Introduction to Chapter 17 and the Complete Chapter 17

I’m going to give one more free chapter to whet your appetite for the final publication! Jesus has finally begun his dream of living with the Essenes! He is thrilled, although exhausted, from days of waiting. Jesus is very ready to embrace any hardship he might entail, because coming to Qumran is the fulfillment of years of dreaming. You the reader will learn some fascinating things about the organization!

For this part, I did research from two very different books, which together gave me a broad understanding of the organization and the spiritual focus of this famous group. Both authors had done a huge amount of research, poring over the Dead Sea scrolls that were discovered in 1947 by a Bedouin goat herder. One book, “The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Living Church,” by Carl G. Howie was invaluable in teasing out the complex organization of the people called Essenes. The other book, “Essene Odyssey,” by Hugh Schonfield, was extremely helpful in giving me an understanding of the history of the Jews from the recent 200 hundred years, leading up to this time, as well as information about the mystical aspects of the Essenes beliefs. Both books gave a detailed history of the founding of the Essenes communities, one in Qumran and the other in Damascus, by the mysterious “True Teacher,” also called the “Teacher of Righteousness.” This “Teacher” is the one who wrote the Manual of Discipline around 130 years BC. Both resource books emphasized the spiritual vision and purpose of the community, which was to usher in the Kingdom of God by creating a “way in the wilderness” as mentioned in Isaiah, which would bring forth the Messiah or Messiahs, as some thought there would be.

I want to emphasize that all of the organizational aspects of Qumran in my book were spelled out in the actual scrolls. I did not invent any of the organizational rules or the strict disciplinary consequences. I did make up a few characters, of course, who I gave names. I also decided how long Jesus was on the probation level, since that seemed to have been left up to those in charge, as that was the only stage that did not have a clear time limit. The religious rites such as the daily ceremonial cleansings and the daily ceremonial taking of bread and wine were a clearly established part of the religious life of the Essenes. I only made up the prayers of the services and the wording of the initial vows which Jesus made at each stage, but the fact that there were initial vows for each stage and the general content of those vows are in the Dead Sea record. Of course, then I was free to make up events as part of the novel!

Chapter Seventeen of “The Humanity of Jesus and the Rebellion of John”

It was the eighth day since Jesus had arrived outside of Qumran, when he woke up feeling tired and discouraged. This had been a long, very hard week. After waiting most of every day at their front entrance, he had returned in the evenings to the stream where he and Saul had filled up their flasks.

Now he was waiting and hoping. He knew they were watching. Of course, they knew he was there. They had a lookout tower. Interestingly, he had not seen anyone yet, but he thought, Yes, they know I’m here. Should I shout at them? No. That would be foolish. I have to be patient. I know this is what God has been speaking to me, and I must draw on that knowledge for strength.

Of course, he had been praying, singing and quoting scriptures. He was doing it for his own sanity, not to impress them. In fact, he did not want them to think he was trying to impress them regarding his spirituality, so he sang, quoted and prayed quietly. When he returned to the spring, he sometimes lifted his voice much louder because he was getting frustrated. How much longer will I have to wait? The problem was food. He had thought he had plenty of food when he arrived, because he didn’t expect them to make him wait like this. He had run out of food two days ago, even though he had tried to stretch it out. He was not extremely worried, but today was the sixth day of the week.

As the afternoon bore on, Jesus began to be afraid he would be there over another Sabbath. The Sabbath would soon start, when darkness fell and he was certain they would not come for him on the Sabbath. “I sure hope they come for me before dusk!” he thought. “I have made it this far without much food, but by tomorrow evening, I will be very weak. I know people have gone longer than that without eating, but the evenings are quite chilly. At least it doesn’t rain much around here. I can live through another night if I have to, but, dear Lord God, it sure would be nice to get out of this chill, which feels much worse with hunger added to it!”

Jesus had just about given up hope of getting in that day and had prayed, “Holy God, I am determined to stay through the Sabbath again, if necessary,” when he looked up to see a man standing over him. Jesus had not heard him approach. The man just spoke quietly and said, “Follow me. Leave your things here.”

Jesus quickly got up. His heart was racing. “They came! Finally, I am going inside!” He thought. “This is the beginning of my new life!"

As Jesus walked in, he was impressed with the quiet and sense of holiness that pervaded everything. The only sound was that of a man reciting in a drone, words from the Law of Moses. Jesus caught a few words which he recognized as being from Deuteronomy.

