What Removes the Veil (A homily for Transfiguration Sunday, Year C)

Exod 34:29-35

2 Cor 3:12-4:2

Year C, last Sunday of Epiphany

Do you remember the story of the Ten Commandments and the golden calf incident? Do you also remember what happens at the very end of that story? Another way of asking the same thing is, do you remember how the story of the Ten Commandments ends? What happens at the very end of that story? It's strange, it's mysterious, and the apostle Paul thought it was so important that he wrote about it in his second epistle to the church in Corinth.

Now do you remember? 

That's right. The face of Moses shines and he veils his face when confronted by the people of Israel.

This is how the story unfolds: Immediately after the golden calf incident, God told Moses that he would no longer lead the people of Israel into the promised land—God would NOT go with them—and God's reason for that was because, even though God has just delivered them from Egypt with great signs and wonders, those people were still incredibly stubborn and rebellious. They had not yet faced the reality that the God delivering them is the Creator of all things. He alone is supreme. He is the Most High God, who rules over all things.

Unfortunately, after the golden calf incident, In the eyes of the people, the God who just delivered them wasn't much different than the gods of other nations. 

After God tells Moses that He won't be going with the people into the promised land, Moses pleads with God to go with them somehow. It is only after pleading multiple times, that the Lord relents and finally promises to send His glory among the Israelites. But the glory of God that was going to be among them was the glory reflected in the face of Moses himself. The Lord passed in glory before Moses, and then Moses went down from the mountain with the Ten Commandments again, shining with the glory of God—his face shining like the sun.

Here is where Paul picks up the story. 

The Apostle Paul understood that Moses veiled his face from the people of Israel because their hearts were still hardened against God. They didn't even realize that they broke God's covenant, and that the glory of God's covenant with them was already fading away. 

When Moses came down from the mountain a second time, he came down to tell the people that God's covenant with them was fading away, but because of his pleading on their behalf, God was willing to renew His covenant with them. It is at that time when Moses veils his face so that the stubborn and rebellious people of that generation could not see the end of encountering God's glory—and die in the wilderness as a result. As long as the people had hardened minds and hearts, they could not dwell in the glorious presence of God. The veil over Moses' face was the only thing protecting them, so that God could still dwell among them and lead them into the promised land.

Now, fast forward to the days of Jesus and his apostles

Paul tells us that with the incarnation of God, with Jesus coming into this world, the veil which covered God's glory is lifted. No Israelite in Jesus's day could encounter Jesus and not see the glory of God dwelling among them. This is why Paul also tells us that when The Jews of his day read the Books of Moses, a veil rests over their hearts and minds. They choose not to see the glory of God in Jesus, or even among His people. They choose not to be judged, or saved, by Jesus. When drawing upon a clear description of Israel at Sinai, Paul teaches that many Jews in his own generation were just as stubborn and rebellious as the Jews in Moses' day, with the golden calf incident. 

In Paul's day, many of his own generation refused to believe that Jesus was different than the gods of other nations. Like Israel in the wilderness, they refused to believe that God had begun a new and greater Exodus with Jesus. They refused to believe the city of Jerusalem with its corrupt priesthood and corrupt leadership had become a new and greater Egypt. They refused to believe that Jesus was the greater Moses, delivering them from bondage to their stubborn and sin-filled ways. Their refusal to gaze into the glory of God in Jesus was a very big problem, and it is still a problem for people today.

What does Paul teach about solving this big problem?

What would it take for the veil to be removed from the minds of stubborn and rebellious people? 

What would it have taken for Moses to remove his veil, so the glory of God could dwell safely among the people again?

Paul gives us the answer in our reading tonight. 

Paul tells us that "turning" (i.e. repentance) is what removes the veil (v. 16).  When we encounter the living and true God, and He makes His presence known to us, the proper response of all of us should always be repentance.  Repentance is the desire to return to God—a movement of love and trust toward Him. It is only by turning to the Lord that the veil over our sinful, stubborn minds is removed. Because our Lord, Jesus, is the “Spirit” who brings liberty (v. 17), when we turn to Him, then we can be face-to-face with God’s glory and our hearts and minds can be renewed (cf. 4:4-6). 

All of this talk about faces glowing with the glory of God might sound strange and mysterious, but it's meaning is still very practical for us today. When we encounter the living and true God, and we turn toward Him (instead of the opposite—directing our thoughts and emotions away from Him or against Him, refusing to love and trust Him), the Spirit of God liberates us and transforms us to become more like Him; The Spirit of God transforms us to become more and more godly. The Spirit of God helps us share a family resemblance with him.

As a result of that transformation, we see many things in this world change. We see people "living patient, productive, loving lives. We see parents loving children and children loving parents. We see Husbands loving wives and wives showing loving respect for their husbands. We see Servants and masters working in mutual respect and concern. We see people producing the fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."1 

In short, we see people living like Jesus, fulfilling God's Law.

It is not enough to acknowledge sins and confess them. We must also turn to the Lord for change in life. When we turn to the Lord, the veil over our heart and mind is removed. The Spirit of the Lord is then given so that we can become fully human, with the glory of God dwelling among us.

1. A couple insights in this post, but especially this list of ways which people are transformed by the Spirit of God, come directly from Peter Leithart. https://theopolisinstitute.com/seven-spirits/s

Extraordinary Foreknowledge and Prediction of our Savior

Continuing in this series, I want to highlight the history surrounding the final siege of Jerusalem, which Eusebius describes as "Divine vengeance" that "did not long delay to visit them for their iniquity against the Christ of God." Most noteworthy are the explicit references to Matthew 24 and Luke 21 (and their parallels with Mark 13, describing the same prophecies by Jesus), which illustrate how common and obvious these "fulfillments" of prophecy were understood to be in the first few centuries of the early Christian church. And as I will show in future posts in this series, Eusebius was definitely not alone when he interpreted Matthew 24 and Luke 21 as being fulfilled in the first century.

Describing the final siege of Jerusalem, the promised famine1 which oppressed the economy of the Jewish nation, the predictions of Jesus, and the signs which preceded the Jewish war, Eusebius says:

  After Nero had held the government about thirteen years, Galba and Otho reigned about a year and six months. Vespasian, who had become illustrious in the campaign against the Jews, was then proclaimed sovereign in Judea, receiving the title of emperor from the armies there. Directing his course, therefore, immediately to Rome, he commits the care of the war against the Jews, into the hands of his son Titus; for after the ascension of our Saviour, the Jews, in addition to their wickedness against him, were now incessantly plotting mischief against his apostles. 

