But exclude the courtyard outside the temple _ a laymen's commentary. John 2:18-25

 The last time we spoke, we covered verses in John 2:11-18.

Having cleared the outer courts of money changers and merchants, the Jews then said to Him,

John 2:18 NASB “The Jews then said to Him, 'What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?"

I could picture Jesus popping His hand against His chest, as He countered,

"Destroy this temple," Jesus answered, "and in three days I will build it again!"
John 2:19 CEV

He wasn't stupid; as a craftsman, He knew how long it took to make certain things, such as a 32-gallon granite water storage container, especially if it was lathed, or to construct a temple where many of its stones are considered by many to be megalithic.

(This lathing aspect has been substantiated through Archaeologists, in Israel, as about five years ago, they uncovered a stone lathing shop about a quarter mile outside of Nazareth; it may have been a source of income for Jesus while He was living there.)

Why did they challenge Him about His authority?

Because He had made a scourge, a short, multi-stranded whip, and with that whip He drove the money changers and merchants out of the outer courts of the temple. This is comparable to when He permitted the demons to go into the herd of swine, which immediately ran off a cliff and into the sea of Galilee, where they drowned. His actions negatively affected the local economy, not to mention it humiliated those challenging Him, and they, like the pig farmers, responded with anger and drove Jesus out of their region. It is also rather obvious that the chief priests and scribes had condoned having those vendors there because they were getting their share of the profits.

Jesus, who, by the standards of the gossips in Nazareth, was an illegitimate child. Now it may not have played a role in what transpired that day at the temple, but since I came to this realization, it has not left my thinking.

Deuteronomy 23:2 NASB "No one of illegitimate birth shall enter the assembly of the LORD; none of his descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall enter the assembly of the LORD.”

The biblical “law” would have prevented Jesus from entering the Temple, a Synagogue, or a Rabbinical school, where most of us assume Jesus got His training in the Law and the Prophets. Oddly, this outer court distinction is rarely explained to us, but it would have allowed Jesus to go where these vendors were. These outer courts are also referred to as the court of the Nations.

For a moment, I referred to the courtyard outside the temple as the courtyard of the Gentiles. I thought I should substantiate this statement, but I could not find a direct quotation. Revelation 11:2 is translated as nations. Several of my concordances define nations as éthnos, and that leads us back to the Gentiles.

Nations, according to Strong's, is the Greek word éthnos, and its meanings include: A multitude, people, race, or belonging and living together.

The Word Study Dictionary states that: "In the Jewish sense, the nations, means the Gentile nations or the Gentiles in general as spoken of all who are not Israelites and implying idolatry and ignorance of the true God, i.e., the heathen, pagan nations."

So, it is safe to say that the outer courts have been given to the Gentiles.

Revelation 11:1-2 BSB Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the number of worshipers there. 2) But exclude the courtyard outside the temple. Do not measure it, because it has been given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for 42 months.

Revelation 11:2, which has its context enveloped within the first 42 months of the seven years that most deem to be the great tribulation.

How do I know that this is the time of the “Great Tribulation”?

The answer is embedded in time indicators.

Revelation 11:3-15 BSB “And I will empower my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” 4) These witnesses are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5) If anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouths and devours their enemies. In this way, anyone who wants to harm them must be killed. 6) These witnesses have power to shut the sky so that no rain will fall during the days of their prophecy, and power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they wish. 7) When the two witnesses have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will wage war with them, and will overpower and kill them. 8) Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city—figuratively called Sodom and Egypt—where their Lord was also crucified. 9) For three and a half days, all peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will view their bodies and will not permit them to be laid in a tomb. 10) And those who dwell on the earth will gloat over them, and will celebrate and send one another gifts, because these two prophets had tormented them. 11) But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered the two witnesses, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell upon those who saw them. 12) And the witnesses heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Come up here.” And they went up to heaven in a cloud as their enemies watched them. 13) And in that hour, there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand were killed in the quake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. 14) The second woe has passed. Behold, the third woe is coming shortly. 15) Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and loud voices called out in heaven: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.”

What do you see beginning in verse three?

When Jesus says, “I will empower my two witnesses,” He is affirming that they are His. He sends these two witnesses directly to Jerusalem, most likely upon the steps of the newly built temple. This understanding is validated by Revelation 11:1-2, and this alone conveys the idea that the temple will be built swiftly after the church is caught up. 1,260 days is equal to 42 months, and that is three-and-one-half years.

