Five hundred years before Jesus, Zechariah 8:20-23 shared This Word of God: “Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘There shall yet come peoples, the inhabitants of many cities; and the inhabitants of one city shall approach those of another, and say, ‘Come! let us go to implore the favor of the LORD’; and, ‘I too will go to seek the LORD.’”
Then, there was only one place on earth to find God! “Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek The LORD of Hosts in Jerusalem and to implore the favor of The LORD.”
Zechariah explained: “Thus says The LORD of Hosts: In those days, ten men of every nationality, speaking different tongues, shall take hold, yes, take hold of every Jew by the edge of his garment and say, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.'”
History tells us that “God was with them” until 70 AD, when the city of Jerusalem was destroyed by future Emperors of Rome, Vespasian and Titus. The Prophecy of Jesus about Jerusalem, Mark 13:2, had come true: “And Jesus answering said unto him, ‘Do you see these great buildings? There shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”
Why were all of “those great buildings” destroyed? Less than 30 years after Jesus, the Jerusalem Establishment had killed two of Jesus’ Disciples, Stephen and James, and attacked the early Catholics. Most of the early Catholics left the soon-to-be-destroyed city for Pella. Josephus, the brilliant Jewish general and historian, described how Rome won that war. He is said to have become a Catholic as he studied the Prophets and wrote what are today intentionally overlooked books copied by hand that described Jewish History meeting Jesus in Jerusalem. They were financed by Vespasian and Titus when those who destroyed Jerusalem were made Emperors of Rome.
Other rebellions against Rome followed. The Kitos War and the Diaspora Revolt ended with Roman victories in 118 AD. The Bar Kokhba War ended with another Jewish defeat in 136 AD. 200 years later, in 354 AD, Rome defeated those in the Gallus Revolt, the last devastating war in which ambitious people used their religion as an excuse to militarily defeat Rome and the growing numbers of people and nations between India and Spain who had become Catholic in the preceding 300 years.
The Samaritans, descended from the Ten Tribes who left Judah and Benjamin, were more hostile to Jesus. Luke 9:51-56 explains that “When the days for Jesus to be taken up were fulfilled, He resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem, and He sent messengers ahead of Him. On the way, they entered a Samaritan village to prepare for His reception there, but they would not welcome Him because the destination of His journey was Jerusalem.”
The first Catholic Bishops had seen The Power of Jesus at Work. “When the Disciples James and John saw this rejection of Jesus, they asked, ‘Lord, do you want us to call down fire from Heaven to consume them?'”
The patience of He Who Fulfilled over 300 Prophecies about being born of a Virgin in The House of David in Bethlehem was made clear:
“Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they journeyed to another village.”
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Today’s Simple Rhyme: “Jesus lets those who reject Him / Destroy themselves with their chosen sins.”
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