Quietly without talking they went to a small room, where the man finally said, “My name is Abram. I am the Examiner here. My job is to train newcomers and others. I’m in charge of anyone seeking to join our assembly. If you’re wondering why we waited so long to let you come in, it’s because we don’t have time to entertain people who are just curious. We also only want people who come to join us to be very serious about making this their calling in life.”

Jesus responded, “I hope you could see that I am serious.” He then paused a second before exclaiming, “Oh, no! I left my letter from Rabbi Jonathan of Nazareth in my bag!.”

Abram quickly answered, “You don’t need it. We wouldn’t look at it if you had brought it in. We go by what we see during your initial trial period. Outside approval and possessions do not mean a thing here. All who join with us have to leave behind everything from the outside world that they have possessed. We don’t believe in people owning physical things. Everything belongs to God. If you stay here and you own anything like land, you must give it all up. Things of the Spirit and the life in the Spirit are the most important things. You will not own anything as long as you stay here. You do not even own any clothing. You wear what we give you every day. We all dress in the same kind of clothing, a loincloth and a white muslin robe. Someone else will wash what you have worn.”

Jesus was given clean, dry clothing and was told, “Joel will take you to wash, but be brief. In the morning you will be able to bathe in one of our pools. For now, you must hurry. We will have evening Sabbath prayers as soon as the sun is completely down.”

Jesus went quickly with Joel and told him, “Call to me if I’m taking too long.” Jesus rinsed off the worst and put on the clothes given to him. Then they rushed back, just in time.

Jesus walked with Abram and Joel into the large, cavernous room where there were several groups of 10 men each standing together. The three joined a group of 8 which was Abram’s group of 10, including Joel. As a hopeful novitiate, he would be an extra until such a time when he would join and contribute to a different group of 10. An older man walked up to the front and faced toward the west as the rest of the men did. Since it was the beginning of the Sabbath evening, that man led the congregation with these words:

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the LORD your God with all you heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commands that I give you are to be in your hearts. Fear the Lord your God, serve Him only and take your oaths in his name. Be sure to keep the commands of the LORD your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you.

“Observe the Sabbath day, by keeping it holy as the LORD your God has commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God.”

Then he led everyone singing a song of praise to God which talked about the movements of the sun, bringing day and night. Next, he led them in the words of a psalm that Jesus was familiar with, “May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.”

As the men spoke the words, they all lifted their hands up above their heads with eyes closed in prayer. Then they prayed together another psalm that Jesus had learned as a child, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.”

Finally, they all quietly left. Jesus followed Abram and felt a huge sense of peace. He was in the right place, at least for right now! Abram took him to a small shelter that was partly a cave, behind the main building, just slightly bigger than space for 10 men to lie down in with a small area on one end holding parchments of scriptures. Jesus was told that every group of 10 had to have at least one person reading or singing from the Law of Moses 24 hours a day. This was accomplished in shifts. There was a rotation process, which sounded complicated, but he was told that when it was his turn, they would tell him until he fully understood the process.

This practice of reading the Law continually, he learned, was done in order to obey the instruction to Joshua for the people that “This book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall mediate thereon day and night.”

Their Manual of Discipline also instructed that “where the ten are, there shall never be absent a man who searches the law, day and night, by turns, one after another. And the masters shall keep watch together a third of all the nights of the year, reading the book and searching for justice, and worshipping together.” At the break of dawn, they would all rise together. During the night they took turns chanting the law for a third of the hours of darkness. It seemed quite confusing, but Jesus trusted he would understand it in time.

Thankfully, tonight, when Jesus was given a mat to sleep on, he was told that he would not have to take a turn orally reading the law this time. After he had rested a few nights, he would start taking a turn with one of the men until he knew exactly what was required of him.

Abram told him that since the coming morning was a continuation of the Sabbath, of course no one would work. He said that he would give Jesus more information about what to expect tomorrow when they would have time to talk, but there would also be a congregational service and a lengthy time for quiet meditation.

Jesus was elated, but also feeling the seriousness of this new phase of his life. It was up to him to take in and evaluate what was happening. He knew he was accountable to God on his own. In his spirit he knew he couldn’t just do what other people tell him to do or automatically accept what other men might believe, without his own evaluation and understanding. It had been a long day with so much to take in, but he was deeply grateful that Adonai had been with him, keeping him safe and healthy through the last long week. “Lord God, are you here with me? I feel at peace, so I will take that as a yes.” He rolled over and prayed he would sleep soon. The dawn would break all too soon! Thankfully, his tired body took over and quickly enough he was fast asleep.

