The Jews Try to Rebuild the Temple, and the Plagues from Heaven

Julian, who had made his soul a home for destroying demons, went on his way in a frenzy like the Corybantes, raging all the while against true religion. So now he armed the Jews too against those who believed in Christ. He began by asking some of them whom he had gathered why, since their law required them to offer sacrifices, they offered none. They answered that their worship was limited to one particular place. At once this enemy of God gave orders for the destroyed temple to be rebuilt. In his vanity he imagined that he could prove the Lord’s prediction false, when in reality he showed it to be true. The Jews heard his words with delight and made his orders known to their countrymen throughout the world. They came in haste from every direction, giving both money and enthusiasm for the work. The emperor supplied everything he could, less out of pride in his generosity than out of hostility to the truth. He also sent as governor a man fit to carry out his ungodly orders. It is said that they made pickaxes, shovels and baskets of silver. [a]

When they had begun to dig and carry away the earth, a vast crowd of them kept at the work all day; but at night the earth that had been carried away slid back from the ravine by itself. They also tore down the remains of the former building, intending to build everything up again. But when they had gathered thousands of bushels of chalk and lime, a violent wind suddenly blew, and storms, gales and whirlwinds scattered everything far and wide. Still they went on in their madness, and God’s patience did not bring them to their senses. Then first came a great earthquake, enough to strike terror into the hearts of men who knew nothing of God’s ways. And when they were still not awed, fire burst out of the dug-out foundations, burned up most of the diggers, and put the rest to flight. Besides this, when a large number of men were sleeping one night in a building nearby, it suddenly collapsed, roof and all, and crushed every one of them. That night, and the following night as well, the sign of the cross of salvation was seen shining brightly in the sky, and the very clothes of the Jews were filled with crosses, not bright but black. When God’s enemies saw these things, they fled in terror at the plagues from heaven and made their way home, confessing the divinity of him whom their fathers had crucified. Julian heard of these events, for everyone was talking about them. But like Pharaoh he hardened his heart.