The excerpts below are from the Second Edition of the book, 100 Prophecies, by George Konig and Ray Konig, who are the authors and copyright holders. The excerpts are reprinted here with written permission from the authors. All rights reserved. The Fourth Edition, which has been revised, expanded, and renamed as
100 Fulfilled Bible Prophecies, is available through Amazon.com.
In Matthew 24:1-2, Jesus prophesied that the Temple of Jerusalem would be destroyed and that its destruction would be so complete that not one stone would be left standing on top of another. His prophecy was fulfilled about 40 years later when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and tore down the Temple. The destruction was so complete that even the foundations of the Temple were dug up, according to Josephus, an historian who wrote about the destruction. - Copyright © George Konig, Ray Konig, 100Prophecies.org
Matthew 24:1-2:
1 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings.
2 "Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down."
2. Jesus prophesied that the Jews would be exiled
Bible passage: Luke 21:24
Written: During the first century
In Luke 21:24, Jesus said that Jerusalem would be trampled upon by foreigners and that the people of Israel would be forced into exile.
About 40 years after Jesus delivered that prophecy, it began to find fulfillment. The Romans destroyed Jerusalem in the year 70, and again in the year 135.
During the first destruction, Josephus, an historian who lived during the first century, claimed that 1.1 million Jews died and that hundreds of thousands were forced out of the country and into exile and slavery.
During the second destruction, Cassius Dio, an historian who lived during the second century, claimed that 580,000 Jews were killed, and that 50 fortified towns and 985 villages were destroyed.
The exiled Jews were taken to countries throughout the Roman Empire and eventually scattered and re-scattered throughout the world. - Copyright © George Konig, Ray Konig, 100Prophecies.org
Luke 21:24:
They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
3. Jesus explained why Jerusalem would be destroyed
Bible passage: Luke 19:41-44
Written: During the first century
In Luke 19:41-44, Jesus prophesied that Jerusalem would be destroyed because of the rejection of Jesus as the Messiah.
Although some people did accept Jesus as the Messiah, many people rejected him. In fact, the rejection was strong enough that Jesus was executed a short time after uttering the prophecy. - Copyright © George Konig, Ray Konig, 100Prophecies.org
Luke 19:41-44:
41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it
42 and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.
43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side.
44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you."
4. Daniel foretold the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple
Bible passage: Daniel 9:24-26
Written: About 530 BC
During the time of Daniel, who lived about 2600 years ago, the Babylonians invaded Judah (the southern part of the land of Israel) and took many Jews, including Daniel, as captives to Babylon.
The Babylonians also destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the Temple, in 586 B.C.
In Daniel 9:24-26, Daniel delivers a prophecy that Jerusalem and the Temple would be destroyed, again. Within these verses, Daniel provides a chronology by which certain events would occur. First, the Jews would return from captivity and rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple. Afterwards, an "anointed one," or Messiah, would appear, but he would be rejected. Then, Jerusalem and the Temple would be destroyed, again.
These events later played out during the century in which Jesus had announced that he was the Messiah. - Copyright © George Konig, Ray Konig, 100Prophecies.org
Daniel 9:24-26:
24 "Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy.
25 "Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven 'sevens,' and sixty-two 'sevens.' It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.
26 After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed.
5. Zion would be "plowed like a field"
Bible passage: Micah 3:11-12
Written: Sometime between 750-686 BC
In Micah 3:11-12, the prophet Micah said that Jerusalem would be destroyed and that "Zion" - a central part of Jerusalem - would be "plowed like a field."
Micah's prophecy is believed to have been delivered in about 730 BC (about 2700 years ago). Since that time, Jerusalem was destroyed in 586 BC by the Babylonians and by the Romans in 70 AD. The Romans destroyed it again in 135 AD to crush a second Jewish rebellion for independence.
According to a text in the Gemara - a collection of ancient Jewish writings - the Romans ran a plow over Zion on the 9th day of the Jewish month of Ab. The Gemara said that Turnus Rufus, a Roman officer, plowed the area of the Temple. This prophecy was fulfilled in literal detail.
Incidentally, there was a Roman coin minted during that era that shows an image of a man using a plow. The coin was intended to commemorate the founding of the pagan Roman city called Aelia Capitolina on the site of Jerusalem. The Romans sometimes minted coins showing the plowing motif as a symbol of the establishment of a new Roman city.
Judaists fast (go without food) on the 9th day of the Jewish month of Ab (sometimes spelled Av) in remembrance of five historic events that are recorded as occurring on that date. One of those events is the plowing of all or part of Jerusalem by the Romans. - Copyright © George Konig, Ray Konig, 100Prophecies.org
Micah 3:11-12:
11 Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD and say, "Is not the LORD among us? No disaster will come upon us."
12 Therefore because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.
6. The Bible foreshadowed Rome's destruction of Israel
Bible passage: Deuteronomy 28:49-52
Written: As early as 1400 BC
The Bible has several prophecies foretelling the destruction of the land of Israel, including one in the book of Deuteronomy that coincides with the manner in which the Roman army destroyed the land of Israel during the first and second centuries:
"The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down . . . They will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down." (Portions of Deuteronomy 28:49-52, NIV translation).
The Romans oppressively ruled over the land of Israel for a century before the Jews waged two wars for independence, the first beginning in 67 AD and the second beginning in about 132 AD. Both wars resulted in great destruction to the land and people of Israel.
An ancient historian named Cassius Dio claimed that the Roman army had razed to the ground 985 villages throughout Israel. If the figure is to believed, then it might be including settlements, along with cities and towns, throughout the land. The writings of Cassius Dio, along with those from Josephus, another first-century historian, indicate that the Roman army's destruction of Israel was very complete.
The prophecy also speaks of an eagle in reference to the army that would swoop down upon Israel and reduce it to a state of desolation. As we learn from historians, including Tacitus who lived during the first century, the Romans marched with standards - poles adorned with the eagle figurines - held high above their heads, as though the eagles were in flight.
Another feature of the prophecy is that it speaks of armies being gathered from the ends of the earth. The Romans had armies scattered throughout parts of Europe, Africa and Asia. To quell the Jewish uprising, some troops had to be called in from as far away as the British Isles. - Copyright © George Konig, Ray Konig, 100Prophecies.org
Deuteronomy 28:49-52:
49 The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand,
50 a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old or pity for the young.
51 They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine or oil, nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined.
52 They will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the LORD your God is giving you.
7. Israel would become a wasteland
Bible passage: Deuteronomy 29:23
Written: As early as 1400 BC
In Deuteronomy 29:23, the Bible said Israel would become a wasteland. This prophecy certainly was fulfilled. The land has been described many times as having been a sparsely populated wasteland, as recently as the late 1800s and early 1900s.
American writer Mark Twain wrote this, in 1867, about the land of Israel, which at the time was called Palestine: "Palestine sits in sackcloth and ashes… the spell of a curse that has withered its fields and fettered its energies… Palestine is desolate and unlovely… It is a hopeless, dreary, heartbroken land." - Copyright © George Konig, Ray Konig, 100Prophecies.org
Deuteronomy 29:23:
The whole land will be a burning waste of salt and sulfur—nothing planted, nothing sprouting, no vegetation growing on it. It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in fierce anger.
Notes: The excerpts above are from the Second Edition of the book, 100 Prophecies, by George Konig and Ray Konig, who are the authors and copyright holders. The excerpts are reprinted here with written permission from the authors. All rights reserved. The Fourth Edition, which has been revised, expanded, and renamed as
100 Fulfilled Bible Prophecies, is available through Amazon.com.