Jesus' Olivet Prophecy Fulfilled

Christ sends his angels to gather the elect out of Jerusalem before its destruction in 70 AD just as he predicted 37 years earlier.

Jesus Christ, Prophet (Deuteronomy 18:15-18, Matthew 13:57, John 4:44), High Priest (Hebrews 3:1, 8:1), and King of the Universe (Ephesians 1:19-23, Revelation 17:14, 19:16), predicted that he would be crucified and then rise from the dead (Matthew 20:17-19, John 10:17-18). And so it happened circa 30 AD (Acts 4:10). Did you know that Jesus made many other predictions that also came true?

This article will show that all of Jesus' claims were reported fulfilled by 70 AD (i.e., the end of the age - Matthew 24:3). How do we know this? By the record of secular and sacred historians, as well as by the Holy Spirit-inspired writers of the New Testament. All certify that Jesus' prophecies accurately described events that unfolded within the first century AD time period, that is, in "this generation." However, we still look forward to the Second (physical) Coming of Christ to raise the dead and preside over the final judgment sometime in the future (Matthew 25:31-46, Revelation 20:11-15).

Temple Destroyed

You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down (Mat 24:2).

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Accordingly, as the people were now slain, the holy house was burnt down, and the city was on fire, there was nothing further left for the enemy to do. (Josephus, Jewish Wars, 6.363)

Antichrists & False Prophets

See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and they will lead many astray (Mat 24:4-5).

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Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. (1 John 2:18)

A false prophet was the occasion of these people's destruction, who had made a public proclamation in the city that very day, that God commanded them to get upon the temple, and that there they should receive miraculous signs of their deliverance. Now there was then a great number of false prophets suborned by the tyrants to impose on the people, who denounced this to them, that they should wait for deliverance from God; and this was in order to keep them from deserting, and that they might be buoyed up above fear and care by such hopes. (Josephus, Jewish Wars, 6.5.2)

Wars & Rumors Of Wars

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. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom (Mat 24:6-7).

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And now it was that a great sedition arose between the Jews that inhabited Cesarea, and the Syrians who dwelt there also, concerning their equal right to the privileges belonging to citizens. (Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, 20.8.7)

But now sedition and civil war prevailed, not only over Judea, but in Italy also. (Josephus, Jewish Wars, 4.9.9)

Earthquakes, Famines, Pestilences, Signs

There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains (Mat 24:7-8).

Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken (Mat 24:29).

There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven (Luk 21:11).

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About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone's chains came loose. (Acts 16:25-26)

During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) (Acts 11:27-28)

Such were a pestilence, by which, within the space of one autumn, there died no less than thirty thousand persons. (Tranquillus, Nero, chap. 39)

Thus there was a star resembling a sword, which stood over the city, and a comet, that continued a whole year. Thus also before the Jews' rebellion, and before those commotions which preceded the war, when the people were come in great crowds to the feast of unleavened bread, on the eighth day of the month Xanthicus, [Nisan,] and at the ninth hour of the night, so great a light shone round the altar and the holy house, that it appeared to be bright day time; which lasted for half an hour... (Josephus, Jewish Wars, 6.5.3)

At the same festival also, a heifer, as she was led by the high priest to be sacrificed, brought forth a lamb in the midst of the temple. Moreover, the eastern gate of the inner [court of the] temple, which was of brass, and vastly heavy, and had been with difficulty shut by twenty men, and rested upon a basis armed with iron, and had bolts fastened very deep into the firm floor, which was there made of one entire stone, was seen to be opened of its own accord about the sixth hour of the night... (Josephus, Jewish Wars, 6.5.3)

Moreover, at that feast which we call Pentecost, as the priests were going by night into the inner [court of the temple,] as their custom was, to perform their sacred ministrations, they said that, in the first place, they felt a quaking, and heard a great noise, and after that they heard a sound as of a great multitude, saying, "Let us remove hence." (Josephus, Jewish Wars, 6.5.3)

Lunar Eclipse - Total: Jerusalem (Passover) March 24, 61 AD (NASA)
Lunar Eclipse - Total - Jerusalem (Sukkot) September 18, 61 AD (NASA)
Solar Eclipse - Partial: Jerusalem - May 31, 67 AD (NASA)
Lunar Eclipse - Total: Jerusalem (End of Second Passover) May 5, 68 AD (NASA)
Lunar Eclipse - Total: Jerusalem - October 29, 68 AD (NASA)

Persecution Of The Disciples

Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake (Mat 24:9).

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On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison. (Acts 8:1-3)

Peter (formerly Simon), Andrew, James, John, Philip, Nathanael (a.k.a. Bartholomew), Thomas, Matthew, James (son of Alphaeus), Jude Thaddaeus, Simon (the Zealot), Matthias, and Paul (formerly Saul) all suffered persecution and death during their ministry of the Gospel. (Hippolytus, On the Apostles and Disciples)

Falling Away

And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another (Mat 24:10).

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They [many antichrists] went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. (1 John 2:19)

Increased Wickedness

And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold (Mat 24:12).

