There is a strong Christian heritage in Damascus. It was the place that Paul was headed in order to persecute Christians when he met Jesus along the way. After Paul was blinded and received his sight, he was in the desert for fourteen years learning the ways of the Essenes. But why were the people in Damascus even Christians? What was their heritage? They were not new believers, but had deep roots in Israel. They were a holy remnant that split off from Jerusalem around 100 BC when there was defilement in the temple. At that time they counted a forty year period for cleansing. Yet they never mixed with the Pharisees again. They stayed pure. They had been the scribes of the Septuagint, which everyone read from in the synagogues. They expected the Messiah to come and believed on Jesus when he came. The first century believers knew about these holy people and their ways as it was their own recent history. Let’s explore this remnant.
A couple of things to keep in mind are that there has always been a group of people who live in holiness, even when the majority do not. Yahweh knows. There are many occasions when there was a splitting up among the congregation. This is not a negative, Yahweh thinks it is a positive. Also, others have tried to erase this group of people in Damascus from history, so that they can claim themselves as a remnant and apply the deeds of this group to themselves in order to hide their own unholiness.
When the people moved to Damascus after leaving Jerusalem, they wrote a couple of documents about the community and how it would function. Copies of The Damascus Document were found in a Cairo synagogue in 1896, published in 1910, and re-edited in 1970. The Damascus Document also known as the New Covenant in the land of Damascus, was written around 100 BC. This is the general time when the community was established after the split from the temple which became defiled when Jonathan Apphus (Maccabee) was made high priest. Jonathan Apphus did not have Aaronic lineage and was unlawfully chosen by the Hasmoneans, who took over Israel after the Maccabean revolt from the Seleucids. The Romans did not take over Israel from the Hasmoneans until 63 BC. Obviously this is all prior to Jesus being born as a Nazarite in Bethlehem.
Cyrus allowed the Israelites to repopulate Judah and rebuild it in 536/537 BC. The intent of Nehemiah was to build the temple. First they built their own homes, next the wall, and eventually they rebuilt the temple. The temple was dedicated by Ezra in 514/515 BC, twenty two years after re-entering Judah. During the next four hundred years Israel changed rulership from Assyria to Greece. The Greek empire split under four different Greek rulers. Israel was under the rulership of the Seleucids as was Damascus until Antiochus Cyzicenus over took parts of Syria in 111 BC. In 64 BC Rome overtook Syria and in 63 BC Rome overtook Israel.
Around 250 BC Ptolemy who was ruling over Egypt commissioned the High Priest Eleazar to scribe the first book of Moses, Genesis. Ptolemy’s payment was to release 100,000 (Jewish?) captives from Egypt. Seventy-two scribes translated Moses’ paleo Hebrew to Greek. The project was successful and seventy other books were scribed after that with the originals stored in the library at Alexandria.
The temple was located in the city of David over the Gihon Springs and had an abundance of water. In The Letter of Aristeas, Aristeas explains the surroundings and the abundance of water from a spring. The water was imperative for the temple rituals. Today people mistake the temple mount as the site of the Temples of Solomon and Nehemiah, but that region was the fortress Antonia, which was built after the Romans took over rulership of Israel. The Romans leveled the City of David, and the entire hill, in 70 AD after they kicked all the Jews out of Jerusalem.
https://musingsofawinsomeheart.blogspot.com/2014/08/traditions-temple-in-city-of-davidthe.html
The Damascus community was established by the Assideans/Hasidaeans, the holy men, who were betrayed by the Maccabees. The Assideans later known as Essenes, were not Hellenistic but did learn Greek for writing. Many Assideans were the scribes who translated the scrolls into Greek under the direction of Eleazar, the High Priest, giving us the Septuagint. Once the temple was defiled they took their knowledge to Damascus and started a community. If we remember, the first century disciples of Christ spoke Aramaic and wrote in Greek. Hebrew was becoming a lost language.
