by Ray Bentley
“And I want to be part of it,” Jack said. “I belong here.”
“You know,” Lev said, watching a pair of Israeli fighter planes darting high overhead, “Most people remember the ‘wars and rumors of wars’ quote, but they forget the prophecy Jesus uttered actually began a day or two earlier—right over there.” He pointed toward the Temple Mount. “Jesus’ friends—mostly fishermen, country folk—were impressed by and admired the Temple; its size, its beauty, its colonnades, and its gates. ‘Look at this, Master,’ they said. ‘Look at that! Isn’t this amazing?’ And He said: ‘Not one stone here will be left on another.’
“You have no idea how that must have shocked them. Ruthless, cunning old King Herod died soon after Jesus was born, but he left his mark on Israel: Machaerus, Caesarea, Herodium, the Tomb of the Patriarchs—building, building, building—but most of all, right there. When Jesus walked there, the work of expanding the Second Temple had already been going on for over forty years. It was so grand—on such a huge scale—people—not just Jews, but tourists—came from all over the Roman world to see it. It was inconceivable it could be destroyed. Jack? Jack? Are you listening?”
Screams of pain and cries of rage! Spiraling plumes of smoke obscured the Temple Mount. Hordes of men marched and counter-marched beneath the walls. Opposing the onslaught, defenders ran from place to place atop the fortifications.
Was this happening now? A new riot? A terrorist attack?
Was it a vision of what would happen in the future?
A breeze out of the north parted the veil of fumes like a curtain. The attackers wore helmets and carried spears and short swords—Romans.
Jack knew then he watched the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.
A ragged line of defenders dropped rocks on the Romans from above, but were instantly driven back by a flight of arrows. The Temple still stood, its walls tarnished with soot, and battered by boulders flung from the Roman siege weapons.
An anguished cry was overtaken by and buried beneath a triumphant shout. “The wall is breached! The way to the Temple is open!”
Roman legionaries fanned out across the Temple Mount. Under Jack’s horrified gaze, they speared men, women and children, priests and babies, young and old, without mercy.
Bodies tossed in heaps, slid down because they could be piled no higher.
A phalanx of soldiers lined up outside the Temple, carrying flaming torches. Tossing them into the interior of the building, they taunted the God of Israel to do anything about it. “Hail, Jupiter!” they mocked. “Hail, Caesar!”
The walls of the Temple were ablaze, then the roof caught and flared upward. The entire building leaned toward the west, sliding off its foundations.
Rumble and crash succeeded an avalanche of sight and sound as the Temple’s roof fell in on itself, and the majestic structure toppled toward the city of Jerusalem. A cascade of stones swept across the mount, tumbling into the valley beyond.
“Jack? Are you all right?” Lev said. “Hey, man? Where’d you go?”
“The last piece,” Jack said. “I saw it. The last piece. I wanted to know if Bible prophecy was true—if you could prove it was reliable. How had I missed it? Jesus prophesied the Temple would be destroyed—forty years before it happened.”
Earnestly, fervently, he said to Lev: “We have so much work to do—and the time is so short. Help me! I want to understand it all—and I want to show it to the world.”
An Open Invitation
If you would like to make a decision like Jack Garrison did in the novel, consider this.
Jesus came from heaven to show us “the Way, the Truth and the Life” (John 14:6). He died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead on the third day. He says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock, and if any man hears my voice, and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Rev. 3:20). You can have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. In a simple prayer, tell Him you know you are a sinner, and ask forgiveness. Tell Him you believe He died for your sins, rose from the dead, and you want to invite Him to come into your heart and follow Him as your personal Lord and Savior, in His name.
If you would like more information on how to grow spiritually, please go to raybentley.com.
About the Author
PASTOR RAY BENTLEY founded Maranatha Chapel, a non-denominational evangelical Christian church, in August 1984, teaching a midweek Bible study in a recreation center with thirty people. Today Maranatha serves 7,000 people weekly. He is host to the daily Maranatha Radio show heard on stations across the United States and around the world. Maranatha’s publishing arm, Maranatha Media, produces a variety of printed, audio, and video resources for study. Ray has authored five books including his latest, The Holy Land Key. He is married to Vicki and they have two grown children and seven grandchildren.
BODIE THOENE, with her husband and writing partner Brock, has written over seventy works of historical fiction. Over 35 million of these bestselling novels are in print in thirty languages. Her byline has appeared in prestigious periodicals such as U.S. News & World Report, The American West, and The Saturday Evening Post. She also worked for John Wayne’s Batjac Productions and ABC Circle Films as a writer and researcher. John Wayne described her as a writer with talent who captures the people and the times. She has degrees in journalism and communications. In 2016, Bodie’s writing returned to the big screen with the release of I’m Not Ashamed: The Rachel Joy Scott Columbine Story.
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Copyright © 2018 by Rayburn J. Bentley
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