Introduction

The goodness of God stamps all his proceedings. It has pleased Him not only to communicate to mankind a revelation, which, to the pious mind, bears in its internal texture its own evidence and recommendation, but also to accompany it with such external proofs of a sacred origin, as seem calculated to strike, with irresistible conviction, even those who are least disposed to admit the truth of the Holy Scriptures. In order to evidence their divine authenticity, God has done as much as man could possibly have required.^[1] For supposing that it had been referred to mankind to have prescribed for their own satisfaction, and that of their posterity, the credentials which His messengers should bring with them, in order to authenticate the divinity of their mission, could the wisest and the most sceptical amongst men have proposed, for this end, any thing more conclusive than,

First, Demonstrations of power, surpassing every possible effect of human skill and report—and,

Second, Intelligence relative to the future events and circumstances of nations and individuals, which no human sagacity would ever pretend to foresee or predict?

If such had been the evidences demanded, what addition to them could possibly have been suggested? Is it in the human mind to imagine any tests of divine authority better adapted, sooner or later, to expose the artifices, and frustrate the designs, of an impostor? In vain will the profoundest policy attempt to discover means more suitable to this purpose, and, with respect to the reception of the revelation itself, more perfectly fitted to banish all reasonable doubt on the one hand, and to invalidate the charge of credulity on the other. Now these, precisely, are the credentials with which it has pleased God to sanction the testimony of his inspired messengers, as recorded in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. They wrought miracles: they foretold future events. Thus all that man himself could demand has been given, and objectors are left entirely without excuse.

Jesus Christ, the principal of those messengers, like his illustrious types and predecessors Moses and Elijah, proclaimed and attested his divine mission at once by miraculous acts, and by prophetic declarations. His miracles were numerous, diversified, and performed in various parts of his native country: they were not frivolous tricks, calculated merely to excite wonder, and gratify curiosity, but acts of substantial utility and benevolence. They were publicly, but not boastingly nor ostentatiously displayed: in the presence not of friends only, but also of enemies—of enemies exasperated to malignity against him, because he had censured their vices and exposed their hypocrisy, and who were actuated by every motive which a spirit of revenge could suggest to incurable prejudice, to induce them to detect the imposition of his miracles, if false, and to deny and discredit them, if true. To deny them they did not attempt, but they strove to sink them in disrepute, and thereby furnished a striking specimen of those embarrassing dilemmas, into which infidelity is continually betraying her votaries. They ascribed them to the agency of Satan; thus representing him, “who was a liar from the beginning,” as contributing to the diffusion of truth—”the spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience” as promoting the cause of holiness, and as co-operating in the overthrow of his own kingdom, with Him “who was manifested to destroy the works of the devil!“

The prophecies of our Lord, as well as his miracles, were many, and of great variety. They were not delivered with pomp and parade, but rose out of occasions, and seem to have resulted, for the most part, from his affectionate solicitude for those who then were, or who might afterwards become, his disciples. While the fulfilment of some of these predictions was confined to the term of his mission and the limits of his country, the accomplishment of others extended to all nations, and to every future age of the world.

Of the prophecies which have already been fulfilled, few, perhaps, are so interesting in themselves, or so striking in their accomplishment as those which relate to the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple, and the signal calamities which every where befell the Jewish nation. The chief of our Lord’s predictions, relative to these events, are contained in Matt. 24; Mark 13; Luke 19:41-44; 21 and 13:27-30: and we may with confidence appeal to the facts which verify them as conclusive and incontrovertible proofs of the divinity of his mission. Before, however, we enter upon this illustration, it may be gratifying to the reader, and add considerably to the interest of many of the subsequent pages, to give in this place a brief description of that renowned city and its temple.

Jerusalem was built on two mountains. Three celebrated walls surrounded the city on every side, except that which was deemed inaccessible, and there it was defended by one wall only. The most ancient of these walls was remarkable for its great strength, and was, moreover, erected on a hanging rock, and fortified by sixty towers. On the middle wall there were fourteen towers only; but on the third, which was also distinguished by the extraordinary merit of its architecture, there were no less than ninety. The celebrated tower of Psephinos, before which Titus at first encamped, was erected on this latter wall, and even excelled it in the superior style of its architecture: it was seventy cubits high, and had eight angles, each of which commanded most extensive and beautiful prospects. In clear weather, the spectator had from them a view of the Mediterranean sea, of Arabia, and of the whole extent of the Jewish dominions. Besides this, there were three other towers of great magnitude, named Hippocos, Phasael, and Mariamne.