The Damascus Document (CD, 4Q265–73, 5Q12, 6Q15)
The Exhortation: Listen now1 all you who know righteousness, and consider the works of God; for He has a dispute with all flesh and will condemn all those who despise Him. For when they were unfaithful and forsook Him, He hid His face from Israel and His Sanctuary and delivered them up to the sword. But remembering the Covenant of the forefathers, He left a remnant to [5] Israel and did not deliver it up to be destroyed. And in the age of wrath, three hundred and ninety years after He had given them into the hand of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, He visited them, and He caused a plant root to spring from Israel and Aaron to inherit His Land and to prosper on the good things of His earth.
For reference, the first exile was 607 BC of which Daniel was part of. The second exile which Ezekiel was part of took place between 600 BC and 598 BC. The Temple of Solomon was destroyed during the third exile on Av 9, 588 BC. The people who went into Babylon were spared. They were the ones marked by the angel. The time of the root springing up is from about 217 BC to 198 BC. The writer is pointing out that even though Israel was under the Seleucids they were prospering. There was a remnant of holy people among all the people. Then they had a twenty year period where they were spiritually blind, so Yahweh rose up a Teacher of Righteousness.
And they perceived their iniquity and recognized that they were guilty men, yet for twenty years they were like [10] blind men groping for the way. And God observed their deeds, that they sought Him with a whole heart, and He raised for them a Teacher of Righteousness to guide them in the way of His heart. And he made known to the latter generations that which God had done to the latter generation, the congregation of traitors, to those who departed from the way. This was the time of which it is written, Like a stubborn heifer thus was israel stubborn (Hos. iv. 16), when the Scoffer arose who shed over israel the waters of lies. He caused [15] them to wander in a pathless wilderness, laying low the everlasting heights, abolishing the ways of righteousness and removing the boundary with which the forefathers had marked out their inheritance, that he might call down on them the curses of His Covenant and deliver them up to the avenging sword of the Covenant. For they sought smooth things and preferred illusions (Isa. xxx, 10) and they watched for breaks (Isa. xxx, 13) and chose the fair neck; and they justified the wicked and [20] condemned the just, and they transgressed the Covenant and violated the Precept. They banded together against the life of the righteous (Ps. xciv, 21) and loathed all who walked in perfection; they pursued them with the sword and exulted in the strife of the people.
Israel did what we all do when times are good, they all became soft in their faith and sought smooth paths and didn’t want to hear about their lawlessness.
Isa 30:9 (Brenton) For the people is disobedient, false children, who would not hear the law of God:
Isa 30:10 who say to the prophets, Report not to us; and to them that see visions, Speak them not to us, but speak and report to us another error;
Isa 30:11 and turn us aside from this way; remove from us this path, and remove from us the oracle of Israel.
This is similar to our time in the Laodicean church era, we are fat and happy and can’t even see that we are blind. This is a cycle that repeats throughout the Bible and through our ages. The writer is not speaking of the future, he is speaking of the past, their own recent past. This is how they saw their time period.
And the anger of God was kindled against II their congregation so that He ravaged all their multitude; and their deeds were defilement before Him. Hear now, all you who enter the Covenant, and I will unstop your ears concerning the ways of the wicked.2 God loves knowledge. Wisdom and understanding He has set before [5] Him, and prudence and knowledge serve Him. Patience and much forgiveness are with Him towards those who turn from transgression; but power, might, and great flaming wrath by the hand of all the Angels of Destruction towards those who depart from the way and abhor the Precept. They shall have no remnant or survivor. For from the beginning God chose them not; He knew their deeds before ever they were created and He hated their generations, and He hid His face from the Land until they were consumed. For He knew the years of their coming [10] and the length and exact duration of their times for all ages to come and throughout eternity. He knew the happenings of their times throughout all the everlasting years. And in all of them He raised for Himself men called by name3 that a remnant might be left to the Land, and that the face of the earth might be filled with their seed. And He made known His Holy Spirit to them by the hand of His anointed ones, and He proclaimed the truth (to them). But those whom He hated He led astray.
Vermes, Geza. The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English (pp. 183-185). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition.
The establishment of the community is for the righteous men and women who want to follow after Yahweh. They say there was 390 years where they rebuilt and prospered, but then came a twenty year period of spiritual blindness. Again out of this period there is another remnant of holy ones.
