INTRODUCTORY NOTE
In Part 1, we noted that the apocalyptic writings of the Old Testament arose out of crisis situations that demanded a special form of address. The sense of alienation from prevailing social structures, the experience of deprivation, and especially feelings of disillusionment with the fact that the realities of this world appeared to contradict earlier divine promises – these were the social factors abetting apocalyptic responses. Though it is not a literature for all persons in all situations, we have argued that the theological contribution of the apocalyptic writings is considerable, precisely because of the specific situations that they address. We also discovered particular theological themes at the heart of the message of biblical apocalyticism, including an emphasis on the universal scope of divine providence and the relevance of faith at the most troubling points of human existence.
We turn now to illustrate how the message of the apocalyptic writings can be applied to contemporary realities. As we do so, we shall keep in mind that all such interpretation must be based upon careful attention to the original setting of the texts being considered and to the specific meaning they had within their settings. Only thus can we hope to free the meaning of God’s Word from an unbounded subjectivism which would nullify the autonomy of the biblical message. We also stressed that the apocalyptic writings do not stand apart from the central confessions of Scripture, but apply those confessions to particular situations of crisis. The modern interpreter must therefore keep clearly in mind the larger biblical context within which the specific meaning of a given apocalyptic text is to be understood.
In chapter 3 we described in general terms some of the major themes of the apocalyptic writings. The purpose of chapters4-6 is to focus on actual texts, for only thus can we illustrate how the specific messages of these texts, arising out of their concrete settings, have relevance in relation to contemporary realities. After examining eight examples, we will return to the question of the overall message of Old Testament apocalyptic, for these texts will point beyond themselves to a larger pattern of meaning. We will recognize that pattern as characteristic of biblical apocalyptic and as constituting a unique contribution to biblical theology in the broad sense.
IV. HUMAN CRISIS
Apocalyptic literature is crisis literature. It arises out of, and addresses humans who are experiencing, the collapse of the structures that previously have upheld the life of the community and the individual. A number of text in the Old Testament that we can describe as “early apocalyptic” give expression to this sense of collapse and can be seen as the background against which the apocalyptic writings in the Bible developed.
The Collapse of social Order and the Cry of the Faithful (Isaiah 59)
Isaiah 59 was composed in Judah in the period shortly after the Edict of Cyrus (538 B.C.E.), which had made it possible for Jewish exiles to return to their homeland. It gives a shocking picture of the situation within which the Jews (both those who had returned from exile and those who had never left the land) found themselves. Included in Isaiah 59 are both a stinging indictment of those who have perverted social and juridical order and a description of Yahweh’s anticipated intervention to rectify a deplorable situation. What is the setting of this shocking text?
A clue comes in the master image, appearing in verse 9 : “We look for light, and behold, darkness.” The contrast between light and darkness runs like a leitmotif through the Isaianic corpus. Both Isaiah of Jerusalem and the prophet of the Exile whom we call Second Isaiah (chapters 40-55) developed this image. In both cases, they did so to give expression to a glorious promise. Though darkness characterized the present situation, Yahweh was about to act to inaugurate a brilliant new era, an era of light:
在黑暗中行走的百姓看见了大光;住在死荫之地的人有光照耀他们。 (赛 9:2)
At a time when the land seemed about to be engulfed by internal chaos and foreign invaders, Isaiah looked through the maelstrom of cowardly leaders and threatening armies to the quiet Center, the God of all reality, and from this vantage point announced that light would drive away all darkness. Isaiah’s words of promise and admonition notwithstanding, Judah followed its sister-nation, Israel, along a path of trusting in penultimate powers (what the prophets called false gods), a path that led to the tragedy of the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple in 587 B.C.E. Right at the point when the exiled nation was about to lose hope, the image of light and darkness was invoked by the prophet whose words are found in Isaiah 40-55:
我要引瞎子行不认识的道,领他们走不知道的路;在他们面前使黑暗变为光明,使弯曲变为平直。这些事我都要行,并不离弃他们。(赛42:16b)
Second Isaiah’s message was indeed one of light and promise, and it instilled in the hearts of many the hope to look beyond tragedy to a new era of obedience and blessing as God’s people. Again guided by their prophet, they recognized in Cyrus the Persian the agent of Yahweh’s deliverance. The Edict of Cyrus was the first step in the dawning of the brilliant light of God’s saving act. The next step was the return to the land and the building of a nation modeled after a lofty prophetic vision of a righteous people, a vision again built around the contrast between light and darkness:
兴起,发光!因为你的光已经来到,
耶和华的荣耀发现照耀你。
看哪,黑暗遮盖大地,幽暗遮盖万民,
耶和华却要显现照耀你,他的荣耀要现在你身上。
万国要来就你的光,君王要来就你发现的光辉。 (赛 60:1-3)
Many of the exiles did return. They returned with high expectations of a new era and with an enthusiasm to rebuild Temple and community, fired by prophetic promises. But it was soon apparent that things were not going as expected. The first chapter of the book of Haggai gives a portrait of conditions very much the opposite of what had been expected: Drought, inflation, and fighting between different factions within the Jewish community had led to chaotic conditions that could be described far more adequately in terms of darkness than of light. It is to this situation that Isaiah 59 is also addressed.
