CHAPTER VThe Apocalyptic Movement

[Literature.—Toy,Judaism and Christianity, pp. 372-414 (1891); Schlatter,Israel’s Geschichte von Alexander d. Grossen bis Hadrian(1900); Bousset,Die Religion des Judentums im neutestamentlichen Zeitalter, pp. 195-290 (1903); Bousset,Die jüdische Apokalyptik(1903); Volz,Jüdische Eschatologie von Daniel bis Akiba(1903); M. Friedländer,Die rel. Bewegungen..., pp. 22-77 (1905); Gressmann,Der Ursprung der israelitisch-jüdischen Eschatologie(1905); Oesterley,The Doctrine of the Last Things(1908); Schürer, II, iii. pp. 44-151, German ed. III, pp. 258-407 (1909); Oesterley and Box,The Religion and Worship of the Synagogue, pp. 27-45, 222-254 (1911); Charles,Eschatology, Hebrew, Jewish and Christian(1913); Burkitt,Jewish and Christian Apocalypses(1914); MacCulloch’s article on “Eschatology,” in Hastings’Encycl. of Religion and Ethics, v. pp. 373-391 (1912).]

The fundamental ideas which ultimately developed into Jewish Apocalyptic go back to a hoary antiquity. Many of these ideas are present in one form or another in the Old Testament; but the different sources, some undoubtedly indigenous, others extraneous, whence these ideas emanated have, in all probability, a much longer history behind them. With the history and development of early Apocalyptic thought we are not here concerned, since our object is only to deal withJewishApocalyptic, and this merely in its broad outlines as it appears in what is called the Apocalyptic Movement.

When specifically Jewish Apocalyptic commenced it isnot possible to say, for the doctrines and hopes and fears which it taught must have been in men’s minds and have been widely inculcated long before it appeared in the form in which we know it, namely, its literary form. But it is not difficult to indicate the approximate date at which the Apocalyptic literature, known to us, began to come into existence; this was somewhere about the period 200-150B.C.; from that time it continued to grow during a period of about three centuries. The early beginnings of this literature, therefore, date from a time prior to the Maccabæan struggle. Before the Maccabæan era the two great opposing parties, Sadducæan and Pharisaic, did not exist. It is more than probable, however, as we have seen, that thetendencieswhich, later, developed and became directly antagonistic were already in being, and that the Maccabæan struggle had the effect of greatly strengthening them. Further, in pre-Maccabæan times, owing to the influence of the Hellenistic Movement, an universalistic spirit prevailed very largely among the Jews; they saw no objection to associating with the Greeks, were glad to learn from them, and welcomed the free and wide atmosphere which was characteristic of Greek thought. The result was that Jewish Apocalyptic, enriched by extraneous ideas and beliefs, flourished among the people; to many it brought light and comfort because it solved problems which had hitherto appeared insoluble; that this life was merely preparatory to a happier and fuller one after death, when the godly would come to their own and the wicked would receive their recompense, such a doctrine laid at rest the doubts and heart-searchings of those who were shocked at seeing the prosperity of the wicked, and who were grieved at the adversity and sorrow of the righteous. Jewish Apocalyptic, therefore, flourished; it appealed to the mass of the people, for it inspired them with hope; it was individualistic, so that each felt thathere was a message for him in particular as well as for the nation at large.

We have said that in the pre-Maccabæan era the tendencies which in later years had the effect of calling into existence two antagonistic parties were already present; we have also said that the Jewsas a wholewere more or less imbued with the Hellenistic spirit; let us explain our meaning a little more fully. Not all the Jews at this period were Hellenistically inclined, though the bulk were, and theinfluencewas more or less upon all; but there was a minority of the nation which had followed in the wake of those who since the time of Ezra and Nehemiah had clung tenaciously to a rigid observance of the Law; not that they were wholly uninfluenced by the Hellenistic spirit, any more than the more thorough-going Hellenistic Jews as a body were really disloyal to the Law. This minority consisted of those who were called the “Pious ones,” orChassidim[128]; it was connected with the Scribes, for in the important passage, 1 Maccabees vii. 12-14, it is said: “And there were gathered together unto Alcimus and Bacchides a company of scribes, to seek for justice. And the Chassidim were the first among the children of Israel that sought peace of them....” It was theChassidimwho in post-Maccabæan times developed into the distinct party of the Pharisees, the party of rigid orthodoxy, legalistic, exclusive, and narrow. Opposed, then, to the ideas of this minority were those who were led by the governing classes and the family of the High-Priest; men who were the friends of Hellenistic culture, and who were not legalistic in the sense that theChassidimwere. These represented what in post-Maccabæan times became the Sadducæan party. It cannot, however, be too strongly insisted upon that, as already pointed out, in pre-Maccabæan times there was neither a Sadducæan nor a Pharisaicparty. Thegreat mass of the people, including many among theChassidim, in these pre-Maccabæan times, was not ranged definitely on either one side or the other of those who represented the two tendencies just referred to; their main religious interest was Apocalyptic. We feel convinced that the evidence concerning the various religious thought-tendencies in pre-Maccabæan times, taken as a whole, supports M. Friedländer’s contention that “the great mass of the people, the multitudes (Am-haarez) remained before and after [i.e. of the Maccabæan struggle] under the spell of the Hellenistic spirit; and, as in the case of the ruling parties, they, too, had, also in post-Maccabæan times, their teachers and their ‘Pious’ ones. These teachers were theChassidimand the creators of the apocalyptic literature.”[129]These Apocalyptists, therefore, had this in common with the Pharisees that both were descended from the ‘Pious ones,’ orChassidim; only, as Friedländer puts it, “whereas the Pharisees were the bodily descendants of the pre-Maccabæan ‘Pious ones,’ the Apocalyptists were their spiritual descendants; the former transformed the faithfulness to the Law of their forefathers into legal burdens, the latter clung loyally to the simple belief of those self-same forefathers, a belief which was not blurred by intricate learning and a superabundant ‘oral tradition’; theirs was a piety, on the contrary, which was born of the spirit of the times and, therefore, such as was characteristic of the common folk.”[130]

