Jerusalem's Destruction… in Old Missouri's hymnbook? (Reformation or Halloween?) Part 1 of 2

Destruction of Jerusalem
70 A.D.

      Although there is a Wikipedia article on the history of the Destruction of Jerusalem which gives much information, yet it does not affirm that it is indeed the fulfillment of Christ’s prophecy, Luke 19:41-47, Luke 21:20-24. What the world largely does not know, including most people within the LC-MS and the other former members of the Synodical Conference, is that this history was not only printed in many of the popular hymnals, but it was also read in the worship services on the 10th Sunday after Trinity. This day in the Church Year most recently was August 25, 2019, next year – Aug. 19, 2020.

      I would not be surprised if Walther himself had this "Destruction of Jerusalem" included in his Hymnal.  He may have obtained it from old orthodox hymnals from Germany, but this is speculation on my part.  It was printed in the final pages in many editions.  Perhaps LCMS Senior Assistant to the President Dr. Jon Vieker could answer this question.
      As far as I can determine, this history has not been included in any of the English translated hymnbooks after the transition from German to English.  Neither was it included in the most recent translation of Walther’s Hymnal (CPH 2012) by Matthew Carver.
      There is much talk and commemoration of the misfortunes of the Jews in more recent times. Although these misfortunes were not foretold by Christ, the Destruction of Jerusalem was foretold in Holy Scripture – it is an historical event agreed upon by virtually all modern historians. And this history was not only not avoided by Old (German) Missouri, it was given a full reading in a regular worship service once every year… but never by the (New English) Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. 

      For additional details on non-spiritual matters of this history, see Wikipedia Siege of Jerusalem and the First Jewish-Roman War. There are a few maps on these Wikipedia sites, and there are several more helpful maps available at this site, although their accuracy in detail is unknown.

      This blog post is providing the full digitized German text from the original German hymnbooks for German speaking readers:



     Not only was this Description ("Beschreibung") in the hymnbook, an essay explaining and giving additional details on its history was published in Der Lutheraner, vol. 43 (August 1887) by Prof. Gottlieb Schaller. just a few months before he passed away in November.  For German speaking readers, the original digitized text is provided below:

      In the concluding Part 2, more information will be provided along with separate English translations of these two publications.  It will then present a side-by-side synchronized presentation that gives the fullest picture of how the Old (German) Missouri Synod took their instruction for repentance seriously. —  It will be presented on Reformation Day, a day that is more commonly "celebrated" as Halloween – a day "celebrated" for its images of terror and horror.  Can you believe that a story of a mother eating her child was read in church?... in the next Part 2.