The Christians Fled to Pella

kudzu

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Luke 21:20-22 "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies.. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it; for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written." RSV

Eusebius: "The members of the Jerusalem church by means of an oracle, given by revelation to acceptable persons there, were ordered to leave the city before the war began and settle in a town in Peraea called Pella." Book III, 5:4

AD 66-70 Flights from Jerusalem
Recorded by Josephus (Written in AD75)

[c. November 66] After this calamity had befallen Cestius, many of the most eminent of the Jews swam away from the city... Jewish War 2:20:1

Flavius Josephus (A.D. 75) (Opportunity Arises to Flee) "It then happened that Cestius was not conscious either how the besieged despaired of success, nor how courageous the people were for him; and so he recalled his soldiers from the place, and by despairing of any expectation of taking it, without having received any disgrace, he retired from the city, without any reason in the world." (Wars, II, XIX, 6,7)

Eusebius (325)
"But the people of the church in Jerusalem had been commanded by a revelation, vouchsafed to approved men there before the war, to leave the city and to dwell in a certain town of Perea called Pella. " (History of the Church 3:5:3)

"The whole body, however, of the church at Jerusalem, having been commanded by a divine revelation, given to men of approved piety there before the war, removed from the city, and dwelt at a certain town beyond the Jordan, called Pella. Here those that believed in Christ, having removed from Jerusalem, as if holy men had entirely abandoned the royal city itself, and the whole land of Judea; the divine justice, for their crimes against Christ and his apostles finally overtook them, totally destroying the whole generation of these evildoers form the earth. (Eusebius, 3:5.)

"After all those who believed in Christ had generally come to live in Perea, in a city called Pella of the Decapolis of which it is written in the Gospel and which is situated in the neighborhood of the region of Batanaea and Basanitis, Ebion's preaching originated here after they had moved to this place and had lived there." (Panarion 30:2)

"For when the city was about to be captured and sacked by the Romans, all the disciples were warned beforehand by an angel to remove from the city, doomed as it was to utter destruction. On migrating from it they settled at Pella, the town already indicated, across the Jordan. It is said to belong to Decapolis (de Mens. et Pond., 15).

"Now this sect of Nazarenes exists in Beroea in Coele-Syria, and in Decapolis in the district of Pella, and in Kochaba of Basanitis-- called Kohoraba in Hebrew. For thence it originated after the migration from Jerusalem of all the disciples who resided at Pella, Christ having instructed them to leave Jerusalem and retire from it on account of the impending siege. It was owing to this counsel that they went away, as I have said, to reside for a while at Pella" (Haer 29:7).
 
Matthew 24:16
then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.

Mark 13:14

"But when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.

Luke 21:21

"Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are in the midst of the city must leave, and those who are in the country must not enter the city;
 
Pella was the Canaanite Pehel, mentioned in early Egyptian inscriptions and the Amarna records. Pella was rebuilt by the Greeks under the Greek name Pella. It was one of the two oldest Greek settlements in eastern Palestine over the Jordan along with Dion.

The Macedonian name suggests that this city was probably founded by Alexander's own soldiers. Josephus mentions that Pella was one the cities freed by Pompey which was also indicated on various coins.

It was a city of Decapolis and after A.D. 70 became a center of the Christian community and refugees from Judea.
 
Pella was the Canaanite Pehel, mentioned in early Egyptian inscriptions and the Amarna records. Pella was rebuilt by the Greeks under the Greek name Pella. It was one of the two oldest Greek settlements in eastern Palestine over the Jordan along with Dion.

The Macedonian name suggests that this city was probably founded by Alexander's own soldiers. Josephus mentions that Pella was one the cities freed by Pompey which was also indicated on various coins.

It was a city of Decapolis and after A.D. 70 became a center of the Christian community and refugees from Judea.
 
250px-The-Decapolis-map.svg.png
 
The famine during the great tribulation was predicted in Ezekiel 4:10-12: We also see this famine predicted in John's Olivet discourse in Revelation 6:5-6. The pair of scales is a symbol of famine. This famine destroyed many in Jerusalem. After the horse of famine comes death (Revelation 6:7-8).

Josephus records the history that bears out the fulfillment of these awful prophesies.

http://www.ecclesia.org/truth/mat05.html
 
The fact that Christians escaped from Jerusalem to Pella in 66 AD indicates that Nero was not enforcing an empire-wide persecution of Christians at that time. It means that Nero’s government actually helped protect these Christians from the wrath of the Zealots.
 
Here are the words of Jesus warning His followers of a time when they would need to flee:

“Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (whoever reads, let him understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains… For then there will be great tribulation…” (Matthew 24:15-16, 21).

“But when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains… For in those days there will be tribulation…” (Mark 13:14, 19).

“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then let those in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her… For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people” (Luke 21:20-21, 23).

So Luke equates the abomination of desolation with Jerusalem being surrounded by armies. When this happened, Christians were instructed to leave not only Jerusalem, but all of Judea, and not to go back in. The following are the earliest testimonies I’m aware of concerning Christians heeding this warning and fleeing to Pella and elsewhere
 
Israel had crucified the Lord and publicly called God's judgment down on themselves: "And all the people answered and said, His blood be on us and on our children." (Matthew 27:25). God's judgment on Israel in 70 AD matched their crime, the crucifixion of Christ. This crime was the worst in history, so their punishment was also the worst in history. To call anything else "the great tribulation" is to downplay the immensity of that generation's crime.

Renan said, "From this time forth, hunger, rage, despair, and madness dwelt in Jerusalem. It was a cage of furious maniacs, as city resounding with howling and inhabited by cannibals, a very hell. Titus, for his part, was atrociously vindictive; every day five hundred unfortunates were crucified in the sight of the city with hateful refinements of cruelty or sufficient ground whereon to erect them."
 
Matthew 24:16
then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.

Mark 13:14

"But when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.

Luke 21:21

"Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are in the midst of the city must leave, and those who are in the country must not enter the city;


FYI..............
 
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