This post is a follow up to a post on voting, you might want to start with that article: https://expedition44.com/2022/08/09/voting-the-kingdom-conundrum/

Romans 13 is theologically difficult. I would argue the great majority of the Bible seems to speak differently when interpreted by 21st century English-American. Hebrews 11:13; 1 Peter 1:17, 2:11, 2 Corinthians 5:20 and Philippians 3:20 (to name a few) all clearly speak to being in complete allegiance to the kingdom of the Lord and being single minded to only serve one master who is Jesus the Lord of your life.

Romans 13 has become a favorite proof text for every church narcissist who wants to Lord over and rule like a king in the name of Jesus. Does Romans 13 mean that God actually instituted every authority by God and that Christians should comply to whatever they ask?

The Bible agrees. When it seems like it doesn’t, we are tasked with the puzzle of figuring out the best interpretation. In this case, countless verses say to not be of the world, to solely and completely follow Jesus, that God is good (Tov) and not part of corruption, that we as His children are not to compromise to the ways of the world but be undivided and not tangled up in the affairs of the systems of the world.

How do we reconcile, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.”

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Seeking a better interpretation

The first law of Hermeneutics is context. Any Romans scholar would tell you that you have to read Romans in complete context. As believers, you are the set apart remnant, we should expect persecution, all authority belongs to and should be given solely to the Lord, live as a royal priesthood set apart in living sacrifice. Follow the example of Christ in humble submission and be devoted to the body and the Word.

Paul is chronically in trouble with the government and seen as treasonous by them, eventually He will be killed by them for His traitorous mindset. Some scholars would assert that Romans 13 is referring to church governance. I think that is a viable option, but the reference to taxes and revenue doesn’t really fit first century church as much as a description of state government. It would seem to fit a context of tithing in churches today, but that doesn’t fit the audience so personally I think that “view” shows a poor hermeneutic.

Could Paul be writing to appease the Roman government who would have been screening these letters? Well, that is certainly a consideration. We don’t have records of several letters that we know Paul wrote and they were likely confiscated. I think there is some truth to this theory and should be taken into any consideration on the best interpretation.

Let’s get a few things straight. Paul regularly taught that Jesus was king, NOT Caesar. All authority is given to Christ. In fact, there isn’t anywhere in Paul’s writings other than Romans 13 that would seem to assert ANY “authority” to Caesar. I would argue Romans 13 doesn’t either. Caesar was and should not ever be recognized as a valid authority instilled or given by God. In other words, God didn’t institute the authority of Caesar. According to Paul, Jesus is “the blessed and only Ruler” (1 Timothy 6:15, 1:17; Acts 17:6-7; James 4:12). This happened all the time in the Old Testament and God clearly doesn’t honor the authority instituted by men or ask His followers to do the same. In fact, one of the reigning messages of the Old Testament is to follow God not the pagan nations. Have nothing to do with them. Yet there still seems to be a sense to this text of trying to live within what they are asking of us.

Paul often taught as a Rabbi in the same way that Jesus did using Hebrew idioms that reminded them of complete teachings by simple phrases. I teach regularly about the use of contronyms, extreme opposites that by explaining the opposite of something shape what is true on the other extreme as well. There is some of this going on in Romans 13 as well. Paul clearly thinks that Caesar is a terror to Christians in I Corinthians 2 and 2 Timothy 2. But I don’t want to major on this as I view it as a minor emphasis. Still, it should be considered in your interpretation.

I also need to touch on paying taxes. Paul doesn’t seem to go along with the Roman government in Acts 16. Neither Paul nor Jesus ever taught their followers to pay tax. Taxation was considered theft or extortion by the Jews. Paul would exclaim in verse 8 that we owe nothing but love to our neighbors. Those words are similar to Jesus. When he was asked to pay tax, it was miraculously paid from a fish which represented money of the world given back to the world. Jesus didn’t pay the tax from money from the purse that was given for ministry. That would have been giving God’s money to the world or stealing.

If something is Evil we are taught to NOT be a part of it, or entangled in it. We are set apart to be of the world but not in it. Don’t be conformed to the patterns of the world. Did Joseph and Mary willfully submit their baby to Herod for execution? Paul spent more time in prison for disobeying the government then he did out of Prison after his 14 years of training.

So, as I, and every other scholar I know, would agree, this section of Romans 13 seemingly being contradictory to the message of nearly the entire lens of the scripture. We have an option not to read “into it” that way. It can’t mean something to us today that it didn’t mean to its intended audience. How would they have interpreted it?

In his commentary on Romans, Colin Kruse observes that in Romans 13 “Paul is drawing upon teaching in Jewish literature about God’s sovereignty over the rise and fall of earthly rulers” (Paul’s Letter to the Romans, 493). Supporting that claim, he lists a handful of key passages from the Old Testament, the Jewish Apocrypha, and Josephus. Here’s his list.

·      
By me kings reign and rulers issue decrees that
are just; by me princes govern, and nobles—all who rule on earth. (Prov
8:15–16)

·      
In the Lord’s hand the king’s heart is a stream
of water that he channels toward all who please him. (Prov 21:1)

·      
With my great power and outstretched arm I made
the earth and its people and the animals that are on it, and I give it to
anyone I please. Now I will give all your countries into the hands of my
servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; I will make even the wild animals subject
to him. All nations will serve him and his son and his grandson until the time
for his land comes; then many nations and great kings will subjugate him. (Jer
27:5–7)

·      
He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings
and raises up others. (Dan 2:21)

·      
The Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms on
earth and gives them to anyone he wishes. (Dan 4:17, 25, 32)

·      
For your dominion was given you from the Lord,
and your sovereignty from the Most High; he will search out your works and
inquire into your plans. (Wis 6:3)

·      
The government of the earth is in the hand of
the Lord, and over it he will raise up the right leader for the time. (Sir
10:4)

·      
He will for ever keep faith with all men,
especially with the powers that be, since no ruler attains his office save by
the will of God. (Josephus, Jewish Wars 2.140)

Paul commands believers to willingly submit to governing authorities (Rom. 13:1, 4), he does not mean that governing authorities have absolute autonomy or unchecked authority. As Romans 13:4 says, they are “God’s servants,” hence subject to God himself. And it’s this point of reference—the relationship between governing authorities and God—that we need consider more fully.

• Government leaders are actually a rejection of God (1 Sam 8:5-7)
  • God allows government leaders to have their power, but he is actually working against them (Col 2:15)
  • Hosea 8:4 actually says that leaders are chosen without God’s approval
    
    

HYPOTASSO:

The ONLY true authority was and is Jesus. Period. In fact, the rulers and authorities of the world are the enemies and will be destroyed according to I Corinthians 15:24-25 and Mark 10. It is interesting when Paul writes, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities” he uses the word ‘hypotassō,’ which means “submission involving the recognition of an ordered structure.”¹ The Greek word hypakouo is the common word for complete obedience and Paul could have used that word, but instead he uses this one. This is the same word he uses in Ephesians when He asks wives to submit to their husbands. The implication is to live in peace but not to go along with something that is ungodly. That understanding is so basic to Paul’s writing that no one in the intended audience would have questioned it.

