After Christ’s prediction of the destruction of the temple (see the previous article), the disciples asked, “When shall these things be? And what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?” (Luke 21:7.) Our Lord’s answer, recorded in Matthew 25, Mark 13, and Luke 21, and now known as the Olivet Discourse, included a prediction of great tribulation in Jerusalem:
“And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! For there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” (Luke 21:20–24.)
Many Bible scholars believe that this portion of the Olivet Discourse was fulfilled when the Romans razed Jerusalem in A.D. 70. The details of this destruction are known to us through the writings of the Jewish historian Josephus. Now, for the first time, Israeli archaeologists are uncovering archaeological evidence of the devastation.
In January and February, 1970, Professor Nahum Avigad of Hebrew University uncovered what has come to be known as the Burnt House in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. A good part of the remains of this house, which had been destroyed by fire in A.D. 70, had not been disturbed by subsequent building. When Professor Avigad excavated the house it was like coming upon the scene just after the ashes had cooled.
The Burnt House has been identified as that of the priestly family of Bar Katros. It was in this house that the family went about its various activities, including the supervision of weights and measures and the reception of the Temple tithes. It is located about 550 yards west of the southwest corner of the Temple area.
The lower story of the house was comprised of an entrance hall, four workrooms and a kitchen. The upper stories had collapsed in the blaze. At least one oven was in each room. One of the rooms apparently was a pharmacy, as implements for pounding, mixing, measuring and weighing were found. Another room appears to have been a mint from the discovery of a stone coin mold.
BSP 1:1 (Winter 1972) p. 16
Professor Avigad, impressed by the suddenness of the destruction said, “It recalls the sudden devastation of Pompeii.” Evidence of intense heat was everywhere. The stone, he noted, had turned red, black and yellow from the fire, and ashes were everywhere. In the corner of one room stood an iron spear, ready for use. One of the occupants of the house was not able to escape – a young girl who was in the kitchen. Her skeletal forearm was found with the hand still clutching at the steps leading outside, in a fruitless struggle to escape the searing flames.
These remains give us a vivid picture of the partial fulfillment of Christ’s Olivet Discourse. But the final fulfillment will be exceedingly worse — will you be ready?
(Israel Exploration Journal, Vol. 20, No. 1-2 1970; New York Times, January 16, 1970; Jerusalem Post Weekly, April 13, 1971 and August 3, 1971.)