Bible prophecies explained:
Bible prophecies fulfilled by Israel - part 2
Many of these Bible prophecies either found fulfillment during the first century or began to find fulfillment at that time. They include the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, and the exile of the people from the land of Israel.
1. Jesus prophesied that the Temple would be destroyed
Bible passage: Matthew 24:1-2
Written: During the first century AD
In Matthew 24:1-2, Jesus prophesied that the Temple of Jerusalem would be destroyed and that its destruction would be so complete that not one stone would be left standing on top of another. His prophecy was fulfilled about 40 years later.
During a war between the Jews and the Romans that ended in 70 AD, fire was set to the Temple in Jerusalem and it burned to the ground. The destruction was witnessed by an historian named Josephus, who, in his book, The Wars Of The Jews, Book 7, Chapter 8, Section 7, indicates that the Temple's destruction was so complete that even the foundation was destroyed.
Matthew 24:1-2:
1 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings.
2 "Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down."
2. Jesus prophesied that the Jews would be exiled
Bible passage: Luke 21:24
Written: During the first century AD
In Luke 21:24, Jesus said that Jerusalem would be trampled upon by foreigners and that the people of Israel would be forced into exile.
About 40 years after Jesus delivered that prophecy, it began to find fulfillment. The Romans destroyed Jerusalem in the year 70, and again in the year 135.
During the first destruction, Josephus, an historian who lived during the first century, claimed 1.1 million Jews died and hundreds of thousands were forced out of the country and into exile and slavery.
During the second destruction, Cassius Dio, an historian who lived during the second century, claimed that 580,000 Jews were killed, 50 fortified towns and 985 villages were destroyed.
The exiled Jews were taken to countries throughout the Roman Empire and eventually scattered and re-scattered throughout the world. There are Jewish communities today in Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe, North America and South America.
Luke 21:24:
They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
3. Jesus explained why Jerusalem would be destroyed
Bible passage: Luke 19:41-44
Written: During the first century AD
In Luke 19:41-44, Jesus prophesies that Jerusalem would be destroyed because of the rejection of Jesus as the Messiah.
Although some people did accept Jesus as the Messiah, many people rejected him. In fact, the rejection was strong enough that Jesus was executed a short time after uttering the prophecy.
The Romans surrounded the city and destroyed it about 40 years after Jesus uttered the prophecy. The destruction was so complete that the some of its consequences still are visible today. For example, there is little consensus today as to where, exactly, the Temple stood. And the majority of the descendants of the people who were exiled are still residing in places outside of the land of Israel.
Luke 19:41-44:
41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it
42 and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.
43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side.
44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you."
4. Daniel foretold the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple
Bible passage: Daniel 9:24-26
Written: About 530 BC
During the time of Daniel, who lived about 2600 years ago, the Babylonians invaded Judah (the southern part of the land of Israel) and took many Jews, including Daniel, as captives to Babylon. The Babylonians also destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the Temple, in 586 B.C.
Daniel spent most of his life in Babylon. He became a high-ranking official of the king of Babylon. More importantly, God chose him to be a prophet.
In Daniel 9:24-26, Daniel delivers a prophecy that Jerusalem and the Temple would be destroyed, again, in the future. Within these verses, Daniel provides a chronology by which certain events would occur. First, the Jews would return from captivity and rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple. Afterwards, an "anointed one," or Messiah, would appear, but he would be rejected. Then, Jerusalem and the Temple would be destroyed, again.
Each of these things happened during the six centuries that after Daniel delivered the prophecy. As explained in the Bible's books of Ezra and Nehemiah, some Jews returned from their exile in Babylon and eventually rebuilt Jerusalem and the Temple.
Centuries later, Jerusalem had blossomed into a noteworthy city, and the Temple had been remodeled in grand fashion by King Herod. Then, about 2000 years ago, Jesus announced that he was the Messiah. But, many people rejected him as the Messiah, and about 40 years later, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple.
Daniel 9:24-26:
24 "Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy.
25 "Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven 'sevens,' and sixty-two 'sevens.' It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.
26 After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed.
5. Zion would be "plowed like a field"
Bible passage: Micah 3:11-12
Written: Sometime between 750-686 BC
The prophet Micah lived about 2700 years ago, more than a century before the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple, and several centuries before the Romans would do the same.
Like other prophets in the Bible, Micah warned his people that turning away from God would result in destruction of their homeland, and he offered details as to the extent of the destruction: " Therefore because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets." (Micah 3:12).
Zion is a word that has a variety of meanings and often is used to refer to all or part of Jerusalem, or to the entire land of Israel.
The prophecy is recorded by more than one ancient source as being fulfilled, including the Babylonian Talmud, which is a collection of Judaic writings that were compiled about 1500 years ago. In Ta'anith 26b (a section within the Talmud), five calamities that are said to have happened on the Ninth day of the Jewish month of Ab. The fifth calamity is listed as the plowing of Jerusalem.
Micah 3:11-12:
11 Her leaders judge for a bribe,
her priests teach for a price,
and her prophets tell fortunes for money.
Yet they lean upon the LORD and say,
"Is not the LORD among us?
No disaster will come upon us."
12 Therefore because of you,
Zion will be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,
the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.