Why do we? I think because we have been compromised for 2000 years. We have changed definitions to work for us. We like our new definitions better than the Biblical definitions. We don’t think that way. Did Paul imply in any way to go along with something that is un-Godly, no way. There is not a chance His audience would have interpreted this letter in that light, or rather darkness. Any first century Christian wouldn’t think twice about this. They would understand the context to follow Jesus not someone contrary to Jesus. Today we have the big picture and should even interpret the scripture more strongly along these lines. The 7 letters to the churches of Revelation should make this message exceedingly clear to us. (Watch our X44 series on the church for our take on this.)

TASSO

Depending on your translation you’re going to read the words “instituted” or “established” authority by God. This is really the main problem of Romans 13. In our western world 21st century thinking we interpret this word similar to the way a Calvinist interprets predestination. That all things were set in concrete form the beginning of time. That isn’t the Biblical definition of predestination and that wasn’t the first century meaning of the term “establish” either. Tasso meant to arrange or bring order. In the same way that God seeks to bring order to the chaos of the world He doesn’t agree or approve of them, and neither should we. He often meets us where we are and that is messed up. Authority is God’s and most of it in this world is messed up and even abused.

There is also a Deuteronomy 32 worldview tied into this idea but that is a longer conversation that you can watch in our videos on that subject. Revelation is clear that God “hates” the empires of the world (that are contrary to Him) and that they will be overcome and reconciled to Him in the end.

What does the rest of Romans say? Obviously, a verse in Romans can’t be interpreted to mean exactly the opposite to the rest of the book right? Romans 12 (the chapter in context establishing the foundation for the statements of Chapter 13 and in the ancient manuscripts their isn’t a break or chapter difference here) tells us not to conform or be tempted by the world and their systems. We are to bless and love our enemies and even those who persecute us.

NT Wright is likely the best expert on Paul the world has ever known. Personally, I agree with NT Wright’s take on Romans 13, Wright argues that, Romans 13 is in fact a general statement about ruling authorities (as I have alluded the statements about taxes are hard not to apply to government and why I lean this way as well). In essence, in this time between the times where God’s new world is on its way but not quite here, government is something God has put in place to preserve some measure of justice and order and to prevent the world from falling into complete anarchy and chaos. To disagree with this general sentiment is to endorse actual anarchy, which, on the whole, is far worse than government, even though government can certainly go horribly wrong.

As I alluded to in the previous article, no one wants the wild west. But I also make an argument that maybe in a better state of trust in Christ we should. Maybe we are supposed to have the faith to completely trust the justice of the Lord and be able to turn the other cheek in the greatest of adversity. 

In other words, it isn’t a blank check to follow evil as if we are just zombies that can’t think for ourselves. We are called to far greater places and that is expressed in the rest of the book and GREATLY assumed in Paul’s written audience. The apostles clearly defy their rulers when their rulers ask them to do something that violates faithfulness to Christ (Acts 4:23-31). Paul harshly condemns the high priest (Acts 23:1-5). Wright’s proposal is that all of this could have led many Christians into a sort of over-realized eschatological anarchy in which Christians try to overthrow government in the name of Christ. He points to the riots under Claudius and Jewish revolutionaries as examples of actions the early Christians might be tempted to emulate. That, claims Wright, is why Paul is saying this particular thing to these particular people: “Romans 13:1-7 issues commands that are so obvious that they only make sense if there might be some reason in the air not to obey the civic authorities.”[2]

Inasmuch as the authorities are themselves meant to submit to God, calling them back to their purpose is indeed a form of faithfulness to the will of God. That is our calling as those set apart. To bring God’s order to the world’s chaos. Essentially, we should be seeking to call the authorities back to their God-ordained purpose. Martin Luther King Jr. suggested that such a person is “in reality expressing the highest respect for law.”[3]

Simply put, the law does not dictate our ethics or authority, God does.

Peter and Paul knew that if we break an unjust law to highlight and protest its injustice, we should be willing to submit to the punishment for breaking such laws, so that we demonstrate our respect for the role of government in general. We do not follow a God of chaos, each doing whatever we want. But a God of order and respect for one another and the governing authorities.

Romans 13 does not undermine that posture – it informs it.

_________________

Matt and I did a video on the overlap in content between 1 Peter 2:13-17 and Romans 13:1-7. Matt is alos writing his Th.D dissertation on the subject. Many see some contradictions in these texts as well (who to fear in 1 Peter vs Romans). The traditional approach to Romans 13 has been that all governments are ordained by God.

As I have pointed out above, as in Romans, 1 Peter submit does not mean obey, In Peter honor is due to all things and all Peter not just institutions. In this way we honor all people but keep the brotherhood and live as a witness to the authority of light in Jesus that you represent. You can watch the video below.

 

[1] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 1042.

[2] Wright, NIB, Romans, 722.

[3] Martin Luther King Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail,”

 

Watch our episode on 1 Peter 2 and Romans 13:

Today is primary election day in Wisconsin. I often don’t vote. Some people don’t understand why; and frankly, I seldom try to change anyone’s mind or even share my perspective on the subject. I usually just quietly keep to myself. The last time I voted I simply voted for one person on the ballot and honestly felt “dirty” walking out of the voting stands. Does this mean I am un-American? Well, sort of. Let me attempt to explain. I realize not everyone will agree with my stance and that’s also ok with me. My goal is that perhaps writing this will open some eyes to kingdom dynamics that lead to better Jesus principles amongst the body of believers. Each person is called uniquely for the kingdom of God and likely will think differently according to their own journey (expedition) with the Lord.

This is going to be about a 15 minute read, I encourage you to clear your schedule and make the prayerful investment. I am not asking for much of your time to invest as a Christian in a better perspective for the kingdom you claim allegiance to.

My goal in sharing this, is that you might consider what I think is a better biblical view. Let’s first start out with who we are in the Lord. From the very beginning of creation our vocation in the kingdom of God has been to be bearers of light. We were made to represent the image of God to those in the dark. When God created the world, he created it Good. This is the Hebrew word Tov. It represents the idea of God entering into a partnership with us to bring goodness. We are his instruments to bring good to a broken world; and eventually reclaim what was lost or fallen and bring back the holiness that God designed “it” and us for. God is asking us to represent him to those in the dark and represent those in the dark to God. (This is the definition of a royal priesthood of believers). We are somewhere in the middle right now. If we are new creations in Christ, we are on a transformation journey to leave this world and be fully transformed (kainos-made new) to the kingdom of the Lord. In doing so, one of our missions is to bring others with us into this partnership and journey. This is the life we were designed for, both now and to eternity. If you are clearly the Lords, consider these things.

WALK IN DEVOTION TO THE PRECEPTS OF THE LORD.

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1. Can you be a “Christian” American? Can you hold dual citizenship?

When we pledge our obedience (allegiance) to Christ in a profession of faith we are claiming to place complete authority over to Him. Philippians 3:20 (and many other passages) seem to argue for us to consider sole citizenship in Christ. This is the root of what it means to have new life in Christ or be reborn in Him. We are now aliens or foreigners to a nation that we are charged to be simply an ambassador in. Although ambassadors seek to make the foreign countries they are in better places, their allegiance isn’t to that country, and they don’t vote there. (Hebrews 11:13; 1 Peter 1:17, 2:11 & 2 Corinthians 5:20). 

