the dead sea scrolls and the three personalities

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THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS ANDTHE THREE PERSONALITIES 1. The Teacher of Righteousness 2. The Wicked Priest 3. The Liar

THE COMMUNITY OF ESSENES… Before the birth of Jesus Christ there lived a secluded Jewish sect, on the shores of

the Dead Sea in Palestine. The sect lived an ascetic communal life. The adherents wereknown as the Essenes. They referred to themselves as the „Sons of Light‟. They placedgreat emphasis for the coming of an 'anointed one' - a Messiah, in their Holy Land.Essenes were known for wearing white garments and practicing the art of body healing.Some scholars are of the opinion that a man sitting near the empty tomb of Jesus

“wearing a white robe” (Mark 16:5), or two men “in dazzling apparel” (Luke 24:4), or “two angels in white” in the spiritualized forth Gospel of John, belonged to this sect. It is

also suggested that an unknown man who requested Pilate for the body of Jesus andtook it with him could be a healer from this group.

Notwithstanding the veracity of such opinions, writers of the chronicles andscholars do agree that the greatest known discovery of manuscripts in our times - theDead Sea Scrolls, belonged to the community of Essenes. The recovered manuscriptsreflect the dualistic theology (the on going struggle between the forces of Light and of Darkness), upheld by the Essenes. No doubt, it is one of the most exiting archeologicalfinds. These Scrolls contain Books from the Old Testaments that were written more thana thousand years before the oldest known text of the Torah. These documents (thebiblical texts and the commentaries) were written during one of the most crucial period

of the Jewish history. These were the times of turbulence for the Jews of the Holy Land.The anointed one was relentlessly persecuted by the Pharisees. The Romans tried thisman and issued a death sentence although he posed no threat to their might and glory.Jews thought they had silenced the voice of Messiah but their acts gave rise to a newsect of Judaism called – Christianity. The voice Jesus became immortal.

Envisaging a foreign threat the Essenes living on the shores of the Dead Sea hidthe jars containing their precious manuscripts in the mountain Caves, located in a valleyknown as Qumran. In all about 400 manuscripts have been discovered from the caves,surrounding the Dead Sea. The scholars have dated these manuscripts of the Dead SeaScrolls, ranging from 10 B.C. to 68 A.D. The Scrolls have proved valuable tools in thereconstruction of history of the advent of early Christianity. It records the power strugglebetween a righteous, an evil and a liar, the hint of this conflict is to be found in the Book of Acts .

From the jars discovered at Qumran (Cave Number 1) scholars have discovered animportant commentary on the Book of Habakkuk („Habakkuk Pesher‟). The commentaryrecords the defiling of the God‟s sanctuary (cf. Acts 21: 28-29), and details of a historicaldispute between the leaders of the early Christians (cf. Acts 21:17-26). In addition to the

„Habakkuk Commentary‟ the reference to this individual who was being accused of falsityand preaching his own doctrine is also found in the commentary to the Psalm 37 within



the Qumran texts.

THE DEAD SEA SCROLL DECEPTION…. Below are the excerpts from the above book. It is a book that tells you;

"WHY A HANDFUL OF RELIGIOUS SCHOLARS CONSPIRED TO SUPPRESS THEREVOLUTIONARY CONTENTS OF THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS."

"From the Acts of the Apostles, from Josephus and from early Christian historians, thereemerges a coherent, if still incomplete, portrait of James,‟ the Lord‟s brother‟. He appearsas an exemplar of „righteousness‟ – so much so that „the Just‟, or „the Righteous‟, isappended as a sobriquet to his name. He is the acknowledged leader of a „sectarian‟ religious community whose members are „zealous for the Law‟. He must contend withtwo quite separate and distinct adversaries. One of these is Paul, an outsider who,having first persecuted the community, then converts and is admitted into it, only to turnrenegade, prevaricate and quarrel with his superiors, hijack the image of Jesus and begin

preaching his own doctrine – a doctrine which draws on that of the community, butdistorts it. James‟s second adversary is from outside the community – the high priest Ananas, head of the Sadducee priesthood. Ananas is a notoriously corrupt and widelyhated man. He has also betrayed both the God and the people of Israel by collaboratingwith the Roman administration and their Herodian puppet-kings. James publiclychallenges Ananas and eventually meets his death at the hands of Ananas‟ minions; but

Ananas will shortly be assassinated in turn. All of this takes place against a backdrop of increasing social and political unrest and the impending invasion of a foreign army.

