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"...not by observation - the Kingdom is within." Luke 17:20-21
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the Who Is Israel? series
the Church
by haRold Smith
a citizen of the Commonwealth (Ephesians 2:19)
"My people are destroyed for
lack of knowledge;
because you have rejected knowledge I reject you from being a priest to Me. And since you have forgotten the law of YaHoVeH, I also will forget your children." Hosea 4:6
"...remember all the commandments of YaHoVeH, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after. So you shall
remember
and do all my Words, and be holy to YaHoVeH." Numbers 15:39-40
The previous article of this series,
the Gentile (click on highlighted words to view content),
set forth the scriptural concept of what has come to be known as "the church" was actually to have been in existence long before
Yom Shav'out
(renamed Pentecost) that Christianity claims to be the inception of "the church". The Greek word used for "church",
ekklesia,
means "those called out..." and most of Christianity stops right there with their definition - but that definition is not complete. The complete definition continues with "those called out of their homes to an assembly, an assembly of Israelites." The Hebrew word
qahal,
was what was used in the Origninal Writings as an "assembly" - but this was not a "gentile church", something that is completely contrary to
what scripture tells us.
The first time the Greek word, ekklesia, is used in scripture is not in the book of Acts on Yom Shavu'ot as Christianity maintains, but first appears in the gospel of Matthew, specifically in the words of Yeshua in chapter
18:17.
In this passage, Yeshua referred to those not hearing the ekklesia ("the church") are to be treated as a Gentile - someone other than a member of the Hebrew family of Israel. When Yeshua made this statement, there were no "Christians" around. He was speaking to Hebrews who understood the qahal to have existed long before Pentecost. Even Sha'ul (the Hebrew apostle Paul) said so:
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"This is the one (Moses) who was in
the church (ekklesia)
in the wilderness with the angel which spoke to him in the mount and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us." Acts 7:38
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"Saying, I will declare your name unto my brethren, in the midst of
the church (ekklesia)
will I sing praise unto you." Hebrews 2:12
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Interestingly most modern bibles don't translate ekklesia as "church" in this passage
from Acts 7:38
but, rather, as the English "congregation." When the entire chapter is read in context, it is clear that the ekklesia Paul is speaking of isn't a "gentile church" but Israel! What is being quoted in Hebrews 2:12 is taken directly from
Psalm 22:22
that reads: "I will declare your name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise you." Clearly David is also speaking of Israel - and the author of the book of Hebrews is quoting him directly. The Hebrew word translated as the English "congregation" in Psalm 22:22 is
qahal
(kaf-hey-lamed), meaning "assembly." In the Original Writings, we find this word used well over 100 times and is always translated as "congregation" or "assembly." Perhaps the most interesting thing about this word, however, is that it is always in reference to Israel - but never to gentiles. Thus, since the authors of the Messianic Writings were Hebrew, writing from the Hebrew perspective they were raised in and primarily directing their words toward other Hebrews; then viewing the Greek word ekklesia from their vantage point means they were never conveying the idea of a "gentile church".
In the light of exploring who Israel is, it is just as important to come to an understanding of who Israel is not. Since words mean things, what terminology we use is indicative of what kind of understanding we have of what lies beneath the concepts presented to us in scripture. For instance, Christians have typically understood the Bible to be made up of two testaments - the Old and the New. This is an error in translation and in thinking. The word translated as the English testament is the Greek word,
diatheke,
meaning "the last disposition which one makes of his earthly possessions after his death, a will" and is actually translated as "covenant" more times than it is "testament." Interestingly, there is no Hebrew word that corresponds to this English word "testament" in the Original Writings. The Hebrew word translated as the English "covenant" is
beriyth
which means "alliance or pledge" - nothing even remotely associated with a "will." There is also an inference between the words "old" and "new" that what is newest supersedes what is "oldest". That concept is simply not seen when scripture is viewed from the Hebrew perspective it was written in
(see Who's Word Is It? for more insight).
The Tanakh or the Original Scriptures are not an "Old Testament." They make up the completeness of YaHoVeH's everlasting covenant with Israel. What has come to be known as the "New Testament" is in reality a
fulfillment
of that everlasting covenant. They are not two testaments or even two covenants - they are one. If we are to remain faithful students of the Truth, it becomes imperative to rid ourselves of words that continue to promote inferences which are in opposition to the Truth contained in scriptural concepts
(2Corinthians 10:5).
Consequently, these articles use the terms "Tanakh" or "Original Writings" when referring to what has been classically called the "Old Testament" and "Messianic Writings" for what has come to be inappropriately called the "New Testament." Most Christians also see the term
replacement theology
primarily as a reference to "the church" being the anointed replacement for the Hebrews who forsook "God" - those who "had their shot and blew it" causing them to be cast off from His promises. But would these same Christians be so quick to embrace "replacement theology" if they were aware of the more insidious and underlying implication that theology carries - of actually meaning "replacing the Only True Holy One of Israel" with something else? That being a system of thought that divorces Christianity from the historical reality that spawned it. Yeshua said that what we give ourselves to is what we serve and who or what we serve is what we worship in
Matthew 4:10
(reinforcing Deuteronomy 11:16).
To see replacement theology for the idolatry it really is requires revelation - a paradigm shift in approach to the words of scripture. Throughout scripture, YaHoVeH tells His People to
remember
Who He is. To believe in YaHoVeH is to remember His Nature shown in and through His Deeds - revelation is history, not theology. The knowledge spoken of in
Hosea 4:6
at the top of this article is the knowledge of YaHoVeH's Nature expressed in His Words and Deeds. To be separate from that knowledge is to be destroyed
(John 17:3).
