A Brief Word on Ancient Apocalyptic Literature

Ancient first century apocalyptic literature was as common in its day as science fiction books were in the 1980s and 1990s, finding their way into almost everyone’s home at some point in one way or another. Like science fiction, apocalyptic literature was riveting, thrilling, exciting, and almost surely fantastical. Again, like science fiction, apocalyptic literature painted a stark contrast between right and wrong, good and evil, light and dark, often in grand gestures, rooting its analysis of historical events in the realm of the fanciful, demarcating with clear lines who was on which side. As with science fiction, apocalyptic literature was written to unmask in veiled language the oppressive authoritarian regimes in power and to encourage the underdogs with hope in the present moment by some grand victory at the ultimate end. Eventually, light would conquer darkness, good would overcome evil, right would win out over wrong, and all the underdogs would be happily rewarded with some great, heavenly resolution.

Before the first century, Jewish apocalyptic literature was in vogue, from since about 250/200 BCE, about which time 1 Enoch is dated. Such literature exploded during the Hellenistic period, though presumably having its roots in both Persian and Babylonian mythology, the exile of the Jews into Babylon having influenced the formation of this literature. Growing out of its prophetic tradition, Jewish apocalyptic literature no longer prophesied about the present and imminent work of God with an aim for a call to repentance but about the future and coming work of God at the end of the age, when cataclysmic divine judgement would usher in the eschatological end of days and the renewal of the kingdom of God, and God would save his downtrodden people.

Since the Babylonian Exile, the Jewish nation struggled with their ruling overlords, Antiochus IV Epiphanes of the Seleucid Empire in the Hellenistic period persecuting the Jews, who revolted in circa 200 BCE and established about an one-hundred-year reign with the Hasmonean Dynasty. When Rome came to roost in Judea, it took control of the Jewish nation and leveled its temple in response to the Jewish revolt of 70 CE. Then, circa 130 CE, in response to the Bar Kokhba Revolt, the Romans banned the Jews from Jerusalem and renamed Judea to Syria Palaestina.

When the Christian movement began to grow in the late first century, it took up the Jewish apocalyptic torch by carrying the writing of such literature forward, composing such non-canonical works as the Apocalypse of Peter, the Apocalypse of Paul, the Apocalypse of Thomas, the Apocalypse of Bartholomew, and the First and Second Apocalypses of James. Of course, the late first century Christian movement also produced the canonical Apocalypse of John as well as the “Little Apocalypse” or the Olivet Discourse, apocalyptic passages of the synoptic gospels in Mark 13, Matthew 24, and Luke 21.

Apocalyptic Literature in the Bible

Throughout the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, there are scattered in various places apocalyptic passages, as in Daniel 7-12, Isaiah 24-27, Ezekiel 37-39, Joel 2-3, and Zechariah 1-6; 9-14. Such prophetic literature became foundational for later Judeo-Christian–even Islamic–apocalyptic literature, dealing largely with divine victory in the eschaton over the powers of evil, both earthly and spiritual, God demonstrating in the end his power over all, particularly over evil, and his power to rule his people with complete sovereign grace and love.

In the New Testament, the aforementioned passages of the synoptic gospels (Mark 13, Matthew 24, Luke 21) and the Apocalypse of John as well as various passages of Paul (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 5:1-11; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10; 2:1-12; 1 Corinthians 7:29-31; 15:20-28, 50-55; 2 Corinthians 12:1-4; Galatians 1:4; Romans 8:19-23; 13:11-13; 16:20), in addition to the letter of Jude, which heavily relies upon extrabiblical apocalyptic literature, are various canonical apocalyptic writings of the early Christian movement; additionally, 2 Peter 2:4-10; 3:1-13; 1 John 2:18-22; 4:1-3; and Hebrews 12:25-29 are apocalyptic in nature.

