Who made the temple prophesy

Who Actually Made the Temple Prophesy?
Although it may seem like a slam dunk that Daniel is the source of the temple prophesy, a careful reading of Josephus shows that he was very concerned with the timing of the prophesy and actual events. It is most likely that Josephus manipulated his timeline of events to coincide with the scripture, so that someone reading these manuscripts today is impressed by the accuracy of the prophesy. While Daniel lived during the Babylonian Captivity, it is known that the book was actually written 167-164 BCE, and that the prophesies were actually added by someone at a later date. It also is notable that even with all this forehand information available to the author, Daniel proved to be a very poor prophet. Other than his Jerusalem prophesy, most of his other prophesies either refer to events that had already ocurred, or events that never came to pass.

So, the real source for Jesus' temple prophesy seems to be Josephus: "At this time (57-58 AD) there came to Jerusalem from Egypt a man who declared that he was a prophet and advised the masses of the common people to go out with him to the mountain called the Mount of Olives,...he wished to demonstrate...that at his command Jerusalem's walls would fall down,...to provide them an entrance into the city. When Felix (the Roman governor) heard of this he ordered his soldiers to take up their arms. Setting out from Jerusalem with a large force of cavalry and infantry, he fell upon the Egyptian and his followers, slaying 400 of them and taking 200 prisoners. The Egyptian himself escaped from the battle and disappeared."–Josephus, "Antiquities" (XX, 169-172).

In Jerusalem in 58 AD, Paul was asked: "Are you not the Egyptian, who before these days stirred up and led out at the Wilderness 4000 men of the Sicarii?"–Acts 21:38

The Egyptian is usually considered an individual who had Messianic aspirations. This reference is supported by 1Corinthians 3:1-8 where Paul admits that he and Apollos "...a certain Jew...born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures" are indeed one and the same person.

Thus it is recorded that this event took place during the late 50s and the person believed to have been responsible for this prophesy was Paul not Jesus. Remember, that Paul and Apollos are one in the same person Apollonius. Apollos was referred to in the epistles as an Egyptian from Alexandria and not a Greek from Tyana. In fact Slavonic Josephus reports that the crucifixion of Jesus took place because of this very same prophesy. It is noteworthy that although readers are led, by Christian tradition, to believe that the person who is to be crucified is Jesus, the narrative never actually mentions who that person was, only the headings mention Jesus. The description of the person is not only consistent with the Jesus of the gospels, but it is also consistent with the description of Apollonius. The only other mention of Jesus comes from the following added insertion.

The Triangular Inscription Concerning Jesus
"At it (the barrier of the Temple) were columns . . . and on these inscriptions in Greek and Roman and Jewish characters, publishing the law of purity and [proclaiming] that no foreigner should enter the inner [court]; for they called it the Holy [Place] to which one had to ascend by fourteen steps, and whose upper part was built in a square."

According to the testimony of Jewish high priest Ananias (46-52 CE) in 'Antiquity Unveiled,' the foreigner who violated the Holy Place was not Jesus, but Apollonius who he claims should have been known as Apollos and not Paul. "I was one of the accusers of Apollonius before Felix. the name ought to have been Apollos, instead of Paul....The charge was that he had attempted to enter the Holy of Holies, claiming the divine right to do so."—J. M. Roberts, 'Antiquity Unveiled'

The consequent arrest of Paul or Apollonius by Felix, c 58 CE, was recorded in both the biography of Apollonius by Philostratus and Acts of the Apostles. This clearly demonstrates the inauthenticity of the gospel accounts of the passion of Jesus of Nazareth, and shows that it was Apollonius and not Jesus who was the responsible party.

"And over these tablets with inscriptions hung a fourth tablet with inscription in these [three] characters, to the effect: Jesus has not reigned as king; he has been crucified by the Jews, because he proclaimed the destruction of the city and the laying waste of the temple."—Inserted in B. J. V. v. 2.

"And it happened one day, when John, the brother of James - who are the sons of Zebedee - had come up to the temple, that a Pharisee named Arimanius approached him and said to him, 'Where is your master whom you followed?' And he said to him, "He has gone to the place from which he came." The Pharisee said to him, 'With deception did this Nazarene deceive you (pl.), and he filled your ears with lies, and closed your hearts (and) turned you from the traditions of your fathers.'"—Apochryphon of John. Apollonius, not Jesus, was known as the Nazarene. Jesus was the Nazorean, but the gospel writers saw fit to conflate both terms in the gospels.

Continued Table of Contents