Eschatology in the Bible

By Frederick F. Bruce
Eschatology is traditionally defined as the doctrine of the "last things" (Gr. eschata), in
relation either to human individuals (comprising death, resurrection, judgment, and the
5afterlife) or to the world. In this latter respect eschatology is sometimes restricted to the
absolute end of the world, to the exclusion of much that commonly falls within the scope of
the term. This restriction is unwarranted by biblical usage: the Hebrew be'aharit hayyamim
(LXX en tais eschatais hemerais, "in the last days") may denote the end of the present order
or even, more generally, "hereafter."
10The biblical concept of time is not cyclical (in which case eschatology could refer only to the
completion of a cycle) or purely linear (in which case eschatology could refer only to the
terminal point of the line); it envisions rather a recurring pattern in which divine judgment and
redemption interact until this pattern attains its definitive manifestation. Eschatology may
therefore denote the consummation of God's purpose whether it coincides with the end of the
15world (or of history) or not, whether the consummation is totally final or marks a stage in the
unfolding pattern of his purpose.
Individual Eschatology in the OT
A shadowy existence after death is contemplated in much of the OT. Jesus indeed showed that
immortality was implicit in men and women's relation to God: the God of the fathers "is not
20God of the dead, but of the living; for all live to him" (Luke 20:38). But this implication was
not generally appreciated in OT times. Perhaps in reaction against Canaanite cults of the dead,
the OT lays little emphasis on the afterlife. Sheol is an underworld where the dead dwell
together as shades; their former status and character are of little account there. The praises of
Yahweh, which engaged so much of a pious Israelite's activity on earth, remained unsung in
25Sheol, which was popularly thought to be outside Yahweh's jurisdiction (Ps. 88:10-12; Isa.
38:18). Occasionally a more hopeful note is struck.
According to Pss. 73 and 139 one who walks with God in life cannot be deprived of his
presence in death: "If I make my bed in Sheol, thou art there!" (Ps. 139:8). While Job and his
friends generally discount the possibility of life after death (Job 14:10-12) and do not suppose
30that the comforts of a future existence can compensate for the sufferings of the present, Job
asserts, in a moment of triumphant faith, that if not in this life then after death he will see God
rise up to vindicate him (Job 19:25-27).
The hope of national resurrection finds earlier expression than that of individual resurrection.
In Ezekiel's vision of the valley of dry bones, where the divine breath breathes new life into
35corpses, a national resurrection is in view: "These bones are the whole house of Israel" (Ezek.
37:11). National resurrection may also be promised in Isa. 26:19: "Thy dead shall live, their
bodies shall rise." Individual resurrection first becomes explicit in Dan. 12:2.
The persecution of martyrs under Antiochus Epiphanes gave a powerful impetus to the
resurrection hope. Henceforth belief in the future resurrection of at least the righteous dead
40became part of orthodox Judaism, except among the Sadducees, who claimed to champion the
oldtime religion against Pharisaic innovations. With this new emphasis goes a sharper
distinction between the posthumous fortunes of the righteous and the wicked, in Paradise and
Gehenna respectively.
World Eschatology in the OT

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 The day of Yahweh in early Israel was the day when Yahweh would publicly vindicate
himself and his people. It was possibly associated with an autumnal festival which Yahweh's
kingship was celebrated. If the "enthronement psalms" (Pss. 93; 95-100) provide evidence for
this festival, his kingship was commemorated in his work of creation, his seasonal gifts of
5fertility and harvest, his dealings of mercy and judgment with Israel and other nations. His
sovereignty in these spheres would be fully manifested at his coming to "judge the world in
righteousness" (Pss. 96:13; 98:9).
In the earliest significant mention of this "day of the Lord" (Amos 5:18-20) the Israelites are
rebuked for desiring it so eagerly because it will bring not light and joy (as they hope) but
10darkness and mourning. Since Yahweh is utterly righteous, his intervention to vindicate his
cause must involve his judgment on unrighteousness wherever it appears, especially among
his own people, who had exceptional opportunities of knowing his will.
Psalmists and prophets recognized that, while Yahweh's kingship was exercised in many
ways, the reality which they saw fell short of what they knew to be the ideal. Even in Israel
15Yahweh's sovereignty was inadequately acknowledged. But one day the tension between ideal
and reality would be resolved; on the day of Yahweh his kingship would be universally
acknowledged, and the earth would be filled with "the knowledge of the Lord" (Isa. 11:9;
Hab. 2:14). His effective recognition as "king over all the earth" is portrayed in terms of a
theophany in Zech. 14:3-9.
20The decline of the Davidic monarchy emphasized the contrast between what was and what
ought to be. That monarchy represented the divine kingship on earth, but its capacity to do so
worthily was impaired by political disruption, social injustice, and foreign oppression. As the
fortunes of David's house sank ever lower, however, there emerged with increasing clarity the
figure of a coming Davidic king in whom the promises made to David would be fulfilled and
25the vanished glories of earlier times would be restored and surpassed (Isa. 9:6-7; 11:1-10;
32:1-8; Mic. 5:2-4; Amos 9:11-12; Jer. 23:5-6; 33:14-22).
