[For the sake of my posting schedule and your time, I am posting segments of Chapter 2 as I write them. If you have any suggestions or comments, reach out through my contact form. To read everything released so far, visit the Satan and Spiritual Warfare page.]
Second Temple Jewish Thought (300 BC – 100 AD)
Egyptian, Mesopotamian, and Persian religions grew up alongside Israel as we follow God’s chosen people throughout the Old Testament. God frequently protected and corrected them from adopting the worldviews of the surrounding people, at least for long periods. However, nearly 400 years passed between the last writing of the Old Testament (Malachi) and the beginning of Christ’s ministry. Jewish writing from this gap, often called the “Second Temple Period,” reflects dualism’s rising influence on Israel’s worldview once God ceased speaking through His prophets.
This evolving worldview is reflected in many Jewish texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls, Apocrypha, and Pseudepigrapha. These documents can confuse Christians with little or no familiarity with them. They read similarly to the inspired word of God yet are inventions of man. Should they be embraced, rejected, or something else?
It’s valuable to treat these extra-biblical texts for what they are: human documents that provide valuable insight into how these historical people thought about the world around them. We can think of them in the same way people in the future will look at modern media to understand what sections of 21st-century Christians believe. No, these texts don’t have the same authority as the Bible. However, they offer us a valuable glimpse into the lives of ancient Jews. Their cultural background, mixed with biblical ideas, shaped how they saw the world and understood Scripture.
To that end, we must remember the context in which many Jews were writing. Although Israel had always faced hostility from the world, they were weakened and scattered among the nations at this time. Ethnic Jews faced political persecution as individuals rather than as a unified nation. The question of how their God could allow this without punishment for their persecutors was important. The rising belief in a single, powerful being who was responsible for evil seems to be how Second Temple Jews, influenced by dualism, rationalized the existence of evil without compromising their view of a God who is only good and cannot participate in suffering.
We can best see this dualistic worldview in one particular sect of Jews from that time.
Essenes, Qumran, and the Dead Sea Scrolls
When persecution began under King Antiochus Epiphanes in 167 BC, Jews splintered into three factions. Christians are likely familiar with the Sadducees, who responded to the Greek king’s persecution by embracing Greek culture, and the Pharisees, who rejected pagan rule by clinging (a little too) tightly to the Old Testament Law. Historians give us insight into a third group not mentioned in the Bible: the Essenes.
Based on what we can piece together from their writings, the Essenes were Jews who had especially embraced dualism and believed that evil forces were conquering the world. This community isolated itself at a place called “Qumran” in the Dead Sea region, dedicating itself to religious study and producing a fascinating collection of writings that display this dualistic worldview. These writings allow us to see the early development of an evil figure who is a more personal and powerful enemy responsible for individual temptation and suffering as he leads the forces of darkness against the forces of light.
We won’t look at each document this group wrote nor every example of dualism in a particular text. Instead, it will be helpful to take a quick sweep through some of the more blatant examples to show how the outside influence of dualism was slowly starting to worm its way into biblical thought and interpretation.
The Community Rule
A document called “The Community Rule” best summarizes the theology that drove this Jewish community. This text, as the name may suggest, explained what the group believed and practiced. In a section called “The Doctrine of the Two Spirits,” we find one of the clearest examples of dualism’s early impacts on Jewish thought.
He has created man to govern the world, and has appointed for him two spirits in which to walk until the time of His visitation: the spirits of truth and injustice. Those born of truth spring from a fountain of light, but those born of injustice spring from a source of darkness. All the children of righteousness are ruled by the Prince of Light and walk in the ways of light, but all the children of injustice are ruled by the Angel of Darkness and walk in the ways of darkness.
The Angel of Darkness leads all the children of righteousness astray, and until his end, all their sin, iniquities, wickedness, and all their unlawful deeds are caused by his dominion in accordance with the mysteries of God. Every one of their chastisements, and every one of the seasons of their distress, shall be brought about by the rule of his persecution; for all his allotted spirits seek the overthrow of the sons of light. (Community Rule)
Nowhere in the Qumran writings will we see a complete embrace of dualism that teaches there is an evil being that is equal to God. However, choosing between obedience to one of two spirits sets the course of much of what this community wrote. Though they portray God as wholly unique, the good and evil spirits waging war against us are far more evenly matched.
