The Eschatology of the Old Testament

Geerhardus Vos

edited by

James T. Dennison Jr.

PUBLISHING

p.o.box 817 ♦ phillipsburg ♦ new jersey 08865-0817

© 2001 by James T. Dennison Jr.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—except for brief quotations for the purpose of review or comment, without the prior permission of the publisher, P&R Publishing Company, P.O. Box 817, Phillipsburg, New Jersey 08865-0817.

Page design by Tobias Design

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Vos, Geerhardus, 1862–1949.

The eschatology of the Old Testament / Geerhardus Vos; edited by James T. Dennison, Jr.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-10: 0-87552-181-9

ISBN-13: 978-0-87552-181-7

1. Eschatology—Biblical teaching. 2. Bible. O.T.—Criticism, interpretation, etc. 1. Dennison, James T., 1943– II. Title.

BS1199.E75 V67 2001

236'.09'01—dc21

2001021895

Contents

Editor’s Preface

List of Abbreviations

1. Introduction

2. Pagan Eschatologies

3. The Present Juncture in the History of Old Testament Eschatology

4. Eschatology in Its Pre-Redemptive Stage

5. Eschatology in the First Redemptive Revelation

6. The Eschatological Background of the Deluge

7. The Eschatological Element in the Theophanies

8. The Shiloh Prophecy

9. The Sinai Theophany

10. The Balaam Oracles

11. The Mosaic Theocracy

12. The Davidic Promise

13. The Eschatology of the Psalter

Appendix: Additional Passages from Vos

Index of Scripture

Editor’s Preface

Vos’s “Old Testament Eschatology” manuscript is a composite document. No complete version of his lecture notes or finished manuscript is extant. Although he began to teach the course in 1917, few student notebooks or syllabi survive (unlike the mimeograph copies of his Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments). In 1975, Vos’s daughter, Marianne (Mrs. William) Radius, prevailed upon his son, Dr. Johannes G. Vos of Geneva College, to examine the remains of his father’s papers and bring them to Toledo, Ohio. Among the papers were the following: (1) outline notes on the “Eschatology of the Old Testament” in Vos’s hand; (2) “Syllabus of the Eschatology of the Old Testament,” property of Geerhardus Vos, October 13, 1930—lent to the class of 1930–31 for mimeographing (this manuscript is handwritten by Vos); (3) an incomplete typescript entitled “Some Remarks on Eschatology,” which was certainly to be a major work on the subject; the pages to the latter run from 1–58, 138, 169, 226, 228, 255, 310, 348, 355, 382; (4) a set of “Questions in Eschatology of the Old Testament” in Vos’s hand; (5) a typescript of notes taken by Henry Schultze entitled “Old Testament Eschatology.” All these materials are deposited in the Heritage Hall Archive of Calvin College and Seminary, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

I have attempted to weave together these various sources to provide the most complete text possible ...