2) An Introduction to The Jewish Narrative of Redemptive History - Part 2: Creational Category
Introduction
To understand the first-century Jewish worldview, we must know how they viewed the Hebrew Scriptures, starting in Genesis. It's important to know that not all Jewish people saw the world through the same lens throughout history. Later generations obviously had more of the developing story to work with than earlier generations. You could almost say that the Jewish people, over the years, had a developing progressive revelation and understanding of what God was doing. By the second temple period, the Jews had a more extensive understanding of the redemptive story. Starting with the creational stage of redemptive history, we lay the early foundations of understanding the narrative. I curated this lesson using content from John Harrigan’s book, The Gospel of Christ Crucified: A Theology of Suffering before Glory.
Components of a Jewish Worldview - Creation
We said in a previous post that the Jewish worldview can be broken down into individual components. For example, metaphysics (structure of existence), protology (study of origins), eschatology (study of final things), and soteriology (study of salvation). These essential worldview components then provide human beings, within their various traditions, a conceptual framework for existence that answers life's most fundamental questions concerning identity, purpose, origin, destiny, etc. Moreover, the study of worldview gives us an interpretive window into the ancient mind.
If we consider life like a game, in the game of life, one's worldview assumes a cosmology, an ultimate reality, or "metaphysics," which is much like the field of play. It is often taken for granted, and in the larger scheme of the game, it is usually considered less important. Yet, playing soccer on a basketball court raises significant challenges. Often, the field of play inherently shapes the understanding of the rules and purpose of the game itself. Most people rarely think about their construct of reality. The most basic component of our worldview is our metaphysical construct, the sum total of what we understand to exist. It is an attempt to explain the ultimate reality of our existence. Ancient Judeo-Christianity viewed the universe as integrated and vertical: "the heavens and the earth" (Gen. 1:1).
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1, ESV Bible)
The biblical worldview frames reality within "the heavens and the earth," which are integrated, continuous, and dynamic. The protology of this worldview involves a sinless creation without death and suffering:
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— (Romans 5:12, ESV Bible)
For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. (1 Corinthians 15:22, ESV Bible)
The heavens are understood as plural, physical, and continuous throughout the Scriptures. There are multiple heavens above the earth below, and they are substantial and real. The heavens are not understood as only a spiritual reality compared to a physical reality as often understood today. Moreover, they are continuous, meaning there are no clear lines of delineation between the heavens. Thus, movement between the heavens and the earth is relatively easy and smooth. Throughout the Scriptures, angels and humans ascend and descend through the heavens. This view of the universe starkly contrasts the typical Western view of a singular "heaven," which is immaterial and discontinuous with the materiality of Earth.
Within this unified framework of the heavens and the earth, God is presented as dwelling within creation:
Hear in heaven your dwelling place… (1 Kings 8:43, ESV Bible)
That he looked down from his holy height; from heaven the LORD looked at the earth, (Psalms 102:19, ESV Bible)
Look down from heaven and see, from your holy and beautiful habitation. (Isaiah 63:15, ESV Bible)
He stretches out the heavens as a tent:
It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; (Isaiah 40:22, ESV Bible)
Covering yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent. (Psalms 104:2, ESV Bible)
He dwells at the height of the heavens within a paradisal temple:
The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD's throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man. (Psalms 11:4, ESV Bible)
Hear, you peoples, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it, and let the Lord GOD be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple. (Micah 1:2, ESV Bible)
They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. (Hebrews 8:5, ESV Bible)
Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. (Revelation 11:19, ESV Bible)
Likewise, humanity is created in an earthly paradise, resembling the divine heavenly dwelling, with angels mediating between the two. God created all things, and "they were good."
As it Was in the Beginning, So it Shall be in the End
Within Genesis, we can learn of the fall, humankind's first time being disobedient to the Creator, which created a need for redemption. Not only a redemption for humanity but for God's creation. First-century Jewish thought involved a biblical hope for a restored creation. There will be a new heavens and new earth:
"For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. (Isaiah 65:17, ESV Bible)
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. (Revelation 21:1, ESV Bible)
As it was in the beginning, so it will be in the end, "the time of the restoration of all things":
Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. (Acts 3:19-21, ESV Bible)
This renewal of the heavens and the earth is the primary thrust of the Bible's vision for the future (cf. Matt. 19:28; Rev. 21:1):
Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit 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 lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. (Matthew 19:28-29, ESV Bible)
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. (Revelation 21:1, ESV Bible)
The new heavens and earth will be inaugurated by God alone who will carry out this great vision. The event whereby God creates a new heavens and earth is described throughout the Scriptures as the "day of the Lord":
Wail, for the day of the LORD is near; as destruction from the Almighty it will come! (Isaiah 13:6, ESV Bible)
Behold, a day is coming for the LORD, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him. On that day there shall be no light, cold, or frost. And there shall be a unique day, which is known to the LORD, neither day nor night, but at evening time there shall be light. On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea. It shall continue in summer as in winter. And the LORD will be king over all the earth. On that day the LORD will be one and his name one. (Zechariah 14:1-9, ESV Bible)
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.” (Malachi 4:5-6, ESV Bible)
The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. (Acts 2:20, ESV Bible)
You are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. (1 Corinthians 5:5, ESV Bible)
For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. (1 Thessalonians 5:2, ESV Bible)
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. (2 Peter 3:10-13, ESV Bible)
God will come suddenly with his angels to purge the heavens and earth of ungodliness and unrighteousness. It will be a cataclysmic and apocalyptic day beyond all imagination or description. It will be a day of divine wrath, judgment, and recompense. The sins of humanity will finally be rectified, and God will ultimately be vindicated in his wise governance over creation.
Summary
To understand the first-century Jewish worldview, we must know how they viewed the Hebrew Scriptures, starting in Genesis, creating the foundation for the rest of the story. By the time of the second temple period, the Jews had a larger view of creation and its direction, hence the eschatological perspectives of new heavens and earth, the day of the LORD, etc. Starting with the creational stage of redemptive history we lay the early foundations of understanding the narrative.