2. Are you validating a system that is anti-God by voting?

In the Bible we are told that human authority usurp Gods authority. Essentially God is the only one that can rightfully rule over people. The world was intended at creation to be ruled by God alone. All authority is the Lord’s and was passed on to Christ. I Samuel 8 tells us that choosing a human ruler is the path to sin, it describes lording over others as slavery. Wanting a human ruler was a rejection of Him.

You cannot serve two masters. You will hate one and love the other, or you will be loyal to one and not care about the other.
Matthew 6:24

3. God’s kingdom is rival to other kingdoms and systems of the world.

Voting is an attempt to “appoint a king to lead us,” which makes God say, “they have rejected me as their king” (1 Samuel 8:5-7). God has never viewed other nations favorably. Every other kingdom outside of God’s kingdom is referred to as “pagan.” God still desires a Theocracy with His people and to regain everyone to Him that is lost in the darkness.

4. God should be your only basis for authority?

Do you desire to empower some people to forcibly control other people? Do you want to give them that power over? What about where the Bible says to submit to authority of the world? God doesn’t approve of the authorities of the world, but he asks us to live at peace with them, that we might win them over.

The idea of giving a human authority the ability to legitimize “lording over” others opens up the door for evil to take the place in the sacred space that should only be given to the Lord. Let’s look at an example. If I come to you and demand that you give me money or I will punish you, most of us would never agree to that deal. Yet somehow, we are ok with voting on how to allow others to do that to us. When someone refuses to comply, they are a criminal now because of the authority we have empowered. We are essentially not only allowing a biblical sin (called theft) but are voting for it. We are impowering men to do what is immoral and against the Lord. We have double standards (and become double minded.) We want to allow government to steal, but if a citizen does the same, we want to put them in jail. This deceptive “voting to power” of human authority empowers morality and sin to be inverted or counter to what God says. This is contrary to Jesus’ kingdom. We simply can’t vote to make an evil act a good act. The kingdom of God doesn’t work that way. You don’t have the right to rule over someone else and therefore do not have the authority to vote that right to anyone else. That thinking is backwards to the authority of Jesus over your life. The right to rule belongs solely to Jesus. There is only one authority of the church and the world and that is Jesus.

5. You’re voting for slavery not freedom.

Will a “public servant” represent the people? What if he/she is a Christian representative? The problem comes down to when the representative isn’t representing you or Jesus. Are you going to be ok with them forcibly victimizing what they think is best on you and those around you? Are you ok with imposing your Christian beliefs on others (Jesus let people choose to accept Him.)

By agreeing to “the vote” we have agreed to enter into master slave relationships and instill this on others. The one given the right to rule is the master; the one with the obligation to obey is the slave. We are essentially voting to choose a new master because we don’t believe that God can or will rule. We are being deceived to give humanity what is only God’s. What happens when we choose “satan” as the result of our vote? The lesser of two evils is usually voting for evil. This kind of democracy creates war not peace.

6. Are you legitimizing evil?

When you vote you are essentially expressing your will for someone else to be in power over others. Some say you are forcing others to pay for what you want. Voting is too often an act of aggression, to impose others to live the way someone else wants them to live. This is the opposite of what the Bible teaches. We are creating mass peoples to draw lines and make those on the other side the enemy. Jesus says the opposite, treat your enemy with love grace and mercy so that you might win them over to the kingdom. Is your vote causing violence? Will your vote bring violence by enforcing views to millions of people that don’t agree? Jesus didn’t force anyone into the kingdom. By voting or legitimizing this system of the world you are likely validating oppression and violence. You are agreeing that whoever wins the vote gets to legally impress their views on everyone else. What happens if their views are evil or anti-God? Guess what, you just went along with it and/or empowered the evil. Every vote is an attempt to dominate others by coercion and oppression.

7. be a peacemaker.

Romans 12 is clear that Christians are to be agents of peace. You have probably heard said, “If you don’t vote, you have no right to complain.” I would strongly disagree. If you vote, you agree to the system. Essentially if you vote you are agreeing to allowing the outcome. In other words, whoever is picked as ruler has the moral right to dominate an entire nation’s population and possibly impose what is morally and Biblically against God. By Biblical definition this is conforming to the world.

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BIBLICAL IDEOLOGY

Is this asking for Anarchy? Do you want the wild west back? These are valid concerns and questions. Essentially Christians are allegiant to only Christ’s kingdom but charged to be agents to reflect Jesus to the world they came from. What would happen in America if the only authority was God’s? In our humanity this is difficult. Who would bring justice to the rape offenders? The murders? Those oppressing others?

The Bible teaches that justice is only the Lord’s and not mine. In fact, it teaches that I should turn the other cheek. What about rape? What if someone rapes your daughter? Do you turn the other cheek? Does God then allow me to represent Him and bring justice to that person? Do I get to do that? I would argue the Bible never teaches that. So then will God just start smiting all the sex traffickers? Will the earth open up and swallow every murderer? Likely not. That was what Jonah was mad at God for.

It is interesting to me that most Christians call those that advocate abortion “murderers.” (To be clear, I am HUGELY pro-life). We view those performing abortions as murders similar to the same camp we put rapists and child molesters in. Before 1973 a Christian would treat them as the enemy. But what we learned over the last nearly 40 years is that we can still treat “murderers” with Christs love. Somehow, we learned to have a cup of coffee with murders and perhaps even come to the place of turning the other cheek, but we can’t do that for rapists or sex traffickers. Jesus could, can, and does, and asks us to do the same. That is difficult in my humanity. Do you trust that Jesus can rule you and this world?

Can God use you as a representative in the government? I am open to this, but personally I don’t like it. That we should vote for Christians to bring light to a dark world. But what happens when it doesn’t go our way? You often hear something like, “now we are in the fight” talking about the politics of Christianity and the ways of our world. Isn’t this a bit anti-biblical? I get a bit uncomfortable when anyone decides they think God is telling them to fight. Does God want you to fight or tell us that He will fight our battles? This is an age-old theological debate. I own a gun range, believe me, if God asked for that fight, I would be all in, but I don’t think He has or will ask me, it isn’t in the Biblical history of His character in my opinion.

Jesus brings light to the interpretation of the Old Testament, and He sure didn’t seem to be advocating the fight, and most (if not all) of the fighting of Israel in the Old Testament seemed contrary to the Lord’s bidding for them. When God first asks Israel to completely follow Him; He opened the red sea and himself defeated the Egyptian army. That is perhaps one of the few pictures we see of God’s ideal, a theocracratic battle.

Should we “take a chance” and vote for the Christians and hope that they don’t turn on us as most politicians are known to do? If you could snap your fingers and make every political officer a Christian would you do it? Wouldn’t that just make Christians seem to be lording over others now? Can we change the system?

Some are also going to present the church problem. Isn’t the church supposed to be the body of believers that “JUST” lives under God’s rule and authority? How are they doing with that. Yea, you see the problem here. Abuse and power are attributes of humankind. God is the only one that is truly righteous. Some of the most hurt people have been at the hands of well-intended Christians. There unfortunately aren’t a lot of churches that seem to represent the Jesus I know or be the kind of people I would desire to rule over me or anyone else. We all need to pray for the humility of Christ.

