The Big Fall: When Jerusalem's Walls Came Tumbling Down!
Hey kids! Today we continue with Jesus' parable about the destruction of 70AD Jerusalem. In 70AD Jerusalem was a really, really old and important city that had been the capital of Israel for over 1000 years.
Long, long ago, even before your grandparents' grandparents were born, this city had tall, strong walls and a beautiful, shiny temple. It was very special to a group of Israelites called called the Jews.
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Jesus foretold that enemies would knock down the walls of Jerusalem and its temple
Now, a long time before this big fall, there was a very wise teacher named Jesus. He was the Son of God. He loved the people of Jerusalem very much, but he also knew something sad was going to happen.
Jesus told them, almost like a secret whisper about the future, that a time would come when their enemies would surround their city and make it impossible to leave. He even said something amazing – that the enemies would knock down all the walls and even the beautiful temple, stone by stone!
Think of a tall tower of LEGO bricks. Jesus said that one day, armies would come and take apart every single brick until there was nothing left standing. That sounds pretty unbelievable, right?
By Ariely - Own work, CC BY 3.0,
Jesus' prophecy came to pass a few years later
Well, guess what? A few years later, a powerful army called the Roman army came to Jerusalem. We've talked before about how they built a big ramp, called an embankment, all around the city to trap everyone inside. But that wasn't the end of the story!
The Roman soldiers were very angry after a long fight. When they finally got inside the city, they began to tear down the strong city walls. Imagine giant machines and lots of strong people pulling and pushing on the huge stones. Slowly, bit by bit, the walls started to crumble.
But the most amazing and saddest part was what happened to the beautiful temple. This temple was so special and important to the Jewish people. It was the special place where they worshiped God But in the chaos of the fighting, the temple caught fire. The fire was so hot and fierce that it damaged the stone walls of the temple.
The Romans completely destroyed the temple in Jerusalem
And just like Jesus had said, the Roman soldiers didn't just damage it a little bit. They kept tearing down the stones, one by one. It's hard to imagine, but the historical writings from that time, especially from a writer named Josephus in his book called "War of the Jews," tell us that the Romans completely destroyed the temple. There were so many stones that it looked like the whole place had been leveled to the ground!
Josephus was actually there during this time, and he saw all these things happen. He wrote down everything he could remember, and his writings help us understand just how much of Jerusalem was destroyed. He tells us about the strong walls being pulled down and the magnificent temple being turned into ruins.
The destruction of the beautiful city and its temple was a very sad time
It was a very sad time for the people of Jerusalem. Their beautiful city and their special temple were gone, just like Jesus had prophesied. It shows us that He is God and knows everything in the future.
So, remember the story of the big fall of Jerusalem. Remember the strong walls and the beautiful temple. And remember the words of Jesus, who knew what was going to happen long before it did.
Jesus also warned about other things that all humans need to know about
Jesus also warned us about other things like a place called hell. He died on the cross to save us from going to that place. To escape from hell, we must believe He is God and the only one who can save us from our sins.
We must also confess or own up to being sinners, or people who disobey God from the time we were born. Then we must ask Him to pardon our sins, to wash them away and to write our names in the Book of Life.
The MOST important thing for every believer in Jesus to do is to obey His Word and to live righteously. That means to stop sinning and to do what is right and pleasing to God. We learn these things from the bible.
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