70 years on, the Dead Sea Scrolls still back up the Bible’s divine authorship.

The threats of the North Korean dictator are frightening indeed, and could well ignite a nuclear war, but they are part of a bigger picture of worldwide rebellion against the God of Creation.

On a more specific front, they’re a smokescreen for a potential Armageddon in the Middle East as Russian-backed Iran and its allies move dangerously close to Israel’s borders.

Only last week (7 September) Israel carried out a daring air strike against an Iranian-run weapons factory in the heart of Syria, severely damaging (if not destroying) the facility where chemical and biological munitions as well as medium-range missiles are being developed.¹ Syria has in turn warned about “dangerous repercussions”.²

The strike took place exactly 10 years after Israel – the only country in recent years that has stood up to North Korea until now – destroyed a Syrian nuclear reactor being built with the help of the rogue regime.

British politicians, while appalled by the antics of Kim Jong-un, are nevertheless shaking their fists at God in their own way as, with their atheist agenda, they question the existence of a Divine order. Like the serpent in the Garden of Eden (see Gen 3:1), they pose the subtle question: “Did God really create man and woman to procreate?”

Last week Israel carried out a daring air strike against an Iranian-run weapons factory in Syria, 10 years after a similar strike on a nuclear reactor.

Proving Israel’s Claim to the Land

At the centre of the earth today stands a small Jewish state. And what the world interprets as an ideological battle over a piece of land the size of Wales is in effect an Arab-Muslim challenge to the God of Israel, revealed to us through his Son Jesus Christ.

Their claim that the land does not belong to the Jews despite thousands of years of historical, archeological and biblical evidence was decisively countered by the 1947 discovery – 70 years ago - on the shores of the Dead Sea of ancient scrolls proving Jewish connection to the territory well before the emergence of Islam. This was recognised as such by the United Nations that same year.

The findings in caves at Qumran included the entire original text of the Book of Isaiah, over 2,500 years old. This was found intact among hundreds of parchment scrolls hidden in the desert cliffs³ exactly as it is recorded in modern times – no Chinese whispers here, but God’s authentic hand.

There is no doubt that the unearthing of these scrolls – along with much more archeological evidence – fully vindicated Israel’s claim to the land, quite apart from other political and biblical factors.

Battle Over Who God Is

At the heart of all the sabre-rattling going on now is a battle – not really over whether there is a God, but over who he is. And the Judeo-Christian position that formed the basis of Western civilisation is that he is the God of Israel. When Sennacherib, the Assyrian king, threatened Jerusalem with destruction in ancient times (2 Kings 18 and 19), Judah’s King Hezekiah prayed to the ‘God of Israel’ and the result was a resounding defeat for their enemies. The emphasis of his prayer was that his Lord would demonstrate that he alone was God (2 Kings 19:14-19).

What the world interprets as an ideological battle over a piece of land the size of Wales is in effect an Arab-Muslim challenge to the God of Israel.

Similar threats are heard today from those opposed to Israel. The former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, has been denied the chance “to promote dialogue and a better understanding of the Palestinian narrative” in the UK Parliament thanks, it seems, to an 18,000-strong petition.⁴ But the barefaced nerve of a man who has called for the destruction of Britain to attempt to infiltrate its Parliament with his poisonous lies takes some beating.

This man represents the same ideological ethos as Islamic State. We are investing so much in the prevention of terror, yet are pathetically slow to recognise such threats to our democracy. ‘We all worship the same God,’ I hear so many naïve people say – even in church pews. But Sheikh Sabri says that when he enters the Al-Aqsa Mosque (on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount) he is “filled with rage toward the Jews”.⁵

Contrast this with Jesus’ command to love our enemies and pray for our persecutors (Matt 5:44). As the Sheikh makes clear, Islam is a death cult committed to the destruction of ‘infidels’. “The Muslim loves death and martyrdom,” he says.

Absurd Accusations

Part of the ‘Palestinian narrative’ is that Israel is guilty of human rights violations and of being an apartheid state. But the absurdity of these accusations is underlined by the emergence of a transgender Arab Christian from Nazareth as a new secret weapon against BDS, the boycott Israel campaign. Talleen Abu Hana, winner of the first Miss Trans Israel pageant, was guest of honour at the Israeli Embassy in Washington during LGBT Pride month.⁶

At the heart of all the sabre-rattling going on now is a battle – not really over whether there is a God, but over who he is.

Abu declared: “I’m happy to be Israeli because being Israeli means being truly free.” And when an American journalist questioned Israel’s record on human rights, she replied: “Are you crazy? In what other country in the Middle East can I live my life openly.”

Most Christians, including myself, do not agree with her lifestyle choice, but far more distasteful is the rank hypocrisy behind much liberal thought which sets politically correct agendas that are inevitably contradictory.

The Fig Tree and the Olive Tree

The olive tree symbolises Israel as a nation under God.In any case, Israel’s restoration – according to biblical prophecy – is not yet complete. A restoration to the land (i.e. a political re-birth) is what we are witnessing today; this will be followed by a restoration to their Lord and Messiah, which is in the process of happening but still in the early stages.

