The Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls: The ... - josephprestonkirk

ÉMILE PUECH 271
a “glorified body” known from Zoroastrianism. This Essene conception
clearly presupposes the notion of a new earth, of a new heaven, of a purifying
by fire, which other Qumran passages emphasize.
An identical conception is found in the better preserved Qumran
scrolls, ones unanimously recognized as Essene scrolls, although it is
found in a more diffuse fashion or in passing because no one of these
scrolls in their present state directly deals with this subject.
The Rule of the Community (1QS)
The theme of the Day of the Lord is central to the “Instruction
Concerning the Two Spirits” (1QS col. 3, line 3–col. 4) the composition
of which dates from the second half of the second century B.C. The passage
deals with the rewards of the just and the punishments of the evil
at the time of the Day of the Lord in order to stimulate the conduct to
be followed in the present time where each being and creation are subject
to the influences and domination of the two spirits: the spirit of light
and the spirit of darkness. If the conflictual presence of the two spirits in
the human heart conditions its activity, God has placed a term for the
domination of evil and to that of the evil doer who will be lost forever,
and he will purify and reward the faithful having become just at the time
of the Day of the Lord and of the renewal of creation (4.25).
This expectation of the eschatological Judgment (4.20) ought to determine
the conduct of each member of the community living in the context
of sin. This judgment is then inscribed within a collective eschatology
concerning the history of the world and of humanity along with its
works, not in a purely individual eschatology of an assumptionist type,
nor a belief in the immortality of the soul, as some have imagined. The
description of the rewards and the punishments which can only be post
mortem in relation to the Day of the Lord clearly reflects the words or
themes of Dan 12:2. The reward supposes a return to paradise in a world
purified from sin, from its origin, that is Belial, and from its consequence,
that is, death. Thus all the glory of Adam in Eden is a new promise to
the just. The final hymn (1QS 11) reflects the conception established in
the Hymns: the author knows himself to be mortal and must return to
dust. Nevertheless, God calls his elect to stand before him forever. 31
31. See Puech, La croyance des Esséniens, 426–40.