Last week we referenced Jude Thaddeaus and his education. As Jude reminded us in his letter, Yahweh Elohim collectively rescued all the people out of Egypt but then destroyed the unbelievers. Jude says out of that there was a remnant. Jude uses the writing style of the Essenes/Nazarenes/Therapeutaes/Damascus Community.
Now the writer of the Damascus Document will give a history lesson that we have all forgotten, disbelieve, and/or refuse to teach in the congregation.
Hear now, my sons, and I will uncover your eyes that you may see and [15] understand the works of God, that you may choose that which pleases Him and reject that which He hates, that you may walk perfectly in all His ways and not follow after thoughts of the guilty inclination and after eyes of lust. For through them, great men have gone astray and mighty heroes have stumbled from former times till now. Because they walked in the stubbornness of their heart the Heavenly Watchers fell; they were caught because they did not keep the commandments of God. And their sons also fell who were tall as cedar trees and whose bodies were like mountains. All flesh on dry land perished; they were as though they had [20] never been because they did their own will and did not keep the commandment of their Maker so that His wrath was kindled against them.
This is a bit of history the first century believers were well aware of. We have erased this history, believing it to be a fairytale, but in their established community of a holy remnant they are reminded of the angels who sinned. The disembodied spirits of the children of the Nephilim tormented Noah’s heirs.
III Through it, the children of Noah went astray, together with their kin, and were cut off. Abraham did not walk in it, and he was accounted a friend of God because he kept the commandments of God and did not choose his own will. And he handed them down to Isaac and Jacob, who kept them, and were recorded as friends of God and party to the Covenant for ever.
Jesus told the Pharisees that Abraham rejoiced to see his day, and the Pharisees became angry saying that Jesus wasn’t even fifty years old. But Jesus replied ‘before Abraham was I AM’, John 8:56-58. We know that Abraham walked and talked with Yahweh Elohim as a friend, so who was Abraham talking to?
The children of Jacob strayed through them and were punished in accordance with their error. And their sons in Egypt walked in [5] the stubbornness of their hearts, conspiring against the commandments of God and each of them doing that which seemed right in his own eyes. They ate blood, and He cut off their males in the wilderness. And at Kadesh He said to them, Go up and possess the land (Deut. ix, 23). But they chose their own will and did not heed the voice of their Maker, the commands of their Teacher, but murmured in their tents; and the anger of God was kindled against their congregation. Through it their sons perished, and through it their kings were cut off; through it their mighty [10] heroes perished and through it their land was ravaged. Through it the first members of the Covenant sinned and were delivered up to the sword, because they forsook the Covenant of God and chose their own will and walked in the stubbornness of their hearts, each of them doing his own will. But with the remnant which held fast to the commandments of God He made His Covenant with Israel for ever, revealing to them the hidden things in which all Israel had gone astray. He unfolded before them His holy Sabbaths and his glorious feasts, the testimonies of His right [15] eousness and the ways of His truth, and the desires of His will which a man must do in order to live. And they dug a well rich in water; and he who despises it shall not live. Yet they wallowed in the sin of man and in ways of uncleanness, and they said, ‘This is our (way).’ But God, in His wonderful mysteries, forgave them their sin and pardoned their wickedness; and He built them a sure house in Israel whose like has never existed from former times till now. Those who hold fast to it are [20] destined to live for ever and all the glory of Adam shall be theirs. As God ordained for them by the hand of the Prophet Ezekiel, saying, The Priests, the Levites, and the sons IV of Zadok who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel strayed from me, they shall offer me fat and blood (Ezek. xliv, 15). The Priests are the converts of Israel who departed from the land of Judah, and (the Levites are) those who joined them. The sons of Zadok are [5] the elect of Israel, the men called by name who shall stand at the end of days.
