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At this point, we meet the earliest extant writing of the Essene movement which may be described as a revelation; it consists of Chapters 1-37 of Enoch. This was certainly written later than The Damascus Document, but it must have preceded the Maccabean revolt; it was, therefore, composed between 172 and 168 B.C.E. In all likelihood it was the primary scripture produced by the Covenanters during their desert-exile. It teems with ideology conforming to the exhortatory portion of The Damascus Document; yet represents a definite advance in theology and philosophic concepts.
We should note first that Enoch consists of some 40,000 words and five distinct compositions, written over a period of approximately a hundred years. In 1913, the great English scholar, Canon R. H. Charles, published his definitive edition of the work, together with a remarkable analysis, in which he divided it correctly into its sections, which he dated with uncanny accuracy. His achievement would have been complete had he realized that this was one of the major scriptures of the Essene cult.
The work was so highly regarded among various early Christian communions that they almost adopted it as their own. It is significant that Celsus, in his True Discourse, an attack upon Christianity written about 175 A.D., refers to Enoch as an authoritative Christian scripture (Origen, Contra Celsum, V, lix); and, what is even more significant, Origen declares that it circulated freely and widely among the Christian churches as a highly valued if not an entirely canonical revelation (Ibid.; De Principiis, I, iii, 3). However, as the Catholic sector of early Christianity became more and more dominant, Enoch fell under the proscription of the Church Fathers; and by the sixth or seventh century, it dropped from sight.
The earliest portion of Enoch opens with a blessing of the ancient revealer upon "the elect and righteous, who will be living in the day of tribulation, when all the wicked and the godless are to be removed" (Enoch I). The dreadful day is fast approaching when (as in the Christian Gospels).
"The Holy Great One . . . will tread upon the earth . . . And all shall be smitten with fear, And the Watchers shall quake...And there shall be judgment upon all men. But with the righteous he shall make peace, And will protect the elect....And they shall all belong to God.....And behold! He cometh with ten thousand of His holy ones, To execute judgment upon all And to destroy the ungodly: And to convict all flesh Of all the works of their ungodliness...." (Ibid.).
The final lines of this apostrophe reappear in Jude 1:14-15:
Jude 1:14-15
14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
Also Jude 1:6 states:
Jude 1:6
6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
As taken from the New Testament, the book of Jude, verse 6, we find reproduced a favorite concept of Enoch by declaring that the fallen angels "which kept not their first estate . . . he bath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day."
Answer for yourself: What have we learned so far? First of all, the heavy influence of Essene theology on the early Messianic community let alone the New Testament. This should begin to open your eyes that the New Testament has many "Essenic beliefs" scattered among it which the uninformed reader assumes is God breathed; never knowing that these Essenes derived much of their theology from pagan sun-worship. That means Christianity is in a lot of ways only another manifestation of sun-worship; and they don't know it because they have never studied this out. They read and accept doctrines as "Divine revelation" when it can be shown to be nothing more than what God commanded His children not to do or not to believe in.
As we get back to Enoch, after admonishing the reader to observe the regularity of the seasons, the prophet proclaims that only the elect "shall inherit the earth":
"And their lives shall be increased in peace, And the years of their joy shall be multiplied, In eternal gladness and peace...." (Ibid., v).
As you know, if you are one of our regular readers of our articles, we have documented beyond any reasonable doubt how the Essenes of Jesus' day had evolved from what began as a righteous separatist movement from a corrupt Temple Priesthood in 170 B.C.E. to a mixture of Pythagorean-Buddhist-Zoroastrian cult. This escapes the casual reader or student who only looks to Pliny, Philo, or Josephus for their information on the Essenes. What is of importance for our studies is that in this "Essenic Evolution" we have the alteration of Messianic beliefs; what began as a Davidic anointed one to come, who would fulfill the prophecies of Moses and the Prophets, we end up with an Angel-Messiah which is the culmination of sun-worship as filtered down through almost all world religions and which found its ultimate expression through the Pythagorean religious synthesis. This was the beliefs held by the Essenes as they again filtered such pagan notions though the remnants of Judaism which had yet held onto in the wake of their rejection as "priests" since the Hasmonean Dynasty. This means that their "oral traditions" concerning their Messiah of Aaron and their Messiah of Israel had picked up along the say vestiges of sun-myths which were created by prior personifications of the sun. These "messianic beliefs" were to be mixed with expected Davidic messianic beliefs in the first century; especially after the crucifixion of Jesus who many believed was the Messiah. Because of the strong Essene influence in Alexandria, Egypt, as well as in Palestine in these tumultuous messianic hysteria of the first century, many how saw no way out of the calamity enforced upon them by Rome looked no longer to notions of a human-Davidic anointed who would lead them to freedom and salvation, but saw that their only help was if God was to deliver them Himself and it was in the Essenic concept of their incarnated Angel-Messiah this would come. Thus those who would emerge from this terrible time were to emerge with hopes of an Angel-Messianic incarnated godman. These hopes and fears were later to be recorded and such "beliefs" would end un in the New Testament much later along with Davidic beliefs. As Christians we end up with a collage when reading the New Testament; we read of concepts taken from the Jewish Scriptures regarding the "anointed" to come as well as concepts derived straight from "sun-worship" and never know it! Such concepts as derived from sun-worship renders the believer an "idolater" and he never knows it; all the while thinking that such "revelation in the New Testament" has come from God. Nothing could be further from the truth.
