As for those who will survive the slaughter (said the Sovereign Lord to his people), “They will bow down before you with their faces to the ground; they will lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in me will not be disappointed…. I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh; they will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine. Then all mankind will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.” All those who had ever offended against the Israelites and their mighty redeemer would get their comeuppance and eat their words. “And those tall Sabeans—they will come over to you and will be yours; they will trudge behind you, coming over to you in chains. They will bow down before you and plead with you, saying, ‘Surely God is with you, and there is no other; there is no other god.’” And in case they were still unconvinced, Gog, of the Land of Magog, would be tricked into attacking the chosen people one last time: “I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Sovereign LORD. Every man’s sword will be against his brother. I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him. And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”17
The happy ending was subject to the same inflation as the violent resolution. The promise of a safe homecoming and peaceful life in the land of milk and honey evolved into a prophecy of entirely “new heavens and a new earth”:
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.
The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.
And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it.
No lion will be there, nor will any ferocious beast get up on it; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there, and the ransomed of the LORD will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
Sorrow and sighing would not simply flee away—they would disappear forever. The ferocious beasts would not simply walk off—they, too, would be overtaken by gladness and start feeding on milk and honey. “The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.”18
Meanwhile, the Israelites’ earthly lot had not improved very much. The end of the Babylonian exile and the return of the ransomed was followed by a succession of more or less egregious Gogs. The worse the offenses against Zion and less likely the prospect that it would “no longer be plundered by the nations,” the more cosmic and urgent the visions of the final retribution. The three centuries that were centered on the birth of a “new era” and bounded by the Maccabean Wars of the 160s BCE and the Bar Kochba revolt of the 130s CE were a time of a dramatic flourishing of Jewish apocalyptic eschatology (“revelations” of the End). All such revelations, beginning with the Book of Daniel, told the same story: the position of the righteous is worse than ever before; the history of their oppression is entering its highest and final stage; the corrupt ruling empire is about to fall; the ensuing time of troubles will involve general lawlessness, fratricidal wars, and natural disasters; God will finally intervene, directly or through a special representative; his army will defeat the united forces of evil; and the righteous will live happily ever after. “The sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints, the people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.”19
There were different ways of welcoming the inevitable. The members of the Qumran sect withdrew to the shores of the Dead Sea, renounced property and marriage, condemned Jewish appeasers along with Roman invaders, and strove after absolute ritual purity in preparation for the approaching slaughter. Others, often collectively known as “zealots,” took up arms on the assumption that, as Josephus put it, “the Deity does not cooperate in restoring liberty otherwise than by influencing man’s decision, and God will be much more ready to assist us if we do not shirk the toil entailed by the great cause which we have at heart.”20
First-century Jewish Palestine was teeming with teachers, preachers, prophets, healers, exorcists, messiahs, and miracle workers inspired by the expectation of the imminent End. “A certain impostor named Theudas,” writes Josephus, “persuaded the mass of the rabble to take their belongings with them and follow him to the river Jordan; for he said that he was a prophet and would by a word of command divide the river and afford them an easy passage; and by these words he deceived many.” A “charlatan” from Egypt “gained for himself the reputation of a prophet,… collected about thirty thousand of his dupes, entered the country and led his force round from the desert to the mount called Olivet.” A “body of villains … under the pretense of divine inspiration fostering revolutionary changes … persuaded the multitude to act like madmen and led them out into the desert under the belief that God would there give them tokens of deliverance.”21
According to Mark, a preacher named John “wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist,” ate “locusts and wild honey,” and preached “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” And according to Celsus, a second-century Greek writer,
there are many, who, although of no name, with the greatest facility and on the slightest occasion, whether within or without temples, assume the motions and gestures of inspired persons; while others do it in cities or among armies, for the purpose of attracting attention and exciting surprise. These are accustomed to say, each for himself, “I am God; I am the Son of God; or, I am the Divine Spirit; I have come because the world is perishing, and you, O men, are perishing for your iniquities. But I wish to save you, and you shall see me returning again with heavenly power. Blessed is he who now does me homage. On all the rest I will send down eternal fire, both on cities and on countries. And those who know not the punishments which await them shall repent and grieve in vain; while those who are faithful to me I will preserve eternally.” … To these promises are added strange, fanatical, and quite unintelligible words, of which no rational person can find the meaning: for so dark are they, as to have no meaning at all; but they give occasion to every fool or impostor to apply them to suit his own purposes.22
■ ■ ■
Jesus of Nazareth was a mostly traditional Jewish healer with a mostly traditional eschatological prophecy. “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines…. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death…. The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.”23 The “days of distress” will be followed by the kingdom of God, which is described as a feast for those who have not feasted before. The only definite thing about the new order is that social roles will be reversed: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied…. But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry.”24
None of this is meant for another world, another time, or another generation. In Mark’s account, Jesus’s first words are: “The time has come. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” And the good news—the news that suffuses the prophet’s message a
nd his followers’ lives—is that “this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.” “Some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”25
As in most prophecies, predestination and free will are finely balanced. The End is ineluctable, but its nature and, possibly, its timing depend on human actions. Jesus, human or not, is both the messenger and the agent, and some of his listeners may still be able to affect the course of the divine juggernaut. “If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them.” Nor is it too late now: “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.” Jesus’s closest disciples, in particular, will be rewarded for their loyalty and sacrifice. Providence is, in part, the result of their efforts. “At the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.”26
What could one do in order to inherit eternal life? How was one to welcome, and perhaps help bring about, the days of distress and the kingdom of the Lord? First, one had to leave one’s house and brothers and sisters and father and mother and children and fields—the way Jesus himself had done.
Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”
“Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.
Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”27
To ensure salvation, one had to renounce one’s family and join a new one. “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.” Membership in the sect promised the ultimate reward in exchange for the ultimate sacrifice. It meant accepting a world in which all strangers were “neighbors”; all neighbors were brothers; and all brothers were the eternal children of one all-powerful Lord. According to Jesus, the two main commandments were: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind”; and, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” The only people to be hated (at least at first, during the trial period for new members) were one’s erstwhile father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—and yes, even oneself.28
It was a universal message that allowed for multiple distinctions. Some—the weak, the meek, and the humble—were more likely to join and more deserving of membership (“I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children”). Those who did join were more deserving than those who did not. Ideally, all neighbors from among the chosen people were to become brothers (Jesus was not talking to Gentiles). In the meantime, the rich were trying to squeeze through the eye of the needle, while those who had abandoned their families were looking forward to judging the twelve tribes of Israel.29
“Repenting” meant “changing and becoming like little children.” Changing and becoming like little children meant submitting fully and unreservedly to God the Father. God the Father was to become more consistent in his total claim on his people:30
“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment….”
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart….”
“Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’ But I tell you, Do not swear at all…. Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’”31
The Hebrew God tended to dilute his totalitarian claim—an absolute, undivided, unmediated, and randomly capricious domination of individuals in exchange for a guarantee of collective triumph—by multiplying legal regulations and occasionally emphasizing the contractual nature of his relationship with his subjects (some of whom might be excused for concluding that they were living in an ethical Rechtsstaat). Jesus would have none of that. He was a radical fundamentalist and a consistent enemy of the “Pharisees and the teachers of the law”: “‘You hypocrites!’ [he railed at them for insisting on the observance of kosher rules.] ‘For Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.”’ Jesus called the crowd to him and said, ‘Listen and understand. What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him “unclean,” but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him “unclean.”’”32
It is not what you eat—it is what you say. It is not what you say—it is what you think (because your no is a no, and because “your Father knows what you need before you ask him”). It is not about your lips—it is about your heart. It is not about loving your “loved ones” (“are not even the tax collectors doing that?”)—it is about loving the tax collectors. It is not about forgiving someone you are angry with—it is about not being allowed to be angry. It is not about not sleeping with your neighbor’s wife—it is about not being allowed to have the desire. It is not between you and the law (as interpreted by the Pharisees and other would-be mediators)—it is between your Lord and your thoughts, all of them, all the time. “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both.” The Big Father is watching you, and the only way to escape punishment is to be watching, too—and yes, even yourself. “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”33
The fact that Jesus died before he got the chance “to drink of the fruit of the vine in the kingdom of God” was interpreted by his followers not as a failure of the prophecy but as an episode in the drama of divine rebirth, in the Osiris-Dionysus tradition—except that Jesus, in accordance with the Jewish eschatological expectation, was to come back only once—when “the time has come,” this time truly for the last time. His resurrection was a preview of the coming resurrection for all.34
The orphaned members of the sect expected Jesus’s return with the same degree of urgency and intensity with which Jesus himself had expected the original kingdom of the Lord. The Second Coming was to be a successful—and immediate—reenactment of the first one. As Paul wrote in First Corinthians, “What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.” So quickly was the world in its present form passing away that Paul had to reassure his followers that their imminent redemption would not separate them forever from their dead brothers and sisters:
We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the L
ord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.35
In the meantime, they were to take ritual baths, have common meals (any supper might be the last one), and be “alert and self-controlled” lest the day of the Lord surprise them “like a thief in the night.” They should also make haste to welcome non-Jewish converts—because faith is above the law and because the failure of most Jews to recognize Jesus as the Messiah could mean only one thing: that God wanted his adopted sons to join the fold before his “natural” sons (the ones of Paul’s “own race”) could complete the fulfillment of the prophecy on Judgment Day.36
The description of the end days that made it into the Christian canon as the Book of Revelation uses images from the Jewish apocalyptic tradition but limits the ranks of the chosen to the followers of Jesus; 144,000 of them (still identified by membership in one of the twelve tribes of Israel) have seals put on their foreheads, so that the divine avengers do not slaughter them by mistake. (The concept of labeling and classifying is central to the Apocalypse: the minions of the beast are branded accordingly, and everyone is registered in a special book as belonging to either of the two categories. There are no abstentions, hesitations, or middle ground. “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”)37
Having returned to earth, Jesus “treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty” by destroying Babylon (the Roman Empire) and subjecting its agents to elaborate tortures. Their bodies are covered with “ugly and painful sores”; their rivers and springs are turned to blood; and their kingdom is plunged into darkness as they are “tormented with burning sulfur” and “gnaw their tongues in agony.” (In keeping with the vision of two irreconcilable camps and the plot of violent retribution, none of the victims repents, reconsiders, or begs for mercy.) After the battle of Armageddon, Christ and those who have been martyred in his service rule the nations “with an iron scepter” for a thousand years. At the end of the “millennium,” the dictatorship of virtue is attacked by the devil’s armies, which are devoured by a fire from heaven. At the Last Judgment that follows, the dead are resurrected and “judged according to what they have done as recorded in the books.” Those not found in the book of life are thrown into the lake of fire, to suffer for ever and ever; the rest are reunited with God, who wipes every tear from their eyes. “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” And the good news is the same as that proclaimed by Jesus at the beginning of his ministry: “The time is near…. I am coming soon.”38
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