The sons of Zadok are the elect of Israel. This is a very important bit of information. The Zadok priesthood was established by Shem also known as Melchizedek. As we know, vowels were not part of the Hebrew language so the proper spelling would be Zdk, which could be Zedek or Zadok. Elijah was from the priesthood of Zadok from Tishbi of Gilead or from Teshbon/Heshbon the city of priests. Elijah was also of the lineage of Aaron. The Essenes, Nazarenes, Therapeutaes, Damascus Community, the Prophets, the Zedek/Zadok priests, and the Assideans were all of the same order. And both Jesus and John studied in Essene schooling, as well as Paul, Jude, and many other Pharisees. This is based on Shem’s school that was in Jerusalem, which Isaac and Jacob attended.
It seems that every few generations there is a cleansing, and the holy order of prophets and priests emerge who are of the Zedek/Zadok priesthood, the remnant and elect of Israel.
Behold the exact list of their names according to their generations, and the time when they lived, and the number of their trials, and the years of their sojourn, and the exact list of their deeds … (They were the first men) of holiness whom God forgave, and who justified the righteous and condemned the wicked. And until the age is completed, according to the number of those years, all who enter after them shall do according to that interpretation of the Law in which the first (men) were instructed. According to the Covenant which God made [10] with the forefathers, forgiving their sins, so shall He forgive their sins also.
Now we look into the future to the time when the age is completed.
But when the age is completed, according to the number of those years, there shall be no more joining the house of Judah, but each man shall stand on his watch-tower: The wall is built, the boundary far removed (Mic. vii, 11). During all those years Belial shall be unleashed against Israel, as He spoke by the hand of Isaiah, son of Amoz, saying, Terror and the pit and [15] the snare are upon you, O inhabitant of the land (Isa. xxiv, 17). Interpreted, these are the three nets of Belial with which Levi son of Jacob said that he catches Israel by setting them up as three kinds of righteousness. The first is fornication, the second is riches, and the third is profanation of the Temple. Whoever escapes the first is caught in the second, and whoever saves himself from the second is caught in the third (Isa. xxiv, 18). The ‘builders of the wall’ (Ezek. xiii, 10) who have followed after [20] ‘Precept’ – ‘Precept’ was a spouter of whom it is written, They shall surely spout (Mic. ii, 6) – shall be caught in fornication twice by taking a second wife while the first is alive, whereas the principle of creation is, Male and female created He them (Gen. i, 27). V Also, those who entered the Ark went in two by two. And concerning the prince it is written, He shall not multiply wives to himself (Deut. xvii, 17); but David had not read the sealed book of the Law which was in the ark (of the Covenant), for it was not opened in Israel from the death of Eleazar and Joshua, and the elders who worshipped Ashtoreth. It was hidden and (was not) revealed [5] until the coming of Zadok. And the deeds of David rose up, except for the murder of Uriah, and God left them to him. Moreover, they profane the Temple because they do not observe the distinction (between clean and unclean) in accordance with the Law, but lie with a woman who sees her bloody discharge.
Vermes, Geza. The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English (pp. 187-188). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition.
The three points are terror, pit, and snare. They interpreted that to mean Belial catches them pretending these things are righteous, which are fornication, riches, and profaning the temple. Somehow fornication of religious leaders comes up all the time. Here the writer says that taking a second wife while the first is alive is fornication. The idea is that after divorce there is no remarriage until the former spouse is dead. Some in our day have gone so far as to preach polygamy and plural marriages. The writer says two by two. Remember, Jesus told the Pharisees that Moses’ letter of divorcement was due to the hardness of their hearts.
Riches are easy to spot as we see them on the outside. Profaning the temple is twofold, as there is no physical temple, however Solomons temple was profaned over and over, for 409 years, until it was destroyed. Nehemiah’s temple also included the booths for the male and female prostitutes, just as Solomons temple had. But today we are the temple of the Elohim and the Holy Spirit resides in us. The Pharisees during Jesus’ time loved riches and long robes of purple. They also profaned the temple with their booths for prostitutes.
And each man marries the daughter of his brother or sister, whereas Moses said, You shall not approach your mother’s sister; she is your mother’s near kin (Lev. xviii, 13). But although the laws against incest are written [10] for men, they also apply to women. When, therefore, a brother’s daughter uncovers the nakedness of her father’s brother, she is (also his) near kin.
