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The inhabitants of Qumran called themselves “sons of light”. They pursued to live a righteous life. Many of them where sons of Zadok - Zadok means righteous.
There are two questions we try to find answers for below:
A) Have all the sons of Zadok, kept the charge of his sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from YHVH?
B) Shall all the sons of Zadok, come near to offer unto YHVH the fat and the blood?
In a scroll found both in Qumran and in Egypt near Heliopolis (known as “The Damascus Document” aka “FRAGMENTS OF A ZADOKITE WORK”) the Qumran community quoted from the book of Ezekiel in an effort to explain why the sons of Zadok will be priests in a future temple.
At the end of paragraph 5 of the “Damascus Document” we read:
“As God confirmed it to them through Ezekiel the prophet, saying: 5:7 ”... the sons of Zadok, ... shall bring near unto Me fat and blood.” So who was Zadok and who are his sons?
Zadok was King David's most loyal priest.
Zadok the priest helped King David to arrange the priesthood into 24 divisions. (Including Zadok they were 25 men. Remember that number for later reference !!!)
Zadok was a descendant of Eleazar, son of Aaron.
In 1 Chronicles 24:3-4 we read:
“With the help of Zadok a descendant of Eleazar ... David divided [the aaronic priests into 24 divisions] ... sixteen ... and eight”.
It was also Zadok who anointed Solomon to be King over Israel.
“Zadok the priest took a horn of oil from the tabernacle and anointed Solomon. And they blew the horn, and all the people said, “Long live King Solomon!” 1 Ki 1:38
In return King Solomon established Zadok and his descendants to be High Priests.
“Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest unto יהוה; that he might fulfill the word of יהוה, which he spake concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.* ... and Zadok the priest did the king put in the room of Abiathar.” 1 Kings 2: 27+35
*‘I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father should walk before Me forever’; but now יהוה declares, ‘Far be it from Me —for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be lightly esteemed. …
‘But I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in My heart and in My soul; and I will build him an enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed always.” 1 Samuel 2:30-35
The Sons of Zadok have been ministering at the temple in Jerusalem since Solomon. From that time forth the sons of Zadok served as High Priests in the Temple.
During the reign of King Uzziah the sons of Zadok, have faithfully kept the charge of his sanctuary:
“... they withstood King Uzziah and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to YHVH, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary.” 2 Chr 26:18
This being said - were where the sons of Zadok, who faithfully kept the charge of his sanctuary two generations later when King Ahaz ordered Uriah the priest to remove the Bronze Altar of YHVH and replace it with an Altar copied from Damascus ??
Well. The faithful sons of Zadok, would have been found at the Bonze Altar of YHVH!
King Ahaz had removed the bronze Altar of YHVH - and put it on the NORTH SIDE of the “Damascus Altar”!
King Ahaz removed “The Bronze Altar that was before YHVH ... from the front of the house, from the place between his altar and the house of YHVH, and put it on the north side of his altar.” 2 Ki 16:14
It was not an accident that King Ahaz put the Bronze Altar on the north side! North in hebrew is “tsaphon”. “Tsaphon” also means hidden or dark as no sun rays ever enter into the temple court through the north gate.
Thus the sons of Zadok, who have faithfully kept the charge of his sanctuary on the bronze Altar at the north gate would easily have become known as “sons of darkness”.
Allbeit - none of the sons of Zadok restored the Bronze Altar to it's appointed position.
None of the sons of Zadok withstood King Ahaz to prevent him from sacrificing to the Gods of Damascus on his “Great Altar” (2. Ki 16:15) in the house of YHVH.
“King Ahaz ... sacrificed to the gods of Damascus ... But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel ... and Ahaz ... shut up the doors of the house of YHVH.” 2 Chr. 28:23-24
Did you catch this?!
The Zadokite priests even allowed King Ahaz to shut up the doors of the house of YHVH!!
Let's assume a few sons of Zadok, have faithfully kept the charge of his sanctuary behind closed doors!
Eventually the doors of the temple were opened again.
