No real facts or information about Jesus and how he became a healer and user of many herbs and medicines is recorded in the Bible or elsewhere. The Essenes had a community 3o minutes from Narareth where Jesus grew up. According to the Dead Sea scrolls the Essenes traded with many caravans to get rare drugs and medicines . They even had a large book describing all the known drugs in he known world at the time. What are the chances that Jesus may have been exposed to the teachings of the Essenes community  near him?  How did Jesus or Jeshua as he was called become a faith healer? How is it that he approved of Baptism as did his second cousin John the Baptist?

An accident ?  Hardly, it was not the normal belief of Jews in Jesus’ time that Baptism forgave sins.  The Essenes used Baptism everyday in their religious ceremonies as explained in the Dead Sea Scrolls.  The Essenes had a righteous leader 100 years before Jesus and they believed he would return by resurrection.  Sound familiar?  Jesus ministry copied the same thoughts of the Essenes. They too despised the rich and corrupt Jews in Jersaleum .

Jesus saved many lepers in his day, but how? With drugs?  How did he bring his cousin Lazareth back to life?   Perhaps lazareth was in a coma or trance and his sisters thought he was dead? Could Jesus who had no horse or donkey to ride,  have sent a strong medicine ahead with a courier?  It was a two day walk to lazareth’s house and Jesus had to walk it.

The Essenes had some powerful drugs from the roots of plants that could put a patient into a coma or trance. The Dead Sea scrolls describes these drugs. What if Jesus spent 15 years learning drugs and how to heal people from the Essenes?

I try to answer these questions in my novel called, “Jesus and John.” published by Xlibris publishers.

Available on Amazon.

 

 

 

 

Chapter 8- “…the Voice of one crying in the wilderness.”

 

John:

 

1:6 A man named John was sent from God.

1:7 He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.

1:8 He was not the light, but came to testify to the light.

1:9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

1:10 He was in the world, and the world came to be through him, but the world did not know him.

1:11 He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him.

1:12 But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name,

1:13 who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision but of God.

1:14 And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.

1:15 John testified to him and cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘The one who is coming after me ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’”

1:16 From his fullness we have all received, grace in place of grace,

1:17 because while the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

1:18 No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him.

1:19 And this is the testimony of John. When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites [to him] to ask him, “Who are you?”

1:20 he admitted and did not deny it, but admitted, “I am not the Messiah.”

1:21 So they asked him, “What are you then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.”

1:22 So they said to him, “Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us? What do you have to say for yourself?”

1:23 He said: “I am ‘the voice of one crying out in the desert, “Make straight the way of the Lord,”’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”

1:24 Some Pharisees were also sent.

1:25 They asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet?”

1:26 John answered them, “I baptize with water; but there is one among you whom you do not recognize,

1:27 the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.”

1:28 This happened in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing. John the Baptist’s Testimony to Jesus.

1:29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

1:30 He is the one of whom I said, ‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’

1:31 I did not know him, but the reason why I came baptizing with water was that he might be made known to Israel.”

1:32 John testified further, saying, “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from the sky and remain upon him.

1:33 I did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the holy Spirit.’

1:34 Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.” The First Disciples.

1:35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples,

1:36 and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.”

1:37 The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus.

1:38 Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?”

More

1:39 He said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about four in the afternoon.

 

 

 

 

 

3 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
    make straight paths for him.’”[a]

4 John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

11 “I baptize you with[b] water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with[c] the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

 

Chapter 7-The funeral of Joseph of Nazareth

 

 

It was in Jesus’ sixteenth year that his aged father Joseph of Nazareth became ill and after several months of fever and sickness – passed away in his sleep.

As was the Jewish custom he was buried quickly before sunset the day he died. Mary, Jesus, and his brothers James, Joses, Judah and his sisters all grieved greatly for their loss. James being the oldest would have to bear the burden of taking over his father’s building business. Jesus agreed to help his brother with the business in order to support his mother and sisters. He knew that this would postpone his chances of one day becoming a prophet like his cousin John, seemingly was destined to become.

 

“Mother James and I have talked and we will both equally share the burden of maintaining father’s business to support you– and the others in our family,” Jesus told his mother. “I grieve for my father but I know from his hard labors he is at peace now in death,” Jesus sadly stated. “I will be strong for you mother, for my heart is with you and you have always seen to my health and education, for which I am indebted greatly,” Jesus said. “You are my beloved and my favorite son,” Mary said. “From the day you were born I knew that you were destined for greater things and – you would become a leader of men like your cousin John. “Send your brothers James and Joses to my cousin Elizabeth in Hebron and tell them that Joseph has died. We will sit shiva for a week to grieve his passing and?? tell them to come and share with us,” Mary told Jesus. “James you heard what Mother has said, take Joses and travel to Hebron to tell Elizabeth, John and Zechariah.

 

So according to Jewish tradition Joseph was put into the ground and his family prepared some food for visiting guests and extended family members and townsfolk when they came to sit shiva in grieving for the loss of Joseph to his family.

