Jewish Apocalypticism

By Ernest Austin Adams

The Author reveals compelling evidence that Jewish apocalypticism was not inspired by God and originated out of misconceived notions by Israelitish apocalypticists that God would purportedly return to earth with the Assyrian attack, c., 722 BC, to judge the idolatrous Israelites and punish their enemies. We show how Jewish Apocalypticism developed from the time of the captivity of the Northern Kingdom by the Assyrians and how that the prophet Amos, c., 760 BC, took a bona fide prophecy concerning the crucifixion of Messiah on the "Day of the Lord" (Amos 8:7-10), and coupled this with his expectation of the impending attack by the Assyrians. Subsequent prophets used Amos' expectations as an apocalyptic prototype and orchestrated their apocalyptic expectations going forward.

The original scroll of Ezekiel was edited by the school of the prophets who went on to write the second scroll of Ezekiel and the two were combined into a single work after Josephus' time. Enoch became the most popular apocalyptic writing in the years leading up to the birth of the Christian church until the 4th century AD when this Book was rejected by the Church. The author uses writings from antiquity to show conclusively that the apocalyptic portrayals in Daniel were written during the time of Antiochus iv Epiphanes and were updated in the early second century by Aquila of Sinope to make these portrayals more relevant. Convincing evidence shows that Aquila of Sinope wrote The Revelation of John early in the second century AD, naming his work after John, who was a notable character, as was the custom with apocalyptic writings. It is also shown how that the church leaders at Jerusalem added apocalyptic cliches to the Gospel of Mark which were utilized by Matthew and Luke and that these statements were not made by Messiah. It is conclusively shown that Jewish apocalypticism was orchestrated over the centuries and that these portrayals are not prophecy from God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Oct 24, 2019
• ISBN: 9781543986426

Book preview

The following permissions were received:

New American Standard Bible1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995. (Permission granted for use of the Book of Revelation and up to an additional 1,000 verses).

Hallo W.W., & Eds, Context of Scripture, Volumes 1,2,3. (2002). Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. (Permission granted for use of up to 1,000 words).

Copyright on the following works have expired and are in the Public Domain;

Ante-Nicene Fathers: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325. Roberts, Alexander ; Donaldson, James ; Coxe, A. Cleveland: The Oak Harbor : Logos Research Systems, 1997.

Charles R.H., Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament. Charles, Robert Henry (Hrsg.): Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament. Bellingham, WA : Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2004.

Cory, Ancient Fragments.

Dean J.E., Epiphaneus’ Treatise on Weights and Measures.

Jacobsen T., The Sumerian King List.

Josephus F., Against Apion, Antiquities of the Jews, Wars of the Jews; Whiston, William: The Works of Josephus : Complete and Unabridged. Peabody : Hendrickson, 1996, c1987.

Müller F.M., Zend Avesta.

Tacitus— Germanica.

The Apocrypha: King James Version. Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1995.

Wallis Budge Sir E.A., The Babylonian Legends of Creation.

The Prophetic Writings, Jewish Apocalypticism. © 2019 Ernest Austin Adams. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

ISBN: 978-1-54398-641-9 (print)

ISBN: 978-1-54398-642-6 (ebook)

Dedication and Acknowledgment

The Prophetic Writings series is dedicated to Truth.

Firstly I wish to express gratitude and appreciation to God the Father who, through His Holy Spirit, called me to produce this series. Over the past 40 years, He has conveyed to me five specific prophetic messages and five texts which directed me in the production of this series. I also wish to acknowledge with thanks those who were obedient to God in delivering these messages.

I greatly appreciate the support from my dear wife, Michelle, who has been my sounding board over the years. I value her input and the countless times we would pray and ask God for guidance and particularly in the last few months her help in going over the works prior to publication.

Table of Contents

Preface

Chapter 1.

Introduction.

Chapter 2.

The Emergence of Jewish Apocalyticism.

Chapter 3.

The Book of Daniel, Overview and Commentary.

Chapter 4.

Jewish Apocalypticism during the first century AD prior to the

destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem in 70 AD by the Romans.

Chapter 5.

The Book of Revelation, Sources used.

Chapter 6.

The Book of Revelation, Deconstruction.

