Hiding in Caves from the Wrath of the Lord
Another Bible prophecy that was fulfilled in the first century involves “hiding in caves” and “mountains falling on us.” While such phrases do not mean much to most people today, they were fraught with meaning for ancient Jews. God often used armies as his instruments of judgment, and during such times of judgment, those on the receiving end would hide in caves and cry out in anguish to the mountains, “Fall on us…hide us from the wrath of God.”
This was prophesied to happen during the wrath of the Lamb, and it happened—literally—during the Jewish-Roman war of AD 67–70. Here are three Bible prophecies about this event:
700 BC: “Now it will come about that in the last days…people will go into caves of the rocks and into holes in the ground away from the terror of the Lord and the splendor of His majesty, when He arises to terrify the earth” (Isa. 2:2, 19; NASB; see also vv. 10 and 21).
AD 30: “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me [Jesus], but weep for yourselves and for your children. For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’” (Luke 23:28–30).
AD 65: “And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?’” (Rev. 6:15–17).
Notice that all three passages describe people hiding in caves from the wrath of the Lord. While similarity of language does not always mean it is about the same event, it should certainly perk up our ears to that possibility. After all, Jesus and the apostles frequently linked the events of their day (in the first century) to Old Testament prophecies. The gospel of Matthew forty-seven times uses phrases such as “This was done to fulfill what was written in Isaiah” (Matt. 12:17) and “All this happened to fulfill what was said by the prophet…” (Matt. 1:22).
Think about the various themes and motifs of the New Testament, such as the coming of the Lord, the great tribulation, salvation, resurrection, kingdom of God, new heaven and earth, wedding, Mount Zion, New Jerusalem, time of the end/last days, abomination of desolation, destruction of Jerusalem, and destruction of the temple, and so on. All these New Testament themes/motifs were first prophesied about in the Old Testament! In fact, as far as themes and motifs go, there is nothing new in New Testament at all. It’s just that by the time of the writing of the New Testament, the events prophesied about centuries ago in the Old Testament were finally coming to pass (or were about to).
The New Testament motif of “hiding in caves/mountains falling on us” is another one of these prophecies from the Old Testament that was about to happen when the New Testament was written. Let’s look closer at those three passages listed above.
AD 30: “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me [Jesus], but weep for yourselves and for your children. For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’” (Luke 23:28–30)
Here, we can be sure Jesus is referring to the judgment of Jerusalem because he addressed this comment to the “daughters of Jerusalem,” which essentially means “women/citizens of Jerusalem” (see Song of Sol. 1:5, 2:7). Moreover, we can be sure Jesus is referring to the judgment of Jerusalem in AD 70 because Jesus had just spoken about this judgment two chapters earlier and said it would happen within a generation:
AD 30 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near…Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place” (Luke 21:20, 32).
Jesus said (in AD 30) that this judgment of Jerusalem would happen within a generation[1], or by around AD 70.
Why was this judgment happening? Because the Jews had a long track record of killing God’s prophets, and they killed God’s very own Son and his apostles too (Matt. 21:33–46; 23:31–36). Technically, the Romans killed Jesus, but the Romans did it at the behest of the Jews (Luke 23:21, John 1:11). Therefore, judgment was coming soon on these Jews/Jerusalem, just as Jesus had repeatedly warned (Matt. 23:36, 24:34; Luke 21:20, 32).
Thirty-five years later, on the eve of the fulfillment, John (Revelation) also prophesied about this event:
AD 65: “And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?…’” (Rev. 6:15–17, italics mine).
And when would this event happen? “Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand” (Rev. 1:1–3, 22:6–10). By the time Revelation was written in approximately AD 65, the judgment was about to happen.
Just like the passage in Luke (above), Revelation 6 describes the enemies of God hiding in caves from the wrath of the Lord. Then, a few chapters later, in Revelation 11, we see John is describing the judgment of Jerusalem and the temple:
“Then I [John] was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, ‘Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months.’” (Rev. 11:1–2, italics mine).
“The holy city” refers to Jerusalem (Matt. 4:5, 27:53), and John said it would be trodden upon by the Gentiles for forty-two months, which equates to three and a half years. This matches perfectly with the first Jewish-Romand War, which began in spring of AD 67 and culminated in September AD 70—exactly three and a half years later![2]
Notice, also, the reference to the temple, which John was told to measure (in Rev. 11:1–2 above). The reason for measuring the temple was that it was going to be rebuilt. In fact, it would be destroyed and replaced with a spiritual temple, of which Jesus is the cornerstone (see 1 Pet. 2:4–9).