One line of theological thought sees the fig tree (Matt 24:32) as a symbol of political Israel while the olive tree is seen as representing a return to its original purpose as a nation under God.
The fig tree is certainly blossoming as Israel becomes a powerful nation once more, but many of its inhabitants are still in rebellion against the Almighty.

Christians are privileged to have been grafted into the natural olive tree of Israel (Rom 11:11-24). But the day is coming when all Israel will finally turn to their Messiah (Rom 11:26). All the hordes of hell are trying to stop that happening – hence the current battle – because it will usher in the Lord of Glory who will crush the enemies of Israel and rule over the earth from Jerusalem for a thousand years of peace.

Notes

1 Amir Tsarfati, Behold Israel update, YouTube, 7 September 2017.

2 IDF attacks Syrian chemical weapons base. United with Israel, 7 September 2017.

3 Drosnin, M, 1997. The Bible Code. Orion, p91.

4 BREAKING: Extremist former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem to visit UK Parliament. Christians United for Israel, 31 August. Also VICTORY! Islamic extremist sheikh DENIED entry to UK. Christians United for Israel, 5 September 2017.

5 Ibid, 31 August.

6 Israel Today, Aug/Sept 2017.

As another Dead Sea Scrolls cave is discovered this week, we ponder whether Jesus or John the Baptist might have had connections with the Qumran Community.

Did John the Baptist or Jesus have any connection with the Qumran Community? This is a question that has interested biblical scholars for generations.

There are no direct references in the New Testament to the religious community that lived among the rocks and caves overlooking the Dead Sea. But there are many possible links that are still being explored as more is being discovered from the Dead Sea Scrolls that are still being translated.

The Qumran Community

The Qumran Community was composed of a particular group of Jewish people who most probably were part of the Essene Sect, of which both Josephus the Jewish historian and Philo of Alexandria wrote. It is interesting, however, that the name ‘Essene’ has not appeared in the Dead Sea Scrolls that have been discovered and published to date.

The Essenes were a strictly Torah-observant group who had broken with the Temple worship in Jerusalem because they believed that the priesthood of that day was corrupt and had betrayed both God and the people. As a result, they had become a separatist group who had withdrawn into the desert in order to “prepare in the desert the way of the Lord”.

There they sought to serve God by entering into what they called the ‘new covenant’ relationship, and they awaited the coming of a prophet and the ‘Messiah of Aaron and Israel’ who would ‘expiate their iniquity’. There is no doubt that the prophet they hoped for was the One promised to Moses in Deuteronomy 18:18; but there is some difficulty in knowing whether they were looking for one Messiah or two.

It is evident that there was both a priestly and a kingly understanding in their Messianic hope. However, clearly they did not ascribe a unique saving role to their Messiah such as is given to Jesus in the New Testament.

The Qumran Community were probably an Essene sect, a strictly Torah-observant group of Jews who sought true devotion to God.

The Dead Sea Scrolls

The Qumran Community left behind a considerable number of documents. Discovered between 1947 and 1956 in caves or holes in seven different locations around Qumran (on the north-west shore of the Dead Sea), these consist of 818 documents - many of them fragmentary - of which only some 40% have been officially published to date.

Caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered - now part of the West Bank. See Photo Credits.These documents include scrolls and fragments of books or passages from the Old Testament covering every book of the Hebrew canon (except Esther), commentaries on biblical writings – the most important of which are undoubtedly those covering their theological beliefs – and details concerning their lifestyle and community rules.

Prof Marvin Wilson, who has done much to introduce Gentile believers to the Jewish roots of their faith, has noted that the majority of the biblical texts found cover the three books of Deuteronomy, Psalms and Isaiah, illustrating that these were the most popular and generally well-known Old Testament books around the time of Jesus. He has linked this to the fact that not only are these the three books from which Jesus most often quoted, but that the majority of Old Testament quotations appearing in the New Testament are also taken from these books.

Connection with John the Baptist?

Whether or not John the Baptist had any connection with the Qumran community is unknown, and cannot be proved either way. Prof Joseph A Fitzmyer has conjectured that, in the light of Josephus’ statement in his Jewish War that the Essenes were known to take other men’s children while yet pliable and docile and mould them according to their ways, John might have been brought up in the Community following the death of his elderly parents. We know from Luke 1:7 that Zechariah and Elizabeth were elderly at the time of John’s birth, so it is quite possible that he was orphaned at an early age.

That is, of course, speculation. But we do know from the Synoptic Gospels that John came out of the desert of Judea and preached his message in the area of the Jordan River only a few miles north of Qumran.

Luke 3:2 tells us that the word of God came to John in the desert and all four Gospel writers make the point that he saw himself as fulfilling Isaiah 40:3 in that he was the “voice of one calling in the desert: ‘prepare the way for the Lord’.” The fact that this was the same Scripture which the Qumran community used to define their role may be significant.

The Dead Sea Scrolls include commentaries on biblical writings and details concerning the Qumran Community’s lifestyle.

