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Who were the Essenes?
We have recently had a lot of exposure to a group of people called the Essenes. The majority view at the moment states that they were the people who lived at Wadi Qumran. They are believed to be the owners of the scrolls that were found in the Judean desert. They are also known for the fact that they did not use the lunar calendar but rather a solar calendar. This makes it clear that they did not follow the norm of the Pharisees and Sadducees of their time. Except for these two facts, what else do we know about this group? Did they have truth that we should be aware of? We will also investigate the potential links between Y´Shua and John the Baptist to the Essenes.
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Joshua’s Altar has been found on Mount Ebal
During our latest trip to Israel for the feast of Sukkot, we had the wonderful opportunity to visit Mount Ebal. This is normally impossible as this is part of the “occupied territories” also better known as Samaria (Shomron in Hebrew). Before I continue, let us back up a little. During one of our previous trips, we made another visit to the Shomrom, we visited Elon Moreh on Mount Kabir. In the Bible, Elon Moreh is where YHVH told Abraham, “To your descendants will I give this land†(Genesis 12:6). When we did the view from Mount Kabir to look at Shechem, the tour guide also made a comment regarding the altar of Joshua being found on Mount Ebal. Little did we know then, that exactly a year later we would have the privilege to stand on the other side and look back at Mount Kabir! What made the trip even more special is that we were in the wonderful position to hear it first hand! With this article, I will attempt to give you a brief summary of what I have learned and seen when visiting the site.
