Nota Bene
Although I was already
familiar with the history of the Essenes (and am well acquainted with some of
their literature) before I studied the research of Josh Peck (whose recent book
is noted in the bibliography), yet his research has furnished me with valuable
information which I was previously unaware of.
His research into Essene literature is of such great value (and is probably
still unknown to most of the believing body of Christ), that it needs to be
made known more widely. And that is my
simple aim in this article: to make some of it known to more people, freely as
I have also freely received. I therefore
make no claim that much of the information contained in this presentation represents
my own original research, and I make no financial gain whatsoever from this article. The figure diagrams are entirely my own work.
Apart
from the eschatological conjecture that abounds in his book, there is one point
on which I disagree with Peck. He says repeatedly
that the onah which started in BC 425 lasted until AD 75. However, this is only 499 years, rather than
500 years. When we go from BC dates to
AD dates, we always need to add on 1 year, because there is no year ‘0.’ So this particular onah therefore lasted
from BC 425 to AD 76, and this then has the effect of pushing the year dates of
all subsequent jubilee periods, onot and ages back by one year. So rather than 2025 being a significant year
in the Essene view of the ages, as he claims, it should actually be 2026. This change is reflected in this article.
A. Who
were the Essenes?
Of the different groups of Jews in the
time of Christ, the Essenes are the group that many Christians today probably know
least about. It is abundantly clear that
the Pharisees and Sadducees both played a role in the four gospel narratives,
and one of Jesus’ disciples (Simon) had been a Zealot before he encountered
Christ (Luke 6;15, Acts 1:13). But what
about the Essenes? They do not get an
overt mention at all, and therefore most Christians know little or nothing
about them.
Briefly, the Essene community was founded
by a group of priests during the late Maccabean period who had become
disillusioned with the corruption of both the Pharisees and Sadducees. They saw themselves as preservers of the true
faith, and referred to themselves as ‘the sons of light’ and their teachings as
‘the Way.’ They withdrew from mainstream Jewish religious life and formed a
celibate monastic community of their own in Qumran off the north-western shores
of the Dead Sea, but some of them lived in towns among other Jews. One of the greatest sources of knowledge that
we have about the Essenes and their literature is the Dead Sea Scrolls, the
first tranche of which was discovered in a cave near Qumran in 1947.
The Essenes had disappeared from history
by the time of the tragic events of AD 70, but, rather than having been wiped
out by the Romans, some commentators believe the main reason for their
disappearance is that many of them became followers of Jesus and adherents of
the early Christian community. From
their literature, much of it dating from the first century BC, we can see that
the Essenes had a much clearer and more accurate concept of the Messiah, his
work and even the time of his coming, than either the Pharisees or Sadducees did. It is therefore not surprising that, when
Jesus conducted his ministry, died and rose again, many Essenes recognised him
as the promised Messiah and committed their lives to following him, and therefore became Christians.
Many commentators think that John the
Baptist may have grown up in or nearby to the Essene community in Qumran, until
he started his prophetic ministry, and he might even have become one of their
leaders (Luke 1:80). There are various
reasons for this which I will not go into here.
If this is true, then John would have been very familiar with Essene beliefs
and literature, and he would have passed these on to his own disciples. Furthermore, because two of his disciples (Andrew
and potentially John the apostle) became early followers of Jesus, it is
therefore possible that at least two of Jesus’ twelve disciples had been
strongly influenced by the Essene community and their beliefs (John 1:35-42).
B. The
Essene view of history and their calendar
If we take the numbers
and years of the Bible simply at face value, particularly the ages of the
prediluvian patriarchs which are recorded in Genesis 5:3-32, then it is just a
matter of sitting down with a pen and paper and patiently working through the
biblical data, and we arrive at the unavoidable conclusion that the Bible as a
whole presents us with a 7,000-year span of recorded redemptive history. This 7,000-year span is the basis of the
Essene view of human history, and it is supported by the evidence and data we
can find elsewhere in their literature.
This view is the basis of what is discussed in this article.
