1. Jesus prophesied that the Temple would be destroyed
Bible passage: Matthew 24:1-2
Recorded: about 30 AD
Fulfilled: 70 AD
In Matthew 24:1-2, Jesus said that the Temple would be destroyed. The Temple was destroyed about 40 years after Jesus was crucified by the Romans. In 70 AD, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and killed an estimated 1.1 million Jews. During the destruction, fire was set to the Temple. The fire caused the gold-leaf ornamentation on the Temple ceiling to melt. The melting gold flowed down the walls and settled into crevices within the stones. The Romans pried apart the stones to remove the gold. This fulfilled Jesus' prophecy that not one stone would be left standing on another.
Here are more details about the holy Temple, using dates that are commonly ascribed by various historians:
1. The first Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC and was rebuilt 70 years later. The rebuilt Temple stood for 586 years and was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.
2. Both Temples were destroyed by the most powerful empires of their day. (Babylonian Empire in 586 BC and the Roman Empire in 70 AD).
3. After the destruction of both Temples, hundreds of thousands of Jews were slaughtered, taken as slaves and forced out of Jerusalem.
4. According to the ancient historian Josephus, both Temples were destroyed on the same day of their respective years - the 9th day of the Jewish month of Av.
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Matthew 24:1-2
Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. "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."
2. Jesus said Jerusalem would be destroyed
Bible passage: Luke 21:24
Recorded: about 30 AD
Fulfilled: 70 AD
In Luke 21:24, Jesus said that the Jews soon would be forced out of Jerusalem and that the city would be destroyed. He said Jerusalem would be trampled upon by the "Gentiles" (non-Jews), and that the Jews would be scattered to all nations. And, that's exactly what happened. The Romans destroyed Jerusalem in the year 70, and again in the year 135. During the two destructions, the Romans killed an estimated 1.5 million Jews. Hundreds of thousands of Jews were taken as slaves to other countries, mostly throughout Europe and parts of Asia. During the next several centuries, Jews had established communities on every inhabited continent: Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe, North America and South America.
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Luke 21:24
They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
3. Daniel foretold the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple
Bible passage: Daniel 9:26
Written: about 530 BC
Fulfilled: 70 AD
In Daniel 9:26, the prophet said that a future ruler over the land of Israel would destroy Jerusalem and the Temple. Daniel said this would happen after an anointed one (messiah) is "cut off," which means "rejected" or "killed." A few centuries later, the Romans had taken control of the land of Israel, Jesus announced himself as the Messiah, and the Romans crucified him. Forty years later, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple.
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Daniel 9:26
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.
Click here for more details about Daniel 9:24-27.
4. Jerusalem would be destroyed and "plowed like a field"
Bible passage: Micah 3:11-12
Written: sometime between 750-686 BC
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 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.
The Jews 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.
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Micah 3:11-12
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." 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.
5. The Bible foreshadowed Rome's destruction of Israel
Bible passage: Deuteronomy 28:49-52
Written: perhaps 1400 BC
Fulfilled: 70 AD
The Bible has several prophecies about various destructions of the land of Israel. Here is one from the Bible's book of Deuteronomy that foreshadowed the destruction caused by the Romans in the year 70 AD (about 1900 years ago):
"The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand … They will devour … until you are ruined. … They will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down." (Deuteronomy 28:49-52 NIV).
And, here's what history says about what happened in the year 70 AD: The Roman Empire sent an army, which marched in a formation called the "flying eagle," and destroyed Jerusalem. Members of the Roman army came from many different countries, speaking languages that the Jews did not understand.
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Deuteronomy 28:49-52
The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand, a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old or pity for the young. They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine or oil, nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined. They will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the Lord your God is giving you.
6. Israel would become a wasteland
Bible passage: Deuteronomy 29:23
Written: perhaps 1400 BC
Fulfilled: 135-1800s
In Deuteronomy 29:23, the Bible said Israel would become a wasteland. This prophecy certainly was fulfilled. The land has been described many times as having been a sparsely populated wasteland, as recently as the late 1800s. American writer Mark Twain wrote this, in 1867, about the land of Israel, which at the time was called Palestine: "Palestine sits in sackcloth and ashes… the spell of a curse that has withered its fields and fettered its energies… Palestine is desolate and unlovely… It is a hopeless, dreary, heartbroken land." - from Mark Twain's Innocents Abroad.
