It was inevitable that the judgment of God should fall on the whole Jewish system and all who supported it. Judaism had crucified a humbled Christ, rejected a glorified Christ, persecuted His Apostles and servants, and tried to prevent the Gentiles from receiving the gospel blessing they themselves refused. All that was in question was what forms the judgments should take. We have already seen how Paul pronounced the moral judgment of blindness on them at the close of Acts. This chapter will be primarily devoted to the warnings of destructive judgments on the Jews themselves, the loss of the kingdom because they crucified their King, the destruction of their Temple, and the end of their existence as a nation.
The Striking Prophecy of John the Baptist
As a historian Luke chronicles the events relating to God’s testimony to the Jewish people in his gospel and in the Acts. This testimony commenced with John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Lord, reached its peak with the Lord Jesus and its end with Paul at the close of Acts. A striking prophecy of John the Baptist ties together this entire period. John said to the multitude who came to be baptized by him— “O generation of vipers, who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come? . . . and now also the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore which brings not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire” —Luke 3:7-97Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 9And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. (Luke 3:7‑9). Fire is used throughout Scripture as the symbol of divine judgment. We shall now see how the fire of God’s judgment fell, on both the generation of vipers and the trees of Israel. These were first cut down with the Roman axe and then burned. Each of these figures has its own meaning and each will be considered separately.
The Viper Cast Into the Fire
After the shipwreck a viper seized Paul’s hand. “And when the barbarians saw the beast hanging from his hand, they said to one another This man is certainly a murderer, whom though saved out of the sea, Nemesis (Justice) has not allowed to live. He however, having shaken off the beast into the fire, felt no harm” —28:4-5. Before we comment on this incident please note that this is the last reference to the viper in Luke’s writings. His first reference was John the Baptist’s prophecy. Thus, Luke gives us the beginning of divine testimony to “the viper” —those Jews who refused to repent—and their end, cast into the fire. This ties together their entire history—from the warning of judgment to its execution.
The viper seizing Paul’s hand and holding onto it with intent to kill is a figure of what the unrepentant Jews sought to do to Paul. The hand speaks of a man’s work. So the Jews fastened themselves onto Paul’s work seeking to destroy it and him. This is the story of the Acts. In 14:19 for example they stoned Paul and left him for dead. But Paul was unharmed and shook the beast into the fire. That is, Paul separated himself from them after his testimony in the synagogues was rejected and left them to the judgment of God. We see Paul shaking “the viper” into the fire in 18:6— “but as they opposed and spoke injuriously, he shook his clothes and said to them Your blood be upon your own head.”
The Trees of Israel Are Also Thrown Into the Fire
Just as the viper—the figure of the unrepentant Jews—ended in the fire, so did “the trees of Israel” —their national institutions. John the Baptist prophesied this when he said— “and already also the axe is applied to the root of the trees; every tree therefore not producing good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire” —Luke 3:9, 109And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 10And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? (Luke 3:9‑10). The axe was the well-known symbol of capital punishment of the Roman judiciary (the lictors who attended the Roman magistrates carried an axe for executions). So John the Baptist’s warning was that the Romans would fell the Jewish trees—i.e. put an end to their national institutions by force.1 Two Jewish trees which the Romans felled can be easily identified—the cedar and the oak.
. . . The Cedar Tree—This tree is symbolic of the royal house of David—see Isa. 10:3333Behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled. (Isaiah 10:33) to 11:1-10; Ezekiel 17:22-2422Thus saith the Lord God; I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent: 23In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell. 24And all the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the Lord have spoken and have done it. (Ezekiel 17:22‑24); Zechariah 11:11Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars. (Zechariah 11:1). Because it was impossible for anyone but Christ to sit on David’s throne, the institution of the kingdom ended with the crucifixion of Christ.2
. . . The Oak Tree—The Roman axe must now be applied to the oak tree—the symbol of Israel as a strong and great nation in the earth cf. Gen. 13:18; 14:13; 18:1; 25:9-10; 35:1-518Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord. (Genesis 13:18)
13And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederate with Abram. (Genesis 14:13)
1And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; (Genesis 18:1)
9And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre; 10The field which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth: there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife. (Genesis 25:9‑10)
1And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Beth-el, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. 2Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: 3And let us arise, and go up to Beth-el; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. 4And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. 5And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob. (Genesis 35:1‑5) . . . as promised to Abraham. Having refused Christ as their King and chosen Caesar, they woke up to discover Caesar’s armies under the walls of Jerusalem. Christ their true King would have gathered them under His wings as a hen does her brood, but they would not. Caesar came and took away their place and nation. Thus, was the oak tree felled, although the trunk remains in the earth—Isa. 6:8-138Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. 9And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. 10Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. 11Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, 12And the Lord have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land. 13But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof. (Isaiah 6:8‑13).