Though couched in much symbolism, the portrayal is special enough to give a vivid picture of the social conditions under which the people were forced to live. Violence and dishonesty had eaten away at the heart of the society until even the law courts could no longer be trusted (vv 3-4). As is typical throughout ages and diverse civilizations, in this situation it was the innocent who fell victim to ruthless opportunists and oppressors (vv 6-8). All that seemed left for the innocent oppressed was to cry up to heaven in the hope that the justice denied them by their earthly leaders would be granted to them by their heavenly Judge:
因此,公平离我们远,
公义追不上我们。
我们指望光亮,却是黑暗;
指望光明,却行幽暗。
(赛59:9)
Righteousness and compassion, the foundations upon which the Jewish people were to construct their communal life, had crumbled. The quality of life anticipated by those who had taken up the invitation to return from exile had been perverted:
并且公平转而退后,
公义站在远处;诚实在街上仆倒,
正直也不得进入。
诚实少见,离恶的人反成掠物。
那时,耶和华看见没有公平,
甚不喜悦。
(赛 59:14-15)
The typical prophetic response would have been to address the situation through words and actions aimed at reform of the unjust structures. Thus the prophets of the eighth and seventh centuries delivered scathing indictments, enacted shocking sign acts, and pleaded on behalf of Yahweh for the hearts of the people. While the threat of consequent divine wrath played a part in this appeal for repentance and reform, it was always directed toward the goal of changing social practices and human behavior. In the case of Isaiah 59 and the crisis of the early post-exilic period that produced it, the emphasis has changed. Yahweh’s wrath is not threatened as a tactic in bringing a stubborn people to repent. Rather, announcement is made of Yahweh’s imminent intervention in human affairs to “even the score” by inflicting stinging punishment on “his adversaries.” This climactic section begins with the explicit point that direct divine action was necessitated by a situation in which there was no human instrumentality by which justice could be reestablished. The mode of Yahweh’s action is that of the Divine Warrior, that is, the Storm God known in ancient cosmogonic myths from the ancient Sumerian, Babylonian, and Canaanite culture:
诚实少见,离恶的人反成掠物。 那时,耶和华看见没有公平,甚不喜悦。
他见无人拯救,无人代求,甚为诧异,就用自己的膀臂施行拯救,
以公义扶持自己。 他以公义为铠甲[或作“护心镜”],以拯救为头盔,
以报仇为衣服,以热心为外袍。他必按人的行为施报,恼怒他的敌人,
报复他的仇敌,向众海岛施行报应。如此,人从日落之处必敬畏耶和华的名;
从日出之地,也必敬畏他的荣耀。因为仇敌好像急流的河水冲来,
是耶和华之气所驱逐的。(赛59:15b-19)
Isaiah 59 is not an easy chapter for many people to understand. First for all, the gloom expressed in the long lament that leads up to Yahweh’s intervention seems to be bleakly pessimistic:
我们摸索墙壁,好像瞎子;我们摸索,如同无目之人。
我们晌午绊脚,如在黄昏一样;我们在肥壮人中,像死人一般。
我们咆哮如熊,哀鸣如鸽。指望公平,却是没有;