The other thing you see jumps out at you when you get to verse five.

“If anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouths and devours their enemies. In this way, anyone who wants to harm them must be killed.”

It only stands to reason that, with the outer courts being given to the nations, the attempts upon the lives of these two witnesses would be constant. Those who try to kill them are killed in the same manner. We, the church, will not be here to witness any of this, so our relating or telling someone else about what is to come would be thought of as a deterrent for anyone longing to live outside of God's grace and mercy.

Notice verse 10.

10. “And those who dwell on the earth will gloat over them, and will celebrate and send one another gifts.”

If you know anything about Muslims, then you know that even the most bloody of actions against the Jews, no matter if it is young children, are celebrated by giving sweets/gifts to each other. 

Does verse ten surprise you?

When the false prophet comes on the scene he performs signs comparable to what the two witnesses have been doing; such as what we see in Revelation 11:6. “These witnesses have power to shut the sky so that no rain will fall during the days of their prophecy, and power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they wish.”

Where did the false prophet get the idea that he could do such things?

That implies that the false prophet is paying attention to the things that they do.

When you are giving serious consideration to Biblical study, then you have to understand that ONLY three people groups are being considered: The Jews, the nations, and the church.

The church is the body of Christ and includes anyone from the other two groups who have accepted Jesus as the Messiah who lived, died, and rose again from the dead so that we can live eternally with the Father/God.

The Jews - you should understand that the Jews, along with the Arabs, were descendants of Abraham; however, only the descendants of the promised son, Issac, would be considered the descendants of the promise. Don't get me wrong, we, like as in me, get to be grafted into the vine when we choose to believe.

This leaves the nations. The nations cover a vast and wide territory, effectively all those outside of the church, the bride of Christ. So we are talking about the Gentiles, the Arabs, and all those that fall between the cracks. No one is excluded, especially when we are talking about acceptance into the “family of God.”

Remember when I asserted that Jesus may have popped His hand against His chest when He spoke about raising up this temple in the last days?

Well, John tells us explicitly that He was talking about His own body.

John 2:21 NASB “But He was speaking of the temple of His body.”

John goes on to validate this claim by including so many of the disciples who witnessed Jesus alive after being laid in the tomb.

John 2:22 NASB “So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.”

Since it is obvious that Jesus' time in Jerusalem was nothing short of tumultuous, you might think it is safe to ask, did Jesus have a positive effect on the people?

John 2:23 NASB Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing.

Ah, but here is the flaw: people are spectators, much like with a horrific car crash.

John 2:24-25 NASB “But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, 25) and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.”

Entrust is the Greek word pisteuō and can also be translated as trust, believe, or commit.

Jesus, knowing their shallow little hearts, would not commit to these people. They were really there for the snacks. John 2:24 tells us that He knew all men; that includes women.

Know is the Greek word ginōskō, which also means to perceive, understand.

Another example of knowledge comes from Paul's second letter to Timothy. Consider the depth and definition of this paragraph, as Paul explains that it is essential for “young” Timothy to comprehend not only what is to come but also what surrounds us on a daily basis.

Read the passage below. It opens with the term ginōskō and then defines, with multiple terms, what this looks like. 

Then ask yourself: if Timothy or Paul is dealing with people in the church and they are acting like this, what is the problem?

2 Timothy 3:1-9 NASB “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2) For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3) unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, 4) treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5) holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. 6) For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, 7) always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 8) Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith. 9) But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all, just as Jannes's and Jambres's folly was also.”

The problem is, they came for the snacks. Obviously, they put on a good show for a time, but like everything else that this world has to offer, they got bored. Getting bored can happen to anyone, and like physical exercise, sometimes you just have to do it. 

Do what? 

Invest ourselves in the truth of God's word. If you have stumbled upon this, and you are silly enough to say, I don't have God's word to study, well, guess what, I have included portions of scriptures in everything I have posted. If you have internet, then you have access to the Word. Try the Blue Letter Bible (Bible Search and Study Tools - Blue Letter Bible) or Bible.com (John 2 | NASB1995 Bible | YouVersion )

While being announced by the Father is great, no one in the vicinity ofJesus understood. John 2: 13-22.

