State punishment. i) Exiles of 597 (ii) Submission to Babylon (iii) Themes of restoration. A complete Christian exegesis takes the entire Old Testament seriously as an essential element in the context of Christian revelation.
THE HISTORICAL SITUATION IN THE EXILIC AGE
But it is possible that the road in Isaiah is that of the Syro-Ephraimite invaders (cf. Kraus says that 'it is reasonable to assume that the cultic assemblies of the exiles were held in the same place'.
THE RESPONSE TO THE EVENTS
THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH
- JEREMIAH AND THE FUTURE (i) The exiles of 597
24, in the vision of the two baskets of figs, depicts the exiles as compared to the good figs, and I. Such a hope for restoration and restoration of the community is particularly elaborated in the oracular collection of ch.
THE HISTORIANS AND THEOLOGIANS OF THE EXILIC AGE
THE DEUTERONOMIC HISTORY
193-206, emphasizes the importance of the place of the poor in the teaching of Amos. Deuteronomy is about the right arrangement of God's people. 58.
THE PRIESTLY WORK
11 Another, more radical treatment of the problems of the exile can be found in the Chronicler's work, cf. 18 and 20, as regards the nature of the family and the obligations of its members, cf. § 2, subsection For their sake he will remember the covenant with their ancestors, namely the generation of the exodus.
It is this last section which should really reveal the ultimate purpose of the Code of Holiness. Thiele, Ihe iktj~~eriour Numbers of the Hebrew Kings (Grand Rapids, 21965; Exeter, rg66), and see his bibliography; J. Each of these three main sections contributes to our understanding of the whole work.
1-2.4, which in so many respects has points of contact with the Babylonian Enzima eZi.f, culminates in the ordering of the sabbath. In this it preserves an appreciation of the ultimate moment of creation as is also true in the Babylonian Marduk myth. Now it now joins the whole structure of the legal and other material in the central part of P.
PROPHECY OF THE EXILE AND THE IDEALS OF RESTORATION
THE BOOK OF EZEKIEL
1s Only when the disaster is fully appropriated does this radical acceptance of God's actions become possible.19. Rather, the experience should be seen in the reality of the situation, rather than just theorizing about it. In the context of divine action, all of its own accord, the possibility of a well-ordered life is indicated.
The mutual relationship between judgment and promise is thus made clear in the actual form of the material. This paves the way for the greater exposition of promise and restoration in the second half of the book. But before the complete organization of the restoration can be described in detail, the lesson intervenes.
Hammershaimb, 'Ezekiel's View of the Monarchy', Stud&z Orient&z Joanni Pedersen (Copenhagen, rg53), pp EZEKIEL AND RESTORATION “ 5 whole people, most clearly expressed in the symbol of the two sticks. But he put the experiences of Israel in a world context, and the consequences of the exile can therefore be seen in the whole understanding of the purpose of God.
DEUTER’O-ISAIAH
It is that any attempt to produce a logical exposition is frustrated by the complexity of thought. This corresponds to Ezekiel's consideration of the understanding of calamity and the prospect of salvation. There is no diminution in these chapters of the cause of Israel's present condition.
The realization of the events of creation and redemption in the present situation is here most clearly. The basis of the prophet's interpretation is by no means a skilful weighing of political options. The limit of God's purpose is not reached by the restoration of Israel, but by the extension of his redemptive power to the ends of the earth (49:6).
The exaltation of the servant of God brings the nations as witnesses in wonder at what God has done. 29x-305, pleads for a universalization of Israel's hope in the final presentation of the oracles of Deutero-Isaiah. Because just as we saw in the theological thinking of the exile period a.
RESTORATION AND ITS INTERPRETATION
INTRODUCTORY
Such a discussion of the more general meaning of y&ad was already by F. Chary argues that the preceding mention of Zerubbabel, from the Persian point of view, indicates the greater importance of the civil governor. Such an assumption is unnecessary in light of the Chronicler's tendency to adapt his source material.
302, emphasizes that Zerubbabel was the last of the Davidic line to be entrusted with political authority. Another point must be briefly touched upon, namely the nature of the resistance to reconstruction. Galling, 46 lead to consideration of the list of returned exiles found in Ezra 2 and Neh.
Nicholson, “The Meaning of the Expression ‘am ha”k-e; in the Old Testament', JSS IO (rg65), pp. McKenzie, 'The people of the land' in the Old Testament', in Akten des XXIV Internationalen Orientalisten-Kongress, Munich, 1957 (Wiesbaden, rg5g), pp. We may note that with regard to this opposition of the "people of the land" J.
THE RESTORATION AND ITS INTERPRETATION
HAGGAI
The temple is 'desolate' (@rib) and this is related by the prophet to the state of the land. But this misses the true nature of the temple as understood in these prophetic scriptures. The temple is the correlation to God's presence; its state only in the sense that it is what God chooses.
However, in the actual words of the prophet, the community is referred to as 'this people'4*. In the third place, there is no indication of any interruption of the rebuilding of the Temple thereafter. 49-64, provides an illuminating statement of the position of the leaders regarding the rebuilding.
The prophetic books are full of contrasts involving the real nature of the people of God. The emphasis in Haggai's own message to the people centers on the uncleanness of the people's sacrifices in the sanctuary. It is the earliest exegesis of the passage available to us, and it indicates that.
ZECHARIAH 1-8
- THE PEOPLE’S RESPONSE
There is the assurance that what must be achieved is to be in the power of the spirit of God.7. 7 seems to be a reference to the climax of the rebuilding, the placement of the tombstone. 4, that the rebuilding of the Temple is linked to the authenticity of the prophet's message.
The interrelationship between the restoration of the temple and the establishment of a new era13 is shown in I. The latter, the appropriate black color of the horses, if applicable. The existence of the priesthood is clearly connected with the existence and restoration of the temple.
4, as we have already seen, is complicated by the accuracy of the reference to the rebuilding of the Temple in the inserted verses Gb-Ioa. This phrase, perhaps incomplete, shows the candlestick as the symbol of the divine presence. The main passage - l i k e 1.1-6 - points to past experience as a warning for the present.
EXILE AND RESTORATION: OTHER ASPECTS OF THE THOUGHT OF THE
PERIOD
21, only the later years of exile began to produce stronger statements. 5o.2-3-although much older and traditional elements are being elaborated and applied here in the concrete situation of the exile period. 15. Themes such as the fall of the tyrant are presented in Isa.
The declarations of the destiny of the nations are connected with the "Day of Yahweh", ch. In reality, it is said to be the city of Yahweh, with walls and gates, renamed to express the new age it represents. Again we have signs of a prophet dealing with the practical and theological problems of the post-exilic community.
2 I 3 : -'How average and vague were the attempts to realize it on the side of the dreams of the seers.'. A constant state of distress is seen as evidence of a constant human failure. The material referred to here again points to the appropriation of the experience of exile and the subsequent deepening of the understanding of the relationship between divine agency and political fortune.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE EXILE AND RESTORATION1
As we have seen, there is at times a certain oversimplification of the human situation in the earlier prophets and in the Deuteronomic History. Their proclamation of the new age emphasizes the context of the promised new life for the people. There is a further sequel to this in the Chronicler's work, of which a little more shall be said in a moment.
Dealing with the exile is therefore not only a problem of historical reconstruction, but it is a matter of trying. Here is an acknowledgment - unlike the point made in the passage in Jeremiah - that the exile is not comparable to the period of the Exodus. Mender&all as suggests that 'the terrible problem posed by the fall of the nation was uppermost in the writer's mind'.
This suggestion, if accepted, would indicate another influence of the exile on the understanding of the Old Testament material. The second point concerns the place of the line of David in relation to this new age. In the first place is the response of devotion, which we have already connected with the idea of the temple.
BJX E
Ap-Thomas, 'The Catastrophe of Jerusalem in 587 B.C. n. no. and its Significance to Israel', in Z%e Laws in tire Pentateuch and Other Essays (Edinburgh, I gSS), p. VRIEZEN, HoofdZijnen der theologie uan het Oude Testament (Wageningen, rg4g; last edition 1967); references to ET S. Neuijen, An Outline of Old Testament Theology (Oxford, 1958). The approach to the subject in this book differs greatly from that of this study in many respects.).
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