The Formation of an Eschatological System – Jewish Expectations

It is certainly incorrect to speak of an eschatological system of the Bible, in which there is no trace of an established belief in the future life. Both Ben Sira and Tobit still adhere to the ancient view of Sheol as the land of the shades (see Sheol). It was the future destiny of the nation which concerned the Prophets and the people; and the hope voiced by prophet, psalmist, and liturgical poet was simply that the Lord as the Only One will establish His kingdom over the whole earth (Ex. xv. 18; Micah ii. 13, iv. 7; Obad. 21; Zech. xiv. 9; Isa. xxiv. 23; Ps. xciii. 1, xcvi. 10, xcvii. 1, xcix. 1). This implied not only the reunion of the twelve tribes (Ezek. xxxvii. 16 et seq.; Zeph. iii. 20), but the conversion of the heathen surviving the divine day of wrath as well as the downfall of the heathen powers (Zeph. iii. 8-9; Zech. xiv. 9-19; Isa. lvi. 6, lxiii. 1-6; Ps. ii. 8-12). It seems that, because of the tribulation which the house of Zerubbabel had to undergo–not, as Dalman (“Die Worte Jesu,” p. 243) thinks, “because the Messiah was not an essential part of the national hope”–the expectation of a Messiah from the house of David was kept in the background, and the prophet Elijah, as the forerunner of the great Day of the Lord who would reassemble all the tribes of Israel, was placed in the foreground (Ecclus. [Sirach] xlviii. 10; I Mace. xiv. 41). See Elijah.