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Apocalypse and the watchers
Apocalypse means to reveal or to expose a certain thing from a manner in which it is hidden. It is this same concept that is directly applied and used by the holy bible in the discussion about the experiences of different servants of God as clearly indicated in the bible. Some of these servants in the apocalyptic era make a lot of impact and contribution not only to the Jewish ways of living at that particular time but also to the current age Jewish understanding of the current world as well as Christians. This is because the Jewish literature forms part of the Christian bible as part of the Old Testament and therefore it is upon this that the discussion herein is based. The role of God at this apocalypse period is seen as one that only portrayed his wishes and desires among the people he had chosen through the various and different prophets he has. This paper, therefore, discusses the elements of apocalyptic literature in Daniel chapter 7-12 and the watchers about the book of Enoch giving examples of how the different aspects of this literature are presented and how they are presented affects how we understand their meanings. (Collins et.al, 25)
Like it is in Daniel chapter 7-12 the apocalyptic literature was mainly written when the Israelites were in prison or in places where they could not be fully productive due to them being taken as captives. This mostly happens with different kingdoms that God allowed to take the children of Israel as captives after being unable to obey him to the latter. Therefore this type of literature is intended to support these Israelites emotionally and assure them that everything else was okay and that their god had not forgotten them and therefore he was about to set them free. Stanley (482-484), explains the features of apocalyptic writings and how they are structured. Through this, we also learn that even though this is meant for literary critique it is important as it helps us understand what apocalyptic literature means since after understanding the concept and the kind of language, as well as styles, used it becomes very easy to understand.
The major theme in the apocalypse of Daniel is the eminent presence of dreams. It is through these that he gets all the information that he has to pass to the people from the almighty God and therefore this acts as one of the best ways of the passage of this information through dreams. According to the bible, these dreams are all believes to be of very great significance, and even though at times he is unable to understand what the dreams meant he still relied on the nature and importance of different types of interpretation like the angels to come and tell him what the dreams meant. This also brings to our information about the importance of dreams as a manner of extension some people can still get intriguing dreams when they sleep and which communicate an important aspect of the people of the age in which the person lives in.
The dreams employ a very wide variety of imagery and therefore this makes the work of literate even more complicated and almost unable to comprehend. However, the dreams and the imagery are used for a specific purpose. The first apocalypse can be seen from Daniel 7:1-14 and this is later given an interpretation by an angel later in 15-27. In this apocalyptic dream, there is a use of a lot of imaginative symbolic imagery. This kind of imagery is a special selection of the manner of portrayal as Daniel can give a clear picture of what he sees through the form and writing and this audience can speculate. Even though the outside human ability to comprehend we can understand and know what it means to have these types of images. Some of the common images displayed in this are the four winds, the four beasts from the sea, and the great beast. All these displayed through different types of explanations of imagery guide us and help us to realize that imagery is a special tool of this type of writing. It also comes out that imagery related to the issue of dreams brings a kind of sense and trying to understand these writings from a general point of view as well as deepened view is important.
In Daniel 10:1-14, we realize that herein there is a vision of an angel who is also a great significant type of imagery whereby we can try to visualize an angel and its role in the lives of human beings with a special focus on this project.
In the second part, the watchers are described and shown as significant elements of Enoch’s writing. This is because they are giant bodies of ‘monsters’ that needed to be done away with. These off springs were seen as results of relations between man and the angels and therefore this was not acceptable. Through this, writing we also identified a lot of imagery. This is because it is only focused imagery that can help us to fully understand what is meant by the different writings and aspects of this type of history which most of the time is not fully acceptable or compatible with the minds of human beings. Therefore this calls for better skills in imagery interpretation. This applies especially to the imagery that is not up to the standard of human beings and thus outside the human sphere.
The creation of these watchers was contributed by Nephilim. Even though the watchers are not talked about in the bible the answer to the question of where they are found is mainly found in the book of Enoch as it is a very essential part of their formation. The book of Enoch, therefore, is descriptive through the different types of imagery that is passed down and that is discussed generally about the fallen angels and their interaction with human beings and as well as how the watchers were created. This is an important synthesis of understanding and simplification of what the images mean and therefore it is of very significance and importance to human beings.
Even though to an extent it does not sound real it is indicated that some angels disagreed with the almighty in heaven. Due to this, they came to Mount Hermon, and through their presence with women produced what was unable to be understood but which a person will need to focus on about the different aspects of understanding this imagery. Even though some of the names of the archers were not known in the book, Enoch describes how everything happened during the period of being caught up mating with a person, not of this world. It is a very important aspect of this type of literature that should never be left out because of its peculiar needs and aspects. most of the time therefore the images and work have closely related to the need for us to understand that it is difficult to get a proper picture and understanding of what is being proposed about eth giant individuals.
Even though the watchers were generally not humans they were also not supernatural beings and therefore were a complex part of the society to understand. And therefore even though the imagery is greatly used in the writing there is still no use as it is used in Ezekiel and therefore it is a very important and crucial mission to attempt to and try to think outside the confinements of what human beings can do and what this means to the current society. The kind of language employed in eh book of Daniel is a lot and of great value. However still in eh book of Enoch this is affirmed and supported even through the efforts of the modernism desire and will to understand the different perspectives of imagery as used in these two works of art as drawn from the bible.
The belief in God and the belief that Israel was the chosen nation have always brought issues among non-Jews. Even though this is still not the case most people still cling to their beliefs and different types of faith that it is possible to differentiate Christianity from Judaism. The belief and faith about then being chosen as well as them being destined for greater and better things to make life valuable and therefore they do not consider the other communities very much as they are referred to as outsiders. This relates closely to understanding us to become unique and better and realize that the two stores discussed above are of great significance.
In conclusion, therefore, we can say the use of imagery plays an important role in the making of these stories and therefore it is through the making of proper references and proper reflections that we can focus on what is good and what is not good. This also helps us understand what can be conceivable and what we can understand only partially despite all the efforts.
Works cited
Collins, John Joseph. Daniel: with an introduction to Apocalyptic Literature. Vol. 20. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1984.
Bauckham, Richard J. “The rise of apocalyptic.” Themelios 3.2 (1978): 10-23.
Collins, John Joseph. Daniel: with an introduction to Apocalyptic Literature. Vol. 20. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1984.
Collins, John J. The apocalyptic imagination: An introduction to Jewish apocalyptic literature. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2016.
