josephus

i spent the majority of the last week reading/ listening to a book called “the jewish war” by a man named josephus. i’ve been wanting to read this for years, and finally got around to it on vacation.

josephus was born in 37 AD, four years after jesus ascended into heaven. he is pretty much the best source of history of the time after jesus in Israel. he was a leader in the jewish army, but later defected to rome to save his life.

in the year 66 AD, Israel rebelled against the roman empire, and fought for their freedom. by the year 70, over a million jews had been slaughtered by rome. josephus tells the story of this war as an eye witness.

here are some of my reactions to reading/ listening to this::

:: number 1, it was exhausting. 20 hours of audio. i listened to it and read it at the same time. not only was the time exhausting, but the subject matter was exhausting too. total war, bloodshed, torture, and desperation.

:: josephus has a lot to say that fits hand in glove with the bible. being a jew, he references the prophets often. he also has much to say about john the Baptist, and jesus, though he doesn’t call them by name. he calls jesus “the miracle worker” and speaks openly about how he healed the sick and was crucified. he talks openly about the message of his resurrection, but he doesn’t confirm it, because it happened just before he was born. josephus also talks about the torn curtain in the temple. he also says that the jews actually put a sign in it saying that it was torn when jesus was crucified. josephus also speaks of the apostles and how they spread the message of the resurrection and how they healed many themselves. what was really curious was the the audio version of this book included these thoughts, but the text version omitted it. hmm-hmm.

:: josephus speak of the temple as the most amazing building ever constructed. he speaks of how the romans actually did not want to destroy it because of its beauty. he is absolutely crushed to see it destroyed.

:: regarding rome, these guys really know how to make war. they know how to talk trash, they know how to torture. josephus defected to the roman side to save his life, and his writing of this history seems to be very slanted to the roman side in parts.

:: the jews fought tooth and nail. they held off the romans for four years. they killed thousands of romans during these battles. they often fought without leaders, all knowing what they should do.

:: the romans surrounded Jerusalem to starve out the jews. there is stories in this book about how desperate people ate their children. there is also a part about how people escaped the city after swallowing their gold so that it would not be stolen. when word got out about this, the romans captured these escapees and took their gold right out of their bodies.

:: the last site to fall was the fortress of Masada. the romans built a ramp to the top of it that still stands today. when they jews discovered that they would be captured, they considered the thought of their wives being violated and their children put into slavery and killed their wives and children themselves. after that, they set the place on fire and committed suicide so that the romans would not be able to say that they defeated them.

:: the romans destroyed the temple and stole all of the golden articles for worship within it. this has been memorialized in the arch of titus which shows romans taking the lampstand out of the temple.

when jesus entered Jerusalem on Passover, riding on a donkey, the people rose up and shouted “hosanna, God save us!” they thought that he was coming to deliver them from rome. but jesus wasn’t feeling it. instead, “he wept over it and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you."

i’m glad i read this book. it shed a lot of light on times and culture the new testament. if you’re a history buff, and have a lot of time on your hands, i’d say read it.