 

This was a major turning point for Jesus for he had always looked up to his father who worked hard and sacrificed so much for his family. From the death of Joseph’s first wife of many years to the second marriage to Mary when she was a teenager, Joseph prevailed and remained strong. Through all the years in exile in Egypt he protected Jesus and Mary from harm and kept them together for four years until he could return to Nazareth in Galilee. Joseph showed Jesus everything about building, carpentry and how to work with his hands. Over the years Joseph’s family prospered and followed in the Orthodox Jewish customs. Jesus was well versed in the bible thanks to Joseph and Rabbi Ben Juda under whom Jesus studied for many years until it was time for his coming of age ceremony at age 12.

 

“Lord I pray gives me strength without my father Joseph to lead me. Guide me Lord and show me the way. Help me to be like Elijah of old and let me be a light to mankind. Show me the way lord and reveal unto me thy blessing,” Jesus prayed softly. “Salome can you help me prepare some dried fruits and goat meat for our guests at shiva,” Jesus asked? “My little brother Jesus, I always love to do as you wish. Let us set up the foods together in memory of our beloved father,” Salome responded. Mary returned to her bed to rest and cry softly for the rest of the day. Her one and only husband were gone and so many memories of the days in Bethlehem, Egypt, and their return to Nazareth were on her mind. Their life had been peaceful and without remorse as Jesus grew to become a strong and bright young man, dark of complexion and long hair with deep dark brown eyes. He was a delight to discuss the bible with because he was so knowledgeable and passionate in his learning. Through her efforts he had become a model Jew who attended temple every Sabbath and studied his bible that was presented to him by Rabbi Ben Juda from their local synagogue. “No mother could ask for a more obedient child than Jesus,” Mary thought to herself. What know would become of Jesus and what of the destiny the Angel of God foretold,” Mary asked herself?

 

Night descended quickly and the cool desert air moved throughout the house as Jesus and his family slept. When Joseph first became ill, Jesus had a premonition that this illness might not be curable, and so it was. The next day the family prepared for guests, family, and visitors as they began to sit a week of shiva in grieving for their father Joseph. This was a time to meet long missed cousins and have townspeople come to give their best wishes. In two or three days Zachariah, Elizabeth and John would be arriving from Hebron to give their condolences. Jesus had not seen his second cousin John since last year at the Passover Festival in Jerusalem. Jesus was looking forward to John’s visit since they had known one another all their lives.

 

Two days later there was a knock at the door and standing there tall, at six foot four inches was cousin John and his mother Elizabeth. Their father Zachariah was unloading the donkeys and brings in presents and food. “Hail John, son of Zachariah,” Jesus proclaimed in jest. “Welcome to our home,” Mary responded. “Mary, Jesus, Salome, it is so good to see you all,” Elizabeth replied. It was a time for family and they all sat down and had some wine and water and honey-dates. “We are saddened at the passing of our kinsman Joseph,” Zachariah stated for all to hear.

 

Jesus and John went off to a quiet corner to talk. “So how are your studies in the bible coming along cousin, “ Jesus asked. “My parents are letting me spend some time with friends of ours whom are Essenes and live in a community near the death sea,” John replied. “That sounds interesting, John. I wish I could join you but now I am to share with James the burden of father’s business to support my family,” Jesus replied. “Well little Jehusha someday you will be free to follow your destiny,” John commented. “Wine, cousin, you must be thirsty,” Jesus offered. “Yes some wine will help to wash down the dust of the hot roads over which we traveled these past two days,” John said. Jesus was glad to see his cousin for they had much in common. The week of sitting shiva went by quickly and Zacharia, Elizabeth and John had returned to Hebron and everything return to normal day to day labor of building as it was before.

Angels and the Thirteen Sabbath Songs

 

Among the most intriguing discoveries from the Dead Sea Scrolls are the thirteen songs of Sabbath sacrifice. These songs address an angelic priesthood, God on his chariot, and an elaborate heavenly temple thronged with spiritual beings. What can we learn from these ancient songs?

 

By Kenneth Westby

 

In the spring of 1947 the Bedouin Muhammad ed Dib who, while looking for a lost sheep, discovered a cave containing a whole quantity of ancient Hebrew scrolls. His find was made while climbing the cliffs above the west shore of the Dead Sea near the ruins of Qumran. During the next ten years many more caves would be searched and scrolls that had not seen the light of day for two thousand years would be discovered and presented to an amazed world.

            In the years since, the mystery of who hid these precious writings and what prevented them from ever returning to claim them has largely been solved. Scholars have combed the evidence and there is general agreement that the Dead Sea Scrolls belonged to the Essenes,[1] one of three major religious sects of Judaism during the time of Christ, the Sadducees and Pharisees being the other two.[2] The Essenes had several communities in Judea, but the one at Qumran was its spiritual center.

            Today, one can visit the unearthed ruins of what remains of ancient Qumran, see the synagogue, the baptism pools, and the many water channels required by the lively community devoted to holiness and the study of Scripture. I’ve visited Qumran twice, once in the 80s and then in 2003, each time a moving experience.

