A passage from almost 2,000 years ago still resonates today. Photo by Mick Haupt
Dear Friends,
So much of our focus is on the latest advances in technology and their impact on our future as we rush through our lives.
I want to switch gears for a moment and share with you an ancient Biblical passage that came to light this week in a remarkable way — the result of the latest discovery of Dead Sea Scroll fragments. And the verses’ message seems particularly relevant today.
The fragments, the result of first such discovery in almost 60 years, were found in the Judean Desert by a team of Israeli archaeologists and were on display in Jerusalem this week.
The tiny fragments, some just a few millimeters, are from a scroll believed to be from the period of the Bar Kochba revolt (around 135 CE) and include verses from the prophet Zechariah. According to a New York Times report Wednesday, “experts managed to reconstruct 11 lines of text from Zechariah, including the verses:
“These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to one another; render true and perfect justice in your gates. And do not contrive evil against one another, and do not love perjury, because all of those are things that I hate — declares the Lord.”
To that, I can only add, Amen.
Shabbat shalom, and please keep in touch.
So timely and such a perfect message. The fact that it was just found leads me to think perhaps this is a message from the divine about the importance of these truths for these times.