This hope of a Davidic Messiah, Yahweh's permanent vicegerent, dominates much subsequent
Jewish eschatology. In some portrayals of the new age, however, the Davidic ruler is
overshadowed by the priesthood, as in Ezekiel's new commonwealth (Ezek. 46:1-10) and later
30in the Dead Sea Scrolls, where the Davidic Messiah is subordinate to the chief priest, who will
be head of state in the coming age.
Another form of eschatological hope appears in Daniel. No king reigns in Jerusalem, but the
Most High still rules the kingdom of men and successive world emperors attain power by his
will and hold it so long as he permits. The epoch of pagan dominion is limited; on its ruins the
35God of heaven will set up an indestructible kingdom. In Dan. 7:13 this eternal and universal
dominion is given at the end time to "one like a son of man," who is associated, if not
identified, with "the saints of the Most High" (Dan. 7:18, 22, 27).
NT Eschatology
OT eschatology is forward looking, its dominant notes being hope and promise. These notes
40are present in the NT, but here the dominant note is fulfillment, fulfillment in Jesus, who by
his passion and resurrection has begotten his people anew to a living hope (1 Pet. 1:3),
because he has "abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel"
(2 Tim. 1:10).
Jesus' Galilean preaching, summarized in Mark 1:15 ("The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom
45of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel"), declares the fulfillment of Daniel's
vision: "The time came when the saints received the kingdom" (Dan. 7:22). In one sense the
kingdom was already present in Jesus' ministry: "If it is by the finger of God that I cast out
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 demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you" (Luke 11:20; cf. Matt. 12:28). But in
another sense it was yet future. Jesus taught his disciples to pray, "Thy kingdom come" (Luke
11:2). In this sense it would come "with power" (Mark 9:1), an event variously associated
with the resurrection of the Son of man or with his advent "with great power and glory" (Mark
513:26).
The expression "the Son of man" figures prominently in Jesus' teaching about the kingdom of
God, especially after Peter's confession at Caesarea Philippi (Mark 8:29). It echoes Daniel's
"one like a son of man" (Dan. 7:13). In Jesus' teaching he himself is the Son of man. But
while he speaks occasionally, in Daniel's terms, of the Son of man as "coming with the clouds
10of heaven" (Mark 14:62), he more often speaks of the Son of man as destined to suffer, in
language reminiscent of the servant of Yahweh in Isa. 52:13-53:12. This protrayal of the Son
of man in terms of the servant is quite distinctive, in that Jesus undertook to fulfill personally
what was written of both. As Daniel's "one like a son of man" receives dominion from the
Ancient of Days, so Jesus receives it from his Father. As Daniel's "saints of the Most High"
15receive dominion, so Jesus shares his dominion with his followers, the "little flock" (Luke
12:32; 22:29-30). But its fullness must await the suffering of the Son of man (Luke 17:25).
Sometimes Jesus uses "life" or "eternal life" (the life of the age to come) as a synonym for
"the kingdom of God"; to enter the kingdom is to enter into life. This links the kingdom with
the new age, when the righteous are brought back from death to enjoy resurrection life.
20In the apostolic teaching this eternal life may be enjoyed here and now, although its full
flowering awaits a future consummation. The death and resurrection of Christ have introduced
a new phase of the kingdom, in which those who believe in him share his risen life already,
even while they live on earth in mortal body. There is an indeterminate interval between
Christ's resurrection and parousia, and during this interval the age to come overlaps the
25present age. Christians live spiritually in "this age" while they live temporally in "this age";
through the indwelling Spirit of God they enjoy the resurrection life of "that age" in
anticipation.
This outlook has been called "realized eschatology." But the realized eschatology of the NT
does not exclude an eschatological consummation to come.
30Realized Eschatology
If the eschaton, the "last thing" which is the proper object of eschatological hope, came in the
ministry, passion, and triumph of Jesus, then it cannot be the absolute end of time, for time
has gone on since then. In the NT the "last thing" is more properly the "last one," the eschatos
(cf. Rev. 1:7; 2:8; 22:13). Jesus is himself his people's hope, the Amen to all God's promises.
35According to Albert Schweitzer's "consistent eschatology," Jesus, believing himself to be
Israel's Messiah, found that the consummation did not come when he expected it (cf. Matt.
10:23) and embraced death in order that his parousia as the Son of man might be forcibly
brought to pass. Since the wheel of history would not respond to his hand and turn round to
complete its last revolution, he threw himself on it and was broken by it, only to dominate
40history more decisively by his failure than he could have done by attaining his misconceived
ambition. His message, Schweitzer held, was thoroughly eschatological in the sense
exemplified by the crudest contemporary apocalypticism. His ethical teaching was designed
for the interim between the beginning of his ministry and his manifestation in glory. Later,
when his death was seen to have destroyed the eschatological conditions instead of bringing
45them in, the proclamation of the kingdom was replaced by the teaching of the church.