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the Congregation of YaHoVeH
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Seeing that Psalm 22:22 is quoted word for word in Hebrews 2:12 and if the Greek word ekklesia actually means "assembly" - then why would it ever be translated "church" any place else? If the term and concept of "the church" is not scriptural, then how did it wind up in our modern lexicon - where did it come from? 325 years AFTER THE RESURRECTION, "the Church" was created and placed under the control of the state of Rome by its emperor, Constantine (a pagan sun worshipper to the day he died), at the Council of Nicaea where it became known as the new "Roman" Catholic Church. The disturbing edicts of that council can be found in
the Word.
Those edicts were carried through to the end of the Roman Empire and beyond. When the pope, as the head of the Roman Catholic Church, told King Henry VIII that divorcing his current wife to marry
Anne Bolyin
went against scripture, King Henry's response was to take jurisdiction over the Church with the Act of Supremacy passed by Parliament in 1534 which proclaimed the king as head of the now renamed "Church of England" (interestingly, it was the scripture of the Original Writings the pope was using as the basis for his accusation). Subsequently, when the original King James version of the Bible was completed in 1611, it had become very important to the crown to retain the word "church" in the text to support the state's authority over it. It was on this premise that
King James made fifteen specific edicts
(scroll down through the text to see them) that were forcibly applied to that translation. Edict number three stated that this bible was to retain the word "church" in the translation and it was not to be replaced with the word "congregation". He made this a specific edict because he had no authoritative jurisdiction over the congregation (assembly of people) - but he did have that authority over the church (physical buildings). He did not want the word "assembly" associated with the original meaning of the Original Writings which meant "congregation" to prevent an undermining of that authority. He obviously knew the correct translation, but he didn't want it in there in order to retain control over "the church."
The proof of this assertion is found in the first independent English Bible, the Tyndale Bible, translated sometime between 1524 and 1526. The Tyndale Bible never once used the word church. It used the word assembly or congregation
(see Acts 7:38 anew).
The Tyndale Bible did use the word "churches" once in
Acts 19:37
to describe pagan temples. It is Strong's #2417
hierosylos
and means "guilty of sacrilege". In other words, it means that the hierosulos (translated by Tyndale as churches) is spoiling YaHoVeH's Temple. It is a false temple! Interestingly, this preference for the word "church" was what was passed on to the first printed KJV translation, even though the word used there in Acts 19:37 is NOT ekklesia. The Greek word ekklesia was falsely translated church in the King James Version from a word used to describe pagan temples! Since the earlier Tyndale version had correctly translated the Greek "ekklesia," as "congregation" rather than "church" it was asserted this translation choice, "...was a direct threat to the Roman Catholic Church's claim to be the body of Christ on earth (but as Tyndale made clear, a non-scriptural claim). To change these words was to strip the Church hierarchy of its pretensions to be Christ's terrestrial representative, and to award this honour to individual worshipers who made up each congregation." (ibid, Brian Moynahan, William Tyndale "If God Spare my Life" Abacus, London ISBN 034911532 p72). It is because of his refusal to repent over his translation of the bible and for making it accessible to the public that William Tyndale was burned at the stake by the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church.
The English word "congregation" is translated from the Greek word, "ekklesia" - but since King James forbade replacing this Greek word with "congregation" (the true interpretation), it was replaced with a word which has a totally different meaning. THERE IS NO SUCH ENTITY IN THE SCRIPTURES AS "THE CHURCH". It is easy to see that what is going on is a perpetuation of Replacement Theology by the anti-Semitic gentile "Church" that was founded by Constantine and endorsed by the so called "REFORMERS" - who are nothing more than Protestant Catholics
(Mark 7:9-13).
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...what do these words really mean?
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The poison of anti-Semitism and the push to remove the influence of anything Hebraic from what became known as Christianity under the heavy anti-Semitic influence of Constantine in the 4th century, continued with the "church" leaders that followed his destructive legacy. Martin Luther was an avowed anti-Semite. To worship the One True Holy One of Israel is to enter into a culture marked by a common history, a common storehouse of cultural memories that supply us with identity, meaning and practice of worship toward
YaHoVeH, the Present Presence.
Once we become divorced from the
historical
continuity of YaHoVeH's plan and purpose, we are no longer in the stream of YaHoVeH's actions - we are no longer biblical believers. We become theologians or philosophers, pursuing abstractions about some universal god - we no longer are adherents to the revelation of YaHoVeH whom Yeshua extolled. Have you ever wondered where the phrase "Christian apologist" comes from? What are they apologizing for? When Christianity became a philosophy, a new religion - it no longer was part of the history of YaHoVeH's people. That is a hard swallow for those who have invested the whole of their identity in Christian theology and why they still seek to see themselves as "God's people" to justify their stance. That they worship a "god" is certain - what god that is becomes suspect. Idolatry is the correct word to describe Christianity's current state because they worship a man-made constructed
"Jesus"
- elevating him to the status of a deity.
YaHoVeH has always had but one assembly and Her Name is Israel. The question of this series has been, "Who is Israel?" - but the more important question is, have you joined her? Or, now equipped with this knowledge - are you going to just keep "doing church"?
???Questions???
Please feel free to email me at harold@hethathasanear.com.
While not claiming to have all
the answers, it would be an honor to partake with you of what Spirit is uncovering.
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