Furthermore, they defile their holy spirit and open their mouth with a blaspheming tongue against the laws of the Covenant of God saying, ‘They are not sure.’ They speak abominations concerning them; they are all kindlers of fire and lighters of brands (Isa. l, 11), their webs are spiders’ webs and their eggs are vipers’ eggs (Isa. lix, 5). No man that approaches [15] them shall be free from guilt; the more he does so, the guiltier shall he be, unless he is pressed. For (already) in ancient times God visited their deeds and His anger was kindled against their works; for it is a people of no discernment (Isa. xxvii, 11), it is a nation void of counsel inasmuch as there is no discernment in them (Deut. xxxii, 28). For in ancient times, Moses and Aaron arose by the hand of the Prince of Lights and Belial in his cunning raised up Jannes and his brother when Israel was first delivered.4
“They are not sure” is the way the Pharisees and all preachers get around the commands of the Elohim. It is a good thing we do not live under the law because we can’t even keep the commands Jesus gave us, and many would say to the congregation “They are not sure”. Either the Pharisees aren’t certain about the laws, or the laws are not certain and binding. Obscuring the law is a bonfire, spider webs, and viper eggs.
And at the time of the desolation of the land there arose removers of [20] the bound who led Israel astray. And the land was ravaged because they preached rebellion against the commandments of God given by the hand of Moses and VI of His holy anointed ones, and because they prophesied lies to turn Israel away from following God. But God remembered the Covenant with the forefathers, and he raised from Aaron men of discernment and from Israel men of wisdom, and He caused them to hear. And they dug the Well:5 the well which the princes dug, which the nobles of the people delved with the stave (Num. xxi, 18).
The Well is the Law, and those who dug it were the converts of Israel [5] who went out of the land of Judah to sojourn in the land of Damascus. God called them all princes because they sought Him, and their renown was disputed by no man. The Stave is the Interpreter of the Law of whom Isaiah said, He makes a tool for His work (Isa. liv, 16); and the nobles of the people are those who come to dig the Well with the staves with which the [10] Stave ordained that they should walk in all the age of wickedness – and without them they shall find nothing – until he comes who shall teach righteousness at the end of days.
Vermes, Geza. The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English (pp. 188-190). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition.
We see how they look at scriptures and how they understand the prophecies. They have a very deep understanding which is why the Pharisaical order was so abhorrent to John and Jesus. The idea of the Well being the Law seems to indicate its depth. The Stave being the interpreter of the Law is interesting. A stave is a beam or vertical post for building a structure. The stave mentioned by Isaiah was probably the vertical beam that held the walls of the well in place so the the dirt did not cave in. The Law and its Interpretation (Well and Stave) keeps wickedness at bay until the Messiah comes teaching righteousness. Jesus was the fulfillment of the Law.
Now think this through, the Well and Stave are the Law and Interpretation of the Law until the Messiah comes. Jesus fulfilled the Law, like filling the well. Now we drink Living Water. Jesus, sitting at the well in Samaria, told the woman the water he would give people would be a well of water springing up into everlasting life, John 4:14. The Damascus Community knew what the coming Messiah would do. This is why they believed on Yahweh Jesus Messiah.
The Books of the Law are the tabernacle of the king; as God said, I will raise up the tabernacle of David which is fallen (Amos ix, 11). The king is the congregation; and the bases of the statues are the Books of the Prophets whose sayings Israel despised. The star is the Interpreter of the Law who shall come to Damascus; as it is written, A star shall come forth out of Jacob and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel (Num. xxiv, 17). The sceptre is the Prince [20] of the whole congregation, and when he comes he shall smite all the children of Seth (Num. xxiv, 17).
Vermes, Geza. The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English (p. 191). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition.