With this scenario in mind, Eisenman turned to the Dead Sea Scrolls, and particularlythe „Habakkuk Commentary‟. When the fragmentary details of the Qumran texts had

been assembled into a coherent sequence, what emerged was something extraordinarilysimilar to the chronicle of Acts, Josephus and early Christian historians. The scrolls toldtheir own story, at the centre of which was a single protagonist, the „Teacher of Righteousness‟ - an exemplar of the same virtues associated with James. Like James, the

„Teacher‟ was the acknowledged leader of a „sectarian‟ religious community whosemembers were „zealous for the Law‟. And like James, the „Teacher‟ had to contend withtwo quite separate and distinct adversaries.

One of these was dubbed the „Liar‟ an outsider who was admitted to the community,then turned renegade, quarrelled with the „Teacher‟ and hijacked part of thecommunity‟s doctrine and membership. According to the „Habakkuk Commentary‟, the

„Liar‟ „did not listen to the word received by the Teacher of the Righteousness from themouth of God‟.22 Instead, he appealed to „the unfaithful of the New Covenant in thatthey have not believed in the Covenant of God and have profaned His holy name‟.23 Thetext states explicitly that „the Liar . . . flouted the Law in the midst of their wholecongregation‟.24 He „led many astray‟ and raised „a congregation on deceit‟.25 He himself is said to be „pregnant with [works] of deceit‟.26 These, of course, are precisely thetransgressions of which Paul is accused in Acts – transgressions which lead, at the end of

Acts, to the attempt on his life. And Eisenman stresses Paul‟s striking hypersensitivity tocharges of prevarication and perjury.27 In 1 Timothy 2:7, for example, he assertsindignantly, as if defending himself, that „I am telling the truth and not lie‟. In II



Corinthians 11:31, he swears that: „The God and Father of the Lord Jesus . . . knows thatI am not lying.‟ These are but two instances; Paul‟s letters reveal an almost obsessivedesire to exculpate himself from implied accusations of falsity." (Pp. 194-195, The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception by Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, Summit Books, New York,N.Y., 1991, ISBN: 0671734547)

Notes and References to the above: 22 The Habakkuk Commentary, II, 2 (Vermes, p. 284). 23 Ibid., II, 3-4 (Vermes, p. 284).

24 Ibid., V. 11-12 (Vermes, p. 285).

25 Ibid., X, 9-10 (Vermes, p. 288). 26 Ibid., X, 11-12 (Vermes, p. 288).

27 For a comprehensive review of Paul‟s sensitivity to the charges of lying, seeEisenman, op. cit., p. 39, n. 24.

Recommended for further reading; books by Dr. Robert H. Eisenman: „Maccabees, Zadokites, Christians and Qumran‟ (1983, E. J. Brill of Leiden, Holland) „James the Just in the Habakkuk Pesher‟ (1986, E. J. Brill of Leiden, Holland)

Robert Eisenman is Professor of Middle East Religions and Archaeology and Director of the Institute for the

Study of Judeo-Christian Origins at California State University, Long Beach. He is is consultant for the

Huntington Library in the struggle to free the Scrolls.

Also suggested for reading:

The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered: The First Complete Translation and Interpretation of 50 Key

Documents Withheld for over 35 Years Robert H. Eisenman and Michael O. Wise

Compiled by scholars Robert Eisenman and Michael Wise, these fifty documents cast a startling light on eventsin Palestine at the dawn of Christianity. They portray not a family of peaceful Essenes but a fiercely militant

religious sect whose members awaited an apocalyptic Day of Vengeance. The authors speak of a messiah and

the resurrection of the dead. They allude not only to doctrines we now recognize as Christian but also to theprecursors of Islam and Jewish Kabbalism. Providing precise transliterations into modern Hebrew characters

and English translations, and accompanied by detailed commentaries, The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered

represents a quantum leap in our knowledge of 1the ancient origins of modern faith.