The New Testament is basically collection of documents about the founding of the Christian church. The New Testament begins with "The Good News" as shared in the books we call Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Immediately following is The Book of Acts of the Apostles or a partial account of what some of these men and women did in establishing the Christian church. Most of the rest of the New Testament is a collection of letters to individuals and groups about Christian matters of faith and practice. But-- what is missing is a mention of the continuing story of the Jewish people. Of course, important as it is, there was a great separation at the cross as believers and non-believers parted company and eventually went their own way.
However, two predictions that Jesus made seem to have been fulfilled but largely gone without mention in the New Testament. First, we find Jesus talking with his disciples about the magnificent Jewish Temple. As stated in Matthew 24:2, "And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? Verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." Second, in Matthew 24:5, "For many shall come in my name saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many . . ."
Both of these predictions appear to have been fulfilled, but barely mentioned--if at all. Concerning the temple's destruction, Jesus's prediction was literally fulfilled in 70 AD after the Romans successfully completed their siege of Jerusalem, destroyed the city and burned the temple flat to the ground. This was no small feat when you consider the enormous size of the building blocks. Even the disciples wondered, "Tell us, how can these things be?" Matthew 24:3. As far as I know, there is no mention of this destruction of Jerusalem in the New Testament, even though it is thought some of the books were written after this event. Supposedly, over one million people died in the siege with 97,000 taken captive.
The prediction of Jesus about false christs also seems to have come true, but in a time after the New Testament writers had ceased. It was in 130 AD when the final large Jewish revolt began--this time led by a man who was a false messiah named Bar-Kokhba. Of this man, one of his followers named Rabbi Aqiba is quoted saying, "This is the King Messiah." Bar-Kokhba, which literally means in Hebrew "son of a star" raised up an army, recaptured Jerusalem from the Romans and for a very brief period re-established the Jewish nation. Five years later all was lost.
Actually, very little is know about why this rebellion began and where its main battles were fought. We do have a note from the Roman historian Dio Cassius in his Roman History that the emperor Hadrian founded a new city over the ruins of Jerusalem. Hadrian renamed the city after himself and then supposedly had a temple dedicated to the god Jupiter built on the old Jewish temple location. In addition, he banned Jews from the city of Jerusalem. It must have been an absolute outrage to all Jews. Roman Catholics would be the most likely to appreciate what it would be like to have St. Peter's church in Rome burned to the ground and an altar to Zeus erected on the spot. So, although we don't know positively, it seems that these actions by the Romans caused Jewish rebellions all over the empire. Once the revolt was over, Dio the historian, reports that 985 of the most important Jewish settlements were destroyed and 580,000 people died.
I once read in a statement of faith that: "The Bible contains everything God intended to say." While that may be true, it does presuppose having asked God for an opinion. Obviously, all of the details of the history of the Jews are not pertinent to the rise of Christianity. But, they certainly can be interesting and instructive.

May I recommend the book: Bar-Kokhba, The rediscovery of the legendary hero of the last Jewish Revolt against Imperial Rome by Yigael Yadin. The book is about the discovery of the ancient caves where Bar-Kokhba and his followers spent their final days. These hideouts were well supplied with food and apparently occupied mostly by wealthy land owners. The caves are located in mountain sides so steep that the Romans didn't bother to pursue. Instead, they simply camped out above the caves and waited for the people to starve to death. It's a sad tale of the wretched final days these courageous Jewish freedom fighters.

Blessings in your study of God's Word!

Marvin Hunt

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