Bibliography

Preface

We show how Jewish Apocalypticism developed from the time of the captivity of the Northern Kingdom by the Assyrians and how that the prophet Amos, c., 760 BC, took a bona fide prophecy concerning the crucifixion of Messiah (Amos 8:7-10), and coupled this with his expectation of an attack by the Assyrians. The attack occurred, c., 722 BC, mainly as a result of the refusal of the Israelites to pay tribute to the Assyrians. In that same prophecy, Amos foretold of an impending great tribulation when there would be an earthquake and the day would be dark from noon and the houses and sanctuaries would be laid waste and that the Lord would return to earth on that day (Day of the Lord) to judge the idolatrous Israelites and the enemies of Israel. Because the Lord did not return at that time and the expected signs and wonders in the sky and on earth did not occur, these expectations were pushed out to a later time. We show how Amos’ expectations became the apocalyptic prototype for subsequent apocalyptic writers. Hosea spoke of the Northern Kingdom combining with the Judeans to conquer the Assyrians in the plains of Jezreel (Hosea 1:11), also called Megiddo, which again did not take place, and was once again extended to a future date. We show how apocalypticism was largely birthed out of nationalistic ideals to secure what they regarded as their Land and wanted to see their enemies punished. Their apocalyptic expectations gained momentum after their Babylonian captivity when Jewish priests rewrote their foundation documents with a survivalist agenda and started to picture God returning to dwell in their Temple to rule the world from Jerusalem. Solomon, when dedicating the temple, was in no doubt that their Temple could not contain God and that He lived in His abode in heaven (1 Kings 8:26-30).

We detail the many issues related to Jewish apocalypticism showing how these portrayals were orchestrated over time to depict what apocalypticists wanted to see happen and were written under dubious circumstances.

We reveal the issues related to Ezekiel who was dysfunctional, i.e., had to be restrained with ropes, was mute at times, could not shed a tear when his wife died, and had visions of events which never materialized. These are all signs of someone suffering from schizophrenia.

We show how the first scroll of Ezekiel was edited by the school of the prophets and that these prophets wrote second Ezekiel which was combined into one book after the time of Josephus. During the Babylonian captivity, Jewish priests wrote how God gave Moses instructions on how to build their tabernacle in the Wilderness and that God took up residence in the tabernacle, which we show as fabrications. These were styled on the mythological observances of their Babylonian captors whose gods supposedly built and inhabited their temples.

The Book of Enoch, which was eventually rejected by the Christian leaders in the fourth century AD, due to many contradictions, was written by Jewish priests from the time of their Babylonian captivity. It is shown how many of the apocalyptic depictions in Enoch were gleaned from Zoroastrian and Sumerian mythology which impacted on their apocalyptic views going forward, and were later included in the text of Daniel and Revelation (The Prophetic Writings, The Prophets).

Daniel, which was written over time by at least three writers, and was initially written as a parabolic depiction of folk-tales to encourage the Israelites who were facing a time of crisis. During the time of Antiochus iv Epiphanes, ex post facto prophecies were added and again, during the early second century. Additions, mainly sourced from the Book of Enoch, were made by Aquila of Sinope who was excommunicated from the church for refusing to turn his back on practicing astrology. Writings from antiquity also pinpoint Aquila of Sinope as the 3rd and final writer of updates to the Book of Daniel. None of Aquila’s additions are found in the Dead Sea Scroll fragments, c., 70 AD, nor were they mentioned by Josephus who wrote extensively on Daniel, nor were they mentioned in New Testament epistles. An ancient copy of Daniel belonging to the Dead Sea Scroll collection, was handed to CIA operative Miles Copeland in Damascus in 1947 and, after photographing the scroll, it was sent to the CIA headquarters after which it never saw the light of day.

We show convincingly that Aquila of Sinope wrote The Revelation of John, naming it after a notable character as was the custom with the apocalyptic genre. We reveal the sources of Revelation and show convincingly how this work was orchestrated from prior apocalyptic works and that this work is not prophecy from God. Evidence from writings produced in the early second millennium AD shows that Aquila was the writer of Revelation.

The early Jerusalem church was enamored with Jewish apocalypticism and took certain apocalyptic portrayals from the Assumption of Moses and the Book of Enoch and added apocalyptic clichés to the words of Messiah.

