Relevance of Dead Sea Scrolls heightens
Pastor Dale Morgan
Relevance of Dead Sea Scrolls heightens*
Apr 23, 2007 | by Tammi Reed Ledbetter
SAN ANTONIO (BP)--Important discoveries in recent archaeological digs
should encourage Christians to boldly proclaim the fulfillment of the
Messianic hope to Jewish people, Lamar Cooper, Criswell College
executive vice president and provost, said on the opening day of the
April 16-17 Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism’s North America
meeting in San Antonio.
Noting why so much attention continues to be given to the Qumran site
where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found 60 years ago, Cooper said last
year's excavations by Criswell College students and faculty in
conjunction with World of the Bible Ministries could potentially link
the Qumran community to Jewish contemporaries of Jesus known as Essenes.
The Dead Sea Scrolls have become one of the most important biblical
archaeological finds of all time, though access to the writings did not
extend beyond a few scholars until a decade ago. As researchers poured
over the photocopies, Cooper explained, the scrolls’ contents proved to
be even more remarkable than anyone suspected, containing portions of
every book in the Old Testament except Esther and a complete scroll of
Isaiah.
"All the romance of the 'Indiana Jones' version of archaeology is gone
in about 10 minutes," Cooper said, describing the methodical labor by
the Criswell excavation team working in temperatures that sometimes rose
above 120 degrees. "Every volunteer discovers it is just plain hard
work," he said, describing one section of the dig in the open sun as
being dubbed "the pit of death."
The Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism is a task force that
arose from an emphasis on reaching Jews presented to the Lausanne
Committee for World Evangelism. LCJE holds an international consultation
every four years, with regional meetings like the San Antonio event held
annually. Particular attention is given to developments like the
excavation Cooper described, based on the desire of LCJE members to
declare the hope of Jesus Christ as Messiah to the Jewish people.
As a Hebrew scholar and teacher, Cooper offered an overview of Qumran
and the Messianic hope, noting the relevance of the later Essenes'
commitment to the Word of God. "The scrolls (that the Essenes preserved)
have confirmed the accuracy of the Word of God," Cooper said, giving
particular attention to their text of the Book of Isaiah dated 125 B.C.
"It is providential that this, the most Messianic book in the Old
Testament, has been preserved in its entirety and delivered to us today
intact. The care and commitment the Essenes gave to the task of copying
and preserving the text indicates a high view of Scripture that is the
underpinning of the Bible as God's infallible and inerrant Word."
Citing Luke 24:25-27, 44-49, Cooper emphasized, "The Essenes already
knew what Jesus revealed to His disciples and followers, that the whole
Old Testament was filled with words about Him."
Cooper also pointed to the highly developed moral code based on their
Messianic hope of a coming "Teacher of Righteousness." "It was this
concern for morality that caused the community to separate themselves
from the corrupt established priestly community in Jerusalem. They
withdrew to the desert for biblical and theological reasons."
The highly developed Messianic hope of the Essenes offered the only hope
for healing such an immoral world culture, Cooper continued. They
regarded the Messiah not only as a "branch" of David, but God's coming
personal representative who would die and be resurrected to take up His
role as high priest and Teacher of Righteousness, Cooper explained.
As the excavation team continues to identify ceremonial bone burial
sites, evidence points to the "messianic banquet" that Cooper called
"their version of the Lord's Supper" consistent with the sacrificial
system and covenants of the Old Testament. "They were looking to the
coming Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world and set up
His righteous Kingdom on earth," Cooper said.
Furthermore, the Essenes focused on the biblical and theological
significance of the use of the word "east" in the Bible, a reference
that Cooper said is found 161 times, in addition to 44 variations of the
word, in Scripture. He noted the intentional significance of the remains
being buried on the east side of the community, citing the association
of "east" with Messianic themes in both the Old and New Testament.
"Implications for presentation of the Gospel to the Jewish community
based on the discoveries at Qumran past and present are huge and
significant," Cooper told the Lausanne gathering. First, he said, "The
Dead Sea Scrolls demonstrate unequivocally that the Bible at the time of
Jesus is the same Bible we have today."
Second, the consistency and growth of Messianic hope may be seen in the
entire canon of the Old Testament, Cooper said, pointing to the scrolls
as documenting the reliability of the Old Testament text that contains
that revelation. "This means that we can trust the Old Testament when it
points to the coming Messiah and when it predicts the ultimate salvation
of the Jewish people in the latter days as seen in Zechariah 12:10-14
and 13:1-9."
Third, the Dead Sea Scrolls also document the transition from Messianic
hope to Messianic reality as revealed in the New Testament revelation of
Jesus. Instead of depending on early rabbinic writings that debate the
role of the Messiah, the scrolls found at Qumran emphasize the priestly
role, Cooper said, adding that foundational concepts are found in Qumran
a century before Jesus.
Cooper made his case, citing an article by Craig A. Evans on "The Dead
Sea Scrolls and the Jewishness of the Gospels" which was published in
Mishkan, a journal recently acquired by the Pasche Institute of Jewish
Studies at Criswell College. Evans noted the unquestionable Jewish
nature of the scrolls, with parallels between them and Christian Gospels.
"This means that the New Testament should be offered to Jewish people
because it is a thoroughly Jewish document that should be considered by
those seeking to discover the identity of the Messiah," Cooper added.
Fourth, the existence of the concept of Messianic consciousness on the
part of a personal Messiah was not invented by the church, Cooper said,
describing that as a huge step forward in the continuing dialogue
between Christians and Jews. Evans, in his research, pointed to common
ideas seen in one of the scroll fragments such as "setting prisoners
free, opening the sight of the blind, raising the dead, preaching the
good news to the poor" as found in Isaiah 61:1-2 as well as New
Testament passages such as Luke 4:16-19 and 17:18-23.
Fifth, Cooper noted the Messianic character of the communal meals
described in documents at Qumran. He urged Christians to heed Mishkan
editor Kai Kjaer-Hansen's challenge to boldly proclaim "the fulfillment
of the Messianic hope envisioned 2,100 years ago among the Jewish
community in Qumran that has come of age in our generation."
Part of the month-long excavation last summer was filmed for an upcoming
television special on recent excavations by Randall Price of the World
of the Bible Ministries based in San Marcos, Texas. When asked during an
interview what he had learned from the excavations at Qumran, Cooper
told the Lausanne audience, he pointed to the predicament that people of
today's world share with those of the Qumran community. For reasons of
theological correctness and moral purity, he said they chose to withdraw
from a world that was thoroughly corrupt theologically, politically,
militarily, economically, socially and morally.
"They understood that the only hope for their world lay in the coming of
God's Messiah," he told the interviewer. "Our hope is still the same as
was theirs," he said, pointing to "the coming of Messiah, the Lord Jesus
Christ, to set up His Kingdom and to bring His rule in peace, justice
and righteousness in the earth."
Quoting Revelation 22:20, Cooper closed by stating, "Even so, come
quickly Lord Jesus!"