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- October 17, 2009, 9:10 am: The Book of Secrets
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Archive for October 17, 2009, 9:10 am
The Book of Secrets
October 17, 2009, 9:10 am by dc-agape.
This Scroll starts by claiming to “speak out freely” about various saying, parables, and riddles. The term “speak out freely” is directed to those who are willing to hold fast to what is taught. These include those who are devious, stiff necked, and even the Gentiles. This sounds so familiar, yet we can be certain that it was written nearly a century for Jesus is teachings. Is this not exactly what Jesus did? So the Judaism had forms of religion that were evolving into Christianity.
The next paragraph is so what fragmented but has a very interesting interpretation. It would seem to be saying that there’s only one source for the desire of knowledge. It even uses the words “Light” and “Illumination”. This light and illumination is from the “angels from those we praise”. This seems to indicate that light and illumination come only from YHWH. But it is the origin of knowledge that this paragraph is referring to. Interesting, if applied to Christianity, that wisdom and knowledge are equal and both come from YHWH. How I wish Christians would take this to heart. Knowledge is not evil; knowledge is from the one they worship. In that case, there is nothing wrong with learning new things.
The next paragraph is actually rather simple but in a surprising way. It basically says those that do not learn and from the past will repeat the past. The only way to avoid this cycle is to know “this secret of the way things are.” But what exactly is the secret of the way things are?
The rest of the scroll is devoted to explaining the secret of the way things are. Unfortunately, it starts with a prophecy that has not occurred. It claims that time will come when all evil has been eliminated from this world. We will know when this occurs because there will be no more sin or folly. It claims, it this prophecy, that the end of sin and folly cannot be averted! I certainly can’t wait for that time… But it’s if since this was written over 2000 years ago, the chances of that happening now are very slim.
The next paragraph tells how all cultures space and nations are similar. This similarity is in the rejection of evil, the desire for truth, freedom from its oppression, freedom from theft, and possibly some more that have been fragmented away in time. So the author(s) of this Scroll understood that all humans desire the same thing. They also understood that all of these things cannot be stopped. Evil occurs, falsehood is spread, oppression and theft continue to happen. Even the “righteous” have fallen short of fulfilling these eternal desires. And the reason for this is that the “righteous” have not sought the true secret of the way things are.
Since the wisdom of YHWH is secret, YHWH knows all secrets. Not only does he know them all, but he “stands behind every thought”. The “secret” is that all things are controlled by YHWH. Even the times of our birth, the test of our heart, the limits of our deeds, and the actions of the Gentiles are controlled by YHWH.
So is there more to this secret? From this Scroll the answer seems to be yes. One must understand that the stars, the day, the night the rivers in the seas, the rains, and even the mounds were created for humankind. The most important thing to keep in mind is that humans have the ability to understand knowledge, insight, and great intelligence. The Scroll claims that we were created to pursue true knowledge and wisdom. But YHWH locked this knowledge and wisdom up away from humankind so that we would have to search for it.
The final paragraph comes from a completely different scroll and does not seem to have much to do with the earlier part of the Scroll. It speaks of YHWH having patience, great anger and splendor. It ends by claiming YHWH to be the leader of Israel, honored by the people who are splendid and blessed when the period of wickedness is over.
So to an Atheist reading this Scroll, a few “secrets” are revealed. The first is to learn from the past and not let it be repeated. The second is to learn to go with the flow. It’s everything happens so that humans can survive on this planet. And finally humans should use their ability to understand, their insight, and their ears to learn to knowledge. This Scroll does reveal that even over 2000 years ago humanity had the desire to learn the truth about the world we live in. I just wish that more people, today, had that same desire. Instead, it seems too many people want to remain in the past and not learn from the past.
Posted in The Book of Secrets, Dead Sea Scroll, Readings | Print | 32 Comments »