Just as he expected, all too soon a loud horn blew, waking everyone. Jesus was not fully rested, but just knowing he was finally at the place he had long dreamed of, gave him sufficient energy to quickly get up. He followed the lead of the other men, and soon enough they were all together in the assembly room, with a morning service somewhat like the evening one, with everyone now facing the rising sun to the East.

He was told that ordinarily, when it was not a Sabbath Day, right after the morning service everyone would go to their assigned place of work, and later gather for ritual bathing. They would not eat until late morning, before the noon day sun. That meal was one in which the Overseer would bless wine and bread as a sacred meal representing a foretaste of the feast in the coming Kingdom of God. Initiates and those on probation like him would just watch. He would have food, but not the bread and wine blessed by the Overseer.

Since today was the Sabbath, after the morning prayer and greeting of the new day, Abram informed Jesus as to what he should expect. He said when a horn blew, everyone would gather for a congregational meeting. The Overseer might speak to Jesus at that meeting. Abram told him more of what to expect in the near future. First, he had to go through a probationary period, as already mentioned to him, which did not have a set length of time. He, Abram, as Examiner, was in charge of that, unless the Overseer gave him different directions. Jesus would be assigned a job, probably working in the fields. That was where most initiates began. It was hard work, but necessary. Some men preferred it to other jobs. Other work included caring for sheep, goats and a few cattle; crafts, such as pottery, making clothing, and copying scripture. Jesus said he was very interested in copying scripture, but of course he would do whatever was assigned to him. Abram said he was quite sure that Jesus would start by working in the fields.

After they all arrived at the Congregational meeting, Jesus was called to the front. A tall, elderly looking man looked Jesus up and down. Jesus looked steadfastly back at him, not sure how he should be responding. He just stood erect, knowing he must show respect, but also dignity. It felt like a long wait. Jesus stood quietly looking the man in the eyes. Finally, the man spoke, asking, “Are you seeking to join us?”

“Yes, I am,” Jesus answered. “I wish to join the community here as a novitiate.”

The tall man continued, “First, you will be on probation until the Examiner and all the Masters decide you are ready to become a novitiate. You will not actually join the community until and unless you have committed to dedicate your entire life to our mission, willingly committing to never leaving the compound. However, first you must go through two stages of living as a novitiate. For one year, you will learn how to work here and you will learn our history and our purpose, which is to prepare the way for the coming Kingdom of God. You must be willing to take some serious vows, first to give up all possessions and to always speak well of this community whether here in person or later if you were ever to leave our group.

“You are required to give up everything you own, including all your things from your outside life, that you brought with you. If you own any property outside of our compound, you must be willing to give that up as well. You will not take the vow to always live here and never anywhere else until after a second novitiate, which is a second year. After the beginning of that second year, you will be allowed to participate in the daily sacred baths of repentance and cleansing. During the first year you will bathe for cleanliness in the bath pool that you are assigned. You cannot participate in the ritual baths or in the sacred meal for the first year.

“Jesus, do you promise to give up all possessions and to always speak well of our community here and of those Essenes living elsewhere, even if you leave here at the end of the year?”

Jesus answered firmly, “Yes, I do promise to give up all possessions, and I promise to always speak well of the community of Essenes here at Qumran and any Essenes living elsewhere.”

Then the overseer said, “Do you promise to follow all the rules of our community, including submitting to all consequences as laid out in our Manual of Discipline?”

Jesus answered, “Yes, I promise to follow all rules and accept subsequent consequences, if I do not follow the rules correctly.”

The overseer nodded with satisfaction and turned to Abram. “You are in charge of teaching Jesus what he needs to know and do to be a faithful, contributing member of our community. You must teach him all the rules and the consequences for not following the rules. It is your responsibility that he learns all the rules completely.”

Abram nodded in assent and responded, “I will do my best to teach Jesus everything he needs to know and do to be a faithful, contributing member of our community.

The Overseer then spoke to the whole congregation, “Let us all pray for our new seeker of the truth, that he will learn the Way of God and apply himself to learning and following all the precepts of the Law of God.”

The congregation spoke in unison, “So be it, according to the will of the Lord God!”