The next two sub-sections
are key to understanding what is discussed further below, but you may need to
go through the second of these two sub-sections a few times to grasp the
information properly, as many people do find comparing different calendar
systems to be a complicated and confusing exercise.
1.
The Essene view of
history
The Essenes measured this 7,000-year
redemptive history firstly in terms of ‘ages,’ with one age being 2,000 years
(and each made up of two millennia of 1,000 years each). Each age had a name (see below). In this 7,000-year span there were seven
millennia, or three-and-a-half ages.
Secondly, each millennium was divided into two onot of 500 years
each.[1]
There is nothing surprising in this. We ourselves measure history in a similar way
in terms of millennia, centuries and decades.
However, the key thing to grasp in the way that the Essenes measured
history is the next sub-division which they used, vis. the central
concept of jubilee periods (cf. Lev. 25:8-55). Each
500-year onah was divided into ten 50-year jubilee periods. Going further, each jubilee period was made
up of seven shemittot (of seven years each) plus one jubilee year, the
fiftieth year.[2] Hence, there were 10 jubilee periods in one onah,
20 jubilee periods in a millennium, 40 jubilee periods in an age, and 140 jubilee
periods altogether in the 7,000 years of biblical recorded history. One of the Essenes’ most popular books was
called The Book of Jubilees. It
is a re-telling of the biblical narrative from the time of creation to the time
when Moses ascended Sinai to receive the Law, with the whole history divided into
50-year jubilee periods.
The Essenes calculated the year of
creation as being in what we call BC 3925 BC (rather than in BC 3761 as the
mainstream Jews believe), and so the world’s 7,000-year history will end in AD
3076 (remembering that there is no year ‘0’).
However, they did not use the BC/AD construct of history that
Christianity has used, rather they used the AM system (anno mundi,
literally meaning ‘world years’). So in
terms of this Essene system, the year starting on 1st Nisan in 2026
will be AM 5951, i.e. the first year of the final 50-year jubilee period of the
Age of Grace (see further below). By
contrast, in the mainstream Jewish view of history, as of 1st Tishri
in 2025 we are presently in AM 5786.
This Essene way of viewing the ages of history is summarised in Figure B.1 below:
Figure
B.1 The Essene view of the ages
2.
The Essene calendar
There
are many different calendars which have been and are used by different
nations. Since 1582, the West has used
the Gregorian solar-based calendar which has 365¼ days in a year. To keep our calendar synchronised with the
seasons, we therefore add in an extra intercalary day (i.e. a leap-day) every
four years (so, February 29th), except when the year number ends in
-00.
The mainstream
Jews use a luni-solar calendar which is based on the cycles of the moon and
therefore has only 354 days. To keep
their calendar synchronised with the seasons of the year, they add in an extra
intercalary month every 2-3 years over a complete 19-year lunar cycle. This system was fixed in place in AD 359 but
underwent further refinements later on. Their
religious year begins on 1st Nisan (generally sometime after the
third week of March) while their civic new year begins on 1st Tishri
(generally towards the end of September or beginning of October). Because of the 11-day annual recession of
this calendar relative to our own, the Jewish feasts fall on different dates
every year in our own calendar.
The
Muslim nations use a lunar calendar, again with 354 days, to mark their key
religious festivals, while they use the Gregorian calendar for daily life. So the dates of their religious festivals
recede by 11 days each year. The Chinese
use a luni-solar calendar, and they add in an extra month every 2-3 years
similarly to the Jews, but they use a 60-year complete cycle. The ancient Babylonian civic calendar had 360
days, and they added in the extra 5 days at various points in the year. So it stands to reason therefore that
comparing dates in different calendar systems is often a complicated exercise!
The
Essenes also had their own unique solar calendar system. It was based on a 360-day year with twelve
months of thirty days each, and with four seasons of equal length. Its months did not start on successive new
moons like the mainstream Jewish luni-solar calendar. This meant that the Essene calendar and the
mainstream Jewish calendar were out of sync relative to each other, and their
festivals were therefore held on different days.