  First, they slew Stephen by stoning him, next James the son of Zebedee, and the brother of John, by beheading, and finally James, who first obtained the episcopal seat at Jerusalem after the ascension of our Saviour, and was slain in the manner before related. But the rest of the apostles, who were harassed in innumerable ways, with a view to destroy them, and driven from the land of Judea, had gone forth to preach the gospel to all nations, relying upon the aid of Christ, when he said, “Go ye, teach all nations in my name.”2 The whole body, however, of the church at Jerusalem, having been commanded by a divine revelation, given to men of approved piety there before the war, removed from the city,3 and dwelt at a certain town beyond the Jordan, called Pella. Here, those that believed in Christ, having removed from Jerusalem, as if holy men had entirely abandoned the royal city itself, and the whole land of Judea: the divine justice, for their crimes against Christ and his apostles, finally overtook them, totally destroying the whole generation of these evil-doers from the earth. 

  But the number of calamities which then overwhelmed the whole nation; the extreme misery to which particularly the inhabitants of Judea were reduced; the vast numbers of men, with women and children that fell by the sword and famine, and innumerable other forms of death; the numerous and great cities of Judea that were besieged, as also the great and incredible distresses that they experienced who took refuge at Jerusalem, as a place of perfect security; these facts, as well as the whole tenor of the war, and each particular of its progress, when, finally, the abomination of desolation,4 according to the prophetic declaration, stood in the very temple of God, so celebrated of old, but which now was approaching its total downfall and final destruction by fire; all this, I say, any one that wishes may see accurately stated in the history written by Josephus. 

  It may, however, be necessary to state, in the very words of this writer, how about three hundred thousand that flocked from all parts of Judea at the time of the passover, were shut up in Jerusalem as in a prison. For it was indeed just, that in those very days in which they had inflicted sufferings upon the Saviour and Benefactor of all men, the Christ of God, destruction should overtake them, thus shut up as in a prison, as an exhibition of the divine justice. Passing by, then, the particular calamities which befel them, such as they suffered from the sword, and other means employed against them, I may deem it sufficient only to subjoin the calamities they endured from the famine. So that they who peruse the present history may know, in some measure, that the divine vengeance did not long delay to visit them for their iniquity against the Christ of God.

  Let us, then, with the fifth book of Josephus’s history again in our hands, go through the tragedy of events which then occurred. “It was equally dangerous,” says he, 

“for the more wealthy to remain. For under the pretext of desertion, a man was slain for his wealth. But the madness of the rioters increased with the famine, and both kinds of misery were inflamed from day to day. Provisions were plainly nowhere to be had. Hence they burst into houses to search for food, and if they found any, they would scourge the owners as if they intended to deny they had it; but if they found none, they tortured them as if they had carefully concealed it. The bodies of the poor wretches, however, were evidence enough whether they had or had not. Some of them, therefore, that were yet sound in health, they supposed to have an abundance of food, but those that were wan and pallid they passed by; for it seemed absurd to kill men that were soon likely to die for want. Many secretly exchanged their property for a single measure of wheat, if they happened to be the more wealthy; of barley, if they were of the poorer sort. Then locking themselves in the most retired parts of their houses, some, from excessive hunger, ate the grain unprepared; others, however, baked it according as necessity or fear directed. As to a table, there was none set any where; but taking the food from the fire, they tore it asunder yet crude and raw.  

Wretched indeed was the fare, and a lamentable sight it was, where the most powerful grasped after all, and the weaker were constrained to mourn. For famine surpasses all other evils, but it destroys nothing so effectually as shame; for that which would otherwise demand some regard is contemned in this. Thus wives tore away the food from the very mouths of their husbands, children from their parents, and what was most wretched of all. mothers from their infants; so that whilst their dearest children lay wasting in their arms, there was not shame enough to prevent them taking away the very drops that supported life. And even in doing this, they did not remain undiscovered; for whenever they saw a door locked, this was a sign that those within were taking food, and then immediately bursting open the doors they rushed in, and choked them, almost forcing the morsels out of their very throats. Old men were beaten that held back their food, and women were torn by the hair, if they concealed what they had in their hands. Nor was there any pity for gray hairs or for infants; but taking up the infants while clinging to the morsels, dashed them to the ground. But they were much more cruel to those who anticipated their entrance, and were devouring what they wished to seize, just as if they had been wronged by them.  

They also devised terrible modes of torture, to discover where there was any food. For by cruel devices to prevent every relief of nature, they caused the unhappy individual to suffer such torment,* that the very recital makes one shudder at what he would endure, before he confessed that he had one loaf of bread, or that he had a single handful of wheat concealed. The tormentors themselves, however, suffered no want; for it might have been some palliation, if necessity had compelled them thus. But they did it with the view to exercise their ferocity and to provide for themselves for the following days. When any crept forth at night to the outposts of the Romans, for the purpose of collecting wild herbs and grass, these tormentors would go out to meet them, and when they seemed just to have escaped the hands of the enemy, the oppressors robbed them of whatever they brought. And very often, though they entreated them, and conjured them by the most awful name of God, to give them some part of that for which they had risked their lives, they notwithstanding gave them nothing. It was a happy circumstance yet, if, in addition to robbery, they were not also slain.” 

This same author, after a few particulars, also says: 

“But with the hope of egress was cut off all hope of safety to the Jews, and the famine now penetrating deeply, was consuming the people by houses and families. The houses were filled with women and children that had thus perished; the byways with the dead bodies of old men. But the boys and young men, swelling up, tottered and reeled like shadows through the markets, and then falling down, lay wheresoever the malady had overtaken them. The sick were not even able to bury their dead, and those yet in health and strength were loth to do it, both on account of the number of the dead, and the uncertainty of their own fate. Many, indeed, fell down and died upon those they were burying; many went to the sepulchres, even before they were overtaken by the struggles of death. There was, however, neither weeping nor lamentation, for the famine prevailed over all affection. With tearless eyes did they who were yet struggling with death, look on those that had gone to rest before them. A deep silence and deadly gloom pervaded the city. But more oppressive than all these, were the robbers that broke into the houses, now mere sepulchres, and spoiling the dead, and tearing off the garments of their bodies, went off with a laugh. They would also try the points of their swords in the dead bodies, and some of those that were lying yet alive, they thrust through, in order to try the edge of their weapons. But those that prayed them the relief of their arm and sword, they contemptuously left to be destroyed by the famine; whilst those expiring died with their eyes fixed upon the temple, and left the factious to survive them. These, at first, not bearing the effluvia from the dead bodies, ordered them to be buried out of the public treasury; afterwards, when they were not able to continue this, they threw the bodies from the walls into the ditches below. As Titus went around these, and saw them filled with the dead, and the deep gore flowing around the putrid bodies, he groaned heavily, and raising his hands, called God to witness that it was none of his work.” 

After some additional remarks, Josephus proceeds: 

“I cannot hesitate to declare what my feelings demand. I think that had the Romans lingered to proceed against these guilty wretches, the city would either have been swallowed up by the opening earth, or overwhelmed with a flood, or, like Sodom, been struck with the lightning. For it bore a much more impious race than those who once endured such visitations. Thus, by the madness of these wretches, the whole people perished.” 

