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290 Paradise Restored
each other, had nevertheless proceeded from the same authors; that the
Christians had sprung up from among the Jews; and that, if the root
were extirpated, the offshoot would speedily perish. Thus, according to
the divine will, the minds of all being inflamed, the temple was
destroyed. . . . (The Sacred HktoV of Sulpitius Severus, in A Select
Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church
[Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1973 reprint], Second Series, vol. 11, p. 111.
Cf. Michael Grant, The Twelve Caesars [New York: Charles Scribners
Sons, 1975], pp. 228 f.)
34. Cf. Mal. 4:6.
35. This event is also reported by the Roman historian Tacitus:
In the sky appeared a vision of armies in conflict, of glittering armour. A
sudden lightning flash from the clouds lit up the Temple. The doors of
the holy place abruptly opened, a superhuman voice was heard to
declare that the gods were leaving it, and in the same instant came the
rushing tumult of their departure. (Tacitus, The Histories, translated by
Kenneth Wellesley [New York: Penguin Books, 1964, 1975], p. 279.)
36. Cf. Isa. 2:10-12; Hos. 10:8; Luke 23:28-30; Rev. 6:15-17.
37. Cf. Deut. 28:68.
38. Whiston comments at this point: “What is here chiefly remarkable is
this, that no foreign nation ever came thus to destroy the Jews at any of their
solemn festivals, from the days of Moses till this time, but came now upon
their apostasy from God, and from obedience to him.” God had promised protection
during the festivals (Ex. 34:23-24). The fact that God did not observe
this promise any longer is another indication that Israel had been excommunicated
from the covenant.
,39. The last stronghold of the Zealots was atop the lonely limestone crag of
Masada, towering 1,700 feet high near the western shore of the Dead Sea. Led
by Eleazar, son of Jairus (not the Eleazar who led the Zealots in Jerusalem),
the Masada Zealots were able to hold off the Remans for about four years
after the fall of Jerusalem. When Eleazar saw, however, that the Remans
would soon succeed in taking his fortress, he urged his followers to commit
mass suicide rather than submit to the dishonor of capture by the Remans.
Eternal life and glory, he assured them, would be their reward. The tragedy occurred
on the 15th of Nisan, A.D. 74— Passover.