It will, no doubt, strike some as incongruous that the Pharisees, with their circumscribed anti-Hellenistic views, and the Apocalyptists, with their enlarged purview and pre-Hellenistic ideas, should be said to have possessed a common ancestry; but there are two facts which are of themselves sufficient to show the probability of this having been the case: belief in a future life among the Jews was largely due to Greek thought; it was one of the main themes ofapocalyptic teaching; but it was also one of the most prominent tenets of the Pharisees, who developed it from the Platonic doctrine of the immortality of the soul to a definite belief in the resurrection of the body. That two schools of thought, differing in some vital respects, should nevertheless be in agreement in differing from the normal teaching of the Old Testament on such a special and peculiarly important subject as that of the future life, certainly points to an originally identical parentage. We have laid stress on the fact that in pre-Maccabæan times the Jewish nation, as a whole, was more or less influenced by the Hellenistic spirit; one section of the people would be influenced in this way, another in that. Thus, as an example, theChassidimwere influenced by the Hellenistic teaching on the future life; but the ruling classes were not, they clung to the old traditional teaching as contained in the Old Testament. Or again, among theChassidimwere many who were influenced by the freer and more tolerant atmosphere of the Greek spirit, agreeing in this with the ruling classes, but differing from those with whom they were in some other respects in agreement. So that when, later, clearly defined parties came into existence, they would not necessarily differ onallpoints; and Pharisees and Apocalyptists agreed as a whole upon the subject of a belief in the future life, though, as we shall see, various opinions on certain points concerning the future life were held by the Apocalyptists.

In another respect we may see an inner probability of the Pharisees and Apocalyptists having a common ancestry. TheChassidim, as their name implied, were intensely religiously-minded; the zeal for the Law of some was one way in which their eager yearning to do something for God could find vent; the steadfast gaze upon the world to come of others was the expression of a longing to be nearer God. Personal religion was the origin, the foundationand the summit ofChassidism. Now when we turn to later times we are able to see that same intense religious feeling in the Pharisees and in the Apocalyptists; the expression of that feeling has, it is true, become exaggerated in each case; but whether it is the somewhat rank overgrowth of legalism of the one, or the lurid and often overdrawn pictures of the eschatological drama of the other, beneath each is to be discerned real piety. Pharisees and Apocalyptists differed in many respects, but they were alike in their zeal for God which they inherited from their common ancestry.

We are to see, therefore, the beginnings of the Jewish Apocalyptic Movement in the teaching and literary activity of devoutChassidim, or better, Apocalyptists, who laboured in the earlier part of the second centuryB.C., and probably earlier.

Our purpose is now first of all to consider a little the mental attitude of the Apocalyptists in general, their guiding principles, their chief aims as teachers, and their personal characteristics. Then we shall examine briefly the more outstanding doctrines of the Apocalyptic Literature.

It will be well to draw attention at the outset to a feature in the teaching of the Apocalyptists which is at first very disconcerting, namely, their inconsistency of thought and the variableness to be found in the presentation of some of their doctrines which not infrequently involves them in contradictions. The reason of this is not to be sought simply in the fact that in the Apocalypses the hand of more than one author is to be discerned; but chiefly because the minds of individual Apocalyptists were, on the one hand, saturated with the traditional thoughts and ideas of the Old Testament, and, on the other, were eagerly absorbingthe newer conceptions which the spirit of the age had brought into being. This occasioned a continual conflict of thought in their minds; there was a constant endeavour to harmonize the old and the new; and in consequence there often resulted a compromise which was illogical and contradictory.

