Video from James Tabor
Death, Afterlife, and the Future
"THE FUTURE
There is no simple and single response to the question of what the Bible really says about the future. What one finds is just what one would expect in any book composed of documents from many times, places, circumstances, and authors-variety and development. There is a lot of both, although by "development" I mean here simply change. My treatment presupposes no particular valuation of the various dreams and schemes regarding the future. My approach in this chapter will be mainly chronological, tracing the topic through various periods of history, from ancient Israelite down to the Roman period, when the final parts of the New Testament were written. I have also roughly divided the topic into two subtopics: what the Bible says about the future of the world; and what it says about the future of the individual, that is, the afterlife. The two are always interrelated, and they often overlap.
THE EARLY HEBREW BIBLE
In the earlier parts of the Old Testament, or Hebrew Bible, one finds fairly uniform views of both the future of the individual human person and that of the world or society. I have in mind here texts and traditions dating from the second millennium B.C.E. down through the time of the Exile of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah by the Assyrians and the Babylonians (8th-6th B.C.E.).
To understand this somewhat singular view of the future one needs.." from the article by James Tabor. Link to article: Here is the link for a PDF of article I mention in the video that I am asking you all to at least begin reading. Enjoy!! https://jamestabor.com/wp-content/upl...