Prophecy and Apocalyptic

Chapter 5 describes the rise in exilic and post-exilic Israel of a new prophecy about God’s end-time reign. This prophecy (in Third Isaiah, Ezekiel, Joel, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi) exhibited significant shifts in genre and patterns of revelation and intermediation. It envisioned mythic images and archetypes, known from across the ancient Near East, powerfully resurfacing to reveal transcendence interrupting human history and establishing millennial peace incontestably. It forged vibrant, urgent worldviews from allusions to Israel’s emerging corpus of authoritative, sacred writings. Each new apocalyptic imagination reflected the traditions of its originating group, often a priestly sect of Aaronides, Zadokites, or Levites. Thus, Isaiah 26 forges a prophecy of bodily resurrection from images of fecundity found in Isaiah 54. Zechariah 3 and 6 rework Ezekiel 21 and Genesis 49 into expectations of a humble Messiah. And Malachi’s warnings of end-time purgation recapitulate God’s judgment on priests in 1 Samuel 2:27–4:1.