            The scholars and writers of Qumran never retrieved their hidden scrolls because they were surely killed by the invading Romans around the time of the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D. Some may have joined the resistance at Masada further south, from which there were no survivors. The Qumran community’s scrolls were its most precious possession and the fact that no one ever returned for them can only be explained by the Roman’s complete annihilation of the Essenes at Qumran.

Their treasures of Scripture (fragments from all books of the Hebrew Bible save Esther have been found in addition to hundreds of other manuscripts, books, and commentaries—and the 13 Sabbath songs) remained lost for two millennia. Among the scrolls are the oldest manuscripts of Scripture we have, some of them dating 300 years before Christ. Their discovery is of immense importance to biblical studies and they open a window to better understand one of the major sects during the time of Christ. The community of Qumran was thriving during the ministry of Jesus and must have been well known to him. It was to a cave in that same wilderness area he retreated for his time of testing and temptation.

The scrolls show that the Qumran community called itself the “Covenant” (berit), or “New Covenant.” They saw themselves as the “little Remnant” foretold by the Prophets, i.e. the true Israel. They also called themselves the “Holy Council of God.”[3]

 

John the Baptist

 

            There is good reason to believe that John the Baptist spent his early years in the Essene community of Qumran. Recall that his father Zechariah was an elderly but still active temple priest in Jerusalem when approached by Gabriel, the angel of “the presence,” to announce that his wife Elizabeth, long past menopause, would have a son.  Many devout priests had become fed up with the politicized priesthood and had withdrawn to the community at Qumran. Elizabeth and Zechariah, already in their 70s or 80s, with a baby to care for considered what would be best for the child. They likely had relatives already residing in Qumran and may have felt led to bring their son to grow up among them.

The Gospel of Luke records that John came forth from the desert wilderness and began preaching along the Jordan River, saying, “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”[4] Qumran is in the desert wilderness south of where the Jordan dumps into the Dead Sea. Clearly, The Baptist did not hold to all Essene teachings for he left the community which taught its members to withdraw from society and politics. Instead, The Baptist plunged headlong into direct engagement by actively critiquing and condemning the current religious/political establishment. His comments on Herod’s adulterous behavior finally got him killed, a fate common to God’s prophets.

John was a scholarly prophet, an ascetic, and a dynamic preacher of repentance and the pursuit of holiness—qualities reflecting training and teachings he received from scripture and possibly from the discipline of Qumran. He also established his own school of disciples, many of whom later became disciples of Jesus.

 

Cave 4

 

Since the Essenes had rejected the corrupt temple establishment in Jerusalem, they had no access to it. Instead, they focused their attention toward the heavenly temple described in the book of Ezekiel (chapters 40-48). They understood that true sacrifice was not limited to offerings of grains and animals offered up in a gilded building, rather in praise and holy devotion to the God to whom the physical temple was dedicated. They believed, as did early Christians, that one could have access directly to the heavenly temple and to Yahweh whose glory filled it; the earthly temple was merely an inferior symbol of that above.

Much emphasis was placed upon understanding this celestial temple and the heavenly host of angels and spiritual creatures that attended it. An elaborate angelogy was developed—based partly on Scripture, partly upon mystic imagination. This sect of Judaism had its strong, mystical elements. Prime among them were notions derived from Ezekiel’s vision of the divine chariot-throne (“merkavah”). Later Jewish mystics would develop a labyrinth of esoteric mystery systems the most well known today being the kabbalah (cabala), formulated in 11^th century France. 

The history of religions groups is often the story of excesses. Truth carried too far and over-laden with too many manmade inventions. Such was the story of Qumran’s angelogy. Much truth and insight, but lost in a context of fanciful inventions. The discovery of Dead Sea Scroll Cave 4 revealed an amazing song book which prominently featured angels in Essene worship.

Cave 4 contained fragmentary forms of eight manuscripts the oldest of which has been dated to 75-50 B.C.[5] These manuscripts are a liturgical text composed of thirteen separate sections, one for each of the first thirteen Sabbaths of the year. Why just the first thirteen Sabbaths is not known and there is no evidence this series of songs was repeated during the remaining three quarters of the year.

Carol Newsom who’s Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice: A Critical Edition is the definitive work on this topic writes in her introduction: “These thirteen compositions invoke angelic praise, describe the angelic priesthood and the heavenly temple, and give an account of the worship performed on the Sabbath in the heavenly sanctuary.”[6]

These songs aren’t just congregational hymns sung in praise to God; they were apparently regarded as real-time liturgical participation in the heavenly temple’s Sabbath service.  Great care was taken to acknowledge and describe the various details of this other worldly divine scene from the vestments of the angelic priesthood, to the temple itself, to the great Merkavah or chariot throne of Yahweh.