The
Essenes added into their calendar an extra intercalary day after the end of
each 90-day season. However, these leap
days were not named or numbered on the calendar, they were just fitted in as
extra nameless days. They called them tekufah. So that made up 364 days. The reason why they fixed their year at 364
days was because 364 is divisible by each of 4, 13 and 7. They could therefore split their year up into
four seasons of exactly 91 days each (including the tekufah), and there
were exactly fifty-two 7-day weeks in a year.
This had the effect that every year then started on the same day of the
week every year, and therefore also that their religious festivals also fell on
the same day of the week every year. So
it was an exact, regular and repeated cycle from year to year.
But
what about the 365th day?, you might well ask. The Essenes did not add in an extra leap day
every year to make it up, because that would then throw the dates of their
festivals out of sync year on year.
Instead, they waited for every seventh year and then added in an extra
seven (nameless and dateless) days (i.e. an intercalary week) in this seventh
year. In this way, they made sure that the
dates of their festivals would still fall on the same days of the week every
year. The Essenes believed that the
luni-solar system of the mainstream Jews was erroneous, because it made the
festival dates fall on different days of the week every year (as we know even
today!), and that this was displeasing to God.
Presumably, they also added in another extra intercalary week every 28
years to make up for the ¼ day to maintain synchronisation with the regular
annual solar cycle.
The
Essenes knew from Genesis 1:14-19 that the sun and moon were created on the
fourth day, and so, with the Sabbath seventh day being on a Saturday, they
concluded that the sun and moon were created on what for us is a Wednesday, and
that measurable time on a calendar therefore originally began on a Wednesday. Furthermore, as with the mainstream Jews,
their New Year was celebrated on 1st Nisan (the Spring Day of
Remembrance), around the time of the Spring equinox. In this Essene calendar, this new year date therefore
always fell on a Wednesday. Their view
of history began on 1st Nisan BC 3925 and, for them, this marked the
beginning of the year AM 1.
However,
modern western Christian readers, who are used to using only the Gregorian
calendar, should note carefully that, because the Essene year had 364 days,
then relative to our own calendar, their dates recede by one day every year
(until the seventh year when the missing seven days are made up), because dates
on our 365-day calendar go forward by one day every year. So 1st Nisan would always fall on
a Wednesday, but this date on our calendar recedes by one day every
year. For example, if 1st
Nisan fell on Wednesday 20th March in a given year, it would be on 19th
March the following year (but still on a Wednesday), and so on until the
seventh year when it would then come forward by seven days back to the date
when it started on our calendar.
As
with the mainstream Jews, the Essenes marked the start of a day at sunset
rather than at midnight. So their day
began on what for us is ‘the day before’ and went through until sunset on what
for us is ‘the following day.’ In 2026, 1st
Nisan marking their new year will fall on March 18th in our calendar
(so going from sunset on what will be 17th March for us to sunset on
18th March).
Below is a screenshot of the first couple of months of the year AM 5951 in the Essene calendar which starts on March 18th 2026 in our Gregorian calendar:
C. The
transitions from one age to the next
As we examine the Essene view of history, we
will focus not on the various ages as such, but on the transitions between
them, i.e. the way in which a given age transitions into the subsequent
one. The key point to understand is that
there is a discernible pattern in the way that these transitions happen, and this
pattern is very significant. So we
are talking about how the Age of Chaos transitions into the Age or Torah, the
Age of Torah into the Age of Grace, the Age of Grace into the Millennial Age,
and the Millennial Age into eternity.
One might naturally expect that, as one
age starts and develops, then any significant preparatory events that are key
to the outworking of God’s purposes for that age, would happen somewhere near
the beginning of that age and thereby set the scene, as it were, for what is to
come. This sounds natural and plausible,
doesn’t it?
