The Immense Significance of the Destruction
of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

"By pondering the scriptures cited above the reader will be enabled to perceive the truly immense significance of the execution of God's long deferred, though oft threatened judgments and the pouring out of his wrath upon that nation which he had chosen for himself and with which he had dealt for a millennium and a half as he had never dealt with any other. 

"For this was the nation he had so marvelously delivered out of Egypt; the nation to which he had given his holy law amidst the terrors of Sinai; the nation he had brought into the land of promise, driving out before them nations greater and mightier than they; to which he had sent his prophets with warning and with promises and to which, last of all, he sent his only Son. And if one but calls to mind the many prophecies, beginning with Deuteronomy 28:49-68, that pointed to and were fulfilled in that stupendous event.(the destruction of Jerusalem), he will surely realize something of its unique place and importance.(*).in the scheme of God's dealings with humanity. 

"Finally, we have our Lord's own word for it that those were to be the days of vengeance wherein."all things that were written should be fulfilled".(Luke 21:22).and he was then speaking of a.period that was to come within that generation, a period of great distress in the land.(of Judea).and of great wrath upon that people. Hence the words."all things that are written".can mean nothing less than the many predictions of the prophets of Israel concerning the judgments that would be executed upon them if they persisted in their disobedience and apostasy. 

"To this also the Apostle Paul manifestly had reference when, writing to the Thessalonians, twenty five to thirty years later, he said of the Jews that they."..both killed the Lord Emmanuel and their own prophets and have persecuted us and they please not God and are contrary to all men", because of all which."the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost"....1Thessalonians 2:15."

The Disciples' Two Questions 

"In view of all the foregoing, it seems clear that the first question asked by the disciples of their Master.("When shall these things be?":.Matthew 24:3).had reference to the demolition of the temple, whereof he had just spoken.(Matthew 24:2).and that the other question.("And what the sign of Thy coming and of the end of the age?").a reference to his."coming".for the destruction of the temple and to."the end of".the then elapsing Jewish age. For that coming judgment would be."the day of the Lord".for that people. It was an event such as the prophets of Israel might well have described in the very strongest terms and portrayed by means of the most impressive prophetic symbology."

The Times of the Gentiles and Their Fullness

"The destruction of Jerusalem marks not only the ending of the Jewish nation but also the beginning of."the times of the Gentiles."

"It is appropriate therefore to refer at this point to two expressions that are familiar to all students of prophecy."the times of the Gentiles".and."the fullness of the Gentiles". 

"The first occurs in a prophecy of Christ concerning the city of Jerusalem. The second is found in a prophecy of Paul concerning the Jewish people. 

"Our Lord, after having foretold the worldwide dispersion of the Jews, said."And Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled":.Luke 21:24. 

"And Paul, after having set forth under the figure of an olive tree the method of God's salvation for both Jews and Gentiles, said."I would not, brethren, that you be ignorant of this mystery, lest you be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.":.Romans 11:25. 

"The outstanding feature of each of these prophecies is that it describes a condition that was to last, in the plain sight of all humanity, throughout the entire era of the gospel. The first puts a conspicuous and age-long mark upon the city of Jerusalem. The other puts an equally conspicuous and permanent mark upon the scattered Jewish people. 

"My purpose is, in what follows is to show how, in the interest of dispensationalism, the significance of these exceedingly important scriptures has been changed and the object for which they were given has been in a large measure frustrated. For these are prophecies of what was to be during this present age and they are strictly limited thereto; whereas they are commonly treated as prophecies of what is to take place after this present age shall have come to an end. For our Lord's word concerning Jerusalem is generally interpreted as a prediction that, when the times of the Gentiles are ended, then Jerusalem will be repossessed by the Jews and will become the capital city of a revived Jewish nation. 

"But in fact the passage says not a word and gives not so much as a hint concerning what will happen to Jerusalem after the times of the Gentiles shall have come to an end. 

"Similarly the passage in Romans 11 is often presented, not as a prophecy that was to be fulfilled throughout this gospel dispensation, but as a prediction that, after the work of the gospel shall have been completed, then the Jewish people are to be saved nationally and by a special salvation of Earthly character, different from salvation as described in the Bible.

"The passage however, not only says not a word concerning a post gospel salvation for the Jewish nation, but on the contrary teaches plainly that there is but one common salvation.(Jude 1:3).for all men, viz. that figured by the olive tree of this passage."

A Twofold Withness to the Authenticity of Bible Prophecy

"Let it be noted that the fulfillment of these prophecies demanded the continued existence of both the city and the people, though sundered the one from the other, to the very end of the gospel era and it demanded also that the city should be in the hands of strangers and the people should be in the lands of strangers during all that great stretch of time. 

"Here then is a two fold and a conclusive test of the Divine authorship of the prophetic scriptures. For if, in the course of these."times of the Gentiles", either the city or the people had passed out of existence or if the city had come into Jewish hands again or the Jewish people as a whole had changed their characteristic attitude towards Christ and his gospel, the prophecies would have been falsified and the entire New Testament discredited. On the other hand, seeing that none but God could have declared how it would fare with the city and the people throughout this long age, these prophecies, by their fulfillment, furnished an unimpeachable witness to their Divine authorship and hence to the Divine origin of the Book whereof they are an integral part."

A Continuing Fulfillment

"What gives these prophecies their surpassing value as witnesses to the Divine authorship of the Bible is the fact that they have the extraordinary character of demanding a continuing fulfillment. Prophecies which foretell the happening of a specific event, as the destruction of Jerusalem, are of no value at all as evidenced until the predicted event occurs. And then the full effect is felt only by the generation living at the time. But these prophecies are of such a nature as to bear witness to every successive generation and not only so, but are such that their testimony becomes more and more impressive as the centuries roll on. 

"Moreover, the fulfillment stands prominently before the eyes of the whole world. For Jerusalem is a conspicuous city and so likewise as to the Jewish race, they are everywhere and wherever they are, they are Jews and known as such. 

"Therefore, God has made it possible by means of these two prophecies alone, even if there were no other proofs available, for all honest inquirers at all times throughout this gospel dispensation, to have convincing proof of the Divine inspiration of the Holy scriptures and particularly of the certainty of the predictive element therein."

So, how today does it all apply?

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