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I am not sure what Unity you are referring to, however when The Good Shepherd refers to Unity, his is referring to membership/belonging in One Flock - To be in Communion with Him and His Church He established on Earth.... Remember, He left us The Church, The Church then left us the Cannon of Scripture, the Universal Catholic Church - Christ's Church.:
I'm sorry, but I don't think you have the foggiest idea of what the "church" is.
Let me fill you in:
In identifying the term “church,” we need to make sure we identify it in the same way that it would have been understood to the 1st-century audience. Remember: this audience did not have a “New Testament” at this time, the only scriptures which existed were those of the Tanakh (“Old Testament”).
The Greek word for “church” is
ekklesia which means “a gathering,” or “an assembly of people for a common purpose.” It is found twice in Matthew, but is completely absent in all of the other gospels, as well as both epistles of Peter. However, Paul uses the word in all but two of his epistles, and it is found 20 times in the Book of Revelation. James uses the word “synagogue” for the Messianic congregation yet instructs those who are sick to call the elders of the “
ekklesia,” an apparent indication that, to James, the two terms were synonymous.
In the Septuagint, the word “
ekklesia” was used to translate the Hebrew word “
qahal” which itself was used to designate “the congregation of Israel.” The Hebrew Tanakh also uses the word “
edah” to refer to the congregation, but it is used to refer to the congregation as an informal assembly, whereas “
qahal” is used to refer to a more formal representation of the community. So, both “
qahal” and “
edah” are used to designate “the congregation of Israel,” the word “
qahal” being used to designate a formal gathering, while “
edah” refers to an informal gathering. It should be noted that the Aramaic translations use the word “
adatah” (note the similarity to the Hebrew word “
edah”) to designate the same congregation.
It is the word “
qahal” that we find in Deuteronomy 33:
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Deuteronomy 33:1-4: And this [is] the blessing, wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand [went] a fiery law for them. Yea, he loved the people; all his saints [are] in thy hand: and they sat down at thy feet; [every one] shall receive of thy words. Moses commanded us a law, [even] the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob.
Here, the word “
qahal” is used to refer to the “congregation of Jacob.” It is this
qahal to whom “Moses charged us with a Torah.” Now notice that these words are being spoken to all 12 tribes of Israel and not just to the tribe of Judah (and Benjamin) only (i.e. “Jews”). The Torah was given to the entire
qahal (“congregation”) of Israel. The
qahal (“church”)
owns the Torah, it is their possession, their inheritance, and their responsibility. In short, the Torah is an integral part of the
qahal (“church”).
Next, we go to Joshua:
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Joshua 8:35: There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers that were conversant among them.
Here we have Joshua, after the death of Moses, reading the entire book of the Torah to the
qahal (“church” ) of Israel. There was “not a word of all that Moses commanded” that Joshua did not read. Notice too, that “strangers” [i.e. "aliens" ) were members of his audience, therefore showing us that *anyone* who chooses to become a member of the
qahal (“congregation,” “church” ) of Israel is to receive and obey the commandments of the Torah, and not just those who are direct descendants of Abraham.
Now let’s go 900 years into the future to the book of Nehemiah:
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Nehemiah 8:1-3: And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that [was] before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel. And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month. And he read therein before the street that [was] before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people [were attentive] unto the book of the law.
Here, we find that all the people gathered as one man at the square which is in front of the water gate, and they asked Ezra the priest to bring “the book of the Torah of Moses which YHVH had commanded to Israel,” and Ezra brought the Torah before the
qahal (“church”) of Israel and all of the people listened attentively to it. So again, the
qahal (“church”) has in its possession, the Torah – it listens attentively, and it obeys.
Of course, in the Greek “New Testament,” we’re not going to find the Hebrew word “
qahal” we instead find the Greek word “
ekklesia” because that is what was always used in the Septuagint to translate the Hebrew word “
qahal.”
