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This supernatural Messiah shall appear and inaugurate the long-expected kingdom of glory. It had already been revealed, i.e. by the prophets to the righteous, 48:7; 62:6, 7, and was their hope, 48:4, and they believed in him. They shall form the congregation of the holy, 38:3; 39:1; 53:6; 62:8. It is held by many that in the Old Testament Messianic prophecies the chief interest does not centre in the person of the Messiah, but in the Messianic kingdom, and this idea may be correct. That it should be so is easily understood from the character of the Israelites, who knew themselves to be the children of God and the bearers of his promises. In this respect our author is a true Jew; his main object is the same that apocryphal writers in general have—the announcement of the speedy realization of he promises given of old; and the Messiah’s importance lies in the fact that he is to be the medium through which this realization shall take place, and after that shall be the prince and ruler of the established new kingdom. And as this establishment is in the first place of such prime importance, the person of its medium is dwelt so largely upon. But that the kingdom itself, the time when Israel shall rule in glory, is the chief object of the writer seems to be clear from the first Parable, which shows that the first and great news the author has to announce is the appearance of the congregation of the holy. This appearance is simultaneous with the appearance of the Messiah, and is so intimately connected with him and his work that an account of these is also virtually a record of the fate of the former. The congregation of the holy is represented as already existing in heaven, like its head the Messiah, and both shall appear in the proper time. The author assures his readers that both the kingdom and its head are already realities, and their appearance is only a question of time. This spiritualistic view evinces a mind of speculative tendencies, and is a product of the continued disappointed hope of Israel, and a strong apology for the promises of God. Just when this kingdom and king shall appear the author nowhere definitely states; but it is evident from the fact that the rulers against whom he speaks shall be surprised by their coming, that the immediate future is the time. This is also clear from the statements that the saints contemporaneous with the author shall see them coming. But when the prophecy is realized, the first work of the Messiah shall be to exercise a just judgment. He is GTR, judge. This fact has induced some, and among them Holtzmann, to claim a Christian origin for the Messiah here taught, as the Old Testament nowhere, while repeatedly attributing royal and even priestly and prophetic attributes to the Messiah, ever represents him as judge, whereas this is one of the chief offices of Christ in the New Testament. The difficulty is, however, more seeming than real. The Messiah is the realized ideal of a theocratic king, and as the royal and judicial power were united in the Old Testament, and are to this day in the Semitic nations of the Orient, the Messiah could easily be conceived as a judge. The emphasis laid on this peculiar trait is explained by the fact that it was a matter of importance to the author to show that, above all things, the wicked and godless kings, as the chief obstruction to the development of the Messianic kingdom, should be judged and condemned. The state of affairs in his days necessitated the attributing pre-eminently of the office of judge to the Messiah. The hearts of the faithful longed for a punishment of the wicked rulers, and this longing finds expression in the judicial character of the Coming One. The judgment that shall come is to be held in a purely forensic spirit. It is universal, embracing both righteous and unrighteous, 62:3, and even the dead shall rise for this purpose, 51:1. That, however, this universality is not an absolute one, but restricted to those who took part, either as friends or foes, in the affairs of Israel, is not only clear from the general character of the book, whose horizon in this respect does not go beyond the pale of Israel on earth, but also from the fact that after the establishment of the kingdom it shall grow and increase by the addition of the hitherto neutral nationalities around, 52:4 sqq.; 57:1 sqq. The same idea underlies 50:2, where some of the sinners, on the basis of repentance, shall be received. The criterion according to which the Messiah will judge is the deeds done in the flesh, for the deeds of all are weighed, 41:1; 61:8. The first to be judged are the fallen angels, 55:3, 4, and then the sinners. Both shall be condemned to be destroyed by fire, 48:9. But, unlike the first part, the place of condemnation (for there is but one) is certainly not Gehenna. The sinners are to be destroyed, 53:5; 56:4, and expelled, 38:1, removed from the face of the earth, 45:6, and will be neither in heaven nor on earth, 45:2, 5; 53:2, and darkness and worms will be their dwelling-place, 46:6. Geographically, this place of torture, called a burning post-canonical writer should not be able to use the same or similar expressions. mt tae eta 1 14 1