The congregation has a tabernacle built by the law. The base of the statues are the prophets. The star is the interpreter of the law and the sceptre is a rod or staff, a symbol of sovereignty, that rises out of Israel. The sceptre is the Prince of the congregation, the Messiah. Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah will be the Prince of Peace. Jesus is the Day Star and the Bright Morning Star. He will rule the nations with a rod of iron. Jesus is called “prince of the kings of earth”.
https://musingsofawinsomeheart.blogspot.com/2023/06/jesus-is-phosphorus-rising-is-his-name.html
https://musingsofawinsomeheart.blogspot.com/2020/01/melchizedek-order-winter-torrent-of.html
https://musingsofawinsomeheart.blogspot.com/2017/09/rod-of-iron-shepherd-millennial-kingdom.html
https://musingsofawinsomeheart.blogspot.com/2013/10/jesus-prince-jesus-king-calling-future.html
The Damascus Community was looking forward to the coming Messiah, while the Pharisees thought the word of God had been broken. Remember, Jesus is a priest in the order of Melchizedek, he was a Nazarene, of the same order of the believers in the Damascus Community. They knew the prophecies and expected their Messiah to come. They became Christians with the infilling of the Holy Spirit and continued boldly in the gifts of the Spirit. Damascus became a great support for Jews and believing Pharisees, and became an education center for them.
None of the men who enter the New Covenant in the land of Damascus, (B I) and who again betray it and depart from the fountain of living waters, shall be reckoned with the Council of the people or inscribed in its Book from the day of the gathering in (B II) of the Teacher of the Community until the coming of the Messiah out of Aaron and Israel.
Vermes, Geza. The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English (p. 193). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition.
This is self explanatory. Don’t enter into the New Covenant in Damascus and betray it. Now it is explained that there is a forty year time period where there will be obvious separation between the righteous and unrighteous. Why forty years?
From the day of the gathering in of the Teacher of the Community until the end of all the men of war who deserted to the Liar there shall pass about forty years (Deut. ii, 14). And during that age the wrath of God [15] shall be kindled against Israel; as He said, There shall be no king, no prince, no judge, no man to rebuke with justice (Hos. iii, 4). But those who turn from the sin of Jacob, who keep the Covenant of God, shall then speak each man to his fellow, to justify each man his brother, that their step may take the way of God. And God will heed their words and will hear, and a Book of Reminder shall be written before Him of them that fear God and worship His Name, against the time when salvation and [20] righteousness shall be revealed to them that fear God. And then shall you distinguish once more between the just and the wicked, between one that serves God and one that serves Him not (Mal. iii, 18); and He will show loving-kindness to thousands, to them that love Him and watch for Him, for a thousand generations (Exod. xx, 6).
Vermes, Geza. The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English (p. 194). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition.
Forty years is one generation. The Damascus Community writers call this time the age of wrath. What took place during this time? More wars that led up to the time when the Romans took over Israel in 63 BC. Notice the comparison here.
Num 14:26 (Brenton) And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
Num 14:27 How long shall I endure this wicked congregation? I have heard their murmurings against me, even the murmuring of the children of Israel, which they have murmured concerning you.
Num 14:28 Say to them, As I live, saith the Lord: surely as ye spoke into my ears, so will I do to you.
Num 14:29 Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all those of you that were reviewed, and those of you that were numbered from twenty years old and upward, all that murmured against me,
Num 14:30 ye shall not enter into the land for which I stretched out my hand to establish you upon it; except only Chaleb the son of Jephonne, and Joshua the son of Naue.
Num 14:31 And your little ones, who ye said should be a prey, them will I bring into the land; and they shall inherit the land, which ye rejected.
Num 14:32 And your carcases shall fall in this wilderness.
Num 14:33 And your sons shall be fed in the wilderness forty years, and they shall bear your fornication, until your carcases be consumed in the wilderness.
Num 14:34 According to the number of the days during which ye spied the land, forty days, a day for a year, ye shall bear your sins forty years, and ye shall know my fierce anger.
Num 14:35 I the Lord have spoken, Surely will I do thus to this evil congregation that has risen up together against me: in this wilderness they shall be utterly consumed, and there they shall die.
Num 32:13 (Brenton) And the Lord was very angry with Israel; and for forty years he caused them to wander in the wilderness, until all the generation which did evil in the sight of the Lord was extinct.
Forty years seems to be the the amount of time the Elohim decided the generation that committed the unclean acts will bear their sin and die. The children of the unclean generation will wander forty years, one year for each day the spies were scouting the land. They all had to bear the sin of those men for forty years, and while their children still had to wander, they could enter the promised land. Joshua says the men of war did not obey Yahweh.