However, the pattern that emerges as we
study the transitions, is that these key events do not happen after the
beginning of an age, but during the final jubilee period of the previous
age. The final 50-year jubilee
period of one age serves as a transition into the next age, for this new age to
then be fully set in place. This is like
twilight/dusk and dawn which serve as transition periods between day/night, or
like the transition between two runners in a relay race where the next runner
starts their leg while the previous one is still finishing theirs. So the vital
point to grasp in this article is that the redemptive events which need
to be in place for the next age to be set in fully and for God’s purposes for
that new age to then be fulfilled, are completed during the final jubilee
period of the previous age, rather than after the beginning or during the first
jubilee period of the new age. The
first two sub-sections below give clear examples of this.
1.
Transition into the Age
of Torah: the call of Abram, and the coming into being of the Jewish nation
In the Essene view of the ages, the
first age, the Age of Chaos as they called it, covered the period from creation
(in AM 1 / BC 3925) to the post-Flood period (ending in AM 2000 / BC 1925). The next age they called the Age of Torah,
and, as its name suggests, it covered the coming into being of the Jewish
nation, and their history from the time of Abram/Abraham until just after the
destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by the Romans in AD 70. In this Essene view, the Age of Torah lasted
from AM 2000 / BC 1925 until AM 4000 / AD 76.
To anyone who knows the Scriptures well, it ought to be self-evident that the key event which triggered the transition from the Age of Chaos to the Age of Torah and the consequent coming into being of the Jewish nation, was the call of Abram (cf. Gen. 12:1-3). This call initiated a new redemptive purpose of God which he would fulfil through Abram and his descendants. Now Abram was called by God in the year AM 1990 / BC 1935.[3] The significance of this year date is that it falls within (and towards the end of) the final 50-year jubilee period of the Age of Chaos, which lasted from AM 1950 – 2000 (i.e. BC 1975 – 1925). God revealed himself to Abram and called him to leave his father’s country and to go to the land of promise in the 40th and final jubilee period of the Age of Chaos. Having called Abram in this final jubilee period, and having therefore initiated the key event which would form the basis of God’s redemptive purpose in the Age of Torah, the stage was set for the Age of Chaos to end and the Age of Torah to begin (in the year AM 2000 / BC 1925). This is summarised in Figure C.1 below:
Figure C.1 Transition from
the Age of Chaos into the Age of Torah
2. Transition into the Age of Grace: John the Baptist, Jesus, and the
destruction of the temple in AD 70
This
principle is illustrated beautifully again in the transition from the Age of
Torah to the Age of Grace. In the Essene
view, the Age of Torah lasted from AM 2000 / BC 1925 until AM 4000 / AD 76, and
its final jubilee period covered the period from AD 26/27 to AD 75/76
(beginning and ending in March of AD 26 and AD 76 in our Gregorian calendar). However, in this transition, there were two
sets of significant events during the final jubilee period, the first set
starting just after its beginning, and the second set taking place towards the
end. Taken together, these two sets of events
proved to be momentous.
Firstly,
it was in AD 26 that John the Baptist began his ministry as the prophetic
herald of Jesus the Messiah. Jesus
himself then began to minister in late AD 29, and his earthly ministry reached
its redemptive climax in the cross-resurrection event of AD 33. Together, these two ministries covered a
period of seven years.[4] Following this, the Holy Spirit was poured
out on the day of Pentecost, again in AD 33, and the Church came into existence and began to spread.
Secondly, in the final part of this jubilee period, both the
temple and the city of Jerusalem were destroyed by the Romans in AD 70. In AD 73, Jewish resistance was overcome when
Masada fell, and the Romans also closed the other Jewish temple in Leontopolis,
Egypt (so that Jews from Judea would not simply move there to continue with
their temple-based sacrificial system).
Finally, in AD 75 under its new leadership, the Sanhedrin declared
prayer and synagogue attendance to be sufficient and pleasing to God, without
the need any more for temple sacrifices.
This sequence of events brought an end to the sacrificial system of the
Jews, a fitting closure to the Age of Torah which came to an end in the
following year.
Taken together, these two sets of events at either end of this
jubilee period, provide us with a momentous truth: the atoning death of Jesus
on the cross brought an end to the need for the Jewish sacrificial system (which
was simply a prophetic type of the Lamb of God who was to come), and this was
then sealed towards the end of this jubilee period by the actual ending in
practice of the Jewish sacrificial system.