This inconsistency of teaching is, therefore, not other than might be expected under the circumstances; nor did it really affect the greatrôlethat the Apocalyptists played as thetrue prophets of the people; in this they followed in some important particulars the prophets of old, for if not in the same sense as these the expression of the national conscience, the Apocalyptists spoke to the hearts of the people in the name of God. If, upon the whole, their words were addressed more to individual men than to the nation as a single whole, it was a welcome sign that the individual was coming to his own. The Apocalyptists came with a message of comfort and hope to the God-fearing, bidding them be of good cheer; for though the world was cruel and dark, though they were the victims of oppression and tyranny, though their lot here was a hard one and they were languishing in adversity, yet this world and all the fashion of it was passing away; soon, very soon, the bright future would dawn, the Great Deliverer would come, and sorrow and sighing would pass away:

But with the righteous He will make peace,And will protect the elect,And mercy shall be upon them.And they shall all belong to God,And they shall be prospered,And they shall all be blessed.And He will help them all,And light shall appear unto them,And He will make peace with them (1 Enoch i. 8).[131]

But with the righteous He will make peace,

And will protect the elect,

And mercy shall be upon them.

And they shall all belong to God,And they shall be prospered,And they shall all be blessed.

And they shall all belong to God,

And they shall be prospered,

And they shall all be blessed.

And He will help them all,And light shall appear unto them,And He will make peace with them (1 Enoch i. 8).[131]

And He will help them all,

And light shall appear unto them,

And He will make peace with them (1 Enoch i. 8).[131]

The joyous hope that was thus held out must have had aprofound effect upon the many pious Israelites who were perplexed by the seeming incongruity of things in a world governed by a righteous and just God. Tempted as they must often have been to lose faith as well as hope, the message now brought to them would have strengthened both. So that the Apocalyptists may be truly described as upholders of the people’s faith. But they came, too, with the thunder of denunciation against the godless who in their abundant prosperity sought only their own pleasure and cared neither for the honour of God nor for the sorrow of the godly; for such a future, near approaching, of fearfulness and terror was predicted by the Apocalyptists:

And when sin and unrighteousness and blasphemyAnd violence in all kinds of deeds increase,And apostasy and transgression and uncleanness increase,A great chastisement shall come from heaven upon all these,And the holy Lord will come forth with wrath and chastisementTo execute judgement upon the earth.In those days violence shall be cut off from its roots,And the roots of unrighteousness together with deceit,And they shall be destroyed from under heaven (1 Enoch xcii. 7, 8).

And when sin and unrighteousness and blasphemy

And violence in all kinds of deeds increase,

And apostasy and transgression and uncleanness increase,

A great chastisement shall come from heaven upon all these,And the holy Lord will come forth with wrath and chastisementTo execute judgement upon the earth.

A great chastisement shall come from heaven upon all these,

And the holy Lord will come forth with wrath and chastisement

To execute judgement upon the earth.

In those days violence shall be cut off from its roots,And the roots of unrighteousness together with deceit,And they shall be destroyed from under heaven (1 Enoch xcii. 7, 8).

In those days violence shall be cut off from its roots,

And the roots of unrighteousness together with deceit,

And they shall be destroyed from under heaven (1 Enoch xcii. 7, 8).

The main concern of the Apocalyptists was thus with the future, with the world to come, wherein all the inequalities and incongruities of the present world would be put right. But from this it followed that most of what they taught was characterized by asupernatural colouringin which much that was exaggerated and fantastic was mixed up with sublime conceptions and eternal truths. They laid great stress upon the antithesis between this world and the next, between theOlam ha-zeh(this world), and theOlam ha-bâ(the world which is to come). Their view of this world was wholly pessimistic; there was nothing to be hoped from it; indeed, its badness, entire and irretrievable, as contrasted with the glorious world to come wherein no evil might abide, involved the Apocalyptistsin teaching which was of the nature of dualism. Again, that which was to come transcended human experience, so that in the great drama of the end the Apocalyptists depict man as standing in passive awe in face of the marvellous and supernatural occurrences which are then to take place; man’srôleas an active agent ceases; supernatural beings are God’s instruments in fulfilling His will; the scene is laid in Heaven, or in the skies, not on earth. The future is to bring with it a new world-order wherein all things will be different, the old order is to disappear for ever. In all this the dominant note which sounds throughout is that of thesupernatural.

At the base of the whole position taken up by the Apocalyptists in their teaching was a doctrine ofdeterminism, which must be briefly alluded to, for the recognition of this is essential to the understanding of the subject. The Apocalyptists started with the absolute conviction that the whole course of the world from beginning to end, both as regards its physical changes, and also in all that concerns the history of nations, their growth and decline, and of individuals, good and bad, the innumerable occurrences of every description and the very moment of their happening—in a word, the entire constitution and course of the world and all that is in it, whether regarded asgē(the physical earth = the Hebreweretz) or asoikoumenē(the inhabited world = the Hebrewtēbēl), was in every respect predetermined by God before all time. The words in 2 (4) Esdras iv. 36, 37 present a belief common to the Apocalyptists:

For He hath weighed the age in the balance,And by number hath He numbered the seasons;Neither will He move nor stir things,Till the measure appointed be fulfilled.