In the sixth book, he also writes thus: 

“Of those that perished by the famine in the city, there fell an infinite number. The miseries that befel them were indescribable; for at every house, wherever there was a shadow of food, there was war. The nearest relatives contended with one another, to seize the wretched supports of life. There was no belief that hunger was the cause, even when they saw the dying; but the robbers would search them whilst yet breathing, lest any one should pretend that he was dying, whilst he concealed food in his bosom. But the robbers themselves, with their mouths wide open for want of food, roved and straggled hither and thither, like mad dogs, beating the doors as if they were drunk; and for want of counsel, rushing twice or thrice an hour into the same houses. Indeed, necessity forced them to apply their teeth to every thing, and gathering what was no food, even for the filthiest of irrational animals, they devoured it, and did not abstain at last even from belts and shoes. They took off the hides from their shields and devoured them, and some used even the remnants of old straw as food; others gathered the stubble, and sold a very small weight of it for four Attic drachms.*  

And why should we speak of the excessive severity of the famine as displayed by eating such inanimate objects? I am going to relate a piece of wickedness, such as is not recorded either by Greeks or barbarians. It is horrid to relate, and incredible to hear. And indeed, lest I should appear to deal in marvellous stories, I would cheerfully pass by this occurrence, if I had not innumerable witnesses still living. I should also deserve but cold thanks from my country, if I should pass by in carelessness what she in reality did suffer.  

A woman that dwelt beyond the Jordan, named Maria, the daughter of Eleazar, of the village Bathezor, signifying ‘the home of hyssop,’ distinguished for her family and wealth, having taken refuge at Jerusalem among the rest of the multitude, was shut up in the city with them. The tyrants had already robbed her of all her other possessions, as much as she had collected, and brought with her from beyond the river into the city. But as to the relics of her property, and whatever food she provided, the ruffians daily rushing in, seized and bore it away. A dreadful indignation overpowered the woman, and frequently reviling and cursing the robbers, she endeavourecd by these means to irritate them against herself. But as no one either through resentment or pity would slay her, and she was weary of providing food for others, and there was now no probability of finding it any where; the famine now penetrated the very bowels and marrow, and resentment raged more violently than the famine. Urged by frenzy and necessity as her councillors, she proceeded against nature herself. Seizing her little son, who was yet at her breast, she said, ‘Wretched child! in the midst of war, famine, and faction, for what do I preserve thee? Our condition among the Romans, though we might live, is slavery. But even slavery is anticipated by famine, and the assassins are more cruel than either—come, be thou food to me, Fury* to the assassins, and a tale for men, the only one yet wanting to complete the miseries of the Jews.’ As she said this, she slew her son; then, roasting him, she ate one half herself, and covering over the rest, she kept it.  

It was not long before the murderers came in, and perceiving the fumes of the execrable food, they threatened immediately to slay her if she did not produce what she had prepared. She answered she had reserved a fine portion of it for them, and then uncovered the relics of her son. Horror and amazement immediately seized them. They stood mute with the sight. ‘This is my own son,’ said she, ‘and the deed is mine. Eat, for I too have eaten, be not more delicate than a woman, nor more tender than a mother; but if you are so pious, and reject my offering, I have already eaten half, and let the rest remain for me.’ After this, they indeed went trembling away, cowardly at least in this one instance, and yet scarcely yielding to the mother even this kind of food. Forthwith the whole city was filled with the dreadful crime, and every one placing the wickedness before his eyes, was struck with a horror as if it had been perpetrated by himself. Thenceforth the wretched people, overcome with hunger, only strove to hasten death; and it was a happiness yet for those who died before they heard and saw miseries like these.” 

  Such, then, was the vengeance that followed the guilt and impiety of the Jews against the Christ of God. To these accounts it may be proper to add the sure prediction of our Saviour, in which he foretold these very events as follows: 

“But woe to them that are with child and those that give suck in those days; but pray that your flight be not in the winter, nor on the Sabbath. But there shall be then great distress, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, neither may be.”5 

  The historian, adding up the whole number of those slain, says, that eleven hundred thousand perished by famine and the sword, and that the rest, the factious and robbers, mutually informing against each other, after the capture, were put to death. Of the young men, the tallest, and those that were distinguished for beauty, were preserved for the triumph. Of the remaining multitude, those above seventeen were sent prisoners to labour at the mines in Egypt. But great numbers were distributed to the provinces, to be destroyed by the sword or wild beasts in the theatres. Those under seventeen were carried away to be sold as slaves. Of these alone, there were upwards of ninety thousand. 

  All this occurred in this manner, in the second year of the reign of Vespasian, according to the predictions of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who by his divine power foresaw all these things, as if already present at the time, who wept and mourned indeed at the prospect, as the holy evangelists show in their writings. These give us the very words that he uttered, when he said to this same Jerusalem, 

“If thou didst know, even thou, in this thy day, the things that belong to thy peace, but now they are hidden from thy eyes. For the days will come upon thee, and thy enemies shall cast a trench around thee, and shall encompass thee around, and shall every where shut thee in, and they shall level thee and thy children with the ground.”6 

Afterwards he speaks as if of the people: 

“For there shall be great distress upon earth, and wrath upon this people, and they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and they shall be carried away captive to all nations, and Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the nations, until the times of the nations shall be fulfilled.”7

And again, 

“When ye shall see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that her desolation has drawn near.”8

  On comparing the declarations of our Saviour with the other parts of the historian’s work, where he describes the whole war, how can one fail to acknowledge and wonder at the truly divine and extraordinary foreknowledge and prediction of our Saviour? 

  Concerning the events, then, that befel the Jews after our Saviour’s passion, and those outcries in which the multitude of the Jews refused the condemnation of a robber and murderer, but entreated that the Prince of Life should be destroyed, it is superfluous to add to the statement of the historian. Yet it may be proper to mention, also, what things occurred that show the benignity of that all-gracious Providence that had deferred, their destruction for forty years after their crimes against Christ.9 During which time the greater part of the apostles and disciples, James himself, the first bishop there, usually called the brother of our Lord, still surviving, and still remaining at Jerusalem, continued the strongest bulwark of the place. Divine Providence yet bearing them with long-suffering, to see whether by repentance for what they had done, they might obtain pardon and salvation; and beside this long-suffering, it also presented wonderful prodigies of what was about to happen to those that did not repent; all which having been recorded by the historian already cited, it well deserved to be submitted to the view of our readers.

  Taking, then, the work of this author, read for yourself the account given by him in the sixth book of his history. “The wretched people,” says he, 

“at this time were readily persuaded to give credit to the impostors and liars against God, but they neither believed nor paid regard to the significant and wonderful events that prognosticated the approaching desolation. On the contrary, as if struck with stupidity, and as if they had neither eyes nor understanding, they slighted the declarations of God. At one time, when a star very like a sword stood above the city, as also a comet that continued to be seen a whole year; at another, when before the rebellion and the commotions that preceded the war, whilst the people were collected at the feast of unleavened bread, on the eighth of the month of April, about the ninth hour of the night, so great a light shone around the altar and the temple, as to seem a bright day. And this continued for half an hour. To the ignorant this appeared a good omen, but by the scribes it was immediately judged to refer to the events that took place at the issue. At the same festival also, a cow struck by the priest for sacrifice, brought forth a lamb in the midst of the temple. The eastern gate also of the inner temple, which was of brass and immense weight, and which at evening was scarcely shut by twenty men, and resting on iron-bound hinges, and secured with bolts very deeply sunk in the ground, was seen in the sixth hour of the night to open of itself.  

