Dr. Gary Gromacki
Associate Professor
of Bible and Homiletics
Baptist Bible
Seminary
Clarks Summit,
Pennsylvania
<ggromacki> at <bbc> dot
<edu>
Messianism is the expectation of a coming anointed person or persons who would liberate Israel from Gentile domination. Apocalyptic messianism involves the belief that a Messiah or Messiahs would come at the end of human history to defeat the Gentiles and establish the kingdom for Israel. This apocalyptic messianism is seen in the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Messianism originated in the Old Testament. The Hebrew term mashiach is rarely used as a technical term for the Davidic ruler promised by the prophets. It is used in Daniel 9:25 to refer to Messiah the Prince. But messianic prophecies are many. Genesis 49:10 predicts that the ruler of Israel would come from the tribe of Judah. Numbers 24:17 predicted that a "star would come out of Jacob, a sceptor shall rise out of Israel." God promised David that one of his descendants would sit on his throne and rule Israel in the Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7:12-16). Isaiah predicted that the Prince of Peace would rule on the throne of David and over His kingdom (Isaiah 9:6-7). Jeremiah predicted that the Lord would raise to David a Branch of righteousness, a King who would reign and prosper (Jeremiah 23:5-6). These are just some of the many messianic prophecies that the Jews were familiar with in the Old Testament.
The times of the Gentiles began with Nebuchadnezzar's conquering of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. and the destruction of Solomon's temple. From the time of deportation the Jewish people were without a Davidic king and until the rebuilding of the second temple without a priesthood to perform sacrifices for the nation. Daniel predicted that four Gentile kingdoms would dominate Israel: Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. These Gentile kingdoms oppressed Israel with their foreign military occupation, misconduct of rulers, Hellenization and burdensome taxation. Antiochus Epiphanes attempted to hellenize the Jews living in Jerusalem. He desecrated the temple by having pigs offered on the altar. The Maccabean revolt led by Judas liberated the Jews and led to the cleansing of the temple (celebrated by the Jews in the feast of Hanukkah). But many Jews were not satisfied with the corrupt Hasmonean priests that ruled Israel. In 63 B.C. Pompey and the Romans conquered Jerusalem and subjugated the Jews. The Romans imposed their will on the Jewish people and often offended them. The cruelty of Herod the Great and the rulers that followed him led many Jews to follow the Zealots who thought that revolution was the solution to Gentile domination.
The Qumran sect opposed the Hasmonean priest-kings because they believed that the Hasmoneans were not descended from the legitimate Davidic or priestly line. The growing apostasy in Israel due to the influence of the Hellenists and the Hasmoneans led to a desire for God to send an anointed King and/or Priest who would restore the old order--a Davidic monarchy with a Zadokite priesthood. The Teacher of Righteousness led the Essenes out into the wilderness to prepare for the coming of the Messiah. The Teacher of Righteousness supposedly received special revelation from God concerning the secrets of the prophets (1QpHab 7:4-5). The Qumran sect used Ezekiel's vision to attempt to calculate the arrival of the messianic age. They believed that they were the sons of light chosen by God to fight the sons of darkness and usher in the kingdom. When the Messiah did not come, they were forced to change their messianic perspective. They believed that their sinfulness caused the postponement of the kingdom (CD 1:8-9). They believed that the present evil age would be brought to an end by Messiah's arrival in the midst of final apocalyptic battle. This belief is related to the teaching of the Old Testament which predicted Messiah's return to deliver Israel from her enemies (cf. Daniel and Zechariah).
The Testimonia or Messianic Anthology (4Q175) is a short document from Cave 4 dated to the early first century B.C. It includes five quotations arranged in four groups. Only the last of them is followed by an interpretation. The first group consists of two texts from Deuteronomy referring to a prophet similar to Moses (Deut.5:28-29; 18:18-19). The second is an extract from a prophecy of Balaam about the Messiah (Numbers 24:15-17). This prophecy predicts "A star shall come out of Jacob and a sceptre shall arise out of Israel; he shall crush the temples of Moab and destroy all the children of Sheth." The third group is a blessing of the Levites, and implicitly, of the Priest-Messiah (Deut.33:8-11).. The last group opens with a verse from Joshua (6:26), which is then expounded by means of a quotation from the sectarian Psalms of Joshua (cf. 4Q379). These verses show that the Qumran community was interested in the Old Testament messianic prophecies.
