A Blood Moon is a natural phenomenon, but these first century phenomena recorded by an eyewitness were not natural. Thus were the miserable people persuaded by these deceivers, and such as belied God himself; while they did not attend, nor give credit, to the signs that were so evident and did so plainly foretell their future desolation; but, like men infatuated, without either eyes to see, or minds to consider, did not regard the denunciations that God made to them. Thus there was A STAR RESEMBLING A SWORD, WHICH STOOD OVER THE CITY, AND A COMET, THAT CONTINUED A WHOLE YEAR. Thus also, before the Jews rebellion, and before those commotions which preceded the war, when the people were come in great crowds to the feast of unleavened bread, on the eighth day of the month Xanthicus [Nisan], and AT THE NINTH HOUR OF THE NIGHT, SO GREAT A LIGHT SHONE ROUND THE ALTAR AND THE HOLY HOUSE, THAT IT APPEARED TO BE BRIGHT DAY TIME; WHICH LIGHT LASTED FOR HALF AN HOUR. This light seemed to be a good sign to the unskillful, but was so interpreted by the sacred scribes, as to portend those events that followed immediately upon it. So these publicly declared, that this signal foreshowed the desolation that was coming upon them. Besides these, a few days after that feast, on the twenty-first day of the month Artemisius [Jyar], a certain prodigious and incredible phenomenon appeared; I suppose the account of it would seem to be a fable, were it not related by those that saw it, and were not the events that followed it of so considerable a nature as to deserve such signals; for, BEFORE SUN-SETTING, CHARIOTS AND TROOPS OF SOLDIERS IN THEIR ARMOR WERE SEEN RUNNING ABOUT AMONG THE CLOUDS, AND SURROUNDING OF CITIES. MOREOVER AT THAT FEAST WHICH WE CALL PENTECOST, AS THE PRIESTS WERE GOING BY NIGHT INTO THE INNER [COURT OF THE] TEMPLE, AS THEIR CUSTOM WAS, TO PERFORM THEIR SACRED MINISTRATIONS, THEY SAID THAT, IN THE FIRST PLACE, THEY FELT A QUAKING, AND HEARD A GREAT NOISE, AND AFTER THAT THEY HEARD A SOUND AS OF A GREAT MULTITUDE, SAYING, LET US REMOVE HENCE. (Josephus, Flavius. 1970. _The Wars of the Jews; or The History of the Destruction of Jerusalem_, in _The Complete Works of Flavius Josephus. Translated by William Whiston. (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications), 582, emphases mine (6:296-300/6.5.3.296-300))
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 01:17:35 +0000
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