The Remnant On Line History Page

MASADA, ISRAEL -- It was the last time Israel was known as a nation until 1948.  Jesus had spoken of the destruction of Jerusalem and in 70 AD the Emperor of Rome gave the order to destroy the Holy City. The last remnant of Israeli peasants would be Jerusalem and be found close to the Red Sea on the top of a mountain known as Masada.  
      Masada was built by Herod the Great, known as builder, this would be his place of hiding or a summer home away from Jerusalem.  Herod after the death of John the Baptist feared the people and built Masas as a place of escape. Masada was built like a plush palace complete with swimming pools and a Synagogue. Most of the carved out cisterns and the inside of Masada were carved out by stone masons employed by Herod. 

Like the Temple in Jerusalem, it would fall built it would be the last place to stand after 70 AD.  Elizar Ben Yair would lead a group of Zealots from Jerusalem to escape the dreaded Romans.  This fearless leader found the Romans on his door step one day when 50,000 Roman soldiers paid a visit. Rome wanted to break every corner of resistance in Israel and Masada was the last corner of that resistance among the Jews. 
      The Masada system had 12 large cisterns of water that served 960- Jewish Zealots and their families.  The Romans built a complete fence around the encamped and then started to build a giant ramp on the western side of Masada that would go all the way to the top of fortress.  The record of the above events were written by the Jewish Historian Josephus.  With the Romans almost to the top of the fortress, Elizar Ben Yair met with his leadership and ten men were chosen to take the lives of all 900 residents with the last ten men committing suicide.  When Silvathe the Roman leader reached the top all he found were the dead bodies of Elizar and his followers.  It was an empty victory after thee years of planning.  It was the last resistance of the nation and Israel not be a nation again until 1948. 

       I have had the opportunity to visit this sight on two different occasions.  The beauty of this part of Israel is breathless and the power of what went on in this area is reflected in the will of the people who were the last residents of Israel. The Jews would wonder the earth for 2,000 years and not come back home until the United Nations in San Francisco voted for them to have a country.  It was a follow-up from the Balfour Declaration which was the initial invitations for the Jews to return to their homeland after the First World War - this would  fulfill the last days history of the earth.