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← Discours sur l'histoire universelle/Book 1 · Discours sur l'histoire universelle — Seconde partie : La suite de la religion
Chapter 9DiscoursHistUniv.1.9

Deux mémorables prédictions

The Mystery of Prophetic Foresight

The author introduces the dual nature of Christ's prophecies, which intertwine the destruction of Jerusalem with the end of the world.

Two memorable predictions of Our Lord are explained, and history confirms their fulfillment. These are the predictions he made to the entire nation. The ones he made privately to his disciples deserve even more attention. They are contained in that long and remarkable discourse where he links the ruin of Jerusalem with the ruin of the universe. This connection is not without mystery, and here is its design. Jerusalem, that blessed city the Lord had chosen, was a figure of the Church and of heaven—where God reveals himself to his children—as long as she remained in the covenant and in the faith of the promises. That is why we often see the prophets, in the course of the same discourse, join what concerns Jerusalem to what concerns the Church and to what concerns heavenly glory. It is one of the secrets of the prophecies, and one of the keys that open their understanding; but Jerusalem, reprobate and ungrateful toward her Savior, was to be the image of hell. Her faithless citizens were to represent the damned, and the terrible judgment Jesus Christ was to execute upon them was a figure of the one he will execute over the whole universe when he comes in his majesty at the end of time to judge the living and the dead.✦ It's a habit of Scripture to mingle figure with truth for our instruction, as one of the ways it impresses mysteries upon our minds. So our Lord has mingled the history of desolate Jerusalem with that of the end of the ages, and that is what appears in the discourse we're discussing. Still, we shouldn't think these things are so mixed together that we can't tell what belongs to one and what to the other. Jesus Christ has distinguished them by clear signs that I could easily point out, if that were the question. But it's enough for me to make you understand what concerns the desolation of Jerusalem and of the Jews.

Signs of the Coming Desolation

Christ warns his disciples of the signs preceding Jerusalem's fall, including wars, famines, and the rise of false prophets.

The apostles (this was still during the Passion), gathered around their Master, were pointing out to him the temple and the buildings around it: they were admiring its stones, its design, its beauty, its solid strength; and he said to them, Do you see these great buildings?✦ Not one stone will be left on another.✦ Stunned by that word, they ask him the time of so terrible an event; and he, who did not want them to be caught in Jerusalem when it would be sacked (for he wanted the sack of that city to hold an image of the final separation of the good and the wicked), began to recount to them all the disasters as they were to come one after another.✦✦1 First he marks out for them plagues, famines, and earthquakes; and the histories bear witness that these things had never been more frequent or more remarkable than they were in those times.✦2 He adds that there would be troubles throughout the whole world, and so on.✦3 And that the whole earth would be seen in upheaval.✦4 Could he better picture for us the last years of Nero, when the whole Roman empire—that is, the whole world—so peaceful since Augustus's victory and under the emperors' power, began to shake, and people saw Gaul, Spain, and all the kingdoms that made up the empire stir all at once; four emperors rise almost at the same time against Nero and against one another; the praetorian cohorts, the armies of Syria and Germany, and all the others spread through East and West clash and cross, led by their emperors, from one end of the world to the other to settle their quarrel by bloody battles? These are great evils, the Son of God says, but it will not yet be the end.✦ The Jews will suffer like the others in this universal upheaval of the world: but soon afterward more particular evils will come upon them, and this will only be the beginning of their sorrows. He adds that his Church, which has been afflicted since its very beginning, would see persecution flare up against it more violently than ever during those times. You have seen that Nero, in his final years, set out to destroy the Christians and put Saint Peter and Saint Paul to death. This persecution, stirred up by the jealousies and violence of the Jews, was advancing their ruin, but it did not yet mark the precise end. The coming of false christs and false prophets seemed a nearer step toward the final ruin: for the ordinary fate of those who refuse to lend an ear to the truth is to be dragged to their ruin by deceiving prophets. Jesus Christ does not hide from his apostles that this misfortune would befall the Jews. Etc.5 Let no one say that this was an easy thing to guess for anyone who knew the temper of the nation: for on the contrary, I've shown you that the Jews, put off by these seducers who had so often caused their ruin—above all in the time of Zedekiah—had been so thoroughly disabused of them that they stopped listening to them. More than five hundred years passed without a single false prophet appearing in Israel. But hell, which inspires them, awoke at the coming of Jesus Christ; and God, who keeps deceiving spirits in check as much as He pleases, gave them free rein to send both this torment upon the Jews and this trial upon His faithful.✦6 Never did so many false prophets appear as in the time following the death of Our Lord.✦ Above all toward the time of the Jewish war, and under the reign of Nero who began it, Josephus shows us an endless number of these impostors who drew the people into the desert by empty illusions and secrets of magic, promising them a swift and miraculous deliverance.✦ It's also for this reason that the desert is marked in Our Lord's predictions as one of the places where those false liberators would be hidden—the ones you've seen eventually drag the people into their final ruin.✦ You can believe that the name of Christ—without which there was no perfect deliverance for the Jews—was mixed into these imaginary promises, and you'll see enough in what follows to convince you of it.✦ Judea was not the only province exposed to these illusions. They were common throughout the entire empire. History shows no other age with a greater number of these impostors who boast of predicting the future and deceive people with their wonder-working tricks.7 Figures like Simon Magus, Elymas, and Apollonius of Tyana, along with countless other enchanters recorded in sacred and secular history, rose up during this century, when hell seemed to be making its final efforts to prop up its shaken empire. That is why Jesus Christ points out this prodigious number of false prophets for this time, especially among the Jews. Anyone who looks closely at his words will see that they were bound to multiply before and after the ruin of Jerusalem, but around those times; and that it would be then that the deception, strengthened by false miracles and false doctrines, would be at once so subtle and so powerful that even the elect, if it were possible, would be deceived by it. I'm not saying that at the end of the ages something similar—and even more dangerous—won't still happen, since we've just seen that what is taking place in Jerusalem is the clear figure of those last times; but it is certain that Jesus Christ has given us this deception as one of the palpable effects of God's wrath upon the Jews, and as one of the signs of their ruin. The event has justified his prophecy: everything here is attested by irreproachable testimonies. We read the prediction of their errors in the Gospel; we see its fulfillment in their histories, and above all in that of Josephus.

The Faithful Remnant and the Abomination

The author explains how the faithful Christians discerned the signs and escaped the destruction of Jerusalem, unlike the unbelieving Jews.

After Jesus Christ had foretold these things, intending to draw his own people out of the disasters that threatened Jerusalem, he turns to the near signs of that city's final desolation. God doesn't always give his elect such clear signs. In those terrible punishments that make entire nations feel his power, he often strikes the just along with the guilty, for he has better ways of separating them than those that appear to our senses. The same blows that break the straw separate the good grain; gold is refined in the same fire where the straw is consumed; and under the same punishments by which the wicked are wiped out, the faithful are purified. But in the desolation of Jerusalem, so that the image of the last judgment would be more exact, and divine vengeance more clearly marked on the unbelievers, he did not want the Jews who had received the gospel to be mixed in with the others; and Jesus Christ gave his disciples sure signs by which they could know when it was time to leave that rejected city. He relied, as was his custom, on the ancient prophecies of which he was both the interpreter and the fulfillment; and going back over the passage where the final ruin of Jerusalem was shown so clearly to Daniel, he spoke these words: etc.8 One of the evangelists explains the other, and by comparing these passages it's easy for us to see that this abomination foretold by Daniel is the same thing as the armies around Jerusalem. The holy Fathers understood it this way, and reason convinces us of it. The word "abomination," in the usage of the holy language, means an idol; and who doesn't know that the Roman armies carried on their standards the images of their gods, and of their Caesars, who were the most honored of all their gods?9 These standards were objects of worship for the soldiers; and because, by God's command, idols were never to appear in the holy land, the Roman standards were banned from it. So we see in the histories that as long as the Romans still had even the slightest regard for the Jews, they never displayed their standards in Judea. That is why Vitellius, when he passed through that province to carry war into Arabia, had his troops march without standards; for the Jewish religion was still respected then, and no one wanted to force that people to endure things so contrary to their law. But at the time of the last Jewish war, it is easy to believe that the Romans did not spare a people they intended to wipe out. So when Jerusalem was besieged, it was surrounded by as many idols as there were Roman standards; and the abomination never appeared so fully where it ought not to have been—that is, in the holy land, and around the Temple. So, someone might ask, is that the great sign Jesus Christ was supposed to give? Was it time to flee when Titus besieged Jerusalem and sealed off its approaches so tightly that there was no longer any way to escape?✦ This is where the marvel of the prophecy lies. Jerusalem was besieged twice in that period: the first time by Cestius, governor of Syria, in the year 68 of Our Lord; the second by Titus, four years later—that is, in the year 72.10 During the final siege, there was no longer any way to escape. Titus waged this war with too much ardor: he surprised the whole nation shut up in Jerusalem during the feast of Passover, and no one escaped; and that terrifying circumvallation he raised around the city left its inhabitants no further hope.11 But nothing like that happened during Cestius's siege: he was encamped fifty stades away—that is, six miles from Jerusalem. His army spread out all around, but without digging trenches; he waged the war so carelessly that he missed his chance to take the city, even though terror, internal conflict, and his own secret contacts were opening its gates to him.12 At that time, far from withdrawal being impossible, history explicitly records that several Jews did withdraw. That was when they had to leave; it was the signal the Son of God was giving to his own.✦ He clearly distinguished between the two sieges: one where the city would be surrounded by ditches and forts—leaving only death for everyone trapped inside—and the other where it would merely be hemmed in by the army and invested rather than formally besieged. It was then that they had to flee and withdraw into the mountains.✦✦13 The Christians obeyed their Master's word. Although there were thousands of them in Jerusalem and Judea, we read neither in Josephus nor in any other histories that a single one was found in the city when it was taken. On the contrary, it is established by church history and all the records of our ancestors that they withdrew to the small town of Pella, in a mountainous region near the desert, on the borders of Judea and Arabia.✦ From this you can see how precisely they had been warned. Nothing is more remarkable than this separation of the unbelieving Jews from those who converted to Christianity: the one group stayed in Jerusalem to suffer the penalty for their unbelief, while the others withdrew—like Lot leaving Sodom—to a small town, where they watched with trembling the effects of the divine vengeance from which God had been pleased to shelter them.

The Failure of Human Pride

The failed attempt of Julian the Apostate to rebuild the Temple serves as a final, historical confirmation of Christ's divine word.

