Hope of Israel Ministries (Church of God)

It has been common practice for "scholars" to belittle and denigrate the Jewish historian Josephus, and the Talmudic sources, regarding the scope of Pharisaic control in Israel prior to the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D. Since, they claim, information about the Pharisees can ONLY be gleaned from the writings of Josephus and the Talmud -- writings that were penned AFTER the destruction of the temple -- then the part played by the Pharisees PRIOR to 70 A.D. cannot be accurately determined!

And let's face it, the Pharisees have had a bad press! As a result of the harsh portrayal in the New Testament of these teachers of Jewish law, the very name Pharisee has become synonymous with hypocrisy and self-righteousness. After all, how could men such as these be in control of the religion of Israel? How could God have allowed such a thing?

These scholars, who in reality are implying that Jewish historical sources cannot be trusted, have failed to realize that the Pharisaic religion was divided into TWO SEPARATE SCHOOLS -- the School of Shammai and the School of Hillel. The group that Christ continually took to task in the New Testament was apparently the School of Shammai -- a faction that was very rigid and unforgiving in their outlook. But regardless of this fact, the Bible makes it very plain that we should obey the TEACHINGS of the Pharisees in ALL things relating to the LAW! "The scribes and the Pharisees SIT IN MOSES' SEAT. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, THAT OBSERVE AND DO, but do not do according to their works: for they say and do not do." (Matthew 23:2-3).

However, since the authority of the Bible itself, and the Talmud, have been questioned by modern scholarship, so also has this DIRECT COMMAND of Christ! Matthew 23:2-3, which clearly establishes the validity of rabbinic Judaism's claim to authority based on Pharisaic authority, has also been REPUDIATED by Churches of God that should know better!

Lawrence H. Schiffman, professor of Hebrew and Judaic studies at New York University, states the problem in this manner:

Modern critical scholarship has challenged much of what Talmudic sources (including the Mishnah) say about the Pharisees of the pre-destruction period [of the Temple] on the grounds that the scant evidence preserved in these texts actually comes from the POST-70 period. Many scholars have simply REJECTED OUT OF HAND the claims made in POST-destruction rabbinic literature that the PHARISEES were the DOMINANT RELIGIOUS GROUP IN THE AFFAIRS OF THE TEMPLE as early as the Maccabean period and during the reign of the Hasmonean dynasty that succeeded the Maccabean uprising. Yet ultimately, rabbinic Judaism's claim to AUTHORITY rests on the CONTINUITY of the Pharisaic tradition from pre-destruction to post-destruction times. For the rabbis, the traditions of the Pharisees had been transmitted orally to the tannaitic masters of the Mishnah and in this way had formed the basis for post-destruction tannaitic Judaism. But to the modern critical historian the evidence was sparse. ("New Light on the Pharisees: Insight from the Dead Sea Scrolls," Bible Review, June, 1992. Pp.30-31).

In other words, the VERY BASIS of modern rabbinic authority rests on the very authority and prominence of Pharisaic Judaism PRIOR to the fall of the Temple in 70 A.D.! If one fails, so does the other!

The question of who controlled the affairs of the Temple prior to 70 A.D. is very important. The beliefs of various religious groups -- including the Worldwide Church of God (more correctly-- Worldwide Church of Tkach) -- are dependent upon WHICH Jewish sect controlled the Temple worship during the time of Christ. If the SADDUCEES controlled the Temple, then PENTECOST fell on a Sunday every year; but if the PHARISEES controlled the worship, Pentecost fell on SIVAN 6 -- a day which floats in the calendar of today. Who was right?

If the "scholars" reject the evidence of Josephus and the Talmud, are there any other sources, written prior to 70 A.D., that we can turn to to verify just WHO controlled the Temple worship during the time of Christ? Indeed there is! Notice what Lawrence Schiffman says in his article:

Accordingly, any light that might be cast on the history of the Pharisees and their teachings in the pre-destruction period would be CRITICALLY IMPORTANT. With new evidence from the DEAD SEA SCROLLS it is now possible to demonstrate that FOR MUCH OF THE HASMONEAN PERIOD PHARISAIC VIEWS WERE INDEED DOMINANT IN THE JERUSALEM TEMPLE. In short, the reports of the religious laws, or Halakhah, attributed to the Pharisees in late Talmudic texts ARE BASICALLY ACCURATE. (Ibid., p.31).

The "Halakhah" that Schiffman mentions here is the obligatory, legal side of Judaism - which includes Jewish practices and observances covering daily life, FESTIVALS, dietary laws, purity rituals and criminal and civil law.

