Chapter 6. 2
Dead Sea Scrolls
The
“War Scroll”; the war between the “Sons of Light” and the “Sons of Darkness”
The
Manual of Discipline - The hermit Essenes sect – Communalism, Communism
The
Essenes - A little Background
In
1947, a young Bedouin youth named Muhammad adh-Dhib was trying to find
his lost goat among the cliffs on the North West shore of the Dead Sea. He threw a stone into a cave and heard what sounded
like breaking pottery. Investigating he
found several jars of pottery containing leather scrolls, most were decayed,
but seven of the scrolls were intact. They were written between 100 A.D. and 100
B.C.; over 2000 years ago.
Later ten more caves would be discovered
in Wati
Qumran, in one cave alone 40,000 fragments of parchment scrolls were
found. Many scrolls were traced to the Essenes in the Qumran region. These scrolls were written
mostly in Hebrew
with some in Aramaic;
they were written on papyrus and parchment sewn together to form books. The Books were known as a Codex or Codices; a manuscript volume.
So far, every book of the Bible has been found except for the book of Ester. Interesting, the book of Ester does not
contain the name of God.
The Dead Sea
The
Dead Sea
is 1300 feet below sea level and has a depth of 1300 feet beyond that. There is no outlet for the water except by
evaporation. The water abounds with salt, bromide, magnesium chloride, potassium
chloride and sulfur; it’s a gold mine of minerals.
In the dead sea caves they have also found
copper
scrolls written in Hebrew
describing a treasure of 26 tons of gold and 65 tons of silver hidden in 64
locations throughout Israel; It is thought that it was removed from the temple
and hidden before the siege.
Only one quarter of the manuscripts found
are biblical books. Many are apocalyptic,
veiled with symbolism, understood only by those considered “maskilim “or
“they that
understand”.
Scriptorium:
In the ruins of Khirbet Qumran, a large room was found with benches and tables
for copying manuscripts;
Fresh Water:
They also found devices for catching and storing scarce rain water. The
average annual rainfall was only 2 inches. Close to Qumran was “Ain Feshka”; the fresh water
springs which allowed the hermit Essenes to grow produce for their desert
commune.
The Scribes
The
Essenes wore white and had their own personal pens made from rushes
frayed at the end; some were pointed with the end split; they were carried in a
case at their side.[1]
They produced “Commentaries”
verse by verse on the prophets and psalms scripture. They interpreted prophetically what was
written in terms of events that were currently happening and those expected to
happen in the near future.
The Isaiah Scroll is
one of the best preserved scrolls copied sometime between 150 B.C and 50 B.C.,
it’s over 24 feet long and they have found two of them.
The Essenes
John
the Baptist was living in the desert preaching repentance and baptism.[2]
The question is why was John
living in the desert? Hold that thought.
Politicians: There was “a movement”
away from the Pharisees
“Political
Aspirations” and their teaching which were laden with traditions
and additional
requirements to the book of the
Law; and to a lesser degree they were moving
away
from the Sadducees
as well. You can draw a similar
comparison considering the Catholic Church during the Protestant reformation;
with the Protestants moving away;
a withdrawal and separation over tradition and doctrine.
The Essenes were a Jewish
sect that was partially celibate
living a strict communal life in the desert.
They dedicated themselves to the studying and copying of God’s
word. Josephus, the Jewish
historian; A.D. 37-98; lived with the Essenes for three years and provides most
of the background information on the sect.
John the baptizer at some point, most probably lived among the
Essenes also; scripture does not indicate one way or the other.
Corrupt Politicians: The Essenes
rejected the polluted priesthood in Jerusalem and established a pure and true
community in the desert, they believed that they were the righteous remnant and
sole heirs to God’s covenant. They lived
a life of exacting standards of ritual purity and ethical practice with most of
their day spent copying hymns, scrolls, prayers, and The “Manual of Discipline” which was
about methods
and rules for living. (Method of living
and worship; Sounds like Methodist)
Isaiah’s writings were followed
literally; “Make
straight in the desert a highway for our God.” [3] They
separated themselves awaiting God’s coming in the desert. They were the “guardians
of mysterious truths” that would govern the life of Israel when
the Messiah appeared.
The name Essene comes
from a Hebrew word that means “pious” or “holy”. The
sect did not refer to themselves as Essenes, but were given that name by
outsiders. We really don’t know how they
referred to themselves; there is much debate and speculation over this.
Not all Essenes
lived a communal desert life, but instead, lived in many cities and mingled
with society at all levels, and were well received by the Pharisees, and Jewish
populace. Their missionary outreach
founded Essene communes in all the villages and small towns of Judea. In Jerusalem that had their own gate; the “Gate of the
Essenes”.