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Now as for the affairs of the Jews, they grew worse and worse continually, for the country was again filled with robbers and impostors, who deluded the multitude... and slew others, not only in remote parts of the city, but in the temple itself also; for they had the boldness to murder men there, without thinking of the impiety of which they were guilty. (Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, 20.8.5)

And from that time [after the violent sedition between the high priests] it principally came to pass that our city [Jerusalem] was greatly disordered, and that all things grew worse and worse among us. (Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, 20.9.4)

Now this Simon, who was without the [Jerusalem's] wall, was a greater terror to the [Jewish] people than the Romans themselves, as were the zealots who were within it more heavy upon them than both of the other... while they decked their hair, and put on women's garments, and were besmeared over with ointments; and that they might appear very comely, they had paints under their eyes, and imitated not only the ornaments, but also the lusts of women, and were guilty of such intolerable uncleanness, that they invented unlawful pleasures of that sort. And thus did they roll themselves up and down the city, as in a brothel-house, and defiled it entirely with their impure actions; nay, while their faces looked like the faces of women, they killed with their right hands; and when their gait was effeminate, they presently attacked men, and became warriors, and drew their swords from under their finely dyed cloaks, and ran every body through whom they alighted upon. (Josephus, Jewish Wars, 4.9.10)

Gospel Throughout The World

And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come (Mat 24:14).

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This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant. (Colossians 1:23)

In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world - just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God's grace. (Colossians 1:5-6)

Thus, under the influence of heavenly power, and with the divine co-operation, the doctrine of the Saviour, like the rays of the sun, quickly illumined the whole world; and straightway, in accordance with the divine Scriptures, the voice of the inspired evangelists and apostles went forth through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. (Eusebius, Church History, 2.3.1)

Abomination Of Desolation

So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains (Mat 24:15-16).

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... and how at last the abomination of desolation, proclaimed by the prophets, stood in the very temple of God, so celebrated of old, the temple which was now awaiting its total and final destruction by fire. (Eusebius, Church History, 3.5.4)

This was the wicked Titus who blasphemed and insulted Heaven. What did he do? He took a harlot by the hand and entered the Holy of Holies and spread out a scroll of the Law and committed a sin on it. He then took a sword and slashed the curtain. Miraculously blood spurted out, and he thought that he had slain [God] himself. (Babylonian Talmud, Folio 56a)

Jerusalem Destroyed

But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written (Luk 21:20-22, see also Luk 19:43-44).

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It [Jerusalem] was so thoroughly laid even with the ground by those that dug it up to the foundation, that there was left nothing to make those that came thither believe it had ever been inhabited. This was the end which Jerusalem came to by the madness of those that were for innovations; a city otherwise of great magnificence, and of mighty fame among all mankind. (Josephus, Jewish Wars, 7.1.1)

False Christs & False Prophets

Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There he is!' do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, jI have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, 'Look, he is in the wilderness,' do not go out. If they say, 'Look, he is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it (Mat 24:23-26).

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And now these impostors and deceivers persuaded the multitude to follow them into the wilderness, and pretended that they would exhibit manifest wonders and signs, that should be performed by the providence of God... Moreover, there came out of Egypt about this time to Jerusalem one that said he was a prophet, and advised the multitude of the common people to go along with him to the Mount of Olives, as it was called, which lay over against the city, and at the distance of five furlongs. He said further, that he would show them from hence how, at his command, the walls of Jerusalem would fall down; and he promised them that he would procure them an entrance into the city through those walls, when they were fallen down (Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, 20.8.6)

Power & Great Glory

Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory (Mat 24:30).

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... the city [Jerusalem] was besieged on both sides... there broke out a prodigious storm in the night, with the utmost violence, and >very strong winds, with the largest showers of rain, with continued lightnings, terrible thunderings, and amazing concussions and bellowings of the earth, that was in an earthquake. These things were a manifest indication that some destruction was coming upon men, when the system of the world was put into this disorder; and any one would guess that these wonders foreshowed some grand calamities that were coming. (Josephus, Jewish Wars, 4.4.5)

Angels Gather The Elect

And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other (Mat 24:31).

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Besides these, a few days after that feast, on the one and twentieth day of the month Artemisius, [Jyar,] a certain prodigious and incredible phenomenon appeared: I suppose the account of it would seem to be a fable, were it not related by those that saw it, and were not the events that followed it of so considerable a nature as to deserve such signals; for, before sun-setting, chariots and troops of soldiers in their armor were seen running about among the clouds, and surrounding of cities. (Josephus, Jewish Wars, 6.5.3)

Prodigies had occurred, which this nation, prone to superstition, but hating all religious rites, did not deem it lawful to expiate by offering and sacrifice. There had been seen hosts joining battle in the skies, the fiery gleam of arms, the temple illuminated by a sudden radiance from the clouds. The doors of the inner shrine were suddenly thrown open, and a voice of more than mortal tone was heard to cry that the Gods were departing. At the same instant there was a mighty stir as of departure. (Tacitus, The History, 5.13)

