According to the Book of Acts Chapter 9, Sha'ul (Paul) approached the desert city of Damascus so that he might find anyone associating with the People of the Way. In finding them, both men and women, he bound them and brought them up to Jerusalem for Judgment, and subsequently, they were mistreated and thrown into prison. Sha'ul's life changed when he met Ananias (Hananyah) in Damascus on a Street called Straight. This story reflects the prophetic words of Isaiah 40:3 and the voice of one crying, "In the desert, make straight a highway for our God." Join us for this segment of our study—Chapter 7 of Qumran and the (Yachad) Community of the Zadokites. We will learn about the Voice of Isaiah 40:3 and more about Sha'ul (Paul) and the Qumran Zadokite Community.

This is a lesson about the Signs of the Times, as Yeshua mentioned in Matthew 16:1-3. His audience knew precisely what he was referring to from Daniel 7:25, the Greek King Antiochus "Epiphanes" IV, and the subsequent uprising of the Hasmoneans (the ruling authority of the Maccabees under Shimon the Just). The days of the Maccabees were filled with internal and external squabbles and struggles for the power of kingship and priesthood, national authority, and a biblical Zadokite calendar of sacred time.