Today is the 1,938th anniversary of the destruction of Jerusalem in AD70. Roman armies sacked and burned the city and slew upwards of 1 million people during the siege.
Jerusalem was destroyed as a judgment of God against the Jewish nation which had failed to heed his warnings to return to faithfulness. Previously, the Jews had faced deportation and captivity at the hands of the Babylonians. More recently they had suffered under the hand of the Romans yet remained haughty and even arrogant against God. The slaying of his Son Jesus came as a result of their refusal to accept his Kingship.
The defeat was known, even in their last days, as a judgment from God. Titus, the Roman general responsible for the siege, defeat and destruction of Jerusalem refused to accept a victors wreath during the celebration of victory. He reportedly declined and said there is “no merit in vanquishing people forsaken by their own God.”
The defeat of Israel should serve as a warning to us that God means what he says when he commands our lives. Let us never be as stubborn as those Jews who met such horrible deaths in Jerusalem in AD70.