For He hath weighed the age in the balance,

And by number hath He numbered the seasons;

Neither will He move nor stir things,

Till the measure appointed be fulfilled.

On these words Box well remarks: “The times and periods of the course of the world’s history have been predeterminedby God. The numbers of the years have been exactly fixed. This was a fundamental postulate of the Apocalyptists, who devoted much of their energy to calculations, based upon a close study of prophecy, as to the exact period when history should reach its consummation ... the underlying idea is predestinarian.”[132]

But all these things are secrets; they can only be known to certain God-fearing men who have the faculty, divinely accorded, of peering into the hidden things of God, and who are thus able to reveal them to their fellow-creatures; hence the name given to these seers, viz., “revealers,” or Apocalyptists, because they wrote apocalypses, “revelations.” It was because the Apocalyptists believed so firmly in this power that they possessed of looking into the deep things of God that they claimed to be able to measure the significance of what had happened in the past and of what was happening in the present; more especially they believed that upon the basis of this knowledge they had the power of foreseeing things to come, and the time of their coming, and here above all things those which they regarded as the end of all, to which the whole history of the world had been tending from the beginning.

But with all their mysticism and other-worldliness, with all their eager looking forward to the passing of the present order, the Apocalyptists were not blind to the necessity of religious life in its practical aspect. They wereloyal to the Law, though not in the Pharisaic sense, laying stress rather on the spirit of its observance than on carrying it out literally. The frequent reproaches levelled against those who do not observe the ordinances of the Law shows their attitude; for example, in 1 Enoch v. 4 it is said:

But ye—ye have not been steadfast, nor done the commandments of the Lord,But ye have turned away and have spoken proud and hard wordsWith your impure mouths against His greatness.O ye hard-hearted, ye shall find no peace.

But ye—ye have not been steadfast, nor done the commandments of the Lord,

But ye have turned away and have spoken proud and hard words

With your impure mouths against His greatness.

O ye hard-hearted, ye shall find no peace.

And again, in xcix. 2 of the same apocalypse:

Woe to them that pervert the words of uprightness,And transgress the eternal law (cp. also xcix. 14, Sib. Orac. iii. 276 ff.).

Woe to them that pervert the words of uprightness,

And transgress the eternal law (cp. also xcix. 14, Sib. Orac. iii. 276 ff.).

On the other hand, the reward to be accorded to those who are faithful to the Law is often spoken of; this may be illustrated from another book, 2 (4) Esdras, of later date, but in this as in some other points of doctrine the Apocalyptists believed and taught alike whether belonging to an early or a late date; in ix. 7-12 of this book the promise of salvation to those who keep the Law is followed by a prophecy of woe to those who have ignored it: “And every one that shall then be saved, and shall be able to escape on account of his works or his faith by which he hath believed—such shall survive from the perils aforesaid, and shall see My salvation in My land, and within My borders which I have sanctified for Myself eternally. Then shall they be amazed that now have abused My ways; they shall abide in the torments which they have spurned and despised. For all who failed to recognize Me in their lifetime, although I dealt bountifully with them, and all who have defied My Law, while they yet had liberty, and, while place of repentance was still open to them, gave no heed, but scorned it—these must be brought to know after death by torment” (cp. vii. 83, viii. 29). The Law is also spoken of as “the light in which nothing can err” (Syriac Apoc. of Baruch xix. 3), and in the same book (lix. 2) reference is made to “the lamp of the eternal Law.” All such passages, and they could be enormously increased, show that the Apocalyptists had a high veneration for the Law, although they did not accept the Pharisaic interpretation of it.

In one respect, however, it may be gathered, the Apocalyptists were at one with the Pharisees in their method oflegal observance, and that was in the matter ofascetic practices; for these are frequently extolled, and are clearly regarded as highly meritorious. In one book it is stated, for example, that among those who are written and inscribed above in heaven are “the spirits of the humble, and of those who have afflicted their bodies” (1 Enoch cviii. 7). Elsewhere it is said: “Let us fast for the space of three days, and on the fourth let us go into a cave which is in the field, and let us die rather than transgress the commands of the Lord of lords, the God of our fathers” (Assumption of Moses ix. 6). In 2 (4) Esdras ascetic practices are often spoken of, see, e.g., vi. 32, vii. 125, ix. 24, and often elsewhere.[133]

Lastly, one other point may be mentioned here, namely the, generally speaking,universalistic attitudeof the Apocalyptists; they are not consistent in this, but normally they embrace the Gentiles equally with their own nation in the divine scheme of salvation; the wicked who are excluded are not restricted to the Gentiles, but the Jews equally with them shall suffer torment hereafter according to their deserts. (See on this subject the next section.)