 

A Celestial Sabbath Service

 

The notion that earthly temples and their service are in some sense dependent upon heavenly prototypes was widespread in the ancient world. Among the Israelites it had biblical precedent as Moses and David were given a divine “pattern.”[7]

The writer of Hebrews, who obviously had priestly experience, wrote: They [human high priests] serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: ‘See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain’” (Heb 8:5). The writer said that Jesus now “serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man” (vs 2).

The worshippers at Qumran operated on the principle that the entire earthly apparatus of temple, priesthood, and sacrifices were but types of the great archetype in heaven—the seventh heaven to be precise; true Zion, true Eden, and locus of the true Temple. The leaders of the community were priests and they considered their movement to be a priestly enterprise. The dominant personality of the movement, the Righteous Teacher, was a priest. They saw themselves as a pure priesthood replacing the present pollution of the Jerusalem temple and priesthood.

Newsom writes: “Since the Qumran community could not conduct an actual sacrificial cult [worship, ritual], atonement was effected through the community’s prayer, praise and obedience to the law.” They regarded the community as temple-like by exclusions of the impure, requirements of purity and through distinctions between priesthood and laity. “The development of the idea of the community as a temple was not, to be sure, a matter of spiritualization…the Qumran community anticipated restoration of the Jerusalem cult to a condition of purity in the eschatological age and planned for its reconstitution.”[8] They were a Messianic movement looking forward to the Kingdom of God and toward restoring a purified priesthood.

The function of reciting the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice was to bring the congregation into the heavenly courts and participate in a Sabbath service administered by angelic priests.

“Both the highly descriptive content and the carefully crafted rhetoric direct the worshipper who hears the songs recited toward a particular kind of religious experience, a sense of being in the heavenly sanctuary and in the presence of the angelic priests and worshippers. That this experience is intended as a communal experience of the human worshipping community is made clear by the first person plural forms which appear…’our priesthood,’ ‘the offering of our mortal tongue,’ ‘how shall we be considered among them’…. Even though the Sabbath Shirot [songs] do not appear to have been designed as vehicles for the incubation of visions or of mystical ascent by individuals, the sophisticated manipulation of religious emotion in the songs would seem to have increased the possibility of ecstatic experience among some worshippers…. It [is] possible for one to assume with confidence that the recitation of these Sabbath songs was a major vehicle for the experience of communion with angels ….”[9]

 

Smoke, Fire, Music, Song

 

The close coordination between liturgical song and sacrifice was an ancient feature of temple worship. The Chronicler’s account of the purification of the temple by Hezekiah, for example, keyed the Levites’ songs precisely to the firing of the offerings.

“As the offering began, singing to the LORD began also, accompanied by trumpets and the instruments of David king of Israel. The whole assembly bowed in worship, while the singers sang and the trumpeters played. All this continued until the sacrifice of the burnt offering was completed” (2 Ch 29:27-28).

Qumran’s Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice were choreographed to fit within the perceived Sabbath service taking place in heaven. Early Jewish thought associated a special connection between earth and heaven with Sabbath observance. The Sabbath and certain holydays provided a special opportunity for communion with angels in the worship of Yahweh who sat upon his chariot throne. These Essene Sabbath songs exploited this belief in a particularly close relationship between heavenly and earthly worshippers on the Sabbath.

            David is also credited with writing many Sabbath worship songs. Hebrew tradition holds that David wrote 3600 psalms to be used for singing before the altar over the whole-burnt perpetual offering every day of the year. He also wrote 52 special Sabbath songs and songs for offerings of the New Moons and Solemn Assemblies and 30 songs for the Day of Atonement. In all David wrote a total of 4,050 songs![10]

            The Thirteen Sabbath Songs describe a heavenly scene not unlike some of those described in the Book of Revelation. They draw heavily from Isaiah’s vision when he “saw the Lord, seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple” (Isa 6:1-7). Isaiah tells of flying seraphs with six wings, voices so loud they shook the temple, fire and much smoke. He thought he would die for his “eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”

            Ezekiel’s visions provide further material to enrich the canvas the Essenes paint of the heavenly host and their courts. Ezekiel tells of the vision he received in Babylon along the Kebar River. He is startled by a windstorm, clouds, flashing lightning, brilliant light, and at the center fire like glowing metal. Then he sees living creatures with four faces and four wings with hands under their wings. He sees a maze of breathtaking colors and creatures that looked like they were torches of fire. He sees huge intersecting gyroscopic wheel-like creatures that sparkle, move like lightening, and are full of piercing eyes. And above all this he sees an expanse of sparkling crystal and winged creatures whose moving wings create immense noise. Above that he sees a throne of sapphire and above that he sees “a figure like that of a man,” like glowing metal as if full of fire. A brilliant light surrounded him and it had the colors and radiance of a rainbow. Ezekiel exclaimed, “This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord” (Ezk 1:1-28).

In the tenth chapter he continues with his description of the throne chariot of Yahweh with its attending angelic creatures. Later in his book (chapters 40-48) he recounts his detailed vision of an idealized prophetic temple, one often associated with the Messianic age or Millennial Kingdom.  