In The Community Rule, the Angel of Darkness is blamed for “sin, iniquities, wickedness, and all their unlawful deeds,” as though humans are born neutral and choose the wrong spirit to follow. Even if humans are still held responsible for following the wrong spirit, we see hints of a desire to share the blame for our wickedness with an angel sitting on our shoulders, compelling us toward evil. Though we’ll see other adversarial characters appear in the texts, they all share a similar function of opposing good spirits by directly tempting or oppressing humans.
Keep this dualistic belief in mind while examining the Essenes’ other writings.
Psalms
Several of the “Psalms” written at Qumran involve prayers that act as wards and protections against evil spirits. Other writings ask for protection from God’s angelic servants who go out to test God’s followers (one tester of humanity is named Mastema). Pitting forces of light against forces of darkness further removed God from being directly responsible for physical and spiritual suffering. In time, we can see these early influences of dualism contribute to all suffering, temptation, and other difficulties being blamed squarely on a lone, evil figure.
The War Scroll
Zoroastrianism’s influence becomes more apparent in writings such as the War Scroll. There is a great emphasis on condemning Belial and his evil forces (both human and spiritual). In a document called “The War Scroll,” it’s unsurprising to find these two forces pitted against one another in open and hostile combat. The passages below show how evenly the author contrasts good and evil as though they are on nearly equal footing.
They shall bless from their position, the God of Israel and all His works of truth, and they shall curse [Beli]al there and all the spirits of his forces. And they shall say response: “Blessed is the God of Israel for all His holy purpose and His works of truth. And blessed are those who serve Him richteously, who know Him by faith. And cursed is Belial for his contentious purpose, and accursed for his reprehensible rule. And cursed are all the spirits of his lot for their wicked purpose. Accursed are they for all their filthy dirty service. For they are the lot of darkness, but the lot of God is light [eterna]l. (The War Scroll 13:1-6)
You appointed the Prince of Light from of old to assist us, for in [His] l[ot are all sons of righteous]ness and all spirits of truth are in his dominion. You yourself made Belial for the pit, an angel of malevolence, his [dominio]n is in darkne[ss] and his counsel is to condemn and convict. All the spirits of his lot — the angels of destruction– walk in accord with the rule of darkness, for it is their only [des]ire. (The War Scroll 13:10-12)
The Damascus Document
These writers also interpreted inspired Scripture through their dualistic understanding. One example is how they interpret an Isaiah passage about God’s future judgment by reframing it as Belial laying traps for Israel. Compare the two passages, and consider reading the fuller context of Isaiah to see how much their assumptions impact their interpretation.
Terror and the pit and the snare are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth! He who flees at the sound of the terror shall fall into the pit, and he who climbs out of the pit shall be caught in the snare. For the windows of heaven are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble. (Isaiah 24:17-18)
But in the present age Belial is unrestrained in Israel, just as God said by Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, saying, “Fear and pit and snare are upon thee, dweller in the land.” The true meaning of this verse concerns the three traps of Belial about which Levi son of Jacob said that Belial would catch Israel in, so he directed them toward three kinds of righteousness. The first is fornication; the second is wealth; the third is defiling the sanctuary. Who escapes from one is caught in the next; and whoever escapes from that is caught in the other. (Damascus Document)
This dualism continues later in the Damascus Document when another angelic being called Mastema is shown to harass those who walk in darkness and is only repelled upon an individual’s obedience.
On the day a man takes on himself the oath to return to the Law of Moses the Angel of [Mastema] will leave him, if he keeps His words. That is why Abraham was circumcised on the day he gained true knowledge. (Damascus Document)
Jubilees
Belial also appears in Jubilees, a book that retells the accounts of Genesis and part of Exodus. Though he’s not featured as much as in other Qumran literature, the writers still portray Belial as an embodiment of wickedness. Jubilees further clarifies Mastema as another spiritual being who works evil and rules unclean spirits. Among other things, Mastema serves the writers’ desire to free God from any assumed guilt for evil. Compare a biblical account and its retelling in Jubilees:
And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD.” And they did so. (Exodus 17:4)
And on the fourteenth day and on the fifteenth and on the sixteenth and on the seventeenth and on the eighteenth the prince of the Mastêmâ was bound and imprisoned behind the children of Israel that he might not accuse them. And on the nineteenth we let them loose that they might help the Egyptians and pursue the children of Israel. And he hardened their hearts and made them stubborn, and the device was devised by the Lord our God that He might smite the Egyptians and cast them into the sea. (Jubilees 48:15-17, emphasis mine)
The result of each passage is the same: God destroys the Egyptians and receives glory. But Jubilees answers a question we still struggle with today: How could a good God “harden Pharoah’s heart” and force him to commit evil? Their answer is to blame Mastema for hardening their hearts, which was God’s plan all along.
