(C) 1st cent. A.D.
Book of Jubilees. — Like many of the books just reviewen, tlie Hook of Jubilees makes no mention of a Messianic king. It sketches, however, in vigorous terms, the woes that are to be the prelude of the Messianic kingdom, the attacks of the heathen powers, and then the gradual introduction of the kingdom cU'ected through devotion to and observance of the Law. Thus the Messianic woes are described in 23"- ••• '■" ' Calamity follows on calamity, and wound on wound, and tribulation on tribulation, and evil tidings on evil tidings, and illness on illness, and all evil judgments such as these, one witli another, illness and overthrow, and snow and frost and ice, and fever, and chills, and torpor, famine, and deatli, and sword, and captivity, and all kimls of calaiirities and |iains. 19. Ami they will strive one witli anotlier, the young with the ohl, and the old with the young, the poor with the rich, and the lowly with the great, and the beggar with the prince, on account of the law and the covenant ; for tliey have for- gotten His commandment, and the covenant and the feasts, and the montlis, and the Sabbaths, and the jubilees, and all judgment.s. 22. And a great punishiiient will liefafl the deeds of this generation from the Lord ; and he will give them over to the Bword and to hidgnient and to captivity, and to be plundered anu devoured.'
And thereupon will ensue the invasion of Pales- tine by the Gentiles (23-^- "^). 'And he will wake n^i against them the sinners of the Gentiles, who will show thera no mercy or grace, and who respect
the person of none, neither old nor young, nor any one, for thej' are wicked and powerful, so that they are more wicked than all the cliildren of men And they wUl use violence against Israel and transgres- sion against Jacob, and much blood will be .shed upon the earth, and there will be none to gather it and none to bury. 24. In those days they will cry aloud, and call and pray tliat they may be saved from the hand of the sinful Gentiles; but none will be saved.'
Then Israel will repent (23^). ' And in those days the children will begin to study the laws, and to seek the commandments, and to return to tlie paths of righteousness' (23"'- "-*>). '16. And in that generation the sons will convict their fathers and tlieir elders of sin and unrighteousness, and the words of their mouth and the great wickednesses which they perpetrate, and concerning their forsak- ing the covenant which the Lord made between them and Him, that they should observe and do all His commandments and His ordinances and all His laws, without departing either to the right h.and or the left. 27. And the days of the children of men will begin to grow many, and increase from gene- ration to generation and d.-iy to day, till their d.-iys draw near to one thousand years, and to a greater number of years than (before) were their days. 28. And there will be no old in;in norone that is not satis- fied with his days, for all will be (as) children and youths. 29. And all their days they will comjilete in peace and in joy, and they will live, and there will l)e no Satan nor any evil destroyer ; for all their days will be days of blessing and healing. 30. And at that time the Lord will heal His ser- vants, and they will rise up and see great peace and drive out His adversary, and the righteous will see and be thankful, and rejoice with joy for ever and ever, and will see all tlieir judgments and all their cur.ses on their enemies.' Fin.-illy, when the righteous die their spirits will enter into a blessed immortality (23"). ' And tlieir bones will rest in the earth and their spirits will have much joy, and they will know that it is the Lord who executes judgments, and shows mercy to hundreds and thousands of all that love Him.'
Observe that (1) apparently there is no resurrec- tion of the dead, and that the soul enters at death on its final destiny. (2) Sheol has thus become hell (24"). ' For tiiough he ascend unto heaven, thence will he be brought down ; and whithersoever he flee on earth, thence will he be dragged forth ; and though ho hide himself amongst the nations, even from thence will he be rooted out ; and though he descend into Sheol, there al.so shall his condemnation be great, and there also he will have no peace.'
As.iuiHjitii/n of Moses (A.D. 7-29). — This book is closely allied to tliat of Jubilees in many resiiocts. Thus the prei)aration for the advent of the Theo- cratic or Me.ssianic kingdom will be a period of rejientance (1'"). 1750 years after the death of Miises, God will intervene <m behalf of I.srael (10'-'), and the ten tribes will be brouglit back from the captivity.* During tliis kingdom Israel will destroy her natural enemies (lu"), and linally bo exalted to heaven (10°), whence she shall see her enemies in Gehenna (10'").
Observe that (1) there is no Me.ssiah. Indeed the author in 10 aiipears to bo really inimical to this expectation : ' The eternal God alone . . . will punish the Gentiles.' (2) There appears to be no resurrection of the body, Imt of the sjiirit only after the final judgment, similarly as in Eth. En. 91-104, P.ss of Solomon, and .Jubilees. (3) Gehenna, which originally was the si>ecific place of punislimcnt for apostate ilews, has now becom< the final abode of the wicked generally.