A few verses later (still in Revelation 11), John says this event would happen “in the great city spiritually called Sodom…where the Lord was crucified” (Rev. 11:8). This, too, is an obvious reference to Jerusalem. We can be sure of this for three reasons: One, Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem. Two, the Jews considered Jerusalem “the great city.” Three, God had repeatedly called Israel “Sodom” whenever she became entangled in sin (Isaiah 1:9–10, Jer. 23:14)—and this was the case when Revelation was written in AD 65. Remember, Israel had just killed their Messiah (Matt. 27:20–26), and they were persecuting Jesus’ disciples (1 Thess. 2:14–16). The term “Sodom” fit them well!
In fact, Moses had prophesied some1,500 years earlier that in Israel’s last days, she would become like Sodom (Deut. 31:29, 32:32). Well, Israel was in her last days (Heb. 1:1–2, 9:26; 1 Pet. 1:20, 4:7; Acts 2:15–17; 1 Cor. 10:11; 1 John 2:18), and she had become like Sodom…and her judgment was about to happen!
The Jewish-Roman War of AD 67–70 fits this timing perfectly. Jerusalem and the temple were trodden down by the Gentiles, just like Revelation said would happen. This is when the “kings of the earth”—the Jewish leaders (Acts 4:26)—“hid themselves in the caves and cried to the rocks of the mountains, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the wrath of the Lamb’” (Rev. 6:15–17).
Keep in mind, also, that John explicitly said—twice!—that the events of Revelation would happen “soon…for the time is near” (Rev. 1:1–3, 22:6–10). The year AD 67–70 fits this perfectly!
Isaiah, too, had prophesied about this event seven centuries earlier:
700 BC: “Now it will come about that in the last days…people will go into caves of the rocks and into holes in the ground away from the terror of the Lord and the splendor of His majesty, when He arises to terrify the earth” (Isa. 2:2, 19, italics mine).
Notice how Isaiah said this would happen “in the last days” (Isa. 2:2). As noted above, Israel’s last days were in the first century, so this is when Isaiah’s prophecy about “hiding in caves” must have been fulfilled. And this is precisely why Jesus and John both alluded to this passage in Luke 23:28–30 and Revelation 6:15–17 (see above).
Historical Evidence of Jews Hiding in Caves
Josephus confirms that the Jewish leaders hid themselves in caves during the Jewish-Roman War of AD 67–70:
“And on this day it was that the Romans slew all the multitudes that appeared openly; but on the following days they searched the hiding places, and fell upon those that were under ground, and in the caverns [sic].”[3]
“The multitude of those that therein perished exceeded all the destructions that either men or God ever brought upon the world; for, to speak only of what was publicly known, the Romans slew some of them, some they carried captives, and others they made a search for under ground, and when they found where they were, they broke up the ground and slew all they met with [sic].”[4]
“So now the last hope which supported the tyrants, and that crew of robbers who were with them, was in the caves and caverns under ground; whither, if they could once fly, they did not expect to be searched for; but endeavored, that after the whole city should be destroyed, and the Romans gone away, they might come out again, and escape from them. This was no better than a dream of theirs; for they were not able to lie hid either from God or from the Romans. However, they depended on these underground subterfuges [sic].”[5]
“This Simon, during the siege of Jerusalem, was in the upper city; but when the Roman army was gotten within the walls, and were laying the city waste, he then took the most faithful of his friends with him, and among them some that were stone-cutters, with those iron tools which belonged to their occupation, and as great a quantity of provisions as would suffice them for a long time, and let himself and all them down into a certain subterraneous cavern that was not visible above ground. Now, so far as had been digged of old, they went onward along it without disturbance; but where they met with solid earth, they dug a mine under ground, and this in hopes that they should be able to proceed so far as to rise from under ground in a safe place, and by that means escape. But when they came to make the experiment, they were disappointed of their hope; for the miners could make but small progress, and that with difficulty also; insomuch that their provisions, though they distributed them by measure, began to fail them [sic].”[6]
The Jews hid themselves in the caves from the wrath of the Lord during the Jewish-Roman War of AD 67–70! This is when this prophecy was fulfilled.
For more information about the topics discussed in this article, get my book The End Is Here: How the New Testament Prophecies Were Fulfilled. Available now on Amazon.
By Alex Polyak, The Bible Fulfilled, 2/25/25
[1] A biblical generation equates to approximately forty years (see Heb. 3:8–10, Num. 14:30–34, Neh. 9:21).
[2] Gary DeMar, End Times Fiction, 41.
[3] Josephus, War of the Jews, book 3, chapter 1.
[4] Ibid., book 6, chapter 1.
[5] Ibid., book 6, chapter 7.
[6] Ibid., book 7, chapter 2.
