The modern state of Israel has certainly its share of political and military disturbances. The bombing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem in 1946 was just the beginning of the modern Jewish state’s challenges. The Six-Day War in 1967, the Yom Kippur War in 1973, Palestinian uprisings in the 1980s, and the present conflicts at Gaza have kept Israel on constant military alert. Ancient Israel, too, faced constant military threats from its Middle Eastern and Mediterranean neighbors. After a century of glory under Kings David and Solomon, Israel knew a half-millennia of conquest and oppression under the Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks and Romans. A brief respite was achieved under the Maccabees about 100 years before Christ, but otherwise it was centuries of doom and gloom.
The one respite the Jewish nation was granted during these centuries of turmoil was the solace of apocalyptic literature. The Greek word “apokalypsis” literally means “something uncovered” or revealed. A few Old Testament prophets wrote in such a spirit. The name has also been given to the last book of the Christian Scriptures: The Apocalypse or Book of Revelation, attributed to St. John the apostle. After the destruction of Jerusalem and the devastation to Solomon’s Temple by the Babylonians in 586 BC, seers hopefully prophesied for the Jews to hold fast promising a restoration of the nation and the eventual punishment of all enemies by God. The literature has been described as a product of despair and hope: despair over the present evil conditions of the world and hope in the eternal power of God to effect justice. Apocalyptic authors promised that the present evil age will give way to a glorious new age. Hence, apocalyptic writings are rightly called “a spiritual pep talk in code.”
The Christian world knows apocalyptic literature best through the final chapters of Isaiah and Ezekiel as well as the Book of Daniel and certainly the Book of Revelation attributed to St. John. And indeed there are hints of the apocalyptic style in the Gospels themselves. St. Luke ominously quotes Christ: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky.” (Lk 21:10-11) But then Christ favorably concludes, “By your perseverance you will secure your lives (Lk21:19).” Or, as an older translation read more happily, “By your perseverance you will save your souls.”
The Scriptures are not naïve. Everyone this side of the grave can expect rough times. Perhaps one generation might experience particularly disastrous decades. One thinks of the Black Death or the Hundred Years War or the Nazi Holocaust or the Soviet Gulags. And individuals, too, can endure oppressive circumstances even during a generally happy era. Illness and unemployment and homelessness and estrangement may enter into anyone’s life. At such times the believer must rely not on his or her own sense of optimism which too often sours in the face of suffering. Rather the challenged believer must embrace the theological virtue of hope which is based not on chance or luck or even personal ability, but on the promises and providence of God Himself. As the Letter to the Hebrews urges, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” (Hb12:23) Hope fortifies the soul to remain confident in God during challenging times. Hope does not eliminate life’s challenges but rather affords the believer the interior energy and lasting patience to endure setbacks and survive calamities. It affords us joy even under trial: “Rejoice in hope” (Bishop Gelineau’s motto), “be patient in tribulation (Rom12:12).”
At the end of his life, Christ knew that challenging and even disastrous times were ahead for his Church and especially for his closest disciples, all but one of whom would face a martyr’s death. Jesus knew the centuries of Roman persecution, the era of Islamic increase around the Mediterranean world, the barbaric invasions from the North, the excesses of the Renaissance, the tragedy of the Reformation, the loss of faith during the Enlightenment and certainly the rampant secularism of our own day. Yet Jesus insisted, “By your perseverance you will save your souls.”
The apocalyptic literature of the Old and New Testaments was more than a call for optimism and patience in tough times. The bizarre imagery framed the terse promise that “…in the end, God…” Yes, indeed, God himself, is basis of all hope! God does not and cannot disappoint. He is there to sustain the believer at every turn. Hence, “Rejoice in hope!”
