The 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).]
I. THE BEGINNINGS OF THE APOCALYPTIC MOVEMENT
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 with _Jewish_ Apocalyptic, and this merely in its broad
outlines as it appears in what is called the Apocalyptic Movement.
When specifically Jewish Apocalyptic commenced it is not 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 200-150 B.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 the
_tendencies_ which, 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 that here 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 Jews _as a
whole_ were 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 the
_influence_ was 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,” or _Chassidim_[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 the _Chassidim_ who 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 the _Chassidim_ were. 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 Pharisaic _party_. The great
mass of the people, including many among the _Chassidim_, 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 the
_Chassidim_ and 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,’ or _Chassidim_;
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 of apocalyptic 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, the _Chassidim_ were 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 the _Chassidim_ were 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 on _all_ points; 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. The _Chassidim_, 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 foundation and the
summit of _Chassidism_. 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 devout _Chassidim_,
or better, Apocalyptists, who laboured in the earlier part of the
second century B.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.
II. THE APOCALYPTISTS
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 absorbing the 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
great _rôle_ that the Apocalyptists played as the _true 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]
The joyous hope that was thus held out must have had a profound
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 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 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).
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 a _supernatural
colouring_ in 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
the _Olam ha-zeh_ (this world), and the _Olam 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 Apocalyptists in 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’s _rôle_ as 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 the _supernatural_.
At the base of the whole position taken up by the Apocalyptists
in their teaching was a doctrine of _determinism_, 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 as _gē_ (the physical earth = the Hebrew _eretz_)
or as _oikoumenē_ (the inhabited world = the Hebrew _tēbēl_), 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.
On these words Box well remarks: “The times and periods of the
course of the world’s history have been predetermined by 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 were _loyal 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 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.).
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 of legal observance,
and that was in the matter of _ascetic 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 attitude_ of 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.
III. THE DOCTRINAL TEACHING OF THE APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE
We have already pointed out that consistency of teaching is 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.
(_a_) _Individualism._
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]
(_b_) _Particularism and Universalism._
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 the children 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.
According to 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.
(_c_) _The Doctrine of the Messiah._
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).
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]
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).
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.
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.
(_d_) _The doctrine of the Future Life._
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.
This evidently represents what was in effect actually believed and
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.
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 earth came 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 in Chapter 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 see Chapter X.
SUMMARY
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,”
or _Chassidim_. But these _Chassidim_ were 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 the _Chassidim_.
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.