Then the congregation sat down for the Overseer’s Sabbath message:

“We rejoice that our LORD God is building his Kingdom. As our beloved founder, the True Teacher, our Teacher of Righteousness, taught, we are here in the wilderness in response to the word from Isaiah, “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.’ The Teacher led the true followers of God away from the habitation of perverse men into the desert to prepare for the coming of the Messiah who will deliver us from the sins of this present age. Will he be a priestly Messiah, a son of Aaron and of Zadok the high priest, or will he be a regal Messiah who is a descendent of David, or will we see both coming to deliver us from the evil of this age? We must be ready!

“We believe there will be at least one Messiah, much like our Teacher of Righteousness, who knew of suffering, but who led our people with courage and godliness. He was a ‘Son of Man,’ as he referred to himself at times, one who lived in humility, not wanting to make a name or heritage for himself, but one who dedicated his whole life to directing his followers to devote themselves to the Law of Moses and to prepare for the coming Kingdom of God. He encouraged his followers to be Children of Light as opposed to Children of Darkness.

“In Isaiah, we learn of the suffering servant, who lays down his life for the people. But we know what it says in that passage, ‘After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied.’ So, what does Isaiah mean when he adds to this, ‘By his knowledge, my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities?’ It says the suffering servant will ‘pour out his life unto death’, but consequently ‘he will be given a portion with the great.’ I believe that means he will be highly rewarded in the coming Kingdom of God. Is that a physical resurrection? We believe it will be. We believe in the physical resurrection of the body in the coming Kingdom and Reign of God.

“In any case, how does this servant bear the sins of many and make intercession for the transgressors? What transgressors is Isaiah talking about? We know the Teacher of Righteousness, who founded our movement suffered, but what happened to him? We do not know. He did not “divide the spoils with the strong” as far as we know. Will another come in like manner and fulfill that scripture? We are looking for the Messiah, whether it be two Messiahs or just one. Therefore, we must be praying and seeking the Almighty God to send the Messiah soon! It appears certain to me that the priestly one might be a suffering servant. If he lays down his life for transgressors, will that make him a holy sacrifice? We need to pray and seek with humility because we do not fully know the answers yet, regarding the coming Messiah. However, we are here in the wilderness to proclaim the coming highway for the LORD and we do look forward to the coming of the Messiah to free His people! We know his ‘Way’ is the Way of His Law, written in our hearts and spoken by our lips!”

Jesus heard the words with a pounding heart! How could anyone have the courage to be the suffering servant, if someone had been called to be that?! If called, would I have the courage? I really don’t know! If I want to be totally committed to the Holy Lord God, I would have to be willing. But to think that might be me seems very presumptuous! That is for a person with a high calling, not me. I’m not even of the priestly line!” However, Jesus wondered, So, why the pounding heart?

In an instant, Jesus’ mind went to Eema’s revelation of her angelic visitation and the message that he, the baby would be “the Son of the Most High” and would be given the “throne of his father David.” Jesus pushed back on the memory. How can I find out if God wants me to join with the Essenes if I keep dwelling on that message. It does not make sense to me. I just need to focus on this experience and listen to the inner voice of God. I must not spend any more thought or time, fretting over that message! If it’s true, God will bring it about. I cannot do it on my own, anyway!

After the message from the Overseer, the men went to their ritual bathing pools and Jesus was shown where he would be able to bathe in a pool not used for ritual bathing. After Jesus gratefully took his bath, Abram took Jesus on a tour of the whole compound. While walking, Jesus asked about the ritual bathing, what it was for and why it was only for those fully accepted into the assembly.

Abram replied, “It’s actually a highly spiritual time of devotion to God, partly a cleansing of repentance from any recent sins and partly a sign of our complete dedication to the group’s mission of praying for the coming of the Messiah or Messiahs, as the case may be. We believe we need to do it every day and we want to do it every day.”

Walkling through the compound, Jesus was impressed with how big it was, all the different rooms and all the water reservoirs, which were quite important, since rain was often scarce there. The water was collected from the rainwater which ran off the cliffs from rainfall further up in the higher elevations. Jesus realized just how brilliant and thoughtful the people were who created this amazing place.

As part of the tour, Jesus was shown the fields where he would be working initially and also was shown the shops where clothing was made and the pottery workshop. When Abram took Jesus to the room where scriptures were copied, Jesus’ face lit up.

“I would love to do that!” Jesus said.

“Do you read well?” Abram asked.

Jesus responded, “I do. I was in training with a rabbi for many years, so, of course I had to be able to read. I also had to memorize the whole book of Deuteronomy as well as many of the Psalms and books of the prophets.”

“So why are you not a rabbi now?” Abram asked.

