which rose to a new
life under the mighty sway of the spirit of God,(1232) gave more definite
shape to the picture, although in the form of allegory. As the prophet
himself says, he aimed to describe the resurrection of Judah and Israel
from their grave of exile. The obscure Messianic prophecy in Isaiah,
chapters XXIV to XXVII, strikes a new note. First the author deals with
the terrible slaughter which God will inflict upon the heathen, after
which "He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away
tears from off all faces; and the reproach of His people will He take away
from off all the earth."(1233) Finally, when the oppressors of Israel are
completely annihilated, exclaims the seer: "Thy dead shall live, thy dead
bodies shall arise--awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust--for thy dew
is a fructifying dew, and the earth shall bring to life the shades."(1234)
Daniel speaks in a similar vein: "And many of them that sleep in the dust
of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to reproaches
and everlasting abhorrence."(1235)

3. In this hope for resurrection at the end of days the leading thought is
that the prophecies which have been unfulfilled during the lifetime of the
pious, and particularly the martyrs, shall be realized in the world to
come.(1236) In the oldest apocalyptic writings this life of the future is
still conceived as earthly bliss, inasmuch as the writers think only of
the Messianic time of national glory, depicted in such glowing colors by
the prophets. Unbounded richness of the soil and numerous offspring,
abundant treasures brought by remote nations and their rulers, peace and
happiness far and wide--such are the characteristics of the Messianic age.
In order that the dead may share in all this, it is to be preceded by the
resurrection and the great _Day of Judgment_ in the valley of Jehoshaphat
or Gehinnom (Gehenna), where the righteous are to be singled out to
participate in the realm of the Messiah.(1237) As a national prospect the
Messianic hope was based upon the passage in Deutero-Isaiah: "Thy people
also shall be all righteous, they shall inherit the land forever."(1238)
Consequently an ancient Mishnah taught that "All Israel shall have a share
in the world to come."(1239) In fact, the term "inherit the land" was used
as late as the Mishnah to express the idea of sharing in the future life;
so also in the New Testament, where the resurrection was expected be