Isaiah 25:1—9; 60:1—3, 14—20; Matthew 25:31—46;
I Corinthians 15:20—24; Revelation 21:1—4, 22—27; 22:1—5.
In a sense we have already reached the end of the Bible story, for once the Church had been established the means of salvation had been brought within the reach of every man. God’s great purpose of giving His blessing to "all the families of earth" had been, at least potentially, accomplished. The long history of man which follows the close of the New Testament period introduces no new factors into the situation; it tells us merely of the widening scope of the Church’s life, her diffusion among many peoples and her deepening understanding of the Gospel with which she was entrusted.
But, in another sense, we cannot leave the Bible story at this point because the Bible itself does not do so. Neither to biblical man nor to common sense does it seem likely that the story of man’s life upon earth will continue forever. Sometime, somehow, the curtain will fall upon the gorgeous pageant of human history; somewhere time must have a stop.
But what will the end be? Some scientists have thought of it in terms of the cooling of the earth and the extinction of human life by the
advancing icecaps. Others have thought of a final cosmic conflagration or an atomic explosion which would send the world up in flames.
To men of the Bible, however, the nature of the end was clearly
determined by the presuppositions of their faith. Whatever might prove true from a purely scientific point of view about the fate of the physical universe, they had no doubt that on the spiritual level the end of history meant the final triumph of the Kingdom of God. Beyond the limits of secular history, with its ugly scars of sin and pride, they saw far off the coming rule of God. It was this vision which sustained them through the troubles of life in the present order of the world.
The readings suggested for this study are just a sample of great Bible passages which deal with the theme. One must not be disturbed by differences in the pictures they present, for they are trying to describe the indescribable. All are attempts to put into vividly conceptual, quasi- historical language truths which belong essentially to the spiritual and supra-historical order.
The first (Isa. 25: 1—9) is a brief passage from an apocalyptic work written very late in the Old Testament period (not by the prophet Isaiah).
It pictures the final event as involving the destruction of human pride (vv. 2f), the rescue of the poor and distressed of earth (~), a feast which God will spread for the people of all nations (6), and the end of suffering and death (8).
The second passage (Isa. 6o:1—3; 14—20) is from the oracles of
Second (or Third) Isaiah and therefore somewhat earlier than the one we have just been examining. Originally it referred to the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem after the Babylonian Exile, but the language is so extravagantly magnificent that it cannot be limited to any merely
historical event. The author saw in the restoration of his people after the Exile a sign of God’s coming restoration of mankind. Here, once again, we find the intermingled themes of the humiliation of human pride (v.
14), God’s care for the afflicted (15), and the end of suffering (18). But the prophet also includes another theme—the glorious Presence of God in the midst of His people (19f).
In the third passage (Matt. 25:31—46) we find our Lord also dealing with the end of history, instructing his disciples as to the way in which they must enter "the kingdom . . . prepared from the foundation of the world." The scene is that of the final judgment (a frequent theme of the Old Testament also), with Jesus himself returned in regal dignity to act as Judge. Those who will be counted worthy to share in the glory of the Kingdom are the ones who willingly gave themselves to serve their
fellow men. Since the abolition of human suffering is one of the goals of the Kingdom, those who would enter it must themselves have striven for this end; as he had said on another occasion, "Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy" (Matt. 5:7). The words of Jesus in this passage contain quite as much of warning as of comfort and, however we interpret them in detail, must be taken with the utmost seriousness.
The few verses from Paul (I Cor. 15:20—24) are included to show that he shared the common faith and especially now, in the coming triumph of God’s Kingdom, he saw history coming full cycle, with Christ
repairing the damage Adam once had done. So our last readings in the Bible story bring us back to the first.
The final passage (Rev. 21:1—4, 22—27; 22:1—5) is the most brilliant and rhapsodic of all pictures of the coming Kingdom. It is full of
reminiscences of older prophecies, as one can see by comparing 21:4 with Isaiah 25:8, or 21:23 with Isaiah 60:19f (or 21:1 with Isa. 65:17).
In 22:1—2 the writer of Revelation, like Paul, takes his readers back to the beginning of the Bible story and re-uses the images he finds there.
Once again we find ourselves in the Garden of Eden, with its river (Gen.
2:10; cf. Ezek. 47:1 and Zech. 14:8) and the tree of life (Gen. 2:9; Ezek.
47:12). Poetically speaking, history began in the garden and there it will end. Once, by sin, man cut himself off from the garden and the tree (Gen. 3:24), but in the end God will bring him back to his proper home and he will find the tree of life freely offered for his use (Rev. 22:2).
The leaves on the tree will be for healing the disorders of the scattered peoples of the earth, and God’s servants will reign as kings (v. 5).
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