People can be so blind. They can see something right in front of them, but not see it. Roman historian Tacitus is an example of this. He despised the Jewish people and called them adjectives I won’t repeat in this post, but his record of the 70 AD destruction of the temple in Jerusalem contained something surprising.
There had been seen hosts joining battle in the skies, the fiery gleam of arms, the temple illuminated by a sudden radiance from the clouds. The doors of the inner shrine were suddenly thrown open, and a voice of more than mortal tone was heard to cry that the Gods were departing. At the same instant there was a mighty stir as of departure. Some few put a fearful meaning on these events, but in most there was a firm persuasion, that in the ancient records of their priests was contained a prediction of how at this very time the East was to grow powerful, and rulers, coming from Judaea, were to acquire universal empire.
Publicas Cornelius Tacitus in Histories, 98 AD.
So seeing angelic hosts and hearing the voice of God was real enough to be recorded in his historical annual, but it didn’t penetrate his inner soul or his inner sight. He knew in his head that this voice was God, but he didn’t realize that this was God in his heart. It didn’t cause him to repent and turn to the one true God. He just moved on with his very Roman, Greek-loving, Jew-hating life. What a shame. God shows up and you move on with your life. When this person died, I’m sure he remembered the day this happened and regretted his decision to not turn to the God of the people he despised.
God is real and sometimes He chooses to reveal Himself to people. What about you? Where are you in your spiritual walk? Will you ignore this historical evidence for the existence of God, or will you continue doing the same things you always do? Would the appearance of heavenly hosts and a supernatural booming voice from Heaven stir you or would you just go back to watching your show?
Wherever you are at consider this: Jesus foretold the destruction of the temple.
1Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. 2But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”
Matthew 24:1-2
The historian Tacitus describes how ornate the temple was, but how it was empty of “gods” inside and how the Jews chose to fight rather than put up a statue of a Roman official inside it. People are willing to die for the truth, but not for lies. Jesus is everywhere at Christmas time which just passed. He’s in the music, on your greeting cards and on the television, but did you really see Him? Did you encounter Him for who He really is? He is commander of the Lord’s army. He is the owner of that booming voice. He is radiant like a light. He is holy and merciful and He loves you so much that He came to offer His life as a ransom for YOU.
Will you let yourself be bought by the blood of Jesus? Is his broken, crucified body the payment for your sin? Will you talk to Him today and ask Him to forgive your sin and be the Lord of your life?
What regret do I have about following Jesus? I wish I had done it sooner. My friend, please go to biblehub.com and type in “John 1” and start reading today. The words in the Bible can do more for you than any other book you’ve ever read.
Be blessed dear reader.
Following Jesus 