Secrets of the Dead Sea Scrolls:

Twelve Essenes to Judge the World?

Or Twelve Apostles to replace them?

The 2000-year-old Dead Sea Scrolls, found at mid-twentieth century in caves overlooking the Dead Sea, include remains from every book of the Bible except Esther. The crown jewel is the Great Isaiah Scroll, essentially complete, with little difference from the Book of Isaiah we read today.

But that's just the beginning of the story. The Scrolls included ruling documents of the Essene sect members that lived at Qumran by the Dead Sea, and writings about the End Times such as the book of Enoch.

In addition, there are pesher commentaries on many books of the Bible. A popular Bible commentary method of the time was to read each verse in a book and prophetically show its "pesher" interpretation for the current time. Daniel used this method when he read the handwriting on the wall, saying, "The interpretation (pesher) of the word is, God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it" (Daniel 5:26).  Jesus used the pesher method when he read from Isaiah in the Nazareth synagogue, saying, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing" (Luke 4:21).

Among these Dead Sea commentaries is Pesher Isaiah, which suggests that a council of twelve men--symbolized as the twelve precious stones of the twelve tribes of Israel, and twelve 'pillars' of the new Jerusalem--were to rule the Essene community. Moreover, these twelve leaders would sit in the twelve gates of the resurrected Jerusalem to judge Israel and the world in the End Times.

Did Jesus model his ministry on the ideals of the Essene sect? It has been alleged that Jesus was a member of the Essenes and received instruction in Qumran. The evidence for that idea is quite weak and we may discard the notion.

However, it has more strongly been alleged that John the Baptist was instructed by the Essenes "in the desert" at Qumran. John's rejection of Pharisee and Sadducee leadership was certainly in tune with Essene teachings. And John's theology of baptism resembles the Essenes' theology of ritual washing, in that no amount of dunking or washing would be effective without a cleansing of the inner person--of the heart. But John's offer of baptism to the common folk--anyone who repented of their sin--would have gotten John tossed out on his ear by the Essenes. They were an exclusive group, demanding that new entrants give up their fortunes to the sect, and undergo a three-year process of cleansing and instruction to be admitted as members.

And now we get to the connection. Some scholars say that Jesus was a disciple of the Baptist. Although the fourth Gospel has Jesus showing up several times in the vicinity of the Baptist, that's a weak argument. And although Jesus was baptized by John, John objected to that. But when John was put in prison, that kicked off Jesus' active preaching ministry, and he began it by preaching the message of the Baptist: "Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand!"

I still can't buy the notion that Jesus had an Essene background. But it's almost certainly true that he knew of the Essenes and was aware of their core teachings. So what about the institution of the Twelve?

When Jesus began to accept disciples, that put him on a par (socially) with the Pharisees and Sadducees who had their own disciples. According to the fourth Gospel, he started with the requisite five disciples, plus an un-named sixth disciple who we commonly identify as John son of Zebedee. Essentially, Jesus was running an unlicensed school. But his teachings were never meant to come alongside the Pharisees and Sadducees--they were meant to replace them.

But Jesus did not come just to teach. He came to usher in the emerging Kingdom of God. Not just ethics and piety and social justice were in his hands, but the fate of the Universe and its inhabitants. So in the following year Jesus commissioned the Twelve, to be with him and to be his emissaries. These 12 replaced and superseded the Essenes, whose trademark teachings concerned the end times. Jesus was in charge and his 'saints' would be the leaders.

The apostle Paul learned this also, and taught it to his churches: "Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?" (1 Cor 6:2). The old covenant has passed, and the new covenant will rule, when Jesus returns to rule the world for a thousand years. And Jesus, who rose from the dead, has already conquered death and the world. Marana Tha.

Since my book JOHN! Episode One deals with teenage John meeting the Baptist, I had to deal with the Baptist's Qumran background. Find out what I think may have happened at rolinbruno.com.

The insights from Pesher Isaiah were first brought forth by David Flusser, Dead Sea Scrolls scholar and Professor at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. His article may be found translated from the Hebrew in Judaism of the Second Temple Period, Volume 1, Qumran and Apocalypticism, pages 305-326.