Besides Jesus Christ's own predictions, there were predictions from several of his disciples, among them those of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. As these two faithful witnesses of the risen Jesus Christ were being led to their execution, they warned the Jews who were handing them over to the Gentiles of the ruin that was coming for them.14 They told them that Jerusalem was about to be destroyed from the foundation to the roof, and so on.15 Pious antiquity has preserved this prediction of the apostles for us—a prediction that would be followed by such a swift fulfillment. Saint Peter had made many others as well, whether through a special inspiration or by explaining his Master's words; and Phlegon, a pagan author whose testimony Origen cites, wrote that everything this apostle had predicted was fulfilled point by point. So nothing happens to the Jews that was not prophesied to them. The cause of their misfortune is clearly marked for us in the contempt they showed for Jesus Christ and his disciples. The time of grace had passed, and their ruin was inevitable.16 So it was in vain, my lord, that Titus wanted to save Jerusalem and the Temple. The sentence had come down from on high: not one stone was to be left upon another there.✦ And if one Roman emperor tried in vain to stop the Temple's ruin, another tried even more vainly to restore it.17 Julian the Apostate, after declaring war on Jesus Christ, thought himself powerful enough to wipe out His predictions. In his plan to raise enemies against the Christians on every side, he stooped so low as to court the Jews, who were the refuse of the world.18 He urged them to rebuild their Temple; he gave them immense sums and backed them with all the power of the empire. Listen to how it turned out, and see how God confounds proud princes.✦ The holy Fathers and the church historians report it with one voice, and they support it with monuments that still remained in their own day. But the matter had to be confirmed by the pagans themselves. Ammianus Marcellinus, a pagan by religion and a zealous defender of Julian, described it in these terms.19 Etc.20 The more careful ecclesiastical writers, in recounting so memorable an event, join the fire of heaven to the fire of the earth. But in the end, the word of Jesus Christ stood firm.✦ Saint John Chrysostom cries out: etc.21

The Persistent Delusion of Unbelief

The author reflects on the spiritual blindness of the Jews, who continue to fall for false messiahs long after their city's ruin.

Let's stop talking about Jerusalem or the temple. Let's turn our eyes to the people themselves—once the living temple of the God of hosts, and now the object of his hatred. The Jews are more thoroughly cast down than their temple and their city. The Spirit of truth is no longer among them: prophecy is extinguished there; the promises on which they rested their hope have vanished; everything is overthrown in this people, and not one stone is left upon another.22 And look at how far they've been given over to error. Jesus Christ had told them: etc.23 Since that time, the spirit of deception has reigned so thoroughly among them that they're still ready at any moment to be carried away by it.✦ It wasn't enough that the false prophets had handed Jerusalem over to Titus; the Jews weren't yet banished from Judea, and the love they had for Jerusalem led many of them to make their home among its ruins. Here is a false Christ who will finish destroying them. Fifty years after the fall of Jerusalem, within a century of Our Lord's death, the infamous Barchochebas—a thief and a scoundrel—claimed to be the star of Jacob foretold in the Book of Numbers because his name meant "son of the star," and he presented himself as the Christ.24 Akiba, the most authoritative of all the rabbis, and following his example all those the Jews called their sages, joined his party, without the impostor giving them any other mark of his mission except that Akiba said the Christ could not be long in coming. The Jews rose in revolt throughout the Roman Empire under the leadership of Barchochebas, who promised them dominion over the world. Hadrian killed six hundred thousand of them; the yoke on these wretched people grew heavier, and they were banished from Judea forever. Who can't see that a spirit of deception has seized their hearts? The love of the truth that brought them salvation has gone out in them: God has sent them a powerful delusion that makes them believe the lie.25 There is no imposture so crude that it doesn't deceive them. In our own time, an impostor in the East claimed to be the Christ, and all the Jews began to flock to him; we saw them in Italy, Holland, Germany, and Metz, preparing to sell everything and leave it all behind to follow him.26 They were already imagining they were about to become masters of the world when they learned that their Christ had turned Turk and abandoned the Law of Moses.27

Read the original Latin

Deux mémorables prédictions de Nostre Seigneur sont expliquées, & leur accomplissement est justifié par l'Histoire.

Telles sont les prédictions qu’il a faites à tout le peuple. Celles qu’il fit en particulier à ses disciples meritent encore plus d’attention. Elles sont comprises dans ce long et admirable discours où il joint ensemble la ruine de Jérusalem avec celle de l’univers. Cette liaison n’est pas sans mystere, et en voicy le dessein. Jérusalem cité bienheureuse que le Seigneur avoit choisie, tant qu’elle demeura dans l’alliance et dans la foy des promesses, fut la figure de l’eglise et la figure du ciel où Dieu se fait voir à ses enfans. C’est pourquoy nous voyons souvent les prophetes joindre dans la suite du mesme discours ce qui regarde Jérusalem, à ce qui regarde l’eglise et à ce qui regarde la gloire celeste. C’est un des secrets des propheties, et une des clefs qui en ouvrent l’intelligence : mais Jérusalem réprouvée et ingrate envers son sauveur, devoit estre l’image de l’enfer. Ses perfides citoyens devoient representer les damnez ; et le jugement terrible que Jesus-Christ devoit exercer sur eux estoit la figure de celuy qu’il exercera sur tout l’univers lors qu’il viendra à la fin des siecles en sa majesté juger les vivans et les morts.

C’est une coustume de l’ecriture, et un des moyens dont elle se sert pour imprimer les mysteres dans les esprits, de mesler pour nostre instruction la figure à la verité. Ainsi nostre Seigneur a meslé l’histoire de Jérusalem desolée avec celle de la fin des siecles, et c’est ce qui paroist dans le discours dont nous parlons.