 Previously, Jesus, in what seemed to be a push into the public eye, began His ministry by getting baptized by His cousin, John, the baptizer. The Holy Spirit publicly announced the Father's acceptance of Jesus, His Son, by saying,

Matthew 3:13-17 NASB “Then Jesus *arrived from Galilee at the Jordan, coming to John, to be baptized by him. 14) But John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?" 15) But Jesus, answering, said to him, "Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he *permitted Him. 16) After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, 17) and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased."

While being announced by the Father is dramatic, no one but Jesus understood what was being said as God spoke out (I suppose that leaves us with the inference that Jesus eventually explained what took place)

The next event was the Holy Spirit driving Jesus into the wilderness to be tested.

Mark 1:12-13 NASB “Immediately the Spirit *impelled Him to go out into the wilderness. 13) And He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels were ministering to Him.”

The testing ended, and though we don't see the transition, His mother makes sure He and His new friends come to the wedding in Cana. The push by mom clearly indicates that this was a relative or a close friend.

The changing of the water into wine.

A question: how many people at the wedding reception were aware of this dramatic miracle? We are not told how many people were in attendance, nor do we know how many people were aware that there had been a problem, but it would be a reasonable assumption to think that this handful of disciples, such as Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, and Nathanael, might have been. This was, evidently, a large wedding reception, a social event not to be outdone, and it is easy to assume many of the crowd had expensive tastes. In the televised series “The Chosen,” the host, a “rich” man, made a big deal of the splendid taste of the fresh wine which Jesus made (although he never knew that Jesus played a role in creating the wine). Consider for a moment the thought that Jesus made wine (whatever the extent and definition of that wine)

In John 2:13, we see that the Passover was near, but there might have been a problem.

John 2:13 NASB “The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.”

It was now thought of as the Passover of the Jews. In my last post, I pointed out that the Passover had been Jesus' Passover.

Where do we find the initiation of the Passover?

The Passover is presented to us in Exodus chapter 12 and is part of God's wrath meant to motivate Pharaoh to release God's people. On the 10^th day of the first month, each household was to take a lamb into their houses. To remember this day is to remember God's mercy on His people.

Exodus 12:2-3 NASB "This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you. 3) "Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, 'On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers' households, a lamb for each household.”

I can assure you that many of the people, categorized as God's people, had no understanding or confidence in the God of Moses; why, even Moses, who pulled aside to see this bush that was burning and yet not consumed, had to be taught a few quick lessons about God. This statement concerning the overall lack of knowledge is not true of all the people, such as Moses's mother and family, because this is where Aaron comes from, and the command is not exclusive, because once we see Israel outside of Egypt, we find an excellent man called Caleb, who was NOT a Jew. Our understanding of Caleb has to include the possibility that an Israelite invited Caleb and his family into their home. However, based upon the directions that we see in Exodus 12:3, where each household was to take a lamb, it was NOT directed exclusively to the Jews. This implies that Caleb's family joined in and followed the directions. Again, we have questions that we may struggle to answer.

Clearly, it is the Lord's Passover.

Exodus 12:11 NASB 'Now you shall eat it in this manner: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste--it is the LORD'S Passover.”

Nonetheless, Jesus is now headed to Jerusalem. John 2:14

John 2:14 NASB “And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables.”

None of these people and their activities would have been allowed in the temple, so we should be reminded that they were only allowed in the outer courts, the court of the Gentiles.

No one, that I can remember, as I sat on a bench seat at church, said anything that expounded on the whip.

John 2:15-16 NASB “And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; 16) and to those who were selling the doves He said, "Take these things away; stop making My Father's house a place of business."

Years ago, I went to a men's camp. The entirety of the camp was based upon a book written by John Eldredge, called Wild at Heart. The book and camp focused upon the brokenness within the heart of almost every man. Those who claim no damage are probably lying. In one of the talks, the speaker brought out how Jesus, with purpose, planning, and intent, fashioned this scourge and then used it. We are not told that sellers received lashes, but that scourge played a role in their clearing out of the temple courts.

In Matthew's account, we are simply told that He overthrew their tables and drove them out.

Matthew 21:12 NASB “And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves.”

