Post by Zadkiel on Jan 12, 2016 22:12:01 GMT
The Essenes' hierarchical system is important to understand the meaning of certain expressions in the New Testament. While some priests used angels' names, others called themselves "God," "Father," "Man" and so on. When Jesus is addressed as "The Son of God" and "The Son of Man", this only shows that he in those periods was located one level below the person that was "God" or "Man"; and that he acted as his assistant and deputy. When "hierarchical" people were intimate with their partners, they are referred to as "unclean" and temporarily moved down three levels. The same thing happened when someone fell out of favor. So, the various individuals in different times were on different levels and they also used different titles almost as a personal name. This is the explanation to the huge cast of characters that we are introduced to in the New Testament, where the same individual in the worst case is described by up to twenty names and titles.
