This Olivet Discourse Deception study provides an explanation for the fulfillment of Messiah coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, in Matthew 24.
“And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” Matthew 24:30
Messiah is not talking about His second coming, but rather to His coming in great power and glory in judgment of the Jews, who had rejected Him and delivered Him up to be killed. He came against the Jews vicariously through the Roman army, the ‘people of the prince‘ of Daniel 9:26.
Here’s the Coming In The Clouds In Power And Glory – Matthew 24:30 video.
Before we focus on the words in the verse, let’s put it in its proper context; with other, similar statements from Messiah.
In Matthew 10:23, Messiah declared to His disciples that they would not have gone through the cities of Israel before He came in power:
“When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.”
In Matthew 16:28, Messiah declared that some of His disciples would see Him come into His kingdom:
“Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.“
In Matthew 26:63-64, Messiah told the High Priest that he would see Him come in the clouds of heaven, meaning in judgment.
“And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.”
Should we not believe Messiah’s clear statement, that the High Priest would witness Him coming on the clouds of heaven, which matches the description in Matthew 24:30? He was telling the High Priest that though I look powerless now, you will witness my resurrection, as I fulfill the sign that I gave to you of rising after three days.
And that he would see Messiah come in great power and glory when the temple and city and Jews would be destroyed, because He rejected Him as Messiah and delivered Him up to be killed. Just as the High Priest was judging him and condemning him to die, so too did Messiah judge the High Priest and condemn him to die.
Either those verses are referring to Messiah’s second advent in the first century, which did not happen; Or it is referring to Him coming in power to desolate the Jews; Or Messiah is mistaken. That’s the only three options.
Applying His statements to the end times takes them out of context, as He told His disciples and the High Priest that they would see these things happen.
Then just three verses later Messiah said in Matthew 24:34,
“Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.”
When Messiah makes a plain statement, we should not dismiss it, just because we don’t understand the fulfillment. He was clearly saying that all of the things that He just stated in the previous verses would be fulfilled in that generation.
To reinforce that, after berating the Jewish leaders and casting woes on them in Matthew 23, He said in verses 35-36, that they would be killed in their generation.
“That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.”
And within a Biblical generation of 40 years, history proves that in fact that the disciples and the High Priest, did see Him come in power and glory; when He caused the Roman army to desolate Jerusalem, the temple and the Jewish leadership system.
This matches the prophecy in Daniel 9:26-27, that foretold the coming of our Messiah, and that He would be delivered up by the Jews to death; and that as a consequence, the city and the temple and the Jews would be desolated.
“..and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. …and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.”
The whole context of the Olivet Discourse was that after Messiah berated the Jewish leaders, He proclaimed to His disciples, that the temple would be desolated,
“And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”
The disciples were not asking about the end times, they were asking about when the temple would be destroyed.
“And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?“
The word ‘world‘ should be rendered as ‘age‘, as the New King James has it. The latter days of the Jewish age started when they were released from Babylon, after 70 years of captivity; and ended in 70 A.D., when the temple, the city and the Jews were desolated.
The former days were before the Babylonian captivity. In between the two ages was 70 years of captivity when they did not possess the Holy land.
So let’s look at the verse now that we have a proper perspective of its context:
“And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” Matthew 24:30
The Jewish leaders were always asking Messiah to give them a ‘sign‘ to prove His power and glory. The Greek word for sign is semeion, which was used by John often to refer to Jesus’ miracles; the word itself denotes a token of identification or verification.
He gave them the sign of rising again after they had delivered Him up to be killed, with the analogy of Him being the temple. “Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” John 2:19
Then He judged the Jewish leaders and He gave them the sign of destroying their magnificent temple, desolating Jerusalem and the Jews; which proved His power and glory.
The word ‘tribes‘ is referring to the people of the land of Judea. Some from the House of Israel had regathered in the northern region of Galilee, where Messiah spent most of His time.mThat is, the land of Judea; for other lands, and countries, were not usually divided into tribes, as that was; neither were they affected with the calamities and desolations of it, and the vengeance of the son of man upon it; at least not so as to mourn on that account, but rather were glad and rejoiced: (JG)
The Greek word for ‘earth‘, ‘ge’, does not mean the whole earth, but rather it means ‘country or land’; in this context, the land of Judea.
It’s the same word used in Matthew 2:20, “Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land(ge) of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child’s life.”
And the people of the land of Judea truly did mourn when they saw the power of Messiah commanding the mighty army coming against them.
The symbol of ‘clouds‘ can represent judgment. In this case the judgment of the Jewish nation, which had rejected Him and delivered Him up to be killed.
