Looking at the End from the Beginning

Eschatology, the study of last things, has been approached mostly from two distinct viewpoints. Some provide a systematic study of the question—as can be seen in systematic theologies of all colors, which predominantly focus upon New Testament texts. Others concentrate on specific books relevant to eschatological teachings—chiefly the apocalyptic literature of the Old Testament (including the Book of Daniel) and the New Testament (as found in the Book of Revelation). The Pentateuch—the first five books of the Bible—is a corpus of literature that has not been studied extensively with this objective. Yet it contains vocabulary of a distinctly eschatological nature