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Before reading please look at part 1
Many of these Bible prophecies either found fulfillment during the first century or began to find fulfillment at that time. They include the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, and the exile of the people from the land of Israel.
1. Jesus prophesied that the Temple would be destroyed
Bible prophecy: Matthew 24:1-2
Prophecy written: During the first century
Prophecy fulfilled: 70 AD
In Matthew 24:1-2, Jesus prophesied that the Temple of Jerusalem would be destroyed and that its destruction would be so complete that not one stone would be left standing on top of another. His prophecy was fulfilled about 40 years later when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and tore down the Temple. The destruction was so complete that even the foundations of the Temple were dug up, according to Josephus, an historian who wrote about the destruction.
Matthew 24:1-2:
1 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings.
2 "Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down."
3. Jesus explained why Jerusalem would be destroyed
Bible prophecy: Luke 19:41-44
Prophecy written: During the first century
Prophecy fulfilled: 70 AD
In Luke 19:41-44, Jesus prophesied that Jerusalem would be destroyed because of the rejection of Jesus as the Messiah.
Although some people did accept Jesus as the Messiah, many people rejected him. In fact, the rejection was strong enough that Jesus was executed a short time after uttering the prophecy.
Luke 19:41-44:
41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it
42 and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.
43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side.
44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you."
4. Daniel foretold the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple
Bible prophecy: Daniel 9:24-26
Prophecy written: About 530 BC
Prophecy fulfilled: 70 AD
During the time of Daniel, who lived about 2600 years ago, the Babylonians invaded Judah (the southern part of the land of Israel) and took many Jews, including Daniel, as captives to Babylon.
The Babylonians also destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the Temple, in 586 B.C.
In Daniel 9:24-26, Daniel delivers a prophecy that Jerusalem and the Temple would be destroyed, again. Within these verses, Daniel provides a chronology by which certain events would occur. First, the Jews would return from captivity and rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple. Afterwards, an "anointed one," or Messiah, would appear, but he would be rejected. Then, Jerusalem and the Temple would be destroyed, again.
These events later played out during the century in which Jesus had announced that he was the Messiah.
Daniel 9:24-26:
24 "Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy.
25 "Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven 'sevens,' and sixty-two 'sevens.' It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.
26 After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed.
5. Zion would be "plowed like a field"
Bible prophecy: Micah 3:11-12
Prophecy written: Sometime between 750-686 BC
Prophecy fulfilled: 135 AD
In Micah 3:11-12, the prophet Micah said that Jerusalem would be destroyed and that "Zion" - a central part of Jerusalem - would be "plowed like a field."
Micah's prophecy is believed to have been delivered in about 730 BC (about 2700 years ago). Since that time, Jerusalem was destroyed in 586 BC by the Babylonians and by the Romans in 70 AD. The Romans destroyed it again in 135 AD to crush a second Jewish rebellion for independence.
According to a text in the Gemara - a collection of ancient Jewish writings - the Romans ran a plow over Zion on the 9th day of the Jewish month of Ab. The Gemara said that Turnus Rufus, a Roman officer, plowed the area of the Temple. This prophecy was fulfilled in literal detail.
Incidentally, there was a Roman coin minted during that era that shows an image of a man using a plow. The coin was intended to commemorate the founding of the pagan Roman city called Aelia Capitolina on the site of Jerusalem. The Romans sometimes minted coins showing the plowing motif as a symbol of the establishment of a new Roman city.
Judaists fast (go without food) on the 9th day of the Jewish month of Ab (sometimes spelled Av) in remembrance of five historic events that are recorded as occurring on that date. One of those events is the plowing of all or part of Jerusalem by the Romans.
Micah 3:11-12:
11 Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD and say, "Is not the LORD among us? No disaster will come upon us."
12 Therefore because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.
6. The Bible foreshadowed Rome's destruction of Israel
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