I just want Jesus.

What is a better view? Biblically both in the old and new testaments it was theocracy. A rule by simply God in your family that would eventually spread to all the world. There isn’t a place for hierarchy in the body of believers. If you biblically “lead” in a gifting area as a shepherd, you lead as a servant in humility taking on the mindset of Christ. You trust Jesus completely. You give yourself, and pray for your family to live in obedient trust and allegiance to the only King and Kingdom, that of Jesus. You act as a light bearing agent in the image of God to reclaim what has been lost for that kingdom. You live according to the word, and the word is Christ. Start with yourself and your intimate family of those proclaiming the only king and kingdom. Start with simply voting for Jesus in your life, and pray that you may be an ambassador, a representative of the body of Christ who wins over the world to the kingdom of Jesus.

What about Romans 13? Glad you asked!!! Click here:

Romans 13 – Obey your government?

chagar: to gird, gird on, gird oneself

Original Word: חָגַר
Part of Speech: Verb of Action that became a Hebrew idiom
Phonetic Spelling (English transliteration) : (khaw-gar’)

The term gird up your loins can be found many places throughout scripture, It is a major theme of the Bible. From proverbs 31, to battle cries, to gentle words of Jesus, and finally eschatological promises; these words have great significance to those in covenant. Today much of the meaning has been lost in translation. Let’s bring it back to our Jesus Culture.

The term is first mentioned in Exodus 12 when the instructions were given for the Passover and preparation for the Exodus. Instructions on the lamb meal and sacrifice and marking your family by the blood of the Lamb.

EX 12:11 This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.

It became an Action Verb like none other for Israel. It was a Hebrew idiom that bore great significance to Israel that they should be ready at any moment to follow the Lord with all they were. Like many Hebrew idioms the chant “chagar” literally become a one word sermon on being ready. Through my life I have always lived by a boy scout type motto of “go prepared” with the connotation of being ready for anything. It has been a missional approach to all of life that is rooted the ancient covenant of the chagar idiom.

Throughout Israel’s history this would become a household family and military chant or reminder that would lead them to battle and most great things that was rooted in the idea of simply doing what was asked in the waiting before the Lord, putting things at the altar, painting the door, and giving them to Yahweh in sacred devotion that He might not only go before you, but that he might completely bring you victory. That complete victories were only of God (or later Jesus) and not at all through you yourself. That in emptying yourself in complete humility Jesus meets your humble sacrifice and does immeasurably more than you ever prayed or imagined. This is the 44. That you bring a complete (22) offering of all you have to offer and God doubles the portion. Takes the number of completeness 22 and doubles it to 44 which is actually the sign of innumerable strength… thus the 144,000 it later represents as the faithful remnant that knows no boundary.

(NOTE: Some people are aware of the theological notion that God intended to literally fight every battle for Israel just like he defeated the Egyptian army in the closing of the Red Sea. That Israel wasn’t ever supposed to actually fight. In this way, when the Israelites did physically fight it was actually a sign of not totally trusting God.)

In war time as the Israelite soldiers rallied for battle and chanted KHAW-GAR as they pounded their spears to the ground, their hope and prayer would be that God would completely fight the battle. That should be the way that we also gird up. That is why Paul makes the connection to rather gird up your mind for prayer rather than the physical. If you can mentally and spiritually give something to God, the end result is that your faithfulness results in little to nothing of yourself and all of what Jesus does. Similar to an ancient Israelite battle you might only be intended to be the cleanup crew that through God enabled or brought healing!

It is likely the same word that Jesus declared (in Hebrew) over his disciples in Luke 12 ““Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, ³⁶ like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet”

In Hebraic culture preparation for weddings and wars meant you were ready to give of your life, the ultimate sacrifice and act of humility for another. This is the Exodus motif connected throughout all of scripture. Paint your doorway and be free! In this way chagar also is used in traditional Jewish weddings.

In Proverbs 31, we read, “She girds her loins.” If you are reading the ESV, it is translated as “she dresses herself with strength,” (which I personally think is an injustice to this verse), but the Hebrew literally says, “she girds her loins.” That phrase refers to the act of rolling up one’s tunic and tucking it under a belt or tying it in a knot. Your tunic gave you added strength such as a weightlifting belt does for us today.

A person would do this to get the tunic out of the way and be able to have freedom of movement. Men would typically gird up their loins if they were getting ready to engage in battle, travel long distances, partake in strenuous running (as Elisha did in 1 Kings 18:46), or perform hard labor. It is also used as a symbol of humility form the father in greeting His lost son in the prodigal son parable. An esteemed elderly man would not typically run or show his legs, this was what young men did. It is a picture of Christ taking a role of ultimate humility to save us from the kazazzah or pot breaking ceremony, we should have rightly received after we disavowed our inheritance and left.

The idiom or chagar chant should bring you to freedom in Christ. To accept being recreated (kainos) as a royal priesthood that lives in freedom and is ready to bring others to this freedom in Christ as those that live in ancient intimate covenant to pledge an allegiance to the kingdom and represent the king that goes before them. To live humbly as temples of the Holy spirit in devout consecration to your mission. That you and your family might be living sacrifices that are enumerable in your vocation to represent the king of kings as His ambassador to dark and hurting world. To function as agents that bring order to chaos and healing to brokenness.

For questions on this post please email: Matt@expedition44.com

Matt and I lean towards an early dating for the authorship of Revelation. We are both partial preterists and see the majority of the book of Revelation being directly applied to the first century. We would agree that some of the things in the book may be foreshadows of events that will also happen later, but we aren’t looking for any of them to “need” to happen. The only thing we would squarely put as primarily future are the last two chapters in the book.

We go early largely because of (Syriac) evidence but also on 8-9 other points regarding the transmission of Revelation. Essentially, we see Revelation being written on the Island of Patmos around 64-68 AD by John and being handed off to a messenger to be delivered to a scribe. Some scholars believe that the letter was held up or lost for many years. Eventually it was delivered to a scribe who I think made notes before he would have presented it to the 7 churches mentioned in the “mail order.” He was essentially preaching the message to them, and I think because of the elements of 70 AD had already happened some of the content was slightly edited to better fit the message. Over the years the scribes notes often get mixed in with the text (Mark 16:9-20, John 7:53-8:11, John 21, Luke 22:17-21, Luke 22:43-44, 1 John 5:7-8, etc) When the scribe preached the content, he likely stayed a bit at each location to make sure the church received the message and answered any questions. He likely then also left a copy of the text which also would have taken some time to do. This would answer why some parts of the letter would seem to address not only persecution under Nero but also be applied to Domitian later. Statements like this often shock evangelicals to learn that the scripture may have been slightly altered by a scribe, but it was commonplace to the messengers of the time. We don’t have any of the complete original manuscripts. Matt and I will do a video on inspiration and the canon later this year.

The following points to show why we would date the writing of Revelation from 64-68 AD

#1: The Syriac

The witness of one of the most ancient versions of the New Testament is called The Syriac and the title page of the fourth-century Syriac Version, called the Peshitto, says this: “Again the revelation, which was upon the holy John the Evangelist from God when he was on the island of Patmos where he was thrown by the emperor Nero.” As we alluded to above, Nero ruled over the Roman Empire from AD 54 to AD 68.

