When Jesus Christ said there should not be left one stone upon {25} another in the temple that should not be thrown down, the Jewish nation did not believe it, neither would they receive such testimony; but they looked at outward circumstances, and were ready to say, "Who can prevail against us? What nation like unto our nation? We have held the giving of the law, the oracles, and the Urim and Thummim; the lawgiver has never departed from between our feet; we have held the power of government from generation to generation; and what nation hath power now to prevail against us?" Through this order of reasoning they were blinded, and knew not the day of their visitation: they understood not the things that belonged to their peace; they rejected their Lord and King, contended against the word and testimony, and finally put Him to death on the cross, with many who followed Him. But this did not hinder the fulfillment of His predictions concerning that nation. The words of the Lord had gone forth out of His mouth, and could not return unto Him void. The things that belonged to their peace were hid from their eyes, and they were counted unworthy as a nation. The kingdom was to be rent out of their hands and given to another; the die was cast, and judgment must come. Jerusalem was soon surrounded by the Roman army, led on by the inspired Titus; and a scene of calamity, judgment, and woe immediately overspread the inhabitants of that city, which was devoted to destruction,--such a calamity as never before rested upon the nation of Israel. Blood flowed through their streets; tens of thousands fell by the edge of the sword, and thousands by famine. Women were evil towards the children of their own bosoms in the straitness of the siege, the spectacle of which shocked the Roman soldiers as they entered the city. The Jews were crucified in such numbers by their enemies that they could find no more wood for crosses, or room for their bodies; and while despair was in every face, and every heart sinking while suffering under the chastening hand of God, their enemies rushed upon them in the city to strike the last fatal blow; and, as their last resort, they rushed for safety into the temple, which was soon on fire, and they sank in the midst of the flames with the cry of their sufferings ascending up on high, accompanied by the smoke of the crackling spires and towers.