Cosmic Eschatology in the Jewish Apocalypses of the Intertestamental Period

The period between composition of the last book of the Old Testament and the first book of the New Testament is called Intertestamental Period. Jewish literature in this era, because of the encounter of the Jews with other nations, flourished in various forms and genres. For example, the genre of apocalypse as a result of the Iranian influence on Judaism became prevalent in Jewish literature. The Greco-Roman persecutions brought about a new eschatology in the intertestamental apocalypses, which was on the one hand in accordance with the teachings of the Old Testament, and on the other, it consoled the historical sufferings of the Israelite nation. This eschatology depended on a historical determinism which observed the depravities of the human society as the cause of cosmic misfortunes, which in its turn was the prologue to the advent of the Messiah. The apocalypse's transhistorical approach to the end time events altered the historical views of the Old Testament. The apocalyptists of the intertestamental period believed that the hereafter was in motion parallel to this world and heavenly Jerusalem, which was the symbol of the kingdom of God, was established in the heart of the righteous men.