Qumran, False Prophets And The Number Of The Beast (original) (raw)

| Sergey E. Rysev Among numerous coincidences between the Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament (that representatives of academic science can�t or don�t want to notice) is the end of the so-called Damascus Document, one of significant texts of the Qumran library, and the most intriguing chapters of the Revelation, or Apocalypse, narrating about the dragon, the beast and the false prophet. There is no doubt that the dragon in the last book of the New Testament represents everything negative, devilish and satanic (Rev 20:2). The image of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that comes up out of the sea is also quite transparent. Sober-minded commentators of the Apocalypse agree that this creature embodies the Roman Empire. It should be indicated at once that the beast is likened to a leopard (13:2) which corresponds not to the fourth but the third kingdom in the book of Daniel (Dan 7:6,17), though the vast majority of interpreters see Rome in the former one. Thus a conclusion suggests itself that the fourth kingdom which the book of Daniel describes in more details and which is predicted to be given to the holy people (7:22) under leadership of the Son of Man (7:13-14) is Israel! Much more puzzling in the Revelation is another beast (or the false prophet), with a lamb�s horns, who unlike the first beast �comes up out of the earth� (13:11). He can make fire come down out of heaven, performs miracles, forces all who live on the earth to worship the first beast, threatening to kill those who won�t do it, and intends to put a mark on the hands and foreheads of all people without which �no one can buy or sell� (13:12-17). A suitable answer to the question what historical figure is hidden behind this description hasn�t yet been given. Also, still problematic is the notorious number of the beast that can be calculated if the name of the first beast is known (13:18). Analyzing the described actions of the false prophet, it can be suggested that �the earth� out of which he comes up is Palestine and those who live on it are Jews. Then it follows the author of the Apocalypse speaks about his ideological opponent who was tolerant towards Rome. Now, looking at the above mentioned Damascus Document, we find a similar historical situation and a gold-mine of coincidences with the chapter 13 of the Apocalypse. This document represents a kind of manifest addressed to the members of a community that settled �in the land of Damascus� (CD 6,5). It includes two texts, A and B, the latter (pages 19 and 20) being partial remaking of and addition to pages 7 and 8 of text A. It seems some changes in the political situation forced the author of text B to make amendments in the original message. Page 8 (and 19) of this message says about the path of traitors to which the verse 32:33 of Deuteronomy is attached (�Their wine is serpents� venom and cruel poison of asps�). The verse is immediately revealed in the following manner, �The serpents are the kings of the peoples and the wine is their paths, and the asps� poison is the head of the kings of Yavan (Greece) coming to take vengeance on them� (8,9-11; 19,21-24). Next, the text states this hasn�t been understood by followers of the lying preacher and they will be punished by God. Definition �the head of the kings of Yavan� doesn�t pose a problem. In the time when the Qumran manuscripts were written, such a head could be only Rome that had subdued all the Hellenistic kingdoms of the East Mediterranean. For a comparison, the Apocalypse says, �The woman... is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth� (17:18). Before this the author of the Revelation tries to explain what he means by the seven heads and ten horns. The heads are quite understandable: they are both the seven hills on which Rome (woman, prostitute) is situated and the sequence of Roman emperors (17:9-10). But the ten horns became a serious challenge for the commentators. It is thought they might be Parthian satrapies or even Roman provinces. Indeed, the author of the Apocalypse made his ten horns (kings) somewhat ambivalent. On one hand, they will hate and destroy the prostitute (17:16) but, on the other hand, they are doomed to give their power and kingdom to the beast (17:13,17). It should be noticed that these horns were also taken from the book of Daniel (7:7,20,24). Thus, it can be concluded that, in the Old Testament�s prophesy, they symbolize the royal dynasty of Hasmoneans (there were exactly ten of them) and that the horn which is different from the earlier ones and makes three of them fall is Herod. The author of the Revelation, finding himself in a difficult situation, brought the events into heaven where, logically, the Lamb abode against whom the ten kings should fight (17:14). Returning to the Damascus Document, before the passage with �the head of the kings of Yavan� texts B predicts that only the faithful will be saved in the coming period of visitation. They will live for a thousand