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 Schweitzer's interpretation of Jesus's message was largely a reaction against the liberal
nineteenth century interpretation, but it was equally one sided and distorted in its selection
from the gospel data.
Later Rudolf Otto and C H Dodd propounded a form of realized eschatology. Dodd
5interpreted Jesus' parables in terms of the challenge to decision which confronted his hearers
in his announcement that the kingdom of God had arrived. Dodd viewed the kingdom as
coming in Jesus' life, death, and resurrection; to proclaim these events in their proper
perspective was to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God. Jesus' future coming did
not, at first, come into the picture. His redeeming work constituted the decisive or
10eschatological manifestation of the power of God operating for the world's salvation; the later
concentration on a further "last thing" in the future betokened a relapse into Jewish
apocalypticism, which relegated to a merely "preliminary" role those elements of the gospel
which were distinctive of Jesus' message.
(As time went on, Dodd made more room for a future consummation: what came to earth with
15Christ's incarnation was finally decisive for the meaning and purpose of human existence, so
that, at the ultimate winding up of history, humankind will encounter God in Christ.)
Joachim Jeremias, who acknowledges indebtedness to Dodd, found that Jesus' parables
express an eschatology "in process of realization"; they proclaim that the hour of fulfillment
has struck and compel hearers to make up their minds about Jesus' person and mission.
20Dodd's pupil, J A T Robinson, interprets Christ's parousia not as a literal event of the future
but as a symbolical or mythological presentation of what happens whenever Christ comes in
love and power, displaying the signs of his presence and the marks of his cross. Judgment day
is a dramatic picture of every day. Robinson denies that Jesus used language implying his
return to earth from heaven. His sayings which have been so understood express the twin
25themes of vindication and visitation, notably his reply to the high priest's question at his trial
(Mark 14:62), where the added phrase "from now on" (Luke 22:69) or "hereafter" (Matt.
26:64) is taken to be an authentic part of the reply. The Son of man, condemned by earthly
judges, will be vindicated in the divine law court; his consequent visitation of his people in
judgment and redemption will take place "from now on" as surely as his vindication.
30Instead of realized eschatology, Robinson (following Georges Florovsky) speaks of an
"inaugurated eschatology", an eschatology inaugurated by Jesus' death and resurrection,
which released and initiated a new phase of the kingdom in which "hereafter" God's
redeeming purpose would achieve its fulfillment. To Jesus' ministry before his passion
Robinson applies the term "proleptic eschatology" because in that ministry the signs of the
35age to come were visible in anticipation.
Conclusion
Jesus' use of OT language was creative and cannot be confined to the meaning which that
language had in its original context. He probably did point forward to his personal coming to
earth, not only to manifest his glory but to share that glory with his people, raised from the
40dead by his quickening shout. When the consummation to which his people look forward is
described as their "hope of glory," it is their participation in Jesus' resurrection glory that is in
view; that hope is kept bright within them by his indwelling presence (Col. 1:27) and sealed
by the Spirit (Eph. 1:13-14, 18-21).
There is a tension between the "already" and the "not yet" of the Christian hope, but each is
45essential to the other. In the language of the seer of Patmos, the Lamb that was slain has by his
death won the decisive victory (Rev. 5:5), but its final outworking, in reward and judgment,
lies in the future (Rev. 22:12). The fact that we now "see Jesus crowned with glory and honor"
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 is guarantee enough that God "has put all things under his feet" (Heb. 2:8-9). His people
already share his risen life, and those who reject him are "condemned already" (John 3:18).
For the Fourth Evangelist, the judgment of the world coincided with the passion of the
incarnate Word (John 12:31); yet a future resurrection to judgment is contemplated as well as
5a resurrection to life (John 5:29).
Some much canvassed questions, such as the chronological relation of the parousia to the
great distress of Mark 13:19, to the manifestation of the man of lawlessness of 2 Thess. 2:3-8,
or to the millennial reign of Rev. 20, are marginal to the main course of NT eschatological
teaching, belonging rather to the detailed exegesis of the passages concerned. The
10eschatological outlook of the NT is well summed up in the words: "Christ Jesus our hope" (1
Tim. 1:1).
Bibliography. G R Beasley-Murray, Jesus and the Future and The Coming of God; R H
Charles, A Critical History of the Doctrine of a Future Life; O Cullmann, Christ and Time; C
H Dodd, The Parables of the Kingdom, The Apostolic Preaching and Its Developments, and
15The Coming of Christ; J E Fison, The Christian Hope; T F Glasson, The Second Advent; J
Jeremias, The Parables of Jesus; W G Kummel, Promise and Fulfilment; G E Ladd, The
Presence of the Future; R Otto, The Kingdom of God and the Son of Man; H Ridderbos, The
Coming of the Kingdom; J A T Robinson, In the End, God. . . and Jesus and His Coming; A
Schweitzer, The Quest of the Historical Jesus; E F Sutcliffe, The OT and the Future Life; G
20Vos, The Pauline Eschatology.
Source: Elwell, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology.

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