In studying the history of Christianity, and therefore, the historical context of the early Jesus Movement, which was obviously a Jewish context, I have been led to understand that in the first century, there was a popular form of Judaism now referred to as apocalyptic, or eschatological, Judaism.
Generally speaking, eschatological Jews believed the following:
The universe was a sort of cosmic battleground, and the forces of darkness, death, sin, and wickedness were doing battle with the forces of light, life, virtue, and righteousness.
God was still in control of this world in some ultimate sense. But for unknown and mysterious reasons he had temporarily relinquished his control to the forces of evil that opposed him.
This state of affairs would not go on forever. Soon - very soon - G-d would intervene directly.
He would soon send his emissary, occasionally referred to as the "Son of Man", but more often as the messiah.
The messiah would arrive in the world and usher in the Kingdom of G-d; he would then sit in judgment over mankind, both living and dead; the wicked would be laid low, and the righteous would be richly rewarded for their piety.
The Kingdom would be established, with its capital in Jerusalem, and Israel would take her place as the greatest of all nations.
The forces of darkness, death, sin, and wickedness would be crushed once and for all.
For a more comprehensive definition of apocalyptic Judaism, see the document linked here or here
At long last, we come to the point of all of this:
Does apocalyptic Judaism still exist today?