The author functioned as a Senior Manager in one of the banks in South Africa where he was for a time employed as a Manager in their Forensic Investigations division where his investigative skills were honed. He conducted many top-level investigations where he dealt with Law Enforcement, Attorneys General, Lawyers, prepared evidence for court cases and interviewed many miscreants during these exercises. These skills were used in researching these biblical issues where many significant findings emerged during this Prophetic Writings Series which are backed up by compelling evidence. In conducting this project, the writer has endeavored to portray the true picture of God and His plans and purposes for humanity going forward.

The author’s various tertiary endeavors have produced the following accreditation;

Doctor Litterarum et Philosophiae, Biblical Studies (RAU).

Magister Artium, Biblical Studies, Cum Laude, (RAU).

Bachelor of Arts, Honors in Bible Theology, (ICI University, Texas).

Certified Associate of the Institute of Bankers in South Africa (CAIB).

The Southern Africa Institute of Management Services (SAIMAS).

This research has resulted in the completion of the following four books;

The Prophetic Writings, The Beginnings.

The Prophetic Writings, The Prophets.

The Prophetic Writings, The Messiah.

The Prophetic Writings, Jewish Apocalypticism.

The Prophetic Writings, World Alignment (in the process of being written).

Email: [e-mail]

Chapter 1.

Introduction.

The following outlines the emergence of Jewish Apocalypticism by various prophets from the time of Amos up until the time of the new era, highlighting the issues which related to this genre which emerged into the second century AD.

We have shown in the Prophetic Writings, The Prophets, that Jewish Apocalypticism emerged from a prototype established by Amos from around 760 BC, prior to the fall of Samaria to the Assyrians, c., 722 BC, and that subsequent prophets built their prophetic portrayals on this prototype (The Prophetic Writings, The Prophets). Amos wrote many so called prophecies concerning the Day of the Lord, and coupled his expectations with the impending Assyrian attack against the Northern Kingdom c., 722 BC, with a bona fide prophecy concerning the crucifixion of Messiah. Messiah’s crucifixion, which was accompanied by an earthquake, the sun darkening from midday into the afternoon and the mourning for the only Son of God, shows undoubtedly that this was what Amos 8:7-10 was portraying as his Day of the Lord. We have shown that Amos incorrectly coupled these apocalyptic expectations with this prophecy and through doing this created an expectation with apocalyptic Israelites that these events would take place in the future. When these expectations were not fulfilled, apocalyptists deferred these anticipations to a time in the future. That subsequent prophets utilized Amos’ apocalyptic prototype, shows that these expectations were being orchestrated by these apocalyptists who were anticipating God’s return to earth and their enemies to be judged. Additional elements were added to this prototype as prophets started to predict new elements to occur with the Day of the Lord that also did not immediately take place as believed, i.e., the defeat of their enemy at Jezreel (Hosea 1:11) and the abomination of desolation (Daniel 9:27) that would usher in the return of God to earth. The following shows how Amos was used to establish their apocalyptic prototype, viz.

The Lord will cause the heavens and earth to tremble when He descends and causes the earth to melt and the valleys to split (Amos 8:8, 9:1,5; Micah 1:3-4; Nahum 1:5; Isaiah 2:21, 13:4,9,13; Jeremiah 4:24-28, 8:16, 10:10; Zechariah 14:4-8; Enoch 1:3-7; Revelation 16:18-20). Jeremiah must have believed that this was metaphoric as the Israelites were defeated by the Babylonians, and he believed the Day of the Lord had already occurred, albeit that there were no earthquakes, etc., (Lamentations 2:16-17; 2:22; Ezekiel 13:4-5).

That God would judge the Israelites and the enemies of the Israelites (Amos 1:2-3:8, 7:7-8, 9:1-4; Isaiah 13:1-16; 63:1-6; Zephaniah 1:1-18; Jeremiah 1:15-16, 5:15-17, 25:12-33; Zechariah 14:1-3; Joel 3:2-8). Later apocalypticists after their Babylonian captivity focused this judgment on the enemies of Israel, believing that they had already been judged (Ezekiel 39:8; Enoch 1:1-9 56:5-8; Revelation 9:13-18; 16:17-21, 18:2-8, 19:1-3, 20:11-15).

