The mother of a friend of mine used to say "dreaming of heaven is all very well but it won't get the dishes done". She was right. We may well have an 'eternal home', but thinking about it all the time won't bring it any closer or make it happen any sooner. and it certainly won't get the dishes done, i.e. help us to live our lives. The ancient Hebrews knew that. They didn't wish their lives away dreaming of heaven, in fact they had no idea of going heaven when they died! They believed that it was enough to entrust themselves into the love and grace of God in the here and now, in the lives they lived with family and friends, on the good land the Lord had given them. This post explores what it was the Hebrews hoped to get out of life and how that related to their expectations of what happened to them when they died. "Ultimately everyone died and so everyone found themselves in Sheol. But Sheol was not hell, it was not a place of punishment and the 'final destination' didn't matter nearly as much as the means of getting there, the path taken. Life was what mattered. A good, rich, long and full life. What lay at the end was a kind of nothingness. It was what happened here and now that really mattered to the Hebrews. I think if we modern day 'members of the covenant' could capture something of that outlook rather than wishing our lives away dreaming of 'heaven', we would not only honour God more by enjoying the richness of the world and of life, but play a much greater part in freeing the world of despair and fear. Instead of planning to run away, we might be better able to show people how to live".
In the Hebrew bible there is little or no indication of a hope for a blessed afterlife. Instead, the belief was that everyone would, at the end of their lives, descend to Sheol. Sheol was the common destination of all, good and the wicked. There was no meaningful life there - it was a place of sleep, forgetfulness and silence. There was no awareness or praise of God there. There was no return from Sheol and no judgement or reward there. Those who went there (i.e. everyone!) became "Rephaim" or shades. So the obvious question is what then was the nature of the Hebrew hope? What did they want "out of life" and what did they class as "salvation"? What did they look forward to, if not heavenly reward? The 'early bath' scenarioBasically, they wanted to avoid Sheol for as long as possible. In other words the Hebrews looked for long life. Salvation had nothing to do with "final reckoning", or looking for forgiveness. Instead the Hebrews sought for God's blessing in the here and now, in the length and quality of the lives they lived. This hoped-for blessing was part of the concept of "covenant". The Hebrews believed that God had entered into a contract, an agreement with them. God's part in the agreement was that He promised them safety and prosperity in the land of Israel. Their part in this "contract" was that they were required to keep God's Law (Torah). If they did, they would enjoy blessing in the rich and bountiful land that God had given to them. This covenant is expressed beautifully in these words from Deuteronomy Keep, then, this entire commandment that I am commanding you today, so that you may have strength to go in and occupy the land that you are crossing over to occupy, and so that you may live long in the land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give to them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey. . . . If you will only heed his every commandment that I am commanding you today—loving the Lord your God, and serving him with all your heart and with all your soul— then he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain . . . . . . . and you will gather in your grain, your wine, and your oil and he will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you will eat your fill. Deuteronomy 11.8-10 (NRSV) So, if the Hebrews keep God's commandments there will be rain at the right time and they will be able to grow their crops and feed themselves and their families. The Hebrews knew that their relationship with the land depended on their relationship with God. The two went hand in hand. They didn't worry too much about 'sin'. The commandments were clear and the conscientious Hebrew could keep them perfectly well if he or she was minded to do so. If someone broke the commandments then, depending on the severity of the crime, there were 'ways back' for him or her. But by 'way back' I mean there were ways back into the community. The commandments were essentially about how to live together as a people. This is obviously a corporate/social hope, a sense of expectation as the people of God. Individually, people expected to participate in the richness of this good land for as long as possible. The hope of the Hebrew man or woman was to have a long rich and full life, with many children a good name, success and protection from their enemies, whoever they might be. This is expressed in the prayer in Psalm 91. 14 Those who love me, I will deliver; "Salvation" and long life are connected. They go together. 'Salvation' for the Hebrews was all about maintaining the covenant. Their hopes and longings focused on the land and the blessings it brought them. There was no "future hope", only the hope that in the future they would continue to live in the land and enjoy its blessings. For those who didn't maintain the covenant, the 'wicked', there was a clear expectation that they would be cut off from the community and from the land. To be cut off from the community and the land could only mean one thing - that they would die. To have no place on the land or in the community was tantamount to being dead. So time after time in the Hebrew bible, the wicked are regarded as being on their way to Sheol, the subterranean land of the dead. Let me not be put to shame, O Lord, for I call on you; Let the wicked be put to shame, let them go dumbfounded to Sheol. Let the lying lips be dumb, which speak insolently against the righteous in pride and contempt. Psalm 31.17-18 (NRSV) In other words, the 'godly', those who kept the covenant, were rewarded with a long and full life. The wicked on the other hand, could expect to encounter Sheol in the near future. Just as sportsmen and women in the United Kingdom, sent off from the field of play early, used to head off for what, (when I was young) the commentators used to call 'an early bath' (now it's all showers!) so, in the world of ancient Israel, those who didn't play the game properly, who deliberately flouted the covenant, were sent of from the 'field of play' i.e. they were expected to die early. They were sent off for their 'early bath' except it wasn't a hot and cleansing wash in water they could look forward to, but rather an untimely encounter with the dark and miserable wasteland of Sheol. Such is the fate of the foolhardy . . . Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol; Death shall be their shepherd; straight to the grave they descend, and their form shall waste away; Sheol shall be their home. Psalm 49.14 (NRSV) "Go straight to Sheol; do not pass go"Sometimes, in extreme cases, there was the "do not pass go" scenario, in other words if people were really bad they could go straight down to Sheol without going through the tiresome business of dying first! This is what happened to Korah and his allies when they challenged the leadership of Moses and Aaron during the exodus wanderings. We read in Numbers 16 that God's anger was "stirred against them" and they, their families and supporters were destroyed. The ground beneath them opened up and they went straight down to Sheol. As soon as he finished speaking all these words, the ground under them was split apart. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, along with their households—everyone who belonged to Korah and all their goods. So they with all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol; the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. All Israel around them fled at their outcry, for they said, ‘The earth will swallow us too!’ And fire came out from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men offering the incense. Numbers 16.31-35 (NRSV) So in cases of extreme wickedness, as in this case, the wicked didn't have to find Sheol, Sheol came to get them! The 'do-not-pass-go' model emphasises two things. Firstly that Sheol was regarded as a real place beneath the ground, a place you could reach by heading straight down, and secondly that it was regarded as a living force or even, at times, a living beast with jaws and an appetite. The imagery in this story of the ground opening would have reminded readers/listeners of a great ferocious beast opening its mouth. When God later promises to 'swallow up' death forever (Isaiah 25.7-8) it was a play on this imagery of Sheol/death as the terrible monster that lurked beneath, waiting to devour people. "There are two paths you can go by but in the long run . . . ."Sheol may have been the common destination of all but some got there earlier than others. Precisely because the true blessing of God was found in enjoyment of the good life offered by the land, judgement was experienced as being cut off from those blessings by being sent to Sheol "early", either by an untimely death, or as in the case of Korah by more direct means. The Israelites regarded a long life, many children and a good name as their ultimate "spiritual" ambition. The godly received these from God. The wicked could expect to find themselves in Sheol much sooner, deprived of all these blessings. Ultimately everyone died and so everyone found themselves in Sheol. But Sheol was not hell, it was not a place of punishment and the 'final destination' didn't matter nearly as much as the means of getting there, the path taken. Life was what mattered. A good rich long and full life. What lay at the end was a kind of nothingness. It was what happened here and now that really mattered to the Hebrews. I think if we modern day members of the covenant could capture something of that outlook rather than wishing our lives away dreaming of 'heaven', we would not only honour God more by enjoying the richness of the world and of life, but play a much greater part in freeing the world of despair and fear. Instead of planning to run away, we might be better able to show people how to live. You might also be interested in . . .
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April 2016
GalleryThis blog is as much about images as it is about text. Below is a slideshow of the pictures and images used in this blog. Click on any of the pictures to go to the post where that image is featured.
PostsLocating Paradise #1 In a Garden, Far, Far Away
The Testament of Abraham and the Threefold Judgement of God #5 'Stuck in the Middle With You'
The Resurrection According to Rahner
Today You Will Be With Me in Paradise
The Testament of Abraham and the Threefold Judgement of God #4 'And Who by Fire'
The Testament of Abraham and the Threefold Judgement of God #3: Held in the Balance
The Testament of Abraham and the Threefold Judgement of God #2: Once, Twice, Three Times a Sinner
The Testament of Abraham and the Threefold Judgement of God #1: The Broad and Narrow Gates
Daily Dante 7: Many Rivers to Cross
Daily Dante 6: 'You Gotta Serve Somebody'
In Hell Everyone Can Hear You Scream. The Vision of Tundale #3
Teeth, Spikes and Cleavers: At the Sharp end of Hell. The Vision of Tundale #2
'No Pain No Gain': The Vision of Tundale #1
'Hellzapoppin':
Illustrations from Le Livre de la Vigne nostre Seigneur, #2 'It's The End of the World as We Know It (and we feel fine)'. Illustrations from Le Livre de la Vigne nostre Seigneur, #1
Visions of Heaven. Botticini's Assumption of the Virgin #2 Blinded by the Light
Visions of Heaven. Botticini's Assumption of the Virgin #1: Glorious and Immortal
Daily Dante 5: What the gates said.
Daily Dante 4: When I find myself in times of trouble
Daily Dante 3: I'll take you there
Daily Dante 2: Fierce creatures
Daily Dante 1: If you go down to the woods today
In Seventh Heaven or 'What Enoch Did Next'
A World of Fire and Ice: Heaven according to Enoch
The Power and the Glory: Visions of God as king in the Hebrew bible
The Beautiful Bestiary of Catherine Cleves: Monsters and Demons in detail.
Heaven is for Real: Heaven as a physical space up above the sky
Resurrecting the Dead or Reviving the Flowers? The loss of resurrection faith in Judaism.
The Defeat of Death #1: The promise of resurrection in the Isaiah Apocalypse.
The Defeat of Death #2: Death as a hostile power and promise of God's victory in Isaiah
Scary Monsters and Super Creeps: The 'Last Judgement' according to Stefan Lochner
Hell in the Hospital: The 'Last Judgement' of Rogier van der Weyden in the Beaune altarpiece.
'Hell' in the New Testament #2: The gates of Hades shall not prevail
The Hours of Catherine Cleves: Imagining hell and purgatory in Catherine's prayer book
'On Earth as in Heaven': The kingdom of God as a revelation of heaven
'Hell' in the New Testament #1: Gehenna
Lost in Translation #1: How the King James version got it so wrong about hell
Heaven is not our home
Domes, Depths and Demons: The cosmology of the Hebrew world
A Bigger God
"See you in Sheol" - Sheol, the common destination of all
Heaven, Hell and Christian Hope
BooksBelow are some of the books which have helped me the most in the research and writing for this blog. Click on any image to find out more about that book at its page on Amazon uk.
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