Chapter XI

THAT ITS HISTORY WAS CONFIRMED BY PROPHECIES.

(_A._) GENERAL PROPHECIES.

Three examples considered:

(1.) The desolation of Assyria and Babylonia.
(2.) The degradation of Egypt.
(3.) The dispersion of the Jews, including the Roman siege
of Jerusalem.

(_B._) SPECIAL PROPHECIES.

List of eight important ones: a single example, the destruction
of Jerusalem by the Babylonians considered in
detail; some general remarks.

(_C._) CONCLUSION.

The cumulative nature of the evidence.

We pass on now to the Jewish Prophecies. It should be explained at starting that the word _prophecy_ is used here in the sense of _prediction_; and not as it often is, in the Bible, to include various kinds of teaching. And the prophecies may be divided into two classes, general and special.

(_A._) GENERAL PROPHECIES.

We will consider the General Prophecies first, the most important of which concern the Jews themselves, and their great neighbours Assyria and Babylonia, on the one hand, and Egypt on the other. All these nations had existed for centuries, and there was nothing to indicate what was to be their future; yet the prophets foretold it, and with remarkable accuracy.

(1.) _The desolation of Assyria and Babylonia._

And first as to Assyria and Babylonia. The future of these countries was to be utter _desolation_. The kingdoms were to be destroyed, the land was to become a wilderness, and the cities to be entirely forsaken. We read repeatedly that they were to be desolate _for ever_; and though this cannot be pressed as meaning literally for all eternity, it certainly implies a long duration.[131] A single passage referring to each may be quoted at length.

[Footnote 131: Isa. 13. 19-22; 14. 22, 23; Jer. 50. 13, 39, 40; 51. 26, 37, 43; Nahum 3. 7; Zeph. 2. 13-14.]

Thus Zephaniah says of Assyria, 'And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like the wilderness. And herds shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations; both the pelican and the porcupine shall lodge in the chapiters thereof [the capitals of the fallen columns]: their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds: for he hath laid bare the cedar work.'

And Isaiah says of Babylon, 'And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldean's pride, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation; neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall shepherds make their flocks to lie down there. But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and ostriches shall dwell there, and satyrs [or goats] shall dance there. And wolves shall cry in their castles, and jackals in the pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.'

It seems needless to comment on prophecies so plain and straightforward. Nor need we insist at any length on their exact fulfilment; it is obvious to everyone. For two thousand years history has verified them. The utter desolation of these countries is without a parallel: the empires have vanished, the once populous land is deserted, and the cities are heaps of ruins, often the dens of wild beasts,--lions, hyænas, and jackals having all been seen among the ruins of Babylon. In short, the prophecies have been fulfilled in a manner which is, to say the least, very remarkable.

(2.) _The degradation of Egypt._

Next as to Egypt. The future foretold of this country was not desolation but _degradation_. Ezekiel tells us it was to become a _base kingdom_, and he adds, 'It shall be the basest of the kingdoms; neither shall it any more lift itself up above the nations: and I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations.'[132] And here also prophecy has been turned into history. The permanent degradation of Egypt is a striking fact which cannot be disputed. When the prophets wrote, Egypt had on the whole been a powerful and independent kingdom for some thousands of years: but it has never been so since. Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantine Greeks, Saracens, Memlooks, Turks, and we may now add British, have in turn been its masters; but it has been the master of no one. It has never more _ruled over the nations_ as it used to do for so many centuries. Its history in this respect has been unique--an unparalleled period of prosperity followed by an unparalleled period of degradation.

[Footnote 132: Ezek. 29. 15.]

With such an obvious fulfilment of the main prophecy, it seems needless to insist on any of its details, though some of these are sufficiently striking. Thus, we are told, _Her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted_.[133] And though it is doubtful to what period this refers, no more accurate description can be given of the present cities of Egypt, such as Cairo, than that they are in the midst of the cities that are wasted, such as Memphis, Bubastis, and Tanis. While a few verses farther on we read, _There shall be no more a prince out of the land of Egypt_; yet, when this passage was written, there had been independent Egyptian sovereigns, off and on, from the very dawn of history. But there have been none since. Stress, however, is not laid on details like these, some of which are admittedly obscure, such as the forty years' desolation of the land with the scattering of its inhabitants;[134] but rather on the broad fact that Egypt was not to be destroyed like Assyria and Babylonia, but to be _degraded_, and that this has actually been its history.

[Footnote 133: Ezek. 30. 7, 13.]

[Footnote 134: Ezek. 29. 11-13.]

(3.) _The dispersion of the Jews._

Lastly, as to the Jews. Their future was to be neither desolation, nor degradation, but _dispersion_. This is asserted over and over again. They were to be scattered among the nations, and dispersed through the countries; to be wanderers among the nations; sifted among all nations; tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth; and scattered among all peoples from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth.[135]

[Footnote 135: Ezek. 22. 15; Hos. 9. 17; Amos 9. 9; Deut. 28. 25, 64; see also Deut. 4. 27; Neh. 1. 8; Jer. 9. 16.]