指望救恩,却远离我们。(赛59:10b-11)
The manner in which some modern persons formulate their response to this passage is as follows: Is this really the Word of God, or some despairing human word that has found its way into the Bible? Equally troubling for many is the violent behavior attributed to God. Yahweh is literally clothed in the accouterments of war! The offensiveness of such an image of God created difficulty for early Christians, leading
介绍性说明在第 1 部分中,我们注意到世界末日的著作旧约 》 引起危机的情况下,要求一种特殊形式的地址。从当时的社会结构的疏离感,经验的匮乏,尤其是感情的幻灭这一事实,这个世界的现实似乎矛盾早些时候神的应许 — — 这些被教唆世界末日反应的社会因素。虽然它不是文学为所有人在所有情况下,我们认为,世界末日的著作的神学贡献是相当大的正是因为他们处理的具体情况。我们还发现了特定的神学主题在圣经天启论观点,包括强调天意的普遍范围和信仰在最困扰人类生存点的相关性信息的核心。我们现在要说明如何可以对当代现实应用的世界末日的著作的消息。当我们这样做,我们应当牢记,这样的解释必须基于小心注意到正在审议的案文的原始设置,具体指他们曾在其设置内。只所以可以我们希望自由无界的主观主义,结果使废自治的圣经的消息从上帝的词的意思。我们还强调世界末日的著作不脱颖而出的圣经 》,中央的自白,但这些自白适用于特定情况的危机。现代翻译必须因此牢记显然较大的圣经 》 范围内的特定文本意义的给定世界末日就了解。在章 3 我们描述一般条款有些世界末日的著作的主要主题。Chapters4-6 的目的是把重点放在实际的案文,因为只有这样我们,可以说明如何这些文本,其具体的设置,所产生的特定消息有当代现实的现实意义。在检查后八个例子,我们将回到老传达的总体信息问题证明了世界末日,这些文本将超越自己指向意义更大模式。我们会认识到这种模式为特征的圣经世界末日和视为圣经神学在广泛意义上的独特贡献。四.人类危机世界末日的文学是危机文学。它产生出来的并涉及人类正在经历,以前有维护社会和个人生活结构的崩溃。大量的文本在旧约中,我们可以描述为"早世界末日"体现这种崩溃的感觉,可以看作是对圣经 》 中的世界末日著作开发的背景。崩溃的社会秩序和忠实 (以赛亚书 59) 的呐喊以赛亚书 59 在犹大在不久后的赛勒斯法令由组成 (538 公元前),已经使它成为可能为犹太人的流亡者返回家园。它给出了触目惊心的画面,其中犹太人 (那些从流亡地归来的) 和那些从未离开过这片土地的人发现自己的情况。以赛亚书 59 包括两个激烈抨击那些有变态的社会和法律秩序的人,耶和华的描述预期干预纠正一个可悲的局面。这令人震惊的背景是经文的什么?线索来自在主图像中,出现在第 9 节:"我们寻找光明,,看哪,黑暗。光明和黑暗之间的对比像一个主旋律贯穿 Isaianic 语料库。耶路撒冷的以赛亚书和先知的流亡人我们称之为第二以赛亚 (第 40-55 章) 开发此图像。在这两种情况下,他们这样来表达一个光荣的承诺。虽然黑暗特点现状,耶和华正要行动,开创辉煌的新时代,一个时代的光:在黑暗中行走的百姓看见了大光住在死荫之地的人有光照耀他们。;(赛 9:) 2当这片土地似乎对一次笼罩内部的混乱和外国侵略者,以赛亚书翻阅懦弱领导人的漩涡和威胁到宁静的心,上帝的所有的现实,并从这一观点的军队宣布光会赶走所有的黑暗。以赛亚的承诺和警戒尽管犹大跟随其妹妹-国家,以色列,沿路径的信任在倒数第二个权力 (先知叫什么虚假神),导致耶路撒冷陷落和 587 在圣殿的毁灭的悲剧路径公元前右拐点流亡在外的国家正要失去希望,光明和黑暗的图像是由调用的先知的话语发现在以赛亚书 40-55:我要引瞎子行不认识的道,领他们走不知道的路; 在他们面前使黑暗变为光明,使弯曲变为平直。这些事我都要行并不离弃他们。() 赛42:16b第二以赛亚的消息确实是的光明和希望,一个和它灌输给很多的心希望超越服从和祝福作为神的子民的新时代的悲剧。他们再一次的指导下他们的先知,在塞勒斯认识到波斯耶和华的拯救的代理。赛勒斯法令是曙光的光辉照射的神的救恩的第一步。下一步就是回到土地,建设一个国家仿照崇高有先见之明的正义之士,又围绕着光明和黑暗之间的对比的视觉:兴起,发光! 因为你的光已经来到,耶和华的荣耀发现照耀你。看哪,黑暗遮盖大地,幽暗遮盖万民,耶和华却要显现照耀你他的荣耀要现在你身上。万国要来就你的光君王要来就你发现的光辉。(赛 60 ∶ 1-3)许多流亡者真的回来了。他们带着一个新时代的高期望和以重建寺和社区,由先知承诺激发的热情。但它很快就明显,事情不会按预期。哈这本书第一章给出了画像的条件很多的什么预料相反: 干旱、 通货膨胀和犹太社区内的不同派别之间的战斗已经导致混乱的情况,可以更充分的黑暗比光的描述。它是这种情况也讨论了以赛亚书 59。 Though couched in much symbolism, the portrayal is special enough to give a vivid picture of the social conditions under which the people were forced to live. Violence and dishonesty had eaten away at the heart of the society until even the law courts could no longer be trusted (vv 3-4). As is typical throughout ages and diverse civilizations, in this situation it was the innocent who fell victim to ruthless opportunists and oppressors (vv 6-8). All that seemed left for the innocent oppressed was to cry up to heaven in the hope that the justice denied them by their earthly leaders would be granted to them by their heavenly Judge:
