Messianic Report Blog w/Don Meecha

 Thursday August 20, 2009

 First Impressions of Yeshua and Qumran (pt 2)

 (Part 1 may be read below)

 In comparison we can determine from John 2:13-25 that Yeshua cared for and had a zeal for His Father’s House, the Temple, just as the priests who left the Temple Service and its precincts.  By this action, the “Temple Cleansing” and the personal relocating of “Annas’ Bazaar” from the Court of the Gentiles to outside the gates would make sense to the Qumran Community as an act of the Messiah (Malachi 3:1).  I think that the leaders of Qumran would make a personal note of this and therefore one must ask the question, “Is this the One Whom they were waiting for?”  If so, they would then be obligated to find out.  This is substantiated as proper procedure by the actions of the Sanhedrin after the Temple cleansing through the sending of Nicodemus to determine just who Yeshua was and was He from God?If we piece together the events the next phase of Yeshua’s ministry it was His first public message in Matthew 5.  The precepts which Yeshua taught would have most certainly gained the attention of the Qumran Community, especially after the relocating of the High Priest’s cash cow.   Yeshua spoke to a sell out crowd, of that I am sure and on the surface, with light reading there appears to be little in common with the Qumran Community.  They were waiting for the Messiah just as the rest of Israel.  However, in this passage (Matthew 5:3-19) there appears to be hard evidence of similar shared moral values between Him and this group of Messianic hopefuls. The content of this sermons’ introduction may reveal who His listeners were and what was important to them.  Matthew 5:3 records Yeshua’s first words as “Blessed are the poor in spirit”, or literally in the Greek, “ptocheuo” a low poor place or, as Spiro Zodhiates defines it in its usage here as “One who has fallen from a higher estate.” The opening line could identify the audience as a people who are not in the exalted state they once were.  Would not the priests miss the Temple, its Services, the Sacrifices, etc.? In Matthew 5:9 Yeshua says, “Blessed are the peacemakers.”  These are not people who make peace between men, but rather “Those who have made peace with God” (Complete Biblical Library).  This community was striving daily to be holy and acceptable to God through their rigorous schedule and daily routines of prayer, meditation, work, and service to God.When Yeshua reaches the statement that “they” “are the salt of the earth,” we must ask ourselves what is the purpose of salt? Preservation!  Yes, however, if these people lived at the Dead Sea then the word “salt” would carry a far more significant meaning such as, just as the area you are living in is saturated with salt, so too you are the salt (the preserving force) living at the Dead Sea.If the community at Qumran believed they were preparing themselves for the coming of Messiah then the Matthew 5:14 statement “You are the light of the world, a city on a hill does not hide under a bushel basket,” was a real slam.  Could this be a comparison of Jerusalem to Qumran?  Jerusalem sits at 2600 feet above sea level and Qumran 1300 feet below sea level at the lowest point on earth and Jerusalem sits way up shining a light they, the Qumran Community believed to be corrupt. Finally, in Matthew 5:17 with His statement “Do not think that I came to abolish the Torah, no I came to fulfill it…, “ it must seriously be asked, “Isn’t this what they were looking for?  A Messiah who comes and keep Torah with the men of the community?  I believe the answer could quite possibly be a “yes.”  Yeshua came to connect with His people in a context that they understood and His first disciples could have very well been from those already connected with Qumran, so it would make sense His first sermon would be to them. There is even a greater possibility that John the Baptist was connected with Qumran as they had the same purpose statement, “A voice calling in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord.”  But that is another article.  What we do know is that by the time Rome swept through Qumran in 68-69 CE the community known to Yeshua was gone.  Maybe they fled when they saw Jerusalem surrounded according to the words of the One they had waited for so long.Dr. Don Meecha is the Director of Light of Messiah Ministries International and is the Senior Messianic Rabbi of Light of Messiah Congregation of Toronto. Please visit www.MessianicReport.com for more information.

