Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself Ephesians 2:11-15
WHAT IS THE CHURCH?
In the New Testament the Greek word translated "Church" is "ekklesia". It means: an "assembly of people" or "congregation". [1]
The word for "Church" never means a "building".
WHEN DID THE CHURCH BEGIN?
Some will immediately say, "on the Day of Pentecost" (The Hebrew Feast of Shavuot) citing:
"And the same day there were added to them about three thousand souls." Acts 2:41
But wait...does it say anywhere in the passage that there was at this specific time a "new organization" begun where immediately people were appointed to write a new ordinance? No, there is no mention here of this being done.
Others say, "this was when the New Covenant was Given". Were persons who believed in Yeshua as Messiah before this time not in the Church?
Is it possible the Church was already in existence? What does the Scripture say?
WHAT DOES SCRIPTURE SAY ABOUT THE CHURCH?
Since we do know the word "ekklesia" does mean "Church", do we have any other New Testament references that speak of the Church (ekklesia) in existence at any earlier time?
THE TESTIMONY OF STEPHEN
Here is what Stephen said at his trial:
"This is he (Moses), that was in the Church (ekklesia) in the wilderness with the angel that did speak to him in the Mount Si'na, and [with] our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give us." Acts 7:38.
Now hold on here! The Greek word "ekklesia" means "Church" doesn't it? Yes, it does. Surely Stephen used the wrong word, didn't he? Is the Bible wrong? Did Stephen forget that the Church (ekklesia) was started on the Day of Pentecost? Never before that time?
Since Scripture speaks of:
"the Church (ekklesia) in the wilderness"
at the time of Moses, perhaps we should examine this more fully?
THE TESTIMONY OF KING DAVID AND WHAT THE NEW TESTAMENT SAYS
I will declare Thy Name unto my brethren: in the midst of the Congregation will I praise Thee. Psalm 22:22
Now that is from the Old Testament and from King David no less. So therefore he was addressing Israel, right? Even the Old Testament prophets knew nothing of the Church say the Dispensationalists, so certainly he was adressing Israel as a separate entity from the Church, right?
But the New Testament repeats the same verse in the Book of Hebrews:
Saying, I will declare Thy Name unto my brethren, in the midst of the Church will I sing praise unto Thee. Hebrews 2:12
Take a good long look! The New Testament says that King David was speaking of the Church!
WHAT THE OLDER TESTAMENT SAYS
In the Hebrew Scriptures (Older Testament) there are three different Hebrew words translated "Congregation":
MOED: An Appointed Assembly or Feast.
EDAH: A company of people or a crowd.
KAHAL (or QAHAL): A Called Together Assembly.
There is also another version of the Older Testament called the Septuagint (LXX). It is in Greek. What does it say there?
Where we find the Hebrew word KAHAL, we have the Greek word SYNAGOGUE about seventeen times in the Books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers.
However, when we get to the Book of Deuteronomy, there we find EKKLESIA for KAHAL more than fifty times! This is the same Greek word "ekklesia" that is found time after time in the New Testament!
DIDN'T YESHUA SAY THE CHURCH WAS STARTED THEN?
Yeshua did Say:
"On this Rock I will build (OIKODOMEO) My Church." Matthew 16:18
Some have said that Yeshua just announced something totally separated from any "Church in the wilderness" didn't He? Let's look closely at the passage.
The Greek word translated "build" here is OIKODOMEO. OIKODOMEO is made up of two words: OIKOS, which means "house", and DOMA, meaning "housetop" or "roof". (This is where we get the English word "DOME") OIKODOMEO actually means to "top off the house" or "to complete the building" by placing a "DOME" on top.
The New Testament translators often render the same word (OIKODOMEO) as "edify". It has also taken on the meaning "to build up" in many concordances and dictionaries, but OIKODOMEO actually means "to make complete".
It never means to "begin to build" but rather to end construction and to "put the final touches" on a project or making something completely finished.
Yeshua was Saying He was going to Complete Israel which was always His Church
DIVIDE OLDER TESTAMENT BELIEVERS FROM NEW TESTAMENT BELIEVERS?
The Dispensationalists have made this erroneous division. They say that the "Church" in the New Testament is solely a "Gentile Church" and the Jewish people of the Older Testament lived in a "Jewish Age" or "Age of the Law" and they were not really part of His Church or "The Church Age" as they call it.
New believers are also sometimes not told right away that these Dispensationalists split the Book of Matthew into two parts. They say that most of Matthew is not for "the Church" at all, but only for "the Jewish Age" or "Age of the Law". They many times conceal this from new students.
To them ("Dispies" as they are sometimes called), the Church is Gentile, and it alone is "the Gentile Bride" of Christ. [2]
LET US STRAIGHTEN THIS CONFUSION OUT
Nowhere in Scripture does it say the Gentile Church alone is the Bride of Christ.
This may come as a surprise to many that have been taught this. What is the Church? The Church is His BODY, and He is the HEAD. (Romans 12:4,5, I Corinthians 6:15, 12:2, Ephesians 1:22,23, 5:29,30, Colossians 1:18, 2:19). Does a HEAD marry its own BODY? No. But the Scriptures do say there is a Bride. Who then is the Bride?
Again, what does the Scripture say?