In Jeremiah 4:13 the word clouds is referring to the Babylonians whose army was coming against the Jews, as the Father’s judgment against them.
“Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.”
In Zephaniah 1:15 the ‘dark, gloomy day of clouds’, is referring to the wrath of Elohim against his people for their sins; these judgments being the effects of his wrath, provoked by their iniquities; and of the wrath and cruelty of the Chaldeans, exercised in a furious manner
“That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,”
Messiah coming in the clouds in Matthew 24:30 is speaking of His coming in great power to judge the Jews, by using the Roman army to desolate them and their temple; and to setup His kingdom, which would last forever.
Daniel 7:13-14 foretold that the Son of Man would come in the clouds of heaven!
“I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed.”
Revelation 1:7 may prove that John wrote down the Revelation vision before Jerusalem was desolated, as it describes Messiah coming in the clouds in that generation, so that those who witnessed His death saw Him come in power and glory in causing the Roman army to desolate the city, temple and Jews.
“Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.”
Historical witnesses of Messiah coming in power and glory:
Jewish historian Josephus, who documented the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, witnessed chariots and troops of soldiers in their armor, running about among the clouds:
“Besides these [signs], a few days after that feast, on the one- and-twentieth day of the month Artemisius, [Jyar,] a certain prodigious and incredible phenomenon appeared; I suppose the account of it would seem to be a fable, were it not related by those that saw it, and were not the events that followed it of so considerable a nature as to deserve such signals; for, before sun-setting, chariots and troops of soldiers in their armour were seen running about among the clouds, and surrounding of cities. (Jewish Wars, VI-V-3).
The medieval Jewish historian Sepher Yosippon expounds upon this angelic army in the sky by saying,
“Moreover, in those days were seen chariots of fire and horsemen, a great force flying across the sky near to the ground coming against Jerusalem and all the land of Judah, all of them horses of fire and riders of fire.” (Sepher Yosippon A Mediaeval History of Ancient Israel translated from the Hebrew by Steven B. Bowman. Excerpts from Chapter 87 “Burning of the Temple”)
Matthew 24:27 reads, “For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” This verse seems to suggest that lightning might mark the coming of the Son of Man on the clouds.
Historical confirmation of lightning marking the second coming of Christ may found in the writings of the Roman historian Tacitus:
In the sky appeared a vision of armies in conflict, of glittering armour. A sudden lightening flash from the clouds lit up the Temple. The doors of the holy place abruptly opened, a superhuman voice was heard to declare that the gods were leaving it, and in the same instant came the rushing tumult of their departure, (Tacitus The Histories 5.13.)
Commentaries from great theologians about Matthew 24:30:
Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible
Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man – The plain meaning of this is, that the destruction of Jerusalem will be such a remarkable instance of Divine vengeance, such a signal manifestation of Christ’s power and glory, that all the Jewish tribes shall mourn, and many will, in consequence of this manifestation of God, be led to acknowledge Christ and his religion. By της γης , of the land, in the text, is evidently meant here, as in several other places, the land of Judea and its tribes, either its then inhabitants, or the Jewish people wherever found.
Coke’s Commentary on the Holy Bible
And then shall appear the sign, &c.— The plain meaning of this is, that the destruction of Jerusalem will be such a remarkable instance of divine vengeance, such a signal manifestation of Christ’s power and glory, that all the Jewish tribes shall mourn, and many will be thence led to acknowledge Christ and the Christian religion. In the ancient prophets God is frequently described as coming in the clouds, upon any remarkable interposition and manifestation of his power; and the same description is here applied to Christ. See Bishop Newton, and Gerhard’s Dissertations, p. 200, &c. and John 6:30. Dr. Clarke says, that the sign here mentioned means the figure given by the prophet Daniel, the signal of that Son of man there described. Instead of the tribes of the earth, some read the tribes of the land.
Professor Dr. Francis Nigel Lee
For at that time, Christ came invisibly – with the visible Roman armies – in order to destroy the Pharisees’ House in 70 A.D.