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The order of the felling and burning of the trees is most instructive. First the cedar—the Romans crucified the King who alone had title to sit on David’s throne—then the oak—they came and destroyed Jerusalem even as our Lord foretold— “but when the King heard thereof, he was wroth, and he sent forth his armies” (note how the Roman armies under Titus are called the armies of the King—that is God’s armies, for they were His instrument of vengeance)— “and destroyed those murderers and burned up their city” —Mat. 22:7. Such was the fate of those who had no king but Caesar.
The Destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple
Following the resurrection of Lazarus, the Jews convened their Council to consider the public consequences of the Lord’s miracles. “If we let Him thus alone” they cried “the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation” —John 11:47, 4847Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles. 48If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation. (John 11:47‑48). But this is exactly what happened because they slew Him. The Lord prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem, the most frightful episode in the annals of war until the twentieth century, when He wept over the city which had rejected Him. “For the days shall come upon you when your enemies shall build embankments around you and encircle you and besiege you from every side, and level you to the ground, and your children inside you, because you knew not the time of your visitation” —Luke 19:43, 4443For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, 44And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. (Luke 19:43‑44). And so because they knew not the time when their Messiah visited them, the Romans were allowed to take away their place—that is the Temple—and nation. It was no longer God’s place but theirs, by their own admission. They played politics and offered sacrifices for Caesar and the Roman people.3 But in the long run their dissembling did not help them. Because the Lord had decreed the city’s destruction, it fell, and all within it, except the Christians who had been warned to get out of it.4
The siege of Jerusalem was the culmination of a general rebellion of Judaea against the Roman Empire which lasted over a number of years with heavy losses on both sides. When Jerusalem fell the Jewish nation did too. This was because Jerusalem was the only place the Passover could be kept. The Jews in the land, and the Jewish pilgrims from abroad who had travelled to the City to observe the Passover, flocked into the City and were trapped when the Roman army closed a ring around it. Two things contributed to the city’s fall—famine due to the siege and a civil war inside its walls. These twin calamities probably took a greater toll than Roman arms. Captured Jews were crucified in such numbers that the forests were denuded of trees. Many people tried to escape from the city. The Romans caught almost all of them, and ripped their stomachs and bowels open to look for hidden jewels. In many places the ground could not be seen for corpses covering it. When the Temple fell Titus tried to prevent its destruction, but the Roman soldiers were so enraged by their long sufferings and casualties, and the obstinacy of the Jewish resistance, that they ignored his pleas. So Scripture was fulfilled— “and after the sixty-two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, and shall have nothing, and the people of the prince that shall come (note—the people of the prince, not the prince—that is the soldiers, not Titus) shall destroy the city and the sanctuary” Dan. 9:2626And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. (Daniel 9:26). The city and Temple were truly destroyed, filled over and turned into a plowed field so its very memory would be erased among men. Titus built a triumphal arch near the colosseum to commemorate his triumph, which still stands in Rome after all these years. Tacitus says 600,000 Jews fell in the carnage. The survivors ended up as gladiators, food for the wild beasts in the numerous arenas of the Roman Empire, or as slaves in the mines.