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Deuteronomy 29:23
The whole land will be a burning waste of salt and sulfur--nothing planted, nothing sprouting, no vegetation growing on it. It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in fierce anger.
7. The people of Israel would be exiled, scorned and ridiculed
Bible passage: Deuteronomy 28:36-37
Written: perhaps 1400 BC
Fulfilled: 135-1900s
In Deuteronomy 28:36-37, the Bible said that the people of Israel would be exiled, ridiculed and scorned. This prophecy has certainly found fulfillment in many events throughout history. The people of Israel (who today are commonly called Jews) have been expelled from their homeland by the Assyrians, Babylonians and Romans. And the Jews - perhaps more than any other group of people - have been subject to hatred, scorn and persecution throughout the world. Until 1948, the Jews did not have sovereign control over any part of their homeland since the Hasmonaean Period more than 2000 years ago. And, until 1948, Israel had not been a united and sovereign country for nearly 2900 years.
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Deuteronomy 28:36-37
The Lord will drive you and the king you set over you to a nation unknown to you or your fathers. There you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone. You will become a thing of horror and an object of scorn and ridicule to all the nations where the Lord will drive you.
8. The land of Israel would be inhabited by enemies
Bible passage: Leviticus 26:31-32
Written: perhaps around 1400 BC
Fulfilled: 135 to today
In Leviticus 26:31-32, the Bible said that Israel would become a wasteland and that it would be inhabited by enemies of the people of Israel. Both parts of this prophecy have been clearly documented throughout history. Many of the people of Israel were forced out of their homeland by the Assyrians, Babylonians and Romans. Each time, other people were able to move into the land. When the Jews began returning during the 1800s and 1900s, they had skirmishes with the peoples living there, namely Arabs, who continue to live in parts of the land of Israel.
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Leviticus 26:31-32
I will turn your cities into ruins and lay waste your sanctuaries, and I will take no delight in the pleasing aroma of your offerings. I will lay waste the land, so that your enemies who live there will be appalled.
9. The people of Israel will never cease to be a nation of people
Bible passage: Jeremiah 31:35-36
Written: sometime from 626 to about 586 BC
Fulfilled: Today
In Jeremiah 31:35-36, the Bible said that as surely as God has decreed the sun to shine, he too has decreed that the people of Israel will never cease to be a nation of people. This promise of preservation continues to be fulfilled today, as the Jewish people maintain their identity as a distinct group of people, with its own culture, religion and language. This is a remarkable feat considering the vast number of indigenous peoples throughout the world who have lost their language and culture even without the additional burden of being exiled from their homeland. The Jews, however, endured 18 centuries of dispersion since they were exiled from their homeland by the Romans in 135 AD. Today, there are Jewish people in Israel and throughout the world who can speak the same Hebrew language that is found in even the oldest of the Biblical scriptures. (By comparison, an Englishman today would have a difficult time reading an English text written a mere 500 years ago).
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Jeremiah 31:35-36
This is what the LORD says, he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar-- the LORD Almighty is his name: "Only if these decrees vanish from my sight," declares the LORD, "will the descendants of Israel ever cease to be a nation before me."
10. The exiled people of Israel would return to Israel
Bible passage: Jeremiah 32:37-41
Written: sometime from 626 to about 586 BC
Fulfilled: late 1800s to today
In Jeremiah 32:37-41, the prophet said the people of Israel would return to their homeland. Jeremiah lived during a time when the Babylonians were forcing the Jews out of their homeland about 2600 years ago. Many Jews later returned but were forced out again, by the Romans, about 1900 years ago. During the past 200 years, millions of exiled Jews have returned to Israel from countries all over the world.
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Jeremiah 32:37-41
I will surely gather them from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety. They will be my people, and I will be their God.
Notes: Bible verses are from the New International Version (NIV) translation.
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