One of the scrolls found in a cave in the vicinity of the Qumran community throws light on the PROMINENCE the Pharisees enjoyed in the period PRIOR to the destruction of the Temple. In this text, known as MMT (4Q Miqsat Ma'aseh ha-Torah), a diatribe against the community's opponents often describes the views of the PHARISEES. According to Schiffman:

MMT is a foundation text of the Qumran sect. It was written in the early Hasmonean period when THE TEMPLE WAS MANAGED AND ITS RITUALS CONDUCTED IN ACCORD WITH PHARISAIC VIEWS. The Hasmoneans made common cause with the Pharisees in order to CLEANSE the Temple of the EXCESSIVE HELLENIZATION that they blamed to a great extent on the SADDUCEAN PRIESTS WHO HAD BECOME, IN THEIR VIEW, TOO HELLENIZED.

Various elements in MMT and in the Temple Scroll represent the polemic of those who continued piously to hold fast to Sadducean views against the Hasmoneans and their Pharisaic allies.

Schiffman continues:

Thus, evidence of the ideological underpinnings of Pharisaism and its halakhic principles can be found in the Qumran corpus [body of writings]. Sensitively read, the Qumran corpus reveals the role of the Pharisees as allies of the Hasmoneans. More importantly, it CAN NO LONGER BE CLAIMED that there is no evidence for the Pharisees earlier than the tannaitic materials and the first-century Jewish historian Josephus, who wrote after the Roman destruction of Jerusalem. In fact, the scrolls provide extensive and wide-ranging testimony about the pre-destruction history of the Pharisees and their ideology.

MMT AND THE TEMPLE SCROLL PROVIDE EVIDENCE OF PHARISAIC DOMINANCE OVER THE TEMPLE RITUAL IN THE EARLY DAYS OF THE HASMONEAN PERIOD. These Pharisees held views similar to those claimed for them in rabbinic literature. Moreover, they also expressed many positions - substantive and theological - later found among the tannaim of the Mishnah. (Ibid., p.54).

Another scroll, called the Damascus Document, clearly shows the PREDOMINANCE of the Pharisaic point of view. The first part of the Damascus Document, known as the Admonition, includes, among other things, a list of alleged legal sins. According to the text, these sins were committed by "the builders of the wall who followed [literally, walked after] the 'LEADER,'" who is described as the PREACHER about whom God or the prophet said, "They shall surely PREACH." (CD 4:19-20). Obviously, the "leader" mentioned here is also a "preacher."

Who is this "leader" or "preacher"? Who are "the builders of the wall"? And what is this "wall" the text alludes to? The answers to these questions can be found in Scripture and in the Mishnah. Notice Hosea 5:10-11:

The LEADERS OF JUDAH are like those who REMOVE A LANDMARK; I will pour out my wrath on them like water: Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked by human precept.

The phrase "leaders of Judah" refers to the RELIGIOUS leadership of the country -- the "preachers" just referred to. These leaders or preachers are those in the Damascus Document who are termed "the builders of the wall." The word "wall" can also be translated "boundary," "border" or "landmark"; so therefore the leaders in Hosea 5:10 who removed the "landmark" or "border" are analogous to the leaders in the Damascus Document who are accused of building a "wall" or "border."

The phrase "builders of the wall" can be found in the Mishnah, as Schiffman explains:

The designation "builders of the wall" [border, boundary] is apparently an adaptation of the concept, KNOWN FROM THE MISHNAH (Avot 1:1), which teaches, "build a fence [border, boundary] around the Torah." According to this RABBINIC maxim, laws not found in the Bible may be created in order to make CERTAIN that those laws that are in the Torah are not transgressed; that is the FENCE AROUND THE TORAH. Tannaitic sources consider this FENCE (siyyag) a POSITIVE FEATURE of rabbinic halakhah; the authors of the Damascus Document, on the other hand, OPPOSED THIS APPROACH -- apparently not only because they disagreed with these non-biblical laws but also because they rejected the idea of expanding the biblical commandments. In short, they objected to such laws because, in their view, these laws had no biblical basis. (Ibid., p.32).

It is interesting to note that while the author of the Damascus Document blasts the religious leaders of Judah for "building a wall" around the Torah God, in Hosea 5:10, blasts these same leaders for removing the "wall" or "boundary" around the Torah! This seems like a contradiction. In the gospels, however, Christ berated the Pharisees for building TOO MUCH of a wall around the Torah -- as a careful study will show.

The KEY to the identity of the "leaders" or "preachers" found in both the Damascus Document and Hosea can be determined by the list of alleged legal sins they committed. "In a series of laws listed there [in the Damascus Document], the views of the PREACHER [the 'leader'] and of the BUILDERS OF THE WALL turn out to be laws associated in tannaitic sources WITH THE PHARISEES." ("New Light on the Pharisees: Insights from the Dead Sea Scrolls," Bible Review, p.32).

Of Course!

Since Hosea 5:10 calls these removers of the "landmark" or "boundary" the "leaders of Judah," then the PHARISEES HAD TO BE THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS OF JUDAH! Simple logic!

Once again, careful scholarship proves the Pharisees were in control of the Temple during the time of Christ. The Worldwide Church of Tkach and others are completely wrong in their claims that the Sadducees controlled the Temple worship prior 70 A.D.!