The Great Isaiah Scroll

Intro

On June 1st, 1954, a desperate Archbishop posted a small classified ad in the Wall Street Journal that read: “The Four Dead Sea Scrolls... an ideal gift to an educational or religious institution.” This ad would reveal an ancient treasure, long-buried near the Dead Sea, and substantiate the prophetic messages from a man who lived over 2,700 years earlier. The words written on these scrolls were no ordinary words, for they had foretold the future in razor-sharp clarity and contained promises yet to come to pass.

The Prophet

The prophet’s name was Isaiah, a man from the Southern Kingdom of Judah, called by God during the burial gathering of King Uzziah in 742 BC. Although Isaiah’s name in Hebrew is Yesha’yahu, which means “God is Salvation,” Isaiah was to deliver a bitter message to the people of Jerusalem. His message was clear; Swift judgment would come upon God’s chosen people who turned their backs on God through an invasive army from the North that would utterly destroy their heavily fortified and prosperous city. 

Jerusalem did fall to the Babylonian army in 587 BC, but, fortunately for the Jewish people, this wasn’t the only message Isaiah was to share — God had promised a plan of restoration and blessing for “all the families of the earth.” Oddly enough, this blessing would come through a suffering servant, one “born of a virgin” who will be called “Immanuel,” which means “God with us.” 

The 52nd chapter of Isaiah’s messages presents the details of this Savior in undeniable detail: “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds, we are healed.”

700 years after this prophetic announcement, a Jewish man born in Bethlehem would enter a synagog and read from the ancient scroll of Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” I The man, named Jesus, rolled up the scroll, sat down, and said to those in attendance, “Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

The Prophecy

A prophet’s role in the Old Testament was to faithfully deliver God’s word to his people. These messages came as warnings, instruction, and foretold future revelations, declaring would God do in the time to come. Isaiah’s messages were direct, specific, and foretold of a future destiny for all humanity. The fulfillment of Isaiah’s messages provides credibility to the authenticity of the Holy Scripture and assures messages yet to be fulfilled. But were these writings to be trusted?

Skeptics of the Christian faith would challenge the prophetic messages in Isaiah. Why? The Book of Isaiah, especially chapters 52-54, contains highly-descriptive events concerning the coming of a “suffering Messiah.” Critics believed that zealous Christians, eager to write Christ into the Old Testament, added to Isaiah’s prophecy after Christ was crucified. 

The 2,000-year-old discovery of The Great Isaiah Scroll proved that modern-day translations of the book were historically reliable and accurate. 

The Story

In 1946 two Bedouin shepherd boys working along the North-Eastern part of the Dead Sea — in a place called Qumran in modern-day Israel — searched for their lost goats. In an attempt to find their stray animals, they threw a stone in an opening high up on the limestone mountainside and heard the odd sound of pottery shattering. Intrigued by the noise, the boys ascended up the steep rocky slope into the cave and discovered various clay pots. This would lead to what many consider the most significant archeological discovery of the 20th century. 

Clay vessels in the cave revealed a variety of tightly-bound, linen-wrapped scrolls that were over 2,000 years old. One scroll, a 24-foot long manuscript, written on 17 sheets of sewn-together animal hide, proved to be the oldest known biblical document in the world. Carbon dating placed this artifact from 341-114 BCE. This scroll became known as The Great Isaiah Scroll and proved to be 1,000 years older than any other known written book of the Old Testament. This finding led archeologists to explore eleven more caves nearby and discover thousands of additional scroll fragments and relics. Although explorers would uncover all but one of the Old Testament’s 39 books, The Great Isaiah Scroll was of monumental importance for the modern-day Christian. 

Before 1950, skeptics of the Christian faith would challenge the authenticity of the Bible, especially the prophetic messages in Isaiah. Why? The Book of Isaiah, especially chapters 52-54, contains highly-descriptive events concerning the coming of a “suffering Messiah.” Critics believed that zealous Christians, eager to write Christ into the Old Testament, added to Isaiah’s prophecy after Christ was crucified. The 2,000-year-old discovery of The Great Isaiah Scroll proved that modern-day translations of the book were historically reliable. 

Conclusion

The surprisingly discovered of The Great Isaiah Scroll in the 1940s by two shepherd boys in the small area of Qumran had a significant impact. These 2,000-year-old relics proved the historical accuracy of the modern-day Old Testament scriptures and silenced the skeptics who refuted the authenticity of Isiah’s prophecies. The Great Isaiah Scroll, written 100’s of years before Jesus was born, is still considered the most significant archeological discovery of the 20th century.