Jos 5:6 (Brenton) Wherefore most of the fighting men that came out of the land of Egypt, were uncircumcised, who disobeyed the commands of God; concerning whom also he determined that they should not see the land, which the Lord sware to give to their fathers, even a land flowing with milk and honey.
There is a Masoretic alteration here, as the Septuagint notes the fighting men were uncircumcised. This is an interesting insight, because the Damascus Community, Essenes, and Nazarenes, were the ones who gave us the Septuagint, while the Masoretic alterations took place between 600 AD and 900 AD.
What this group of holy people could not anticipate is that the Levitical priesthood would continue to be corrupted as well as the Pharisaical order. The forty year cleansing period would have ended around 60 BC, three years after the Romans took over Israel. We know that at that time the priestly families who left Judah would return to Jerusalem for their scheduled temple service. So while the Assideans did not mingle or put themselves under the teaching of the Pharisees, they still performed their ritual services in the temple after the forty years of cleansing. This is what Zechariah, John’s father, did. Because the Assideans did not put themselves under the religious rule of the Pharisees, John and Jesus, as well as all the Assideans, were not liked by the Pharisees. The Pharisees knew they were an unclean order. However the Essenes, Nazarenes, Therapeutaes, the Prophets and Priests of Zedek/Zadok, developed a school and continued to copy scrolls in the desert.
The Zedek/Zadok priests:
https://musingsofawinsomeheart.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-god-who-walks-with-man-melchizedek.html
https://musingsofawinsomeheart.blogspot.com/2016/01/prophet-school-miracle-power-called-out.html
https://musingsofawinsomeheart.blogspot.com/2016/02/john-essene-true-prophets-nazarenes.html
We see that the idea of separating the holy from the unholy was important because it would be forty years before the defiled generation would be gone. They called the people who separated themselves The House of Separation. The House of Separation is what we call a “church split”. The people who split from Jerusalem, the Holy City, are the New Covenant in Damascus. We tend to look at church splits as bad, they are not. They are good. It is simply a further refining of holiness. This is how the remnant survives. It separates and moves on in the direction of holiness.
And every member of the House of Separation who went out of the Holy City and leaned on God at the time when Israel sinned and defiled the Temple, but returned again to the way of the people in small matters, shall be judged according to his spirit in the Council of Holiness. But when the glory of God is made manifest to Israel, all those members of [25] the Covenant who have breached the bound of the Law shall be cut off from the midst of the camp, and with them all those who condemned Judah in the days of its trials.
But all those who hold fast to these precepts, going and coming in accordance with the Law, who heed the voice of the Teacher and confess before God, (saying), ‘Truly we have sinned, we and our fathers, by walking counter to the precepts of the Covenant, Thy judgements upon us [30] are justice and truth’; who do not lift their hand against His holy precepts or His righteous statutes or His true testimonies; who have learned from the former judgements by which the members of the Community were judged; who have listened to the voice of the Teacher of Righteousness and have not despised the precepts of righteousness when they heard them; they shall rejoice and their hearts shall be strong, and they shall prevail over all the sons of the earth. God will forgive them and they shall see His salvation because they took refuge in His holy Name.9
Vermes, Geza. The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English (pp. 194-195). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition.
This is an admonition to all of us. Sometimes we do what is hard because it is right. This is what the remnant did. The writer calls for repentance. This is for everyone and anyone. John went out calling for repentance, Jesus came and fulfilled the law. This is the remnant who gave us the Septuagint and many other books the first century believers and disciples had. Jesus quoted the Septuagint, and the Septuagint was read in all the synagogues in the region. It took a holy remnant to preserve the holy books. It continued to take a holy remnant to preserve the letters after the Messiah came.
Today we don’t think about the significance of the Damascus Community to Christian history, but if it were not for these holy men and women, a remnant that repeatedly separated from unholiness, we would not have a Messiah, and we would not have the books we have. We own them a great debt. Our walk as Christians is due to the perseverance of their own holiness. We should not forget that there are still Christians in Damascus Syria. It is our honor to pray for them.