 

The Beauty of the Qumran Songs

 

If one could place herself/himself in that desert setting during one of the first thirteen Sabbath day services of the year and try to capture what was taking place, what might be experienced? In the first place you would be considered one of the fortunate elect to participate in this ceremonial assent to the throne of God. This was special knowledge unique to the Righteous Community.

Your assent via the songs of sacrifice would pass you through levels of spiritual powers: seven princes of the seven heavens associated with the then known seven planets, each commanding 496,000 myriads of angels; you would acknowledge the seven orders of the angelic priesthood and their deputies and vast companies of angelic attendants; you would come to the seven chief princes; then you would acknowledge the two highest angelic classes, the angels of the Presence and the angels of sanctification.

You would hear dozens of these angelic powers called by name. Your song would describe and praise the fine details of textures and colors woven into the garments of the angelic priests, the bejeweled furnishings, god-like beings of every description moving about, and music, glorious music. The heavenly temple would be described in such detail you could feel like you were actually in the presence of angels joining them is joyful praise and adoration of Yahweh. You would be shaken by the intense sights and sounds, by chariots of light, shining eagles, Seraphim, Cherubim, Michael, Gabriel–almost too much for your soul.

As you sang the songs the words would meld with your mind’s vision of the angelic host and the heavenly courts. You would marvel at the splendorous color, light, and energy emanating from the celestial scene—a scene you couldn’t have otherwise imagined. Your spirits would soar as you anticipated a glimpse of the Merkavah—his Majesty’s throne chariot and above it, God himself!

The apostle Paul received actual visions and revelations of the heavenly scene, of Paradise, which sights he called “inexpressible things” and sights he was not permitted to publicly describe (see 2 Cor 12:1-4).

Nowadays, with available cinemagrapic high-tech special effects spectacular other worldly scenes can be created. In the deserts of Qumran one only the Scriptures and one’s imagination—and the Essenes put both into creative overdrive. Admittedly, the angelological doctrine of Qumran got a little out of hand.

Some scholars see in it an early form of Jewish Gnosticism. In some of these hymns angels are called “spirits of Knowledge.” Essenes regarded their ascent through the angelic realm to the chariot throne a matter of having the right knowledge in addition to living a pure life of obedience to Torah. Proper Gnosis/Knowledge impregnates the whole of Qumran thought and mysticism.

“They had rules peculiar to themselves which they were forbidden to divulge to postulants without the permission of the overseer; they possessed secret doctrines, revelations reserved to initiates, a higher Knowledge—a Gnosis of salvation—which was the privilege of the elect. From these elect, the brethren admitted to the sect, nothing was to be concealed.”[11]

As I mentioned earlier, the story of religion is often the story of excesses. But we should not miss appreciating some of their spiritual insights and virtues even if we criticize their preoccupation with angels and Gnostic theology.

 

Heptads

 

The thirteen Sabbath songs were artfully arranged in a Heptad, or series of sevens. The content and intensity of the songs peaked at the seventh Sabbath. The two legs of six weeks met at the crowning seventh forming a triangle (see illustration). As we saw, sevens were used throughout the Sabbath songs and are an important part of Jewish apocalyptical tradition, very much like John uses them in the Book of Revelation. The Sabbath or Seventh day has cosmic significance in the biblical world view. Seven is the rhythm of life and emanates from the Creator of Life.

 (Illustration)

 

Essene Doctrine and the Early Church

 

There is no doubt that Paul and the other apostles had to deal with elements of mystical theology and with the beginning stages of Gnostic heresy. In his letter to the Colossians Paul acknowledged the existence of unseen heavenly powers, rulers, and authorities, but noted that Christ was superior to them all. Our focus should be on Jesus, not the lesser unnamed powers he rules (1:16-18). He also takes a cut at asceticism and “the worship of angels” (2:18) which puff people up with idle notions of what they think they have seen and know (Gnosticism?).

To the Ephesians Paul is bold to introduce “God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in the heavenly realms” (1:3). Paul means for us to realize that we have a place next to Christ in the heavenly realms. Our name is written in heaven meaning our place or citizenship is there. We need not genuflect through legions of angelic powers to have an audience with God and his Son. A humble prayer brings us directly to the Merkavah and the face of God.

Again Paul lifts us up to visions like those 13 Sabbath Songs might evoke by saying, “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms” (2:6). Now how spectacular is that? Do we need to navigate through a hierarchy of angelic hosts to catch a glimpse of the throne? If we are “in Christ” we share his throne!—and Jesus is the head over everything except God himself. Rather than being subordinate to angels, we are called to join Jesus in managing angels in the Messianic Kingdom.

Angels are servants of Yahweh; they follow his orders and are ministers for good. Paul indicated that they may disapprovingly report breaches of decorum and disrespect in how the church conducts its worship of God.[12] They deserve our respect and admiration, but they rarely intrude into our consciousness. The Bible readily discloses their existence and function, but all worship and attention is to be directed toward their God and ours. We should not be preoccupied with discovering details of the angelic world for that is God’s undisclosed domain.