And yet - none of the sons of Zadok restored the Bronze Altar to it's appointed position!!
The Damascus Altar must have appeared so much more suitable in their eyes?!
It seems the most prominent feature of the “Damascus Altar” were it's ascending steps commonly referred to as the “Ascending Steps of Ahaz”.
In hebrew these “Ascending Steps of Ahaz” were called:
“Ma'alot Ahaz” (lit. “Ascending Steps of Ahaz” mistranslated “Sundial” (2 Ki 20:11) or “Aliyat Ahaz” (lit. “Ascending Steps of Ahaz” mistranslated “Upper Chamber” (2 Ki 23:12).
All Apostate Zadokite Priests who climbed up the Ascending Steps of Ahaz to the “Damascus Altar” also known as the “Great Altar” (2. Ki 16:15) did it in defiance of Ex 20:26.
Exodus 20:26 explicitly said that the priests were not to go up to the Altar on steps to not expose their nakedness.
YHVH had been long suffering with an Apostate Zadokite Priesthood that had turned their backs to HIM unashamedly exposing their nakedness.
It can be inferred that in conjunction with a sun pillar the ascending steps of the “Great Altar” served as a sundial. (2 Ki 20:11)
[Only King Josiah during his reign would have removed the sun pillar from the Damascus Altar. (2 Chr. 34:4)]
It appears that the sundial became such an essential part of the Apostate Zadokite Priesthood that their service depended on it. Later the “sons of light” made for themselves pocket sundials which were found in Qumran. But before we get to Qumran - let's investigate a bit more who Ezekiel was!
Why Ezekiel?
Because in Qumran they claimed: “God confirmed it to them through Ezekiel the prophet” that “the sons of Zadok shall bring near unto Me fat and blood”.
In the Damascus Document it says “God confirmed it to them through Ezekiel the prophet ...” Based on this quote we see that the sons of light recognized Ezekiel as being a prophet!
We read in the book of Ezekiel 1:3:
“The word of יהוה came directly to Ezekiel the priest”
Evidently Ezekiel was not only a prophet but also a son of a priest. As a son of a priest - notice that Ezekiel makes a distinction for the future temple between the ministry of Levitical priests that are not sons of Zadok in contrast to the office of the sons of Zadok:
“[The Levites] shall slay the offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister unto them at the temple gates ... they shall not come near unto me, to do the office of a priest unto me. ... Only sons of Zadok shall enter My sanctuary and draw near to My table to minister before Me." Eze 44:10-16
This distinction between priests that were sons of Zadok and those who were not shall help us to answer the following question:
Was Ezekiel the priest a son of Zadok?
Let's find out.
Ezekiel 43:10-27 portraits Ezekiel not only as a son of Zadok eligible to enter the sanctuary and minister at the altar - but as the Zadokite High Priest that was commissioned to make atonement for the altar:
YHVH said to Ezekiel:
“Son of man, this is what Adonai YHVH says:
‘These are the statutes for the altar on the day it is constructed, ...
19 You are to give a young bull from the herd as a sin offering to the Levitical priests who are of the family of Zadok, ...
20 You are to take some of its blood and ... you will cleanse the altar and make atonement for it. ...
23 When you have finished the purification, you are to present a young, unblemished bull and an unblemished ram from the flock.
24 You must present them before יהוה; the priests are to sprinkle salt on them and sacrifice them as a burnt offering to יהוה.
25 For seven days you are to provide ...
27 At the end of these days, from the eighth day on, the priests are to present your burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar.”
In Vers 20 Ezekiel is commissioned to “take some of its blood and cleanse the altar and make atonement for it”.
We remember only the sons of Zadok shall offer blood; and to cleanse and make atonement for the altar was a task for the High Priest.
יהוה banned the levitical Priests that are not sons of Zadok from serving at this future altar. Hence Ezekiel is being revealed to us as a son of Zadok and as a Zadokite High Priest - potentially even the faithful priest during the millennial Kingdom prophesied in 1 Samuel 2: 34-35
“Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest. He will do whatever is in My heart and mind. And I will build for him an enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed one for all time.”