#2: Revelation 17:10

In Revelation 17:10 we read “They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for only a little while.” This passage, which speaks of the line of rulers in Rome and tells us exactly how many rulers had already come, which one was currently in power, and that the next one would only last a short while. “Five have fallen…” Julius Caesar (49–44 BC) Augustus (27 BC–AD 14) Tiberius (AD 14–37) Caligula (AD 37–41) Claudius (AD 41–54) “One is…” Nero (AD 54–68) “the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for only a little while.” Galba (June AD 68–January AD 69, a six-month rule) Of the first seven kings, five had come (Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Gaius, and Claudius), one was currently in power (Nero), and one had not yet come (Galba), but would only remain for a short time (six months). From this we can clearly see that the current Caesar at the time of John’s writing was the sixth Caesar, Nero.

#3: Near language

In the Introduction (rev 1:3) we read because the time is near. This would have meant very soon to those the letter was written to, not 2000 years later. The same Greek word eggus is used to describe summer coming in Matthew 24:32. There is also a Hebrew idiom in the text that goes this way, “coming on clouds” in Revelation 1:7 gives us more insight. “Lo, he doth come with the clouds, and see him shall every eye, even those who did pierce him, and wail because of him shall all the tribes of the land.” Taking the correct context of these verses according to their Hebraic meaning multiple places in the Old Testamant we would interpret “the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven” and all of the allusions to ‘clouds of heaven’ as simply the symbolic power and might of God. Here, the phrase “those who did pierce him” refers to the people of the first century. At any later time in history, these people would be deceased. Yet, according to this passage, they were expected to be alive at the time of this verse’s fulfillment. This tells us that the prophecy of Revelation 1:7 had to be fulfilled within a short time after Jesus’ death, while His accusers were still alive on earth. In other words, it was fulfilled in the destruction of. In Revelation 1:1 and 1:3, as well as 22:10 and 22:20, we find internal time indicators that declare “the time is near,” it is “shortly to come to pass,” “he is coming quickly,” and “behold, he comes speedily.” John clearly wrote that the time of judgment was close. These only fits if the book was written before the destruction of Jerusalem, and likely immediately before which would also explain the delay of the delivery. Lastly, Temple language in Revelation 11 suggests that the book was written before the destruction of AD 70.

#4: Influence of the Jews and Judaizing Heretics

let’s consider the activity of the Jewish leaders and Judaizers in the Church as mentioned in the letters to the churches in Revelation. Jesus speaks of “those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan” (Rev. 2:9). This was a clear reference to the Jewish leaders who persecuted the Christians. Also, among the Christians existed a group called the Judiazers, who tried to turn Christians back to the old covenant Jewish Law. This was a major heresy in the first century church, and Paul wrote quite a bit against it. Prior to AD 70, both the Jewish leaders outside the church and the Judiazers within the church had a strong negative impact upon believers. About them, Jesus says: I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you (Revelation 3:9). Before the AD 70 destruction, it was advantageous to be a Jew. The Jewish people had a favored relationship with Rome. They were allowed to have their own police force and follow their own Temple system, so long as they continued in subservience to the empire. But all that changed in AD 70, when the Roman army destroyed Jerusalem and killed more than a million Jews. Ever since that time, history has not been particularly kind to the Jewish people, and I think it is safe to say that after AD 70 people were not touting their status as Jews. These verses about people who falsely claimed to be Jews only makes sense in the pre–AD 70 context. Since the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, it has not been advantageous to claim to be Jewish. In this way, these verses point to an earlier dating of the letter. The first century Jews and Judaizers lost a great deal of influence after the destruction of AD 70, because the Jewish religious system had been destroyed and the Jewish population significantly diminished. Only if we give the Book of Revelation an early date of authorship does the significant presence and threat of the Jews and Judiazers make sense.

#5: John’s Appearance in AD 96

John appeared old in AD 96. Jerome noted in his writings that John was seen in AD 96, and he was so old and infirm that “he was with difficulty carried to the church, and could speak only a few words to the people.”8 We must put this fact together with Revelation 10:11, which says John must “prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.” It is difficult to imagine John would be able to speak to many nations and many kings at any date after AD 96 since he was already elderly and feeble.

#6: Timetable Comparison with Daniel/Revelation

In Daniel’s prophesy about events that would happen hundreds of years later, he was told to “roll up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end,” because it was a long way off (Dan. 12:4ff). By contrast, John was told, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this scroll, because the time is near” (Rev. 22:10). This contrast is intentional and important to the text. While Daniel was told to seal the prophecy up because it was a long way off (but still ONLY about 500 years), John was told not to seal it up because it was about to come to pass. In other words, the prophetic events were closer than 500 years.

#7: Only Seven Churches

There are only seven churches. This tells us that the book was written before the greater expansion of Christianity into that region, which occurred after the fall of Jerusalem. After 70 AD

Some of this information is gathered or adapted from “Raptureless” by Jonathan Welton. It is a very good work on preterism but, probably needless to say to most of our audience, I don’t agree with a lot of the authors take on “full preterism.”

Letters to the Church: Ephesus

Intro

• We’re both early date guys but can see some evidence of the late date in the manuscripts
• Ryan-I go early primarily because of (Syriac) evidence but also on 8-9 other points regarding the transmission of Revelation. Essentially, I see Revelation being written on the Island of Patmos around 64-68 AD by John and being handed off to a messenger to be delivered to a scribe. Some scholars believe that the letter was held up or lost for many years. Eventually it was delivered to a scribe who I think made notes before he would have presented it to the 7 churches mentioned in the “mail order.” He was essentially preaching the message to them, and I think because of the elements of 70AD already happening some of the content was slightly edited to better fit the message. Over the years the scribes notes often get mixed in with the text. (Mark 16:9-20, John 7:53-8:11, John 21, Luke 22:17-21, Luke 22:43-44, 1 John 5:7-8, etc) When the scribe preached the content he likely stayed a bit to make sure the church received the message and answered any questions. He likely then also left a copy of the text which also would have taken some time to do. This would answer why some parts of the letter would seem to address not only persecution under Nero but also be applied to Domitian later. Statements like this often shock evangelicals to learn that the scripture may have been slightly altered by a scribe, but it was commonplace to the messengers of the time. We don’t have any of the complete manuscripts. Matt and I will do a video on inspiration and the canon later this year.
• A FULL ARTICLE ON THE DATING OF REVELATION: https://expedition44.com/2022/07/14/7-reasons-for-dating-the-book-of-revelation-before-70ad/

Faithful Witnessing is the big idea in revelation

For questions on this post please email: Matt@expedition44.com

Revelation 1:4-6

⁴ John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, ⁵ and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead , and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood ⁶ and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

• The Greek word for witness is martus (We get martyr from this)- It someone who testifies about something they’ve seen and experienced (like a witness in court)
• The big idea for these episodes is that if we’ve seen and experienced Jesus in our life it should be reflected in our church.
• Remember revelation is about a revelation of Jesus to the churches in Asia minor against the Roman Empire.