These are, then, briefly the main points which illustrate the personal characteristics and general mental attitude of the Apocalyptists. But this will be further illustrated by glancing at the more important doctrines inculcated in the Apocalyptic Literature; indeed, one cannot properly separate the doctrinal teaching of the apocalypses from the mental standpoint of the writers; but for the sake of convenience, in enumerating their main points of doctrinal teaching, we propose to tabulate these in a separate section.

We have already pointed out that consistency of teachingis not to be looked for amongst the Apocalyptists as a whole; it is well to reiterate this here, for in referring to the main points of doctrine as taught in this literature examples of this will come before us. It is not our intention to give an exhaustive account of the doctrinal teaching of the Apocalyptic Literature; our object is to make some brief mention of the more specifically characteristic points of doctrine occurring in this literature.

It is one of the marks of Hellenistic influence when we find that Individualism occupies an important place in the teaching of some of the books of this literature. This is markedly the case in the Book of 1 Enoch, where the importance of the individual is often insisted upon; not the nation as such, but the righteous and elect, the “plant of righteousness” as it is called in x. 16, lxxxiv. 6, shall inherit the eternal reward. Thus it is said in civ. 1: “I swear to you that in heaven the angels remember you for good before the glory of the Great One; and your names are written before the glory of the Great One.”[134]The redemption of the world is to be brought about through the righteous and elect individuals, “the eternal seed-plant.” This is one of the dominating thoughts of this book, and also finds expression in others of this literature; it is one, as Friedländer says, which did not emanate from Pharisaic soil, but was a product of Jewish Hellenism.[135]In accordance with this, individual responsibility is strongly emphasized; a very pointed passage in this connection is 2 (4) Esdras vii. 102-105, where the seer asks the angel: “If I have found favour in thy sight, show me, thy servant, this also: whether in the Day of Judgement the righteous shall be able to intercede for the ungodly, or to entreat the Most High in their behalf—fathers for sons, sons for parents,brothers for brothers, kinsfolk for their nearest, friends for their dearest.” And the reply of the angel is: “The Day of Judgement is decisive, and displays unto all the seal of truth. Even as now a father may not send a son, or a son his father, or a master his slave, or a friend his dearest, that in his stead he may be ill, or sleep, or eat, or be healed, so shall none then pray for another on that Day, neither shall one lay a burden on another, for then every one shall bear his own righteousness or unrighteousness.”[136]

Here we have a good example of the inconsistency of teaching already referred to. The traditional belief of the Jewish nation being the peculiar treasure of God asserts itself in spite of the broader outlook inspired by Hellenistic influence. The former attitude is seen, for example, in the Assumption of Moses i. 12, where Moses says to Joshua: “He hath created the world on behalf of His people.” In 2 (4) Esdras, again, we have the following: “But as for the other nations, which are descended from Adam, Thou hast said that they are nothing, and that they are like spittle; and Thou hast likened the abundance of them to a drop falling from a bucket. And now, O Lord, behold, these nations which are reputed as nothing lord it over us and crush us. But we, Thy people, whom Thou hast called Thy first-born, Thy only-begotten, Thy beloved, are given up into their hands. If the world has indeed been created for our sakes why do we not enter into possession of our world?” (vii. 56-59). But though other passages of similar import could be given from most of the books of this literature, the particularistic attitude is not the normal or usual one; far more frequent are those passages which express a wider universalistic view; one or two instances may be given: in 1 Enoch x. 21 it is said that “all thechildren of men shall become righteous, and all nations shall offer adoration and shall praise Me, and all shall worship Me”; in xlviii. 4 it is said of the Son of Man that “He shall be the Light of the Gentiles” (see also xi. 1, 2, xlix. 1, l. 2-5, xc. 30, xci. 14, Sib. Orac., iii. 702-726, Syr. Apoc. of Baruch xiv. 19, etc.); so, too, in the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, Levi ii. 11: “And by thee and Judah shall the Lord appear among men, saving every race of men.”