因此,公平离我们远,
公义追不上我们。
我们指望光亮,却是黑暗;
指望光明,却行幽暗。
(赛59:9)
Righteousness and compassion, the foundations upon which the Jewish people were to construct their communal life, had crumbled. The quality of life anticipated by those who had taken up the invitation to return from exile had been perverted:
并且公平转而退后,
公义站在远处;诚实在街上仆倒,
正直也不得进入。
诚实少见,离恶的人反成掠物。
那时,耶和华看见没有公平,
甚不喜悦。
(赛 59:14-15)
The typical prophetic response would have been to address the situation through words and actions aimed at reform of the unjust structures. Thus the prophets of the eighth and seventh centuries delivered scathing indictments, enacted shocking sign acts, and pleaded on behalf of Yahweh for the hearts of the people. While the threat of consequent divine wrath played a part in this appeal for repentance and reform, it was always directed toward the goal of changing social practices and human behavior. In the case of Isaiah 59 and the crisis of the early post-exilic period that produced it, the emphasis has changed. Yahweh’s wrath is not threatened as a tactic in bringing a stubborn people to repent. Rather, announcement is made of Yahweh’s imminent intervention in human affairs to “even the score” by inflicting stinging punishment on “his adversaries.” This climactic section begins with the explicit point that direct divine action was necessitated by a situation in which there was no human instrumentality by which justice could be reestablished. The mode of Yahweh’s action is that of the Divine Warrior, that is, the Storm God known in ancient cosmogonic myths from the ancient Sumerian, Babylonian, and Canaanite culture:
诚实少见,离恶的人反成掠物。 那时,耶和华看见没有公平,甚不喜悦。
他见无人拯救,无人代求,甚为诧异,就用自己的膀臂施行拯救,
以公义扶持自己。 他以公义为铠甲[或作“护心镜”],以拯救为头盔,
以报仇为衣服,以热心为外袍。他必按人的行为施报,恼怒他的敌人,
报复他的仇敌,向众海岛施行报应。如此,人从日落之处必敬畏耶和华的名;
从日出之地,也必敬畏他的荣耀。因为仇敌好像急流的河水冲来,
是耶和华之气所驱逐的。(赛59:15b-19)
Isaiah 59 is not an easy chapter for many people to understand. First for all, the gloom expressed in the long lament that leads up to Yahweh’s intervention seems to be bleakly pessimistic:
我们摸索墙壁,好像瞎子;我们摸索,如同无目之人。
我们晌午绊脚,如在黄昏一样;我们在肥壮人中,像死人一般。
我们咆哮如熊,哀鸣如鸽。指望公平,却是没有;
指望救恩,却远离我们。(赛59:10b-11)
The manner in which some modern persons formulate their response to this passage is as follows: Is this really the Word of God, or some despairing human word that has found its way into the Bible? Equally troubling for many is the violent behavior attributed to God. Yahweh is literally clothed in the accouterments of war! The offensiveness of such an image of God created difficulty for early Christians, leading
正在翻譯中..