Tuesday August 18, 2009

First Impressions of Yeshua and Qumran

Since the unearthing of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947/48 there have been many questions raised concerning the religious affiliation of Yeshua of Nazareth.  Their discovery began an onslaught of papers speculating at first and with further revelation later making conclusions.  Some very good observations about Yeshua’s religious associations were made and some very farfetched ones beyond the realm of common sense were purported as well.  These arguments tried to reveal links between Yeshua and the Pharisees, or the Essenes or the Zealots and on and on.  But, is there anything to these theories?  Concerning these different groups we can note significant similarities to Yeshua and His followers such as common phrases, practices, tithing, piety, Temple & synagogue attendance, nationalism and all had members who truly had a desire to serve God.  But then didn’t all of Israel share those values?  There are also some great differences between these groups such as equality and the way they treated women, gentiles and the lowly.  Or, how they made use of the Torah and interpreted their particular traditions or the way they viewed the Torah in order to determine their practices based on the values they held, no matter whether they were rational or irrational.  The zealots and Essenes spoke of taking up arms and executing judgment for God.  Other groups would not follow this method of theology.  So, which group did Yeshua identify with and/or appeal to the most? In a brief examination of the Qumran Community and their documents we discover that a group of priests, possibly from the family of Zadok (the rightful heirs to the High Priesthood) left the Temple precincts for the shores of the Dead Sea sometime between 167 and 135 BCE.  The book of 1st Maccabees 2:29 tells a similar story.  It states that during the persecution and imposed Hellenization under the Syrian ruler Antiochus Epiphanies IV in 167 BCE some priests left the Temple and serving, “Many who sought to live according to righteousness and religious custom went out into the desert to settle there.” (NAB/Catholic Study Bible).   It appears that this group of priests established themselves on the shores of the Dead Sea.  It can be determined the community was moved to the wilderness for the following reasons:•      To repeat the wilderness experience of their fathers who came out of Egypt during the exodus. They planned to stay at Qumran for 40 years to await the Messiah and they affirmed this identification by referring to themselves “the exiles of the wilderness” (1QM 1:2-3). •      In their eschatological view they identify with the spiritual call of Isaiah 40:3; to withdraw to the wilderness and prepare for the Day of the Lord.•      They identified with biblical Israel in its sin and the Qumran area was near the region that the nation had once been punished for disobedience and unbelief (Nu. 14:27-37; f. Psalm 106:7, 13-39). They also referred to themselves as “the penitents of the wilderness.” (4QpPsa 3:1; cf. John the Baptizer, Matt. 3:1-3).•      They withdrew according to the word of the Holy Spirit to await the coming Messiah, because when He comes He will keep Torah with the men of the community.

Part II of this article will be posted on Thursday August 20, 2009.

Sunday August 2, 2009 

The month of August is Dead Sea Scroll Month at Light of Messiah Congregation Toronto and for the entire month we are taking an in-depth look at the Dead Sea Scrolls.  I will deliver a series of three messages, in seminar form with Power Point notes for the more studious which are designed to enlighten any student of the Bible to the similarities between the scrolls and the Newer Covenant.  Was either John the Baptist or Yeshua members of the Qumranic Community?  Who where those who occupied Qumran in the first century? 

The first in a series of three messages is available to be viewed on www.MessianicReport.com, “Yeshua and the Dead Sea Scrolls.”  This message gives a bit of background on the community of Quran’s documents, such as “The Manual of Discipline” and “The War Scroll.”  Further, we saw the similarities to The Sermon on the Mount and the Manual of Discipline through the phraseology used by the writers.  The messages to follow in this series are “The History of the Dead Sea Scrolls” which will delve into the “Who, What and Where” of the scrolls from 1948 until the present.  This message can be viewed on August 8th.  Finally, “The Dead Sea Scrolls and the First Believers” will be aired on August 15th, with the points of similarity between the DSS community at Qumran and the first believers through the study and comparison of their texts.  The Messages on the 8th and 15th will be aired live at approximately 11:10 EST and if you are able to join us live you are invited to view the following movies which will be broadcast in the main Toronto Sanctuary at 1:30 PM EST:·         The Secrets of the Dead Sea Scrolls·         Enigma of the Dead Sea Scrolls·         The Mystery of the Dead Sea ScrollsOn August 16th there is a tour of the Royal Ontario Museum to view the scrolls.  Please join us if the opportunity arises and if you need more information please call toll free in Canada 877-250-8906, or from outside Canada you may call 416-250-8906.