John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
he shall appear, not in person, but in the power of his wrath and vengeance, on the Jewish nation which will be a full sign and proof of his being come: for the sense is, that when the above calamities shall be upon the civil state of that people, and there will be such changes in their ecclesiastical state it will be as clear a point, that Christ is come in the flesh, and that he is also come in his vengeance on that nation, for their rejection and crucifixion him, as if they had seen him appear in person in the heavens. They had been always seeking a sign, and were continually asking one of him; and now they will have a sign with a witness; as they had accordingly,
And then shall the tribes of the earth, or land,
mourn; that is, the land of Judea; for other lands, and countries, were not usually divided into tribes, as that was; neither were they affected with the calamities and desolations of it, and the vengeance of the son of man upon it; at least not so as to mourn on that account, but rather were glad and rejoiced:
and they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. The Arabic version reads it, “ye shall see”, as is expressed by Christ, in Mt 26:64. Where the high priest, chief priests, Scribes, and elders, and the whole sanhedrim of the Jews are spoken to: and as the same persons, namely, the Jews, are meant here as there; so the same coming of the son of man is intended; not his coming at the last day to judgment; though that will be in the clouds of heaven, and with great power and glory; but his coming to bring on, and give the finishing stroke to the destruction of that people, which was a dark and cloudy dispensation to them: and when they felt the power of his arm, might, if not blind and stupid to the last degree, see the glory of his person, that he was more than a mere man, and no other than the Son of God, whom they had despised, rejected, and crucified; and who came to set up his kingdom and glory in a more visible and peculiar manner, among the Gentiles.
Messiah coming in the clouds in great power and glory clearly represents His judgment of the wicked Jews, as He oversaw their desolation by the Roman army.
David Nikao Wilcoxson
Next Olivet Discourse Deception Study: The Abomination Of Desolation Deception
Hi David,
I don’t think that you deliberately want to drag people into hell, but many of your teachings will advance that. Thus, it is fully legitimate if I criticise certain contents of your website even if I can’t convince you of your error (certain phrases were maybe slightly harsh, sorry about that).
I am glad that you want to look into the “70 Week Ministry”. I can understand if Michael Rood won’t convince you, but as for me, I found the whole perspective amazing and it would also parallel Christ’s and Israel’s ministry (HOS 11:1). As far as I can judge, I think Michael is right on this one.
As for the Olivet Discourse, I wrote that long message (which took me hours) hoping that you would maybe re-examine your position upon reading it, but that is up to you of course. I simply don’t have the time to explain every single verse, e.g., “why were the days of Noah not in 70 AD”, “why was the day/hour which no one knows, not in 70 AD”, “why did the angles not gather the elect to Pella in 70 AD”, etc. (I am happy to explain more via email though, if you are interested).
I come from a Pentecostal background and for decades I have been taught “Anglo-Isralism” (British-Israel), i.e., that the “Ten Lost Tribes” are the English speaking world and that the Jews/Judahites in the State of Israel are mostly Edomites/Khazars.
The Internet abounds in articles & videos which say “People are waking up to the great deception”, “Who today’s Jews really are”, “The Illegitimacy of the State of Israel”, etc., all this kind of thing – that’s what they usually bombard you with (and then people start thinking, “Wow, I am looking behind the scenes, I know what’s really going on).
A few years ago I was convinced that the State of Israel has virtually no ties to the ancient Hebrews, that they aren’t real Jews, rather a bunch of imposters masquerading as God’s people. In a nutshell, after several visits to Israel and a lot of study, I realised that the opposite is true.
The Khazar stuff, for example, is simply an elaborate anti-Semitic hoax, and as for the hexagram, its pagan origins go way back into OT times; it was later used in the Kabbalah (Babylonian witchcraft in Jewish clothes) and all over the place in Europe for centuries. That it was adopted by Rothschild, by the Zionists, and by Israel is not good, but it doesn’t turn Israel into the “Synagogue of Satan” as we are told (my preference would have been a Menorah on the Israeli flag too).
Of course, I also woke up to the abundance of end-time prophecies regarding Israel: 1897 (First Zionist Congress), 1917 (Deliverance of Jerusalem), 1948 (Rebirth of Israel), 1967 (Reunification of Jerusalem), 2017 (Jerusalem declared Eternal Capital), 2018 (70 weeks of Israel), etc. – all of these dates can be found in Scripture – without reading them into it. But through limiting DAN 12/MT 24 to the first century, one won’t be able to see it – it’s like blindfolding yourself.
I probably won’t post any more comments on your site, as I think you got the gist (besides I have to work again on Monday, and there are simply too many other things to do, my own website, etc.).
Here is a clip about the Khazars:
https://youtu.be/MXFUkvqnk9c
And here is a PDF about “The Star of David” (under Articles / Jews / 9.):
http://seedofabraham.net/wordpress/
You have well exposed the futuristic interpretation of the 70th Week, and your historicist approach to Revelation is, of course, the correct one. That is good because the vast majority is fooled by the Jesuits in this regard. However, your interpretations of the Olivet Discourse & Daniel 12 are far too limited. If you want to be in touch, feel free to drop me a line (you have my email address). I don’t know everything, but with some things I might be able to help.
