The Dead Sea Scrolls - Session Six
Session Six – The End Time:
Eschatology and Apocalypse
As a part
of their self-understanding as the remnant of Israel, the Community understood
themselves as a community of the “last days”.
In their view, all of history had pointed to the moment in which the
Community existed. They were living on the cusp of the culmination of history. Thus,
like most apocalyptic movements, the Community expected an imminent
intervention of God, the defeat of their enemies (and the forces of darkness)
the intervention of an angelic or messianic figure, and some sort of “reset” or
“re-creation” of the world. Through
their “inspired” reading and interpreting of biblical texts (especially by an
authoritative leader, in our case, the Teacher of Righteousness), they
possessed a secret knowledge and understanding of how these times were
unfolding and about to unfold. Their vision of the end times included ideas of
a “New Jerusalem”, visions of heaven, messianic figures (often more than one),
spiritual and earthly warfare, and the punishment of the wicked and the triumph
of the righteous. (For more on
apocalypticism of the Second Temple period, click here).
The
Messianic Rule (1QSa/1Q28a)
Vermes,
159-162
This work
has traditionally been called the “Rule of the Congregation” (1QSa) and along
with the “Rule of Blessings” (1QSb) was appended to the Community Rule (1QS). As Vermes (p 159) has pointed out, “As in the
Cave I version and in the Damascus Document, but contrary to the version
preserved in 4QSd and 4QSb, ‘the Sons of Zadok, the Priests’ form the chief
authority of the sect.” It is usually
thought to date from approx. the mid-first century BC.
The text
identifies itself as “the Rule for all the congregation of Israel in the last
days”, and indicates that it is for a time when the rest of Israel will join the
Community (i.e., the sectarians) and fall in under Zadokite law and
leadership. At first, it seems like a
fairly pedestrian outline ordering the end-times community, but toward the end
of the text, a priestly Messiah appears (there is dispute over whether the term
is “revealed” or “engendered”) to sit at the head of the “whole congregation of
Israel”, and then a Messiah of Israel shall preside over a community meal. Scholars
are divided: Are these two different Messiahs or one and the same? The Damascus
Documents seems (again, there is scholarly dispute about this) to speak
of two Messiahs, one of Aaron and one of Israel, suggesting a priestly messiah
and a kingly messiah.
Unsurprisingly,
ritual purity is very important in this text.
Physical deformities, disabilities, and infirmities would render a
person impure and as such, might be excluded from the assembly of the
congregation, and certainly from holding any kind of priestly office in the new
order of things.
Messianic Rule/Rule of the Congregation (1QSa)
The
New Jerusalem (4Q554, 5Q15, 1Q32, 2Q24, 4Q232, 11Q18)
Vermes, 607-610
This text,
written in Aramaic and dated to about the turn of the era, recounts a vision in
which the visionary is accompanied by an angelic “tour guide” and surveys the
New Jerusalem. This is a common motif in apocalyptic literature having its
origins in the Merkabah and Hekhalot mysticism found in the prophets through
pseudepigraphal texts like 1 Enoch. The existence of such texts makes us
wonder, for example, if the description of the Temple in the Temple Scroll is
one such depiction. One fragment, 11Q18 fr. 20 describes a memorial offering of
bread divided up among a large group of priests. One can clearly see echoes of
Ezekiel 40-48 in this text or group of texts.
Some have pointed out parallels to the later Book of Revelation (ch. 21),
which also contains a description of the New Jerusalem.
The
War Rule (1Qm + various Cave 4 fragments)
Vermes
163-184
This text
self-identifies as the “Rule for the War of the Sons of Light and the Sons of
Darkness”. The Cave 4 fragments seem to suggest the text has gone through
several recensions and thus the community may have known several versions of
the Rule. There are other fragments that have a “War Scroll” feel, that can’t
be fit in anywhere. The text can be
divided in various ways, but in broad terms it consists of two sections, Rules
for the battle (columns II-XIV) and the final (imagined/prophesied) eschatological
battle (columns XV-XIX). Vermes, following van der Ploeg, thinks that the
latter part represents the more primitive part of the composition, making use
of the Book of Daniel (Vermes, 164). The
text is usually dated following the Maccabean revolt, given that the author
seems to have made use of Daniel (c. 164 BC), although the reference to the “King
of the Kittim” might point to late first century BC and Imperial Rome. The angels
once again make an appearance, and the Sons of Light are depicted as fighting
alongside the angels in this text. The Sons
of Darkness also have their own spiritual allies, including Belial and his
demonic forces. Like the Temple Scroll, the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice, and
other similar texts, the text is highly descriptive and detail-oriented (in
this case, with respect to banners, weapons, and trumpets).
This text gives
us further insight into and evidence for a “Doctrine of Two Ways” which was also
seen in the Community Rule (1QS) and in the 2nd century AD early Christian
texts, The Epistle of Barnabas and The Didache.
The War Scroll
The Heavenly
Prince Melchizedek (11Q13)
Vermes
532-534
Melchizedek
appears in Genesis 14:17-20. He is the King/High Priest of Salem. He is later
mentioned in Psalm 110:4 as holding an eternal priesthood (“You are a priest forever
according to the order of Melchizedek”).
The Epistle to the Hebrews recalls this text in order to describe Jesus’s
eternal priesthood. It seems that
during our period, Melchizedek has taken on messianic characteristic and in 11Q13
he is depicted an angelic figure, possibly analogous to the archangel Michael
battling Belial and his army. Given that
the Community anticipated both a priestly and a kingly messiah (or a combination
of both in one figure), could Melchizedek be the figure to whom they looked?
The Heavenly Prince Melchizedek (11Q13)
Questions
for Reflection:
1. What does the community’s
eschatological (end-times) self-understanding reveal about their relationship
to the prophetic tradition?
2. Why does the War Scroll spend so
much time describing the instruments of the battle?
3. How does having the Melchizedek text
illuminate our understanding of the Epistle to the Hebrews in the New
Testament?
4. What does the Community think will
happen at the end? What is God’s plan and
purpose, according to their reckoning?
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