Flavius Josephus, the Jewish priest, scholar, and historian was born 37/38 in Jerusalem. He wrote valuable works on Jewish history, including the final Jewish revolt of 66–70 AD–including Masada, 73 AD. He wrote of Christ, “About this time there lived Jesus if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he was one who  performed surprising deeds and was a teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly.” Without the writings of Josephus, we would have very little access to the events and history of the people of his time. He had dreams and was taught by the Lord.

Jew – Roman – Christian

I believe Flavius Josephus was and is the most essential historian ever to know that Jesus is the Christ.  We all have unique missions.  I believe he was highly unusual as we see him as a Jew, and a Roman, and surprising to almost everyone, there is substantial extent evidence that later in his life he became a Christian Bishop in Jerusalem.

The infinite atonement of our Savior had just exploded its paramount relevance in providing salvation for the world.  The Promised Messiah not only came with His message of salvation but perfected Heavenly Father’s plan of happiness with His infinite atonement—provided a resurrection for all in due process. “And the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.” (Matt. 27:52-53).

Fifty days later at Pentecost, thousands were joining “The Way”—the Christians and their contagious love for one another and for their enemies was greatly inspiring all who observed them.  This contagious love brought many of those observers into the fold as well–including later on in his life, Josephus. Three years after Jesus’ resurrection, Josephus was born (37 AD), and as an observer, he was deeply touched by the Christian conversion rate explosion.

 Josephus’ Heritage and Works

If you read Wikipedia about Josephus, they paint him as a Benedict Arnold traitor—not surprising given the world’s atheistic put down of anything Christian. His writings and life disprove this notion.

He was born of noble Jewish heritage, and because of his incredible mental dexterity and leadership, he was greatly respected by Jews and Gentiles. He became close friends with the Emperors Vespasian and Titus.

In his autobiography, he shares, “I made mighty proficiency in the improvement of learning and appeared to have both a great memory and understanding.” Through the 16th – 19th years of his life, he spent with Banus, who lived “in the desert and used no other clothing than grew upon trees, and had no other food than what grew of its own accord, and bathed himself in cold water frequently, both by night and by day, in order to preserve his chastity.”1

Josephus did most of his writing in Rome. I have the book, “The Works of Josephus; Complete and Unabridged – New Updated Edition,” translated by William Whiston. I have learned a great deal from this two-column, small-print, 926-page book, which includes his autobiography (THE LIFE OF FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS), THE ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS, THE WARS OF THE JEWS, and several other documentaries—including the extent letter in Greek he apparently wrote about Hades while serving as a Christian Bishop.2

Josephus  Authorship of the ANTIQUITIES

The authorship of ANTIQUITIES goes back to the creation—beginning with, “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth;”3 His writings parallel some ten thousand verses of scripture from the Old Testament and including some from the Apocryphal writings and often give a lot more detail than what we have in scripture.4

Josephus felt God’s protection throughout his life and received guidance in his pursuits. On one occasion amidst the Romans’ and Jews’ battles’, “But wonderful it was what a dream I saw that very night; for when I had betaken myself to my bed, as grieved and disturbed at the news that had been written to me, it seemed to me, that a certain person stood by me, and said, ‘O, Josephus, leave off to afflict thy soul and put away all fear; for what now grieves thee will render thee very considerable, and all respects most happy; for thou shalt get over not only these difficulties but many others, with great success.  However, be not cast down, but remember thou art to fight with the Romans.’”5

He had other heavenly visits and helps throughout his life. 6 When we do things God’s way, we find peace in the midst of the storms. No matter where he fought or what he did for the Jews or the Romans, God was with him. He tried to keep the Jews from fighting the Romans because he knew of the Romans’ great strength, but when his own people solicited him, he fought for them. As in our “Star-Spangled Banner,” “Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just.”

Lessons from the Destruction of Jerusalem

Later, the Lord allowed the Romans to destroy Jerusalem, because of their wickedness, as Jesus prophesied. (Matt. 24:1-2) This is like Isaiah prophesied of the Assyrian assault which will occur against this “hypocritical” nation—the Promised Land of America—unless her people repent and come to Christ. (Isa. 10:5-6) As with Jerusalem, so with America, unless we repent He has “created the waster to destroy.” But the righteous have the promise that “no weapon…shall revile against… the servants of the Lord…” (3 Nephi 22:16-17)

Over the entrance of the Norlin Library on the University of Colorado Campus is the inscription by George Norlin, “Who knows only his own generation remains always a child.” Josephus wrote in detail about the final destruction of Jerusalem. Knowing history allows us to build upon the insights, inventions, and truths brought forth by others, while also learning from their mistakes that hopefully, we will not repeat.

Historical Witness of Christ

Again, I believe we all have unique missions for our mortal journey, but I believe Josephus stands out as a historical primary witness of Christ, and God was with him as part of the Divine Law of Witnesses. The second historical and spiritual witness of the Christ is the Book of Mormon and we have L. Taylor Hansen’s great book, He Walked the Americas. When I got her book, I couldn’t put it down and stayed up all night reading it.