Ne croyons pas toutefois que ces choses soient tellement confonduës, que nous ne puissions discerner ce qui appartient à l’une et à l’autre. Jesus-Christ les a distinguées par des caracteres certains que je pourrois aisément marquer, s’il en estoit question. Mais il me suffit de vous faire entendre ce qui regarde la desolation de Jérusalem et des juifs.

Les apostres (c’estoit encore au temps de la passion) assemblez autour de leur maistre, luy montroient le temple et les bastimens d’alentour : ils en admiroient les pierres, l’ordonnance, la beauté, la solidité ; et il leur dit, voyez-vous ces grands bastimens ? Il n’y restera pas pierre sur pierre . Etonnez de cette parole, ils luy demandent le temps d’un évenement si terrible ; et luy qui ne vouloit pas qu’ils fussent surpris dans Jérusalem lors qu’elle seroit saccagée, (car il vouloit qu’il y eust dans le sac de cette ville une image de la derniere separation des bons et des mauvais) commença à leur raconter tous les malheurs comme ils devoient arriver l’un aprés l’autre. Premierement il leur marque des pestes, des famines, et des tremblemens de terre : et les histoires font foy, que jamais ces choses n’avoient esté plus frequentes ni plus remarquables qu’ils le furent durant ces temps. Il ajouste qu’il y auroit par tout l’univers des troubles, etc. , et qu’on verroit toute la terre dans l’agitation. Pouvoit-il mieux nous representer les dernieres années de Neron, lors que tout l’empire romain, c’est à dire tout l’univers, si paisible depuis la victoire d’Auguste et sous la puissance des empereurs, commença à s’ébranler, et qu’on vit les Gaules, les Espagnes, tous les royaumes dont l’empire estoit composé, s’émouvoir tout à coup ; quatre empereurs s’élever presque en mesme temps contre Neron et les uns contre les autres ; les cohortes prétoriennes, les armées de Syrie, de Germanie, et toutes les autres qui estoient répanduës en Orient et en Occident s’entrechoquer et traverser sous la conduite de leurs empereurs d’une extrémité du monde à l’autre pour décider leur querelle par de sanglantes batailles ? Voilà de grands maux, dit le fils de Dieu ; mais ce ne sera pas encore la fin .

Les juifs souffriront comme les autres dans cette commotion universelle du monde : mais il leur viendra bientost aprés des maux plus particuliers, et ce ne sera icy que le commencement de leurs douleurs . Il ajouste, que son eglise toûjours affligée depuis son premier établissement, verroit la persecution s’allumer contre elle plus violente que jamais durant ces temps. Vous avez veû que Neron dans ses dernieres années entreprit la perte des chrestiens, et fit mourir Saint Pierre et Saint Paul. Cette persecution excitée par les jalousies et les violences des juifs avançoit leur perte, mais elle ne marquoit pas encore le terme précis. La venuë des faux christs et des faux prophetes sembloit estre un plus prochain acheminement à la derniere ruine : car la destinée ordinaire de ceux qui refusent de prester l’oreille à la verité est d’estre entraisnez à leur perte par des prophetes trompeurs. Jesus-Christ ne cache pas à ses apostres que ce malheur arriveroit aux juifs. Etc.

Qu’on ne dise pas que c’estoit une chose aisée à deviner à qui connoissoit l’humeur de la nation : car au contraire je vous ay fait voir que les juifs rebutez de ces seducteurs qui avoient si souvent causé leur ruine, et sur tout dans le temps de Sedecias, s’en estoient tellement desabusez, qu’ils cesserent de les écouter. Plus de cinq cens ans se passerent sans qu’il parust aucun faux prophete en Israël. Mais l’enfer qui les inspire, se réveilla à la venuë de Jesus-Christ, et Dieu qui tient en bride autant qu’il luy plaist les esprits trompeurs, leur lascha la main, afin d’envoyer dans le mesme temps ce supplice aux juifs, et cette épreuve à ses fideles. Jamais il ne parut tant de faux prophetes que dans les temps qui suivirent la mort de Nostre Seigneur. Sur tout vers le temps de la guerre judaïque, et sous le regne de Neron qui la commença, Josephe nous fait voir une infinité de ces imposteurs qui attiroient le peuple au desert par de vains prestiges et des secrets de magie, leur promettant une prompte et miraculeuse delivrance. C’est aussi pour cette raison que le desert est marqué dans les prédictions de Nostre Seigneur comme un des lieux où seroient cachez ces faux liberateurs que vous avez veûs à la fin entraisner le peuple dans sa derniere ruine. Vous pouvez croire que le nom du Christ, sans lequel il n’y avoit point de delivrance parfaite pour les juifs, estoit meslé dans ces promesses imaginaires, et vous verrez dans la suite de quoy vous en convaincre. La Judée ne fut pas la seule province exposée à ces illusions.

Elles furent communes dans tout l’empire. Il n’y a aucun temps où toutes les histoires nous fassent paroistre un plus grand nombre de ces imposteurs qui se vantent de prédire l’avenir, et trompent les peuples par leurs prestiges. Un Simon Le Magicien, un Elymas, un Apollonius Tyaneus, un nombre infini d’autres enchanteurs marquez dans les histoires saintes et profanes s’éleverent durant ce siecle où l’enfer sembloit faire ses derniers efforts pour soustenir son empire ébranlé. C’est pourquoy Jesus-Christ remarque en ce temps, principalement parmi les juifs, ce nombre prodigieux de faux prophetes. Qui considerera de prés ses paroles, verra qu’ils devoient se multiplier devant et aprés la ruine de Jérusalem, mais vers ces temps ; et que ce seroit alors que la séduction fortifiée par de faux miracles, et par de fausses doctrines, seroit tout ensemble si subtile, et si puissante, que les elûs mesmes, s’il estoit possible, y seroient trompez .

