Interesting quote from Josephus and Tacitus about AD 70 Josephus (A.D. 75) - Jewish Historian Besides these [signs], 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 armour were seen RUNNING AMONG THE CLOUDS, and surrounding of cities. 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 (Jewish Wars, VI-V-3). “A supernatural apparition was seen, too amazing to be believed. What I am now to relate would, I imagine, be dismissed as imaginary, had this not been vouched for by eyewitnesses, then followed by subsequent disasters that deserved to be thus signalized. For before sunset chariots were seen IN THE ARI over the whole country, and armed battalions speeding through the clouds and encircling the cities.” (rendered in Chilton) Tacitus (A.D. 115) - Roman historian 13. Prodigies had occurred, but their expiation by the offering of victims or solemn vows is held to be unlawful by a nation which is the slave of superstition and the enemy of true beliefs. IN THE SKY appeared a vision of armies in conflict, of glittering armour. A SUDDEN LIGHTNING FLASH from the clouds lit up the Temple. The doors of the holy place abruptly opened, a superhuman voice was heard to declare that the gods were leaving it, and in the same instant came the rushing tumult of their departure. Few people placed a sinister interpretation upon this. The majority were convinced that the ancient scriptures of their priests alluded to the present as the very time when the Orient would triumph and from Judaea would go forth men destined to rule the world. (Histories, Book 5, v. 13). Revelation 1:7 New International Version (NIV) 7 “Look, he is coming with the clouds,”[a] and “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him”; and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.”[b] So shall it be! Amen.
Posted on: Wed, 14 May 2014 12:29:54 +0000
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