 

But not many days alter the feast, on the twenty-first of the month of Artimisinm, a wonderful spectre was seen, which surpasses all belief. And indeed, that which I am about to tell would appear a prodigy, were it not related by those who had seen it, and unless the subsequent miseries had corresponded to the signs. For before the setting of the sun there were seen chariots and armed troops on high, wheeling through the clouds around the whole region, and surrounding the cities. And at the festival called Pentecost, the priests entering the temple at night, according to their custom, to perform the service, said they first perceived a motion and noise, and after this a confused voice, saying, ‘let us go hence.’ But what follows is still more awful.  

 

One Jesus, the son of Ananias, a common and ignorant rustic, four years before the war, when the city was most at peace and well regulated, coming to the festival, at which it was customary for all to make tabernacles at the temple, to the honour of God, suddenly began to cry out, ‘A voice from the east, a voice from the west, a voice from the four winds, a voice against Jerusalem and the temple, a voice against bridegrooms and brides, a voice against all people.’ This man went about crying through all the lanes, night and day. But some of the more distinguished citizens, being offended at the ominous cry, and enraged at the man, seized him, and scourged him with many and severe lashes. But without uttering a word for himself or privately to those present, he still persisted in the cries he had before uttered. The magistrates therefore, judging what it really was, a more than ordinary divine movement in the man, conducted him to the Roman governor. Then, though he was scourged to the bone, he neither entreated nor shed a tear. But, lowering his voice in as mournful a tone as was possible, he answered to every blow, ‘Woe to Jerusalem!’ ”

 The same historian relates a fact still more remarkable. He says, 

“that an oracular passage was found in the sacred writings, declaring that about this time a certain one proceeding from that region would obtain the sovereignty of the world.” 

 This prediction, he supposed, was fulfilled in Vespasian. He, however, did not obtain the sovereignty over the whole world, but only over the Romans. More justly, therefore, would it be referred to Christ, to whom it was said by the Father, 

“Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.”9 Of whom, indeed, at this very time, “the sound of the holy apostles went throughout all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.”10 

Continuing a few pages later, Eusebius adds: 

It was also said that Vespasian, after the capture of Jerusalem, commanded all of the family of David to be sought, that no one might be left among the Jews who was of the royal stock, and that in consequence another very violent persecution was raised against the Jews.

1  In Matthew 24:7, Jesus says that "Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famine and earthquakes against places (κατά τόπος)"

2  Matthew 28:19

3  In Luke 21:21-22 (c.f. Matt 24:15-17), Jesus says that "When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, you will know that her desolation is near. Then let those in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country stay out of the city, for these are the days of vengeance to fulfill all that is written."

4 In Matthew 24:15-17, Jesus says that "So when you see standing in the holy place the Abomination of Desolation described by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand), then let those in Judea flee to the mountains..."

* The passages that we have here thrown into one, are thus given by Valesius: ‘Nam miseris hominibns ipsos quidem genitalium meatus ervis obturabant, podicem præacutis sudibus transfigebant.’

* Attic drachms. The drachma was a coin of about 7½d. Some make it more. Shorting, in his translation, has computed the four drachms to be half a pound sterling, and refers to his note on Bk. I. ch. viii. He there states very correctly, that four Attic drachms equal one ordinary shekel, and the shekel to be 2s. 6d., but by some unaccountable oversight, makes the four drachms equal to ten shillings! He appears to have substituted the value of the shekel for the drachm, as the reader will readily see. But what is still more surprising, this error has been transcribed by Reading in his accurate edition of Valesius. See Reading’s edition in loc.

* Fury or vengeance. The Erynnes or Furies, according to the belief of the ancients, were among the tormenting fiends of Tartarus.

5  Matthew 24:19-20

6  Luke 19:42-44

7  Luke 21:23-24

8  Luke 21:20

9  Psalm 2:8

10  Psalm 19:4

 Valesius. (1847). Life of Eusebius Pamphilus. In Parker S.E. (Trans.), An Ecclesiastical History to the 20th Year of the Reign of Constantine (pp. 104–115, 118). London: Samuel Bagster and Sons.

Such was the condition at this time

Continuing in this series, the historian and Bishop, Eusebius of Caesarea, discusses a number of important historical events which the Scriptures corroborate as the fulfillment of Scriptural prophecies. 

First, Eusebius begins by touching upon the tribulation of those in Jerusalem under the reign of Nero Caesar, a topic which he will resume at the end of this section quoted below. Second, he discusses Paul's arrest and transportation from Judea to Rome for criminal allegations, aided by the anti-Christian Jewish authorities as recorded in the book of Acts. Then Eusebius moves on to the martyrdom of James, and how that evinces more of God's judgment upon the corrupt Jewish authorities in Jerusalem. He speaks of those things that "happened to the Jews in requital for James the Righteous," which culminated in 70 A.D. and the destruction of Jerusalem. 

In the background of this, Eusebius has very specific prophecies of Jesus and his apostles in mind. Most importantly, he has in mind Matthew 10 and 24, as well as Luke 21, as will be shown explicitly on this blog in future posts.

On pages 91-100 of his Ecclesiastical History, Eusebius writes:

Whilst Claudius held the government of the empire, it happened about the festival of the passover, that so great a sedition and disturbance took place at Jerusalem, that thirty thousand Jews perished of those alone who were crowded out of the gates of the temple, and thus trodden to death by one another. Thus the festival became a season of mourning and weeping to the whole nation and every family. This is almost literally the account given by Josephus. But Claudius appointed Agrippa, the son of Agrippa, king of the Jews, having deputed Felix procurator of all Samaria and Galilee, and also of the region situated beyond Jordan. He died after a reign of thirteen years and eight months, leaving Nero as his successor in the empire.

Josephus, in the twentieth book of his Antiquities, relates the sedition of the priests, which happened whilst Felix was governor of Judea, under the reign of Nero, in the following words: 

“There arose also a sedition between the chief priests on the one hand, and the priests and the leaders of the people at Jerusalem on the other. Each one of them forming collections of the most daring and disaffected, became a leader, and when these met they encountered each other with invectives and stones. Amid these disturbances there was no one that would interpose to rebuke them, but all was done with the greatest licentiousness, as in a state destitute of a ruler. So great also, was the shamelessness and audacity of the chief priests, that they dared to send forth their servants to the barns, to seize the tithes due to the priests; and thus it happened that those of the priests that were destitute, saw themselves perishing for want. Thus did the violence of the factions prevail over all manner of justice.” 