The Israelites would be attacked by a mighty army (Amos 5:27, 7:9, 8:2-3; Hosea 13:16; Isaiah 13:1-16; Jeremiah 20:3-6, 40:2-3; Ezekiel 13:5, 39:1-8; Enoch 56:5; Revelation 9:13-16, 16:12, 20:8).

That the idolatrous Israelites would try to conceal themselves before the Lord and if they hide in Sheol they will be found and even if they hide on Carmel, i.e., in the rocks, or in the sea, they will be found and killed (Amos 9:1-3; Hosea 10:8; Isaiah 2:19-21; Jeremiah 4:29; Enoch 102:3, 104:5; Revelation 6:15-17). Later apocalypticists saw the enemies of the Israelites endeavoring to hide from God.

The Lord will bring down fire on the earth on the day that He purportedly judges the idolatrous Israelites and her enemies (Amos 7:4, 1;1-2:5; Micah 1:4,7; Nahum 1:6; Jeremiah 17:27, 21:12; Joel 2:3-5; Isaiah 26:11, 29:6-7, 30:27,30, 66:15-16). Later apocalypticists saw the heavens and earth being burnt with fire (Enoch 1:6-7, 52:6-9, 72:1; 91:16; Revelation 20:7,11), causing there to be a new heaven and earth (Isaiah 65:17, 66:22; Enoch 72;1, 91:16; Revelation 21:1).

God will tread the winepress upon the idolatrous Israelites. This did not originate with Amos but with Jeremiah (Lamentations 1:12-15), which later apocalypticists took and reciprocated onto their enemies (Ezekiel 32:4-6; Isaiah 63:1-4; Joel 3:2, 3:12-15; Enoch 100:3; Revelation 14:20, 19:15). These additions to Isaiah and Joel are exilic writings. Enoch speaks of the blood flowing in the rivers (Enoch 100:1-3) which Revelation depicts as the blood from the wine press.

This will be a day of great tribulation and calamity (Amos 6:3; Hosea 1:4-5; Isaiah 13:6-13; Zephaniah 1:14-18; Jeremiah 16:10, 18:11, 17, 19:15; Obadiah 13:13; Zechariah 14:2; Enoch 56:5-6; Daniel 7:21; Revelation 11:7, 13:7).

The sinners of Israel will die on that day (Amos 9:10, 6:8-9, 8:3; Zephaniah 3:11-12; Isaiah 13:9-11; Ezekiel 9:4-7; Daniel 7:21; Revelation 13:7). This is later transposed onto the enemies of Israel (Ezekiel 39:1-8; Enoch 1:1-9; Revelation 16:21, 18:1-8).

Hosea’s destruction of Assyria at Jezreel was extended to the forces of the world which come up against the Israelites and will be defeated at Megiddo at the end of the age (Hosea 1:11; Ezekiel 39:1-8, 11; Enoch 56:5-8; Revelation 16:16).

It would be a day of doom, gloom and darkness (Amos 5:18,20, 8:8-9; Zephaniah 1:14-15; Isaiah 13:9-10; Jeremiah 4:24-28; Zechariah 14:6-7; Enoch 94:9; Revelation 6:12, 8:12). This sign in the heavens actually occurred when Messiah was crucified (Amos 8:7-10; Matthew 27:45,51), and became so embellished, that they eventually saw the earthquake moving every mountain and island (Revelation 6:14, 16:20) and the earth being broken asunder (Isaiah 24:19-21) with the stars falling from heaven (Isaiah 34:4) and the sky rolling up like a scroll (Isaiah 34:4; Revelation 6:14).

It would be a day of bitter mourning, as for an only son (Amos 8:10; Jeremiah 6:26; Isaiah 29:1-2; Zechariah 12:10-11; Revelation 1:7, 18:19). This apocalyptic expectation in Revelation is unfounded as it relates to the crucifixion of Messiah which had already taken place, and was mourned for as an only son, and did not relate to a future anticipated Day of the Lord when He would supposedly return with His army to smite the enemies of Israel and be mourned by them (Revelation 1:7). Zechariah speaks of the mourning for an only son (Zechariah 12:10-11) which he styled on the Amos 8:10 prototype and links it to Messiah purportedly returning to earth to destroy the armies coming against the Israelites (Zechariah 14:1-7) which we show to have been stated incorrectly by Amos. John places this in the correct context with the crucifixion of Messiah (John 19:37).

