Watch your back: ruminations on the biblical poetics of hope.

Watch your back: ruminations on the biblical poetics of hope. And it shall come to pass in the behind-the-back days ..."--Isaiah 2:2**********It's About Time It's About Time may refer to:Television It's About Time (TV series), a 1966 American television show. Theater It's About Time (musical), a 1951 Broadway production. There are hints in the literature of the Ancient Near East of anorientation to time quite different from our modern, Western version.(1) Americans are especially prone to talk glibly glib?adj. glib��ber, glib��best1. a. Performed with a natural, offhand ease: glib conversation.b. of "facing thefuture," and of "turning our backs on the past." We valueforesight over hindsight. We forecast, foresee, predict, andprognosticate prog��nos��ti��catev.To predict according to present indications or signs; foretell.prognosticatePrognose verbTo project the outcome of a particular condition or state . We believe in progress towards a goal that is out therein front of us somewhere. We talk as if we were sitting on a train,facing the front, able to anticipate what is to come around everycorner.In contrast, there are expressions from Ancient Near Eastern textsthat seem to reflect a cultural construction of time flowing from backto front. (2) If we imagine a person from such a culture traveling onthat same train, they would be seated facing the back, watching thelandscape flow by, catching glimpses out the window of where they havealready been. There is an echo of this conception of time in thetemporal phrase introducing Isaiah's vision of an ideal Jerusalem(quoted above). The term usually translated "last" or"latter" ('acharit) is an abstract noun abstract nounn.A noun that denotes an abstract or intangible concept, such as envy or joy. indicating"that which comes after," or "that which resultsfrom." It is cognate cognatedescribes two biomolecules that normally interact such as an enzyme and its normal substrate or a receptor and its normal ligand.cognate cooperation with words designating the back part, behind,or end of something. There is a convergence of spatial and temporalsignifiers reflected in the root word pointing both to that which islocated behind, at the backmost extremity, and that which is to takeplace afterwards, in the future (temporal), or as an outcome of (i.e.,logically after). (3) And so it is in the "behind-the-backdays," according to according toprep.1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.2. In keeping with: according to instructions.3. the prophet, that the holy mountain will be(re)established, when many peoples will stream to Zion to obtaininstruction in Torah.The concept of time is notoriously difficult to explicate, muchless to reconstruct from scattered references in ancient texts. But ifsuch expressions do provide clues to underlying cultural conceptions,the notion of time flowing from back to front correlates well with humanexperience. We can't really see into the future. All we can"see" are the reflexes and vestiges of what has alreadyhappened. We catch glimpses of events that have taken place in the past,images preserved in individual and corporate memory which in panoramicperspective begin to suggest emerging patterns that have shaped us andare likely to continue into the future. In order to understand thepresent then, and anticipate the future, it is necessary to keep lookingforeword at the past, spreading out before us as an emerging landscape.It is this orientation to time, the prophet's temporal constructionimplies, that enables us to glance over the shoulder, backwards towardsthe future.Of course we can't really "see" the past either. Weconstruct it out of the fractured human experiences that happen in fitsand starts outside the coherence of ritual time, ritual space, andritual action. And here finally we begin to approach the complexity ofeschatological es��cha��tol��o��gy?n.1. The branch of theology that is concerned with the end of the world or of humankind.2. A belief or a doctrine concerning the ultimate or final things, such as death, the destiny of humanity, the Second language and the biblical poetics of hope. It is acommonplace of prophetic diction in the Bible to refer to events thatwill unfold in the future. The things to come are predicated on thepatterns of God's past acts--whether for judgment or deliverance.There are former things that have come to pass, things of old that lieout there before us (qedem). There are also new things that God is aboutto do, things that are declared ahead of time to those who will listen(Is 42:23). These are the behind-the-back days.Since at least the 8th century oracles of Amos biblical prophetshave given voice to the expectation that the God who created the world,entered into covenant, gave the Torah, and delivered the people fromdestruction, is about to act again. The coming Day of the LORD wasanticipated as a time of deliverance and vindication, when Yahweh woulddefeat the enemies of Israel. In his prediction of the fall of theNorthern Kingdom, Amos turned such expectations on their head, declaringa coming day that would mean darkness rather than light (Am 5:18-20).Prophetic hope does not offer cheap comfort but challenges false hopes,and is never divorced from covenant