The Essenes

I had a totally different plan for “E,” but when I went to look up it's literal definition in a Dictionary, I stumbled upon a better Idea.

Precious little was known about the Essenes until the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947, and that was from the Jewish historian Josephus. They were a Judean sect that were disgruntled with how the their faith was being practiced by the majority of their contemporaries. About 200 years before Jesus, they left their society and eventually began a community in Qumran by (you guessed it) the Dead Sea. They were convinced that the Messiah would arrive soon and smite their enemies.

It is theorized that Jesus' missing years were spent among the Essenes, and that they were deliberately not mentioned in the Gospels to protect their privacy. It is also theorized that the Freemasons emerged from the Essenes. Both Jesus and the Freemasons draw heavily from the Old Testament, so these theorists are bound to see connections. This as important point, that where information is lacking, people will project their own pet-theories onto whatever will validate them, especially historic groups.

Among the many scrolls that were found were several copies of the Book of Isaiah. This supports the theory they were early Kabbalists concerned primarily with mystic visions of the Divine Chariot, four heads (a man, an eagle, a bull, and a lion), and a wheel within a wheel. However, the Book of Isaiah also features many prophesies of a coming age of righteousness, which could just as easily explain the multiple copies of the Book.

What we know for sure is that they were an ultra-conservative group, escaping the taint of society. It is possible that they influenced Jesus or the Freemason's, but we must not mistake a good story for history.