General News
21 December, 2025
In good faith
In 1946, in an area in the Negev Desert to the northwest of the Dead Sea, a shepherd boy was looking for a lost sheep.
As boys are prone to do, he picked up a rock and threw it into a cave on a cliff side.
Instead of hearing the dull thud of rock against rock as it landed, the shepherd boy heard the distinct sound of breaking pottery.
He became curious and climbed up to investigate the unexpected sound. What he found were pottery jars containing the first of what we now know as the Dead Sea Scrolls.
These turned out to be a collection of ancient scrolls, including the majority of the Old Testament as well as a number of other books.
The writing of the scrolls has been dated by scientists to around 200BC.
The scrolls were hidden in the caves by an ancient Jewish sect known as the Essenes, who were living in that area.
It is not known with certainty as to why the Essenes actually hid the scrolls, but it is theorised that they may have been hastily concealed as they later fled the approaching Roman army.
When comparison was made between the ancient texts and the modern books of the Bible, they were found to be almost identical, and any differences that were found were minor and had no impact what-so-ever on the meaning of the text, thus laying to rest once and for all the claim of sceptics that the Bible has been altered over the years.
One of the most prominent of the scrolls is now known as ‘the Great Scroll’. It is the book of the prophet Isaiah.
The scroll contains all 66 chapters of the book and is the oldest known authentic copy to have been discovered.
It is thought that Isaiah the prophet wrote his book between the years 739 to 681BC, during the latter half of Israel’s kingdom period, possibly in two sittings.
Isaiah was tasked by God primarily to prophesy to Jerusalem and the Kingdom of Judah, whose leaders had become corrupt and who were rebelling against God, persisting with idolatry and the oppression of the poor.
Isaiah delivered God’s warning that their rebellion would come at a huge cost as God would raise up the armies of Assyria and Babylon against them if they persisted. Indeed, as time went by, that was exactly what happened.
However, Isaiah’s prophecies were not all bad, as he also delivered a message of hope for the future.
Several of the prophecies given by God through Isaiah foretell of the coming of Jesus.
One of the best known of these is in Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel.”
This prophecy of God, given through Isaiah, was fulfilled some 700 years later in the birth of Jesus.
This is confirmed beyond any doubt by none other than the apostle Matthew, who wrote in his gospel around 80-95AD, (Matthew 1:22-23), “All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet:
“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).”
Note that this all took place 200 years after ‘the Great Scroll’ was written, confirming beyond question the genuineness of Gods prophecies through Isaiah.
From the very beginning, since Adam fell, God has had a plan for the salvation of mankind.
The birth, death and resurrection of Jesus was central to that plan, as the means by which eternal salvation can be secured for all who believe in Him.
As we celebrate this Christmas, let us not forget the real reason for the season, that God sent his son Jesus, born as a man and destined to die to take upon Himself the penalty for the sins of all mankind, so that all who repent and accept Him in faith can receive His gift of forgiveness and an eternity in glory with Him.
May I wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a happy new year, and I will see you again next year.