Dead Sea Scrolls Astonishing New Evidence
Where Did the Dead Sea Scrolls Come From?
How did we get the Dead Sea Scrolls? The people of Qumran were frantic. The Roman army was on a rampage. Qumran, on the west bank of the Dead Sea, was right in the Roman army’s path.
The city was terrified that the Romans would destroy their cherished scriptures. They rushed to gather their sacred scrolls. All 850 of them, painstakingly written on papyrus, animal skins, or engraved on copper plates—the earliest text dated 300 BC (at the time almost 400 years old).
What could they do to save these precious books containing the Holy Words of God?
They hid these treasured books in 11 caves in the nearby hills around the Dead Sea.
In 67 A.D., the people of Qumran experienced their worst nightmare. The Roman army descended on their city and destroyed it, killing everyone.
Their precious records remained hidden in the caves for almost 2000 years.
Hidden for Almost 2000 Years
In 1947, a goat strayed into a cave. The shepherd flung a stone into the cavern and heard it clink against a pot. When he investigated, he found the first of the scrolls hidden in the cliffs rising above the Dead Sea.
These scrolls offer astonishing additional evidence about the authenticity of the Bible. No one doubts the legitimacy of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The texts include every book in the Old Testament except the Book of Esther.
Scholars are amazed by the similarity of the scrolls to our current Bible. But there are differences. Several books, like Isaiah and Genesis, receive expansions. One example is in Genesis chapter 12, where the author depicts the beauty of Sarah, Abraham’s wife, in detail (he describes her face, legs, and hair.)
The Dead Sea Scrolls do not mention Jesus specifically. But they mentioned a messianic figure whom they called “Son of God” and the “Son of the Most High.” These terms for Jesus appear in other early Christian writings.
The Dead Sea Scrolls Are Sacred Treasures
Today, private collections lock away most of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Publishers have released a few scrolls, like the Book of Enoch.
One disturbing issue is: over 300 books found in the Dead Sea Scrolls are not available in our current Bible. Meaning a far greater body of literature was available to early Christians than we possess today.
These sacred books, saved from destruction over 2000 years ago, could enlighten our understanding.
The 66 books found in our present Bible are, in fact, only a minuscule part of the sacred records once available. If you think about it, it’s amazing how sparse our Bible really is.
Both looters and archaeologists continue to search the caves around the Dead Sea for more manuscripts.
In Conclusion
I love the Bible. But I wonder what we could learn if we had more books to study. If we had more information, would we have fewer debates about how to interpret the scriptures?
Please share your thoughts. Come join the conversation.
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See my Post: Where Did Our Amazing Bible Come From
Christian Searcher
To learn more about the Dead Sea Scrolls, watch this
video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLQB-Y97bxk
