Besides exliibiting the scripture views of the final condition of tilings, eschatology may take notice of the phenomen.a, the physical convulsions, or the national commotions amidst which the final condition is ushered in ; or it may go a step farther back and refer to the moral forces bringing about these manifestations and revealed in them. In OT physical nature has no meaning of its own ; it U a mere medium for the transmi.ssion and mani- festation of moral impulses ; and the same is true in a sense of human history, for, though men and nations act voluntarily, ultimately all their move- ments are inspired and led by God, the First and the Last (Is 41'' 4S'-). Tlie final condition of men and the world is therefore regarded in OT less as the perfect issue of a gradual ethical advancement in tne mind of men and the nations than as the result of an interposition, or a chain of inter- positions, on the part of God, though these inter- positions, under whatever external forms they may De revealed, are of cour.se all moral.
The Eschatology op OT may be treated under two heads : The eschatology of the People, and the eschatology of the individual Person. As the People in their final condition have necessarily some relation to the nations, the eschatology of the People widens out in many passages to be an eschatology of mankind and the world ; while, on the other hand, owing to the idea prevalent in OT, particularly in the prophets, that the religious •ubject in relation with God is the People, the eschatology of the individual Person in distinction from the I'eonle is little developed, and some of the passages tliat appear to relate to it are uncer- tain in meaning. In other words, the eschatology of the People is the doctrine of the j)erfection of the kingdom of God upon tlie eartli, while the e-schatology of the individual Person is the doctrine of Immortality.
I. EsCHATOLOoy OK TKE PEOPLE.— Though fonnally the peojile cnme into existence only at the Exodus, yet ideally it already existed in the patriarchal familj' from Abraham downwards (Is 41"), and some of the widest hopes and aspira- tions cherished by the people in later times in regard to their place in the religious history of mankind are alrea<iy expressed in connexion with Abrahanx. But previous to the time when, by a
process of divine selection, the religious destinies of mankind were entrusted to his family, some eschatological intimations were given. It is char- acteristic of all these earlj' intimations that they are general both in meaning and in regard to time. The earliest of tliem, tlie promise that the seed of the woman would liruise the head of the serpent (Gn 3"), bears upon the family of mankind uni- versally. It may not be easy to say what sense our first parents or even Israelitish readers put into these words. The fulness of meaning which we are now able to express by them, and the indi- vidual application of ' the seed of the woman ' whicli we can make, can hardly have been sug- gested to thum. But they would be assured tliat the family of mankind would have the upper hand in the struggle against the author of their calami- tous transgression ; and as the meaning and consequences of what had befallen them became clearer, so would their conception of what vas meant by bruising the serpent's head, and how alone that could be d(me. Equally universalistie, though more definite in regard to the means of its accom- plishment, is the promise given to Abraham, ' In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed ' (Gn 12^). Such a promise could not soon be ful- filled, and there might be room for conjecture even as to the manner ol fullilment ; j'et tlie patriarch, knowing wherein his own blessedness lay, in his knowledge of God and fellowship with Him, would surmise that through his seed this true kaowledge of Go<l would reach all peoples. The sense is little altered if for 'be blessed' we render 'bless themselves,' i.e. wish for themselves the same blessings as Abraham and his seed are seen to enjoy (cf. Nu 23'"). Some other passages, such as the Blessing of Noah (Gn 9^"-), are international, religious prominence being given to the family of Sliem ; while others, such as the Blessing of Jacob and Moses (Gn 49, Dt 33), are more national, having respect to the place of the tribes in Canaan. The phra.se 'the last days' (C'5;n n-ins*) describes the farthest future into which the eye of the seer reaches, and may have dirt'erent senses. In Gn 49' it refers to the final disposition of the tribes in Canaan (though 49'" may have a wider outlook ; see PuorilIXY) ; while in Is 2^ it refers to the final condition of the family of mankind, when all nations shall appeal to the God of Jacob as the righteous arbiter in all international causes. J)t 32 ends with the hope of the victory of Israel over all its enemies, and in his Last Words (2 S 23) David expresses the assurance that under his family a kingdom of Righteousness will arise.
The Day of the Lord.— In the 8th century n.C. the faith of Israel was virtually complete. Amos taught that God is Righteousness ; llosca, that He is Love J I.saiah, that lie is the Lord the King, who has founded His kingdom in Zion, on the throne of which shall sit for ever one of the house of Da\id, the Prince of Peace, filled with the fulness of the Spirit of God (Is 9. 11). But besides this Messianic eschatology belonging to the second period of Isaiah's career, there is another belonging to the earliest period (clis. 2. 3), which he calls ' the D.'iy of the Lord.' The prophet does not expressl\ combine the two, though they are jirobably to be regarded the one as the dark side and the other as the light side of the same cloud of judgment. In the earlier chapters he moves more among prin- ciples, moral necessities ; in the second period (cli. 7fr. ) the actors are already on the scene who shall carry out the programme which in his first days he perceived to be inevitable. The pliri-sc ' the Day of the Lord ' is first heard in the mouths of the people (Am S'""). The term 'day' is much used in Arabic of a battle day, as the day of Badr, Ohod, and the like, and so in Heb. 'the day o)