The events of 70 AD do not fulfill the prophecies about the End Times. Jesus prophesied that the Great Tribulation will be the most severe time in world history. It will surpass all other times of crisis. Some seek to minimize this prophecy by reducing it to symbolism or by seeing it as being totally fulfilled in 70 AD.
The Great Tribulation will be so severe that God shortens it to three and a half years to keep the entire human race from being physically killed (Matthew 24:21-22). One million people died in 70 AD and in World War II, 50 million died.
Neither 70 AD nor World War II came close to threatening the existence of the human race as the Great Tribulation will, and neither of them was the worst time in history. The events of 70 AD were clearly a prophetic foreshadowing of the Great Tribulation. However, they did not fulfill most of the details given about the Great Tribulation in Scripture. For example, Jesus said the Great Tribulation would not happen until after we see the abomination of desolation that results in an unprecedented number of deaths (Revelation 6:8; 9:15).
The details concerning the abomination of desolation in Revelation 13:11-18 include:-
- A talking image
- The mark of the beast
- A healed head wound
- Mandatory worship of the Antichrist that is worldwide
- A False Prophet.
None of these details were fulfilled in the Jewish revolt against Rome (66-70 AD). In that crisis, Jerusalem and the second temple were destroyed in 70 AD (Masada fell in 73 AD).
Then in the Bar Kochba rebellion against Rome (132-135 AD), the Jews revolted against Rome again, resulting in 500,000 Jews being killed and 1,000 villages being destroyed. Israel was driven into exile (the Diaspora) and Jerusalem was rebuilt and renamed as Aelia Capitolina.
Living as a Christian in this World 