The Night of Israel’s Darkness
With Jerusalem and the Temple destroyed there was no longer any religious center to which the Jews of the dispersion could go. The loss of their homeland soon followed the loss of their center. For some time, they enjoyed a period of peace until the Emperor Trajan oppressed them. They instigated several uprisings, and in Cyprus massacred 240,000 of their fellow citizens. Hadrian, who later became Emperor, drove them from the island. His experience with them in Cyprus caused him to take stern measures against them when he was ruling. The Jews again rebelled under a false Messiah, Bar-Cochebas. Over and over again they repeated the error of following a false Messiah, as they will do again when the Antichrist appears. “I am come in My Father’s Name and ye receive Me not; if another shall come in his own name him ye will receive” John 5:4343I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. (John 5:43). The rebellion was repressed with great severity and Jerusalem was laid out and built as a pagan city. Its name was changed to Aelia Capitolina, and a temple to Jupiter was erected on the site of the former Temple. Strangers colonized the city and the Jews were forbidden to enter it. At this time an irreparable breach arose between the Jewish Christians and the Jews. The Christians had been mistaken for Jews and persecuted during the uprising, and to prevent this happening again they applied for permission to reside in the new city. To the Jews this was unforgiveable. But it little mattered, for the Jew was to become a wanderer over the face of the earth.
As the Roman Empire began to decay the professing Christian Church grew outwardly stronger but increased in evil. The Empire had crushed the Jews for their constant rebellions; the Church, so-called, became a tormentor of the Jews in the Name of Christ. There is little doubt that God raised up Mohammedanism to check the unbridled and oppressive reign of the professing Church. Under the Mohammedans the Jews suffered less than under the so-called Christians. Every professing Christian country in Western Europe, and England, has a record of killing and oppressing the Jews. Russia and Eastern Europe instituted pogroms against them. In Poland and other countries, they were confined in ghettoes. Huge fines were levied against them, their property was confiscated, and they were slaughtered without number. Indeed, it has been estimated that more Jews lost their lives in Christian countries over the centuries than in the extermination campaign of Hitler Germany. During this long period, they continued to be deceived by false Messiahs promising them deliverance. But government, priesthood, sacrifice, even their old idolatry all has been swept away “THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL SHALL ABIDE MANY DAYS WITHOUT A KING, AND WITHOUT A PRINCE, AND WITHOUT A SACRIFICE, AND WITHOUT AN IMAGE, AND WITHOUT AN EPHOD, AND WITHOUT TERAPHIM” Hosea 3:44For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: (Hosea 3:4).
Enough has been written to demonstrate that the judgments which fell on the apostate Jews were dual in character moral and physical and that both run on to the end. Of their inability to see Christ in their own Scriptures Paul writes “but their thoughts have been darkened for to this day the same veil remains in reading the old covenant, unremoved, which in Christ is annulled. But to this day, when Moses is read, the veil lies upon their heart. But when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil is taken away” 2 Cor. 3:14-1614But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. 15But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. 16Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. (2 Corinthians 3:14‑16). Every true believer loves the Jew and longs for his salvation now. He is also encouraged at the thought of the nation once more turning to the Lord.
In the latter connection the reader should consider the law of the burnt offering in Leviticus 6. First let us explain that the law of the burnt offering is the principle of the burnt offering. The burnt offering was a type of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ in its highest aspect the way God viewed Christ as the perfect Man who did His will unto death. We read “this is the law of the burnt offering it is the burnt offering because of the burning upon the altar all night unto the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be burning in it” Lev. 6:99Command Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the burnt offering: It is the burnt offering, because of the burning upon the altar all night unto the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be burning in it. (Leviticus 6:9). During the night of Israel’s darkness when we Gentiles have accepted Israel’s Messiah as our Saviour, the fire burns on. So shall it be to eternal ages, for the unbelief of some shall not make the faith of God without effect— “the fire shall ever be burning upon the altar, it shall never go out” —Lev 6:1313The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out. (Leviticus 6:13).
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A chronological table of significant events from the Day of Pentecost to the destruction of the Temple follows, to round off this Chapter. The dates given are in some cases certain, but in many others, approximations. They fit the narrative of the Acts and other passages and are related to the established flow of events in secular history as researched by competent scholars and historians. These authorities disagree on certain dates, which is not surprising in view of the great span of time involved. However, the margin of disagreement is not significant.