Valentine’s Day at Qumran

This week most of us in America celebrated Valentine’s Day. Dedicated to remembering those we love, this day gives us another opportunity to express our devotion and affection in creative ways. Valentine’s Day is alive and well in my home. I want you to know that I’m crazy in love with my wife. What I am doing at Disciple Daily would not be possible without Noemi’s love, support, and affirmation.

Like many of you, we exchanged Valentine’s Cards. Monday I went to the Hallmark store and carefully looked through the selections. Making my choice, I came home to write her a note that hopefully expressed my sentiments completely. But what would be the result if I had been unable to give my card to Noemi and it remained hidden away for years because of some sudden tragedy? Maybe, in the years ahead, she would find it and remember what God has given us together. That is exactly what happened at a place named Qumran, in Israel on the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea.

For nearly 2,000 years, fragments of the greatest love letter of all time were sealed away in clay pots while the sands of time blew by year after year. Then, in 1947, a Bedouin shepherd boy accidentally shattered one of the pots while trying to coax his flock of goats out of hiding. Today, the Dead Sea Scrolls provide an incredible witness to God’s keeping of His unconditional promise to preserve His Word throughout the ages.

Isaiah 40:7 & 8
“The grass withers, the flower fades,
When the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever.”

Matthew 24:35
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.”

2 Peter 3:8-9
“But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

Something else happened this week. Iran announced that it is now capable of producing its own nuclear fuel rods. Anyone who is watching what is happening around the world these days must be asking, “What is going to happen next?” 

God’s enduring Love Letter tells us. So, if the sun comes up tomorrow and we are still here, God has a purpose in it for all that are called by His name. That purpose is to proclaim Him to everyone, everywhere.

1 John 5:11-13
“And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”