Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered - The Preterist Archive

there is also a reference to 'the priests of Jerusalem' - cf. Habakkuk Pesher,ix.4-5: 'the last priests of
Jerusalem' - and once again a reference to 'the Angels of Mastemoth', the Satan or Belial we
encountered in the Angels of Mastemoth and the Rule of Belial text above. Because of these references
and the first person quality of both narratives, it is likely these two texts either belong generically
together or are part of the same document.
These references to an Era of Wickedness dominated by 'the Angels of Mastemoth' and to both a
'blasphemous king' and a 'son of Belial' increases these connections and the portentous quality of the
text. It has been claimed that allusions from Second Ezekiel reappear in the Epistle of Barnabas, a
second-century work brimming with the same kinds of references as this collection. The Epistle of
Barnabas is so full of allusions like 'the Way of Light', 'the Way of Darkness', 'the Way of Holiness',
'the Way of death', 'keeping the Law', 'Righteousness', 'the Last judgement', 'uncircumcized heart' and
'the Dark Lord' (paralleling both Belial and mastema above) that is would be difficult not to find
parallels.