obligation.Across the centuries, the biblical poetics of hope have inspiredgenerations of the faithful to "see" beyond the limitations oftheir own experience, to reconstruct meaning in spite of suffering, andto prepare for the redemption soon to come. Eschatological expectationis an episode in this poetics, built upon the theological foundation ofpatriarchal promise, covenant loyalty, prophetic pathos, and prolongeddivine silences. Eschatology eschatologyTheological doctrine of the “last things,” or the end of the world. Mythological eschatologies depict an eternal struggle between order and chaos and celebrate the eternity of order and the repeatability of the origin of the world. is the heart and soul of religion stretchedout in linear form. We both yearn for and dread the behind-the-backdays.Eschatological concerns encompass a variety of beliefs andexpectations, each with an implicit ethos. The careful attention devotedin contemporary scholarship to the descriptive language of eschatologyhas helped us to understand its development and its impact. Generallyspeaking, eschatological expectation looks toward the end of historybrought on by divine intervention. In apocalyptic eschatology the endthat is envisioned is a conflagration out of which new orders of heavenand earth will emerge. Messianism mes��si��a��nism?n.1. Belief in a messiah.2. Belief that a particular cause or movement is destined to triumph or save the world.3. Zealous devotion to a leader, cause, or movement. often contains eschatological and evenapocalyptic elements, but focuses on the idea of a coming universalreign of God coterminous co��ter��mi��nous?adj.Variant of conterminous.Adj. 1. coterminous - being of equal extent or scope or durationcoextensive, conterminous with a transformed community of faith.Beyond the early Christian conflation (database) conflation - Combining or blending of two or more versions of a text; confusion or mixing up. Conflation algorithms are used in databases. of messianic titles for Jesuslie disparate strands of Jewish tradition. Beyond the sloppy semanticsand persistent power of popular contemporary (sic!) eschatology (allparasitic on Darby's dispensationalist millennialism), there areambiguities to be wrestled with. Some are inherent in the ancient textsthemselves. But as important as the correct literary and ideologicalclassification of eschatological texts might be, it should not obscurethe deeper, underlying continuum of prophetic hope of which itrepresents a particular development. (4) We must not subordinate theethical thrust of eschatological speech to the correct delineation ofits literary or rhetorical features. It is all about how we are to livein the world today--whether engaged or withdrawn, whether naive orcalculating, whether empowered or defenseless.If we look in particular at the so-called servant songs andexplicitly messianic passages of Isaiah of the exile, what weimmediately notice is not so much the when and the how of futuredeliverance, but rather the Who. There is an insistent proclamation thatYahweh alone is the creator and sustainer, the savior of Israel and theonly legitimate God of the earth. It is a declaration that is meant bothto refute the illicit worship of idols and to instill in��stillv.To pour in drop by drop.instil��lation n. confidence in theone deliverer they have known. One might also discern in theseassertions a response to those of the exilic community who seemed toconclude from recent history that Yahweh no longer gives a damn (40:27).Some of the temporal references in Second Isaiah emphasize thesuddenness with which reversals of fortune will happen (Is 47:9, 11).Others are used to emphasize Yahweh's exclusive knowledge of theformer things and their outcome ('acharit), as well as the thingsto come (41:21-24; 43:9).Messianism builds on the traditions of anointed "Anointed" redirects here. For the process of anointing, see Anointing.Anointed is a Contemporary Christian music duo consisting of siblings Steve and Da'dra Crawford. Their musical style includes elements of R&B, funk, and piano ballads. kings and priestswho mediated God's grace. There is a chosen servant of Yahweh whowill bring forth justice to the nations. There are messengers whoannounce the good news of coming redemption. There are anointed ones whoare supported and guided by Yahweh. One of these is even identified asCyrus, the Persian ruler who was creating a new world order. (5)The terminological development of messianic expectations in theQumran community reflects traditions of the royal ideology associatedwith the Davidic dynasty. Terms like "righteous scion sci��on?n.1. A descendant or heir.2. also ci��on A detached shoot or twig containing buds from a woody plant, used in grafting. " (Jer23:5), servant, and king, point to the nationalistic hopes that part ofthe exilic community embraced. For some, a legitimate royal heir wasexpected to appear who would re-establish the dynasty and re-establishthe body politic BODY POLITIC, government, corporations. When applied to the government this phrase signifies the state. 