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Tereo:The Dead Sea Scrolls: Life From Jars Of Clay
by Mike Frandson (Mike's bio)
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'What think ye? If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?' Matthew 18:12
I am from a printing family. My father was a book pressman, my mother was a newspaper journalist, my brother is in maintains buildings and equipment for a large book manufacturer, and I have spent 20 years selling and managing for book and magazine publishers. I have developed a pretty good sense for communicating words clearly, permanently, and correctly.
And I have seen how easy it is for even the simplest story to get twisted around to where it doesn't even remotely resemble the story as it started. Is it any wonder that I became reasonably suspicious of the Bible and of some of its stories. Some tales such as Jonah or Noah didn't rhyme like Mother Goose but sure sounded like the product of a lively and childish imagination. And then there was the nagging question in my mind of the translation process between languages and the trustworthiness of those people put in charge of the translation and transfer of the scriptures.
You can also imagine my surprise and suspicion when I learned that the earliest Bible manuscripts that we have today are dated from the 10th Century, some one thousand years after the events happened. If our Bible and Testaments are based on manuscripts that have been hand-copied for thousands years, can we trust them?
A lowly Bedouin shepherd in the cliffs surrounding the Dead Sea put that argument to rest, perhaps forever. Much like the example in Jesus' parable that introduced this article, Muhammed stumbled upon a small cave while searching for one of his goats which had gone astray. He threw a rock into the small cave opening, hoping to scare the goat into making a noise so that he might know the goat's location. Instead of a bleating goat Muhammed heard the sound of a clay jar shattering under the force of the rock. Knowing that some collectors might pay a handsome price for a collection of ancient pottery, Muhammed soon found a way to get into the cave and discovered not just pottery but many large clay jars with tightly sealed lids. And something inside! Scrolls. Leather and parchment scrolls were inside the jars.
Without going into a lot of details, there were 11 caves discovered that have since been associated with what has been called the Dead Sea Scrolls. The scrolls covered a multitude of religious thought, from direct scriptural books, to interpretations of the Bible, to original manuscripts concerning the lifestyle of these people of Qumran (the community associated with keeping and hiding the Dead Sea Scrolls). A copy of the book of Isaiah, chapter 53, is most appropriate for our discussion.
The most recent manuscript of the 53rd chapter of Isaiah is dated from 916 AD. Found among the Dead Sea Scrolls is a complete copy of the 53rd chapter of Isaiah which has been dated from about 150 B.C. In other words, we have a copy that is now over 1,000 years older, older even than the copies used during Jesus' lifetime! So what has changed, if we compare the two scrolls, over the course of one thousand years?
Not much!
Of the 166 WORDS of the 53rd chapter of Isaiah, there are 17 LETTERS that are different. 10 of those letters are changes of spelling. The word itself did not change; much like the word 'ye' has evolved into the current English usage of the word 'you'. Four letters are style changes involving conjunctions. The final three letters that have changed are the three letters used for the word 'light' which has been added in verse 11. Further, this word appears in the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Bible which was written during the same time as the scroll manuscript, so there must have been two versions of this chapter and so the addition of the letters for the word 'light' are meaningless especially since they do not alter the meaning or prophecy of the book in the least. Since 150 B.C. this biblical book had changed by a mere 17 letters, a testament to the providential hand of God protecting His words for His people!
There is much more to say about the scrolls to help us justify our faith in God, His Son, and the work of the Holy Spirit, which we'll cover later. For now, let's remember another reference our Lord made to a shepherd going to fetch those who are astray, much like our friend Muhammed:
'What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the Sabbath day, will he not lay hold of it, and lift it out'? Matthew, 12:11.
Once again, God's words have silenced the critics and have lifted His People into light and truth.
Praise God!
Copyright 2002, Mike Frandson. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
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About Mike Frandson:
By day he mulls over engineering drawings, molding presses, and automobile parts as a Quality Control Technician! But by night, he spends his time tickling the literary muse, writing hit songs, raising his children, and Praising his Lord. A layman who was nearly turned away from Christianity by false arguments, Mike now has set out to study the truth about Christianity, and to share these truths with all who are curious about seeking the kingdom of God. Visit Mike's web site |
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