The Millennium, part 3

Shalom, friends!

Okay, this is going to be a bumpy ride: Having already talked to some length on the meaning of "heaven," that is, that "heaven," both the Hebrew word "shamayim" and the Greek word "ouranos," mean "the sky" or "the atmosphere," I must now "step on some more toes."

What is a "church," and what is the "Church?" This is a "sacred cow" to many Christians, but it really shouldn't be.

Let's start with the English word "church." What does it mean? Where did it come from? Well, according to the Random House Webster's College Dictionary (copyright 1997 by Random House, Inc., New York), the entry for "church" says,...

church (church), n. 1. a building for public Christian worship. 2. a religious service in a church. 3. (sometimes cap.) a. the whole body of Christian believers; Christendom. b. any major division of this body; a Christian denomination. 4. a Christian congregation. 5. organized religion as distinguished from the state. 6. (cap.) a. the Christian Church before the Reformation. b. the Roman Catholic Church. 7. the profession of an ecclesiastic. --v.t. 8. to perform a church service for (a woman after childbirth). [bef. 900; ME chir(i)che, OE cir(i)ce << Gk kuri(a)kon (dooma) the Lord's (house); akin to D kerk, G Kirche, ON kirkja. See KIRK]

...where "cap." means "capitalized," "bef." means "before," "ME" means "Middle English," "OE" means "Old English," "<<" means "descended from, borrowed from intermediate stages not shown," "Gk" means "Greek," "D" means "Dutch," "G" means "German," and "ON" means "Old Norse." Thus, regardless the intermediate languages, the word comes from the Greek word "kuriakon" or just "kurikon" both meaning "of the Lord" or "Lord's." So, somehow, the adjective became a noun in usage and even migrated to usage as a transitive verb.

This word, being an adjective modifier, was used with another word, such as the Greek word "dooma" meaning "house," from which we get our words "domestic" and "dome." It could also have been used with another Greek word which is usually translated "church" in English translations, "ekkleesia," from which we get our words such as "ecclesiastic" or "ecclesiology."

The word "ekkleesia" is a compound word in Greek, stemming from "ek" meaning "out of" or "from" and "kaleoo" meaning "I call." Thus, an "ekkleesia" is defined by Strong's Dictionary of the Greek Language as...

NT:1577 ekkleesia (ek-klay-see'-ah); from a compound of NT:1537 and a derivative of NT:2564; a calling out, i.e. (concretely) a popular meeting, especially a religious congregation (Jewish synagogue, or Christian community of members on earth or saints in heaven or both):
KJV - assembly, church.
(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.)

So, this means that a "church" in the New Testament, stemming from the Greek word "ekkleesia," means a "calling out."

Okay, up to this point, that's the easy part, and you may or may not have already heard this information in a sermon or in a Bible study.

Let's look at where this word is found in Scripture:

The word is found 116 times in the NT (the Textus Receptus, for the sake of avoiding argument). Of those 116 times, it is found in the following passages:

The word was translated "church" in...
Matt. 16:18; 18:17 (2x); Acts 2:47; 5:11; 7:38; 8:1, 3; 11:22, 26; 12:1, 5; 13:1; 14:23, 27; 15:3, 4, 22; 18:22; 20:17, 28; Rom. 16:1, 5, 23; 1 Cor. 1:2; 4:17; 6:4; 10:32; 11:18, 22; 12:28; 14:4, 5, 12, 19, 23, 28, 35; 15:9; 16:19; 2 Cor. 1:1; Gal. 1:13; Eph. 1:22; 3:10, 21; 5:23, 24, 25, 27, 29, 32; Phil. 3:6; 4:15; Col. 1:18, 24; 4:15, 16; 1 Thes. 1:1; 2 Thes. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:5, 15; 5:16; Philem. 2; Heb. 2:12; 12:23; Jas. 5:14; 1 Pet. 5:13; 3 John 6, 9, 10; Rev. 2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, and 14. (77)
It was translated "churches" in...
Acts 9:31; 15:41; 16:5; Rom. 16:4, 16; 1 Cor. 7:17; 11:16; 14:33, 34; 16:1, 19; 2 Cor. 8:1, 18, 19, 23, 24; 11:8, 28; 12:13; Gal. 1:2, 22; 1 Thes. 2:14; 2 Thes. 1:4; Rev. 1:4, 11, 20 (2x); 2:7, 11, 17, 23, 29; 3:6, 13, 22; and 22:16. (36)
And, it was translated "assembly" in...
Acts 19:32, 39, and 41. (3)

That's not a large number of verses to look up. If you have the desire to check into these verses, I would strongly encourage you to do so. That's it! That's everywhere the word is used in Scripture.

Acts chapter 19 is fascinating as the word is not even used of a Christian "calling-out" at all! It's talking about a town meeting at Ephesus:

Acts 19:23-41
23 And the same time there arose no small stir about that way.
24 For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen;
25 Whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth.
26 Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands:
27 So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.
28 And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.
29 And the whole city was filled with confusion: and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul's companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theatre.
30 And when Paul would have entered in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not.
31 And certain of the chief of Asia, which were his friends, sent unto him, desiring him that he would not adventure himself into the theatre.
32 Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was confused; and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together.
33 And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand, and would have made his defence unto the people.
34 But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.
35 And when the townclerk had appeased the people, he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?
36 Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly.
37 For ye have brought hither these men, which are neither robbers of churches, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess.
38 Wherefore if Demetrius, and the craftsmen which are with him, have a matter against any man, the law is open, and there are deputies: let them implead one another.
39 But if ye inquire any thing concerning other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly.
40 For we are in danger to be called in question for this day's uproar, there being no cause whereby we may give an account of this concourse.
41 And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly.
KJV

So, you see, ANY assembly can be called a "calling-out." Furthermore, there are other passages that are equally interesting:

Matt 18:15-17
15 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.
16 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.
17 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.
KJV

Acts 7:37-40
37 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.
38 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:
39 To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt,
40 Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
KJV

Heb 2:11-12
11 For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,
12 Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.
KJV

Although I believe there are more such passages as well, in these three at least, we can readily see that these verses are NOT talking about a "Christian church."

It should be obvious to the reader that the Acts location is talking about the congregation of Isra'el in the desert when it calls them "the church in the wilderness."

The other two may not be quite so obvious UNTIL one realizes that both of these passages quote from the OT. Yeshua` (Jesus) quoted from Deuteronomy 19:15-19 and the author of Hebrews quoted from Psalm 22:22:

Deut 19:15-19
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.
16 If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong;
17 Then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days;
18 And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother;
19 Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so shalt thou put the evil away from among you.
KJV
Ps. 22:1-23
22 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
2 O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.
3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
4 Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.
5 They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.
6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head saying,
8 He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
9 But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts.
10 I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly.
11 Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.
12 Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
13 They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.
17 I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.
18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.
19 But be not thou far from me, O Lord: O my strength, haste thee to help me.
20 Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.
21 Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.
22 I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.
23 Ye that fear the Lord, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.
KJV
Think on this for a while, and I will write more.

In the Messiah's love,
Retrobyter