Ecology and Eschatology in the Second Temple Period

Disruptions in the natural world have deep biblical roots. They are signs of divine displeasure signifying that creation is out of joint because of human behavior. It is judgment on the destroyers of the earth (Rev 11:18). In the Jewish and Christian eschatological literature, natural disasters became a regular feature of the antecedents of the coming of a new age. Such cataclysmic events are often described as “apocalyptic” and are related to ancient texts such as the Book of Revelation. The evolution of this kind of description is considered in the light of the revelatory dimension which is such a dominant feature of the apocalyptic texts themselves. Ancient Jewish and Christian eschatology did not share the view that God had consigned the world to chaos. Rather the evidence suggests that there was a significant and lasting hope for a restored and glorious world once the new age had come. Far from being destroyed with fire it was going once again to blossom as a rose (cf. Isa 35:1–2). This became the dominant way in which Jewish and ancient Christian hopes were articulated. Whether that optimistic hope is sustainable rather than the bleaker view of the biblical prophetic literature that human behavior would lead to chaos and destruction is a pertinent question for our times.