The same author again relates, that about the same time there sprung up a certain species of robbers at Jerusalem, “who,” says he, 

“in broad day-light, and in the midst of the city, slew those whom they met; but particularly at festivals, mixed with the multitude, and with short swords concealed under their garments, stabbed the more distinguished of the people. When these fell, the very murderers themselves took part in expressing their indignation with the bystanders, and thus by the credit which they had with all, they were not detected.” 

And first, he says, that the high priest Jonathan was slaughtered by them; and after him, many were slain from day to day, so that the alarm itself was more oppressive than the very evils with which they were assailed; whilst every one was in expectation of death, as in the midst of battle.

Next in order, after other matters, he proceeds in his narration. 

“But the Jews were afflicted with an evil greater than these, by the Egyptian impostor. Having come into the country, and assuming the authority of a prophet, he collected about thirty thousand that were seduced by him. He then led them forth from the desert to the Mount of Olives,1 determining to enter Jerusalem by force, and after subduing the Roman garrison, to seize the government of the people, using his followers as body guards. But Felix anticipated his attack by going out to meet him with the Roman military, and all the people joined in the defence; so that when the battle was fought, the Egyptian fled with a few, and the most of his followers were either destroyed or captured.” 

  This account is likewise given by Josephus in the second book of his history; and it is worth while to subjoin to this account respecting the Egyptian, that which is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. It was there said to Paul, by the centurion under Felix, when the multitude of the Jews raised a sedition against the apostle, “Art thou not indeed that selfsame Egyptian that excited and led away the thirty thousand assassins into the desert?” Such were the events that happened under Felix.

  Festus was sent by Nero as successor to Felix. Under him, Paul, after having pleaded his cause, was sent a prisoner to Rome. But Aristarchus was his companion, whom he also somewhere in his epistles calls his fellow-prisoner; and here Luke, that wrote the Acts of the Apostles, after showing that Paul passed two whole years at Rome as a prisoner at large, and that he preached the gospel without restraint, brings his history to a close. After pleading his cause, he is said to have been sent again upon the ministry of preaching, and after a second visit to the city, that he finished his life with martyrdom. Whilst he was a prisoner, he wrote his second epistle to Timothy, in which he both mentions his first defence and his impending death. Hear, on these points, his own testimony respecting himself.

“In my former defence no one was present with me, but all deserted me. May it not be laid to their charge. But the Lord was with me, and strengthened me, that through me the preaching of the gospel might be fulfilled, and all the nations might hear it. And I was rescued out of the lion’s mouth.” 

  He plainly intimates in these words, “On the former occasion he was rescued from the lion’s mouth, that the preaching of the gospel might be accomplished,” that it was Nero to which he referred by this expression, as is probable on account of his cruelty. Therefore he did not subsequently subjoin any such expression as, “he will rescue me from the lion’s mouth,” for he saw in spirit how near his approaching death was. Hence, after the expression, “and I was rescued from the lion’s mouth,” this also, “the Lord will rescue me from every evil work, and will save me unto his heavenly kingdom,” indicating the martyrdom that he would soon suffer; which he more clearly expresses in the same epistle, “for I am already poured out, and the time of my departure is at hand.” And indeed, in this second epistle to Timothy, he shows that Luke alone was with him when he wrote, but at his former defence not even he. Whence, it is probable, that Luke wrote his Acts of the Apostles about that time, continuing his history down to the time that he was with Paul. Thus much we have said, to show that the martyrdom of the apostle did not take place at that period of his stay at Rome when Luke wrote his history. It is indeed probable, that as Nero was more disposed to mildness in the beginning, the defence of the apostle’s doctrine would by him be more easily received; but as he advanced to such criminal excesses as to disregard all right, the apostles also, with others, experienced the effects of the measures pursued against them.

  The Jews, after Paul had appealed to Cæsar, and had been sent by Festus to Rome, frustrated in their hope of entrapping him by the snares they had laid, turned themselves against James, the brother of the Lord, to whom the episcopal seat at Jerusalem was committed by the apostles. The following were their nefarious measures also against him. Conducting him into a public place, they demanded that he should renounce the faith of Christ before all the people; but contrary to the sentiments of all, with a firm voice, and much beyond their expectation, he declared himself fully before the whole multitude, and confessed that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, our Saviour and Lord. Unable to bear any longer the testimony of the man, who, on account of his elevated virtue and piety was deemed the most just of men, they seized the opportunity of licentiousness afforded by the prevailing anarchy, and slew him. For as Festus died about this time in Judea, the province was without a governor and head. But, as to the manner of James’s death, it has been already stated in the words of Clement, that he was thrown from a wing of the temple, and beaten to death with a club. Hegesippus, also, who flourished nearest the days of the apostles, in the fifth book of his Commentaries gives the most accurate account of him, thus: 

“But James, the brother of the Lord, who, as there were many of this name, was surnamed the Just by all, from the days of our Lord until now, received the government of the church with the apostles. This apostle was consecrated from his mother’s womb. He drank neither wine nor fermented liquors, and abstained from animal food. A razor never came upon his head, he never anointed with oil, and never used a bath. He alone was allowed to enter the sanctuary. He never wore woollen, but linen garments. He was in the habit of entering the temple alone, and was often found upon his bended knees, and interceding for the forgiveness of the people; so that his knees became as hard as camels’, in consequence of his habitual supplication and kneeling before God. And indeed, on account of his exceeding great piety, he was called the Just, and Oblias, which signifies justice and protection of the people; as the prophets declare concerning him. 

 Some of the seven sects, therefore, of the people, mentioned by me above in my Commentaries, asked him what was the door to Jesus? and he answered, ‘that he was the Saviour.’ From which some believed that Jesus is the Christ. But the aforesaid sects did not believe either a resurrection, or that he was coming to give to every one according to his works; as many however, as did believe, did so on account of James. As there were many therefore of the rulers that believed, there arose a tumult among the Jews, Scribes, and Pharisees, saying that there was danger that the people would now expect Jesus as the Messiah. They came therefore together, and said to James, ‘We entreat thee, restrain the people, who are led astray after Jesus, as if he were the Christ. We entreat thee to persuade all that are coming to the feast of the passover rightly concerning Jesus; for we all have confidence in thee. For we and all the people bear thee testimony that thou art just, and thou respectest not persons. Persuade therefore the people not to be led astray by Jesus, for we and all the people have great confidence in thee. Stand therefore upon a wing of the temple, that thou mayest be conspicuous on high, and thy words may be easily heard by all the people; for all the tribes have come together on account of the passover, with some of the Gentiles also.’ The aforesaid Scribes and Pharisees, therefore, placed James upon a wing of the temple, and cried out to him, ‘O thou just man, whom we ought all to believe, since the people are led astray after Jesus that was crucified, declare to us what is the door to Jesus that was crucified.’ And he answered with a loud voice, ‘Why do ye ask me respecting Jesus the Son of Man? He is now sitting in the heavens, on the right hand of great Power, and is about to come on the clouds of heaven.’ And as many were confirmed, and glorified in this testimony of James, and said, Hosanna to the son of David, these same priests and Pharisees said to one another, ‘We have done badly in affording such testimony to Jesus, but let us go up and cast him down, that they may dread to believe in him.’ And they cried out, ‘Oh, oh, Justus himself is deceived,’ and they fulfilled that which is written in Isaiah, 

