Note.—This calamity and dispersion occurred in 70 a.d., under Titus, the Roman general. Says the Popular and Critical Bible Encyclopedia, Vol. II, article “Jerusalem,” page 932: “Jerusalem seems to have been raised to this greatness as if to enhance the misery of its overthrow. So soon as the Jews had set the seal to their formal rejection of Christ, by putting Him to death, and invoking the responsibility of His blood upon the heads of themselves and of their children (Matt. 27:25), the city's doom went forth. Titus, a young, brave, and competent Roman general, with an army of sixty thousand trained, victorious warriors, appeared before the city in April, 70 a.d., and the most disastrous siege of all history began.” See pages [313], [314].
4. Under what striking symbol was all this foretold?
“Thus saith the Lord, Go and get a potter's earthen bottle, and ... break the bottle ... and ... say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again.” Jer. 19:1-11.
Note.—“No city on the globe has suffered more from war and sieges than Jerusalem.... Storming legions, battering-rams, and catapults have razed it again and again. And yet, the general outline of the city has always been preserved. Zion and Mt. Moriah remain in full view from Olivet, and there, on those hills, stretching away toward the west, city after city has come and gone in the passing ages.”—Popular and Critical Bible Encyclopedia, Vol. II, article “Jerusalem” pages 928, 929.
5. How long was Jerusalem to be trodden down of the Gentiles?
“And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” Luke 21:24.
Note.—Jerusalem stands for the people, the truth, and the true worship of God. It is first mentioned in the Bible as Salem (Gen. 14:18); is spoken of figuratively as a mother bringing forth the children of God (Gal. 4:26, 27); and is a type of the holy city, New Jerusalem, which is to be the metropolis of the new earth. In Rev. 11:2 it is used as a type of God's people during the long period of 1260 years of papal persecution, who are there referred to as “the holy city,” which the Gentiles “tread underfoot forty and two months.”
6. What will terminate the “times” allotted to the Gentiles?
“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Matt. 24:14.
7. Why was the gospel to be preached to the Gentiles?