Prophecy & Exhortation

March 6, 2009, 9:30 am by dc-agape.

Geniza A Col 7:6 – 8:21

Geniza B Col 19:33 – 20:34

These two sections from the different Geniza documents complete the Exhortation portion of the Damascus Document.  What follows these are a section of fragments and then the full document continues.  These fragments and the rest of the document contain specific Laws that the community felt would help the righteous live better lives.  It was not all the laws but a selection of the Laws.  But these laws were separated into those for the entire Israelite community and those who lived in the author’s sect.

The section today covers a part that may have been misplaced and misused since the Documents original binding.  This is followed by a section of what could be learned from fulfilled prophecy. There is a section of moral exhortations which is ended by the conclusion of what will happen if Israel will follow these exhortations.

I cannot describe how refreshing it is to read when these authors use the OT to prove a point or a prophecy.  Unlike Jesus, who attempted to make the prophecy fit his actions, these authors used word of word the OT verses to make the point.  For example the text uses a verse from Isaiah 7:17:

Col 7:11-12 which says “Days are coming upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house that have never come before, since the departure of Ephraim from Judah”, that is, when the two houses of Israel separated.

When you compare the two wordings they are exactly the same, Isaiah continues with the concept of bring the King of Assyria.  Which is exactly what happened, Damascus (free dictionary) was part of the Assyrian kingdom when the “wrath of YHWH” was brought down on IsraelThe authors go into a little detail about the prophecy of Amos 5:27 and Amos 9:11.  It is quite a stretch of the imagination to make the interpretation fit the verses. But the author’s claim that the “king” is the congregation, the “foundation” is the book of the prophets, and the “star” is the Interpreter of the Law. 

In the Geniza B there is a slight change.  Instead of using Isaiah, this section uses Zechariah.  It turns to the same result.  Those who are righteous will survive, and those who are evil will be given to the sword.

The authors then tell us what can be learned from the fullfullment of these prophecies.  Those that fall for Belial will be destroyed.  Those like the Boundary-Shifters (those who cherry pick the Word of God) will be too sick to be healed, and blaming these sickness on these peoples traitorous practices.  These evil people would bore grudges against his neighbor (we have a few today that do that); they would be indifferent to the suffering of their brothers; they would love money to an extreme; and they would practice fornication.  Man, does this sound like the some of the leaders of the Christian Church’s to you?

The authors then warn about a prophecy from Deut 32:33, where the “snakes” are the kings of the Gentiles and the “wine” is the Gentiles customs, and the “poison of the vipers” is the King of the Greece.  And those who are the Shoddy-Wall-Builders (those who do not have a strong faith in YHWH) will be lead astray. 

The authors insert a paragraph about how YHWH will keep his promises.  But the people of Israel must separate themselves from the unclean, the Gentiles and the Jews who deal with the Gentiles.  But they continue with the warning that it is not the people that YHWH loves, it is that YHWH loved Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that he will remember the covenant with their descendants.  Wouldn’t that just make you feel a warm and cozy inside, knowing that there was nothing you could do to please YHWH?

In the Geniza B transcript the rest of the exhortations are reproduced.  The Geniza A did not have this section.  But Geniza B refines the sect’s outlook on exhortation.  One of the interesting things that crops up in this entire document is that the Messiah does not come from the House of David.  No the authors are quite clear that it will be the “Messiah from Aaron and Israel”.  In fact, Aaron (Jewish Encyclopedia) is from the house of Levi, not Judah (where David comes from).  So of course this sect would not believe in Jesus, he did not fit their understanding of the Messiah.  Remember these men followed the “Sons of Zadok” who were also from the house of Levi.

In the end of the exhortation, the author’s continue with the commandments to separate from those who are “sick of obeying the virtuous rules”.  In other words, anyone who “falls away” should be shunned.  This also sounds so familiar and we can see the similarity here:

Heb 6:4-6 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

The authors predict that 40 years after the death of the Teacher of Righteousness will be a time of wraith from WHYH.  But those who repent would help their brothers during this time of wraith.  At the end of this time the ability to determine the guilty from the innocent would be restored to the people.  Then all the guilty will be punished.

The exhortation ends with a very common sounding prayer:

Geniza B Col 20:28-30 and coming in accordance to the law, always obeying the Teacher and confessing to God as follows:  “We have wickedly sinned, we and our ancestors by living contrary to the covenant laws; and true are Your judgments against us” and do not act arrogantly against His holy laws

Now doesn’t that sound familiar?  Yes, here is a copy almost identical to it, the Sinner’s Prayer (Christian-centered mall).

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