Neither should we be ignorant of angels. They surround us and fill the skies doing God’s bidding. Knowing they exist to protect and serve should impart comfort to us as it did to the terrified servant of Elisha. Remember the story of the poor fellow who looked about to find himself and Elisha surrounded by an army with horses and chariots set to destroy them (2 Kings 6:15-17. Elisha prayed to God on behalf of his servant saying “open his eyes so he may see.” His poor servant saw what he though was reality and was struck with fear. As Elisha’s servant was to learn, there is a greater reality than that we see with physical eyes.

Elisha said to his servant, “Don’t be afraid for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” How true. As soon as God opened up his servant’s eyes to see the spiritual world he “saw the hills full of horses and chariots and of fire all around Elisha.” I recall one of the 13 Sabbath songs described a scene of hundreds of thousands of fiery chariots in the armies of God standing at the ready waiting for His Majesty’s order. I believe such angelic armies exist.

 

Lessons from the Dead Sea

 

I fear many of us think too little, not too much, about the heavenly Kingdom of God. I fear our eyes are too low to the ground to see beyond the exigencies of our mundane lives and are too burdened with day to day troubles that seem to box us in.

We could take a lesson from our ancient friends in Qumran. We can stop short of their excesses for we now know Christ who triumphs all principalities and powers giving us direct access to the great chariot throne of God’s grace.

Yet it might do us well to lift up our eyes, let our imagination soar after God’s Kingdom and in our mind’s eye see the majestic and mighty kingdom of which we are a part. Wouldn’t we be both humbled and inspired to sense the spine-tingling reality that we are in actual, direct and daily contact with the Master of the Universe, with his kingdom of amazing spiritual beings of varied powers and descriptions? Perhaps on the Sabbath our singing could be more passionate and worshipful were this reality to intrude into our minds.

This is “real reality.” The real world we need to be aware of isn’t the freeway traffic, the stack of bills on your desk, the people and politics of life, but rather the real world is God and his Son. Jesus said “learn of me”; God said the most important knowledge is all the cosmos is to “know Me and what I am like.”[13]

The writer of Hebrews gives Christians this picture to keep before them as they pray:

“But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly [singing?], to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant…so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire!”[14]

I think the Essenes of Qumran could even join us in saying “Amen” to that.

           

 

Endnotes:

 

 

[1] Both Israeli and Christian archaeologists are nearly unanimous in placing the Essenes at Qumran although one recent dissenter, Yizhak Magen, has challenged that assumption. He believes Qumran was a pottery factory due to the large amount of intact pottery recovered there (see Biblical Archeology Review, October, 2006, p. 26). I doubt his theory will attract much support.  

[2] Philo of Alexandria, b. 30 B.C., the famous Jewish philosopher and theologian, said the Essenes numbered over four thousand and described them as a communal holiness sect, ascetic, scholarly, and withdrawn from the corrupt Jerusalem priesthood and from society in general. Flavius Josephus, who wrote about 70-75 A.D., said “There exist among the Jews three schools of philosophy: the Pharisees belong to the first, the Sadducees to the second, and to the third belong men who intend to cultivate a particularly saintly life, call Essenes.” 

[3] Dupont-Sommer, A, The Essene Wrings from Qumran, translated by G. Vermes, Peter Smith Publishing, Gloucester, Mass, 1973,  428 pages, citation from pp. 42-42

[4] Mt 3:1-6

[5] A portion of another Sabbath Shirot (song) was found in Cave 11 and a single large fragment was found in the excavations of Masada.

[6] Newsom, Carol, Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice: a Critical Edition, Harvard Semitic Studies, Scholars Press, Atlanta, 1985, 495 pages.

[7] See Exo 25:9 , 40; I Cron 28:19

[8] Newsom, p 62

[9] Ibid. p 17-18

[10] Sanders, J.A., The Dead Sea Psalms Scroll, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, 1967,  174 pages, citation from p.47

[11] Dupont-Sommer, p. 46

[12] See 1 Cor 11:10 where that seems to be the issue for Paul’s bringing up angels.

[13] Jer 9:23-25

[14] Heb 12:22-24, 28-29

Jesus the Secret Essene Healer

“JESUS, YOUR SPIRITUAL training has progressed amazingly

well since you arrived last year,” Simon said one day to Jesus.

Joseph the Healer has told that you are a bright and intelligent and

learning everything he is teaching you about healing. Joseph the Healer

has mastered herbs, Dead Sea salt, and other amazing plants in healing

many diseases. It is my hope that one day you will become one of the

greatest Essene healers of all time and help in many ways to keep our

community healthy.”

One day Joseph the Essene healer, and Jesus sat on a rock in his cave

on Mount Carmel. “Jesus, I have much to teach you regarding herbs,

magic mud, salts of the Dead Sea, and other plants that heal some of

the worst illnesses. In addition to learning magic drugs, I will attempt to

teach you the laying on of hands on a sick person and the faith you must

have in the Lord to work through you to heal.”

“I am most excited to learn, Brother Joseph,” Jesus replied.

