There was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship…. (Acts 8:27)
One can only imagine the Ethiopian’s amazement as he gazed at “Jerusalem, the holy city” also called “Zion” (Isaiah 52:1). So much sacred history! Such significance! Such beauty! Its crowning jewel was the temple King Herod had taken over four decades to build (John 2:20). Even the disciples of Jesus, who had seen it before, continued to marvel at “the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings” (Luke 21:5). Seeing such
imposing magnificence, the Ethiopian had no way of knowing that great changes were just ahead. Jesus had told the Samaritan woman that Jerusalem soon would no longer be the place to worship (John 4:21). When His efforts were rejected (Luke 13:34), God the Son had pronounced judgment against Jerusalem and its temple (Luke 19:41-44; 21:6). Jesus’ prophecies came true when the Jews persistently rebelled against Rome’s authority. General Titus, son of the Roman Emperor Vespasian, utterly destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in A.D. 70—just a few decades after the Ethiopian’s visit. The changes brought and predicted by Jesus impacted the world and contribute to our understanding of the Bible.