Since the last of the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1956, there have been no major Biblical writings found in the area. A few scraps were found in the 1990s near Jericho, but the treasure trove found in the Qumran Caves of the Judaean Desert seemed to have been completely exhausted. That changed when the Israel Antiquities Authority announced last week that they had uncovered more scroll fragments as well as other archaeological treasures in the “Cave of Horrors.”
Fragments of two verses from the Old Testament were discovered. These were the first among the Dead Sea Scrolls to have been written in ancient Greek; all previous discoveries were written in ancient Hebrew or Aramaic. According to Christianity Today:
Beginning in 2017, its researchers uncovered two dozen scroll pieces, each measuring only a few centimeters across, from the so-called Cave of Horror near the western shore of the Dead Sea. It’s a site where insurgents were believed to have hidden during the uprising led by Simon bar Kokhba against the Roman empire in A.D. 133–136. It gets its name from the discovery of 40 bodies during initial excavations decades before.
One of the most compelling bits of news to come out of this discovery has been largely ignored by news outlets, even Christian and Jewish publications. The two verses represented by the fragments found in the “Cave of Horrors” are conspicuously relevant for those who believe we are in or entering the Biblical end times. Christianity Today continues:
The job of reconstructing the original document is akin to trying to assemble a thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle with only a handful of pieces. The largest fragment contains portions of Zechariah 8:16–17, and some smaller bits are identified as Nahum 1:5–6. These pieces appear to be connected to other previously discovered fragments from the same cave along the ancient gorge of Nahal Hever and were part of a single large scroll including all of the minor prophets.
These are the things which you shall do: speak the truth to one another; judge with truth and judgment for peace at your gates. Also let none of you devise evil in your heart against another, and do not love perjury; for all these things are what I hate,’ declares the Lord. – Zechariah 8:16-17 (NASB)
Mountains quake because of Him, And the hills come apart; Indeed the earth is upheaved by His presence, The world and all the inhabitants in it. Who can stand before His indignation? Who can endure the burning of His anger? His wrath gushes forth like fire, And the rocks are broken up by Him. – Nahum 1:5-6 (NASB)
Read into the meaning of these two verses as you will.
We are living in amazing times. Truths are being revealed just as lies are spreading across the globe. Those who are aware of the presence of deception would do well to latch onto every bit of truth we are presented.
