Return To Your Father’s House

Most people have heard of the Dead Sea Scrolls but few understand their true significance. For people investigating the Christian faith, as well as for Christians, their importance cannot be underestimated.

They have been described as the most important archeological discovery of the 20th century. The media, when referring to these ancient texts, often mentions their association with a religious community. Often, a passing mention is made that the scrolls contain some books that are part of the Old Testament in the Christian and Hebrew Bibles. What is their significance for the Christian faith and for you?

For those who have slow internet connections or are not interested enough yet to take the time to watch or listen, I would like to summarize the most important points.

The Dead Sea Scrolls contain all the Books of the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, except for the Book of Esther. (The likely reason for this omission is explained in the mp3 file below. The content of this book displeased the Essenes, the religious community associated with the Dead Sea Scrolls). What is most important to note is that the Dead Sea manuscripts containing the books of the Old Testament have been scientifically dated and are known to have been written before the time of Christ.

The true significance of this is rarely, if ever, mentioned in the secular press. This is possibly because most writers are unaware of the implication, but most likely because what this reveals makes most people very uncomfortable.

The point to understand is this: that throughout the Old Testament, particularly in the Book of Isaiah, there are many prophecies of Jesus Christ. These prophecies cover all facets of Jesus’ life, from His birthplace to His manner of death, His lineage, His title, His miracles, His entry into Jerusalem, His character and His true identity.

These prophecies were given to us mainly to authenticate who Jesus claimed to be, so He would be recognized in the future, when He came to earth, as the true and final Messiah and Redeemer; as well as to prove the divine authorship of the Holy Scriptures. We have started to explain this concept in more detail in our series ‘Bible Prophecy’ which starts with this article, and to which much will be added, God willing.

These prophecies were so accurate and detailed that liberals and believers of other religions have alleged that they were either written after the facts occurred, or that the Bible has been somehow corrupted.

Fortunately for us God is merciful, He preserves His Word, and diligently provides proof of His existence to those who earnestly seek Him.

In the Dead Sea Scrolls God has given us an authentication of the authentication. First, for authentication of Jesus as the true Messiah, He provided many prophecies that were fulfilled only in Him and no-one else. Now, to a later unbelieving generation, He has proved to us that these prophecies were exactly what they claimed to be, because we have clear evidence that they were written well before the time Jesus Christ came to this earth. First God authenticated His Son and His Word by the fulfillment of these prophecies. Now He has further sealed this authentication with the stamp of time and history. Nothing can now change this.

This is best illustrated by the Isaiah scroll. The Book of Isaiah contains prophecies of Christ’s character and nature, His suffering and atoning work for us, His crucifixion, His piercing, His God nature, His miracles and His physical birth, among others.

It is amazing that this Isaiah scroll has been dated to between 100 and 250 years before the birth of Christ, the very same person whom it portrays! The text is identical to what we can purchase today in a Christian bookstore or receive free for the asking.

If this makes you uncomfortable, it should.

Another deception by liberal interpreters and other critics of the Bible is that the New Testament is myth. These people have chosen to target certain phrases, use of language, idioms, etc., which they allege were in common usage only long after Christ lived, so the New Testament, including the Epistles of Paul, must have been written long after the time that the writers of these books claimed.

However, the other manuscripts among the Dead Sea Scrolls, those not containing Biblical texts, opened wide a door to the culture, thoughts, ideas, customs and religious practices of the Jews living at the time of Christ. This new information showed clearly that the Books of the New Testament were not out of context to the time of Christ.

Please take time to delve into this more deeply. The video below is an excellent, basic and easy to understand introduction to the Dead Sea Scrolls and is less than 5 minutes long.

The audio file is approximately 60 minutes in length. It is addressed to a university level audience. It is rich in detail and beautifully explains the discovery and historical and spiritual significance of these precious and important documents. We urge you to commit yourselves to this study. You will certainly benefit.

Video: Importance of the Dead Sea Scrolls by Randall Niles.

Randallniles.com

MP3 audio: The Dead Sea Scrolls and Their Significance for Christianity by James Hamilton, Ph D.