Je ne dis pas qu’à la fin des siecles, il ne doive encore arriver quelque chose de semblable et de plus dangereux, puis que mesme nous venons de voir que ce qui se passe dans Jérusalem, est la figure manifeste de ces derniers temps : mais il est certain que Jesus-Christ nous a donné cette séduction comme un des effets sensibles de la colere de Dieu sur les juifs, et comme un des signes de leur perte. L’évenement a justifié sa prophetie : tout est icy attesté par des témoignages irreprochables. Nous lisons la prédiction de leurs erreurs dans l’evangile : nous en voyons l’accomplissement dans leurs histoires, et sur tout dans celle de Josephe.

Aprés que Jesus-Christ a prédit ces choses ; dans le dessein qu’il avoit de tirer les siens des malheurs dont Jérusalem estoit menacée, il vient aux signes prochains de la derniere desolation de cette ville.

Dieu ne donne pas toûjours à ses elûs de semblables marques. Dans ces terribles chastimens qui font sentir sa puissance à des nations entieres, il frape souvent le juste avec le coupable : car il a de meilleurs moyens de les separer, que ceux qui paroissent à nos sens. Les mesmes coups qui brisent la paille separent le bon grain ; l’or s’épure dans le mesme feu où la paille est consumée ; et sous les mesmes chastimens par lesquels les méchans sont exterminez, les fideles se purifient. Mais dans la desolation de Jérusalem, afin que l’image du jugement dernier fust plus expresse, et la vengeance divine plus marquée sur les incredules, il ne voulut pas que les juifs qui avoient receû l’evangile, fussent confondus avec les autres ; et Jesus-Christ donna à ses disciples des signes certains ausquels ils pussent connoistre quand il seroit temps de sortir de cette ville réprouvée. Il se fonda, selon sa coustume, sur les anciennes propheties dont il estoit l’interprete aussi-bien que la fin ; et repassant sur l’endroit où la derniere ruine de Jérusalem fut montrée si clairement à Daniel, il dit ces paroles : etc. Un des evangelistes explique l’autre, et en conferant ces passages, il nous est aisé d’entendre que cette abomination prédite par Daniel est la mesme chose que les armées autour de Jérusalem. Les saints peres l’ont ainsi entendu, et la raison nous en convainc. Le mot d’abomination, dans l’usage de la langue sainte, signifie idole : et qui ne sçait que les armées romaines portoient dans leurs enseignes les images de leurs dieux, et de leurs Cesars qui estoient les plus respectez de tous leurs dieux ?

Ces enseignes estoient aux soldats un objet de culte ; et parce que les idoles, selon les ordres de Dieu, ne devoient jamais paroistre dans la terre sainte, les enseignes romaines en estoient bannies. Aussi voyons-nous dans les histoires, que tant qu’il a resté aux romains tant soit peu de considération pour les juifs, jamais ils n’ont fait paroistre les enseignes romaines dans la Judée. C’est pour cela que Vitellius, quand il passa dans cette province pour porter la guerre en Arabie, fit marcher ses troupes sans enseignes ; car on réveroit encore alors la religion judaïque, et on ne vouloit point forcer ce peuple à souffrir des choses si contraires à sa loy. Mais au temps de la derniere guerre judaïque, on peut bien croire que les romains n’épargnerent pas un peuple qu’ils vouloient exterminer. Ainsi quand Jérusalem fut assiegée, elle estoit environnée d’autant d’idoles qu’il y avoit d’enseignes romaines ; et l’abomination ne parut jamais tant où elle ne devoit pas estre , c’est à dire dans la terre sainte, et autour du temple.

Est-ce donc là, dira-t-on, ce grand signe que Jesus-Christ devoit donner ? Estoit-il temps de s’enfuir quand Tite assiégea Jérusalem, et qu’il en ferma de si prés les avenuës qu’il n’y avoit plus moyen de s’échaper ? C’est icy qu’est la merveille de la prophetie. Jérusalem a esté assiégée deux fois en ces temps : la premiere, par Cestius gouverneur de Syrie, l’an 68 de Nostre Seigneur ; la seconde, par Tite, quatre ans aprés, c’est à dire, l’an 72. Au dernier siége, il n’y avoit plus moyen de se sauver. Tite faisoit cette guerre avec trop d’ardeur : il surprit toute la nation renfermée dans Jérusalem durant la feste de pasque, sans que personne échapast ; et cette effroyable circonvallation qu’il fit autour de la ville ne laissoit plus d’esperance à ses habitans. Mais il n’y avoit rien de semblable dans le siége de Cestius : il estoit campé à 50 stades, c’est à dire à six milles de Jérusalem. Son armée se répandoit tout autour, mais sans y faire de tranchées ; et il faisoit la guerre si negligemment, qu’il manqua l’occasion de prendre la ville, dont la terreur, les séditions, et mesme ses intelligences luy ouvroient les portes.