Perhaps the reason for this lack of elaboration may lie in the fact that the Greek word phragellion is only used once in scripture. It can be portrayed as a whip or a scourge (the Roman soldiers who whipped Jesus used a specific type of scourge meant to cut deep and draw blood) If you are like me and had a father that used his belt and fists to punish you, whether you deserved it or not, then you may struggle with anger issues and think that the belt, or a whip, is the answer to everything life throws at you.

Paul, in writing to the church in Corinth, tells us that God made His Son, who knew no sin, to be sin. He did this on the cross.

2 Corinthians 5:21 NASB 21) “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

Jesus was sinless. How is that possible when He deliberately made a scourge, and probably hit a few of these vendors, as He chased them out of the temple courts?

I can guarantee you that if I had done that, there would be sin involved. The difference between Jesus and humanity has everything to do with the fact that Jesus has NO human DNA in Him. No, He is not an alien, but He is certainly not of this world. God created an egg, fertilized by Himself – no sex involved- and then He contracted with Mary, a young girl who was willing to carry that embryo to its maturity, knowing full well that she would be an outcast. An outcast? Well, yes, because, in the Jewish world where prophecy is pattern, however, no pattern demonstrated such a thing, and before her pregnancy, nothing like this had ever happened before.

A brief attempt at an explanation:

Sin was introduced into a “perfect” world, the garden.

(Stop here a moment. Ask yourself a question. Was sin a new thing that day? The answer is NO, and God, who knows everything, knew the definition of sin. Some would try to tell you that Satan only created one thing, sin. I don't think so, but I do think that Satan saw what looked like an opportunity to overthrow God's leadership by destroying the two people that God put on this earth, having dominion over everything, and to take care of it. I do not believe this caught God off guard. I also believe that this mutiny was, therefore, included in God's plan with the purpose of, once and for all, stripping sin and its effects out of existence.)

For Adam and Eve, the law boiled down to one command, “Do Not eat from that tree.” We are told that Eve was deceived, but Adam was not, and he made a choice. An acquaintance of mine said, " What was Adam thinking?" The thought process of Adam and the ramifications of his wife's death were beyond understanding.

Having gone through the ordeal of forced mask usage just to fight off some man-made virus, we should have some understanding that modern science has created vaccines that can change your DNA.

Eating the fruit off the forbidden tree changed their DNA; as a result, every human since Adam carries the exact same damaged genetic pattern, a genetic sequence that is now understood to be a common marker throughout all of humanity. This particular sequence (and no, I don't know which one it is) is the “sin” that motivates us - primarily, to do what we want, not what God wants us to do. In short, it is sin that lives within us, and God will NOT allow sin into the Holy City or eternity.

John 2:15-16 NKJV When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables. 16) And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away! Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!"

At some point, someone said, " You can see that, Jesus said to those who sold doves, take these things away!" Whoever pointed this out was trying to demonstrate how Jesus was gentle with such a delicate creature. I am not sure if this is relevant, but it does not seem to be in the character of Jesus to harm something that cannot protect itself; that, and we never saw Jesus harm innocent people. In other words, He only went after the scribes and the Pharisees.

John 2:17 NKJV Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "ZEAL FOR YOUR HOUSE HAS EATEN ME UP."

Give some consideration to the context that includes this passage.

Psalms 69:6-9 NKJV Let not those who wait for You, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed because of me; Let not those who seek You be confounded because of me, O God of Israel. 7) Because for Your sake I have borne reproach; Shame has covered my face. 8) I have become a stranger to my brothers, and an alien to my mother's children; 9) Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, and the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.

In effect, the passage is talking about those who wait for you. It goes to plead with God for those who choose to adopt His ways, when David says, “Let not those who seek You be confounded because of me” (Considering the behavior of King David, especially with Bathsheba – a married woman with whom he committed adultery, and her husband – whom David had killed, then I can totally understand why he would make such a statement.)

To be honest, I am lost on this statement.

“Because for Your sake I have borne reproach; Shame has covered my face.”

He did not take Bathsheba as a present from the Lord, so what is he talking about?

My Dake's Annotated Bible states, “This verse could refer to both David and Christ. Both suffered reproach and shame from enemies and friends.”

Examples that King David wrote, but also speaks about Jesus.

Psalms 22:6-8 KJV But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised by the people. NKJV 7) All those who see Me ridicule Me; They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, 8) "He trusted in the LORD, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!"

