DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE.

Ver. 1-4.

And as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him, Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here! And Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. And as he sat upon the mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?

The Temple-service was an essential element in the constitution of the Jewish polity, and necessary to its very existence. The destruction of the Temple was, therefore, the appropriate sign of God's new kingdom having come, and the pledge of its establishment. It is, accordingly, the one sign to which all the others tend. The prophecy begins with it, and then proceeds with the several approximations to it. This main sign was given within the period assigned by our Saviour. The generation who were alive when he foretold the event had not all passed away when Titus destroyed the Temple and city, and passed a ploughshare over its ruins, in token of its being destined by the conqueror to be left desolate for ever. The barren fig tree was then 'withered from the roots.' Notwithstanding the natural desire of the Jews that their Temple should be rebuilt, and that the rebuilding was attempted by the emperor Julian, the fulfilment of prophecy remains unimpaired. This

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sign that the kingdom under the Law is abolished, and that under the Gospel established in its stead, remains for all ages.

THE RISE OF FALSE CHRISTS.

Ver. 5, 6.

And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man deceive you: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

There can be no stronger proof of the full conviction that the Jews of our Saviour's time had, of the period of their Messiah's advent being come, than the ready credulity with which they followed pretender after pretender, and the enthusiasm which anticipated and gave birth to these impostures. 'I am come,' said our Lord to them, 'in my Father's name, (i.e., doing mighty works in my Father's name,) and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, (i.e., claiming to be received on his bare word,) him ye will receive.'* His prophetic declaration was most fully verified. Josephus, the Jewish historian, records several instances; and one is alluded to in the history of the Acts, where we read of that Egyptian, which before those days made an uproar, and led out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers.'t This took place, according to Josephus and Eusebius, during the procuratorship of Felix.

*John V. 43.

+ Acts xxi. 38.

WARS AND RUMOURS OF WARS.

Ver. 7, 8.

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And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

The continual agitation of men's minds during the reigns of Otho and Vitellius, and still more on Vespasian becoming a candidate for the imperial crown, were events in which this prediction of kingdom rising against kingdom,' and of 'wars and rumours of wars,' might be certainly recognized. But, as during all these troubled scenes, the Jews were waiting, with illsuppressed longings after vengeance, for the vainlyexpected signal from a temporal Messiah; this is more probably the specific circumstance pointed at in the hint of rumours of wars.' There was a sullen and foreboding murmur going through the nation, such as generally precedes the revolutionary efforts of an oppressed people, long before the rebellion was actually determined on. Without Christ's warning, the disciples might have been induced to expect, that it would lead sooner than it actually did to the final overthrow predicted.

EARTHQUAKES, FAMINES, AND TROUbles.

Ver. 8.

And there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of

sorrows.

To this list of natural evils St. Matthew adds 'pestilences.' As these are the almost certain result of famine, or great scarcity of food, they may be considered as implied in the account of any remarkable scarcity. Such a famine took place in the fourth year of Claudius Cæsar's reign. It was specifically foretold by Agabus, and was the occasion of the first contribution at Antioch for the relief of the Christians of Judæa, who, on the strength of the prediction, were provided against the calamity.† Eusebius states, that the whole Roman empire was affected by it.

Of earthquakes, too, we have a great deal recorded. Besides those which appear from Philostratus, the biographer of Apollonius Tyanæus, to have been felt at this period in Crete, Smyrna, Miletus, and Chios, Josephus mentions one which occurred in Judæa while the Idumæans were encamped near Jerusalem. Had this especially happened, without the prophetic check, the Christians might have supposed that the holy city was destined to fall by it in part, and might have abandoned their post before the time determined.

Of tumults, the whole history of the period affords abundant evidence; and, as each of these, like the earthquake and the murmuring of the Jews, might have made the time of Jerusalem's fate seem nearer than it really was, we may recognize the purpose of all these being specified as only the beginning of sorrows.'

*Chapter xxiv. 7.

† Acts xi. 28.

PERSECUTION OF THE DISCIPLES.

Ver. 9. 11-13.

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But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them. -But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate; but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost. Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

For an account of the fulfilment of all this part of the prophetic description, we need not go further than the inspired history itself. The Acts of the Apostles contains an illustration of all the various kinds of persecution here enumerated; and from an allusion in St. Paul's second Epistle to the Corinthians* to his own, it appears how small a part must have been recorded by the inspired historian. It is impossible to consider these predictions, in any point of view, without being at the same time struck with one most remarkable feature in them-their utter inconsistency with the character of an impostor.

The command that when delivered up to their persecutors, the accused should not think beforehand what they were to say, may be regarded as a warning

* Chap. xi. 23, 24, 25.