day at night; the bronze temple gates, which required twenty men to close, opened on their own at night. During the feast of Pentecost, priests entering the temple to serve heard strange noises and movements, followed by voices proclaiming, "Let us depart from here!" However, once the war commenced, the city was torn apart by factions vying for control. Bands of robbers emerged, who justified their lawlessness under the guise of Jewish independence, known as Zealots, asserting authority over the populace and ruthlessly dominating the lives and resources of the citizens. Refugees from cities besieged by Roman forces sought refuge in Jerusalem, among them John of Gischala, who formed a loyal faction and instigated an internal conflict against both the Zealots and the peaceful residents, initially led by High Priest Ananus. Bloody confrontations erupted in the city streets and within the temple courtyards; the sacred space became stained with blood and littered with corpses—transforming the holy place into an abomination of desolation (Matthew 24:15). The warring factions summoned the Idumeans, escalating violence and lawlessness as daytime robberies, assaults, and murders occurred frequently, with the wealthy often victimized.
As Titus’s army approached Jerusalem, the city fell into utter chaos. Titus surrounded it with trenches to cut off food supplies, hoping to force the inhabitants into submission through starvation. A dreadful famine ensued; many attempted to escape the grip of starvation, only to be captured by Roman soldiers and crucified on the crosses—far exceeding supply. In the city itself, turmoil reigned with rampant strife, robbery, violence, and murder; the famine reached such extremes that individuals succumbed to horrific desperation, with one mother reportedly roasting and consuming her own child. Initially, the deceased were interred in caves and abandoned homes, but as space ran out, bodies were disposed of beyond the city gates or piled upon its walls. One observer reported that 150,880 corpses had been removed through his assigned gate, while other estimates suggested that up to 600,000 were disposed of altogether. When Titus circled the city and witnessed the ditches overflowing with decaying bodies, he raised his hands to heaven in dismay, calling upon God to witness that he bore no responsibility for such a calamity. This was, in part, accurate, as he had offered the besieged a chance to surrender, but they remained resolute. Titus dispatched Josephus Flavius to the city walls to convince the defenders, delivering a long speech that recounted the history of the Jewish people, illustrating that victory came only when God intervened on their behalf, and that relying solely on their own strength had led to failure. He challenged them to reflect on whether they could expect divine help after allowing the holy temple to become a haven for abominations, questioning if by taking up arms they were not at war with God Himself. Despite these earnest appeals, they fell on deaf ears.
The destruction of Jerusalem would have undoubtedly been much grimmer had, according to Christ’s prediction, the Lord not shortened those days for the sake of the elect (Mark 13:20), who had not had time to escape. Desperation reached its peak when the Roman forces breached the city walls, entered Jerusalem, and seized the tower of Antonia; the inhabitants and officials gathered in the temple courts, barricading themselves to defend against their pursuers. Nevertheless, the besiegers infiltrated the temple with torrents of blood washing over its sacred grounds. Titus aspired to save the temple, but he could not restrain his soldiers. They set fire to the temple and began to slaughter all Jews within its confines; around the sanctuary lay an appalling multitude of corpses, and blood flowed profusely on the altar’s steps, overwhelming the ground with dead bodies. The Romans mercilessly pursued the fleeing Jews, trampling over them as they fled towards the temple’s gates. Those survivors who managed to enter the city fortified themselves, yet could not withstand the might of the Roman legions. As the troops advanced, they killed all they encountered, blocking streets with corpses and immersing the city in blood. The temple was consumed by flames, and the entirety of Jerusalem was razed to the ground. Exhausted from the slaughter, the soldiers received orders to spare some lives—not killing those who were unarmed and non-resisting—but to capture the rest. Ultimately, up to 97,000 individuals were taken prisoner, while 1,100,000 perished during the siege. The treasures of both the temple and the city were looted, leaving no remnant of Jerusalem or the temple standing. Thus, the words of Jesus Christ regarding the fate of a cruel people—who had mercilessly slain their prophets and ultimately crucified their Messiah—were fulfilled. They were made to account for the innocent blood of the righteous they had shed, which they brazenly brought upon themselves when they cried to Pilate, "His blood be upon us and upon our children!"
Let us follow the fate of the temple and Jerusalem. Jesus foretold that the temple would be demolished so that no stone would remain upon another, and that Jerusalem would be overrun by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles concluded. Truly, the temple was obliterated beyond recognition; all attempts at reconstruction have met with complete failure. One Roman emperor, Julian the Apostate, vowed to restore the temple in Jerusalem, seeking to disprove Jesus's prediction of its final ruin. He summoned Jews from across the globe, who with great diligence began to clear the site of the former temple; yet whenever they attempted to work, balls of fire erupted from the ground, forcing them to abandon their efforts repeatedly. Ultimately, the builders ceased their labors, accepting that it was futile to continue any attempts to restore the temple, which had been demolished by divine will.
THEOSIS