But the people of the church in Jerusalem had been commanded by a revelation, vouchsafed to approved men there before the war, to leave the city and to dwell in a certain town of Perea called Pella. And when those that believed in Christ had come thither from Jerusalem, then, as if the royal city of the Jews and the whole land of Judea were entirely destitute of holy men, the judgment of God at length overtook those who had committed such outrages against Christ and his apostles, and totally destroyed that generation of impious men. (Eusebius, Church History, 3.5.3)

This sect of Nazoraeans is to be found in Beroea near Coele-syria, in the Decapolis near Pella, and in Bashanitis at the place called Cocabe - Khokhabe in Hebrew. For that was its place of origin, since all the disciples had settled in Pella after their remove from Jerusalem - Christ having told them to abandon Jerusalem and withdraw from it because of the siege it was about to undergo. And they settled in Peraea for this reason and, as I said, lived their lives there. It was from this that the Nazoraean sect had its origin. (Epiphanius, Panarion, 1.29.7.7)

Wicked Generation

You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation (Mat 23:33-36).

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O miserable creatures!.. you fight not only against the Romans, but against God himself... adoring this place which you have defiled by shedding thereon the blood of your own countrymen... How much more impious are you than those who were so quickly taken! The same wonderful sign you had also experience of formerly, when the forementioned king of Babylon made war against us, and when he took the city, and burnt the temple; while yet I believe the Jews of that age were not so impious as you are. Wherefore I cannot but suppose that God is fled out of his sanctuary, and stands on the side of those against whom you fight... O hard-hearted wretches as you are!.. O insensible creatures, and more stupid than are the stones themselves! (Josephus, Jewish Wars, 5.9.4)

Dead & Captive

Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people. They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled (Luk 21:23-24).

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In the mean time, the Jews were so distressed by the fights they had been in, as the war advanced higher and higher, and creeping up to the holy house itself, that they, as it were, cut off those limbs of their body which were infected, in order to prevent the distemper’s spreading further. (Josephus, Jewish Wars, 6.2.164)

... but of the young men he chose out the tallest and most beautiful, and reserved them for the triumph; and as for the rest of the multitude that were above seventeen years old, he put them into bonds, and sent them to the Egyptian mines [Deuteronomy 28:68, Hosea 8:13]. Titus also sent a great number into the provinces, as a present to them, that they might be destroyed upon their theatres, by the sword and by the wild beasts; but those that were under seventeen years of age were sold for slaves. (Josephus, Jewish Wars, 6.9.2)

Now the number of those that were carried captive during this whole war was collected to be ninety-seven thousand; as was the number of those that perished during the whole siege eleven hundred thousand, the greater part of whom were indeed of the same nation [with the citizens of Jerusalem], but not belonging to the city itself; for they were come up from all the country to the feast of unleavened bread, and were on a sudden shut up by an army, which, at the very first, occasioned so great a straitness among them, that there came a pestilential destruction upon them, and soon afterward such a famine, as destroyed them more suddenly. (Josephus, Jewish Wars, 6.9.3)

For as the Jewish nation is widely dispersed over all the habitable earth among its inhabitants. (Josephus, Jewish Wars, 7.3.3)

Not Taste Death

Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power (Mar 9:1).

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John, again, in Asia, was banished by Domitian the king to the isle of Patmos, in which also he wrote his Gospel and saw the apocalyptic vision; and in Trajan’s time [98-117 AD] he fell asleep at Ephesus, where his remains were sought for, but could not be found. (Hippolytus, On the Apostles and Disciples)

Philip preached in Phrygia, and was crucified in Hierapolis with his head downward in the time of Domitian [81-96 AD], and was buried there. (Hippolytus, On the Apostles and Disciples)

Building His Church

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Mat 16:18).

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Every day they [Christians] continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:46-47)

Conclusion

In conclusion, secular (e.g., Josephus, Tacitus) and sacred (e.g., Eusebius, Epiphanius) authors all testify to the fulfillment of Jesus' prophecies by the year 70 AD. Even some of the inspired contributors of the New Testament canon (e.g., John, Paul, Luke) lived to see the fulfillment of Jesus' words right before their eyes! Of course, many other events were prophesied to occur within the same, first century AD timeframe (i.e., Daniel, Revelation). Interestingly, history has left a record of their fulfillment as well. But even these prophecies must be interpreted in the context of the original declarations (i.e., first century AD fulfillment, centered around Jerusalem and its 3rd [Herod’s] temple) given by the first and foremost Prophet of the New Testament: Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and the words spoken directly to his disciples on the Mount of Olives circa 30 AD. Thus, there is no justification to look for the fulfillment of End Time events anytime after the first century AD or in our lifetimes and beyond. Jesus did come quickly, but in a non-physical, Old Testament-style glory veiled by meteorological phenomena. We still look forward to the personal and physical return of Christ to raise the dead and preside over the final judgment (Matthew 25:31-46, Revelation 20:11-15). This final prophecy, I believe, is still in the distant future.