Here is the way that Strong’s Concordance defines the word “
ekklesia:”
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1) a gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public place, an assembly
a) an assembly of the people convened at the public place of the council for the purpose of deliberating
b) the assembly of the Israelites
c) any gathering or throng of men assembled by chance, tumultuously
d) in a Christian sense
1) an assembly of Christians gathered for worship in a religious meeting
2) a company of Christian, or of those who, hoping for eternal salvation through Jesus Christ, observe their own religious rites, hold their own religious meetings, and manage their own affairs, according to regulations prescribed for the body for order's sake
3) those who anywhere, in a city, village, constitute such a company and are united into one body
4) the whole body of Christians scattered throughout the earth
5) the assembly of faithful Christians already dead and received into heaven
This definition fits what we’ve just seen: an assembly of the Israelites gathered together for some common purpose – such as receiving, or hearing the words of the Torah.
The “New Testament” scriptures have been preserved for us in both Greek and in Aramaic. The Eastern Church still uses the Aramaic translation today. As noted above, the word for “church” in Aramaic is “
adatah,” which is similar to the Hebrew word “
edah.” Like the Greek definition for “
ekklesia” above, the “
adatah” can be defined as:
An assembly or congregation gathered for a common purpose.And in Numbers 20:22, we find:
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Numbers 20:22: And the children of Israel, [even] the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh, and came unto mount Hor.
The Hebrew word that we have here, for the “congregation” that came to Mount Hor is “
edah.”
Now, let’s look at Acts 7 and Stephen’s defense before the Sanhedrin:
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Acts 7:36-38: He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years. This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear. This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and [with] our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:
Notice here that the King James Version translates the word “
ekklesia” that is used here as “
*church*! Stephen is telling us that the
church (the
ekklesia, the
adatah) was at Mount Sinai receiving the “lively oracles” (The Torah).
Now, here is an interesting question: If the “church” was born at Pentecost as Christianity claims, then what is it doing out in the wilderness, receiving the Torah on Mount Sinai? The church
WASN’T born at Pentecost, it was born at Mount Sinai when it received the
Marriage Covenant. It was
renewed at Pentecost, because formerly, we had been
divorced.Let’s look at the Book of Psalms and see what King David had to say:
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Psalms 74:2: Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old, Which You have redeemed to be the tribe of Your inheritance; {And} this Mount Zion, where You have dwelt.[NASB]
Here, David uses the word “
edah” to refer to the people whom God purchased long ago, the tribe of His inheritance – obviously a reference to Israel.
Let’s look at the words of Yeshua in which He confronted bold Torah-disobedience in the community:
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Matthew 18:15-17: Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear [thee, then] take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell [it] unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.
First, take note that Yeshua is teaching the Torah. The Torah states that truth is established by the testimony of two or more witnesses, and not by the witness of one man alone:
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Deuteronomy 19:15: One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.
So, when Yeshua told them to take two or three witnesses in order to resolve the matter, He was teaching Torah Law. Next, He tells them that if the offender still won’t listen, that they are to take the matter before the entire “
ekklesia.” Therefore, this passage tells us that anyone that is a member of the “
ekklesia” (“church,” “
adatah,” “
edah”) is
one who will have Torah knowledge and Torah discipline which means that, if you are a member of the “church,” you are not a “Gentile” anymore, you have given up that status. You are now an “Israelite” – a Torah-obedient member of the Covenant.
Lastly, let’s look at how Paul uses the term “church:”
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1 Timothy 3:15: But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
Here, Paul tells us that the “church” is the “pillar and support of the truth.” What is the truth? We find it defined for us in Psalm 119:
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Psalm 119:142: Thy righteousness [is] an everlasting righteousness, and thy law [is] the truth.
The Torah is the truth, which is exactly why Paul tells us in Romans 3:31 that we don’t “void the Torah,” but we “
uphold the Torah:”
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Romans 3:31: Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
[This message has been edited by Bracy (edited 1/11/2006 11:19p).]