‘Let us take away the just, because he is offensive to us; wherefore they shall eat the fruit of their doings’.2

Going up therefore, they cast down the just man, saying to one another, ‘Let us stone James the Just.’ And they began to stone him, as he did not die immediately when cast down; but turning round, he knelt down saying, ‘I entreat thee, O Lord God and Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ Thus they were stoning him, when one of the priests of the sons of Rechab, a son of the Rechabites, spoken of by Jeremiah the prophet, cried out saying, ‘Cease, what are you doing? Justus is praying for you.’ And one of them, a fuller, beat out the brains of Justus with the club that he used to beat out clothes. Thus he suffered martyrdom, and they buried him on the spot, where his tombstone is still remaining by the temple. He became a faithful witness, both to Jews and Greeks, that Jesus is Christ. Immediately after this, Vespasian invaded and took Judea.” 

 

   Such is the more ample testimony of Hegesippus, in which he fully coincides with Clement. So admirable a man indeed was James, and so celebrated among all for his justice, that even the wiser part of the Jews were of opinion that this was the cause of the immediate siege of Jerusalem, which happened to them for no other reason than the crime against him. Josephus also has not hesitated to superadd this testimony in his works. “These things,” says he, 

“happened to the Jews to avenge James the Just, who was the brother of him that is called Christ, and whom the Jews had slain, notwithstanding his pre-eminent justice.” 

The same writer also relates his death, in the twentieth book of his Antiquities, in the following words: 

“But Cæsar having learned the death of Festus, sends Albinus as governor of Judea. But the younger Ananus, whom we mentioned before as obtaining the priesthood, was particularly rash and daring in his disposition. He was also of the sect of the Sadducees, which are the most unmerciful of all the Jews in the execution of judgment, as we have already shown. Ananus, therefore, being of this character, and supposing that he had a suitable opportunity, in consequence of the death of Festus, and Albinus being yet on the way, calls an assembly of the judges; and bringing thither the brother of Jesus who is called Christ, whose name was James, with some others, he presented an accusation against them, as if they had violated the law, and committed them to be stoned as criminals. But those of the city that seemed most moderate and most accurate in observing the law, were greatly offended at this, and secretly sent to the king, entreating him to send to Ananus with the request not to do these things, saying that he had not acted legally even before. Some also went out to meet him as he came from Alexandria, and inform him that it was not lawful for Ananus to summon the Sanhedrim without his knowledge. Albinus, induced by this account, writes to Ananus in a rage, and threatening that he would call him to an account. But king Agrippa, for the same reason, took from him the priesthood, after he had held it three months, and appointed Jesus the son of Dammæus his successor.” 

These accounts are given respecting James, who is said to have written the First of the epistles general; but it is to be observed that it is considered spurious. Not many indeed of the ancients have mentioned it, and not even that called the epistle of Jude, which is also one of the seven called catholic epistles. Nevertheless we know, that these, with the rest, are publicly used in most of the churches.

 Nero was now in the eighth year of his reign, when Annianus succeeded the apostle and evangelist Mark in the administration of the church at Alexandria. He was a man distinguished for his piety, and admirable in every respect. 

  Nero now having the government firmly established under him, and henceforth plunging into nefarious projects, began to take up arms against that very religion which acknowledges the one Supreme God. To describe, indeed, the greatness of this man’s wickedness, is not compatible with our present object; and as there are many that have given his history in the most accurate narratives, every one may, at his pleasure, in these contemplate the grossness of his extraordinary madness. Under the influence of this, he did not proceed to destroy so many thousands with any calculation, but with such indiscriminate murder as not even to refrain from his nearest and dearest friends. His own mother and wife, with many others that were his near relatives, he killed like strangers and enemies, with various kinds of death. And, indeed, in addition to all his other crimes, this too was yet wanting to complete the catalogue, that he was the first of the emperors that displayed himself an enemy of piety towards the Deity. This fact is recorded by the Roman Tertullian, in language like the following: 

“Examine your records. There you will find that Nero was the first that persecuted this doctrine, particularly then when after subduing all the east, he exercised his cruelty against all at Rome. Such is the man of whom we boast, as the leader in our punishment. For he that knows who he was, may know also that there could scarcely be any thing but what was great and good, condemned by Nero.” 

Thus Nero publicly announcing himself as the chief enemy of God, was led on in his fury to slaughter the apostles. Paul is therefore said to have been beheaded at Rome, and Peter to have been crucified under him. And this account is confirmed by the fact, that the names of Peter and Paul still remain in the cemeteries of that city even to this day. But likewise, a certain ecclesiastical writer, Caius by name, who was born about the time of Zephyrinus bishop of Rome, disputing with Proclus the leader of the Phrygian sect, gives the following statement respecting the places where the earthly tabernacles of the aforesaid apostles are laid. “But I can show,” says he, 

“the trophies of the apostles: for if you will go to the Vatican, or to the Ostian road, you will find the trophies of those who have laid the foundation of this church, and that both suffered martyrdom about the same time." 

Dionysius bishop of Corinth bears the following testimony, in his discourse addressed to the Romans. 

"Thus, likewise you, by means of this admonition, have mingled the flourishing seed that had been planted by Peter and Paul at Rome and Corinth. For both of these having planted us at Corinth, likewise instructed us; and having in like manner taught in Italy, they suffered martyrdom about the same time.” 

This testimony I have superadded, in order that the truth of the history might be still more confirmed.

  Josephus in his account of the great distresses that seized the Jewish nation, relates also, in his writings, that beside many others, vast numbers also of those that were of the first rank among the Jews, were scourged with rods, and nailed upon the cross at Jerusalem, by Florus. For he, happened to be procurator of Judea at the commencement of the war, in the twelfth year of Nero’s reign. “Then,” says he, 

“throughout all Syria a tremendous commotion seized upon the inhabitants, in consequence of the revolt of the Jews. Every where did the inhabitants of the cities destroy the Jews without mercy. So that you could see the cities filled with unburied corpses, and the dead bodies of the aged mixed with those of children, and women not even having the necessary covering of their bodies. The whole province, indeed, was filled with indescribable distresses. But greater still than the crimes already endured, was the anticipation of those that threatened.” 

Such is the statement of Josephus, and such was the condition of the Jews at this time.3

1 In Matthew 24:4-6, Jesus refers to these events: "See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Messiah,' and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet."

