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And so we don't see the idea of life after death really in the Hebrew Bible until this
very late apocalyptic book of Daniel. The idea is very influential in the Dead Sea Scrolls
(they are very dualist) and in the writings of the New Testament, of course. So a belief
in personal immortality, a belief in a general resurrection of the dead--these arise from
a negative view of this world as a place where justice can be obtained. So apocalyptic writers
examined the world they lived in; they drew the conclusion that reward and punishment
were going to be made in an afterlife. They were certainly not doled out in this life,
as Israel suffered. This is a marked break from the general conviction of the Hebrew
Bible that human life is limited to this world, and that the fundamental concern of humans
and God is morality in this life and not immortality in another. I think apocalyptic literature
can be described as a literature of hope and despair. It's a literature of despair or pessimism
because its basic premise is that this world holds out no promise for the righteous. It's
a literature of hope or optimism because it affirms that God will intervene. He will intervene
in human history, he'll set everything right, he'll interrupt the natural order, he's going
to destroy this broken world as we know it, and he'll do so in order to rescue the righteous
and humiliate the wicked, and if you've already died don't worry there will be a resurrection,
it will all be made right. But this hope for supreme and ultimate vindication is thrust
off into the future. So apocalyptic constitutes yet one more response to the traumatic events,
the crises, and the disappointments of Israel's history. In a second we'll get to Daniel,
but there are a few apocalyptic passages of varying length in other post-exilic books.
I'll just touch on them very quickly. Second Zechariah and, a little bit, the Book of Joel,
just to prepare us for Daniel. Second Zechariah. Now, these are chapters 9 through 14. We talked
about the historical Zechariah, chapters 1 through 8, so this is Second Zechariah, chapters
9 through 14, and it's a collection of diverse oracles, probably fifth-century or later,
that contain these strange visions and predictions. Their meanings cannot always be fathomed,
but they seem to focus on the Day of the Lord, and the restoration of Jerusalem, and the
rise of a new and humble king who will reign in peace, really over a new world order. Chapter
14 is a vision of this global battle that will bring history to an end. God is going
to bring all the nations to Jerusalem where they will plunder the city, they will kill
almost all of the inhabitants and then at the last moment when things look the most
desperate, God will intervene and he'll fight for Israel and exact revenge on her enemies.
And it's after this final battle that God will transform the earth into a paradise.
So Israel's enemies will rage against one another, the surviving nations will pilgrimage
to Jerusalem. Again, Jerusalem now is elevated above all cities, and these nations will come
to Jerusalem to worship Yahweh at his temple, and Yahweh will be sovereign over the world.