"Pieces of papyrus sold as rare fragments of Dead Sea Scrolls to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary a decade ago are 'likely fraudulent' and the seminary might seek financial restitution, the school announced in a statement Monday (April 6)." - BPNews
"A team of independent investigators has found that the 16 alleged Dead Sea Scroll fragments at the Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C. are forgeries. On March 13, Art Fraud Insights released a report over 200 pages long that it completed at the request of the Bible museum." - CLeaders
"The Museum of the Bible said Monday that five of its 16 famous Dead Sea Scrolls fragments are fake. ... The fragments will no longer be displayed at the museum." - NPR
"A message from one of the last two untranslated Dead Sea Scrolls may contain a clue to help Bible scholars reconstruct the chronology of Jesus' final week on earth." BPNews
"Professor Jonathan Ben-Dov and Dr. Eshbal Ratson of Haifa University pieced together disparate scroll sections over one year to decipher their composite meaning." WRN
The men of Qumran fervently believed in a doctrine of the “last days.” They had fled to the desert and were readying themselves for the imminent judgment when their enemies would be vanquished and they, God’s elect, would be given final victory in accordance with the predictions of the prophets. It was in connection with these end-time events that one of the most fascinating teachings of the sect emerges. The messianic hope loomed large in the thought of the brotherhood. As a matter of fact, evidence shows that they actually believed in three messiahs—one a prophet, the second a priest, and the third a king or prince.
In the document mentioned earlier called the Manual of Discipline or the Rule of the Community, it is laid down that the faithful should continue to live under the rule “until the coming of a prophet and the anointed ones (messiahs) of Aaron and Israel” (column 9, line 11). These three figures would appear to usher in the age for which the community was making preparation.
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