Revelation 2:1-7

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. ² I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. ³ You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. ⁴ Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. ⁵ Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. ⁶ But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. ⁷ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

Background

• It is interesting that much of our New Testament was written to the church in Ephesus: Ephesians, 1 and 2 Timothy, 1-3 John, and Revelation. Also, the Gospel of John was likely written by John when he was in Ephesus.
• We know that Paul and Timothy also ministered in this church.
• Ephesus was the home to many major temples. The patron God of Ephesus was Artemis who was the goddess of food and fertility/childbirth.
  • Her temple was one of the wonders of the ancient world
  • The myth was that she fell from heaven and landed on the tree of life in Ephesus. This was where her temple was built, and they also called her temple paradise.
    • John’s use of these terms in the text- (Falling, tree of life, and paradise) are not only connecting the meaning to the garden of Eden but also as a jab against Ephesian culture.
• Ephesus was also the hub of the imperial cult in Asia minor with a temple to the Caesars and worship of the empire. Ephesus was the center of patriotism.
• When you traveled by foot or by sea into Ephesus you would have seen a massive 50-foot statue of Caesar outside his temple. This temple was built on a platform and on the base of the platform was the 24 gods of the Greco-Roman Pantheon. It communicated that Caesar stood on the backs of the gods as “most high”. This was the first thing you saw as you traveled into town.
• Ephesus was also the center of commerce of the entire world. it was the bridge between the East and the West. It was the city where everyone would come to buy and sell. It was centrally located and easily accessible from both land and sea. (Think New York City or Tokyo)
• Ephesus had this huge marketplace called the Agora.
  • The Agora eventually became so popular, literally the world flocked there, that Caesar’s advisors told him he should implement a tax in order to buy and sell there.
  • Caesar thought on it and said no because his popularity would be hindered if he raised taxes. Instead, he forced people to make an offering to him… so it’s not a tax (it’s healthcare LOL) …it’s worship.
  • He built 4 altars, one at each of the 4 corners of the agora. These altars had the names of Caesar on it… “Lord God Almighty”. They would sacrifice a bull on the altars to Caesar every day and to enter the Agora you’d give your financial offering and then offer incense at one of the altars. After this you’d be given a mark made up of the ashes of the bull and paste. It would be put on your right hand or on your forehead so that you could buy and sell. But in order to do this you needed to worship the Caesar as an act of allegiance to the empire. 

Angel

• Many believe this “angel” is the solo pastor of the church, some think it could be a messenger delivering or reading the letter to the church, others think it’s an actual spiritual being.
• in Revelation “angel” is mentioned 77 times and always is a spiritual being.  The only place people make it ambiguous is in the 7 churches.
• Remember Revelation is apocalyptic so the idea of the church having an assigned angel is not out of the question.
• I also don’t dismiss the idea of the one who is the letter reader either
• The pastor interpretation is not very good. We don’t get this anywhere else in scripture that a pastor can be an “angel/messenger”. People who want to find the single or senior pastor role in the church want to use this as a poor proof text.

Power and Presence

Jesus is described in 2 ways… Power and Presence

• Jesus is described as the one who holds the 7 stars. “Holding” was a symbol of power in the Roman world.
  • Now Caesar had a 10-year-old son that he really loved but he died. He was questioned that if he was “lord god almighty” why he couldn’t raise his son from the dead. So, Caesar went and consulted with himself (the highest authority) and when he returned he said, “I just met with the gods, and they said they needed my son to hold the 7 stars in place.”
  • They put their news on their money. There was a denarius going around during this time with Caesar’s son (The son of man/god) holding the 7 stars
  • The text is continually replacing Caesar with Jesus as the true king of the universe, and it calls us to follow his way.
• Jesus is depicted as the one that walks among the lampstands. It says he knows what they do… He is present! 
  • The churches are described as lampstands here. This is temple imagery. In the Temple the lampstand was a menorah with 7 candles, representing these 7 churches.
  • the role of the lampstand in the temple was to shine light on the table of showbread. Jesus is the bread of life!
  •  Our purpose as the church is to shine our light on Jesus, who is our life!

Praise for Ephesus

In verses 2, 3, & 6 of the text Jesus praises the church in Ephesus for their works

• During Caesars’ games in the opening ceremony the representatives of the regions of the empire would come forward and meet Caesar. He would say to them “this I find in your favor, but this I hold against you”. He would tell them something that need to change for them to better represent Rome and conquer.
  • Again, the Ephesians would have heard this as Jesus is King, Caesar is not. And as Jesus telling them how to faithfully represent the Kingdom of God.
• Jesus knows their deeds and hard work
  • The Ephesians worked hard serving the Lord.
  • “work” in the NT is often tied into the work of the ministry (good works) and spreading the gospel of Jesus as King.
• They had discernment and good doctrine
  • The Ephesians took Paul and Timothy’s instructions on false teachers seriously.
  • They also took John’s instructions in his epistles on discernment seriously.
  • 1 Timothy is all about false teachers in Ephesus.
    • The big idea for that letter is found in 1 Tim 1:3-7 where Timothy is warned about people who teach myths and genealogies (this is likely connected to the Artemis cult). He exhorts them to have good doctrine which is directly connected to their ethics, morals, and behavior.
  • John taught the church to discern in his epistles.
    • He taught them that if someone denies that Jesus came in the flesh he is a liar and an anti-Christ. (1 John 2:22)
    • He taught them not to believe every spirit but to test if they came from God by this: If they don’t acknowledge that Jesus came from God they are of the spirit of the anti-Christ (1 John 4:2)
• I believe in Revelation, John is likely talking about discernment in the context of those who are coming into Ephesus and claiming Christ, but they are taking the mark to buy and sell in the Agora or worshipping in the temple if Artemis (which I’ll tell you more about here in a minute) and encouraging others to do it out of “Christian freedom”.
• They endured hardships for Jesus’ name
  • My thought is that the Ephesians stood strong against the civil religion of the empire in that day. It would have brought persecution as the Ephesian church would have been seen as unpatriotic, pledging their allegiance to Jesus alone and not to Rome.
  • They would have avoided the Agora and taking the mark to buy and sell by worshipping the emperor and the empire. Without access to these goods, it would have put many in hardship and they would have to persevere through social persecutions and lack of resources.
• They hate the practices of the Nicolaitans
  • We don’t know of any historical group called the Nicolaitans. This is likely a nickname John made up for certain people.
  • This group is mentioned again in the church in Pergamum in Rev 2:15 connected to Balaam and sexual immorality.
    • In Numbers 22-25 the king of Moab hires Balaam to curse Israel but every time Balaam opens his mouth to curse them he blesses Israel. So, Balaam tells the king that if their women seduce the Israelite men and get them to worship other gods, then Yahweh will punish Israel.
  • Nicolaitan makes sense with the Balaam story as it is 2 Greek words combined into one that means to “conquer the people”. The Nicolaitans were likely encouraging Christians to participate in idolatry and sexual immorality… you know just go along with the culture.
  • I believe this has Artemis in the background. Remember she was the goddess of food and fertility.
    • Now her temple was also the bank. Say your plow breaks and you need to buy a new one and have no $. You go to the temple and to appease the goddess you submit yourself to all kinds of sexual indecency and acts of immorality in order to secure the funds to buy your plow.
    • Also, If you were pregnant you would go there and again submit to indecent acts to gain Artemis’ favor so that you’d live through your childbirth.
    • I believe this is what Paul is coming against in part in 1 Timothy and false teachings coming in the church.
      • The Ephesian church in Revelation and Jesus rightly hated these practices.