To clarify why a new Altar in a new Temple will have to be atoned for by Ezekiel the Zadokite High Priest himself – Ezekiel was shown by YHVH in a vision how the temple and the Altar in Jerusalem had been defiled.
In a vision Ezekiel was shown HOW and WHY the Glory of the Elohim of Israel left Jerusalem from the mount of Olives prior to the destruction of the temple.
YHVH showed Ezekiel HOW the Glory of Elohim left the temple itself:
“the glory of YHVH went out ... at the entrance of the east gate of the house of YHVH” Eze 9:3 10:18-19
Is there any significance to the fact that Ezekiel saw the Glory of YHVH leave through the east gate of the temple? We'll soon know the answer to that.
Ezekiel was shown the reason WHY the Glory of YHVH actually left Jerusalem.
In his own words Ezekiel describes it this way:
“The Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in visions of Elohim to Jerusalem ... into the inner court of the house of YHVH. And behold, at the entrance of the temple of YHVH, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs to the temple of YHVH, and their faces toward the east, worshiping the sun toward the east.” Eze 8:316
Wait - !!!
Did Ezekiel say they were worshipping the sun?
What does it say there in Hebrew?
וְהמֵָּ֛ה מִשׁתְּחֲַוִיתֶ֥֥ם קֵ֖דְמָָה לַשׁמֶֶָּֽשׁ
“and they prostrated themselves eastward to the sun”
They prostrated themselves eastward with their faces eastward.
About YHVH they said:
‘YHVH has forsaken the land, and YHVH does not see.’ Jer 9:9
To which YHVH directly responded:
”Behold, I myself have seen it, declares YHVH ... they walked in the stubbornness of their evil hearts and turned their backs, not their faces, to me.” Jer 7:1124
“...their kings and their officials, their priests and their prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
33 They have turned to me their back and not their face. ...
34 They set up their abominations in the house that is called by my name, to defile it.” Jer 32:32-34
Through Jeremiah we learn that collectively their kings and their officials, their priests and their prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem have turned their back to YHVH and not their face.
Did all of Israel worship the sun?
Maybe they didn't.
However – the fact that they had turned their backs to YHVH caused the glory of YHVH to leave the temple.
When the Glory of YHVH left through the east gate of the temple it was now as if YHVH had turned His Back to His people.
At this point it is worth the while to go back in time and remember what is recorded about the moment when the glory of YHVH had entered the temple.
“Solomon stood before the altar of YHVH in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands: ...
'Listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place and listen to the pleas of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place.'” 2 Chronicles 6:12-21
As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of YHVH filled the temple.
And the priests could not enter the house of YHVH, because the glory of YHVH filled YHVH’s house.
When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of YHVH on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped. 2 Chronicles 7:1-3
!!! In the presence of the glory of YHVH their faces were towards the ground and NOT eastward to the sun.
What else was different at that moment when the Glory of YHVH entered the temple compared to when the Glory of YHVH left the temple?
Let's examine:
The glory of YHVH filled the temple when Solomon stood before the altar of YHVH.
The Glory of YHVH left the temple when about twenty-five men stood between the porch and the altar.
!!! Note where these 25 men where located.
While Solomon stood before the Bronze Altar of YHVH these 25 men were between the porch and the altar.
From Solomons standpoint the 25 men were behind the altar with their backs to the temple.
But even more disturbing is the fact, that while Salomon stood at the altar of YHVH - these 25 men stood at the “Damascus altar” that was manufactured as a copy of an altar in Damascus to worship the gods of Damascus.
To make things worse - who did these 25 men between the porch and the altar turning their backs toward the temple of YHVH symbolize?
For everyone that needs a hint regarding who was privileged to stand in that holy place – look at this remark from the prophet Joel:
“Let the priests who minister before YHVH weep between the porch and the altar” Joel 2:17
The area between the porch and the altar is only accessible for the priests who minister to YHVH. Hence it was priests that stood between the porch and the Damascus Altar.
Yet why is Ezekiel shown as many as twenty five men between the porch and the altar?
