Do you believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus?
To talk about resurrection as it initially shows up in the Hebrew scriptures, and then as those images change as the early Jesus movement emerges in the first century CE, the conversation must shift first to eschatology and then, in that context, develop a full-blown apocalyptic narrative. In contrast to the Greek rejection of notions of resurrection which we explored in the last post, the Jewish people over time did affirm the idea of a bodily resurrection. With a careful reading of the scripture, we can trace its evolution from small seeds to flowering doctrine.
I hope by this time, you have had the occasion to digest James Tabor’s comprehensive article, What the Bible Says About Death, the Afterlife and the Future. My summaries hardly do justice to Tabor’s fine detail.
These next two posts will simply draw on his key points and then in the subsequent post, we will specifically return to Tom Wright’s discussion of the idea of resurrection as it mutated (his word) in the early Christian Jewish movement and how that shows up in the various Christian Jewish writings that will much later become what we call the New Testament.
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When we last left Tabor, we had begun to look at the most early notions of Sheol, which while it might have been seen by some as a place of relief for the dead, in general it was a place of shades – shadows, if you will. In the earliest Hebrew scriptures, there is no hope for resurrection – no hope for a coming back to the earthly plane of existence.
Tabor does note two exceptions found in these early writings. First, he points us to the well-known story where King Saul asks a witch to conjour up the presence of his late prophet Samuel for one more consultation about the impending battles with the Phillistines. (See I Sam. 28:13ff) Other examples of this sort of contact with the dead are few, not surprisingly because the scriptures clearly forbid this sort of magic. Tabor, I think, rightfully suggests that the absence of stories does not necessarily reflect the absense of ancient practice. (see Deut. 18:11; Isa. 8:19, 29:4) Often, the prohibitions function that way, so for example, Levitical verses against male rape (not homosexual orientation) reflect pretty common practice at least in the broader world of war and the traditional forms of humiliation visited on the leaders of defeated enemy.
The second exception can be found in some passages that perhaps hint that in Sheol, the ungodly may actually perish and the righteous may in time be ransomed. Tabor refers us to several passages (see Psalms 22:19-24 and 103:1-5, Isaiah 38:10-20, and Jonah 2:1-9. I will cite the second Psalm.
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits–
who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
But again, these are exceptions and Tabor reminds us
…in ancient Hebrew there is no view of the future for the individual human person, certainly not when contrasted with the later ideas that arose–such as resurrection of the dead or eternal life in heaven. And yet the “religion” of Israel functioned very well without these ideas for more than a thousand years.
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Tabor shifts gears by noting the emergence of a second narrative strand and these two perspectives seem to begin to exist side by side in the growing library of Hebrew scriptures. What we have discussed up to this point, Tabor will characterize as historical. In contrast, especially around the writings associated with the period of exile, we will have an emerging theme of eschatology.
The first can be well illustrated by wisdom from Ecclesiastes. Tabor writes:
The book of Ecclesiastes contains the most systematic and poignant expression of this “non-eschatological’ view of the future. I quote here its opening lines:
Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher,
vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
What does a man gain by all the toil
at which he toils under the sun?
A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever ….
What has been is what will be
and what has been done is what will be done; and there is nothing new under the sun. (1:24, 9)
Obviously, such a view of things, in which there is “nothing new under the sun,” can fill one with a deep sense of despair. After all, the human realm below is full of injustice, suffering, and tragedy, which is what the book of Ecclesiastes is all about. Is there to be no change, ever? The author of Ecclesiastes, like all ancient Hebrews, shares the view that death is the end of all human aspiration and experience, as I described above. He writes:
For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity. All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all turn to dust; again. (3:19-20)
Even so, while the fate of the individual seems bleak, there are hints of a “potential optimism” figured around the future of the nation.