From that day forward, Jesus trained as an Essene healer. He

learned how to help others in the Essene community that became ill,

using certain herbs that Joseph grew in a small garden outside his cave.

“Jesus, you know it was the angels, the Rephaim [watchers], that gave

the Essenes the herbs and roots of healing. We even use the salty mud of

the Dead Sea and rocks with special magnetic properties,” Joseph said.

“The angel Raphael watches over all diseases and wounds of humanity in

the Parables of Enoch,” Joseph commented. “You and I are but humble

servants of the angels that watch over us Essenes,” Joseph whispered.

“You will learn to use opobalsam, mandrake, madder, bitumen, sulfur,

stupteria, salt, soap, and the black mud of the Dead Sea to heal many

illnesses,” Joseph advised. “Jesus, look at these seeds. They come from

the

the opobalsam plant that the queen of Sheba gave as a gift to Solomon.

We make the seed into a wine-like substance of red color,” Joseph

commented. “Sometimes we also use the bark and the wood,” Joseph

went on to say. “What does this plant heal, Master?” Jesus asked. “Well,

it is a well-kept secret, but we use it for treating snake venom, eye and

ear diseases, shortness of breath, and headaches,” Joseph responded. “Be

cautious, Brother Jesus, for this drug is very, very potent and must be

used sparingly,” Joseph exclaimed. “I will show you in time how to use

the sap as well in the treatment of diseases,” Joseph said.

“We dry dates as a cure for spitting blood and also for eye salves,”

Joseph also stated. “We grow our own date trees here on Mount Carmel

and at our Qumran community by the Dead Sea. We use the dates for

medicinal uses as well as for eating,” Joseph went on to explain. “Palm

trees are one of our main crops here on Mount Carmel. Myrobalan, or

cherry plum, is another fruit we use, which we use with astringent wine.

It helps with healing of wounds, diarrhea, and menstruation. We also use

it as a cure for stomach problems,” Joseph went on to say. “The flowers

of Mother Earth provides us with many bees, which are useful for the

treatment of many illnesses,” Joseph stated. Jesus was amazed at the

extent of this healer’s knowledge. “Today we will go out to the eastern

shore of the Dead Sea and collect plants, such as the baaras, or mandrake.

Mandrake, you will see, can be used as a cure for eye diseases, urinary

infections, pains, nausea, and anxiety and sleep problems. The drug

is so good that it can induce a deep sleep that looks like death,” Joseph

remarked with a slight smile. “The mandrake plant is so powerful that

we must use a rod to dig up the potent roots,” Joseph said. “You must

be very careful, Brother Jesus, with this plant, for it is truly powerful and

deadly as the same time,” Joseph warned.

“One more plant, madder [rubia danaensis], is found in the southeast

of the Dead Sea, and we use it as a cure for jaundice, sciatica, and

paralysis,” Joseph pointed out. “Grab a stick and a few reed bags, and we

will travel to the dried-out lake today to collect the plants I have spoken

of,” Joseph said. The desert sun was already blazing hot as they set off to

the dried lakebed. “We can buy the bitumen from an Essene trader that

travels to the Dead Sea. He collects bitumen, a tar that rises to the surface

of the Dead Sea, madder, and mandrake, in case we cannot find any near

the dried lake. We can also trade for andarani, a special salt found on

the northwestern shores of the Dead Sea. I have an ancient scroll, which

our Essene scribes have copied, called the Sefer Ha-Rdfu’ot, or Book

of Remedies from Solomon, which I want you to read and memorize,”

Joseph stated. “I am most interested, Master Joseph.”

A few hours later, Jesus and Master Joseph arrived at the dried lake

a few miles from Mount Carmel. Here they would search for mandrake

plants. “Quick, Jesus, over here is a mandrake plant. Notice the shape

of the leaves,” Joseph pointed out. “Now let us work together with our

digging sticks!” Joseph shouted. “Stay away from the plant and help me

dig under the plant to get at the roots. We want the whole plant to get

the seeds and roots to use in our mixtures,” Joseph pointed out. They

both struggled, digging at the huge plant until they were able to uproot

it. Joseph took a rope and tied it around the plant and finally pulled it

out of the sandy clay ground. He and Jesus dragged it until they could

wrap a blanket around it and tie it off. Joseph threw the bundle on his

back, and they returned to the cave on Mount Carmel.

All that day, they covered their mouths with cloth and worked with

the removal of the mandrake seeds and roots. Nothing was wasted. The

bark was soaked in water, and the seeds were crushed and made into

a paste that they added water to and stored in clay jars. Jesus returned

home very tired that first day. It was just the beginning of a constant

collecting or trading for special medicinal plants that he and Joseph could

use for healing. One day when Master Simon passed by Jesus, he asked,

“Peace be with you, Brother Jesus. How is your healing ministry going?”

“Peace be with you too,” Jesus replied. “All is going well, and my

master Joseph is showing me all the secrets of Essene healing as given to

us by the angels.”