It is interesting to note that in quite a number of passages in several of these apocalyptic books a blending of these two attitudes seems to find expression; thus, in the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, Levi xiv. 3, 4, Israel is regarded as superior to all other nations, but the salvation of the latter is awaited, and Israel is to be the means thereof: “My children, be ye pure, as the heaven is purer than the earth; and ye who are the lights of Israel, shall be as the sun and moon. What will the Gentiles do if ye be darkened through transgression? Yea, curses will come upon your race, and the light which was given through the Law to lighten you and every man, ye shall desire to destroy, and teach your commandments contrary to the ordinances of God.” Not essentially different is the thought contained in the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch lxvii. 5: “And at that time, after a little interval, Zion will again be builded, and its offerings will again be restored, and the priests will return to their ministry, and also the Gentiles will come to glorify it.” This teaching was not merely theoretical, it expressed what the Apocalyptists, urged on by the influence of the Hellenistic spirit, were actually striving to bring about; they desired to make Judaism a world-religion which could be embraced by all the Gentiles; hence the missionary propaganda which they initiated and carried out, and of which a large part of their literary activity formed the expression. Accordingto them the Jewish Church was to consist of those who were righteous, no matter what their nationality might be; and if one, though he were a Jew, was not godly, he was not regarded as a member of that Church. Outside of Palestine, as well as in many parts within the land, Jew and Gentile were constantly being brought into personal touch with one another, man with man; and many Jews came to learn that the distinction between the “people of God” and the “heathen world” was a wrong one, unfitting in the sight of God, unjust to men. Hence arose the apprehension of the true distinction to be drawn among men, a distinction between the righteous and the ungodly, irrespective altogether of nationality or race; and it is this distinction which finds such abundant expression in the Apocalyptic Literature. This religious conception regarding humanity resulted, in the natural course, in the desire to proclaim the name of the true and one God to all men so that all might have the chance of knowing Him. The Apocalyptists, inspired in large measure by the teaching of some of the greatest prophets, were therefore the great missionaries at this period; and this was the combined result of the universalistic attitude brought about by the influence of the Hellenistic spirit and the fuller apprehension and meaning of the teaching of prophets such as those who wrote the latter half of the Book of Isaiah and the Book of Jonah.

We need not go into all the details of Messianic teaching given in this literature; much of it is similar to that found in the Old Testament and in the Apocrypha; it will be sufficient if we point out what is more specifically characteristic. The most important point upon which to lay stress is the transcendental character of the Messiah. In 1 Enoch the Messiah appears as One Who is divine, for He has His place upon the throne of God:

On that day Mine Elect One shall sit upon the Throne of Glory (xlv. 3).

He is Judge and Saviour, and is endowed with all wisdom:

For in those days the Elect One shall arise,And He shall choose the righteous and holy from among them,For the day has drawn nigh that they should be saved.[137]And the Elect One shall in those days sit on My throne,And His mouth shall pour forth all the secrets of wisdom and counsel;For the Lord of Spirits hath given them to Him, and hath glorified Him (li. 2, 3).

For in those days the Elect One shall arise,

And He shall choose the righteous and holy from among them,

For the day has drawn nigh that they should be saved.[137]

And the Elect One shall in those days sit on My throne,

And His mouth shall pour forth all the secrets of wisdom and counsel;

For the Lord of Spirits hath given them to Him, and hath glorified Him (li. 2, 3).

But as a righteous judge He will condemn the wicked:

And He sat on the throne of His glory,And the sum of judgement was given unto the Son of Man,And he caused the sinners to pass away and be destroyed from off the face of the earth,And those who have led the world astray....For that Son of Man has appeared,And has seated himself upon the throne of His glory,And all evil shall pass away before His face,And the word of that Son of Man shall go forth,And be strong before the Lord of Spirits (lxix. 27-29, cp. lxi. 8).[138]

And He sat on the throne of His glory,

And the sum of judgement was given unto the Son of Man,

And he caused the sinners to pass away and be destroyed from off the face of the earth,

And those who have led the world astray....

For that Son of Man has appeared,

And has seated himself upon the throne of His glory,

And all evil shall pass away before His face,

And the word of that Son of Man shall go forth,

And be strong before the Lord of Spirits (lxix. 27-29, cp. lxi. 8).[138]

In accordance with this divine character of the Messiah is the teaching of His pre-existence before the world began:

Yea, before the sun and the signs were created,Before the stars of the heaven were made,His name was named before the Lord of Spirits (xlviii. 3, cp. verse 6).

Yea, before the sun and the signs were created,

Before the stars of the heaven were made,

His name was named before the Lord of Spirits (xlviii. 3, cp. verse 6).

This teaching is by no means confined to the Book of Enoch; in the Sibylline Oracles v. 414 ff., for example, it is said in reference to the Messiah that “there hath come from the plains of heaven a Blessed Man with the Sceptre in His hand which God hath committed to His clasp; and He hath won fair dominion over all, and hath restored to all the good the wealth which the former men took.” In the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, Judah xxiv. 1 it is said: “No sin shall be found in Him”; and in Levi xviii. 10, 11 are the striking words:

And He shall open the gates of paradise,And shall remove the threatening sword against Adam,And He shall give to the saints to eat from the tree of life,And the spirit of holiness shall be on them.

And He shall open the gates of paradise,

And shall remove the threatening sword against Adam,

And He shall give to the saints to eat from the tree of life,

And the spirit of holiness shall be on them.

