, of three months, they were
forced to surrender themselves, although they had not been guilty of
such offenses, with regard to our sanctuary and our laws, as you have;
and this while they had much greater advantages to go to war than you
have. Do not we know what end Antigonus, the son of Aristobulus, came
to, under whose reign God provided that this city should be taken again
upon account of the people's offenses? When Herod, the son of Antipater,
brought upon us Sosius, and Sosius brought upon us the Roman army, they
were then encompassed and besieged for six months, till, as a punishment
for their sins, they were taken, and the city was plundered by the
enemy. Thus it appears that arms were never given to our nation, but
that we are always given up to be fought against, and to be taken; for
I suppose that such as inhabit this holy place ought to commit the
disposal of all things to God, and then only to disregard the assistance
of men when they resign themselves up to their Arbitrator, who is above.
As for you, what have you done of those things that are recommended by
our legislator? and what have you not done of those things that he hath
condemned? How much more impious are you than those who were so quickly
taken! You have not avoided so much as those sins that are usually
done in secret; I mean thefts, and treacherous plots against men, and
adulteries. You are quarrelling about rapines and murders, and invent
strange ways of wickedness. Nay, the temple itself is become the
receptacle of all, and this Divine place is polluted by the hands of
those of our own country; which place hath yet been reverenced by the
Romans when it was at a distance from them, when they have suffered many
of their own customs to give place to our law. And, after all this, do
you expect Him whom you have so impiously abused to be your supporter?
To be sure then you have a right to be petitioners, and to call upon Him
to assist you, so pure are your hands! Did your king [Hezekiah] lift
up such hands in prayer to God against the king of Assyria, when he
destroyed that great army in one night? And do the Romans commit such
wickedness as did the king of Assyria, that you may have reason to hope
for the like vengeance upon them? Did not that king accept of money from
our king on this condition, that he should not destroy the city, and
yet, contrary to the oath he had taken, he came down to burn the temple?
while the Romans do demand no more tha