Dans ce temps, loin que la retraite fust impossible, l’histoire marque expressément que plusieurs juifs se retirerent. C’estoit donc alors qu’il falloit sortir ; c’estoit le signal que le fils de Dieu donnoit aux siens. Aussi a-t-il distingué tres-nettement les deux siéges : l’un, où la ville seroit entourée de fossez et de forts ; alors il n’y auroit plus que la mort pour tous ceux qui y estoient enfermez : l’autre, où elle seroit seulement enceinte de l’armée , et plûtost investie qu’assiegée dans les formes ; c’est alors qu’il falloit fuir, et se retirer dans les montagnes . Les chrestiens obéïrent à la parole de leur maistre. Quoy-qu’il y en eust des milliers dans Jérusalem et dans la Judée, nous ne lisons ni dans Josephe, ni dans les autres histoires, qu’il s’en soit trouvé aucun dans la ville quand elle fut prise. Au contraire, il est constant par l’histoire ecclesiastique et par tous les monumens de nos ancestres, qu’ils se retirerent à la petite ville de Pella, dans un païs de montagnes auprés du desert, aux confins de la Judée et de l’Arabie.

On peut connoistre par là combien précisément ils avoient esté avertis ; et il n’y a rien de plus remarquable que cette séparation des juifs incredules d’avec les juifs convertis au christianisme, les uns estant demeurez dans Jérusalem pour y subir la peine de leur infidelité, et les autres s’estant retirez, comme Loth sorti de Sodome, dans une petite ville où ils considéroient avec tremblement les effets de la vengeance divine, dont Dieu avoit bien voulu les mettre à couvert.

Outre les prédictions de Jesus-Christ, il y eût des prédictions de plusieurs de ses disciples, entre autres celles de Saint Pierre et de Saint Paul. Comme on traisnoit au supplice ces deux fideles témoins de Jesus-Christ ressuscité, ils dénoncerent aux juifs qui les livroient aux gentils, leur perte prochaine. Ils leur dirent, que Jérusalem alloit estre renversée de fonds en comble ; etc. la pieuse antiquité nous a conservé cette prédiction des apostres, qui devoit estre suivie d’un si prompt accomplissement. Saint Pierre en avoit fait beaucoup d’autres, soit par une inspiration particuliere, soit en expliquant les paroles de son maistre ; et Phlegon auteur payen, dont Origene produit le témoignage, a écrit que tout ce que cét apostre avoit prédit, s’estoit accompli de point en point.

Ainsi rien n’arrive aux juifs qui ne leur ait esté prophetisé. La cause de leur malheur nous est clairement marquée dans le mépris qu’ils ont fait de Jesus-Christ et de ses disciples. Le temps des graces estoit passé, et leur perte estoit inévitable.

C’estoit donc en vain, monseigneur, que Tite vouloit sauver Jérusalem et le temple. La sentence estoit partie d’enhaut : il ne devoit plus y rester pierre sur pierre. Que si un empereur romain tenta vainement d’empescher la ruine du temple, un autre empereur romain tenta encore plus vainement de le rétablir. Julien L’Apostat, aprés avoir déclaré la guerre à Jesus-Christ, se crut assez puissant pour anéantir ses prédictions. Dans le dessein qu’il avoit de susciter de tous costez des ennemis aux chrestiens, il s’abbaissa jusqu’à rechercher les juifs, qui estoient le rebut du monde. Il les excita à rebastir leur temple ; il leur donna des sommes immenses, et les assista de toute la force de l’empire. Ecoutez quel en fut l’évenement, et voyez comme Dieu confond les princes superbes. Les saints peres et les historiens ecclesiastiques le raportent d’un commun accord, et le justifient par des monumens qui restoient encore de leur temps.

Mais il falloit que la chose fust attestée par les payens mesmes. Ammian Marcellin gentil de religion, et zelé défenseur de Julien, l’a racontée en ces termes. Etc.

Les auteurs ecclesiastiques plus exacts à representer un évenement si mémorable, joignent le feu du ciel au feu de la terre. Mais enfin la parole de Jesus-Christ demeura ferme. Saint Jean Chrysostome s’écrie : etc.

Ne parlons plus de Jérusalem, ni du temple. Jettons les yeux sur le peuple mesme, autrefois le temple vivant du dieu des armées, et maintenant l’objet de sa haine. Les juifs sont plus abbatus que leur temple et que leur ville. L’esprit de verité n’est plus parmi eux : la prophetie y est éteinte : les promesses sur lesquelles ils appuyoient leur esperance, se sont évanoûïes : tout est renversé dans ce peuple, et il n’y reste plus pierre sur pierre . Et voyez jusques à quel point ils sont livrez à l’erreur. Jesus-Christ leur avoit dit : etc. Depuis ce temps, l’esprit de séduction regne tellement parmi eux, qu’ils sont prests encore à chaque moment à s’y laisser emporter. Ce n’estoit pas assez que les faux prophetes eussent livré Jérusalem entre les mains de Tite ; les juifs n’estoient pas encore bannis de la Judée, et l’amour qu’ils avoient pour Jérusalem en avoit obligé plusieurs à choisir leur demeure parmi ses ruines.

Voicy un faux Christ qui va achever de les perdre. Cinquante ans aprés la prise de Jérusalem, dans le siecle de la mort de Nostre Seigneur, l’infame Barchochebas, un voleur, un scelerat, parce que son nom signifioit le fils de l’étoille, se disoit l’étoille de Jacob prédite au livre des nombres, et se porta pour le Christ. Akibas le plus autorisé de tous les rabbins, et à son exemple tous ceux que les juifs appelloient leurs sages, entrerent dans son parti, sans que l’imposteur leur donnast aucune autre marque de sa mission, sinon qu’Akibas disoit que le Christ ne pouvoit pas beaucoup tarder. Les juifs se révolterent par tout l’empire romain sous la conduite de Barchochebas qui leur promettoit l’empire du monde. Adrien en tua six cens mille : le joug de ces malheureux s’appesantit, et ils furent bannis pour jamais de la Judée. Qui ne voit que l’esprit de séduction s’est saisi de leur coeur ? l’amour de la verité qui leur apportoit le salut, s’est éteint en eux : Dieu leur a envoyé une efficace d’erreur qui les fait croire au mensonge. il n’y a point d’imposture si grossiere qui ne les séduise.