The Ephesians have a lot going for them… Standing up to the culture and for the truth. This sounds like a great church!!!!

Forsaken Love

In verse 4Jesus has something against them… They had forsaken the love they had at first.

• What is this?
  • There are 2 ways this can be translated- “Left your first love” (Jesus) or “left the love you had at first” (love for others)
  • I take the second view, but it connects to the first view too. As we see in 1 John shortly
  • Ephesus obviously loved Jesus they obeyed his commands to be in the truth and worked hard for his name. 
  • The Ephesian church was rightly focused on some good things but neglected the greatest thing.  They were incomplete.
    • The Ephesians likely had been refuting false teachers and the culture around them for years. This got to them, and they became hard and rigid even towards those in the church.
    • Jesus warned in Matthew 24 that when lawlessness increases the love of many grows cold.

Remember, Repent, Do

• The book of Ephesians if the earliest letter we have written to this church in the Bible and it’s interesting that it’s Paul’s only letter to a church that isn’t in crisis.
  • It’s also interesting that the only command in the first 4 chapters of the book of Ephesians is to “remember” (Ephesians 2:11) … remember what? Let’s do a tour of Ephesians…
    • In Ephesians 1 Paul is reminding the Ephesians of their adoption and identity as children of God and all the blessings and promises that come with that status in Christ.
    • At the beginning of Ephesians 2 Paul reminds the Ephesians of the fact that they were dead and now they are alive because of God’s love as a result they’ve been seated with Christ in heavenly places.
      • Have the Ephesians fallen from their seat in God’s kingdom and instead taken their seats below among Artemis and Caesar because they have not lived the kingdom ethic of love?
    • The end of Ephesians 2 talks about how Jesus has torn down the dividing wall of Jews and Gentiles and made them one new man. Bringing unity with God and each other.
    • Ephesians 3 talks about God’s eternal purpose to have a family and a body that reflects Christ’s love.
    • Ephesians 4 is about the gifts God has given to each member of the church in order to build up and edify and equip the body of Christ by His example- being built up on love for each other.
    • Ephesians 4 ends with instruction for Christian living that includes putting off our former way of life in speech and deeds and instead being moved with compassion and forgiveness towards each other.
    • Ephesians 5 is all about following Jesus’ example and mutual submission and service to each other out of love for Christ.
    • Ephesians 6 sees all of this as a suit of armor that we should put on to battle the Principalities and Powers of this dark world.

• The letter to Ephesians is all about what Christ has done in love for the church and how that should motivate them in love for each other. Now the Ephesians had fallen and forgotten this. 
  • They had fallen from the first deeds and first works which were proactive love and instead they were reactive to the outside and allowed their love for each other to grow cold.

Remove Lampstand

• Jesus gives 2 consequences… a negative and a positive.
  • Negative consequence: Their lampstand will be removed if they don’t turn back to their first works!
  • I don’t believe Jesus is talking about salvation here… He’s talking about witness. I believe this mean that they will no longer be counted as a faithful gospel witness despite all they had going for them.  (THIS IS SCARY!)
    • Looks like Matthew 7- “Away from me I never knew you.” The Ephesians had great works but lacked love for one another. Their witness was incomplete without love.

Conquering and the Reward

Jesus says that “the conquers” have the right to eat of the tree of life in the paradise of God

• This is not only a jab at Artemis but a connection to Genesis and the end of Revelation.

The question is: How does Jesus conquer and how does he want us to conquer?

• Most of our views of conquering look like winning a bloody battle by destroying our enemies… whether literally or metaphorically.
• This word for conquer/victory in Greek is the word nike. Nike was a word used in Roman society to communicate exactly that… to conquer by annihilating your enemy. That is how Rome brought their version of “peace” to the world through violence. Strongs 3528 nikáō (from 3529 /níkē, “victory”) – properly, conquer (overcome); ” ‘to carry off the victory, come off victorious.’ or nenikēka in John 16:33

Revelation 5 defines conquering for the book of Revelation.

• There is a throne scene and a scroll (Caesars carried a scroll with all their divine names and attributes written on both sides as a sign of who rules and how they rule) … holding the scroll is a sign of who’s king.
• A question is asked “Who is worthy to take the scroll”?. John wept because no one was found worthy.
• But then he hears an angels say “The lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered (same word) and is able to take the scroll”
• So, John hears this massive conquering lion… the picture of power and strength and victory… We’re probably thinking – “YA! This lion is going to kick some butt!”
• But when John turns and looks what does he see… a lamb that was slain. The Greek word is for a baby lamb, an infant lamb… not exactly the fiercest thing.
  • Pay attention to hearing and seeing in Revelation
• This lamb has been slain and it says that he purchased a people through His blood to be a kingdom and priest for God. (back to the calling of the church to be like Jesus)
• Everyone worships saying “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain!
• The big picture: It doesn’t look like Rome’s version of victory and conquering. Conquering looks like laying down your life in love. This is Revelation’s definition of conquering! – Lamb Power not Beast Power.
  • Even when Jesus comes back on the white horse, the sword is in his mouth not his hand… He’s conquering by his word and the truth… by his faithful witness.

the way Jesus was victorious was through cross-shaped love- radical forgiveness and self-giving co-suffering love.

And this is the way we are victorious too.

This is what John means by “we’ve overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony… because they didn’t love their live so much to shrink back” … it’s being a reflection of the faithful witness of the slaughtered lamb.

Winning in God’s kingdom often looks like losing in the eyes of the world. So, conquering in God’s kingdom looks the opposite of conquering in the world.

Positive consequence: If they remember, repent, and take action- they will be rewarded with eternal life in God’s kingdom

• All of the rewards to the churches in Revelation are things that do show up in the last 2 chapters of the book.

Conclusions:

• This is a church that was reactive and defensive towards the outside (The lived in one of the darkest parts of the empire) rather than living the love of Jesus inside the church
• Without love for the body, we won’t be counted as a faithful witness.
• Jesus tell his disciples that the world would know they are disciples by their love for EACH OTHER, not by pure doctrine or good works done in his name.

What does this mean for the church today?

Ecclesiology:

Intro: What is the Church?

We have spent our lives trying to be good Christians that “go to church”. However, you would be hard pressed to find anything that looks like modern day American church anywhere in the pages of the Bible.

We are happy to support anything that seeks after God but what we do here on x44 is look at what is biblical and what Jesus prescribed and then try to align our lives with that.

WATCH THE YOUTUBE VIDEO HERE: https://youtu.be/T9MnO8plwFI

For questions on this post please email: Matt@expedition44.com

Special thanks to Frank Viola Reimagining Church: Pursuing the Dream of Organic Christianity and specifically to this post chapter 9 reimaging oversight

Where are we going in this series? We have a bunch of topics looking at the church

• What is the church?
• Jesus’ vision for the church as a kingdom and priests (7 churches in Revelation)
• “leadership”, authority, covering
• Elders and overseers
• Deacons
• Apostle
• Prophet
• Evangelist
• Shepherd/Pastor
• Teacher
• Spiritual Giftings
• The “meeting”

Ekklesia

Matthew 16:18 in the NASB- “Upon the Rock I will build my church”?