They would be attacked by locusts that would consume their crops (Amos 7:1-2; Joel 1:4). In Revelation we see this attack transposed onto the enemies of Israel (Revelation 9:1-12).

Their temple and houses would be destroyed and their women ravished (Amos 7:9, 9:1; Isaiah 13:16; Jeremiah 13:9; Zechariah 14:2; Daniel 9:27; Revelation 13:5-7).

Their bodies will be left where they die for the beasts and birds to consume on that day. The early prophets do not speak of the beasts and birds consuming the corpses of the dead, however, it was known that the Assyrians were extremely cruel and after mutilating the bodies of their enemies heaped them up in piles leaving them to die or suffocate and for the animals and birds to consume (Kern P.B., Ancient Siege Warfare, p.68 ff.). Jeremiah had a fixation with the dead being left for the beasts to eat (Jeremiah 7:33, 9:22, 12:9, 15:3, 19:7, 25:32-33), which subsequent prophets transposed onto the enemies of the Israelites (Ezekiel 39:4-5; Revelation 19:17-18).

They will go into exile (Amos 7:11). Jeremiah states that the calamity spoken by him came to pass (Jeremiah 40:2-3).

Prophets spoke of a remnant returning from the Northern and Southern Kingdoms after being taken into captivity (Amos 5:15, Isaiah 10:20-22; Jeremiah 31:16-17). Jeremiah speaks of the captivity being for seventy years (Jeremiah 25:11-13), which appears to have been updated after the exile as many accounts have been shown to have been edited after the fact. The exiles returned to Jerusalem from 538 BC. We have shown the captivity was not for a period of seventy years which was the duration of the rule of Babylon as an empire and written ex post facto into the biblical account (The Prophetic Writings, The Prophets).

Issues related to Ezekiel.

We have shown that Ezekiel obtained most of his ‘prophesies’ from the work of prior prophets.

As a result of their idolatry the Lord will bring a sword against His people and destroy their high places which he borrowed from Jeremiah and Isaiah (Jeremiah 19:1-7; Isaiah 13:11-16; Ezekiel 6:1-7).

Ezekiel believed in the destruction of Jerusalem by God on the Day of the Lord as prophesied by other prophets (Isaiah 13:1-5; Jeremiah 21:5-7; Ezekiel 9:1-7; Joel 1:15; 2:11).

The Day of the Lord was a day of doom and gloom. In a similar way, Ezekiel states that this will come upon Egypt (Amos 5:20; 8:9-10; Micah 3:6; Isaiah 13:10; Jeremiah 4:28; 13:16; Ezekiel 30:2-4; 32:7-8; Joel 2:2; 2:31). Ezekiel writes of this day coming upon Egypt as when he wrote this expectation this day had already come upon the Southern Kingdom (Ezekiel 13:1-5).

The eating of the scroll motif is used by Jeremiah (15:16) which was copied by Ezekiel (2:8-9, 3:1-3) and is restated by the writer of Revelation (10:9).

The dead are left on the ground for the beasts of the field and the birds of the air to devour which was initially written of by Jeremiah (7:33, 12:9). Ezekiel states that this will happen to Egypt (Ezekiel 32:4-6).

Jeremiah states that those in the city will die by sword, famine and pestilence which is repeated by Ezekiel (Jeremiah 27:8, 13; Ezekiel 6:11).

Ezekiel speaks of the Day of the Lord as having taken place as Jeremiah did (Lamentations 2:16-17; 2:22; Ezekiel 13:1-5). The first scroll of Ezekiel speaks of this day taking place whereas the second scroll speaks of this day taking place in the future (Ezekiel 39:9).

Ezekiel speaks of the restoration of Israel as other prophets did (Amos 9:11-15; Isaiah 35:1-10; Ezekiel 11:17-20; 28:25-26).

Ezekiel’s replacing the heart of stone and being given a new spirit with a heart of flesh, enabling them to walk in the statutes was taken from Jeremiah (Ezekiel 11:19-20; Jeremiah 31:31-34).

Ezekiel writes of the land of milk and honey being sworn to the Israelites (Ezekiel 20:6,15) styled on Jeremiah’s depiction of this (Jeremiah 11:1-5) which has been shown to be an incorrect interpretation of Exodus 19:5-6 (The Prophetic Writings, The Beginnings).

