The Dead Sea Scrolls And The Community, Or Was It Called Then, Damascus?

The place is the northern part of the Dead Sea, about 5 miles from the River Jordan, on a plateau, a flattened area above steep cliffs that have caves nestled in them. The turmoil that surrounds the country at this time in history, about 200 BC., makes the setting hard to imagine, but the spirit of peacefulness, love and sharing draws you to witness the scene that is about to take place. The area is remote, serene and the perfect place for a group of people desiring to separate themselves from the wickedness of the world, join together in a community, with like minded brethren that seek to serve and worship their maker. "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." (Rev 18:4, II Corinthians 6:17) The beautiful story of these people is history, but as with much of history not all is told except with the spirit of YAHWEH revealing HIS profound truths.

Surging To A Climax, Fueled By Oppression, Fear And Hatred

All around the world there were destructive forces that were surging to a climax, fueled by oppression, fear and hatred. New ideas and changing times are causing many to become confused and abandon old ways of established laws and customs. Up until now YAHWEH's people had lived among the wicked, slowly adapting their practices and beliefs. With the increasing pressure from Herod to adapt the ways of the Greeks, the people of YAHWEH were turning from their trust and assurance in their faithful FATHER to the wiles of the enemy. The scene that we are witnessing sounds as if we are speaking of the modern world today, yet we continue to watch as the parallels unfold.

Separated Place For Service Unto YAHWEH

The leaders of the spiritual arena for the people became polluted with unclean sacrifices, greed of money and position. The result was that YAHWEH raised up first a group known as the Maccabeans that took vengeance on the filth that was defiling the Tabernacle. And at the same time a small remnant that hated the wickedness of the priest and carnal man, began to move into that separated place for service unto YAHWEH. History continues to show that the spirit of darkness, Satan, hates the righteousness of obedience and trust in the dedicated followers of YAHWEH, for what followed in the next few years has changed history forever. (For more information of the community and their life, please see the following article "...A Comparison To Victory Community.)

To understand the importance of the rest of the story, you must understand the magnitude of the events that are unfolding at this point in history. The influence of the Torah, the uniqueness and virtue of YAHWEH's people was beginning to disappear from off the face of the earth! A few men recognized this prophetic event and began to set in motion events that would change the lives of many.

The Maccabeans did many great valorous works of cleansing the tabernacle in the years that followed, yet as time pasted their initial purity and motive dwindled with later generations. The small groups that had separated themselves into all parts of the country, YAHWEH's Remnant, after years of living pure, documenting their revelations and thoughts concerning the scriptures and YAHWEH's loving kindness, were brought to a destructive end. Their main community, as we know it, Damascus, is believed to have been destroyed by fire which leveled it to the ground around 31B.C., at the beginning of Herod's reign. Not until after the death of Herod the Great in 4 B.C. did the group return to rebuild and occupy their main community in this area again. 

YAHSHUA Was Emerging Upon The Scene

Once again YAHWEH's Remnant lived separate from the "religious" world and emerged themselves into searching the scriptures and growing in the word of YAHWEH. The writings, which are the remains of their documented studies, rules for community life and daily duties of preserving the Word of YAHWEH, shows us an amazing insight to the heart of these precious brethren. At the same time these brethren were seeking and discerning the revelation of the written word of YAHWEH, John the Baptist and YAHSHUA were emerging upon the scene.

The facts and findings are not clear if they had any contact with YAHSHUA directly, although there is one unmistakable fact that no one can overlook. Historians have commented on the sincere and devout commitment unto YAHWEH and their brethren. This is the same time that the scriptures make note of "And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven." Also it has been estimated that there were approximately four thousand of these people, total among all their communities around the world. In a world of much wickedness, with the multitude, and even the disciples eventually deserting YAHSHUA, does it not seem to reason that these, "Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls." were YAHWEH's Remnant?

This group continued in existence until approximately 130 A.D., as coins were found on site to support this date. We fast forward to the year 1947 when a fourteen year old Bedouin boy herding goats in the same area of Qumran, accidentally broke one of the containers holding, what we now know as the Dead Sea Scrolls. A Bedouin man then took them to Jerusalem where he tried to peddle them for a bit of money and from this point on the story takes a twisted turn of intrigue.