All of this does not mean, of course, that the Age of Grace as we understand it began only in AD 76. Indeed, it began in AD 33 with the death of Jesus, his resurrection, Pentecost and the birth of the Church. The message of God’s grace and salvation through Jesus began to be preached then. However, in the Essene view of the ages, the Age of Grace began in AD 76 after the end of the Age of Torah. The beauty of viewing it this way, is that the atoning work of Jesus and the actual historical end of the sacrificial system are both included in the final jubilee period of the Age of Torah. After AD 76, the message of grace and salvation through Jesus remained, and it was no longer encumbered or obscured by the ongoing sacrificial system of the Jews.[5] Seen in this light, this final jubilee period of AD 26 – AD 76 presents a perfect and complete transition into the age of grace as we know it.
This is summarised in Figure C.2 below:
Figure C.2 Transition from the Age
of Torah into the Age of Grace
3. Transition into the Millennial Age: the coming rapture, the
seven-year tribulation and other events
In the Essene view of history, the
Age of Grace covers the period AM 4000 – 6000 (i.e. AD 76 – 2076). As we saw above, the principle of the final 50-year
jubilee period of an age being a transition into the subsequent age, held true
for the transition from the Age of Chaos into the Age of Torah, and then from
the Age of Torah into the Age of Grace. Therefore,
assuming that this pattern continues, i.e. that it also holds true for the
ending of this present age, the Age of Grace, and its transition into the
coming Millennial Age, then we should expect that the key preparatory events
that need to be in place for the Millennial Age to be fully set in place, will
take place during the final jubilee period of the Age of Grace. This final jubilee period begins on 1st
Nisan / March 18th 2026 and lasts for fifty years until the
corresponding date in AD 2076.
Firstly, it is important to emphasise that
this does NOT mean that the Second Advent of Christ will take place in AD 2076
(and is then followed by the millennial reign of Christ), and that we therefore
need to wait until then for Jesus to return to earth. It means that the key transitional
events which lead into the Millennial Age will occur in the 50-year period
between AD 2026 – 2076. The
millennial reign of Christ, of course, will technically begin when he defeats
Antichrist at the battle of Ha Megiddo just after his Second Advent (Rev. 19:17-21),
and this will probably be well before AD 2076.
This is similar to what I said above, that the age of grace as we know
it began in AD 33 which was well before AD 76 when the Age of Grace began on
the Essene calendar. After the key
transitional events have taken place during the period AD 2026 – 2076, then
everything will have occurred which needs to happen for the Millennial Age to
be fully set in place.
As I said above, the final jubilee period
of the Essene Age of Grace covers the period from AD 2026/27 – 2075/76, and it
begins on March 18th 2026. Hence
the significance of the year 2026, according to this Essene view of history! And what are the key transitional events
which must happen before the millennial reign of Christ can be fully set in
place? Firstly, the pre-tribulation rapture. Secondly, the revealing and rise of
Antichrist, and the subsequent seven-year tribulation period. Thirdly, the Second Advent of Christ, i.e.
his return to earth followed by his defeat of Antichrist. Fourthly, the judgement of the nations (Matt.
25:31-46). Fifthly, the rebuilding of
Jerusalem (which will have suffered much destruction by the end of the
tribulation) and the building of the fourth temple for the millennial reign
(cf. Ezek. chs.40-48). This rebuilding work will not happen within a
day, nor miraculously, nor will it be done by angels. It will be done by human beings. Sixthly, the restoration of planet earth
which will similarly have suffered much destruction during the
tribulation. When these transitional
events have been completed, the stage for the Millennial Age will be fully set,
and it is then that the Essene Age of Grace will come to an end (whereas in our
conception the age of grace comes to an end when Jesus returns in his Second
Advent, and his millennial reign begins then).