Shalom
Jake
Thanks for sharing your perspective Jake. None of us knows it all, so we just have to continue learning and growing. Sadly, many Christians are completely deceived about the 70th week of Daniel and Revelation.
I believe that we’re in the 6th bowl of Revelation, and that there’s not much left to happen before a One World Government and Messiah’s return.
Shalom,
David
David,
I agree with your interpretations and that we are in the 6th bowl of Revelation. We do have a one world government though through the Vatican United Nations don’t we? What place on earth has not has the UN agendas implemented? WHO, WEF, and many more organizations are implementing and mandating the mark of the beast and pushing the 4th Industrial Revolution or 4th Beast Kingdom represented by the 10 toes which the Club of Rome a Vatican UN organization divided the world into 10 regions in 1968. Isn’t this Mystery Babylon the city that rules all the nations? Revelation 17. Doesn’t it have to be destroyed before the return of Jesus Christ?
Thank you for your comment! We’re close to the finalization of the One World Government. Countries like Iran and Syria don’t bow down to the authority of the General in Rome, they don’t have a Rothschild central bank and are not mandated by UN agendas. This is why they’re being demonized, and why attacks are being made on them. We see the narrative of WW III between these Muslim countries and Zionist Israel on the horizon.
I believe that the ten toes are pointing to the ten kingdoms of the fallen Western Roman Empire. It’s the same as the ten kings in Revelation 17, who gave their power and authority to the antichrist beast Popes.
The mark of the beast is revering and obeying the antichrist beast Pope. Today, 1.3 billion Catholics have the mark of the beast on them. Here’s a study about the mark of the beast: https://revelationtimelinedecoded.com/the-revelation-fulfillments-of-the-mark-of-the-beast/
The harlot of Revelation 17-18 is the Roman Catholic Church of the antichrist beast Popes, whose priests wear purple and scarlet, and use the golden cup during their blasphemous Eucharist ceremony; who have shed the blood of the saints during the Dark Ages and Inquisition.
Yes, I believe that the One World Government of the seventh vial will be finalized, then the harlot church of Rome will be judged, before Messiah returns.
So you’re saying DNA is lying, that the Kazars are Israeli, when the DNA tests say otherwise. Good live with that.
Dear David,
There is one more verse I wanted to clarify, and that is MT 24:34.
I am not sure if you really mean that the entire Olivet Discourse was fulfilled in the first century, but hopefully you are aware that MT 25 is included in that prophecy (the original text had no chapter divisions).
After having given the parables of “The Thief in the Night” and “The wise Servant” (MT 24:42-51), Yeshua continues in MT 25 with “The Ten Virgins”, “The Talents”, and then describes Judgment Day ending with, “And these shall go into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”
Considering that except for “The Ten Virgins” all these parables are repeated elsewhere in entirely different contexts (LK 12:39-40; 42-46; 19:11-27), it seems obvious that they don’t refer to 70 AD. To view the coming of the bridegroom, or the marriage feast, or the sheep and goats gathered before His throne as being symbolic for the destruction of Jerusalem would be a grotesque misinterpretation of Scripture. MT 25:19 says that “the Lord of those servants returned after a LONG time”, thus the question, “When will the Temple be destroyed, and when will you return?”, was adequately answered by His discourse.
Just as Revelation’s symbolism prevented the early believers from understanding the extent of the affliction lying ahead (and thus from losing heart), so did Yeshua mercifully obscure the two millennia which had to elapse before they would see Him again (Paul’s letters show that the early Christians thought that Messiah’s return was rather imminent, but not 2,000 years away).
In the Olivet prophecy, when Yeshua addresses His disciples with “you”, He implies the Jews in general – “you, the Jewish people” is meant, not just them individually. He first gives an overview of the remainder of the age right up to the millennium, then pinpoints the start of the Diaspora by detailing Jerusalem’s first destruction, and the end of it by intimating Jerusalem’s second destruction (the Shoah), before He details the remaining events leading up to His return.
After Yeshua had described all of the above, He said, “This age shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled” (“generation” is better rendered “age” as per Hebrew Matthew).
The verse does not refer to the people who lived in Jesus’ day, but simply to this age/dispensation which will close with the second advent and the start of the millennium (a new dispensation).
Once all the things which Yeshua had predicted are fulfilled, this age will pass and a new one will begin.
In Christ,
Jake
Hi Jake, Mt 24:34-35 points to His statement “Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”
To me that’s declaring that all that He had previously described would be fulfilled in that generation.
Just because there are no chapter divisions doesn’t mean that Messiah’s words in Matthew 25 were given during the Olivet Discourse.
When we look at the other Gospels, they don’t have those verses.
