Faith Lessons by Ray Vander Laan: The Time Had Fully Come (The Essenes)

Christianity did not arise entirely new and unprecedented in history. The Essenes, who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls, had many remarkable similarities with early Christians, showing that God was preparing the soil for the seed he would sow.

About 200BC, the Hasmoneans (Maccabbees) had their leader appointed high priest, because the high priest ruled Judea in those days. The Essenes considered the Hasmoneans unqualified for the post, and so they withdrew to the Dead Sea to separate themselves from the impurity of the Hasmoneans. 

The Essenes were destroyed by the Romans after Jerusalem fell and so disappeared from history.

The Essenes went to the desert to find holiness, to be pure for when the Messiah comes. They likely lived in the caves and lived highly ascetic lives.

They wrote extensively, including making copies of all the Old Testament books other than Esther. They hid their documents in the caves, perhaps because they saw the Romans approaching and wanted to preserve their writings.

In 1947 some Bedouins found the first of the scrolls, opening up a major source of research on Judaism. Until then, our earliest copies of the Hebrew Bible dated to 1000 AD, and so the scrolls give remarkable confirmation of the authenticity of our scriptures.

The scrolls show several remarkably parallels with Christianity.

Similar language: The Essenes spoke of being the “new Israel” and preparing the “way of the Lord.” They considered themselves to live at the “end of time” or the “end of the age.”

Hermeneutics: The Essenes taught that the prophecies applied to the Essenes, who considered their community as fulfilling many prophecies. They wrote in terms of how this decision or event or person fulfills a specified prophecy.

Communal living: The Essenes had a community, sacramental meal. 

Practices: Their leader, the “Teacher of Righteousness,” blessed the bread and wine before the meal. They practiced a type of baptism. They shared goods in common. And they frequently spoke of justification by faith.

They called themselves the “sons of light,” who would fight the “sons of darkness.”

(2 Cor 6:14)  Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?

Vander Laan says this passage is written in very Essene-liek terms.

Messiah: They spoke of the coming Messiah as the “Son of God” and leading along the “way of the Lord.” The community looked to two messiahs — a king messiah and a priest messiah. Of course, Jesus is said to be both in Hebrews.

We can see that God was preparing the world for the coming of his Son. Those who studied the Old Testament anticipated much of what was revealed through Jesus and his apostles.

Therefore, we must not separate ourselves from our Jewish roots. To truly understand God’s plan and his word, we must know the background against which the events happened and the words were written.

And we should agree with the Essenes that there is no room for compromise. We need to be wholly God’s people and entirely light — not darkness.

Final point: the Essenes separated themselves from the world and invited others to come join them. And they failed, being nearly forgotten by history until the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

We do much the same, even though our calling is to go into the world and teach, not to hide from world and invite others to leave the world.

Monasticism overly focuses on our purity at the expense of others — at failing in our mission.

How do we live monastic lives today? In what ways do we separate ourselves from the world rather than going into the world?

For discussion, consider —

* Church league softball

* Community workdays to which only the church is invited

* Christian colleges

* Christian private schools (high school)

* Home schooling

* Church buildings (as opposed to meeting in schools, coffee shops, etc.)

* “Family life centers” that provide gyms and coffee shops for members

* Church preschools 

In the discussion, note that some of these are not necessarily monastic (don’t push out of society so that we no longer influence society). 

When are these sorts of things highly missional (spreading the Kingdom, salt and light, changing society)? When are these sorts of things monastic?

Regarding schools for children, it should be noted than even many great Biblical leaders spent time in preparation for mission apart from others. Paul spent years in Arabia before becoming a missionary. Jesus spent 30 years in preparation. But they needed extraordinary preparation for extraordinary work. 

And John the Baptist worked in the wilderness, symbolically calling people from their culture into a new repentance. On the other hand, the prophets generally went to the cities and even the courts of kings to announce God’s word.

(1 Pet 2:11-12)  Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

Peter tells to remain pure but to live among the pagans. “Among” translated the Greek en, indicating a place of rest. The preposition is rarely used of verbs indicating motion. In other words, we are to be situated among the pagans — not just to visit for a moment and leave. Among the pagans is to be our normal place of being.

But then, the same scriptures teach,

(2 Cor 6:17)  “Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”

How do we do mission in the world without being corrupted by the world? After all, we are called to live pure and holy lives in the world. How do we manage both to do mission and to remain pure?

Why do we want to do our Christianity among other Christians and not in sight of the world? (Is this a fair question?)

How many of us are willing to be known, not just as a Christian, but as someone who is radically different from the world?