This is summarised in Figure C.3 below:
Figure C.3 Transition from the Age of Grace into the Millennial Age
In Figure C.4 below, I have taken
the liberty of imagining what Figure C.3 would look like if the pretribulation
rapture were to happen sometime soon after March 18th 2026 (i.e.
soon after the start of the transitional final jubilee period). I would emphasise that this is merely
conjecture on my part and it is for illustrative purposes only. I am not date-setting. Please note the following explanatory points:
·
If
the pretribulation rapture were to happen in 2026 soon after the start of the
final jubilee period, followed by the seven-year tribulation beginning later in
2026 (perhaps in autumn), then the Second Advent would take place in autumn AD
2033. So the earliest date that the
biblical 1,000-year millennial age could then begin would be autumn AD 2033, and
it would not therefore end before AD 3033.
In the Essene view, the Millennial Age will be fully set in place in AD
2076.
· Every year that goes by from 2026 onwards without the pre-tribulation rapture happening pushes the whole set of key preparatory transitional events further into the final jubilee period, therefore making fewer years available for them to be completed before AD 2076. In this scenario, the dates of 2026/2033 conjectured for the rapture and Second Advent in Figure C.4 would have to be pushed back as appropriate.
Figure C.4 The rapture
in 2026 conjecture (for illustrative purposes only)
4.
The transition period
into the eternal kingdom
The same principle and argument
apply also to the ending of the Millennial Age and the transition into the eternal
kingdom. If the pattern continues, then
the transitional events which need to take place during the final jubilee
period of the Millennial Age are: the release of Satan from the Abyss where he
had been bound for a thousand years; Satan deceiving the nations of the world,
Gog and Magog, and leading their final rebellion when they surround the camp of
God’s people; the destruction which comes by fire from heaven; the general
resurrection and the final judgement before the Great White Throne; the new
creation and the descent of the New Jerusalem from heaven (Rev. 20:7 – 21:2). When these transitional events are completed,
the eternal kingdom will then be set in fully.
I will leave it to the reader to draw up a
summary figure diagram of these transitional events on a timeline similar to
the ones presented above.
D. The significance of the year 2026
In reference to sub-section 3 in
the previous section, in this Essene view of the ages and as far as our own
present lifetime is concerned, the year 2026 therefore seems to be
significant. Am I saying that the
rapture will definitely happen on or soon after March 18th
2026? No, I am not. That would be to set dates which is always a
mistake. Or am I saying that it will
definitely happen sometime during 2026, and that the seven-year tribulation will therefore
begin later on in 2026? No, I
am not. Again, and to emphasise,
what I am saying is that, if the historical pattern of key transitional events
taking place during the final jubilee period of an age holds true in our own
day, then the events which need to happen in order for the millennial reign of
Christ on earth to be fully set in place will take place during the jubilee
period AD 2026 – 2076. Therefore, I am
saying that we can expect to see these transitional events begin to happen
soon, and yes, potentially from 18th March 2026 onwards. This latter date is the key date. And the first of these events which must take
place is the pre-tribulation rapture...
In support of this, it helps to look
around us at the convergence of end-time events around the world. Events in the world are dovetailing with and
confirming the word of God, and they are all pointing to the same thing, vis.
that the coming of the Lord will be very soon. Any believer who is observing carefully the
development of the worldwide end-times scenario, and who has even half a brain,
should have discerned by now that we are heading increasingly quickly into the
convergence of end-time signs and developments which the word of God talks
about. Nations worldwide are walking in
lockstep together to develop a networked digitised grid which will eventually,
and soon, control every aspect of human life on this planet. The development and pervasive use of
artificial intelligence will only speed this up even more. The nations of the world are working
ceaselessly together aiming for the year 2030 (or soon afterwards) to get these
things in place. The kind of technology
needed for the mark of the Beast is already being developed and used worldwide,
so the emergence of the mark itself cannot be any more than a few years away at
most: it is not decades away. All these
things are happening now in plain sight all around us for everyone to see.