2. As to the persons who compose the body politic, they take collectively the name, of people, or nation; and individually they are citizens, when considered upon classical foundations of justice andrighteousness.But for many already in the intertestamental period The Historical Bridge Spanning the Interval of the Old Testament and the New Testament is a figurative way that Protestants refer to the 350 silent years between the Old and New Testaments, which was from 400 B.C. to 5 B.C. , messianichopes, though still Davidic in expression, became disconnected from thepolitics of revolt, and even from history itself. For them, the expectedtransformations of the messianic age Messianic Age is a theological term referring to a future time of peace and brotherhood on the earth, without crime, war and poverty. Many religions believe that there will be such an age; some refer to it as the "Messianic Age". would supercede Verb 1. supercede - take the place or move into the position of; "Smith replaced Miller as CEO after Miller left"; "the computer has supplanted the slide rule"; "Mary replaced Susan as the team's captain and the highest-ranked player in the school" the exigencies ofpolitics and economics. These familiar images were taken up intoChristianity and became part of Christian eschatological hopes. Not onlywere traditionally accepted messianic texts applied by those in theearly church to Jesus, but also texts that had not been interpreted asmessianic before.The biblical poetics of hope often uses temporal expressionsmetaphorically to point to qualitative aspects of human experience. Thedisparity between a generation's perception of reality and themetanarrative it has inherited may lead to mimetic mimetic/mi��met��ic/ (mi-met��ik) pertaining to or exhibiting imitation or simulation, as of one disease for another. mi��met��icadj.1. Of or exhibiting mimicry.2. crisis (6) and aheightened sensitivity to the rumblings of tectonic shifts to come inthe culture. Now ceases to be just now and takes on the character ofthat which is to come. The already-but-not-yet-ness of eschatologicalexpectation pervades every aspect of life.One of the hallmarks of such an age is the interpretation ofcurrent events through the reading of old texts in new ways. Note therubrics used in the gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew is a synoptic gospel in the New Testament, one of four canonical gospels. It narrates an account of the life and ministry of Jesus. It describes his genealogy, his miraculous birth and childhood, his baptism and temptation, his ministry of healing and to introduce OT quotations: "All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet" (1:22; 2:15, 23) "For so it has been written by the prophet:" (2:5) "Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:" (2:17) "This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said:" (3:3; 4:14) "It is written" (4:4, 6, 7, 10)And don't forget Peter's Pentecostal sermon, answeringcharges of intemperate in��tem��per��ate?adj.Not temperate or moderate; excessive, especially in the use of alcoholic beverages.in��temper��ate��ly adv. drunkenness with a clarifying midrash: "No,this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel" (Acts 2:16). Theinsistent relevance of the old to the new may lead to the deconstructionof conventional literary forms. For example, the exilic voice that criedout in coherent poetic balance: In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, Make straight in the desert a highway for our God (Isaiah 40:3),is transformed at some point into a prophetic reference to the wildand woolly Baptizer bap��tize?v. bap��tized, bap��tiz��ing, bap��tiz��esv.tr.1. To admit into Christianity by means of baptism.2. a. To cleanse or purify.b. To initiate.3. , The voice of one crying out in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight [lacuna matata!]. (7)What Time Is It?Was it Yogi Berra who said "The future isn't what it usedto be?" Or was that the prophet Haggai's complaint? It isvirtually a truism for the modern skeptic that all prophecy isself-fulfilling prophecy self-fulfilling prophecy,a concept developed by Robert K. Merton to explain how a belief or expectation, whether correct or not, affects the outcome of a situation or the way a person (or group) will behave. . It is just a matter of manipulating theparaphernalia of whatever verbal divination divination,practice of foreseeing future events or obtaining secret knowledge through communication with divine sources and through omens, oracles, signs, and portents. system is in vogue in such away that the illusion of fulfillment can be maintained. Our disbeliefhas been suspended for so long that we forgot we ever had the capacityto believe.The politics of promise is about persuasion. When things appearbleak, the prophet reminds us that we are in God's hands. Whenthere are those who offer false hope, chirping chirp?n.A short, high-pitched sound, such as that made by a small bird or an insect.intr.v. chirped, chirp��ing, chirpsTo make a short, high-pitched sound. "Peace, peace"while disaster looms, the visionary messenger must agitate thecomplacent. It is a form of argument, a felicitous fe��lic��i��tous?adj.1. Admirably suited; apt: a felicitous comparison.2. Exhibiting an agreeably appropriate manner or style: a felicitous writer.3. (or infelicitous)speech act subject to the proper conditions whereby it convinces,comforts, inspires, explains, moves to action.The inner logic of prophetic hope is faith in