John’s Message: Repentance, Refining and Judgment

John came “preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Luke 3:3). This was a new message, for although the rite of baptism was used as a means of publicly confirming Gentile proselytes into Judaism, it was not specifically linked with sin, repentance, or forgiveness.

For the Qumran community, however, the practice of baptism and ritual washing was extremely important. According to the Dead Sea Scrolls, entering into ‘the covenant’ was linked to ‘entering into the water’. They saw this as being linked to purification from sin but, unlike John, they did not appear to see it as doing away with sin in the sense of forgiveness. It is, however, quite conceivable that, in giving John his unique message of the ‘baptism of repentance’, the Lord was building on an understanding that John had first learned from the Qumran Community.

In the well-known passage in Matthew 3, John prefaces the appearance of Jesus by telling his hearers that whereas he baptised in water, the One who will come after him will baptise with Holy Spirit and with fire (Matt 3:11). Again, there is a passage in one of the Dead Sea Scrolls which says that “God will purge by his truth all the deeds of human beings, refining by fire for himself some of mankind”. It continues by saying that the purpose of the refining is “to cleanse them with the Holy Spirit from all wicked practices, and to sprinkle them with the Spirit of Truth like purifying water”.

John undoubtedly linked fire with judgment, as is clear from Matthew 3:12, but he differed from the Qumran Community statements in that he applied the refining work to Jesus.

The Essenes emphasised refining and judgment - John the Baptist built on this, applying this work to Jesus.

Perhaps too, the strong element of judgment in John’s message was fuelled by the Qumran teaching that the Community members were the ‘true Israel’, ‘the sons of light’, ‘the Israel that walks in the way of perfection’ – and that those who were not part of their number belonged to the company of the ‘sons of darkness’ whose only future was “an abundance of affliction…because of the furious wrath of the God of vengeance”.

John’s message, as stated in Matthew 3 and Luke 3, where he spoke of the coming wrath, “the axe is already at the root of the trees” and the burning up of the chaff with unquenchable fire shows that he linked God’s judgment with the coming of Jesus.

Contact with the Outside World

As with the Qumran Community, John evinced a strong dislike for the Jerusalem priesthood. He referred to both the Priests and the Pharisees as “a brood of vipers”. In many ways, it could seem strange for one whose parents were of the tribe of Levi, although both “upright in the sight of God” (Luke 1:6), to be so publicly outspoken about the representatives of Israel’s religion. But if John’s righteous indignation partly arose from the influence of Qumran, it would be better understood.

From the Qumran writings published to date, none of Jesus’ teaching bears much direct relationship to their thinking, although he would obviously have known all about them. Prof. David Flusser of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem has suggested that, in his parable of the Unjust Steward in Luke 16, Jesus is seeking to contrast how he expects his disciples to behave to the ways of the Essenes. The ‘sons of light’ would have no involvement of any kind with those whom they considered outsiders.

The Upper Room

Additionally, there are those who believe that the “large upper room, all furnished” of Luke 22:12, was part of an Essene guesthouse in Jerusalem. They were known to have small communities in various towns and cities (Damascus was one) and they did have a base in Jerusalem where there was a ‘gate of the Essenes’ and where they offered hospitality to those outside their sect.

The man carrying the jar of water in Luke 22:10 was doing work normally done by a woman in those days and therefore was possibly an Essene since, according to both Josephus and Philo, they were an all-male celibate society.

It is possible that the upper room used for the Last Supper was part of an Essene guesthouse in Jerusalem.

Reference is also made to “a large guest room” (Luke 22:12) which conceivably points to a guesthouse of some size which may well have belonged to the Essenes. That it was an Essene guesthouse would also fit in with the assertion that Jesus celebrated his last Passover the day before the recognised Feast Day that year (see John 13:1 and 18:28). This is because the Essenes were known to have followed an ancient solar calendar – references to which may be found in Ezekiel 45:18-20 - which fixed all the feasts on the same day each year. The rest of Judaism followed a lunar calendar which moves the feast days around from year to year.

The Essenes found serious fault with this practice, which they believed was not in keeping with God’s original instruction and was another reason why they broke away from the Temple worship in Jerusalem. For Jesus to have wished to celebrate the Passover on the day with which they were in agreement would have made them happy to lend him their guest room for that purpose.

Part of Our Heritage

One of the main Essene practices was ‘community living’, the basis of this being a ‘community of goods’ – having everything in common, as at Qumran. They were unique in this practice in Israel at that time, so it is of great significance that in the early Church, the first Jewish believers in Jesus the Messiah should immediately after Pentecost organise themselves along the same lines (Acts 2:44-45).

There is no doubt that this group of people who withdrew to the desert to worship and follow the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, did so with devout and sincere hearts. Whether they could be rightly classed as being of the ‘remnant of Israel’ – those who, like Zechariah, Elizabeth, Joseph, Mary, Simeon and Anna were looking for “the consolation of Israel” (e.g. Luke 2:25) - is perhaps open to question. Nevertheless, they are part of that rich Jewish heritage from which our faith has sprung and to which we owe so much.