We see a similar retelling earlier in Jubilees chapters 17-18. While Genesis shows that God chose to command Abraham to sacrifice his son, Jubilees peeks behind the curtain to show that God did this for similar reasons to Job’s testing. Mastema tells God that Abraham loves Isaac so much that he wouldn’t act in faith if ordered to sacrifice his son, and God takes the bait. Similar to hardening Pharoah’s heart, Jubilees’s authors thus get God off the hook for such a difficult moment by blaming someone who opposes humanity.
Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs
Only a portion of this ancient text was recovered at Qumran, while archaeologists found complete copies elsewhere. These “testaments” are written by each of Jacob’s twelve sons toward the end of their lives. Each man looks back at his life, often explaining why they failed, and warns their children against repeating these mistakes. Dualism is woven throughout these texts as evil spirits stir up sinful desires, sharing partial blame for a person’s choices. In addition, the patriarchs regularly set God’s will against Belial’s (translated as “Beliar” in these texts).
Reuben warns against sexual sin and teaches his sons that people have seven good spirits (life, sight, hearing, smell, speech, taste, procreation) that help them as they do good and contend against seven evil spirits (fornication, insatiable hunger, fighting, being deceptively helpful, pride, lying, injustice).
And seven other spirits are given to him at his creation, that through them should be done every work of man. (Testament of Reuben 1:13)
With these spirits are mingled the spirits of error. (Testament of Reuben 1:23)
For if fornication overcomes not your mind, neither can Beliar overcome you. For evil are women, my children; and since they have no power or strength over man, they use wiles by outward attractions, that they may draw him to themselves. And whom they cannot bewitch by outward attractions, him they overcome by craft. For moreover, concerning them, the angel of the Lord told me, and taught me, that women are overcome by the spirit of fornication more than men, and in their heart they plot against men; and by means of their adornment they deceive first their minds, and by the glance of the eye instil the poison, and then through the accomplished act they take them captive. (Testament of Reuben 2:12-15, emphasis mine)
Simeon warns against jealousy, blaming an evil spirit for his part in selling Joseph into slavery.
And I set my mind against him to destroy him because the prince of deceit sent forth the spirit of jealousy and blinded my mind, so that I regarded him not as a brother, nor did I spare even Jacob my father. (Testament of Simeon 1:8)
Levi encourages holy living and shares a dream where he sees God’s judgment on evil spirits.
And in the second are the hosts Of the armies which are ordained for the day of judgement, to work vengeance on the spirits of deceit and of Beliar. (Testament of Levi 1:19)
And he said: I am the angel who intercedeth for the nation of Israel that they may not be smitten utterly, for every evil spirit attacketh it. (Testament of Levi 2:14)
Judah promotes righteousness and self-control.
For much discretion needeth the man who drinketh wine, my children; and herein is discretion in drinking wine, a man may drink so long as he preserveth modesty. But if he go beyond this limit the spirit of deceit attacketh his mind, and it maketh the drunkard to talk filthily, and to transgress and not to be ashamed, but even to glory in his shame, and to account himself honourable. (Testament of Judah 3:16-17)
Observe, therefore, my children, the right limit in wine; for there are in it four evil spirits–of lust, of hot desire, of profligacy, of filthy lucre. (Testament of Judah 3:24)
Dan wants his sons to reject lying and anger because those are what his jealousy over Joseph led to.
And I rejoiced that he was sold, because his father loved him more than us. For the spirit of jealousy and vainglory said to me: Thou thyself also art his son. And one of the spirits of Beliar stirred me up, saying: Take this sword, and with it slay Joseph: so shall thy father love thee when he is dead. Now this is the spirit of anger that persuaded me to crush Joseph as a leopard crusheth a kid. (Testament of Dan 1:5-8)
Naphtali sets the law of God against the law of Belial in his sons’ lives.
For as a man’s strength, so also in his work; as his eye, so also in his sleep; as his soul, so also in his word either in the law of the Lord or in the law of Beliar. (Testament of Naphtali 1:18)
Be ye, therefore, not eager to corrupt your doings through covetousness or with vain words to beguile your souls; because if ye keep silence in purity of heart, ye shall understand how to hold fast the will of God, and to cast away the will of Beliar. (Testament of Naphtali 1:23)
Gad pleads for his children not to follow the spirit of hatred as he did.
