THE TIME IS FULFILLED

Ruins at Qumran and some of the cliffs where caves were found that contained the Dead Sea Scrolls.

"Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for you people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy" (Daniel 9:24).

The Essenes lived at Qumran from, roughly, 200 B.C. until after the time of Christ. The Essenes were a strict, conservative sect of the Jews who understood one of their purposes was the preservation of Scripture and some other ancient writings. That is how the Dead-Sea Scrolls came into being. Scriptures were copied and then sealed in clay jars and hidden in caves. It is because of their work that the integrity of Old Testament Scripture has been immensely strengthened. The Dead-Sea Scrolls contain fragments of every Old Testament book but Esther. The most popular Old Testament book for the Essenes was the book of Daniel. More fragments of it were found than any other. It is because of the Dead-Sea Scrolls that we know that Daniel was written when the author said it was, early, and not when the liberals said it was, late.

Because of the work of the Essenes, we know that the reason for the huge amount of Messianic expectation during the time of Christ was not the result of the occupation of the Holy Land by Roman forces, but the result of many Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament, particularly those of the prophet Daniel. Daniel's "70 Weeks" prophecy was datable. The scholars of 2,000 years ago could count. They knew that their time fell within the time frame of Daniel's prophecy. They knew their time was the time to expect the Messiah. It is for this reason that there were quite a few people like Simeon and Anna who waited in the Temple night and day worshipping and watching for the Lord's Messiah (Luke 2:25-38). And, it was for this same reason that our Lord Jesus came saying, "The time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand" (Mark 1:14-15).

God has not been so definite about the timing of the second coming of the Messiah as He was about the timing of the first coming. At any moment we could be called to stand before the Lord. Are you ready?

Grace&Peace,

Tom

p.s. I do believe that there are some very general signs of the Lord Jesus' second coming. I will talk about them, the Lord willing, in the future.