The Saviour's Prediction.
By Nelson
“AND when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto; for these be the days of vengeance. And Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles till the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled.” Luke xxi, 20–24.139Observe, first, the time the Redeemer fixed and left on record for his followers and children to depart from that devoted city, was the time when it must seem to them that they could not get out of her. How were they to escape after the invaders had surrounded them? The church in Jerusalem had increased sometimes as fast as several thousand in a day. How were these families to depart, when Jerusalem was compassed with armies? The sign named by their Saviour as the token of their flight was of itself an impassible barrier in the way of their travel. The incident which dictated their hasty journey, must necessarily hedge up their way. If the reader wishes a particular recital of many striking incidents, let him turn to the cotemporary historian, Josephus, who was himself an actor in the military occurrences of the time. This much admired and much respected writer does not seem to have known or, to have remembered that the Saviour had said anything of the Roman eagle standing where it ought not, or of Jerusalem being compassed with armies. When this siege did occur, he relates the circumstances truthfully, although it is evident he did not know they were appointed of heaven. The banner which the soldiers worshiped, and which the prophet called the “abomination which maketh desolate” moved before the temple gates. Josephus relates accurately the movements of the Roman general, Cestius, on that occasion. He informs us, that when he might have taken the city speedily, and with comparative ease, thus terminating the war at once, he led his army away. He retired “without any just occasion in the world.” Josephus seems to want words to express his wonder at the conduct of this commander. Perhaps Cestius scarcely knew himself why he thus acted so much to the astonishment of beholders; but had we been there, knowing what we now know, we could have told all spectators and historians the reason why he withdrew. God’s people were in that city. His little flock—little in comparison with the multitude of the ungodly—never noticed by the haughty of this world unless to deride or calumniate, are never forgotten by Him. They were to seek safety in the mountains; they were to have an opportunity to retire. To afford this the Roman legions must be taken to a proper distance. They were, thus conducted, and the followers of the Saviour with their families, did retire. The young reader is here again reminded that we are not giving merely the Christian account of these things. He may gather these facts from the pens of ancient and modern unbelievers, if he prefers their history. When those who had vociferated, “Crucify him, crucify him; his blood be upon us and our children,” were crucified themselves, with their children, around the walls of their blazing city, nailed many on the same cross, until there was no more space on which to plant a cross, and no more wood of which to make one; when famine, gnawing, unparalleled famine, was doing a work along those crowded streets, the bare recital of which would cause the stupid, the callous, or the cruel to faint with sickening horror, there were no Christians there. They had gone to Pella. They had watched for the Redeemer’s token, and obeyed the signal. The words spoken by the Man of Calvary, unheeded by the world then, unnoticed by after generations, and that scoffers of the present age scarcely know are in the Bible, were the means of their salvation.