You may remember that Ezekiels ancestor Zadok the priest helped divide the ministry of the temple priests for King David between 24 Levites?
It can be assumed that the 25 men were symbolizing the 24 Levitical divisions plus the High Priest (who would have always been a Son of Zadok) – privileged to serve at the altar.
“With the help of Eleazar’s descendant Zadok and Ithamar’s descendant Ahimelech, David divided them according to the offices of their service. 4 Since more leaders were found among Eleazar’s descendants than those of Ithamar, they were divided accordingly. There were sixteen heads of families from the descendants of Eleazar and eight from the descendants of Ithamar.” 1 Chr. 24:3
Furthermore Ezekiel reveals that the Bronze Altar of YHVH had remained in it's northern position in the shade of King Ahaz “Great Altar” from Damascus for over a century !!!
During this long period the Bronze Altar of YHVH became a symbol for YHVH's jealousy.
No wonder that the attention of Ezekiel in his vision of YHVH was first drawn to the area north of the “Great Altar” to the position of the Bronze Altar of YHVH!
“the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the gateway of the inner court that faces north, where was the seat of the symbol of jealousy, provoking jealousy. 4 and behold, the glory of the Elohim of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the valley. 5 Then he said to me, “Son of man, lift up your eyes now toward the north.” So I lifted up my eyes toward the north, and behold, from the north towards the gate in the entrance - the altar a symbol of jealousy.”
!!! That was the very location right there at the Bronze Altar the executioners received the order to begin to kill.
“Six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his weapon for slaughter in his hand [...] and they went in and stood beside the bronze altar.” Eze 9:2
The executioners were to kill everyone who did not sigh and groan over all the abominations that were committed in His house.
As a second witness, Jeremiah testified about their abominations in the house of YHVH:
“They set up their abominations in the house that is called by my name, to defile it.” Jer 32:34
And the vilest abomination that was shown to Ezekiel was the sun worship of the 24 Levitical divisions under the leadership of the Zadokite High Priest at the “Damascus Altar”. Eze 8:16
If you read 2 Kings 16:14 above carefully - you will have noticed that the 25 men actually stood right there, where the bronze Altar of YHVH once stood – in front of the house of YHVH between the porch and the Damascus altar.
Beginning at the sanctuary - the executioners were to fill the courts with the slain old and young men defiling the house.
While they were striking, Ezekiel was left alone. He fell upon his face and cried.
With the following words Ezekiel interceded as the faithful Zadokite High Priest for a remnant of Israel including the Zadokite priesthood:
'Ah, Adonai Elohim! Will you destroy all the remnant of Israel in the outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?'” Eze 9:8
In stark contrast to His intercession Ezekiels's message to the Apostate Zadokite priesthood was as follows:
“Your turbans shall be on your heads ... but you shall rot away in your iniquities and groan to one another.” Eze 24:23
That answers our first question.
A) Have all the sons of Zadok, kept the charge of his sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from YHVH?
I don't know about you. But to me it has become very clear that not all the sons of Zadok, kept the charge of his sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from YHVH!
With this insight let us further examine the quotes from Ezekiel in “The Damascus Document” aka “FRAGMENTS OF A ZADOKITE WORK”?
The first part that is quoted in the “Damascus Document” is from Ezekiel 44:15-16:
“But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith Adonai YHVH.”
If we compare Ezekiels quote in the “Damascus Document” with the book of Ezekiel carefully we will observe an alteration:
Eze.: the children of Israel went astray from me
DD: the children of Israel went astray from them
The full quote from the book of Ezekiel in the Damascus Dokument reads like this: 5:7 ‘The priests and the Levites and the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of My Sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from them, they shall bring near unto Me fat and blood.'”
The alteration in the quote from me to them seems to be a minor change. However this minor change from me to them changes the meaning of the text significantly.
The Ezekiel passage leaves room for an interpretation that differentiates between sons of Zadok that went astray from YHVH with the children of Israel opposed to sons of Zadok that are still allowed to offer fat and blood because they didn't go astray when the sons of Israel went astray from YHVH.
