Essene Calendar Overview
Essene Calendar Overview
Who were the Essenes?
The Essenes were a group of righteous, Jewish men who lived over 2,000 years ago, before and during the time of Christ. The Essenes were the smallest of three religious groups which existed in Israel during this time. The other two groups were the Pharisees and the Sadducees; all three groups were mentioned by Josephus, the Jewish historian. Most of the information shared on my website, about the Essenes, has been compiled from information shared by Dr. Ken Johnson, one of the translators of the Dead Sea Scrolls. 
The Essene community existed more than 200 years before Christ and until the end of the first century after Christ. They are credited with the writing and the preservation of the Dead Sea Scrolls, found in jars in Qumran, near the Dead Sea. Almost all of the scrolls have been dated to 100-400 BC (before Christ was born!). Most of the scrolls were written around 200 BC, but a few were written after Christ, between 30-80 AD.
For hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus, the Essenes served as scribes and assistants to the Jewish priesthood in Jerusalem. One of their primary duties was to copy the sacred scrolls which were originally stored at the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. The sacred scrolls included copies of the books of the Old Testament and also scrolls which were originally written by the Jewish patriarchs. As the older scrolls wore out and were no longer usable, the Essenes would carefully create an exact duplicate to replace the old scroll.
The ancient scrolls found at Qumran contained copies of the books of the Old Testament, information about the Essene calendar, the Essene community rules and the testimonies of the Jewish Patriarchs. When the Dead Sea Scrolls were first discovered, the translators in Israel were more interested in the copies of the books which make up their Tanakh (the Old Testament). So, it has only been within the past 20 years that the writings concerning the Essene calendar have been available to those outside of Israel (such as Dr. Ken Johnson) and translated into English. Thanks to Dr. Johnson’s diligent efforts, he has unraveled the history behind the Essene calendar and he has decoded their writings concerning the end of the age.
The Jewish Calendars
Some of the most interesting scrolls are the ones which mentioned a solar calendar; a calendar that the Essenes believed was the true calendar as ordained by God. The 
Essene calendar began at creation and contained references and dates for specific events, such as the flood and the birth of Abraham, the father of the Jewish faith. The Essenes insisted that their calendar was the correct, religious calendar to be used to determine the dates for celebrating the annual Jewish feasts. 
This belief was in direct opposition to the lunar calendar which the Pharisees apparently adopted during their Babylonian captivity, which took place more than 500 years before Christ. Most scholars believe that during the time the Jews were in captivity in Babylon, they adopted the lunar calendar from that culture, which became the Jewish lunar calendar used by the Jews today. This is supported by the fact that the names of the Babylonian months were adopted into the Jewish calendar. In the Bible, God did not give the months a name, He only calls the months by their numeric value (first month, second month, etc.).
Why Should We Care?
Why is this important to us today? Well, the Essenes were known to be 100% accurate with their prophecies. And 2,000 years ago, the Essenes prophesied that the first coming of the Jewish Messiah was at hand and they were spot on. Dr. Johnson has decoded the Essene calendar and apparently, the Essenes have predicted the end of this age and the soon coming Millennial reign of Jesus on the earth! The writings of the Essenes stated that there will only be a total of 7,000 years of human history on earth. According to the Essenes, all prophecies concerning mankind and the Messiah must be fulfilled by the end of the 6,000 years. Then, the last 1,000 years will be the kingdom reign of the Messiah.
Also, the writings of the Essenes contains a timeline for all of human history recorded in the pages of the Bible. From the creation of Adam and Eve to the current time, there have been almost 6,000 years of human history. The Essene calendar divides the first 6,000 years into Ages, with each Age being 2,000 years long. According to the Essene calendar and their writings, the first 2,000 years (counting from Adam) were called the Age of Chaos because the great flood of Noah took place during that time. The next 2,000 years were called the Age of Law because the Torah (God’s Law) was given during this time. The next 2,000 years were called the Age of Grace because the promised Messiah was born and became the fulfilment of the Law. The death of Jesus on the cross ushered in the Age of Grace, which will last for 2,000 years, according to the Essene calendar. Then finally, the last age will take place, it will be the Millennial Reign of the Messiah; but it will only last for 1,000 years while the Messiah reigns on the earth in Jerusalem. We are almost at the end of 6,000 years; so, according to the Essene calendar and prophecy, the millennial reign should begin soon.
According to Dr. Johnson’s calculations, each age overlapped the age next to it by 50 – 100 years. During each age, some people lived and completed their God-given assignment within the ‘overlap’ period. The ‘end of the age’ is not necessarily a hard line where all events for one age ended and the following day, everything for the new age began. For example, the Age of Law (from 2,000 to 4,000 from creation) includes the time when God made a covenant with Abraham, the father of the Jewish people. God selected a people with whom he could give the Law. According to the Essene calendar, Abraham was born in the year 1,948 from creation, 52 years before the end of the first age. But, God’s covenant with Abraham, when he was 75 years old, was the beginning of the Age of Torah.
This page is primarily about the Essene calendar. Check my website for additional information, such as:
Link to download a PDF about the Essene Calendar with additional information: The Essene Calendar
Click the link below to view a video about the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls.