33. Roots of Angels (1)

The images are reprinted from the following sites.

Last time, I talked about the Essenes, a sect of a mystical group that some say Jesus and John the Baptist belonged to.

Apocalyptic Literature

According to the Roman-era writer Josephus (born 37 AD), the Essenes possessed eschatological texts, which led many scholars to consider them the founders of Kabbalah.

According to the "Jewish Encyclopedia," the core elements of Kabbalah were contained in the "apocalyptic literature" of the second and first centuries BC.

"Apocalypse" is the translation of the English word apocalypse. Apocalypse can also refer to divine revelation, disclosure, or the Book of Revelation itself. In other words, it is the word given by God to a chosen prophet.

The etymology of apocalypse is the Greek word apokalypsis. Apokalypsis includes the meanings of exposure and unveiling.

The first apocalyptic literature was written in Palestine between the third and second centuries BC.

The content of apocalyptic literature is concrete eschatology.

We currently live in a painful era ruled by evil, but eventually God or an absolute being will appear, and the era of evil will come to an end. Then, the Last Judgment will take place, and those who believe will be saved. It is a familiar setting.

The threat of the end of evil leading to the resurrection of an absolute being is reminiscent of the daily cycle of sunset to sunrise.

Also, the astrological cycle from winter to spring, seen in the threat that "the sun is dying and sacrifices must be made," has influenced apocalyptic literature.

The eschatology that so-called Christians still believe in today, the concept of the Millennial Kingdom, was born in the relatively recent era of the second century BC. During the Hellenistic period, books by prophets claiming to have received revelations from God appeared in abundance.

The end of the world was close even back then.

In the eschatological theory of the Millennial Kingdom, Jesus Christ returns before the Millennial Kingdom. Then, Christ himself establishes the Millennial Kingdom. This is called premillennialism.

Wikipedia explains premillennialism as follows:

It explains the Rapture as follows.

The rapture theory is a recent fabrication, and a malicious one at that. Generally, according to this, Christians who are taken up can meet Jesus, but they cannot live with Jesus on earth. Or can they conveniently go back and forth?

The "secret rapture" is a doctrine founded by a devil worshiper named John Nelson Darby.

One of the "prophetic books" in Christianity, the Book of Daniel, chapter nine, says this:

In the Book of Daniel, an angel named Gabriel appears. The name Michael also appears. It is the only book of the Bible where angels have distinct personalities.

Much of apocalyptic literature was written by modeling and imitating the Book of Daniel.

Times of crisis

The Hellenistic period was an era of multicultural exchange that is relevant even today. It seems good at first glance.

The element of the conflict between good and evil in eschatology comes from (pseudo-)Zoroastrianism. Plato's "Myth of Er" also featured a setting like the Last Judgment. It also borrows imagery from Babylonian creation myths. It is truly multicultural exchange.

The Hellenistic period (not a chronological division, but the era of Hellenistic culture) was a time when it was difficult to protect one's own religion (Judaism). It was overflowing with information from various religions, philosophies, and myths from Greece, Rome, Egypt, Asia Minor, Persia, Iran, and India, and it was easy to succumb to their charms.

And the Jews were also caught up in the "politics" of the Seleucid Empire, Rome, and others. With wars, persecution, urban corruption, and taxes, it was a dark social climate.

Therefore, as religious leaders, they had to find a way to compromise and survive, both doctrinally and politically.

Given that situation, it can be said that it was an era of syncretism, an era where fusion was forced upon them. The present day is the same. If you say something like, "The convenience store clerks are all becoming foreigners," you get labeled a racist.

An "open" world like the Hellenistic period or the modern day, conversely, leads nations and peoples to the collapse of identity. And the question arises: who are we, and where are we going?

Eschatology had a need. There is always a need in dark times. If there is a need, one can dare to prepare for it.

It was a con artist named Cyrus Scofield who spread John Nelson Darby's rapture theory. Of course, behind him were the usual suspects familiar to conspiracy theorists.

Functions of Angels

Herod the Great (c. 73 BC–), King of the Jewish Kingdom, forced loyalty upon the Jews, but exempted the Essenes.

There is an anecdote that one of the Essenes, named Malachias, prostrated himself before Herod in his childhood. When Herod said he was nobody, Malachias prophesied that although that might be true now, he would one day become king.

If a prophecy comes true, special treatment is only natural.

Apocalyptic literature is considered to have been written by the Essenes. The biblical apocrypha called 4 Ezra says the following.

Following the same logic as mystery rites, when something is kept secret, people want to know it. The Essenes were a mystery group like the Freemasons.

Apocalyptic literature was symbolic and cryptic, as it contained the core elements of Kabbalah. It is often claimed that it reveals secrets that were previously unknown about the fate of this world and the future. It is, in effect, pulling back the veil (apokalypsis).

Biblical prophecies are usually spoken directly by God, but in apocalyptic literature, they are spoken through an intermediary called an angel.

And the angels of apocalyptic literature take on concrete forms. They also have names. The images seen in later paintings and modern anime began here.

Apocalyptic literature became very popular, to the point of being translated into multiple languages. The transition from the Bible to apocalyptic literature is, to use a rough analogy, like the serious (?) gag manga 'Kinnikuman' changing into a battle series about good triumphing over evil.

Angels are thought to have been 'created' under the influence of the gods of Greek mythology.

The 'Sefer Ha-Raziel' is a medieval handbook of Kabbalistic magic. It owes much to the Greek Magical Papyri and the 'Sefer Ha-Razim' (Book of Secrets).

The "Book of Raziel the Angel" contains the following content:

Raziel took pity on Adam, who had been expelled from Paradise, and gave him the book. The other angels, out of jealousy, took the book and threw it into the sea.

Later, through God's providence, the book was returned to Adam. It was then entrusted to a later generation, Enoch.

The book provided Enoch with the knowledge to write the Book of Enoch. Enoch was then taken up to heaven without dying.

The Book of Enoch is one of the apocalyptic works written by the Essenes. It was considered to be written by Enoch, but that was a lie.

Therefore, the "Book of Raziel the Angel" is also a lie. To be precise, it was either written by someone who believed the lie, or by someone who knew it was a lie and wrote it anyway.

Although I have dynamically shifted the history around this time, one of the functions of angels can be said to be "clarity."

And the "last of the seventy" that the Essenes hid likely contains a terrifying secret.

It is wisdom such as "beautiful things have thorns." One could also say, "If you watch too much anime, you will become stupid."