Where Are We Going?

Chapter 1
The Coming of the Messiah
Isaiah 9:2, 40:1-13, 61:10-11

“The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadows of death, upon them hath the light shined”.
The hope for the Coming Messiah, the Anointed-One, has always upheld the people of Israel in times of trouble and suffering. The people of Israel expected the Messiah to be a man of military authority because Israel experienced so many invaders of their country. Judas Maccabeus was high-spirited and patriotic who, with his band of devoted men, drove the Greeks out of Israel. The celebration of Hanukkah retells the story of the purification of the Temple. The oil, supposed to last for one day of purifying the Temple, lasted eight days instead.
The idea of a Messiah, who redeems Israel from its suppressors, has its basis in the books of Ezekiel. He was of priestly lineage and had been deported to Babylon in 587 BC after Judea fell under the rule of the Assyrian King Nebuchadnezzar. Ezekiel prophesied that a prince of the lineage of David would humiliate the Gentiles and bring liberation to the Jews.
Another outstanding figure was Daniel, a Jewish youth being deported to Babylon in 597 BC. He was to become a prophet and a man of great wisdom. The Jews under the oppressive Greek (Seleucid) rule of Antiochus IV Epiphanes (ca. 175-164 BC) suffered severely, and people referred to the Book of Daniel when asking why there was so much suffering. Daniel had encouraged the Jewish exiles in Babylon by announcing the Coming Messiah who would liberate them. He called the Messiah ‘Son of Man’ while the prophet Isaiah described the expected Messiah as a king born of the Royal House of David.

The Dead Sea Scrolls

A Jewish sect, founded in the second century BC, lived in the secluded wilderness at Qumran near the Dead Sea, who called themselves the ‘Essenes’. Jesus and John the Baptist must have been familiar with their way of life and their teachings.
The Essenes were ascetic men of a Jewish sect who rejected worldly involvement, and tried to restore the purity of Jewish teachings. The Greek influence, that had affected the other branches of Judaism, was abhorrent to them as was close contact with the Roman conquerors. The doctrine and practice of their theory was circulating in the last century before the birth of Christ. The community was highly organized and strictly observed the oral and written laws. The aspirants had to prove them worthy and live three years of probation within the community before they were fully admitted. Their lives were almost monastic, and property and homes belonged to the community. The Essenes also performed ritually immersion in water in the morning, and the communal meals were taken in silence.


Some of the Essenes married and lived in towns but the marriage served only to beget offspring. Like the people around them, they believed in demons and diseases caused by evil spirits, and retorted to exorcism. The Essenes believed in the immortality of the soul, and expected the Coming Messiah, who would establish His Kingdom on Earth. Joseph Flavius (37-100 AD) the Jewish historian spent some time in his youth as a member of the Essenes.
In 1947, Bedouin shepherds searching for a lost goat discovered a number of vessels that contained seven ancient scrolls hidden away in 11 separate caves in the Judean dessert. The location of the caves was near Qumran at the north-western side of the Dead Sea. The priceless treasure was sold without anyone knowing it unimaginable value, and occupied their place on the shelves of antique dealers and merchants. After changing hands and spending more time on shelves, they finally reached their destination.
Old Testament scholars were ecstatic at the treasures placed into their care. The scrolls, referred to as the Dead Sea Scrolls, contained over fifty texts from the Old Testament including the entire Book of Isaiah, Psalms, prophesies of Daniel, Ezekiel and Jeremiah, including non-biblical writings. They were written in three languages, Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic, and dated from the periods of 200 BC to 68 AD. Some scholars pointed out that the scrolls may have been part of the Temple library, and were hidden during the Jewish Revolt in the year 70AD.
It was the most important discovery in centuries. Its study grants a glimpse into the early years of Christianity and the Jewish society of the era.
Some of the writings are apocalyptic, and modern scholars regard the source of apocalyptic writings as to the sufferings of mankind, and the questions about the existence of good and evil.
The apocalyptic writer and prophet believed that God would overthrow the powers of darkness in final conflict between them and the powers of light, and afterwards send the Messiah to rule with wisdom and justice. The writer believed that the end of all evil on earth would be eliminated, and the Kingdom of God was imminent (see: Revelation of St. John the Divine).


Chapter 2
The Life of Jesus

Little is known about the early years of Jesus’ life spent with his family in Egypt until the dead of the Jewish King Herod Antipas. The family felt save enough to return and settle down in Nazareth.
Yeshuah’s (Jesus) lineage was of the Royal House of David but his kingdom was not of the earthly dominion which he avoided to explain until to the last days of his life (my kingdom is not of this world). He knew that the idea would be too complex to understand.
Jesus inherited the hope of the people to be the long-awaited Messiah, and a strong military leader who would redeem Israel from the hated Roman yoke. Jesus never claimed to be the ‘worldly’ Messiah. He was a King of the Spirit, the Son of God, co-existing with God since the Beginning (Gospel of John).
Jesus was filled with Divine love for mankind, and tried to comfort them, to heal them and ease the sorrows. First and foremost, he firmly believed that the dawn of the Kingdom of God was upon them, and he was chosen by God to inaugurate it.