2 Isaiah 3:10 LXX

3 Valesius. (1847). Life of Eusebius Pamphilus. In Parker S.E. (Trans.), An Ecclesiastical History to the 20th Year of the Reign of Constantine (pp. 91–100). London: Samuel Bagster and Sons.

Comparative Accounts with the Writings of the Evangelists

Continuing in this series, I now want to take a short break from referencing Eusebius' interpretation of Old Testament prophecies, and provide some historical information about those events which he argues were fulfilled within the generation of the Apostles. 

Although Eusebius was a comprehensive biblical exegete, he is actually more famous for being an excruciatingly detailed historian. As I noted in a couple posts, Eusebius is considered to be "the Father of Church History." For those unfamiliar with his historical works, over the next few posts I will be offering a few selections from those which will help clarify what first century events he thought clearly illustrated the fulfillment of Scriptural promises about the end of the Old Covenant administration and final judgment upon the Jewish nation in 70 AD.

A good place to begin is in his Ecclesiastical History, when describing what happened to the Jews around the time of Herod Agrippa's banishment, and afterward. He writes: 

Tiberius died after having reigned about twenty-two years, and Caius, receiving the empire next, immediately conferred the Jewish government on Agrippa, appointing him king over the tetrarchy both of Philip and Lysanias. To these, not long after, he adds also the tetrarchy of Herod, after having inflicted the punishment of perpetual exile upon Herod, together with his wife Herodias, for their numerous crimes. This was the Herod who was concerned in the passion of our Saviour. Josephus bears testimony to these facts. During the reign of this emperor, Philo became noted, a man most distinguished for his learning, not only among very many of our own, but of those that came from abroad. As to his origin, he was a descendant of the Hebrews, inferior to none at Alexandria in point of dignity of family and birth. As to the divine Scriptures, and the learning of his country, how greatly and extensively he laboured, his work speaks for itself. And how well skilled in philosophy and the liberal studies of foreign countries, there is no necessity to say, since, as he was a zealous follower of the sect of Plato and Pythagoras, he is said to have surpassed all of his contemporaries. 

This author has given us an account of the sufferings of the Jews in the reign of Caius, in five books. He there also relates the madness of Caius, who called himself a god, and was guilty of innumerable oppressions in the exercise of his power. He mentions the miseries of the Jews under him, and the embassy which he himself performed when sent to the city of Rome, in behalf of his countrymen at Alexandria; how that when he pleaded before Caius, for the laws and institutions of his ancestors, he received nothing but laughter and derision in return, and had well nigh incurred the risk of his life. Josephus also mentions these things in the eighteenth book of his Antiquities, in these words:

“A sedition having also arisen between the Jews dwelling at Alexandria and the Greeks, three chosen deputies were sent from each of the factions, and these appeared before Caius. One of the Alexandrian deputies was Apion, who uttered many slanders against the Jews; among other things, saying, that they treated the honours of Cæsar with contempt, that whilst all others, as many as were subject to the Roman empire, erected altars and temples to Caius, and in other respects regarded him as i god, they alone considered it disgraceful to raise statues to his honour, and to swear by his name. Apion having thus uttered many and severe charges, by which he hoped that Caius would be roused, as was very probable, Philo, the chief of the Jewish embassy, a man illustrious in every respect, being the brother of Alexander, the Alabarch,1 and not unskilled in philosophy, was well prepared to enter upon a defence against these charges. But he was precluded from this by Caius, who ordered him straightway to be gone, and, as he was very much incensed, it was very evident that he was meditating some great evil against them. Philo departed, covered with insult, and told the Jews that were with him, they had good reason to console themselves, that although Caius was enraged at them, he was already in fact challenging God against himself.” 

Thus far Josephus. And Philo himself, in the embassy which he describes, details the particulars of what was then done to him, with great accuracy. Passing by the greatest part of these, I shall only state those by which it will be made manifest to the reader, that these things happened to the Jews forthwith, and at no distant period, on account of that which they dared to perpetrate against Christ. First, then, he relates, that in the reign of Tiberius, at Rome, Sejanus, who was then in great favour with Tiberius, had made every effort utterly to destroy the whole nation of the Jews, and that in Judea Pontius Pilate, under whom the crimes were committed against our Saviour, having attempted something contrary to what was lawful among the Jews respecting the temple at Jerusalem, which was then yet standing, excited them to the greatest tumults. 

After the death of Tiberius, Caius having received the government, besides many other innumerable acts of tyranny against many, did not a little afflict the whole nation of the Jews particularly. We may soon learn this, from the declaration of the same author, in which he writes as follows: 

“So great was the caprice of Caius in his conduct towards all, but especially towards the nation of the Jews. As he was excessively hostile to these, he appropriated their places of worship to himself in all the cities, beginning with those at Alexandria, filling them with his images and statues. For having permitted it when others erected them of their own accord, he now began to erect them by absolute command. But the temple in the holy city, which had been left untouched as yet, and been endowed with privileges as an inviolable asylum, he changed and transformed into a temple of his own, that it should be publicly called the temple of Caius the younger, the visible Jupiter”. 

Many other and almost indescribable calamities, the same author relates, as happening to the Jews of Alexandria, during the reign of the aforesaid emperor, in his second book, to which he gave the title, ‘On the Virtues.’ Josephus also agrees with him, who likewise intimates that the calamities of the whole nation took their rise from the times of Pilate, and the crimes against our Saviour. Let us hear, then, what he also says in the second book of the Jewish War. 

“Pilate being sent by Tiberius as procurator of Judea, at night carried the covered images of Cæsar into the temple; these are called ensigns. The following day, this excited the greatest disturbance among the Jews. For they that were near, were confounded at the sight, as a contemptuous prostitution of their legal institutions; for they do not allow any image to be set up in their city.” 

Comparing these accounts with the writings of the evangelists, you will perceive, that it was not long before that exclamation came upon them, which they uttered under the same Pilate, and by which they cried again and again that they had no other king but Cæsar. After this, the same historian records, that forthwith another calamity overtook them, in these words: 

“But after these things, he (i.e. Pilate) excited another tumult, by expending the public treasure which is called Corban, in the construction of an aqueduct. This extended nearly three hundred stadia. The multitude were sorely grieved at it; and when Pilate came to Jerusalem, they surrounded the tribunal, and began to cry out against him. But having anticipated a tumult, he had placed his armed soldiers amongst the multitude, disguised under the same dress with the rest of the people, and having commanded them not to use their swords, but to strike the turbulent with clubs, he gave them a signal from the tribunal. The Jews being thus beaten, many of them perished in consequence of the blows, many also in their flight were trodden to death by their own countrymen. The multitude thus overawed by the misfortune of the slain, held their peace.” 

The same writer mentions innumerable other commotions that were raised in Jerusalem beside these;2 showing that from that time tumults, and wars, and plots of mischief, one after another, never ceased in the city and all Judea, until, last of all, the siege of Vespasian overwhelmed them. Thus, then, the divine justice overtook the Jews in this way, for their crimes against Christ. 