ISAIAH DID PROPHESY ABOUT THE BRIDE
Isaiah Prophesied adulterous Israel, Cleansed, is The Bride:
For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall thy sons marry Thee, and as the Bridegroom Rejoices over the Bride, so shall thy G-d Rejoice over thee. Isaiah 62:5
I will greatly rejoice in the L-rd, my soul shall be joyful in G-d; for He hath clothed me with the garments of my Salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of Righteousness, as a Bridegroom decketh Himself with ornaments, and as a Bride adorneth herself with jewels. Isaiah 61:10
ARE THE GENTILES ALSO THE BRIDE?
YES!
Scripture says the Bride of Christ will be all Israel INTO WHICH the Gentiles HAVE BEEN GRAFTED.
And if some of the branches be broken off, and you (Gentiles) being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them (Israel), and with them (Israel) partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;... Romans 11:17
The Gentiles, however, are strictly warned to not boast themselves against the original Branches (Israel).
boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou (Gentiles) bearest not the Root (Israel), but the Root (Israel), thee (the Gentiles). Romans 11:18.
The New Testament says the Gentiles do not bear the root. What is "the root"? The Jewish Older Testament saints! What does the Scripture say will be done about these Gentiles who boast against them?
Be not highminded (proud) but fear: for if G-d spared not the natural branches (the ones broken off) [take heed] that He also spare not thee (you Gentiles). Romans 11:19,20
What happens if Gentiles continue to boast against Israel into which they have been grafted?
...but toward thee (Gentiles) Goodness, if thou continue in [His] Goodness: otherwise you also will be cut off. Romans 11:22.
Scripture says that those Gentiles who boast themselves against the Older Testament saints of Israel will be cut off!
Is this not what Dispensationalists are doing with their "Gentile Church", and claiming they alone are the sole Bride?
By dividing Scripture into "times" they have systematically excluded Older Testament Jewish saints from the Bride!
This cannot be right. Is there any further evidence that the system they call "Church Age" is not a "Gentile Church"?
FURTHER EVIDENCE
What does it say in Revelation 21:12? The 12 Gates to the New Jerusalem have upon them the 12 Tribes of Israel! How could this be GENTILE? Now ask yourselves, what are the "12 Tribes" doing in their "Gentile Church"?
The Futurist-Dispensational doctrine holds that the "Church is Gentile" but the "Kingdom is Jewish". The Apostle Paul, however, identifies himself as "a Jew", and all the Apostles were Jewish too! In addition, there were the 120 of Acts 1:5, the 5,000 of Acts 4:4 and the "great company of priests in Jerusalem" in Acts 6:7. Added to this were the numerous converts to Christ among the Jewish people that Paul preached to in his travels throughout the Roman Empire![3]
CONCLUSIONS
The Bride of Christ is all Israel. All of the Older Testament saints are His Bride. The Gentiles, grafted-in to Israel are also included in His Bride. The Church is the "capstone"; the final "finishing touch" of Israel.
The "Marriage Supper of the Lamb" is the Feast of all Israel together: Jews of the Older Testament. Jews and the Grafted-in Gentiles who have believed in Yeshua. We are together! One in Yeshua the Messiah!
What a Glorious Feast that will be!
PEOPLE OF G-D MINISTRIES
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FOOTNOTES
[1
"11-13 Christ and his covenant are the foundation of all the Christian's hopes. A sad and terrible description is here; but who is able to remove himself out of it? Would that this were not a true description of many baptized in the name of Christ. Who can, without trembling, reflect upon the misery of a person, separated for ever from the people of God, cut off from the body of Christ, fallen from the covenant of promise, having no hope, no Saviour, and without any God but a God of vengeance, to all eternity? To have no part in Christ! What true Christian can hear this without horror? Salvation is far from the wicked; but God is a help at hand to his people; and this is by the sufferings and death of Christ.
"14-18 Jesus Christ made peace by the sacrifice of himself; in every sense Christ was their Peace, the author, centre, and substance of their being at peace with God, and of their union with the Jewish believers in one church. Through the person, sacrifice, and mediation of Christ, sinners are allowed to draw near to God as a Father, and are brought with acceptance into his presence, with their worship and services, under the teaching of the Holy Spirit, as one with the Father and the Son. Christ purchased leave for us to come to God; and the Spirit gives a heart to come, and strength to come, and then grace to serve God acceptably." Matthew Henrys' Commentariy on the Whole Bible.
Is it any wonder why the original founders and primary promoters of Dispensationalism depised Matthew Henrys' teaching on the subject of Israel and the Church?
[2
[3
The Dispensationalists (Ribera-Maitland-Darby-Scofieldites) say that Prophetic events regarding the Older Testament Jewish people has no relation to today, or the "Age" or "Dispensation" to use their terminology they say to be now "in". Today, their focus remains on some "superior" "Gentile Church" which exalts "the Gentiles" and puts them totally in charge of "this Age" which they call "The Church Age".
They say certain things were not accomplished by the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D. and that G-d still owes the Jewish people seven more years by their computations. In this seven years G-d will provide for them everything that He has so far "not produced".
To accomplish this, they must place a very different interpretation on Luke 21:22,.
"For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled."
What "days"? Please read the passage in context. Yeshua was speaking of the destruction of the Temple which would occur in 70 A.D.
1. Arndt and Gingrich. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. Cambridge University Press. Chicago, Illinois. 1957. 909 pps.
2. Rusk, Robert. The Other End of the World. Le Book Company. Plano, Texas. 1988. 268 pps.
Zodhiates, Spiros. Hebrew-Greek Study Bible. AMG Publishers. 1991. 1935 pps.