Jesus answered slowly, “That is a long, involved story. My father had agreed to the training, but rather reluctantly, I believe. When Abba got very sick, he needed my help. He died a few years after getting sick. However, even before that point, I was beginning to doubt if being a rabbi was really my calling. For a good while, there had been this strong inner feeling that God had something else for me.”

In Jesus thoughts he was thinking, “At least not to be a rabbi such as I was being trained for.” But he did not speak it, knowing he would not be able to explain.

Abram changed the subject, “So, who is your favorite prophet? Or do you have a favorite prophet?

Jesus quickly answered, “Isaiah for sure! But I greatly admire several of the prophets, Micah, Amos, Hosea, Jeremiah. Actually, if it’s God Word, I love it!”

“Hmm! Isaiah and Deuteronomy are highly valued here! Especially for copying. Maybe after we give you a few months in the fields, we can switch you to copying scriptures. We are always wanting to see more of that work done. However, we almost always require work in the fields at first. It’s the least liked, but it’s good training for discipline. You will like Ezra. He’s in charge of the fields. He actually loves it!

“However, he has an assigned helper because of his problem with falling asleep during congregational meetings. That behavior has a huge consequence. I try to sit right next to him, so if he starts to get sleepy, I can nudge him. The problem is that I can’t always be right there.”

“Why does he have such a hard time?” Jesus asked. “Doesn’t he get as much sleep as everyone else?”

“Yes, he does, but it doesn’t help. He just falls asleep, all of a sudden. He never knows when he will fall asleep.”

Something about the man’s condition rang a bell for Jesus. “Has he ever had a bad injury to his head?”

“Yes, in fact he had one right here. He was working on the outside of our compound fixing a problem on a roof, when he fell off and landed right on his head on a big rock. At first, we thought he had died, but it was temporary loss of consciousness. Since then, he just can’t stay awake.

Jesus said, “I asked that because I remember hearing about a man from Capernaum, who had a bad injury to his head. We were told he had the same problem that you mentioned of falling asleep at unexpected times.”

“The problem is that the rules for living here are very strict and the consequences are practically written in stone,” Abram answered.

Jesus asked about the consequences for falling asleep in a congregational meeting. Abram responded, “Thirty days of banishment. He has to leave the compound and forage for his own meals. I think he’s getting good at it, but that is a long time to be out there by himself.”

Jesus was amazed at the severity of the consequence and thought, “Heaven forbid that I should ever fall asleep! Poor Ezra!”

After the tour, Abram told Jesus more about the organization as a whole, starting with the top, the Overseer, who was helped by twelve masters and three priest assistants. Abram informed him about the rules and consequences, which were all laid out in the Manual of Discipline. Then he gave him a copy of the manual. These were some of the rules:

Violation Banishment

Bearing a grudge against a fellow: 6 months

Taking vengeance against a fellow: 6 months

Uttering a foolish word: 3 months

Interrupting when another is talking: 10 days

Sleeping during a congregation meeting: 30 days

Walking out on congregation meeting three times: 10 days

Walking out on a congregation meeting after the Masters object: 30 days

Spitting at the congregation meeting: 30 days

Revealing nakedness: 30 days

Laughing foolishly: 30 days

Slandering a brother: 1 year

Slandering the community: Permanent

Traitor to the truth: 2 years

“You might wonder about the rule against revealing nakedness,” Abram observed, “or wonder why that is even in there. Obviously, here we are all celibate men. One reason we have a stiff rule against appearing naked is to keep men from being sexually aroused by seeing other men being naked. Since we have no women to meet our sexual needs, seeing naked men could cause an arousal of sexual feelings. While we are talking about this, do you struggle at all with sexual temptation and how do you handle that?”

Jesus was taken back by the personal nature of the question, but replied, “Of course, I have had sexual temptations. Most men do. My father and our rabbi advised me about that when I turned 13 and said the best way to handle those temptations is to not dwell on them, but to turn from the thoughts right away and replace them with godly thoughts, such as quoting a Psalm, a Proverb or other Scripture and then focusing on other normal concerns or tasks that can take one’s mind off the temptation.” Abram nodded briefly in approval and they moved on.