generations (compare with the kingdom of those who will come to life, lasting for a thousand years � Rev 20:4) and all the traitors will be delivered up to the sword. Alongside, a reference to the frightening verses from the book of Ezekiel (9:4-6) is given where assistants of God kill everyone except those who have the mark on their foreheads (�To make with a sign the foreheads of those who sigh and groan� � CD 19,11-13). Further, the members of the community are ordered not to make any agreement with traitors pertaining to property and work (CD 20,7). Still further, it is said that the pact concluded in the land of Damascus is the new covenant (!) and that from the day of the demise of the Only Teacher (cf. �you have only one Teacher� � Mt 23:8) till the end of all the men of war who turned aside with the Liar there shall be about forty years (CD 20,12-15). According to one point of view, the Apocalypse was written in 68/69 CE. Indeed, judging by the verse 11:2 (�the outer courts... have been given to the heathens, who will trample on the Holy City for forty-two months�) it can be assumed Jerusalem was encircled by an enemy at the time. Jesus died approximately 40 years earlier. Majority of the experts believe Qumran was seized by Romans in 68 CE (see �The Dead Sea Scrolls As A Source On Palestine History Of 1st Century CE� - http://ec-dejavu.ru/q/Qumran-en.html ). It follows text B of the Damascus Document could appear soon after that event. The author of the Revelation who calls himself John (1:1, etc.) was obviously unable to make fire come down out of heaven (13:13). However this could be done by other disciples of Jesus, James and John, sons of Zebedee, who wanted to punish the inhospitable Samaritans exactly in such manner (Luke 9:54). They also assured Jesus they could drink the cup he drank and could be baptized in the way he was baptized (Mk 10:38-39). �Sons of thunder� (Mk 3:17), together with Peter, formed the inner circle of the apostles (cf. �In the Community council there shall be twelve men and three priests� - 1QS 8,1, Rule of the Community). The three were beside Jesus in the most mysterious and dramatic moments of his preaching, for example when he resurrected the daughter of Jairus (Luke 8:51). In the Acts, Peter and John are shown as experienced disciples of Jesus performing healings and giving the Holy Spirit to the believers (Acts 3:1-9, 8:14-17, etc.). So if the Apocalypse was written not by John Zebedee, who is its author? Even though he couldn�t make fire come down he was versed in the book of Daniel and other Old Testament scriptures while Peter and John were uneducated men (Acts 4:13). Archangel Michael (Dan 12:1) is mentioned only twice in the New Testament. In the Revelation he fights against the dragon (12:7) and in the strongly-worded epistle of Jude, brother of James (and Jesus, accordingly), he quarrels with the devil (Jude 1:9). Here it�s relevant to quote a passage from a less known Coptic text that narrates about deeds of Paul who says the following, �Men brethren, hearken to what befell me when I was in Damascus... I entered into a great church with the blessed Judas, the brother of the Lord...� (Hennecke, vol. 2, p. 388). Incidentally, these apocryphal words of the least of the apostles correlate with the Acts where in Damascus Paul finds himself in the house of Judas (9:11). In the end of this short research, the problem of number 666 will be touched upon. Many think this number conceals the phrase �Nero(n) Caesar�. But in this case one significant detail isn�t taken into account: in the Talmudic literature the words �Caesar� and �Neron� spell usually with the letter �yod� (Jastrow, pp. 909, 1365), thus increasing the numerical value of the phrase by as much as 20 units. More important, the emperor Nero personifies only one of the heads whereas the given number relates to the whole beast. As a possible solution of this unending question, an above mentioned phrase from the Damascus Document will be suggested, namely �the head of the kings of Yavan�, or �rosh malkhy yavan� in Hebrew (resh-aleph-shin mem-lamed-khaph-yod yod-vav-nun). Here are simple arithmetic calculations: (200+1+300)+(40+30+20+10)+(10+6+50) = 501+100+66 = 667. In the Greek text of the Revelation, the number of the beast is given by means of three letters � chi, xi and stigma (600 + 60 + 6). Thus, to get 667, the triad must have the zeta (designating number 7) in the end. The solution offered is supported by the fact that the lower case zeta, which is found very seldom in the end of words, can be easily confused with the lower case sigma in the final position and with the stigma now used only for designation of number 6. Bibliography The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition (ed. by Florentino G. Martinez & Eibert J. C. Tigchelaar), vol. 1,2. Leiden, 1997-98.Hennecke E. New Testament Apocrypha, vol. 1,2. London, 1963, 1965.Jastrow M. A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature. NY, Berlin, London, 1926. | | | 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