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Understanding of the future in post-exilic times
Through the period leading up to the exile and into the post-exilic period there were two different ways of looking at the future.
1. Restoration
The first view was of restoration. This was the main understanding of the pre-exilic prophets. For them, the hope of the future was of the restoration to the land following the exile. Their understanding of hope included harmony between God and his created world. Judgement was temporal and not final. It was within history, and could re-occur depending on the response of the people. The purpose of judgement on Jerusalem was to discipline his people. Prophecies against foreign nations had the purpose of showing that God’s justice would be done for the wrong-doing of the nations that had oppressed Israel. The end of the world would be a transformation to complete harmony.
2. Transformation
Transformation was more apocalyptic and became increasingly important in the post-exilic period. The people had returned to the land, but were still struggling and being oppressed by foreign powers. The focus of judgement changed to a single final judgement at the end of history, and prophecies against foreign nations faded out. In this understanding, the final judgment would be followed by a new creation and the end of physical existence.
The more gnostic view of the separation of the spiritual and the physical had its roots in this way of thinking. When taken to extreme, God was spiritual and good, compared with the physical creation being evil.
1. Ezra and Nehemiah - the view of the majority
Ezra and Nehemiah focussed on restoration of the nation. If people would obey the law of Moses, then a perfect community could be achieved. This approach has the danger of harshness and legalism. It was anti-eschatological, believing that hope is seen in the present, rather than in the future. The exiles were eager to return to Jerusalem because they believed that the predictions of the prophets of a glorious future would be fulfilled in the return from exile, when the Messiah would come.
The focus of Nehemiah and Ezra was on restructuring the community and society to create a perfect community under God (Neh 12:44 - 13:3). They were eager to obey the law of Moses and exclude foreigners from society (13:1). They re-established the system of temple worship according to that created by David and Asaph (12:46). The reign of David was seen as the golden age of Israel. The incident of Tobiah’s furniture showed Nehemiah’s eagerness to cleanse the temple of anything foreign, so the temple could be the true centre of the new community (13:4-9).
Hope not realised
Much of this hope for a glorious future was not realised, resulting in disillusionment. There were still difficulties, particularly opposition from enemies, and the sin of the people. At the end of his book Nehemiah expressed his zeal to keep the law and to cleanse from anything foreign, “Thus I cleansed them from everything foreign, and I established the duties of the priests and Levites, each in his work; and I provided for the wood offering, at appointed times, and for he first fruits.” (13:30). However he still complains about the half-heartedness of the Jews. He complains about the failure to provide for the Levites (13:10-14), keeping the Sabbath (13:15-22), and about mixed marriages (13:23-27). The purpose of each of these outward measures was to maintain the distinctiveness of the Jews. Each time he concludes with “Remember me, O my God” (13:14,22,31).
2. The apocalyptics - the view of the minority
When the foundation of the temple was laid, many people rejoiced, but others wept when they compared it with Solomon’s temple (Ezra 3:12). It seems that they could not see what was probably quite a shabby temple as being a fulfilment of the predictions of the prophets of a glorious future for Israel. The growing sense of disillusionment began to shift the hope for the future to something beyond this present world. For some that led to a lack of responsibility for the present world.
Because of this tendency, following the return from exile, the apocalyptics were open to strange influences, including the dualistic view from Persian thinking. This splits the physical from the spiritual, seeing that the spiritual was good, and physical was evil, which is the foundation of Gnosticism. They looked for only a spiritual fulfilment after this world, because the physical was evil.
The more apocalyptic view was expressed by Zechariah, particularly in his two oracles, or burdens (Zech 9-14). Zechariah speaks of another day coming, after 520 BC, when Jerusalem will be plundered and exiled (Zech 14). Some of the words of the earlier prophets had not yet been fulfilled, so a greater judgement was still yet to come, which will be a bigger catastrophe than 586 BC (14:3-4). The earlier predictions of the restoration of Jerusalem seem not to have been fulfilled by Ezra and Nehemiah, so they look for a fuller spiritual or eternal fulfilment in the future.
Two streams
From the time of Ezra and Nehemiah onwards two streams developed. One is of a theocracy, that God will rule on the earth as it is now. This is the view supported by Ezra and Nehemiah, including Haggai and Zechariah exhorting Jews to rebuild the temple (Ezra 5:1). This is seen in the books of Haggai, and the first half of Zechariah (Zech 1-8).
The other stream is apocalyptic, that God will dramatically transform the earth. They repeat and rephrase the earlier prophets as they are not seen as being fulfilled in the restoration following the exile. This is seen in the second half of Zechariah (Zech 9-14), which looks beyond the theocracy to a dramatic future.
A tension between theocracy and apocalyptic
Both viewpoints are expressed in the Hebrew canon, with both held onto in tension. During the inter-testamental period both views moved to the extremes. However in the canon of the OT, the extremes of each side are rejected. The theocratic world of the Maccabees was seen as too worldly, and the apocalyptic world of books like 1 Enoch were beyond the realms of reality. The books of the prophets between the 9th century and the 5th century were accepted.
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