The DD quote however allows only for one interpretation namely a differentiation between all the sons of Zadok who are still allowed to offer fat and blood opposed to the children of Israel that went astray from the sons of Zadok.
So let's look at the second quote from the book of Ezekiel that is quoted in the “Damascus Document” namely Ezekiel 9:4:
“He spake through Ezekiel’ to set a mark upon the foreheads of them that sigh and groan’, but the rest were delivered to ‘the sword ...’” Damascus document 9:11
What is shamefully omitted here is what the sighing and groaning was actually about!!
The executioners were to kill everyone who did not sigh and groan over all the abominations that were committed in His house.
“set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof” Eze 9:4
Remember - the vilest abomination that was shown to Ezekiel was the sun worship of the 24 Levitical divisions under the leadership of the Zadokite High Priest at the “Damascus Altar”. Eze 8:16
As I understand the matter – it was the worship of the Sun, the moon, the zodiak and all the host of heavens that turned the house of YHVH into a den of robbers.
”Has this house, which bears My Name, become a den of robbers in your sight? Yes, I too have seen it, declares YHVH ... they walked in the stubbornness of their evil hearts and turned their backs, not their faces, to me.” Jer 7:1124
However what made the priests literally turn their backs to the temple was the worship of the rising sun.
It culminated in the office of High Priest to remain vacant for 7 years after the last High Priest Onias III left the Temple in Jerusalem.
Onias III went there where YHVH had told His People not to return to.
Yet not to place in Egypt. He re-opened a temple in Leontopolis / Heliopolis; And there in Heliopolis – the city of the sun – the Apostate Zadokite High Priest Onias III replaced the Menorah with a golden lamp.
“Josephus notes in War that in the temple built by Onias III in Heliopolis there was no seven-branched lampstand, but rather a hanging lamp with one single flame which shed "a brilliant light" (War 7,428)”
Yeshua however wasn't even bothered about the temple in Heliopolis. He only cared for His Fathers house - Quoting Jeremiah's words about the den of robbers Yeshua cleansed His Fathers house.
Finally through His death Yeshua exposed emptiness of the Holy of Holies: exposing the need of a New Temple with a New Altar and a faithful High Priest of the sons of Zadok.
‘I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in My heart and in My soul; and I will build him an enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed always.”
1 Samuel 2:30-35
Let me suggest that Ezekiel will be that faithful Zadokite High Priest in the “Ezekiel Temple”.
FRAGMENTS OF A ZADOKITE WORK also known as The Damascus Document
Translated by R. H Charles in R. H. Charles, ed., The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament in English, vol. 2: Pseudepigrapha (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913): pp. 799-834.
The Temple in Egypt and the Solar Calendar
Conclusion
... the connection between the "Zadokites" of the documents in the Dead Sea Scrolls corpus and the Zadokites of the Egyptian temple built by Onias III should surely be investigated further. If the group which lived in Qumran and other sites southwards along the Dead Sea were led by Zadokites, then what were their connections with the Zadokite group in Egypt? [...] it may perhaps be worth remembering that the Damascus Document was originally found down the road from Heliopolis, in Cairo. An Egyptian link has been there all along.
[...] one further similarity may have existed between those who supported the Egyptian temple and those who wrote some of the scrolls found at Qumran: a belief in the solar calendar.
In addition, we may note the intriguing fragments from the writings of Aristobulus, who is like Onias III associated with the Egyptian king Ptolemy VI Philometor. He is described in 2 Macc. 1:10 as the king's teacher [...] and a member of "the family of the anointed priests" identifications which may well be right, 27 and which would clearly make him a Zadokite. According to Aristobulus, the date of the Passover should be fixed to the time of the vernal equinox (Fr. 1; Eus. Hist. Eccles. 7.32.16-18), since this connects the festival with an important natural (solar) occurrence.” pages 311-313
A Second Temple in Egypt: The Evidence for the Zadokite
Temple of Onias
Joan Taylor
Journal for the Study of Judaism 28 (1998), 297-321
