The Jewish worldview, from which Paul was a participant, divided time into the present age (ha-‘olam hazeh) and the age to come (ha-‘olam haba’). 4 Ezra makes explicit what can be assumed from a range of 2nd temple Jewish literature He answered me and said, “This present world is not the end; the full glory does not abide in it. . . But the day of judgment will be the end of this age and the beginning of the immortal age to come, in which corruption has passed away, sinful indulgence has come to an end, unbelief has been cut off, and righteousness has increased and truth has appeared.4 Ezra 7:112-115 24 This is not a post-mortem existence in a non material world but is the promise that YHWH will act within space and time to bring to put away sin and vindicate his people. This story element to the Judaic worldview was brought to life in the praxis of some within the 2nd temple Judaic community which sought through allegiance to the law , prayer and political activism to bring in the ‘age to come’.25 Present Age
Age to Come
ha-‘olam hazeh
ha-‘olam haba’
In Galatians, in contrast to a mainline Judaic worldview, the ‘age to come’ has already begun. Paul, in his typically extended salutary style, states that Jesus gave himself for our sins to deliver us from, ἐκ τοῦ αἰῶνος τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος πονηροῦ, the present evil age. The ‘present evil age’ is to be seen as the equivalent to the ha-‘olam hazeh. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, Gal 1:3-4 26 For Paul the eschaton in some way is already present as deliverance has arrived, but as this verse suggests it runs simultaneously with the present age which continues alongside the new age. .27 Paul does not just give us the story of ‘inaugurated
24
For a fuller discussion see Wright New Testament and the People of God 280-338 and commentaries of Garlington and Longenecker 25 They speak of unswerving allegiance to God and his laws as alone providing a firm foundation for the Holy Spirit, truth, and the arrival of Israel’s hope (1QS 9.3–4, 20–21) 26
See also Rom 12:2; 1 Cor 1:20; 2:6-8; 3:18; 2 Cor 4:4
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