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

44 QUMRAN AND THE ENOCH GROUPS
THE FORMATIVE AGE
The Enochians viewed the Maccabean crisis as the last chapter of the
degenerative process initiated by the angelic sin and joined the coalition of
groups who supported the Maccabees. 21 The book of Dream Visions (1 Enoch
83–90) depicts what we could call the strange case of a genetic disease that
has changed and continues to change the nature of humankind, each generation
being inferior to the previous one. Nobody is spared: in the
metaphorical world of the Animal Apocalypse (1 Enoch 85–90), even the Jews,
who are the noblest part of humankind, at first described as “cows,” over
time become “sheep.” Only at the end of time will God purify the universe
by fire and restore the original goodness of creation.
In the detailed description of the history of Israel, most striking is the
methodical polemic against the tenets of Zadokite Judaism. The text in
detail describes the exodus from Egypt and the march through the
desert, including Moses’ ascent of Mount Sinai (1 En. 89:29–33). It follows
the narrative of the Mosaic Torah step by step, but makes no reference
to the covenant, simply ignoring it. As for the Temple, its
construction under Solomon is emphatically evoked (1 En. 89:36, 50), but
the entire history of Israel in the postexilic period unfolds under demonic
influence (“the seventy shepherds” of 1 En. 89:59–72.), until God comes
to the earth and inaugurates the new creation. In an era of corruption and
decline, the Zadokite Temple is no exception; it is a contaminated
sanctuary (“all the bread which was upon it was polluted and impure,” 1
En. 89:73). The profaning action of Menelaus and Antiochus IV adds
nothing to an already compromised situation, and as a result it is not even
mentioned. At the time of the judgment, the city of the Temple (“the
ancient house”) will be devoured by the same purifying fire of Gehenna
into which the wicked are thrown. In its place God will build a “new
house,” in which all the elect will be reunited. “Then I went on seeing until
that ancient house caught [fire].…The Lord of the sheep brought about a
new house, greater and loftier than the first one.…All the sheep were
within it.…And the Lord of the sheep rejoiced with great joy because they
had all become gentle and returned to his house” (1 En. 90:28–33).
In line with the early Enochic concept of evil, Dream Visions did not set
clear boundaries to separate the chosen from the wicked. Evil and
impurity affect all human beings, including the Jews. Salvation also is not
21. Gabriele Boccaccini, “Daniel and the Dream Visions: The Genre of Apocalyptic
and the Apocalyptic Tradition,” in her book, Middle Judaism: Jewish Thought, 300
B.C.E. to 200 C.E. (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1991), 126–60.