For in the presence of my father I spake peaceably to Joseph; and when I had gone out, the spirit of hatred darkened my mind, and stirred up my soul to slay him. (Testament of Gad 2:2)
Asher wants his sons to be satisfied with purity so evil spirits don’t torment them. He also restates the “Doctrine of the Two Spirits.”
Two ways hath God given to the sons of men, and two inclinations, and two kinds of action, and two modes of action, and two issues. Therefore all things are by twos, one over against the other. For there are two ways of good and evil, and with these are the two inclinations in our breasts discriminating them. (Testament of Ashwer 1:3-5)
For they that are double-faced are guilty of a twofold sin; for they both do the evil thing and they have pleasure in them that do it, following the example of the spirits of deceit, and striving against mankind. (Testament of Asher 1:32)
for when the soul departs troubled, it is tormented by the evil spirit which also it served in lusts and evil works. (Testament of Asher 1:35)
Issachar wants his sons to value simple living filled with honest work.
And the spirits of deceit have no power against him, for he looketh not on the beauty of women, lest he should pollute his mind with corruption. (Testament of Issachar 1:35)
So do you also these things, my children, and every spirit of Beliar shall flee from you, and no deed of wicked men shall rule over you; (Testament of Issachar 2:15)
Zebulun offers a startling departure from the dualistic tone of his brothers by sharing how his brothers’ wickedness against Joseph taught him to have compassion for others. He ends by looking toward God’s future reward and judgment on our deeds, even claiming in 2:31 that the sons of men “are flesh, and are deceived through their own wicked deeds.”
Joseph details what happened with Potipher’s wife and encourages his sons to follow his model of righteousness. Josephy primarily emphasizes the human wickedness of the wife, though dualism still presents itself when she threatens suicide and in Joseph’s final words.
And when I saw the spirit of Beliar was troubling her, I prayed unto the Lord, and said unto her: Why, wretched woman, art thou troubled and disturbed, blinded through sins? (Testament of Joseph 1:63-64)
But ye shall carry up my bones with you; for when my bones are being taken up thither, the Lord shall be with you in light, and Beliar shall be in darkness with the Egyptians. (Testament of Joseph 2:80)
Benjamin commands a singular devotion to God and warns that those who try leading a dual life of righteousness and wickedness will ultimately fall under Beliar’s power.
Fear ye the Lord, and love your neighbour; and even though the spirits of Beliar claim you to afflict you with every evil, yet shall they not have dominion over you, even as they had not over Joseph my brother. (Testament of Benjamin 1:14)
And in like manner the works of Beliar are twofold, and there is no singleness in them. Therefore, my children, I tell you, flee the malice of Beliar; for he giveth a sword to them that obey him. And the sword is the mother of seven evils. First the mind conceiveth through Beliar, and first there is bloodshed; secondly ruin; thirdly, tribulation; fourthly, exile; fifthly, dearth; sixthly, panic; seventhly, destruction. (Testament of Benjamin 1:40-42)
The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs vary in their messages, but the underlying dualism is hard to miss. The writers paint the universe as a war between two kinds of spirits, calling their sons (and future readers) to choose which we will submit to. If we don’t cling to the will of God, the spirits of Beliar will gain a foothold in our lives and lead us to the same mistakes these patriarchs experienced.
Summary of the Qumran Writings
Like the modern interpretation of Satan, we must consider the beliefs that drove the writers of these texts.
The Old Testament and other Jewish traditions inspired many of these writings but with a reinterpretation emphasizing the forces of good and evil. When we also remember that these people isolated themselves from a world they saw as ruled by darkness, it doesn’t surprise us that the Essenes would adopt a form of Zoroastrianism. Creating a single evil figure who leads the charge against God and His people explained the hostility and suffering around them, as well as why their fellow Jews didn’t join them in their isolation, without questioning what they understood about God’s character. Likewise, temptation made sense when they could blame Belial, Mastema, or the Angel Darkness, who act as external forces corrupting those who may otherwise be inclined to good.
These texts can still be valuable to Christians because they help us piece together the Jewish worldview at the time of Jesus and the apostles. However, the writings found in Qumran show a shift toward removing God’s participation in any suffering by embodying evil in a being who wars against the children of light. If Zoroastrianism was the first link in the chain that connects ancient dualism to our modern times, the Dead Sea Scrolls may be the first signs of people thrusting this worldview on the truth of God’s word.