“My wife has had a pain in her head for several days. Can I drop by

and ask your master Joseph if he has a medicine that will take away her

pain?” Simon asked. “Of course, Master Simon, please come by Joseph’s

cave, and he will give you a medicine to cure your wife’s head pain,” Jesus

remarked.

As the months went by, Jesus was allowed to attend healings with

Joseph, using the many wonderful and secretive medicines they had

collected. One day a small girl of age seven was very sick, and her parents

were very worried, so they brought the little girl named Ruth to Joseph

and Jesus to be healed. Joseph did not use any drugs this time after

examining her eyes and feeling her pulse. He said a short prayer, asking

God and the angels to cure this child. Then as she stood in front of him,

he placed his hands on her shoulders and then her head and said, “I cast

thee out, demon. Go and leave this girl at once. Praise be to God. Amen.”

Then he poured some water over her eyes. The girl fell backward, and

her father caught her before she hit the ground. She stood up and looked

around, and Joseph asked her, “Are you all right, child of the light?” She

shouted, “I am well, Master, I am well, Father!” And she ran off down

the road, out of sight. “Go in peace, Brother,” Joseph said to the father.

After they left, Jesus asked Joseph, “Master, how did you do that? You

did not use any medicine.” “It was a process called the laying on of

hands,” Joseph responded. “What is this laying of hands?” Jesus asked. “It

is all about faith, Brother,” Joseph said. “The sick one must believe that

you have the power from God to heal for the laying of hands to work,”

Joseph commented. “One day you will be worthy, Brother Jesus,” Joseph

remarked. ‘With God’s help,” Jesus said. When Jesus returned home that

evening, he told his mother, Mary, and his brothers and sisters of the

remarkable laying on of hands and the curing of the young girl. “One day

I hope to be as good as Joseph the Essene,” Jesus said.

After several months went by, Joseph the Healer approached Jesus and

said, “Today we will learn of the mystical seven angels of the earth and

how the angels help us to cure the sick. Remember, we are the children of

the light, and we believe in the new covenant. Your faith will determine

how great an Essene healer you will become. We recognize thirteen

Sabbaths of the year, and with each Sabbath, we have songs dedicated to

that ceremony. Songs can help when healing. Some medicines will take

time to work, and you must sing softly the songs of the thirteen Sabbath

sacrifices and the prayers of the Angel of the Sun and the other angels

that protect us. Sometimes you will dream of a glimpse of the Merkava—

his majesty’s throne chariot—and, above it, God himself.”

“I will teach you the prayer the angels of the four elements,” Joseph

said one day to Jesus. “Let us pray,” Joseph prayed.

“Lord God Almighty, creator of heaven and earth, most clement and

merciful Father, send me your four angels—the Angel of Earth, the

Angel of Water, the Angel of Air, and the Angel of Fire—that your

will may be made manifest in me.

“May the Angel of Earth take all the wastes of my physical body and

give them to the earth that she may absorb them and send them back

to me in the form of health and purity. May she cleanse my whole

body so that life may flow abundantly through my veins and arteries.

May my whole being be free, light, and unburdened so that the

kingdom of God and his righteousness may be established on earth

and the golden age dawn among men.

“May the Angel of Water wash all stains from my heart. May selfless

love dwell in my heart, bringing me happiness, joy, and bliss. May

my heart be pure, transparent, and crystal clear so that the kingdom

of God and his righteousness may be established on earth and the

golden age dawn among men.

“May the Angel of Air purify my intellect with an influx of wisdom

and light. May my thought become lucid, keen, and radiant so that

the kingdom of God and his righteousness may be established on

earth and the golden age dawn among men.

“And may the Angel of Fire, who is none other than the Angel of the

Sun, sanctify my soul and my spirit. May absolute truth penetrate

my whole being. May my soul and my spirit know eternal life and

be a dwelling for divine creative omnipotence so that the kingdom

of God and his righteousness may be established on earth and the

golden age dawn among men.

“Amen, amen, amen.”

At the end of the first year of training as an Essene Healer, Jesus had

memorized the many herbs and plants and how to preserve and prepare

them for the curing of the sick. Joseph, the Essene master, was very proud

of his pupil’s progress. “You know, Jesus, you walk well in the sight of

God,” Joseph commented. “Truly, you are blessed with a good memory

and a humble demeanor worthy of an Essene healer.”

One day a mother brought a sick boy to Joseph the Essene Healer,

and Jesus, the Essene Healer’s assistant. Her son had an eye swollen shut

from some disease or bug. “Joseph, what do you think caused the eye

infection?” Jesus asked. “I do not know, Brother Jesus, but let us prepare

some opobalsam solution.” Jesus ground up the seeds and added a little

water to make a paste. He gave it to Joseph, who put the paste on the

swollen eye. “Bring him back to us tomorrow to see if the eye does not

open or improve,” Joseph instructed the woman. “Thank you, Healer,

and peace be with you,” the woman responded. She led the little boy

back home.

READ the rest in the new novel, Jesus and John, Xlibris publishers, on Amazon.com