In 2 (4) Esdras the Messiah is likewise similarly portrayed, though in some passages he appears as purely human (see below, chap. IX. § (e)). In some other apocalypses the Messiah is conceived of as a man pure and simple; but the account given above is the more characteristic of the Apocalyptic Literature taken as a whole.

Two outstanding doctrines come into consideration here: the doctrine of the immortality of the spirit, and the doctrine of the resurrection of the body. The causes, humanly speaking, whereby one led on to the other, were, firstly, the belief in a final retribution which the existence of a just and righteous God rendered necessary; and, secondly, innate materialistic conceptions which resulted in causing men to impute to the spirit what belongs properly to the body.[139]To dwell for a moment on the first point; the clearest illustration of it is found in the Book of 1 Enoch, where in cii. 6-8 the following words are put into the mouth of sinners:

As we die, so die the righteous,And what benefit do they reap for their deeds?Behold, even as we, so do they die in grief and darkness,And what have they more than we?From henceforth we are equal.And what will they receive, and what will they see for ever?Behold, they too have died,And henceforth for ever shall they see no light.

As we die, so die the righteous,

And what benefit do they reap for their deeds?

Behold, even as we, so do they die in grief and darkness,And what have they more than we?From henceforth we are equal.

Behold, even as we, so do they die in grief and darkness,

And what have they more than we?

From henceforth we are equal.

And what will they receive, and what will they see for ever?Behold, they too have died,And henceforth for ever shall they see no light.

And what will they receive, and what will they see for ever?

Behold, they too have died,

And henceforth for ever shall they see no light.

This evidently represents what was in effect actually believedand said by many; and the normal teaching of the Old Testament bore out the truth of it. But if it were true how could God’s righteousness and justice be vindicated? So the Apocalyptists taught a doctrine of retribution much in advance of anything to be found in the Old Testament, a doctrine which involved belief in immortality, and here they were indebted to Hellenistic influence, very different from the traditional Sheol-conception. This doctrine is nowhere more clearly set forth than in 1 Enoch ciii. 1-8. The passage is somewhat lengthy, but in view of its importance it will be well to quote it in full:

Now, therefore, I swear to you, the righteous, by the glory of the Great and Honoured and Mighty One in dominion, and by His greatness I swear to you:—

I know a mystery,And have read the heavenly tablets,And have seen the holy books,And have found written therein and inscribed regarding them:That all goodness and joy and glory are prepared for them,And written down for the spirits of those who have died in righteousness,And what manifold good shall be given to you in recompense for your labours,And that your lot is abundantly beyond the lot of the living.And the spirits of you who have died in righteousness shall live and rejoice,And their spirits shall not perish, nor their memorial from before the face of the Great One,Unto all the generations of the world. Wherefore, no longer fear their contumely.Woe to you sinners, when ye have died,If ye die in the wealth of your sins,And those who are like you, that say regarding you:“Blessed are the sinners, they have seen all their days;And now they have died in prosperity and in wealth,And have not seen tribulation or murder in their life;And they have died in honour,And judgement hath not been executed on them during their life.”Know ye, that their souls shall be made to descend into Sheol,And they shall be wretched in their great tribulation.And into darkness and chains, and a burning flame where there is grievous judgement shall your spirits enter;And the great judgement shall be for all the generations of the world.Woe to you, for ye shall have no peace.

I know a mystery,

And have read the heavenly tablets,

And have seen the holy books,

And have found written therein and inscribed regarding them:

That all goodness and joy and glory are prepared for them,And written down for the spirits of those who have died in righteousness,And what manifold good shall be given to you in recompense for your labours,And that your lot is abundantly beyond the lot of the living.

That all goodness and joy and glory are prepared for them,

And written down for the spirits of those who have died in righteousness,

And what manifold good shall be given to you in recompense for your labours,

And that your lot is abundantly beyond the lot of the living.

And the spirits of you who have died in righteousness shall live and rejoice,And their spirits shall not perish, nor their memorial from before the face of the Great One,Unto all the generations of the world. Wherefore, no longer fear their contumely.

And the spirits of you who have died in righteousness shall live and rejoice,

And their spirits shall not perish, nor their memorial from before the face of the Great One,

Unto all the generations of the world. Wherefore, no longer fear their contumely.

Woe to you sinners, when ye have died,If ye die in the wealth of your sins,And those who are like you, that say regarding you:“Blessed are the sinners, they have seen all their days;

Woe to you sinners, when ye have died,

If ye die in the wealth of your sins,

And those who are like you, that say regarding you:

“Blessed are the sinners, they have seen all their days;

And now they have died in prosperity and in wealth,And have not seen tribulation or murder in their life;And they have died in honour,And judgement hath not been executed on them during their life.”

And now they have died in prosperity and in wealth,

And have not seen tribulation or murder in their life;

And they have died in honour,

And judgement hath not been executed on them during their life.”