We are told that Jesus was the lamb of God slain for us. How did David know that? In the television series “The Chosen,” they portrayed Jesus, the lamb, entering Jerusalem through the sheep gate. He did that, and it is fascinating that the producers chose to point that out to us.

Psalms 44:22 BSB Yet for Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.

After clearing the outer courts of the temple in Jerusalem, we see the disciples saying this,

John 2:17 BSB “His disciples remembered that it is written: 'Zeal for Your house will consume Me.”

His zeal oozed out in a manner they did not expect.

John 2:18 BSB “On account of this, the Jews demanded, 'What sign can You show us to prove Your authority to do these things?”

What would they have said if He called down fire from heaven? He could have easily done that. Remember that James and John espoused doing that when a town rejected them. Jesus response to the young men who were willing to use such a radical approach was that killing such a vast number of people, just to prove a point, is not how we are going to operate. In other words, Jesus did merely beat them up verbally.

His response.

John 2:19 BSB Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.”

I can easily picture Jesus popping His hand against His chest, as He said: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.”

Having looked at Dr. McGee's commentary, he points out the Greek word that Jesus used for destroy is lúō. You have to dig a bit to find the concept of destruction. In contrast to destroying another option for translation, and that's to loose or unbind.

The Word Study Dictionary tells us something that seems to stand in opposition to destroy, “whatsoever you shall loose on earth," (a.t.) or declare as not a part of the individual anymore, such as his sins, having been forgiven.

Here is the problem. Some people will say to you, “I will only use the authorized version, the King James version, of the bible”. So, at the demand of the state church, at that time, the translation went through multiple changes to suit the Catholic/State church. At that time, there were functional, readable, “English” translations, but that was not good enough, nor did it serve the purpose of the Catholic church.

Obviously, one of those changes can be seen in “Destroy this temple...” when the reality of Jesus' statement comes across much less harshly.

If I compared Jesus' response here to a comparable response when He said, the only sign I will give you will be the Prophet, Jonah. Why Jonah? Because Jonah, in an attempt to commit suicide, was dead for three days in the belly of the great fish. Yes, they have such a fish in the Mediterranean Ocean, called the Megamouth shark; they eat krill, but their mouth can handle swallowing a human. If being loosed can be related to death, then yes, Jesus would experience death; that death, however, meant life for us, should we accept it.

John 2:20-22 NASB “The Jews then said, 'It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?" 21) But He was speaking of the temple of His body. 22) So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.”

These verses show that the Jews did not understand that He was speaking of His body, but the disciples, although it took some time, did understand once He rose from the grave.

A laymans commentary on Matthew 24. Chapter one, verses 1,2. Signs of the end of the age.

Chapter one.

Signs of the End of the Age.

Matthew 24:1  “And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.”

The disciples, proud of their heritage and the temple, were shaken by Jesus's interaction with the scribes and Pharisees and nervously pointed out the temple construction to Jesus. I am sure Jesus was aware of the grandeur of Herod's temple, but it represented something entirely different for him. He also knew what would soon happen to the temple. 

Jesus responded to them.

Matthew 24:2 NASB: “And He (Jesus) said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down."

An alternate version.

Luke 21:6 NASB: "As for these things which you are looking at, the days will come in which there will not be left one stone upon another which will not be torn down."

His reply directly addresses the disciples' observation of the immense cut stones making up the temple, but it also alludes to something more. This was literally fulfilled a short time later in 70 A.D., but it is to be fulfilled again.

Luke 21:6 is integrated into end times prophecy through the words of Daniel. 

"And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined.” Daniel 9:26 NKJV

Historically, Jerusalem was under the rule of the Roman emperor Titus; and most ascribe the temple's destruction directly to Rome, but that was not the case. 

While it is true that troops were operating under the Roman standard, it is documented by both Josephus and Tacitus that the overwhelming majority of these troops were conscripts from conquered Assyrian nations. All had an open and vile hatred of the Jews. This will come into play later as we define other aspects of the end-time prophecies.