It is proper, also, to observe, how it is asserted that this same Pilate, who was governor at our Saviour’s crucifixion, in the reign of Caius, whose times we are recording, fell into such calamities that he was forced to become his own murderer, and the avenger of his own wickedness. Divine justice, it seems, did not long protract his punishment. This is stated by those Greek historians who have recorded the Olympiads in order, together with the transactions of the times. 

Caius, however, had not reigned four years, when he was succeeded by Claudius, in the sovereignty of the empire. In his reign there was a famine that prevailed over the whole world;3 an event, indeed, which has been handed down by historians far removed from our sentiments; and by which the prediction of the prophet Agabus,4 recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, respecting the impending famine over the whole world, received its fulfilment. Luke, however, in the Acts, after stating the famine in the time of Claudius, and after recording how, by means of Paul and Barnabas, the brethren at Antioch had sent to those of Judea, according to the ability of each one, also adds the following. 

“About this time (it is manifest he means the reign of Claudius), Herod the king prepared to afflict some of the church. But he slew James, the brother of John, with the sword.” 

Of this James, Clement adds a narrative worthy of note, in the seventh book of his Institutions, evidently recording it according to the tradition which he had received from his ancestors. He says, that the man who led him to the judgment seat, seeing him bearing his testimony to the faith, and moved by the fact, confessed himself a Christian. Both, therefore, says he, were led away to die. On their way, he entreated James to forgive him, and James, considering a little, replied, “Peace be to thee,” and kissed him; and then both were beheaded at the same time. Then also, as the Scriptures say, Herod, at the death of James, seeing that the deed gave pleasure to the Jews, also attacked Peter, and having committed him to prison, had well nigh executed the same murderous intention against him, had he not been wonderfully delivered from his prison by an angel appearing to him at night, and thus liberated to proclaim the Gospel. Such was the providence of God in behalf of Peter. 

The consequences, however, of the king’s attempts against the apostles, were not long deferred, but the avenging minister of divine justice soon overtook him after his plots against the apostles. As it is also recorded in the book of Acts, he proceeded to Cæsarea, and there on a noted festival, being clad in a splendid and royal dress, he harangued the people from an elevation before the tribunal. The whole people applauding him for his harangue, as if it were the voice of a god, and not of man, the Scriptures relate, “that the angel of the Lord immediately smote him, and being consumed by worms, he gave up the ghost.” It is wonderful to observe, likewise, in this singular event, the coincidence of the history given by Josephus, with that of the sacred Scriptures. In this he plainly adds his testimony to the truth, in the nineteenth book of his Antiquities, where he relates the miracles in the following words: 

“But he (i. e. Herod) had completed the third year of his reign over all Judea, and he came to the city of Cæsarea, which was formerly called the tower of Strato. There he exhibited public shows in honour of Cæsar, knowing it to be a kind of festival for his safety. At this festival was collected a great number of those who were the first in power and dignity throughout the province. On the second day of the shows, being clad in a robe all wrought with silver, of a wonderful texture, he proceeded to the theatre at break of day. There, the silver irradiated with the reflection of the earliest sunbeams, wonderfully glittered, inspiring admiration and awe in the beholders. Presently the flatterers raised their shouts in different ways; such, however, as were not for his good, calling him a god, and imploring his clemency in such language as this: ‘We have feared thee thus far as man, but henceforth we confess thee to be superior to the nature of mortals.’ The king did not either chide them or disclaim the impious flattery. After a little while, raising himself, he saw an angel sitting above his head. This he immediately perceived was the sign of evil, as it had once been the sign of good. And he felt a pain through his heart, and a sudden pang seize his bowels, which began to torment him with great violence. Turning, then, to his friends, he said, ‘I, your god, am now commanded to depart this life, and fate will soon disprove your false assertions respecting me. He whom you have called an immortal, is now compelled to die, but we must receive our destiny as it is determined by God. Neither have we passed our life ingloriously, but in that splendour which is so much extolled.’ Saying this, he laboured much with the increase of pain. He was then carried with great haste into the palace, while the report spread throughout the people, that the king at all events would soon die. But the multitude with their wives and children, after their country’s custom, sitting in sackcloth, implored God in behalf of the king; all places were filled with lamentation and weeping. But the king, as he lay reclining in an elevated chamber, and looking down upon them falling prostrate to the ground, could not refrain from tears himself. At length, overpowered by the pain of his bowels, for four days in succession, he ended his life, in the fifty-fourth year of his age and seventh of his reign. He reigned, therefore, for four years under Cains Cæsar, had the tetrarchy of Philip three years, and received that of Herod in the fourth year, reigning subsequently three years under Claudius Cæsar.” 

Thus far Josephus: in which statement, as in others, so in this, I cannot but admire his agreement with the divine Scriptures. But if he should appear to any to differ, in regard to the epithet of the king; yet the time and the fact show that it was the same individual, whether it happened by an error in writing that the name was changed, or in consequence of a double name applied to him; such as was the case with many. 

As Luke in the Acts, also introduces Gamaliel in the consultation respecting the apostles, saying, that at this time “arose Theudas, who gave out that he was some one, but who was destroyed, and all that obeyed him were dispersed,” let us now, also, add the written testimony of Josephus respecting the same circumstance. He relates, in the book already quoted, the following particulars. 

“While Fadus was procurator of Judea, a certain impostor called Theudas persuaded the multitude to take their possessions with them, and follow him to the river Jordan. For he said he was a prophet, and that the Jordan should be divided at his command, and afford them an easy passage through it. And with such promises he deceived many. But Fadus did not suffer them to enjoy their folly, but sent a troop of horsemen against them, who, falling upon them unexpectedly, slew many and took many alive; but having taken Theudas himself captive, they cut off his head and carried it to Jerusalem.” 

Besides this, he also mentions the famine that took place under Claudius, as follows. 

"About this time it happened that the great famine took place in Judea, in which also queen Helen having purchased grain from Egypt, with large sums, distributed to the needy." 

You will also find this statement in accordance with that in the Acts of the Apostles, where it is said, that according to the ability of the disciples at Antioch, they determined, each one, to send to the assistance of those in Judea. Which also they did, sending to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Paul. Of this same Helen, mentioned by the historian, splendid monuments are still to be seen in the suburbs of the city (i.e. Jerusalem) now called Ælia. But she is said to have been queen of the Adiabeni.

1 Alabarch. The Alabarch was the chief magistrate among the Jews at Alexandria.

2 In Matthew 24:6, Jesus prophecies: "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet."

3 Matthew 24:7, Jesus prophecies: "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of birth pains."

4 Acts 11:27-30

 Valesius. (1847). Life of Eusebius Pamphilus. In Parker S.E. (Trans.), An Ecclesiastical History to the 20th Year of the Reign of Constantine (pp. 73–81). London: Samuel Bagster and Sons.