De nos jours, un imposteur s’est dit le Christ en Orient : tous les juifs commençoient à s’attrouper autour de luy : nous les avons veûs en Italie, ën Hollande, en Allemagne, et à Mets, se préparer à tout vendre et à tout quitter pour le suivre. Ils s’imaginoient déja qu’ils alloient devenir les maistres du monde, quand ils apprirent que leur Christ s’estoit fait turc, et avoit abandonné la loy de Moïse.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Acts.10.42;2Tim.4.1;1Pet.4.5 — And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. 2Tim.4.1 — I charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is about to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 1Pet.4.5 — They will give an account to the one who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
  2. ↩Matt.24.1-Matt.24.2;Mark.13.1-Mark.13.2;Luke.21.5-Luke.21.6 — And Jesus went out from the temple and was going away, and his disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the temple. Matt.24.2 — But he answered them, 'Do you not see all these things? Truly I tell you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.' Mark.13.1 — And as he was going out of the temple, one of his disciples says to him, 'Teacher, look—what kind of stones and what kind of buildings!' Mark.13.2 — And Jesus said to him, 'Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; every one will be thrown down.' Luke.21.5 — And as some were speaking about the temple, that it was adorned with beautiful stones and offerings, he said, Luke.21.6 — "These things that you are looking at — days will come when not one stone will be left upon another here; every one will be torn down."
  3. ↩Matt.24.2;Mark.13.2;Luke.21.6 — But he answered them, 'Do you not see all these things? Truly I tell you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.' Mark.13.2 — And Jesus said to him, 'Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; every one will be thrown down.' Luke.21.6 — "These things that you are looking at — days will come when not one stone will be left upon another here; every one will be torn down."
  4. ↩Matt.24.3;Mark.13.4;Luke.21.7 — As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" Mark.13.4 — Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished? Luke.21.7 — And they asked him, 'Teacher, when will these things be? And what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?'
  5. ↩Matt.25.31-Matt.25.46 — When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Matt.25.32 — And all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them from one another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. Matt.25.33 — And he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at his left. Matt.25.34 — Then the King will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.' Matt.25.35 — For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you welcomed me in; Matt.25.36 — I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you visited me; I was in prison and you came to me. Matt.25.37 — Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?' Matt.25.38 — And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? Matt.25.39 — Or when did we see you sick or in prison, and did not come to you? Matt.25.40 — And the King will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' Matt.25.41 — Then he will also say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.' Matt.25.42 — For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, Matt.25.43 — I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me. Matt.25.44 — Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not serve you?' Matt.25.45 — Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly I tell you, as much as you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for me.' Matt.25.46 — And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
  6. ↩Matt.24.7;Luke.21.11 — For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. Luke.21.11 — There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.
  7. ↩Matt.24.6-Matt.24.7;Luke.21.9-Luke.21.10 — You will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not alarmed. For these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. Matt.24.7 — For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. Luke.21.9 — But when you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must happen first, but the end will not come immediately. Luke.21.10 — Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
  8. ↩Luke.21.25-Luke.21.26;Matt.24.6-Matt.24.8 — There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, Luke.21.26 — People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Matt.24.6 — You will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not alarmed. For these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. Matt.24.7 — For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. Matt.24.8 — All these are the beginning of birth pains.
  9. ↩Matt.24.6;Mark.13.7;Luke.21.9 — You will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not alarmed. For these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. Mark.13.7 — And when you hear of wars and reports of wars, do not be alarmed; these things must take place, but the end is not yet. Luke.21.9 — But when you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must happen first, but the end will not come immediately.
  10. ↩1Tim.4.1;2Thess.2.9-2Thess.2.11 — Now the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will abandon the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons. 2Thess.2.9 — whose coming is according to the activity of Satan with all power and signs and wonders of falsehood 2Thess.2.10 — and with all the deception of unrighteousness among those who are perishing, in return for which they did not receive the love of the truth so that they might be saved 2Thess.2.11 — And for this reason God sends them a powerful delusion, so that they may believe the lie.
  11. ↩Matt.24.11;Mark.13.22 — And many false prophets will arise and will lead many astray. Mark.13.22 — For false christs and false prophets will arise and will give signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, the elect.
  12. ↩Matt.24.26 — So if they say to you, 'Look, he is in the wilderness,' do not go out; or, 'Look, he is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it.
  13. ↩Matt.24.26 — So if they say to you, 'Look, he is in the wilderness,' do not go out; or, 'Look, he is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it.
  14. ↩Acts.4.12 — And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
  15. ↩Luke.21.20-Luke.21.21;Matt.24.15-Matt.24.16 — But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Luke.21.21 — Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those in the midst of her must depart, and those in the country must not enter into her. Matt.24.15 — So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of through Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), Matt.24.16 — Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains.