“Before I forget,” Abram said a few minutes later, “I hope you noticed that you were asked to ‘promise’ certain things, but were not asked to vow, swearing by anything higher than yourself. We Essenes greatly discourage the taking of vows, which by most Jews are used much too often. People vow they will do something for a friend, using words such as ‘I swear by the holy temple that I will do as I say.’ Then later, if they fail to keep that vow, they say, ‘I was only swearing by the temple. I did not swear by the name of God.’ Such swearing or taking of vows is not of God. For one thing it is insincere and for another, we should be able to state that we will do or have done something without a vow. Our words should come from an honest heart. A ‘yes’ should always mean yes and a ‘no’ should always mean no. However, we, Essenes, do allow and even encourage serious vows when people commit to living the rest of their entire lives with us. Then we expect that they absolutely must keep that vow for their life time. There is no backing out of vows such as the vows we take when we join here Those vows cannot be broken without bringing on the most serious of curses.”

The rest of the afternoon until the evening meal Jesus spent in the room where his group of ten slept. The others had already come there. It was a free time to choose whatever quiet activity they chose, whether it was praying, meditating, reading scripture or reading other accepted writings. Today, Jesus thought back over the verses the Overseer had referred to, particularly at the beginning, the one about “making a way in the wilderness” from Isaiah. He realized that this particular passage, especially the phrase, “make a way,” was what had motivated the early Essenes to move to the desert, the wilderness, in the first place. The “Way” was the scriptural process the Lord had ordained for following the Lord God and establishing his reign in the world. “What a great verse!” Jesus thought, “How I love the book of Isaiah, so rich and varied in its messages!”

Then he remembered that the Overseer had referred to the True Teacher, the Teacher of Righteousness as a ‘Son of Man.’ He knew that the phrase, “son of man” was mentioned in a psalm, but where else in terms of the coming Messiah had he heard or seen that term in the writings he had studied? His mind quickly brought up all the prophets and nothing stuck out until he thought about Daniel. Daniel had written about the last days. It seemed that Jesus possibly had read that phrase in Daniel, so he asked one of the men about where he could get a copy of Daniel. Jesus was directed to a certain vase containing parchments. He pulled them out and found a parchment of Daniel’s prophecies. He quickly skimmed all the sections about Daniels visions, until he found the phrase. Yes! There it is!

“In my vision, I looked and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all the peoples, nations, and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”

“So,” Jesus observed, “it appears that the Son of Man is likely a human, one who appears to also be the coming Messiah, who is also mentioned in Daniel. Fascinating! In this instance there is just one Messiah, approaching the Ancient of Days, who must be Almighty God.” This is such good stuff! Has God the Father just directed me to find this passage? It is exciting to say the least! Then he thought some more about the Messiah and went back to Daniel to find the reference to the Messiah, the Anointed One. With all the talk about the coming Messiah, you would think the title would appear more frequently in the scriptures. The only other time it appears in our holy writings is used to describe Cyrus, the emperor during the latter days of the captivity of the people of Judah, and that was for only a brief time of being used for a specific purpose. From these holy writings it appears to me that there is only one Messiah, not two as many claim. I’ll have to think a while on all this new information! It’s fascinating!

That night, after evening prayers, Jesus’ thoughts went back again to the sermon by the Overseer, who seemed passionate, but humble. That greatly impressed Jesus. He realized the Overseer actually admitted they don’t have all the answers. “I like it that he went right to the holy writings from the prophets. He was not relying totally on what the Teacher of Righteousness taught but was looking at our scriptures. That seems as it should be.” Jesus thought to himself.

“Besides that, the Teacher of Righteousness / the True Teacher is quite fascinating. He seems to have been a genuinely holy man, but very mysterious! I think I have heard Rabbi mention him, but it was very vague, I guess partly because he lived so long ago. It seems like he was in the forefront of this movement of calling people out from the evil spiritual pollution that Jewish life had become, but there is no record of his name or ancestry, just that they think he was a priest. And the Overseer had called him a ‘Son of Man.’ Was that used as a title given to him or a reference to Daniel? He certainly does not appear to be a fulfillment of Daniel. Maybe his followers were hopeful he would be the fulfillment of Daniel. He may have allowed it as a reminder that he was also a man, not a divinity. He was definitely a good example of one giving his life for his beliefs, since he died in captivity. Was he on a level with the prophets? Possibly, but he probably would have denied that, since it seems that he was very humble. It seems that the Teacher followed the teachings of the prophets himself and did not try to create a history for himself. All we have is what people called him. That feels like true humility!

Jesus would have kept thinking about these things, but he soon remembered that tomorrow would be a workday in the fields. He had not completely recovered from the waiting ordeal of the past week! He really needed to get a good long sleep, so after praying a few minutes, including a prayer for poor Ezra, whom he hadn’t even met yet, he fell fast asleep.