Transformed Cosmos

Scattered here and there in the Hebrew Prophets, a dramatically different vision of the future begins to emerge. It is built around the view of a restored Israel, as described above, but it also sets forth the hope of an utterly transformed cosmos, extending from the heights of heaven to the depths of Sheol, and including all normal cycles of nature and human history. In other words, all that led the author of Ecclesiastes to cry out, "vanity of vanities, all is vanity," will be reversed. Isaiah describes a time when even the violence of nature, "red in tooth and claw," will end:


The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
and the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall feed;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The sucking child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put his hand
on the adder's den.
They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Yahweh
as the waters cover the sea. (Isa. 11:6-9)
This transformed state of things is so dramatic, it is like a new or second creation. A "new heavens and new earth," Isaiah terms it (Isa. 65:17-25, 66:22-24). It is inaugurated by a highly idealized Davidic King (Isa. 11:1-5; Mic. 5:2-4).[7] Total peace reigns among all nations (Isa. 2:4; Mic. 4:3). The suffering and toils of life are eliminated as "Yahweh wipes away tears from all faces," and death itself is "swallowed up forever" (Isa. 25:7-8). This apparently includes the "resurrection" of the righteous dead of the past (Isa. 26:19).[8] This era of complete justice and righteousness is ushered in by the terrible Day of Yahweh's wrath in which all wicked sinners are utterly destroyed. [9] The topography of the land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem is drastically altered: The deserts bloom like a rose; fresh water flows into the Dead Sea; and the whole Jerusalem area is elevated (Isa. 35, Zech. 14:8-11, Ezek. 47-48). Some few texts seem to imply that wicked angelic powers are also disposed of in this overthrow of all evil by Yahweh (Isa. 24:21-22, 27:1). [10]

Still, even in this thoroughly idealized transformation of the cosmos, it is interesting and important to note that in one sense the vision is still rather "earthly." Humans remain on the earth, however "renewed." And indeed, Yahweh himself descends from heaven with his angels. His "feet stand on the Mt. of Olives," and he becomes "king over all the earth," dwelling in his perfect Temple forever (Zech. 14:4-9; Ezek. 43:6-7). The view that these texts begin to develop represents a kind of "compression" of the cosmos. In other words, the immortal heavenly realm above "comes down" to earth, and the world of death below is eliminated or "moved up" through resurrection. There is a certain sense in which this can still be seen, typologically at least, as linear or "historical." Salvation here is eschatological. It comes at the end of history, through God's dramatic intervention in the affairs of this world, as the new transformed age is inaugurated.