The city and the temple would be rebuilt (Amos 9:11-15; Ezekiel 40-46). The second scroll of Ezekiel was written by the School of the Prophets (see hereunder) which spoke of the restoration of the temple and was written during or after the Babylonian captivity.

Ezekiel prophesies vengeance over Israel’s enemies as other prophets did (Isaiah 14:24-23:18; Jeremiah 46-51; Ezekiel 25-29).

Close parallels exist between judgment spoken over Babylon by Isaiah and Tyre by Ezekiel, where the two nations are equated with Lucifer who lifted himself up like a god (Isaiah 14:10-19; Ezekiel 28:1-19). The Isaiah version is based on the Canaanitish Shaher myth (Walker B.G., Man Made God, p. 216-217), and Ezekiel’s version is a mixture of the Shaher Myth and Garden of Eden myth with the fall of Enki who became the serpent dragon and had his throne in the sea and was in the fabled Garden of Eden (Mattfeld W., The Garden of Eden Myth; The Prophetic Writings, The Beginnings).

We also showed that the first scroll of Ezekiel, i.e., chapters 1-37, from c., 590 – 570 BC, was edited by the school of the prophets and that the second scroll of Ezekiel, i.e., chapters 38-48, was written by the school of the prophets and contained their aspirations for the future.

Dead Sea Scroll versions of Ezekiel show that variant versions of the work existed indicating that this was edited by the school of the prophets (Lilly I., The Two Books of Ezekiel; Douglas J.D., The New Bible Dictionary).

Josephus states that there were two scrolls of Ezekiel during his time (Josephus, Antiquities of the Israelites, Book 10, Chapter 5) which were later combined into a single work.

In 1 Ezekiel it states that the Day of the Lord had occurred (Ezekiel 13:4-5), whereas 2 Ezekiel states that this day will occur sometime in the future (1 Ezekiel 39:8).

Linguistic evidence shows that there are signs that sections of Ezekiel were written from a priestly perspective, i.e., the School of the Prophets (Hurvitz A., A Linguistic Studyof the Relationship between the Priestly Source and the Book of Ezekiel; Kohn R.L., A New Heart and a New Soul: Ezekiel the Exile and the Torah, pp. 19 f.).

Indications are that the School of the Prophets created the alleged departure of the Spirit of God from the Temple to show that God indwelt their Temple as claimed by Babylonians concerning their temples and included this in their rewrite of their foundation documents, (Ezekiel 10:18-19, 11:23) and endeavored to show God returning to their Temple when this was to be rebuilt (Ezekiel 43:1-7).

We have shown that Jewish priests during their Babylonian captivity wanted to show their God taking up His seat in their Tabernacle and that their Temple was designed by God as was believed by the Babylonians concerning their temples (The Prophetic Writings, The Beginnings). Solomon was perfectly clear when dedicating the Temple to God that the abode of God was in heaven (1 Kings 8:26-30) and it was only after the captivity that the writers of Chronicles show God purportedly descending from heaven to take up His residence on the Mercy Seat of God (2 Chronicles 6:41). The concept of the Mercy seat originated during their Babylonian captivity and is only mentioned in writings outside of their rewritten accounts after the captivity. In order to keep up this perception they needed to show God leaving the Temple, albeit that the Ark of the Covenant was no longer in their Temple prior to their captivity (Jeremiah 3:16).

Indications are that Ezekiel was a disturbed person who displayed all the signs of suffering from schizophrenia.

Ezekiel was dysfunctional and had to be tied down by his family to prevent him from being a spectacle and disrupting people and was mute at times (Ezekiel 3:25-26).

He could not shed a tear when his wife died showing emotional problems (Ezekiel 24:15-16).

It is believed that he saw things which never took place, i.e., the angels with shattering instruments which killed the idolaters in Jerusalem. Jeremiah met some of these idolaters from Jerusalem on their way to Egypt, and they were very much alive (Jeremiah 44:15-19).