These passages have various ways of describing the eschaton and apocalypse, such that stringing together a seamless account might prove to be a challenge–or might well produce the Left Behind series. The apocalyptic literature found in the Bible was written with regard to particular sociopolitical and historical circumstances of the authors’ current time and place, not necessarily to foretell the far out future. While dealing with the end of the age, the authors of biblical apocalyptic literature were constrained by the limits of their historical time and place; thus, as they wrote of the end of the age, they presumed that their day was the last day. Like each generation that deems its own generation to not have been as bad as “kids these days,” so the authors of biblical apocalyptic literature seem to have presumed that the current generation of their day was so bad as to require divine judgement with apocalypse, ushering in the eschaton.

Analysis of Apocalyptic Literature and Biblical Prophecy

Oftentimes, I have heard some rendition of the idea that biblical apocalyptic literature is prophecy, and by “prophecy” is meant that such literature is foretelling the far-off future, the final end of the age, when all will be settled with rewards and condemnations meted out, respectively, to those who are in the right and those who are in the wrong. Those in the right–who are deemed good, called “saints,” are of the people of God–will be rewarded with eternal life in heaven, while those in the wrong–who are deemed evil, called “sinners,” are of the devil–will be condemned to eternal judgment in hell. Not only is this the story that I have heard in church since childhood, it does seem to be the story told by mainline evangelical American Christians, who seemingly accept such an account as gospel truth, wholly biblical, supremely accurate.

Such a reading is problematic, however, on several counts: first of all, prophecy as such is not so much about foretelling as it is about forth-telling–that is, telling forth the truth of the word of God, as found in the Law: the prophets of old and even of the first century told a story in line with the Mosaic Law, Christian prophets of the first century proclaiming Jesus as the fulfillment of the Law as well as Messianic trends in former biblical prophecies. The job of biblical prophets was to realign the people of God with the Law of God, as found in the Mosaic Law. Thus, biblical prophecy was not so much about foretelling the future; rather, it was about telling forth the truth of God’s Law as found in Moses.

Secondly, apocalyptic literature–even biblical apocalyptic literature–is, as aforementioned, ancient stuff that tells riveting stories about final judgment, the demarcation of good and evil with rewards and punishments therewith, respectively, of the time and place as well as the age in which the texts were written. To read biblical apocalyptic literature otherwise, that is, as prophecy about the future, is to fail to account for the type of literature that it was: an historical sociopolitical commentary on contemporary societies–not so much a declaration of what is or might come to pass.

Thirdly, the apocalypse of the eschaton, also known as the “Day of the Lord,” is, in the Christian rendition, manifest in the coming of Jesus as the Christ, who does not so much smite the world and all its sinful people as he does himself, bearing upon himself the wrath of God intended for sin by, as Paul writes, becoming sin so that we might become the righteousness of God. The concept of a Judgment Day or Armageddon, while well-suited for Hollywood blockbusters, is not exactly the picture painted in the Bible nor is it in keeping with the nature of the character of God, who is love.

Of course, love is not a flimsy-whimsy, wishy-washy sort of thing: it is, in fact, very stout, hardy, sturdy and strong. The love of a mother bear for her cub is evident of just how fiercely strong love can be. The apocalypse of the eschaton is, then, perhaps more about God displaying his grace than his wrath, about transforming us sinners into saints–as no one is good, yea, not even one. Additionally, the many ways about which the apocalypse is written as well as the eschaton and the Day of the Lord indicates that there is little to perhaps no agreement among all the biblical authors as to what the eschaton was, is, or might be.

Fourthly, the concept of heaven and hell as presented in such an American gospel as mainline evangelicalism is hardly the stuff of the Bible–even of the Book of Revelation, as we shall see. The Hebrew Bible/Old Testament account for the afterlife as a place called “Sheol,” which, simply put, is the abode of the dead–all the dead. There is no judgment for the wicked or reward for the righteous; in many ways, this life is the reward and judgment of all–and Sheol is the place where everyone goes after this life.