Side Bar: many students of the Book believe that
Mary and Martha’s brother Lazarus was in a spin off group called the Ascetics
that copied the Torah just like the Essenes. The Dead Sea Scrolls give literary evidence that suggest that a colony
of “Ascetics”
who had chosen celibacy and singleness in life had a “HOSPICE” in Bethany
which extended acts of charity by accommodating the poor, the destitute, the
sick, as well as the unclean lepers.
The Ascetics were all SINGLE and practiced sexual abstinence for the
purpose of pursuing spiritual goals, simple living and ethical practices such
as humility, compassion, patience, prayer and fasting. They were strictly pacifist by nature and had
no weapons of war; and esteemed frugality. They observed the Sabbath and the Temple was
their Sanctuary in Jerusalem the Holy City.
The word Ascetic is derived from the Greek word meaning TRAINING. Their
beliefs can be summarized as a Love of God, Love of Virtue, and Love of Man.
Membership: There were some 4,000 plus Essenes in Palestine Syria. Those
that joined were required to bring their assets and share them with the group,
divesting themselves of wealth; no one was considered rich and no one poor.
Formal Admittance: There was a one
year term for the Novice to manifest the qualities desired such as; religious
purity, a love of virtue , humility and contentment, deeds of love and charity,
frugality and freedom from bondage to material possessions, then a second year
term of testing before their formal admittance. (I don’t think
I could ever pass this test)
Work Ethic: They
observed a strict discipline; they begin their work day before dawn with
prayer, then went to their “Secular jobs” as they were best suited, then at
noon they washed in cold water, had prayers and a simple meal, then at evening;
a bath, prayers, and a simple meal.
There wages were held in common possession in a community
treasury so that all might benefit as the need arose. They took care of the cost of treatment for
all their sick and maintained their aged populace with respect and dignity;
they lived in contentment.
Discipline: All labor was
done as unto the Lord; “Love of God, Virtue and Man” was the motivation to
work; you don’t work, you don’t eat,
you are banished from the sect. No food
stamps for the LAZY. Communalism won’t work in the USA; it’s a God
thing.
Their leader was known only as “The teacher of Righteousness”; we do not know his name.
FAR OUT, consider
this;
they had the “War
Scroll” which was plans for the final conflict at
the return of the Messiah between “the sons of
light” and “the sons of darkness”.[4] The War Scroll describes
an eschatological
war in which God and his angels
join forces with the “Sons of light”
to battle against the “sons of darkness.” This plan was to
be kept secret
until the Messiah appeared, and then they would instruct the people in the “understanding”.[5]
The War Scroll is very similar in “concept” to the
Apostle John’s writing)
of
the “Revelation”
(Not John the Baptist); the final conflict, the
war between Good
and Evil. They documented in detail
the last great battle in which the Roman army destroyed the Jewish state in A.D.
70. They also had elaborate construction
details concerning the Temple in Jerusalem.
New Testament; “So far” there has NOT been any
writings found about Jesus, John the Baptist or any other of the early
Christians. They probably did possess NT
writings and it’s understanding as they refer to “Sons of Light” which is the
designation for a Christian. Either that
or the Christians took the term from them; anyway this term is not found
anywhere else in the OT scripture.
They lived in the Qumran Valley for some 200 years, so when the Roman’s attacked,
they hid their library in various caves where they remained for 2000 years
waiting for the Bedouin youth to chunk a rock inside and give us the greatest manuscript
discovery of our time, the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Communalism
Communalism; A system of
government in which communes sometimes on an ethnic or religious basis, have
virtual autonomy within a federated state. A small group of people living
communally and sharing in work and earnings. Everyone owns it all; God is their
source. Webster Dictionary:
Communism:
The state owns it all; God has nothing to
do with it. Communalism works
only when God is involved; when man puts himself before others, it fails.
The Essenes lived in communalism for 200 years, everything including
their clothes was held in common; they ALL owned it ALL.
Note: The early Christian church was communalistic;
they sold everything they had and brought it to the believing congregation; they
probably got the idea from the Essenes.[6] Some were really not communal material. Ananias and
Sapphira
sold their land to give the proceeds to the commune, but lied about how much
they sold it for.[7]
God struck them dead; it was not because
they did not give all the money, it was because they
lied to the Holy Spirit.
It’s in the Book
[1] Ezekiel 9:2 – They were clothed in White with a writing case at their side
[2] Matthew 3:1-2 – John the
Baptizer lived in the desert
[3] Isaiah 40:3 – John
preached; make straight in the desert a highway for our
God
[4] Luke 16:8 – The Sons of Darkness are more shrewd than the Sons of Light -- 1 Thessalonians 5:5 – Believers
are the Sons of Light, not Sons of Darkness -- John
[5] Daniel
[6] Acts
[7] Acts 5:1-10 – Ananias and
Sapphira wanted to keep some of their money and lied to the Holy Spirit
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