Jars Of Clay
In 1947, a Bedouin boy was herding his goats in the Judean wilderness along the northwest shore of the Dead Sea. One of his goats strayed from the flock so, naturally, he went after it. As he searched for the goat, he absentmindedly tossed a stone into one of the caves that dotted the sea cliffs in the area. When the stone disappeared into the dark mouth of the cave, it was immediately followed by the sound of breaking pottery.
Boys are curious; ask me how I know. So, he had to find out what had made that unusual noise. The rock had hit a ceramic pot containing scrolls made of both papyrus and leather. I’m sure he had no idea of the impact his accidental discovery would have on the world.
While we don’t know all the details of his discovery, we know these ancient documents today as The Qumran Scrolls, or The Dead Sea Scrolls. When they were discovered, they were already nearly twenty centuries old. Eventually, they lead archeologists to numerous other caves in the Qumran area. Those caves contained tens of thousands of manuscript fragments.
The Dead Sea Scrolls give us confidence in the reliability of the Old Testament manuscripts because the differences between the previous manuscripts and those found in Qumran were so small. It’s a blessing to see how God preserved His Word down through the centuries, protecting it from extinction and guarding it against error.
I thought about The Dead Sea Scrolls because of the text before us today. In Second Corinthians 4:7, Paul writes, “but we have this treasure in earthen vessels…” What is Paul talking about? What is the treasure, and who, or what, are the earthen vessels?
I hope you can stay with me as we explore the answers to those questions and more in our continuing study from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. Our study is titled Jars of Clay. So, listen as I read the text, Second Corinthians 4:7 to 12.
Paul’s teaching informs us of the WAYS God reveals Jesus to the world through “Jars of Clay.”
The first WAY God reveals Jesus to the world through jars of clay is,
Treasure in Unlikely Containers
As I said earlier, I’m sure that Bedouin shepherd boy had no idea of the incredible value of the contents of that random, old, broken clay pot. Most scholars credit the ancient Essenes with the preservation of these precious documents. You would think that something of such value would be stored in a more dur...