Furthermore, if the historical pattern of
key transitional events taking place during the last jubilee period of an age,
in order for the next age to be fully set in place, continues, and if the
example of the events of AD 26 – 33 (which began very soon after the beginning
of the final jubilee period of the Age of Torah) is anything to go by, then we
could perhaps expect some of the key end-time events which are preparatory to
the Millennial Age to take place during the period of AD 2026 – 2033 (i.e.
during or closely aligned with the first shemitah of this final jubilee
period).
However, we must be cautious of appearing
to set dates. This is often a temptation
when studying or speculating about the end-times. Whether the tribulation does take place
during the seven-year period AD 2026 – 2033, or in the subsequent seven-year
period, or whether it is not aligned at all with a specific shemitah, is
ultimately in God’s hands and only time will tell (cf. Acts 1:7). But the seven-year period of AD 2026 – 2033
is certainly something to keep our eyes on, because even if the rapture does
not happen in that period and if the tribulation does not ensue, then it is certainly
very clear that significant globalist end-time developments (some of which I
mentioned above) will continue apace during this period just as they already are,
and the convergence of events will continue to narrow down even more. So by AD 2033, we would then certainly be
much closer to the time of the rapture and tribulation than we are even now.
In fact, many dispensational commentators
think that, because the 2,000-year age of grace actually began in AD 33, then
it should end in AD 2033 with the return of Jesus to earth. This would indicate that the pre-tribulation
rapture would happen at least seven years before this, so sometime in AD 2026. The other transitional events which are
preparatory to the Millennial Age (in the Essene view) would then take place
during AD 2033 – 2076, with the Millennial Age being fully set in place by
AD 2076.
Whatever happens, let us be clear that,
although it is wrong to set dates, it is not erroneous on our part to search
into what the Scriptures say about the end-times, to ask questions, to do
research, and to look for fulfilment of the end-times prophetic word of God. In doing this, we are simply following the
example of the Old Testament prophets who searched diligently in their own day and
looked expectantly for the first advent of Christ:
‘Concerning
this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you,
searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and
circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he
predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.’ (1 Peter 1:10-11)
So, as we wait expectantly for the
fulfilment of the prophetic word of God concerning the rapture and the ensuing
tribulation, my final words are simply a reminder of those of Jesus, that we
should continue to watch and pray:
‘Be
on guard! Be alert! And pray!
You do not know when that time will come… Therefore keep watch because you do not know
when the owner of the house will come back…
What I say to you, I say to everyone: “Watch!”’ (Mark 13:36)
Bibliography
Peck, J. Forgotten Prophecies of the Dead Sea Scrolls,
Volume 1: Essene History and Prophetic Calendars: Kindle Version, USA:
Renegade Publishing, 2024.
[1] The singular of onot is onah.
[2] The singular of shemittot is shemitah, so one shemitah is a seven-year period (cf. Lev. 25:1-7).
[3] See Jubilees 12:16.
[4] This seven-year period did not quite align exactly with the first seven-year shemitah of this jubilee period, because Jesus rose again on 16th Nisan in what for us is AD 33, which was very soon after the beginning of the second shemitah (which began on 1st Nisan of that year). However, this seven-year period was certainly very closely aligned with the first shemitah of this jubilee period. See the next footnote.
[5] Found in Qumran among the Dead Sea Scrolls was an Essene writing called The Melchizidek Document which was written in the first century BC. It portrays Messiah as a fulfilment of the Jubilee principle, coming to set free people from the debt of their iniquities. It contains a clear prophecy as to the time: ‘And liberty will be proclaimed for them to free them from the debt of all their iniquities. And this will happen in the first week [i.e. the first shemitah] of the jubilee which follows the nine jubilees [of that particular onah]. And the day of atonement is the end of the tenth jubilee in which atonement will be made for all the sons of light… for it is time for the year of grace of Melchizedek.’ (11QMelchizedek 2:7-8; cf. Isa. 61:1-3). The tenth jubilee of that particular onah began in AD 26, and its first seven-year ‘week’ was the period AD 26 – 33. So, in contrast to the Pharisees and Sadducees, the Essenes clearly believed in a Messiah in the order of Melchizedek, who would come to die for sin.
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