If we ask the question, “What is the most important historical truth we can build our lives upon?” I believe it is to know the Father and His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ. The Bible has done more good than any other book because of its most important message of the Christ. The Book of Mormon is another witness for Christ. The Book of Mormon has brought more people to Christ per capita of those who have read it than any other book. It became available to the world exactly ten years after the FIRST VISION of the Prophet Joseph Smith. The fingerprint of the Lord was evident as the first 5,000 copies were printed in the Divine ratio. Christ is mentioned five times more often in the Book of Mormon than in the Bible. Knowing and believing and internalizing the great truths in that book leads to the greatest happiness in this life and eternal life beyond the veil. (John 17:3; 3:16)

I see Josephus’ life and writings helping in a major way to know the truth about the Promised Messiah, who came and is coming again.  These witnesses are critically needed at this time. The woke and millennials have most probably never heard of Josephus; yet, we have a profound historical witness for them of Christ in Josephus’ writings.  It is the Christ who can and will solve the problems the woke and millennials face if they will but come unto Him. In addition, we see serious moral decay throughout the world in large measure because we haven’t learned important lessons from history.

The atheistic New World Order folks would use this moral decay to make us slaves and to depopulate the world—according to their agenda. On the other hand, we have a lot of people waking up to their evil intent and more-and-more are turning to Christ with His great promise: “Ye shall know the truth and the truth will make you free… If the Son, therefore, shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” (John 8:32, 36)  I gave a lecture on this pivotal scripture, and you can find the link for it at the end of this article.

William Whiston –  the Translator

William Whiston, who translated Josephus’ writings lived 35 years after Sir Isaac Newton. Newton was his mentor. Newton was born on Christmas Day in 1642. Whiston was an English theologian (Pastor), historian, natural philosopher, mathematician, and a leading figure in the popularization of Newton’s enormous contributions, as the greatest scientist ever.

Whiston succeeded his mentor Newton as a Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. Newton, as a devout Christian student, had proved that the Church of England was wrong in many aspects of their theology, which threatened him from having fellowship at Trinity College, and he was willing to lose this distinguished position rather than compromise his beliefs. He and his friends petitioned King Charles II, and the King granted him exemption from “all holy orders.”

Whiston knew the life of Josephus probably better than anyone, and like Newton, he saw problems in the Church of England’s theology. As a pastor, Whiston was more vocal about his beliefs, and in 1710 he lost the professorship and was expelled from the university.  Whiston rejected the notion of eternal torment in hellfire, which he viewed as absurd, cruel, and an insult to God.

What especially pitted him against church authorities was his denial of the doctrine of the Trinity, which he believed had pagan origins. Which doctrine young Joseph Smith was told by God, “their creeds were an abomination in his sight…” (JS-H 19) Thanks be to God, that great vision opened the door for the world to know the true nature of God, which is eternal life. (John 17:3) Did you know the date of the first was so important that it was foretold in Enoch’s calendar? The Date of the First Vision | It’s About Time (itsabouttimebook.com)

Today, we owe a great debt of gratitude to William Whiston for providing the best English translations of the “Complete and Unabridged” works of Flavius Josephus. With the world spiraling down in anti-Christian and atheistic-satanic harassments against truth and light, we have this greatest historian—Flavius Josephus’—counterattack. It is Christ and only  Christ who can give us ultimate freedom, salvation, and exaltation. To Him and His Father, we owe praise, honor, and glory for their Perfect Plan of Happiness.

David W. Allan

REFERENCES:
1)      THE LIFE OF FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS, p. 1
2)      APPENDIX, DISSERTATION 6 TO PROVE THAT THE FRAGMENT OR EXTRACT OUT OF AN HOMILY CONCERNING HADES BELONGS TO JOSEPHUS, THE JEWISH HISTORIAN; AND WAS BY HIM PREACHED OR WRITTEN WHEN HE WAS BISHOP OF JERUSALEM… pp 872-879, and pp 813-814
3)      THE ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS, BOOK 1, CHAPTER 1.1., p. 29
4)      APPENDIX, TEXTS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT PARALLEL TO JOSEPHUS’ HISTORIES, p. 895
5)      THE LIFE OF FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS, 42, p. 13
6)      THE LIFE OF FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS, footnote q, divine dreams Antiq. 3.8.9 and in the War 3.8.3,9

P.S.
I invite you to view this video: “Ye Shall Know the Truth, and the Truth Shall Make You Free.” I put a lot of work into the content, and hope you enjoy it.

For those who have lost faith and want evidence of God’s word and His love, please read the following: Don’t Bypass “And It Came To Pass” | It’s About Time (itsabouttimebook.com) and Gratitude For The Resurrection of Our Savior | It’s About Time (itsabouttimebook.com)

My second book, Time and Eternity – The End-Times and Beyond Revealed, is available on Amazon and on my website: ItsAboutTimeBook.com.  It is also available from my publisher, Boyd Tuttle at Digital Legend.

Photo:  CC Wikipedia