Prophecy - Real or Imaginary

May 18, 2009, 7:33 am by dc-agape.

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The Last Words of Levi (Part 4)

The final fragments of this Tractate are disorganized and pretty much meaningless.  Maybe to a PhD in history of the Jewish people it might have some meaning, but I will attempt to get as much out of it as I can.  Seven fragments are all that is left of this section.  Basically, they consist of an admonition, of three prophecies, some words on a righteous teacher, and some Levite texts.

The admonition is, of course, sexual in nature.  This portion, basically, makes an admonitions on the sexually immorality of females that have sex outside of marriage.  It claims that their acts will corrupt the reputation of the woman herself, her brothers, and her father.  It goes so far as to claim that her actions will be a disgrace that will never be erased from all generations.  Here we go again, one person actions will punish future generation for eternity.  What a loving YHWH we have!  It just makes you want to follow this monster and praise his monstrosity.

Three prophecies still exist, but one thing must be taken into account…this Tractate was written when the prophecies were taking place.  So they really are not prophecy.  The authors of these Tractates (all the Last Words of…) claim that the true author was the patriarch, but in reality these Tractates are written during the “future” well after the patriarch died.  They have no prophetic ability.  This of course, leads someone of my persuasion (an Atheist) to wonder about all the Books of the Word of God.  Are any of the prophecies written before they occur, or are they taken out of context…like so many from the New Testament? 

The first prophecy is worse than anything you see today.  It claims that Levi’s sons will walk in light to begin with but darkness will grow in their thoughts.  This will lead them to leave the “ways of truth”.  When the darkness completely overtakes them they will be handed over…and that is where the Tractate breaks apart.  We know many times the Israelites were handed over to oppressors, so this prophecy is nothing new.  We know that each time the “prophets” claimed it was because the people had strayed from the ways of YHWH.  At the same time we know that the “oppressors” were powerful kingdoms that took decades, if not centuries, to become as powerful as they were.  We also know that these “oppressors” had to struggle to become the powerhouses that they were.  No supernatural events occurred to make the “oppressors” what they were.  None of the “oppressors” appeared out of the mists, magically created by YHWH to punish his people for their sins.  What is amazing is that the Israelite people banded together and stayed united through each of these events. 

The second “prophecy” is even more vague than the first.  This one claims that tribulation will return.  In this one, the people will be deprived of their possessions and their homes.  Again, these events have nothing supernatural about them.  The authors of the Tractate are using past events to claim their hero is having prophecies.

The third “prophecy” is completely fragmented.  It is the longest of the three, but not one sentence is complete.  If anything it is an opening to the concept of the righteous teacher that will come in the future.  Little else can be gleaned from it.

The next two fragments talk about a great teacher, almost someone like Jesus, but not quite.  The authors do say that this teacher will make atonement for the sins of his generation, but they do not claim that he will be a blood sacrifice.  He will teach all “children of his people” and they will learn from him.  The darkness that covers the world will be removed and the sun will shine again.  But there will be people who speak against him.  While he is in office (yes they believe he will be a leader, not an outcast), many will lie, go astray, and be confounded.  But he will reveal wisdom to some.  This is where the fragment again is lost and the end is unknown.  Who is chosen, why are they chosen, what happens to the great teacher?  These questions are not answered.  You could certainly make a case that this great teacher that is spoken about was Jesus.  But that would be jumping to conclusions that just cannot be justified.  Every generation has been vile and perverse from YHWH perspective.  These authors had another great teacher in mind as well, who came a century before Jesus (one that existed when these Tractates were written).  And the fragments are too incomplete to fully make any decision about their meaning.

The final fragment speaks of a future where the sons of Levi are upright and full of wisdom.  This will happen because they keep the revelations that YHWH has given them.  By keeping them the authors are telling future readers not to change the words of these Tractates, and to study them deeply.  By doing these things, the reader will live in the light of the world and never be disowned.

It is a shame that such documents were not kept by the ruling religious leaders.  Obviously other documents (the Old Testament) were more to the liking of the leading religious leaders of the time.  But reading these fragments only makes an Atheist wonder.  How much of the Old Testament was identical to these Tractates?  How many of the Books of the Old Testament were written after the events they “prophesied”?  How many were written to encourage a small group of people to stay firm in their beliefs?  Were any of them truly inspired by YHWH or were they just documents that unified a people, and got those people through the hard times of oppression and gave them hope of a better future?

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