Annette Steudel gives her interpretation and historical background of the Testimonia: "All three biblical quotations in Testimonia seem to be messianic, and the majority of scholars interpret them as referring to three different eschatological figures: Exodus 20:21b is speaking about a prophet like Moses, a new legislator for the time of salvation, which is to come (cf. 1 Mc. 4.46, 14.41, and probably the role of Elijah in 4Q558, see Starky, 1963, p.498). Nubers 24:15-17 deals with the priestly messiah; star and scepter are obviously interpreted as one and the same individual figure (CD 7.18-21 interprets Numbers 24:17 as two distinguished persons, the Interpreter of the Law and the Prince of the entire congregation, that is, the priestly messiah and the royal messiah); War Scroll (1QM 11:6-7) quoting Numbers 24:17b-19 seems to interpret both star and scepter collectively as Israel (see Maier, 1960, p.127). Deuteronomy 33:8-11 refers to the future high priest, the priestly messiah. Interestingly, all three eschatological figures: prophet, king, and high priest, are also and exclusively in the Qumran literature found in 1QRule of the Community (1QS 9:11), in a manuscript that was copied by the same scribe who also wrote Testimonia (the passage represented by 1QS 9:11 is missing in earlier stages of the Rule of the Community redaction; see Rule of the Community (4Q259). (Annette Steudel, "Testimonia" in Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Edited by Lawrence Schiffman and James VanderKam. Vol. 2. [New York: Oxford University Press, 2000], 937).
The Essenes believed in the coming of a Messiah. The question is: Did they believe in the coming of more than one Messiah? DSS scholars differ on this issue. There are several references to a Messiah in the Damascus Document (CD).
"Those who follow these statutes in the age of wickedness until the coming of the Messiah of Aaron and Israel shall form groups of at least ten men, by thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens." (CD 12:23-13:1)
"[until the anoin]ted of Aaron and of Israel appears and expiates their iniquity" (CD 14:19)
"others will be delivered up to the sword at the coming of the anointed of Aaron and of Israel" (CD 19:10-11)
"the anointed of Aaron and of Israel appears" (CD 20:1)
These references from the Damascus Document (CD) show that the Qumran sect looked for a Messiah(s) who would come in the future. The Messiah(s) would be a priest and/or a king who would deliver Israel. The Messiah would be a political deliverer in that He would kill the enemies of Israel (CD 19:10-11). He would also be a spiritual deliverer in that he would forgive the sins of the people (CD 14:19). Nothing is said of how that would happen.
How many Messiahs did the Essenes anticipate? The Damascus Document seems to indicate one Messiah who would be of Aaron (the priesthood) and of Israel (the people's ruler). But this assumption was challenged with the discovery of a plural reference to Messiahs in the Rule of the Community. (1QS 9:11 refers to "the Messiahs of Aaron and Israel). Either the Essenes believed in one Messiah who would be a king-priest or they believed in two Messiahs (a priest who would be the anointed of Aaron and a king who would be the anointed of Israel). The case cannot be resolved based on the one reference in the Rule of the Community, but the multiple references to one Messiah of Aaron and of Israel in the Damascus Document could support the view that the Essenes anticipated one Messiah rather than two.
The Messianic Apocalypse (4Q521) consists of eleven fragments and the script is dated to 100 B.C. The term "Messiah" is used in this text without the addition of Aaron or Israel. The poem incorporates Psalm 146:6-7 and Isaiah 61:1 and shows the characteristics of the anticipated Jewish Messiah.
"...[the hea]vens and the earth will listen to His Messiah, and none therein will stray from the commandments of the holy ones. Seekers of the Lord, strengthen yourselves in His service! All you hopeful in your heart, will you not find the Lord in this? For the Lord will consider the pious and call the righteous by name. Over the poor His spirit will hover and will renew the faithful with His power. And He will glorify the pious on the throne of the eternal Kingdom. He who liberates the captives, restores sight to the blind, straightens the b[ent]. And f[or] ever I will clea[ve to the h]opeful and in His mercy...And the fr[uit...] will not be delayed for anyone. And the Lord will accomplish glorious things which have never been as...For He will heal the wounded, and revive the dead and bring good news to the poor"
In the synagogue at Nazareth Jesus read from the prophet Isaiah portions of Isaiah 61:1-2 and 58:6 (cf. Luke 4:18-19). He said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted; to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." Jesus then told the Jews in the synagogue that "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." (Luke 4:21). Jesus claimed to be the fulfillment of the messianic prophecy of Isaiah 61:1. Some of the same characteristics of the Messiah listed in the Messianic Apocalypse are found not only in Isaiah 61 but also in Luke 4: liberating the captives, restoring sight to the blind, and bringing good news to the poor. The Messianic Apocalypse mentions that the Messiah would "straighten the bent." This is not found in Isaiah 61. But Luke 13:10-17 tells us that Jesus healed a woman who was bent over and could not raise herself up. The DSS do not mention Jesus and the Qumran community was not a Christian community. But it is interesting that the Essenes anticipated a Messiah who would perform miracles and Jesus performed these miracles thus proving to many Jews that he was the anticipated Messiah.
John the Baptist was discouraged in prison and was wondering if Jesus was the Messiah. He sent some men to Jesus and they asked him, "Are you the Coming One, or do we look for another?" Jesus gave them this answer, "Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them." (Luke 7:22). Again, Jesus told the messengers to inform John the Baptist that he was doing the works of the anticipated Jewish Messiah. One work that Jesus mentions that is not found in Isaiah 61 is the work of raising the dead. The fact that 4Q521 includes raising the dead among the characteristics of the Messiah is an important agreement with Luke 7:21-22 and shows that this was another sign that Jews anticipated the Messiah would be able to perform.
The Apocryphon of Daniel (4Q246) also called the Aramaic Apocalypse and the "Son of God" fragment has two significant messianic phrases: "son of God" and "son of the Most High." Various interpretations have been given by DSS scholars for the Son of the Most High: (1) Historical king- Alexander Balas (J.T. Milik); (2) the Antichrist (David Flusser), (3) an angelic figure like Michael (F. Garcia Martinez), and (4) the Jewish people collectively (Martin Hengel). E. Puech believes that the Son of the Most High could be either the future Davidic Messiah or a historical Seleucid pretender.
Geza Vermes gives this English translation of 4Q246 in The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English,
"The son of God he will be proclaimed and the son of the Most High they will call him. Like the sparks of the vision, so will be their kingdom. They will reign for years on the earth and they will trample all. People will trample people (cf. Dan.7:23) and one province another province until the people of God will arise and all will rest from the sword. Their kingdom will be an eternal kingdom (cf. Dan.7:27) and all their path will be in truth. They will jud[ge] the earth in truth and all will make peace. The sword will cease from the earth, and all the provinces will pay homage to them. The Great God (cf. Dan.2:45) is their helper. He will wage war for them. He will give peoples into their hands and all of them (the peoples) He will cast before them. Their dominion will be an eternal dominion (cf. Dan.7:14) and all the boundaries of..."
Randall Price writes, "...the Qumran community may not have had a uniform conception of the Messiah. For example, at times the Messiah appears as a singular 'Anointed,' but on other occasions we see a dual 'Twin-Anointed.' In most cases, the Messiah is a human being, but on occasion he may also be described with heavenly (or divine) characteristics. We find texts that speak of 'God begetting the Messiah' (1QSa 2:12), or the Messiah as a 'firstborn son' (4Q369), and of the Messiah as subordinate to the priests (1QSa 2:14-20); and yet we also have a text that may read, 'The heavens and the earth obey the voice of His Messiah' (4Q521 line 1) and another that speaks of the Messiah 'raising the dead' (4Q521 line 12). It's possible that these differences indicate that the documents had different origins, with some coming from outside the Sect, and others evidencing a developing messianism within the Sect." (Randall Price, The Secrets of the Dead Sea Scrolls [Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 1996], 298).
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LINKS TO OTHER DSS WEB PAGES BY DR. GARY GROMACKI
Doctrine of God Doctrine of the Bible Doctrine of Man and Sin
Doctrine of Salvation Doctrine of the Community Doctrine of Eschatology
Archaeology of Qumran Bibliography on the DSS Web Sites on the DSS