In actuality, Eleazar ben-Simon and Zacharias ben-Phalek, two of the zealot leaders who, along with the rest of the zealots, were trapped in the Temple, smuggled out a letter to the Idumeans. In it, they told the Idumeans that Ananus had betrayed Jerusalem and the Jews, had already sent word to Vespasian and the Romans to tell them he was prepared to hand over the city to them, and had essentially imprisoned them within the Temple. The zealots, therefore, appealed to the Idumeans that if they wanted to liberate Jerusalem, they had to come quickly.
And so, the Idumeans assembled 20,000 troops under the leadership of John and Jacob ben-Soras, Simon ben-Cathlas, and Phineas ben-Clusathus. When Ananus got word that an army of Idumeans was approaching the city, he ordered that the gates be shut until he could ascertain what the Idumeans wanted.
Needless to say, the Idumeans were not happy to find the gates shut. It only deepened their suspicion of Ananus. And so, when Ananus sent Jesus, one of his most trusted priests (essentially, the second in command), to the wall to speak to the Idumeans, tensions and suspicions were already running high.
Nevertheless, Jesus was going to try to make his appeal…
The Appeal of Jesus to the Idumeans
Speaking to the Idumeans from the wall, Jesus began:
“O Idumeans! I know you are angry that the gates are shut, but we must protect this city! And therefore, we must first ascertain what your intentions are! You are clearly arrayed for war and have obviously been alerted to the situation here in Jerusalem! But you must know that those zealots who have appealed to you are not freedom fighters! They are the vilest of men who have already committing countless atrocities within these walls! They are the ones who forcibly took over the Temple and banished the rightful priests of the Sanctuary! And they are the ones who profaned its courts with their drunkenness and eating unclean food within its gates! Are you really going to come to their aid?
“I know they have accused Ananus of sending for the Romans, but why on earth would we now sell ourselves to the Romans? Yes, before the revolt had begun, we did not think it wise to rebel, but the fact is, revolt has erupted throughout the land, and already the Romans have re-taken Galilee! There simply is no going back to the way things were before! Yes, back before, we desired peace before death, but now we would rather die with our honorable reputations than to invite the Romans back, voluntarily become their slaves and live in captivity under them!
“So please, join with us against those murderous tyrants who profane the House of God! Help us save Jerusalem! They have tortured some of the leading, most honorable men of the city, and have done so without cause, in the market places and plazas! If you lay down your arms, we will let a contingent of you come into the city and see for yourselves the atrocities that these zealots have committed! I am confident that then you will see their treachery and side with us! But if you refuse to accept this offer, then please, just leave this place!”
Simon ben-Cathlas’ Response
Simon ben-Cathlas then shouted back in reply to Jesus:
“You cannot fool us! We know that the true patriots of liberty are now trapped within the city, within the Temple itself! The very fact that you have shut the gates reveals to us that you cannot be trusted! You’ve locked us out of the holy city, and there is no doubt in our minds that you have already sent for the Romans! If we were to come inside the city, the atrocities that you show us, and that you attribute to the freedom fighters of Judea will have been your own!
“Do you think we are so foolish to lay down our arms and enter the city, so that you can do to us the very things that you’ve done to them? You call them tyrants and accuse them of untold atrocities! You say they murdered the leading men of the city in cold-blood. We know the truth! You are the tyrants! Those men the zealots killed were the true terrorizers of our nation, bent on betraying our people! No! We will never believe your lies!”
After numerous appeals, Jesus finally left the wall, despondent. There was nothing more he could say to convince the Idumeans of the crimes of the zealots. The gates remained shut, and the Idumeans remained encamped outside of the city.
A Heavy Rainstorm
That very night, a heavy rainstorm swept through the countryside. Many in the city were convinced that the heavy thunder and lightning could be nothing but a bad omen of coming disaster and destruction. The rain was so heavy, that Ananus gave the Temple guards leave to seek shelter and get some rest.
Yet that decision gave the zealots the opening they needed.
In the midst of the rainstorm, a small band of zealots made their way to the most remote gate of the Temple and proceeded to cut the bars of the gate. The thunder and lightning drowned out any noise of the cutting of the bars. They then secretly made their way to the city walls, and finding another remote gate, they successfully cut the bars to those gates as well and quickly ran out to the Idumean camp, just outside the city walls.
And so, in the middle of the night, in the midst of the ominous storm, the Idumeans snuck into the city and began to unleash a storm of their own.