In this article I will share with you the most important document used by the Essenes, the Book of Enoch, and I will trace the evolution of the sect along with their religious beliefs, especially those affecting the alteration of the Messianic concept. Then, and only, then, as you read our web-site and begin your own investigation, will you be able to see these facts for yourself and understand how the New Testament misrepresents Jesus so terribly.
As we progress in our study we will discover that the Essenes of the first century looked more like Pythagoreans, Buddhists, and Zoroastrians than Jews. This will be make quite evident as we look at the religious beliefs of the Essenes as we encounter their documents preserved for us today.
The doctrine of the elect and reprobate, unknown in orthodox Judaism, was one of the principal Zoroastrian elements in the Chasid-Essene system from the beginning. The Essenes, being a rejected Zadok priesthood by the Hasmoneans since the victory over Antiochus Epiphanies following the Maccabean war, this should be easy to understand how such "beliefs" would have begun. You might call this "sour-grapes" theology. According to the Essenes, the elect (the Essene brotherhood) are the saints chosen by God for eternal glory before the foundation of the world; their predestined perfection is manifested by their repudiation of sin in all its forms. During the present dispensation, while Beliar (evil) rules the earth, the wicked prosper and the good suffer every manner of injustice. But soon comes the Great Judgment, when the wicked (those in power and who held their position and all who follow in their ways) will be plunged into eternal torment and the saints will possess the earth in everlasting peace and plenty.
This earliest portion of Enoch purports to be a vision of Enoch describing a remote future, which was to be the last age and was actually in which the real author lived. It is the most primitive of all extant Jewish documents permeated by Zoroastrianism, and it is certainly older than the second half of Daniel. There is no Messiah or supernatural agency separate from God Himself, who is called the Holy Great One or the Great Glory. The author is filled with wrath against the wicked and unrighteous who seem to be simply the Jewish ruling class. The Watchers, that is, the evil angels who introduced luxuries and weapons of war among men, are sentenced to everlasting torture; and their leaders, Semjaza, is bound in chains and cast into eternal hell-fire. The righteous Elect are shortly to be established as the perpetual rulers in the Messianic Kingdom. God Himself will appear upon earth to conduct the last judgment and to institute His government amidst disturbances of nature.
In chapters 6 through 11, Enoch digresses into a detailed exposition concerning the Watchers. Genesis 6:1-4 states tersely that the sons of God took, from among the children of men, wives, who bore them offspring who became mighty men. On this slender foundation, the writer of Enoch builds a complex superstructure which accounts not only for the origin of evil but also for the arts and sciences. "Enoch," or whoever wrote this, engrafts upon the Mosaic story, an ancient Zoroastrian myth, according to which demons came upon the earth, allied themselves with women, and filled the human race with moral degeneracy. Understand the origin of this myth is not to be found in Judaism, but Judaism often "borrowed" legends and myths" from its neighbors or captors and used them for their own. This is a prime example.
We learn that two hundred of the heavenly angels under the leadership of Azazel and Semjaza defiled themselves with the daughters of men and taught mankind every form of evil, especially the techniques of war, so that they went astray and cried for help as they perished (Enoch, vi-viii). In response, the Most High sent the chief archangels (Ibid., x) to warn Noah of the approaching deluge (Ibid.).
The prophet now announces the damnation of the Watchers and all the sinners of the earth: the Lord commands Raphael [one of the seven archangels or Ameshaspentas appropriated from Persian angelology] to "Bind Azazel" (the Ahriman of Zoroastrian demonology) [Dinkard, IX, xxi, 10-11; Bundahis, XXX, 29-30) "hand and foot and cast him into the darkness. . . . And the Lord said to Michael: 'Go, bind Semjaza and his associates who have united themselves with women . . . bind them fast for seventy generations.... till the day of their judgment and of their consummation....'" (Enoch x). We may assume that the period of seventy generations was about to expire in 170 B. C. Raphael was to bind Azazel, that is Satan or the devil, "hand and foot, and cast him into the darkness...one the day of the great judgment, he shall be cast into the fire" (Enoch, x). This is precisely as happens in Zoroastrianism and in the Christian's book of Revelation. It is very important to note that the Satan or devil-complex is COMPLETELY ABSENT in the purely Jewish Scriptures, since they were based on Semitic ideology, which was entirely devoid of metaphysical dualism.
Answer for yourself: Do you see the similarity with the book of Revelation (again another books highly influenced by Zoroastrianism)?