a God who has actedon behalf of the community in the past, who gives guidance for how tolive, who sends messengers to be heeded, who leads through trial andprosperity. It is the loss of that faith that leads to alternative formsof hope, to idolatrous i��dol��a��trous?adj.1. Of or having to do with idolatry.2. Given to blind or excessive devotion to something: "The religiosity of the worship of gods fashioned by our own hands.As I write this we have entered another Advent season, part of theChristian cycle of eschatological reenactment re��en��actalso re-en��act ?tr.v. re��en��act��ed, re��en��act��ing, re��en��acts1. To enact again: reenact a law.2. . We manufacture thepregnant expectation of that greatest generation, and reignite Verb 1. reignite - ignite anew, as of something burning; "The strong winds reignited the cooling embers"ignite, light - cause to start burning; subject to fire or great heat; "Great heat can ignite almost any dry matter"; "Light a cigarette" theexpectation of the second advent, the one remaining a stranger to us.The language of prophetic hope is not so much quantitative asqualitative. The perceived proximity of a given age to "theend" gives expression not just to an expectation, a hope, ayearning for change. It often provides the very impetus to meet andembrace and bring about the successive transformations of culture wecall, in retrospect, history.Returning finally to the hymn of the vision of Jerusalem in thebehind-the-back days with which we began these ruminations, we canappreciate anew the qualitative impulse of its vision. In thebehind-the-back days the city on the hill will be re-established.Nations and peoples will stream to Zion to be instructed in Torah.Yahweh himself will arbitrate among nations, since to be human and livein community is to have conflicts. The Jerusalem of the days to comedoes not promise a utopian paradise in which we all just get along.Rather, the master mediator is there among us, helping us to resolve ourconflicts, to find nonviolent ways of living together in spite of ourdifferences. The outcome ('acharit!) of this is not so much aprincipled pacifism pacifism,advocacy of opposition to war through individual or collective action against militarism. Although complete, enduring peace is the goal of all pacifism, the methods of achieving it differ. as an atrophy of interest in the anachronism a��nach��ro��nism?n.1. The representation of someone as existing or something as happening in other than chronological, proper, or historical order.2. of war.Discarded sword blades and spear tips get recycled for use in field,orchard and vineyard. Since nations no longer take up arms Verb 1. take up arms - commence hostilitiesgo to war, take armswar - make or wage war against eachother, it makes more sense to study each other's languages andcultures and religions. The faculty of the war colleges will be thefirst to redo To reverse an undo operation. See undo. their curricula. They will call it: Walking in the Lightof Yahweh.How? we ask. When? That is the fixation of modern futurity. But thereal key to prophetic hope is the Who. Look for the new thing that isolder than the hills. Prepare now for the coming days. Transformation isafoot. Peer ahead into the past--and watch your back.Notes1. With all due respect to James Barr's careful and persistentwarnings about moving too quickly from terminology to the culturalconstructs of thought that we imagine must have informed them. I havetried to keep my claims modest and suggestive. At the same time, surelytexts offer us the opportunity to speculate about the differencesbetween ourselves and those "others" who spoke and thoughtdifferently.2. I was first made aware of this notion of the ANE conception oftime by my teacher, Piotr Steinkeller.3. TDOT TDOT Tennessee Department of TransportationTDOT Tucson Department of TransportationTDOT Texas Department of TransportationTDOT Tuscaloosa Department of Transportation (Tuscaloosa, AL), I, 207-212. Note also the cognate reference to theMediterranean as the "Western" sea (Dt 11:4 et al.), i.e.,that body of water "behind," and the Salt Sea as the sea"in front" (Joel 2:20). These designations indicate an ANEgeographical orientation analogous to the temporal orientation of"the last days."4. I take this point from James Brenneman's article entitled"Making Prophecy Come True," in Apocalypticism a��poc��a��lyp��ti��cism?n.Belief in apocalyptic prophecies, especially regarding the imminent destruction of the world and the foundation of a new world order as a result of the triumph of good over evil. andMillennialism, ed. Loren Johns (Pandora Press/Herald Press), p. 24.5. Liz Fried has recently contextualized this rather strangedesignation for a foreign king. Since Yahweh is the author of order, theruler whose decreed policy allowed the exiles to return home and rebuildtheir temple is portrayed as exercising legitimate rule as an anointedinstrument of Yahweh's purpose, "though [he] did not knowme" (45:4-5). Cyrus was welcomed with similar approbations inMesopotamia and Egypt as well. BR, 10/2003.6. Following Girard's notions of mimetic conflict andsacrificial crisis.7. Mark 1:3. Granted, the gospel writers uniformly quote the GreekBible here instead of the Hebrew. No surprise there. So who ruined thepoetry? And why?