Unleashing the Beast

264 / U NLEASHING THE B EAST

ancient teachers viewed the previous patterns of such activity in history. One day during the Jewish year that is considered the worst day in Hebrew history is the 9 th of Av. According to Jewish tradition, the following bad events occurred on the 9 th of Av:  The 1o spies brought an evil report to Moses.  The first Temple (Solomon's) was destroyed by the Babylonians.  The second Temple, built by Zerubbabel, was destroyed by the Romans.  In A.D. 71, the Romans plowed the city under with salt and destroyed the third Temple (Herod's).  The messianic hero, Shimon Bar Kochba, and his men were destroyed.  Spain expelled its entire Jewish population in A.D. 1492.  Twenty-one huge meteorites hit Jupiter in 1994.  A huge meteorite shower hit Earth in 1997 In his historical writings, the Jewish historian Josephus gave a list of the strange and supernatural signs that occurred four years prior to the destruction of Jerusalem: The signs were so evident and did plainly foretell their future desolation ... Thus there was a star resembling a sword, which stood over the city, and a comet that