  16. ↩Matt.24.15-Matt.24.16;Luke.21.20-Luke.21.21 — So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of through Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), Matt.24.16 — Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains. Luke.21.20 — But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Luke.21.21 — Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those in the midst of her must depart, and those in the country must not enter into her.
  17. ↩Matt.24.16;Mark.13.14;Luke.21.21 — Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains. Mark.13.14 — But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be—let the reader understand—then let those in Judea flee to the mountains. Luke.21.21 — Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those in the midst of her must depart, and those in the country must not enter into her.
  18. ↩Luke.19.43 — For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build a barricade against you, surround you, and hem you in on every side.
  19. ↩Matt.24.16;Luke.21.21 — Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains. Luke.21.21 — Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those in the midst of her must depart, and those in the country must not enter into her.
  20. ↩Matt.24.2;Mark.13.2;Luke.19.44 — But he answered them, 'Do you not see all these things? Truly I tell you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.' Mark.13.2 — And Jesus said to him, 'Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; every one will be thrown down.' Luke.19.44 — and they will dash you to the ground, and your children within you, and they will not leave upon you stone upon stone, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.
  21. ↩Luke.1.51-Luke.1.52 — He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. Luke.1.52 — He has brought down rulers from their thrones and lifted up the lowly.
  22. ↩Matt.24.2;Mark.13.2;Luke.21.6;Matt.24.35 — But he answered them, 'Do you not see all these things? Truly I tell you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.' Mark.13.2 — And Jesus said to him, 'Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; every one will be thrown down.' Luke.21.6 — "These things that you are looking at — days will come when not one stone will be left upon another here; every one will be torn down." Matt.24.35 — Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
  23. ↩1John.4.6;1Tim.4.1 — We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us, and whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deception. 1Tim.4.1 — Now the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will abandon the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩« la derniere separation des bons et des mauvais » is rendered as the final separation of the good and the wicked, i.e. the last judgment's parting of the righteous and the reprobate, which Bossuet treats as prefigured in Jerusalem's sack.
  2. 2 ↩Source has « qu’ils le furent » with plural agreement against « ces choses »; sense is clear and is rendered as « than they were ».
  3. 3 ↩« etc. » is kept as a summarizing « and so on, » reflecting Bossuet's abridgment of the gospel list rather than a full quotation.
  4. 4 ↩Sentence opens with a leading comma in the source, a split continuation of s5; rendered as a continuing « and that… » clause.
  5. 5 ↩Source truncates with 'Etc.'; rendered as a continuation marker, not expanded.
  6. 6 ↩leur lascha la main: rendered as 'gave them free rein' (idiom for releasing restraint); 'loosed their hand' would be more literal but less natural.
  7. 7 ↩prestiges: classical French for magical illusions/wonder-working tricks, not modern social prestige.
  8. 8 ↩"la fin" is rendered as "fulfillment" (Christ as the end/goal of the prophecies), not merely chronological conclusion.
  9. 9 ↩"langue sainte" rendered as "holy language" (biblical Hebrew usage of 'abomination' for idolatry).
  10. 10 ↩Bossuet's dates (Cestius in A.D. 68; Titus in A.D. 72) are retained as written; modern chronology usually places Cestius Gallus in 66 and Titus's siege in 70.
  11. 11 ↩"circonvallation" kept as the technical siege term for a continuous enclosing line of works around a city.
  12. 12 ↩"intelligences" rendered as "secret contacts" (informants or collusion inside the city), not modern "intelligence" as a military staff function alone.
  13. 13 ↩« Assiégée dans les formes » means a regular, methodical siege with works (trenches, circumvallation), as opposed to a looser investment by an army around the city.
  14. 14 ↩dénoncerent here means they solemnly announced/warned of impending ruin, not a judicial accusation.
  15. 15 ↩Source ends with '; etc.' — rendered as 'and so on' to keep the abbreviated citation force without inventing further content.
  16. 16 ↩French graces is plural; rendered as singular grace for natural theological English, meaning the season of offered favor.
  17. 17 ↩French 'Que si' is the classical connective 'and if / now if,' introducing a parallel contrast rather than a pure conditional.
  18. 18 ↩'le rebut du monde' is rendered 'the refuse of the world' to keep Bossuet's harsh contemporary estimate of the Jews' social status after the destruction, not a modern historical judgment.
  19. 19 ↩gentil de religion: 17th-c Christian usage for a non-Christian/pagan (not modern 'gentile' ethnic sense alone); rendered 'a pagan by religion'.
  20. 20 ↩Source 'Etc.' marks an omitted quotation from Ammianus that the printed edition does not expand here; kept as a structural placeholder.
  21. 21 ↩Source edition truncates the Chrysostom citation with «etc.»; the quotation itself is not supplied in this section.
  22. 22 ↩« L'esprit de verité » may mean the Holy Spirit as Spirit of truth (Johannine) or, more generally, a spirit of truthfulness; rendered as 'Spirit of truth' to preserve the theological force without forcing a full Trinitarian claim beyond the French wording.
  23. 23 ↩The source ends with « etc. », marking an abbreviated quotation not expanded in this witness; translation preserves the ellipsis rather than inventing the missing words.
  24. 24 ↩dans le siecle de la mort de Nostre Seigneur rendered as "within a century of Our Lord's death" (not "in the age of" in a vague sense).
  25. 25 ↩efficace d'erreur rendered as "powerful delusion," matching the force of the Pauline phrase Bossuet is echoing rather than a flat "effective error."
  26. 26 ↩Normalized source reads «ën Hollande»; taken as «en Hollande» (in Holland). «Mets» rendered as Metz.
  27. 27 ↩«s’estoit fait turc» keeps the period idiom for converting to Islam (becoming a Muslim under Ottoman/Turkish identity); not a modern ethnic claim.

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