Luke’s recording of the Olivet Discourse is in chapter 21, and it doesn’t include what is recorded in Matthew 24:36-51 and Matthew 25
Mark’s recording of the Olivet Discourse is in chapter 13, and it doesn’t include what is recorded in Matthew 24:36-51 and Matthew 25; except for Mark 13:32 “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.” which matches Matthew 24:36.
Messiah was telling His disciples what they would see. The context of the Olivet Discourse was the desolation of the temple, not the end times.
In Messiah,
David
Hi David,
OK, let us ignore for a moment the fact that MT 25 is usually associated with the Olivet Discourse (as its parables seamlessly connect with MT 24:36-51), and let us also ignore the common verses and variations besides MK 13:32, e.g., MT 25:14 = MK 13:34 (or MT 24:42-44 = LK 21:34-36 = MK 13:33, 35-37). Let us furthermore ignore that the first two verses of the chapters following MT 25, MK 13, and LK 21 are nearly identical (describing that Passover is near & chief priests plan His death), and let us lastly ignore that the former absence of chapter divisions could have any meaning, i.e., MT 25 was maybe inserted by mistake and that’s why MT 26:1-2 is basically identical with LK 22:1-2 and MK 14:1-2.
I simply don’t want to argue endlessly about the above, therefore let’s say MT 24:36-51 and MT 25 are not part of the Olivet Discourse – fine with me (because it’s not the main decisive issue anyway).
Decisive is that Christ does not lie and that He answered the disciples’ question. The disciples did NOT only ask about the Temple, but they asked what will be sign for:
A) The destruction of the Temple, B) The coming of Christ (Parousia), C) The end of the age.
Christ’s death was imminent and the disciples knew that He would eventually go back to the Father. They knew that He would leave them, and they wanted to know when He would return, so they asked which sign would herald His return (MT 24:3).
The disciples did not know what we know, they did not know that 2,000 years would pass by. Earlier on some had thought He would deliver them from Roman oppression, and though this was dropped, they all thought He would soon return (some may have indeed thought that Jerusalem’s ruin and His return would coincide). The disciples surely didn’t have in mind (and wouldn’t have accepted) some symbolic wishy-washy return with Christ hovering above the Pella escapees smiling while pouring out His wrath on the Jews and afterwards floating away again.
The Messiah had well understood that His disciples were asking about His literal concrete return when He would set up His kingdom upon earth. Why would Christ confirm the disciples’ erroneous expectation of a Parousia within some 40 or 70 years, and claim, “This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled”? That doesn’t make any sense at all. The disciples needed to know exactly the opposite because He wasn’t going to come soon, He just didn’t tell them into their face, “Wait another 2,000 years!” (which would have been the truth). They would never be able to see the ominous things heralding His return, but He had to answer their personal question without discouraging them, and of course He couldn’t lie to them. Thus, He said, “When ye [the Jews/my disciples] shall see all these things, know that He is near, even at the doors”. “Generation” is the rendering of the Greek “genea” which also means “age”, and in this case it should have been translated thus; Matthew was originally written in Hebrew and it says “age” (besides in the NT “the heavens shall pass away”, “old things pass away”, “the world shall pass away” etc., never a group of people/generation; people die, fall asleep, taste death, etc. – “generation” is simply the wrong translator’s choice here).
If Christ, who knew that He’d only return after some 2,000 years, did indeed answer the disciples’ question (which He did), THEN certain parts of His Olivet Discourse must refer to His second coming. To deny this, means that Christ didn’t answer “What shall be the sign of thy coming?”, or it makes Him a liar because the sign of His coming allegedly refers to 70 AD, but He didn’t come.
Shalom
Jake
Hi David,
I hope you are well.
I came across one bit which I find very exciting, and which at least I hadn’t been aware of:
In 28 AD the Sanhedrin was evicted from the Temple Mount (chucked out of the Hall of Hewn Stones due to bribery); that was 40 years before the destruction of Jerusalem according to the Talmud.
Obviously there is a lot of nonsense in the Talmud, but the date of 70 AD for the Temple’s destruction seems to be rather based on secular chronology, i.e., on Roman/”Christian” dating. Josephus also gives the date of 70 AD, but he worked for the Romans and cannot be always relied on.
In any case, I tend to think that the Rabbinic dating is the correct one in this case, especially as it totally confirms the 70 Week Prophecy of Daniel (I have created a chart on my website under “Articles” which shows what I mean).
God bless
Jake
Nice blog! David I hope you can find the testimony of Roman soldiers or Nero? Of how they too, saw chariots in the sky 68ad? The more testimonies we have, the better.