The Essenes were the writers of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Recent translations of these scrolls reveal their beliefs, which were documented hundreds of years before Jesus was born.

The Essene beliefs, listed below, where recorded in the Dead Sea Scrolls more than 100 years before Jesus was born. The Essenes were anticipating the arrival of a man they called the ‘Teacher of Righteousness’. They also prophesied the birth of the Jewish Messiah within a specific time frame. Their beliefs and prophecies were recorded in the scrolls during the ‘400 silent years’ (the time period between the Old Testament and the New Testament). We now know that God was not silent! God was apparently speaking the entire time to the Essenes.

Essene Beliefs

• They believed that man had a sin nature because of the fall of Adam and Eve.
• They believed that they were in possession of the original, written testimonies of the Jewish patriarchs. They had copies of these testimonies which dated back to Noah, Abraham, Issac, Jacob and many other men in the Old Testament. These testimonies are part of the Dead Sea Scroll collection.
• They believed their solar calendar (which they claim started at creation), was the correct calendar ordained by God. Their solar calendar was different than the lunar calendar used by the Pharisees 2,000 years ago. Both calendars had 12 months, but the calendars started at different times, which caused the Jewish feasts, on these two calendars, to sometimes be on different days. 
• They believed in a God who lived in heaven, but they also believed in the Holy Spirit on earth and in the coming Messiah (basically the Trinity).
• They did not believe the Messiah would free them from Roman rule, but rather the Messiah would free mankind from the ‘rule of sin’.
• They believed the Messiah would be born of a virgin.
• They believed the Messiah would die for their sins and then rise again. 
• They believed the Jewish Priesthood would become corrupt and that the only true Jewish priests were the direct descendants of the Zadok priestly lineage. 
• They believed in an end-time battle between good and evil (the apocalypse/Armageddon).

These are just a few of their beliefs. They also recorded  numerous prophecies about the Messiah. Scholars now believe that most of the Essenes recognized Jesus as the prophesied Messiah and they became followers of Jesus and His apostles. So, basically, the Essenes became the first Jewish Christians, and they influenced the early church with their teachings and their beliefs.