The signs displayed by Ezekiel, i.e., dysfunctional, being tied down, demonstrating emotional problems, not being able to shed a tear when his wife died and seeing things that were not reality, point to him suffering from schizophrenia (Vijaya P.B., Chronic Mental Illness and the Changing Scope of Intervention Strategies, p. 75; Mueser K.T., Jeste D.V., Clinical Handbook of Schizophrenia, p. 117-118).

In addition to this Ezekiel used lewd descriptions of God’s relationship with Israel, i.e., committing a sexual act with her when she was a maiden (Ezekiel 16:8-11) and then also goes on to say that the Israelites were running after Egypt because they had enlarged genitalia (Ezekiel 23:20), literally, ‘lusted after Egypt that had genitalia like donkeys and seminal emissions of horses’. Certain Israelites had problems with the writings of Ezekiel and lobbied to have his work removed from the Tanakh (Douglas J.D., The New Bible Dictionary, Canon of the Old Testament).

Indications are that Ezekiel became more famous for his antics rather than for what he wrote as ‘prophecy’, i.e.,

He lay on his side for three hundred and ninety days and only ate certain prescribed vegetables cooked on a fire made with human excrement (Ezekiel 4:4-6, 9).

He shaved off his hair and beard and was to burn one third in the city and then to chop up another third to scatter around the city and the remaining third to scatter to the wind. He was also to take some hair and bind it in the edges of his robes and to throw some in the fire (Ezekiel 5:1-4).

He was to eat his food with trembling and drink his water with quivering so that the Israelites would see what is going to come upon them (Ezekiel 12:17-20).

He dug through a wall to see visions of abominations (Ezekiel 8:8-10).

The School of the Prophets latched on to Ezekiel’s recognition and edited his first work and later combined their second scroll with 1 Ezekiel to formulate the Ezekiel we have today (The Prophetic Writings, The Prophets).

Zechariah, Post-Exilic Prophet, from c., 520 BC.

We have shown that Zechariah was a post-exilic prophet who combined bona fide prophecy with apocalyptic speculation (The Prophetic Writings, The Prophets).

Zechariah’s bona fide prophecy includes the following:

He prophesied regarding the Servant, the Branch from the stem of Jesse that will remove the iniquity of the land in one day (Zechariah 3:8-9). He takes the ‘branch’ motif from Jeremiah 33:15-17, and to this adds the removal of iniquity in one day, probably from Isaiah 53:6 where the Lord caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him, and then adds the bona fide prophetic statement by Amos that they will mourn as for an only son (Zechariah 12:10; Amos 8:10). Borrowing prophetic texts from other prophets became an acceptable practice with the prophets, i.e., Micah quoting Isaiah, or vice versa (Micah 4:1-3 and Isaiah 2:2-4), subsequent prophets quoting Amos’ apocalyptic prototype, with Ezekiel mostly quoting Jeremiah and other prophets (See Ezekiel above). This also occurred with the Second Writer to Daniel using Enoch and the writer of Revelation using a host of apocalyptic sources (see hereunder).

Zechariah prophesies that Messiah would enter Jerusalem on the foal of a donkey which was fulfilled by Messiah when He entered Jerusalem in the last week of His earthly ministry to shouts of, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David’ (Zechariah 9:9; Matthew 21:1-10).

Zechariah speaks of the covenant of God with the Israelites coming to an end with them paying thirty pieces of silver for His services which will be used for the potters field which relates to the death of Messiah, who was betrayed for thirty pieces of silver by Judas Iscariot prior to His crucifixion (Zechariah 11:10-13). After showing remorse, Judas Iscariot thrust the thirty pieces of silver into the Temple sanctuary, which was used to buy the potter’s field (Matthew 27:3-10).

Zechariah takes the ‘mourning for an only son’ from Amos 8 and combines this with Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 and states that their mourning will be as the mourning for Josiah when he died in the plain of Megiddo (Zechariah 12:8-11). We have shown that at times Zechariah coupled bona fide prophecy with speculative apocalyptic expectations (The Prophetic Writings, The Prophets). Note that Zechariah does not state that they will mourn at Megiddo, but will mourn in Jerusalem like they mourned for Josiah who died at Megiddo. Apocalypticists took this text and combined it with their Jezreel, Megiddo, motif and have them mourning when Messiah allegedly returns to earth. We have shown that this is taken out of context. The writers of John got this right (John 19:34-37) with the redactors of Matthew getting this wrong (Matthew 24:30; Revelation 1:7).

Zechariah is a prophet who spoke bona fide prophecy, albeit that some of this was borrowed from other prophets, and combined these prophecies with speculation as other prophets did.

Zechariah speaks of a fountain being opened in Jerusalem for the cleansing on the Day of the Lord (Zech. 13:1-2), i.e., when the armies are defeated, when sin will be cleansed and then speaks of Messiah receiving the wounds in His arms where He was wounded in the house of His friends (Zech. 13:6). Zechariah and his colleagues have combined Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, and other texts to produce their expectation and one can clearly see that he has coupled this with the Day of the Lord with the armies coming against Israel and the death of Messiah in the same event (Zechariah 13:1,6-9). This is the way the early church interpreted Messiah’s Olivet Discourse and anticipated Messiah’s return in their lifetime with the destruction of the Temple (Mk. 8:38-9:1; Mt. 16:27-28; Lk. 9:26-27).

One can clearly see in chapter 14 that he takes previous prophecy, i.e., Amos, Isaiah, Ezekiel, etc., and places this speculatively in an anticipated sequence. His language portrays that he is speaking speculatively (The Prophetic Writings, Jewish Apocalypticism).

Zechariah 14

1. Behold, a day is coming for the Lord when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you.

Zechariah takes this largely from Isaiah who writes of the Lord coming with might with His reward and His recompense before Him (Isaiah 40:9-10, see also Isaiah 62:11-12).

Zechariah 14

2. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city.

Joel speaks of the nations being brought to the valley of Jehoshaphat where they will be trod as the winepress (Joel 3:11-15). Isaiah states that the armies will come against the Israelites and plunder the houses and ravish the women (Isaiah 13:1-16). Joel states that some will escape the battle on that day (Joel 2:32). We have shown Joel to have been rewritten during the time of the Babylonian captivity and focuses on the restoration of Jerusalem which was intact during the time of Joel who prophesied before the fall of the Northern Kingdom (The Prophetic Writings, The Prophets).

Zechariah 14

3. Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle.

That the Lord would fight the enemy was written into Ezekiel 39:1-8 and became the apocalyptic expectation which is also reflected in Enoch 1:1-9.

Zechariah 14

4. In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south.

Zechariah takes the earthquake motif from Amos (8:7-10) which has been made much larger by subsequent prophets and pictures Jerusalem being split to enable the river to flow to the Mediterranean which is not possible at present as water flows to the east of Jerusalem down to the Jordan. Ezekiel claimed that the Spirit of God left the temple and hovered over a Mount to the East (Ezekiel 11:23), i.e., the Mount of Olives, to which Zechariah refers regarding the Lord’s purported return. Ezekiel 43 depicts Messiah returning to the temple and placing the soles of His feet there forever (Ezekiel 43:7). It is to be noted that prior to the captivity the Israelites did not believe that God permanently dwelt in their temple. This impression was created when they rewrote their foundation documents during the captivity (The Prophetic Writings, The Beginnings).

Zechariah 14

5. You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him!

Indications are that Zechariah had a particular place in mind that they would escape to but although many speculate regarding this it remains largely unknown. That the Lord would come with His holy ones, is a transposing of Isaiah 13:1-16 onto their enemies, i.e., He will bring His consecrated army from the furthest heavens, where the actual text in Isaiah is speaking of the Babylonian army.

Zechariah 14

6. In that day there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle.

7. For it will be a unique day which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at evening time there will be light.

This motif originated with Amos 8:7-10 and was adopted by subsequent prophets like Isaiah 13:10 that speak of the stars of heaven not flashing their light and sun and moon being darkened. Subsequent prophets embellished the effects to such an extent and eventually pictured the sky rolling up like a scroll (Isaiah 34:4) and the earth being broken asunder (Isaiah 24:19). Zechariah picks up that it will be dark on the Day of the Lord from prior prophets.

Zechariah 14

8. And in that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter.

Ezekiel 47:1-8 states that a stream will flow from the threshold of the temple out into the Arabah and flow into the Red Sea at that time. The story of the stream flowing from the throne of God originally had a spiritual meaning as shown in the Psalms (36:7-9, 46:4; see also Joel 3:18). Ezekiel has one river flowing to the Jordan, with