While trying to peddle the few scrolls, the Bedouin man attracted the attention of Metropolitan Samuel of the St. Marks monastery. He purchased the first four scrolls from the Bedouin man for British pounds and later sold them to the Yisraeli Antiquities. One of these was the well-preserved book of Isaiah, which was twenty-four feet long. Today it is housed at the Shrine of the Book, in the Yisraeli possession. The other three scrolls were Genesis Apocrypha, a commentary on the book of Habakkuk and the Community Rule scroll, which have all been published and are in the Yisraeli possession.

In 1949, two years after their discovery, the director of Dominican sponsored by Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem, Father Roland De Vaux, began to show interest in the scrolls. He also began to purchase scrolls at any cost, thinking that they were his after purchasing them. Lankester Harding, a British army archaeologists officer and the Rockefeller Museum, placed the scrolls they were able to purchase into what is known as the "Scrollery Room." Eventually he led the Catholic to gain total control over the scrolls. Very few of the scrolls were published until the death of De Vaux and Milik. This can all be read in a very good book called "The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception" by M. Baigent and R. Leigh. 

Over a period of about ten years there have been approximately 800 scrolls discovered in eleven caves. The scrolls varied from small fragment pieces to complete scrolls. Some of them were in leather, some in papyrus and there was one found that was in copper. The details of the Copper Scroll listed a vast amount of Tabernacle gold and treasure that was buried all over Yisrael, although they have looked for it, the treasure was never found. They found all the scriptures that we know today in what is called the "old testament" or the TaNaK, Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha. Milik noted that he found something pertaining to the book of Esther. The first five books of the Torah (Torah) were found written in Paleo Hebrew which included the NAME YAHWEH in the form of the tetragrammaton. There was also found a few Greek writings of Septuagint, which was translated in Egypt. Most of the writings were in Hebrew or Aramaic, for Aramaic was the dialect that was spoken in the community at that time and the dialect most likely that YAHSHUA spoke. Aramaic is a dialect of the Hebrew that came after the Babylonian era and the first record of it is in the book of Daniel. Also found were commentaries on the Books of Habakkuk, Nahum, Tehillim (Psalms) and Micah. The books of the Pseudepigrapha were found, which is made up of the book of Adam, Moshe and other books that are not commonly known about. They found seven copies of the book of Enoch, what is odd about this book is the complete "Book of Parables" (chapter 37-71) is missing in all seven scrolls. For a relatively up-to-date catalog of the scrolls and documents, refer to the Appendix A.

NAME Of YAHWEH Was Found Among The Dead Sea Scrolls

The NAME of YAHWEH was found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, on pottery shards and other things. It was also found in what we call YAHWEH's Covenant, which was included as part of the communities scriptural text. The name YAHWEH's Covenant was given because a large part dealt with the Tabernacle building, all the sacrifices, and how it was to be done. YAHWEH's Covenant is the longest scroll found, twenty-seven feet long, although there were a few feet that have been badly damaged; yet through restoration they have been able to put some of it together. It starts with the Covenant YAHWEH make with His People and where He puts His Name. Then YAHWEH tells how to build the Tabernacle and gives the ordinances for the offering of sacrifices to Him. YAHWEH gave ordinances pertaining to what one must do when someone dies, such as the cleansing of the house, the people that are in the house or touching anything to do with the dead. The last part of the Covenant scroll deals with the ordinances that govern a King and how he should rule, how military campaigns should be conducted and finally all about marring and virgins. It all corresponds with Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Many consider this to be the sixth book of the Pentateuch, the Books of Moshe.

Reading the Psalms of the Dead Sea Scrolls you will get an deeper understanding of the grateful attitude toward YAHWEH, the unworthiness and wretchedness of man, along with the magnitude of the knowledgeable revelation that the Remnant had of the scriptures. It is a beautiful reading that will enlighten everyone's soul.

Finally, my brethren, we have included the complete documents The Manual Of Discipline, The Zadokite or Damascus Document and YAHWEH's Covenant for your further research and learning .

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