Something else you need to notice as well look at the evolution of Essene religious beliefs in their almost total rejection of Judaism over 200 years. Early Essenism was untinged by Pythagorean philosophy at this early date by the fact that early Enoch teaches the philosophy of "begetting thousands of children." The Essenes will evolve into a celibate sect in the day of Jesus. Something changed! In Judaism, the first commandment in the Torah is to multiply and have families. Again, we see the rejection of Judaism and the Torah by these Essene Pythagoreans in the first century.
God, we are told, will "destroy all wrong from the face of the earth and.... righteousness and truth ... shall be planted in thousands of children . . . and their old age shall they complete in peace" (Enoch, x). Then would be established the universal kingdom of the saints, modeled upon that of the Great Soshans (Bundahis, XXX, 26, 33): "And all the children of men shall become righteous, and all nations shall.... worship Me” (Enoch, x).
And so the evil spirits, the Watchers, and all the Children of Darkness are at last lodged securely in underground prisons; and the elect are in possession of the earth and the fullness thereof in perpetuity. And note that at this time, the proto-Essenes expected to have sufficient vigor and longevity to become the parents of thousands of children. Blessed are the holy (who in due course became the meek and the poor), for they shall inherit the world and all that is therein.
Enoch is taken up to heaven in the manner of Zoroaster, who stood seven times before the throne of Ahura-Mazda (Ibid., xiv). The Holy Great One declares that the Watchers "were formerly spiritual, living the eternal life, and immortal . . ." But "now," because they united themselves with the daughters of men, "evil spirits.... have proceeded from their bodies ... and evil spirits shall they be called" (Ibid, xvi).
Enoch learns many secrets which reflect a mixture of Greek mythology and Zoroastrian doctrine. Uriel points out a fiery abyss where the Watchers will be confined (Ibid., xix); and another horrible place, where "a great fire ... burnt and blazed . . .(Ibid., xxi). Rafael then conducts Enoch to a vantage point where three hollows in the earth are visible, in which the spirits of all who die are kept until the time of judgment; these are simply an adaptation of the Zoroastrian hell, purgatory, and paradise, where all souls remain until the coming of the Soshans (Ibid). It is indeed interesting to note that during this phase of their development the Essenes believed in purgatory; that is, in three places where the spirits of the dead would remain until the consummation or resurrection. In those portions of Enoch written between 105 B.C.E. and 70 B.C.E. (chapters 91-105, 37-81) there is no purgatory: all souls there go either to paradise forever or to an eternal hell. This mature eschatology, adopted precisely by Synoptic Christianity, is another original Essene contribution to world-religion. We note from Second Maccabees, XII 43-45, completed about 30 B. C., that its author, a Pharisee, still believed in purgatory, a fact concerning the Pharisees confirmed by Josephus as late as 90 A.D. (Anti., 4. XVIII i 3).
In the New Testament, the Son of Man declares that he will send the wicked to the hell prepared for the devil and his angels. Again notice the strong influence in the New Testament as found in Matthew 25:41:
Matt 25:41
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
The Zoroastrian influence becomes more and more apparent: the saints of Enoch are to be immortalized by eating of the tree of life: "Its fruit shall be for food for the elect.... And they shall live long lives on earth, Such as their fathers lived' " (Enoch, xxi). The saints, then, could attain an age such as that which Methuselah and Adam had enjoyed when the world was young.
Enoch is conducted by the archangels Uriel and Raphael to the end of the universe, where he finds that souls are kept in three "hollow places," under the earth (Enoch, xviii). This is a re-creation of the Zoroastrian concept according to which the righteous, the wicked, and the neutral souls remain in separate and appropriate regions within the earth until the judgment day.
We also again find the Eucharist. There is a blending of the Persian and Babylonian-Myths in Enoch, xxv. At the Zoroastrian judgment, as in the Mithraic, immortality is to be conferred upon the purified souls by the administration of a last Eucharist; and we find that a similar result is to be achieved by Enoch by eating of the tree of life, the fruit of which was forbidden in the Garden of Eden. Thus the Zoroastrian Haoma is identified with the Genesis concept.
All this is indeed a far cry from the Essenism of a century later: but it is also separated by an even wider gulf from conventional Judaism. The oldest part of the book of Enoch proclaims very nearly the whole array of Zoroastrian eschatology; it transforms the Jewish Yahweh into a likeness of Ahura Mazda; it proclaims the doctrine of the elect and the reprobate; it fills the world with demons who infest every facet of human existence; and it predicts the Messiah of moral judgment.
Now let us contrast this with the very earliest of all Essene documents; the Damascus Document. In The Damascus Document the professed ideal was the practice of a purified Judaism; it seems, therefore, that Essene thinking underwent a rapid and drastic evolution in which orthodox Judaism was fading far into the background, replaced by the flaming gospel of immediate and everlasting glory for the elect and eternal or at least temporary torture for all the remainder of mankind. Two or three generations later, there would be no purgatory, no second chance: redemption would be reserved for the saints alone, and no one else would escape everlasting damnation and torture.
We may say that, as a revealed and independent religion, Essenism came to birth in the desert near Damascus.