Jesus said "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. "Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. "For these are the days of vengeance, that (all things which are written may be fulfilled). (Luke 21:20-22)Matthews 24:16-20 states, "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. "Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. "And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. "But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! "And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.
The times are going to be bad. Jesus warns Christians not even to come down and get one's clothes. Why did Jesus say let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house? Instead of let him who is (out of the house not go into his house and take anything? The answer here involves the way the homes were built in ancient Jerusalem.
The top of the houses were built flat, and the people used it in the same way that we would use a patio. In the cool of the evening, they went to the top of their house and sat there and talked to their neighbors on the adjacent rooftops.
So if a person was on his rooftop when the time came to get out of Jerusalem, he could literally run from housetop to housetop to housetop without ever coming down on the street for a long distance.
Early Christian historians Eusebius and Epiphanius claim that prior to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans Christians fled to the Decapolis city of Pella.. Pella is not in a wilderness area but one of the cities of the Decapolis. Decapolis means "ten cities"; there were ten small cities in a small area right around the Sea of Galilee. It is not in the mountains, though it is near some. The church probably left somewhere in late AD 69.
If they had left earlier than that, they would have run headlong into Vespasian's army, because Vespasian's army was stalled fighting in the area of Galilee. In AD 69, Vespasian was recalled to Rome where he was crowned Emperor. His son Titus took over the army and came down on Jerusalem. Now by moving his army toward Jerusalem, it became safe for the church to migrate away from Jerusalem.