The two former, famed for their strength and grandeur, were near ninety cubits high; the latter, for its valuable curiosities, beauty, and elegance, was about fifty-five cubits. They were all built of white marble; and so exquisite was the workmanship, that each of them appeared as if it had been hewn out of an immense single block of it. Notwithstanding their great elevation, they yet must have appeared, from the surrounding country, far loftier than they really were. The old wall, it has just been remarked, was built upon a high rock: but these towers were erected on the top of a hill, the summit of which was itself thirty cubits above the top of the old wall! Such edifices, so situated, it is easy to conceive, must have given to the city a very great degree of grandeur and magnificence. Not far distant from these towers stood the royal palace, of singular beauty and elegance. Its pillars, its porticoes, its galleries, its apartments, were all incredibly costly, splendid, and superb; while the groves, gardens, walks, fountains, and aqueducts, with which it was encompassed, formed the richest and most delightful scenery that can possibly be imagined.

The situation of these structures was on the north side of Jerusalem. Its celebrated temple, and the strong fort of Antonia, were on the east side, and directly opposite to the Mount of Olives. This fort was built on a rock fifty cubits in height, and so steep as to be inaccessible on every side; and to render it still more so, it was faced with thin slabs of marble, which, being slippery, proved at once a defence and an ornament. In the midst of the fort stood the castle of Antonia, the interior parts of which, for grandeur, state, and convenience, resembled more a palace than a fortress. Viewed from a distance, it had the appearance of a tower, encompassed by four other towers, situated at the four angles of a square. Of these latter, three were fifty cubits high, and the fourth seventy cubits.

The tower last mentioned commanded an excellent view of the whole temple, the riches, grandeur, and elegance of which, it is not in the power of language to describe. Whether we consider its architecture, its dimensions, its magnificence, its splendour, or the sacred purposes to which it was dedicated, it must equally be regarded as the most astonishing fabric that was ever constructed. It was erected partly on a solid rock, which was originally steep on every side. The foundations of what was called the lower temple were three hundred cubits in depth, and the stones of which they were composed, more than sixty feet in length, while the superstructure contained, of the whitest marble, stones nearly sixty-eight feet long, more than seven feet high, and nine broad. The circuit of the whole building was four furlongs; its height one hundred cubits; one hundred and sixty pillars, each twenty-seven feet high, ornamented and sustained the immense and ponderous edifice. In the front, spacious and lofty galleries, wainscotted with cedar, were supported by columns of white marble, in uniform rows. In short, says Josephus, nothing could surpass even the exterior of this temple, for its elegant and curious workmanship. It was adorned with solid plates of gold that rivalled the beauty of the rising sun, and were scarcely less dazzling to the eye than the beams of that luminary. Of those parts of the building which were not gilt, when viewed from a distance, some, says he, appeared like pillars of snow, and some like mountains of white marble.

The splendour of the interior parts of the temple, corresponded with its external magnificence. It was decorated and enriched by every thing that was costly, elegant, and superb. Religious donations and offerings had poured into this wonderful repository of precious stores from every part of the world, during many successive ages. In the lower temple was placed those sacred curiosities, the seven-branched candlestick of pure gold, the table for the shew-bread, and the altar of incense; the two latter of which were covered over with plates of the same metal. In the sanctuary were several doors, fifty-five cubits high, and sixteen in breadth, which were all likewise of gold. Before these doors hung a veil of the most beautiful Babylonian tapestry, composed of scarlet, blue, and purple, exquisitely interwoven, and wrought up to the highest degree of art. From the top of the ceiling depended branches and leaves of vines, and large clusters of grapes hanging down five or six feet, all of gold, and of most admirable workmanship.

In addition to these proofs of the splendour and riches of the temple, may be noticed its eastern gate of pure Corinthian brass, more esteemed even than the precious metals—the golden folding-doors of the chambers—the beautiful carved work, gilding, and painting of the galleries—the golden vessels, &c. of the sanctuary, the sacerdotal vestments of scarlet, violet, and purple—the vast wealth of the treasury—abundance of precious stones, and immense quantities of all kinds of costly spices and perfumes. In short, the most valuable and sumptuous of whatever nature, or art, or opulence could supply, was enclosed within the consecrated walls of this magnificent and venerable edifice.

So much concerning this celebrated city, and its still more celebrated temple. We shall now consider our Lord’s prophecies relating to their destruction.

1. This assertion is sufficient for the writer’s purpose. The fact, however, is, that the Almighty hath, in this respect, as well as in every other, done for man “exceeding abundantly above all that” he can “ask or think.” The scheme of that evidence which demonstrates the divine authority of the Bible could only have been constructed by Him “who knoweth all things, and who seeth the end from the beginning.” (↩)