This idea of a good future for the nation of Israel begins with texts in Genesis, which promise such to Abraham and his descendants. God tells Abraham, “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing” (Gen. 12:2). Later he is told, “I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.., you will be the father of a multitude of nations” (17:2,4), and “to your descendants I will give this land [i.e., Palestine]” (Gen. 15:18). These elements of “chosen people,” covenant, land, and blessings form the foundation of this view of the future. The twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy best sums up this whole idea. Israel is to be “set high above all the nations of the earth” (Deut. 28:1) and experience incredible material blessings–peace, power, wealth, and health (Deut. 28:3-14), if only she will obey the commandments of Yahweh.
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Accompanying these historic themes, Tabor will point to a different sort of perspective, an eschatological view. Let’s start with a definition.
Scholars use the term “eschatology” to refer to what they call the “last things,” i.e., the events and realities at the end of history or, more popularly speaking, “the end of the world.” However, this idea of the “end of the world” does not necessarily mean the destruction of the planet. More often it refers to the end of an “age,” following which history takes a dramatic turn for the better. Eschatology addresses these questions: Where is history headed? And what will be its final determination and meaning? Obviously, one is presupposing here that there is some meaning to history and that the end will make it all clear.
The most robust eschatological scenarios emerge during the period of the exile which began in the 8th century BCE and extended into the 6th. During those years, the nation of Israel was beset by political, social, and military disasters. Beginning under the Assyrians, then under the Babylonians and Persians, it was a period of exile and the systematic occuptation of the land by foreigners. The key texts for his period are preserved in the oracles of later prophets whose books comprise Isaiah through Malachi.
Tabor points out two diferent but related scenarios. The first has to do with the redemption of the land and the ascendency of the nation - we should note that this vision is not simply return, but restoration of the whole nation – 12 tribes, if you will. . Tabor cites three texts from the prophet Jeremiah that illustrate this eschatological hope.
At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of Yahweh, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of Yahweh in Jerusalem, and they shall no more stubbornly follow their own evil heart. In those days the house of Judah shall join the house of Israel [i.e., the twelve tribes reunited], and together they shall come from the land of the north [i.e., exile] to the land that I gave your fathers as an heritage ….
Behold the days are coming, says Yahweh, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. in his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely ….
Behold the days are coming, says Yahweh, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah …. I will put my laws within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.., and I will remember their sin no more. (Jer. 3:17-18, 23:5-6, 31:31-34)
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Tabor calls the second scenerio a Transformed Cosmos. Such a vision moves beyond a hope for a restored nation into the hope for a New Creation. It is a period where the rules have changed and life is radically discontinous with the perceived expectations of history. The cosmos itself becomes fluid – it is indeed a new day.
Perhaps no prophetic text captures this hope more that these familiar words from Isaiah.
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
and the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall feed;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The sucking child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put his hand
on the adder’s den.
They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Yahweh
as the waters cover the sea. (Isa. 11:6
Tabor sums this section of his paper by pointing out the following:
[These images remain] in contrast to views of the future that pictured salvation as taking place “away from the earth,” without any required end of history. I have in mind here the notion, particularly widespread during Greek and Roman times, of the immortal soul, leaving the body and the earthly realm at death, and obtaining immortal life in heaven above.
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Let me rehearse where we have come from. While our earliest images of Sheol had a certain existential instability that required that the basic images evolve to address issues of different fates for the ungodly and the righteous, these eschatological promises will necessarily evolve for even though there is a return from exile, occupation (except for a very short time) becomes the constant and as we move into periods of Greco-Roman empire, a radicalization of the eschatology becomes necessary and new images, apocalyptic images will emerge.
We will take on his question in our next post.
Previous Posts in the Series:
Taking a Second Look at Resurrection – Hades
Taking a Second Look at Resurrection – Sheol
Taking a Second Look at Resurrection – Confusion
Taking a Second Look at Resurrection – Credentials
Taking a Second Look at Resurrection – Resources
Taking a Second Look at Resurrection – Questions
All material posted in this series is copyrighted (c) and at this time may not be reproduced.
