The End Is Near!!!

Two full centuries before John of Patmos wrote the Book of Revelation, and at least a century before Jesus claimed that in times were approaching, the author(s) of the Charter of a Jewish Sectarian Association wrote a small scroll describing the Last Days.  So as with many of Jesus’ teachings, this was also not new.  Strange have a religion that has been promising the end of the world for more than 2,100 years can still be taken seriously.  The End is obviously not near!

This particular Tractate is about what will happen when the Messiah arrives.   This is by far, the earliest written documents describing the Messiah coming from YHWH.  No Books of the old testament clearly point out anything about the Messiah.  The term “messiah” and “son of god” do not occur in the Old Testament at all.  One must remember that the entire concept of a Messiah was a Tradition of Man and not the fulfillment of Scriptural prophecy.  The question becomes what did the ancient Israelites believe would happen when the Messiah arrived?

This scroll is the earliest evidence of what the people actually believed.  We know from the Gospels that Jesus drew upon the Tradition of Man to reinforce his teachings.  But all we are told in the New Testament is that the Israelites did believe that a Messiah was expected.  One of the interesting things about this Scroll is the timeframe used.  To begin with it is understood that they will have enough time to train up young boys into leaders of society.  It is also obvious that the lifespan is not expected to pass much beyond the age of 30.  The first 10 years of life are to be treated as children.  The next 10 years is considered the appropriate time to train the believers in the proper education of the Yahad.  Within the next five years a man can become a “Pillar of the holy congregation”.   By the age of 30, he can decide legal disputes and command the military (up to 1000 men).    The next age limit is called “advanced in age”.  If one can go in a short 10 years from learning the ropes leading the military, it is obvious that by the age of 40 they did not expect many to be alive.  This important to the concept of whom wrote the New Testament.  But that is another story.

The other interesting part of this section of the Scroll is the role of the Levites and the sons of Aaron.  It is only the sons of Aaron, and specifically the sons of Zadok, who decide which men have the appropriate “portions of intelligence and the perfection of his walk” to perform specific tasks within the community.  The Levites are responsible for leading the entire congregation if into battle against the Gentiles.  It is also the responsibility of the Levites to ensure that the congregation is properly prepared by the act of a three day consecration.

Another very important point that this Scroll introduces is who is appropriate to be among the sanctified congregation.  These people (men) must be wise, understanding, and knowledgeable.  They must also be “blameless in their behavior” and be “men of reputation”.  They are specific characteristics that will disqualify a man from participating in YHWH’s army (salvation).   This disqualification is rather vague but it states:

1QSa 4Q249a-I No man who suffers from a single type of the unclean this that affects humanity shall enter their assembly;

This seems to indicate spiritual uncleanliness.  But the Scroll goes on to also include physical handicaps: crippled, lame, blind, deaf, dumb, or blemish in his flesh.   They certainly believed that physical handicaps were a sign of being smitten by YHWH.

The last paragraph in this Scroll describes not one Messiah but two.  The first Messiah will be a spiritual leader.  The second Messiah will be a military leader.  We know this because of how the congregation will enter the final feast (very similar concept to the Last Supper).  The sons of Aaron will enter first and sit directly in front of the spiritual Messiah.  Then the military Messiah will inter with all the men prepared for war.  Up lastly the heads of the Israelite clans will enter and gather before the spiritual Messiah.

The actual feast is almost identical to the Last Supper.  Bread in one will be set out at the communal table and the High Priest will be the first to partake in the meal.  He will bless the bread and the wine.  At this point the military Messiah will protect of the meal.  It’s been the rest of the community will partake of the bread and wine. 

From the Atheist perspective, it is obvious that the Christian religion certainly had its initiations from groups like the Yahad.  Even though many people believe that the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls were the Essenes, actually reading these Scrolls indicate that the Yahad worried much larger group than the Essenes.  But there can be no doubt, that Jesus took a much of their beliefs and teachings into his ministry.  Whether this was due to his studying with them or just the popular beliefs of the time, we can probably never know.  Unfortunately, what we do know about the Jewish society at the turn of the millennia is very scarce.  Mostly what scholars (Biblical scholars in particular) use are the writings of men from the late first century and second century AD.   These men include: Josephus (74 – 96 AD), Polycarp (110-140 AD), Marcion (130-140 AD), Valentinus (120-160 AD), Irenaeus (175-185 AD), Clement (182-202 AD), Tertullian (197-220 AD), and Origen (203-250 AD).  Using these as source materials for the first century AD seems ridiculous to the Atheist perspective.  Without the use of printing machines, the information that most of these men used were certainly not very accurate.  We know this for certain in the case of Josephus.  In one of his biggest blunders, he claims that even just five years after the destruction of the Jewish Temple only three Jewish sects existed: the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes.  We certainly know today, that he left out the Yahad, the Zealots, and the Sicarii.  Notice also that Marcion and Valentinus were both Gnostic Christians.  The major fathers of the early church are not represented until well over 150 years after Jesus died.  Basing eternity on the writings of men who did not experience the formation of the Christian religion seems ludicrous to the Atheist.  But that is exactly what occurs in both the Jewish and Christian Traditions.

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