From: The Wars of the Jews, by Josephus. Book 4, Chapter 6

5. "So Titus retired into the tower of Antonia and resolved to storm the temple the next day, early in the morning, with his whole army, and to encamp round about the holy house. But as for that house, God had, for certain, long ago doomed it to the fire; and now that fatal day was come, according to the revolution of ages; it was the tenth day of the month Lous, [Ab,] upon which it was formerly burnt by the king of Babylon; although these flames took their rise from the Jews themselves, and were occasioned by them; for upon Titus's retiring, the seditious lay still for a little while, and then attacked the Romans again, when those that guarded the holy house fought with those that quenched the fire that was burning the inner [court of the] temple; but these Romans put the Jews to flight, and proceeded as far as the holy house itself. At which time one of the soldiers, without staying for any orders, and without any concern or dread upon him at so great an undertaking, and being hurried on by a certain divine fury, snatched somewhat out of the materials that were on fire, and being lifted up by another soldier, he set fire to a golden window, through which there was a passage to the rooms that were round about the holy house, on the north side of it. As the flames went upward, the Jews made a great clamor, such as so mighty an affliction required, and ran together to prevent it; and now they spared not their lives any longer, nor suffered any thing to restrain their force, since that holy house was perishing, for whose sake it was that they kept such a guard about it."

6. "And now a certain person came running to Titus, and told him of this fire, as he was resting himself in his tent after the last battle; whereupon he rose up in great haste, and, as he was, ran to the holy house, in order to have a stop put to the fire; after him followed all his commanders, and after them followed the several legions, in great astonishment; so there was a great clamor and tumult raised, as was natural upon the disorderly motion of so great an army. Then did Caesar, both by calling to the soldiers that were fighting, with a loud voice, and by giving a signal to them with his right hand, order them to quench the fire. But they did not hear what he said, though he spake so loud, having their ears already dimmed by a greater noise another way; nor did they attend to the signal he made with his hand neither, as still some of them were distracted with fighting, and others with passion. But as for the legions that came running thither, neither any persuasions nor any threatenings could restrain their violence, but each one's own passion was his commander at this time;."

The Histories by Publius Cornelius Tacitus, Book 5 - (A.D. 70)

 [5.1] "EARLY in this year, Titus Caesar, who had been selected by his father to complete the subjugation of Judaea, and who had gained distinction as a soldier while both were still subjects, began to rise in power and reputation, as armies and provinces emulated each other in their attachment to him. The young man himself, anxious to be thought superior to his station, was ever displaying his gracefulness and his energy in war. By his courtesy and affability, he called forth a willing obedience, and he often mixed with the common soldiers while working or marching without impairing his dignity as general. He found in Judaea three legions, the 5th, the 10th, and the 15th, all old troops of Vespasian's. To these he added the 12th from Syria, and some men belonging to the 18th and 3rd, whom he had withdrawn from Alexandria. This force was accompanied by twenty cohorts of allied troops and eight squadrons of cavalry, by the two kings Agrippa and Sohemus, by the auxiliary forces of King Antiochus, by a strong contingent of Arabs, who hated the Jews with the usual hatred of neighbors, and, lastly, by many persons brought from the capital and from Italy by private hopes of securing the yet unengaged affections of the Prince. With this force Titus entered the enemy's territory, preserving strict order on his march, reconnoitering every spot, and always ready to give battle. At last, he encamped near Jerusalem." 

1 Kings chapter 9 recorded that long before Daniel's prophecies, Israel would be cut off from the land, and the temple would be rejected and reduced to a heap of rubble.

1 Kings 9:7-9 NIV “then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. (8) This temple will become a heap of rubble. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff and say, 'Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?' (9) People will answer, 'Because they have forsaken the LORD their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them--that is why the LORD brought all this disaster on them.'"

“ After the sixty-two weeks [of years] shall the Anointed One be cut off or killed.”

“Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem until [the coming of] the Anointed One, a Prince, shall be seven weeks [of years] and sixty-two weeks [of years]; it shall be built again with [city] square and moat but in troublous times. And after the sixty-two weeks [of years] shall the Anointed One be cut off or killed and shall have nothing [and no one] belonging to [and defending] Him. And the people of the [other] prince who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and even to the end, there shall be war, and desolations are decreed.” [Isa. 53:7-9; Nah. 1:8; Matt. 24:6-14.] Daniel 9:25-26 AMP

Jesus rode into town on a very precise day, and He was killed on the very day that Daniel describes ending the 69th week of the year.