THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS
the jesus story just interlocks with the story of the dead sea scrolls; joe
Israel was in a crossroads location
they suffered 500 years of pagan domination; the Babylonian conquest, Persians, Greeks, Polemics, Seleucids and finally the Roman occupation.
their prophecies had to be rethought; "the restoration of David's throne and a time of peace no longer seemed plausible." the power of foreign empires required a greater counter power.
so prophetic verses were elaborated into apocalyptic verses speaking of cosmic war, divine intervention and the Kingdom of God.
the dead sea scrolls covered the period 200BCE to about 30CE written by the Essenes. Jesus was not mentioned in the scrolls but his message was.
apocalyptic messages provided hope and worked well when its realization was in the distant future. but the roman occupation was seen as a new abomination that makes desolate. and the Essenes believed that the revolt against the romans was imminent, and assisted by the divine intervention of angels, etc.
the Essenes attacked the Romans circa 60 CE and almost won. But the Essenes were slaughtered.
Pope B16 said: it appears that not only John the Baptist, but possibly Jesus and his family as well, were close to the Qumran Community (of Essenes).....it is a reasonable hypothesis that John the Baptist lived for some time in this Community and received part of his religious formation from it.
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