Moreover, in their dispersion they were to be subjected to continual _suffering_ and _persecution_. They were to become a proverb, and a byword among all people. Their curses were to be upon them, for a sign and for a wonder, and upon their seed for ever. They were to have a yoke of iron upon their necks; and to have the sword drawn out after them in all lands, etc. Yet, in spite of all this, they were not to be absorbed into other nations, but to remain _distinct_. They and their seed _for ever_ were to be a separate people, a sign and a wonder at all times; and God would never make a full end of _them_, as He would of the nations among whom they were scattered. Indeed heaven and earth were to pass away, rather than the Jews cease to be a distinct people.[136]

[Footnote 136: Deut. 28. 37, 46, 48; Lev. 26. 33; Jer. 24. 9; 29. 18; 30. 11; 31. 35-37.]

And here again history has exactly agreed with prophecy. The fate of the Jews, since the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, has actually been _dispersion_, and this to an extent which is quite unique. It has been combined, moreover, with incessant suffering and persecution, yet they have always remained a separate people. The Jews are still everywhere, though the Jewish nation is nowhere. They are present in all countries, but with a home in none, having been literally _scattered among the nations_.

We will now examine a single passage in detail, and select the latter part of Deut. 28. The whole chapter is indeed full of prophecies as to the future condition of the Jews, some of which seem to point to the Babylonian captivity, (_e.g._, v. 36); but after this we come to another and final catastrophe in v. 49. This evidently begins a fresh subject, which is continued without a break till the end of the chapter. And it is specially interesting because, not only is the world-wide dispersion of the Jews, and their continual sufferings, clearly foretold; but also the _previous war_ which led up to it. We have, as is well known, a full account of this in the history of Josephus, and as he never alludes to the prophecy himself (except in the most general terms), his evidence is above suspicion.

Ver. 49. First of all the conquerors themselves are described
as a nation _from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle
flieth, a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand_, etc.
And this is very applicable to the Romans, whose general,
Vespasian, had come from Britain, and their troops from various
countries, who had the eagle as their standard, and whose
language, Latin, was unknown to most of the Jews.

50. And the merciless way in which these fierce warriors were
to spare neither old nor young was painfully true in their
treatment of the Jews.

51. And they also of course destroyed or confiscated their
property.

52. Then the war is foretold as one of _sieges_ (he shall
_besiege_ thee in all thy gates), rather than of open battles.
And this was certainly the case, since a large number of
towns, including Jotapata, Gamala, Masada, and Jerusalem
itself, suffered terrible sieges. And these were to be
continued _till the high walls came down_, which is very
appropriate to the Roman battering rams that were actually used
at all these places.

53. Then we have the dreadful famine, due to the severity (or
_straitness_) of the siege, evidently the great siege, that of
Jerusalem. This is strongly insisted on, being repeated three
times, and it was to drive the wretched inhabitants to
cannibalism of the most revolting kind, which it actually did.

54. It was also to lead to considerable strife _within the
city_; even between members of the same family. And this,
though by no means common in all sieges, was abundantly
fulfilled in the case of Jerusalem.

55. And they were to grudge their nearest relatives a morsel of
food; which again exactly agrees with Josephus, who says that
parents would fight with their own children for pieces of food.

56. And all this was to be the fate, not only of the poor; but,
what is very remarkable, and perhaps unique in the world's
history, of the _wealthy_ also. It was even to include one
instance at least (perhaps several) of a lady of high position.
She is described as not _setting her foot upon the ground_;
which means that she was accustomed to be carried about in a
chair, or ride on an ass; and was therefore rich enough to buy
anything that could be bought.

57. And she was to _eat her own children secretly_. Here was
the climax of their sufferings. Yet this very detail, so
unlikely to have occurred, and so unlikely to have been
discovered if it did occur (as it was to be done secretly), is
fully confirmed by Josephus. For he mentions one instance that
actually was discovered, in which a lady _eminent for her
family and wealth_ (Mary, the daughter of Eleazar) had secretly
eaten half her own child.[137]

[Footnote 137: Wars, vi. 3.]

58. And these miseries were to come upon the Jews for their
disobedience of God's laws; and again Josephus says that
their wickedness at this time was so great that if the Romans
had not destroyed their city, he thinks it would have been
swallowed up by the earth.[138]

[Footnote: 138: Wars, v. 13.]

59. Moreover, the plagues of themselves, and of their seed,
were to be _wonderful, even great plagues, and of long
continuance_. And no one who has read the account of the siege,
and the subsequent treatment of the Jews, will think the
description at all exaggerated.

60. And the people are specially threatened with _the diseases
of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of_, and this, as said in