The development of heaven and hell, as we have received it today, seems to have originated in the intertestamental period with extrabiblical influences from Persia and Greece, namely, Zoroastrianism and Hellenism. Additionally, as a result of the severe torture and torment of martyrs during the Maccabean era, many Jews began to reason that there must be some afterlife reward for such suffering. Since the early Christian movement was a derivative of first century Judaism, it carried forward the ideas of heaven and hell. It is rather striking, however, that in even the Christian New Testament Book of Revelation, hell is cast down into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14).

Thus, it seems, apocalyptic literature was of a sociopolitical, historical type, set in its day and age, pronouncing judgment on its own age and time, specifically, against the rulers of the day and their followers. Inasmuch as prophecy is of its own day and time, speaking to those within its age, even peering into the future, as it were, with the eyes of hope of a renewed reality, so also apocalyptic literature speaks to its own day and time with a vision for the future, wherein judgment falls upon the wicked and the underdogs are established in justice and rightness.

Examples from Daniel, Matthew, and Revelation

In the second half of the Book of Daniel, chapters 7-12, the author records various visions Daniel has, of which there is a vision in chapter 7 in which there is one like a son of man–rather, a human being–coming with the clouds, approaching the Ancient of Days, who bestows on him authority, glory, and sovereign power, before whom all worship, as his kingdom is everlasting and will never be destroyed. This “son of man” became a kind of messianic identifier of one to come who would rule and reign in David’s stead over Israel, establishing the nation of Israel, etc., etc., etc. Jesus, too, made reference to himself as the “Son of Man,” ambiguously indicating that he was both/either human and/or the fulfillment of the Davidic, messianic hopes, the “son of man” coming on the clouds to the Ancient of Days, receiving authority, glory, and power.

While the image of the son of man in chapter 7 in the Book of Daniel might indicate messianic anticipations, it seems to spell out in the interpretation given at the end of the chapter in verses 26-27, which state sovereignty, power, and greatness will be handed over to the people of God. Thus, the “son of man” is interpreted in the text as the “people of God,” the “holy ones,” that is, saints of God. The fact that Jesus is written as having utilized the phrase “Son of Man” in reference to himself may indicate that he was simply calling himself human, or it may indicate that he was aligning with the people of God as expressed in Daniel 7, or it may indicate that he was declaring himself as Messiah, the fulfillment of the Davidic promise.

Matthew 24 is, as aforementioned, a part of the “Little Apocalypse,” that is, the Olivet Discourse as found in the synoptic gospels. In it, Jesus indicates that many false teachers, messiahs, and prophets will come, deceiving many; and there will be wars, famines, and earthquakes, as well as the persecution of his followers. But this will not be the end. In fact, Jesus says, no one knows the day or the hour–not even he himself, the Son.

Jesus speaks of this not to warn or frighten his disciples, but to prepare them to be vigilant in doing good, as the Olivet Discourse continues on into Matthew 25, wherein Jesus tells the parable of the separation of the sheep from the goats, those who truly serve him by loving others and those who do not, sending the sheep into eternal life and the goats into eternal punishment. The preparation that Jesus intends for his disciples is that they do good deeds, living out the faith they profess with faithfulness in well-doing.

A general overview of Revelation can be expressed in two ways: 1) God wins, and 2) those who are of God do not go along with the powers of empire, but rather oppose it with their very lives, willing to die, not succumbing to the impulse or draw of the power of empire. By “empire,” it is meant the systems of the world in which those who exercise power are abusive and unjust, unrighteous and evil. A current picture of this might well be the American evangelical church or the American sociopolitical system, as these are in power, opposed to the things of God, namely, love, grace, and truth.

Jesus says in Luke 18:7-8, “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” Presumably, Jesus was indicating that God is one of justice and rightness, faithful to his own–the question Jesus poses is, will anyone be faithful to him?