6. The Bible foreshadowed Rome's destruction of Israel
Bible passage: Deuteronomy 28:49-52
Written: As early as 1400 BC
The Bible has several prophecies foretelling the destruction of the land of Israel, including one in the book of Deuteronomy that coincides with the manner in which the Roman army conquered Israel during the first and second centuries:
"The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down . . . They will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down." (Portions of Deuteronomy 28:49-52 NIV).
The Romans oppressively ruled over the land of Israel for a century before the Jews waged two wars for independence, the first beginning in 67 AD and the second beginning in about 132 AD. Both wars resulted in great destruction to the land and people of Israel.
The ancient historian Dio Cassius claimed that the Roman army had razed to the ground 985 villages throughout Israel. If the figure is to believed, then it might be including settlements, along with cities and towns, throughout the land. The writings of Cassius, along with those from Josephus, another first-century historian, indicate that the Roman army's destruction of Israel was very complete.
The prophecy also speaks of an eagle in reference to the army that would swoop down upon Israel and reduce it to a state of desolation. As we learn from historians, including Tacitus who lived during the first century, the Romans marched with standards - long poles adorned with the eagle figurines - held high above their heads, as though the eagles were in flight.
Another feature of the prophecy is that it speaks of armies being gathered from the ends of the earth. The Romans had armies scattered throughout parts of Europe, Africa and Asia. To quell the Jewish uprising, some troops had to be called in from as far away as the British Isles.
Deuteronomy 28:49-52:
49 The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand,
50 a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old or pity for the young.
51 They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine or oil, nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined.
52 They will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the LORD your God is giving you.
7. Jerusalem would stop being the center of worship
Bible passage: John 4:21
Written: During the first century AD
In John 4, Jesus has a conversation with a Samaritan woman and informs her, in verse 21, that there would come a time during which Jerusalem would not serve as the center of worship.
At that point in time, when Jesus lived, Jerusalem had been the center for Judaic worship for nearly 1,000 years. And, during the century in which Jesus lived, many Judaists accepted Jesus as the fulfillment of Judaism and Jerusalem became the center for Christianity.
But, during the 100 years that followed the crucifixion of Jesus, the Romans had destroyed the Temple and had destroyed the city of Jerusalem twice. Jerusalem did not function as the center for either Judaism or Christianity for many centuries.
John 4:21:
19 "Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet.
20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."
21 Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.
23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
8. Israel would become a wasteland
Bible passage: Deuteronomy 29:23
Written: As early as 1400 BC
Moses describes a cycle of punishment and restoration for the land and people of Israel, especially within the book of Deuteronomy. During a time of punishment, the people would be forced into exile and the land itself would become desolate:
The whole land will be a burning waste of salt and sulfur—nothing planted, nothing sprouting, no vegetation growing on it. It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in fierce anger. - Deuteronomy 29:23 (NIV).
I will lay waste the land, so that your enemies who live there will be appalled. . . . Your land will be laid waste, and your cities will lie in ruins. - Portions of Leviticus 26:32-33 (NIV).
Afterwards, as Moses also informed the people of Israel, God would restore his people and his land.
The prophecies involving the desolation of the land of Israel were fulfilled to such an extent that it has attracted the attention of writers and historians since ancient times who documented its desolation.
One of the earliest writings to describe the desolation of Israel comes from Josephus, who witnessed the destruction of Israel during the first century at the hands of the Roman army. As Rome's legions suppressed a Jewish uprising to re-establish sovereignty for Israel, they cut down trees to build bridges, towers, battering rams and other machines of war, while systematically destroying the country city by city:
"And truly the very view itself of the country was a melancholy thing; for those places which were before adorned with trees and pleasant gardens were now become a desolate country every way, and its trees were all cut down: nor could any foreigner that had formerly seen Judea and the most beautiful suburbs of the city, and now saw it as a desert, but lament and mourn sadly at so great a change: for the war had laid all the signs of beauty quite waste..." - Josephus, Wars of the Jews, Book 6, Chapter 1.
Deuteronomy 29:23:
The whole land will be a burning waste of salt and sulfur—nothing planted, nothing sprouting, no vegetation growing on it. It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in fierce anger.
9. The exile of the people of Israel
Bible passage: Deuteronomy 4:25-27,30
Written: As early as 1400 BC
In Deuteronomy 4:25-30, Moses told the Israelites that they would perish from the land of Israel if they turned away from God.
The people of Israel endured two major exiles in their history. The first happened during ancient times, at the hands of the Assyrians and Babylonians. The second happened during the first and second centuries, at the hands of the Romans.
Even today, many centuries after the days of the Roman Empire, the majority of the descendants of the exiles continue to reside outside of Israel.
Deuteronomy 4:25-27,30:
25 After you have had children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time—if you then become corrupt and make any kind of idol, doing evil in the eyes of the LORD your God and provoking him to anger,
26 I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live there long but will certainly be destroyed.
27 The LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you.
30 When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and obey him.
Notes: Bible verses are from the New International Version (NIV) translation.
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A selection of Bible prophecies explained
• End time prophecies
• Prophecies fulfilled by Jesus' birth
• Fulfilled by Jesus' life
• Fulfilled by his crucifixion
• Others involving Jesus
• Fulfilled by Israel - part 1
• Fulfilled by Israel - part 2
• Fulfilled by Babylon
• Fulfilled by Tyre
• Fulfilled by Nineveh
• Fulfilled by other nations
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