The term Zealot can be traced back to 1st C Judaism. Zealots pushed for Jewish independence from Rome. Some of their most ardent adherents became known as Sicarii, or dagger men, a name that comes from the short swords they hid under their garments. Mingling in Jerusalem’s festival crowds, the Sicarii slit the throats of their enemies or stabbed them in the back.
In 66 C.E., a group of Zealots seized the fortress of Masada near the Dead Sea. They butchered the Roman garrison and made the mountaintop fastness their base of operations. For years they sortied from there and harassed the imperial authorities. In 73 C.E., the Roman Tenth Legion led by Governor Flavius Silva retook Masada, but they did not conquer the Zealots. A contemporary historian claims that rather than give in to Rome, 960 of them—everyone up there except for two women and five children—committed suicide.
Jewish Christians took no part in this. Obedience to Jesus instructions proved to be life saving.
(Matthew 24:15, 16) “Therefore, when you catch sight of the disgusting thing that causes desolation, as spoken about by Daniel the prophet, standing in a holy place (let the reader use discernment), then let those in Ju·de′a begin fleeing to the mountains.
Daniel the prophet also foretells what is happening in our day.
(Daniel 2:44) “In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed. And this kingdom will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it alone will stand forever,"
Jehovah set up that kingdom in 1914. Soon it will crush all these kingdoms that stand in opposition to Jehovah's sovereignty.