Know ye, that their souls shall be made to descend into Sheol,And they shall be wretched in their great tribulation.And into darkness and chains, and a burning flame where there is grievous judgement shall your spirits enter;And the great judgement shall be for all the generations of the world.Woe to you, for ye shall have no peace.

Know ye, that their souls shall be made to descend into Sheol,

And they shall be wretched in their great tribulation.

And into darkness and chains, and a burning flame where there is grievous judgement shall your spirits enter;

And the great judgement shall be for all the generations of the world.

Woe to you, for ye shall have no peace.

It will be noticed that in this passage it is only the spirit which is spoken of as living in the world to come, so that nothing more than the immortality of the spirit is taught; a teaching considerably in advance of the normal teaching of the Old Testament, but yet it does not go beyond belief in the immortality of the spirit. On the other hand, the passage contains expressions of a materialistic kind incompatible with purely spiritual conceptions; so that a reflective mind must sooner or later have been led to the fuller doctrine of the resurrection of the body if his teaching was to be logical.

But here another element comes into consideration. Conceptions regarding the Messianic Kingdom varied, and the subject we are discussing was closely connected with those variations; for as long as the Messianic Kingdom was conceived of as existing on this earth the teaching on the life hereafter, i.e. within the Messianic Kingdom, was bound to tend towards a bodily existence then. But when the Kingdom came to be conceived of as existing in the heavens, materialistic ideas receded, and more spiritual ones found expression. There seem, therefore, to have been three stages of conception regarding the state of man’s nature in the future life: first of all a development of the Old Testament Sheol-conception which resulted in the belief of the immortality of the spirit[140]; then with the expectation of the Messianic Kingdom of eternal duration on this earthcame the belief in the resurrection of the body; and, lastly, when the Kingdom of Heaven was conceived of as eternal in the Heavens above, it was the resurrection of the spirit that was taught.

Variation of teaching is also found in the Apocalyptic Literature regarding those who are to attain to the future life; sometimes it is taught that all the Israelites, good and bad, shall rise, those to inherit bliss, these to suffer torment; the Gentiles are not considered. At other times only the good Israelites are to rise; while it is also taught, though more rarely, that all mankind shall rise, including therefore the Gentiles; the righteous rise to eternal life, the wicked to eternal torment. An intermediate period of waiting between death and the resurrection is also taught, the wicked being in Hades, the righteous in Paradise. But sometimes there is no mention of an intermediate state, the resurrection following immediately after death.[141]

These, then, constitute the most important doctrines concerning which the Apocalyptic Literature has something specific to teach. The doctrine of God does not differ materially from anything that is taught in the Old Testament and in the Apocrypha, and the same applies to the doctrine of Sin; the doctrine of Wisdom will receive consideration inChapter IX. The Angelology and Demonology of this Literature certainly show considerable development owing to Persian influence; but these two subjects are not of sufficient importance for present purposes to merit any detailed treatment.

For some account of the books of this literature seeChapter X.

In discussing the beginnings of the Apocalyptic Movement a consideration of the different thought-tendencies in Palestine prior to the Maccabæan struggle is necessary. The Jewish nation as a whole had come under the influence of the Hellenistic spirit, though not all were Hellenistically inclined. A minority, who clung tenaciously to the rigid observance of the Law, was known as the “Pious ones,” orChassidim. But theseChassidimwere of two types; there were among them those who became the Apocalyptists, and there were also among them those who, later, developed into the party of the Pharisees. Thus both Apocalyptists and Pharisees acknowledged a common descent, i.e. from theChassidim.

The teaching of the Apocalyptists is on more than one subject inconsistent; this is mainly due to the fact that their minds were, on the one hand, saturated with the traditional thoughts and ideas of the Old Testament, while on the other hand they were eagerly absorbing the newer conceptions bred of the spirit of the age. Nevertheless, the Apocalyptists were the true prophets of the people, to whom they brought a message of comfort and hope by telling of the new world which was soon to come; to the ungodly they addressed words of stern warning. The teaching of the Apocalyptists dealt mainly with the world to come, and most of what they taught was characterized by its supernatural colouring. They held strongly that all things had been predestined by God before all time. In spite of much mysticism and a gaze concentrated on that which was to come, the Apocalyptists were loyal to the Law, though not in the Pharisaic sense, the spirit of its observance being regarded as more important than obedience to the letter. Normally the Apocalyptists were universalists rather than particularists, though in this they were inconsistent.

The main points in the doctrinal teaching of the Apocalyptic Literature are: Individualism, the importance of the individual being strongly emphasized; the inclusion of the Gentiles in the divine plan of salvation; the transcendental character of the Messiah; and the teaching concerning the future life; in this latter inconsistency is found, sometimes the resurrection of the body is taught, at other times only the immortality of the soul; there is also variety of teaching on the subject of those who are to attain to the future life and their lot there.

Back to Index Next