In the greek we usually see the word ekkelsia/ekklésia and in Hebrew the word typically translated as church is qehelah.

In the Old Testament we have Torah. Torah explains how the community of believers might live towards a life that points to holiness and purification and eventually to Jesus. There were 7 festivals that the family attended, 3 of which were pilgrimage large community meetings and then the idea of coming together as a family each sabbath to stay on track with what Yahweh desired of you. It was a great mosaic life picture to stay on track with God as a stop Gap until the Messiah would once and for all act as atonement for sin. But the Torah continually encouraged all of life to surround God.

In the New Testament we get similar pictures of keeping your family on track and functioning in one accord as the body of Christ. But what we have turned this act into, (what we refer to as church), is likely far from what Jesus was asking. Did his disciples regularly attend church as we know it? Was Jesus commissioning Peter to build the modern church brought to us by Catholicism?

We have all heard and probably studied that the word mostly translated as church in the Bible is is ekklēsía, an assembly, but you might find it interesting that this Greek word is more accurately described in Greek as a non-religious assembly.  Consider its use in Acts 19:32 and other verses. So then, some were shouting one thing and some another, for the assembly was in confusion and the majority did not know for what reason they had come together. Acts 19:32 NASB It is described as an angry confused mob. Well that actually might be a pretty good definition for most people’s modern day church experiences.

When we read the word ekklēsía in Greek you find it starts with the Greek word kaléō which means to call or invite, which better translates to Hebrew as qārāʾwhich is the more common word for being called. In Hebrew religious assemblies were synagogues, but this carries a problem in the first century. Synagogues became associated with Greco-Roman pagan connections to the extent that most Jews stopped using the word to describe the place where Yahweh was met. In the Greek it specifically does not mean “a religious assembly.” Synagogue meant any religious assembly; it is used far more in first century literature to describe temples for Athena or Zeus than for Yahweh. As a result, the word synagogue just migrated into a Jewish term just like ekklesia, it wasn’t Jewish to begin with.

In the Greco-Roman context it was also a meeting or a congress. A thing where all members participated in. An example is in Athens, which was a democratic city, when they would gather to discuss the things of the city it was called and ekklesia. They would sit in a circle facing each other and work together and all would participate.

The reason the word ekklēsía is (rightly) used is because it meant “the called-out ones.”  It is an invitation, particularly focused on God’s provision of salvation (which in Hebrew is better described as an exodus or rescue).  To be part of the body that was summoned and invited by the sovereign God for the purpose of rescue from immediate danger.  But Paul repeatedly uses the term such as in 1 Corinthians 1 to take on an exodus motif.

Revelation

Before you start this, you might want to watch Pastor Matts sermon here: (message starts at 42:30) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbWOkU9vrXg

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The reason we want to start our series with revelation is that it’s about 7 churches living in the midst of empire (Roman) and the religious (Jewish) world as called out ones. It gives some practical things to watch out for in the churches and also things we need to strive for to be a healthy church body.

• Tecnically it is “Revelation”, not revelations. It is the Revelation of Jesus (Rev 1:1)
• This is being recorded by John (the same John as 1-3 John and the gospel of John).
  • John is writing from the island of Patmos.
  • Oral tradition in the church tell us that John survived a political execution. He was boiled in oil and survived.
• Revelation is a prophecy… now a biblical definition for prophecy is calling God’s people back to a covenant relationship with him when they have strayed. Less than 5% of the OT prophecies deal with future predictions and even when it does it’s usually about the punishment to come if the people don’t turn back. Prophecy is about the present!
  • Revelation is prophetic in that it’s calling the church to action in a dark world. It’s calling the church to be like Jesus.
• Revelation is an apocalypse
  • Apokalypsis- doesn’t mean the end of the world, it mean an uncovering or an unveiling.  It’s getting a look behind the curtain into Jesus’ eyes on the church and the world.
  • Remember this is primarily a revelation of Jesus not a revelation of the end of the world.
  • John is revealing Christ to the churches
  • This is written in a Jewish genre of apocalypse which was a way of writing in the first century. We have other writings that use images like this one.
  • Usually, this style of writing was to critique hostile political powers, almost like a political cartoon we might see in the newspaper.
  • Michael Gorman in his book READING REVELATION RESPONSIBLY calls Revelation a theopolitical work, meaning that it contrasts God’s way: his upside-down kingdom way of life (the way of the lamb), and the world’s way: the way of the empire (the way of the beast).
• Revelation is a *pastoral letter (we hesitate in using the word pastor, but our readers understand)
  • John is writing to 7 churches in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey)
  • Some in history over the last 500 years have tried to make these churches allegorical of 7 church ages leading up to the last days. If you take that view that’s fine but I don’t agree with that interpretation. Mainly because that approach only pays attention to the church in the west and in a European and North American context and ignores the East and the southern hemisphere Church throughout history. 
    • If God’s word is universally applicable this interpretation should give us pause.
  • We believe these were 7 actual churches living in the Romans empire and Jesus is addressing them because their witness is not reflecting his witness properly. (Rev 1:4-6)
  • the way the churches are ordered in this book is based on the mail route in Asia Minor.
  • This letter was written to 7 specific churches but it’s meaning is also for us today. It wasn’t written to us, but it was written for us. The message deals with a choice of following the way of the world or the way of the Kingdom.

Format

• Jesus is displayed with an attribute that applied to the Church’s issue
• Jesus gives praise to the churches (most the churches- Sardis and Laodicea don’t get praises)
• Jesus gives a correction (Most churches- Smyrna and Philadelphia do not get corrected)
• Jesus brings an exhortation to change with consequences
• A reward to those who “conquer”
• Jesus concludes with “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches^”  

The purpose of us starting with the 7 churches is that we feel the church (especially the Western) is stuck in a lot of the muck that these 7 churches were. Entangled to the world and its thinking and structures. It would be good to identify certain things that will come up throughout our series.

Note: We’re not trying to throw rocks we’ll just be looking at the texts around certain topics and let the Spirit speak and correct if needed according to Jesus’ words and if he does speak hopefully we have ears to hear it.

How did we get here?

Like most things the church became institutionalized by merging with the world. In the 5^th century Christianity became the national religion of the Roman empire under Constantine. This led to a lot of problems.

• professional clergy- Instead of the priesthood of all believers and the focus on discipleship, we had a shift to ritual and religion
• the divide of clergy and laity- hierarchy (James Dunn says the clergy/laity divide has done more damage to the body of Christ than even the most destructive heresies)
• corporate buildings/temples- In the NT we are the temple and they met in houses
• the merging of pagan holidays with Jewish/Christian festivals
• the sermon- handcuffing the gifts of the body to elevate the gift of one man

The Protestant Reformation had good intentions to fix some of these problems but in reality they kept much from Catholicism but changed some necessary doctrine.

• There is still the clergy/laity divide but instead of priest they changed the name to minister or pastor
• The kept the need for buildings of worship- seeing the church more as a place than a people
• Zwingli removed communion as the center of the meeting and make the sermon the center which introduced more disunity because now the church is not about gathering for a meal around Jesus but about how your pastor interprets the Bible.
• And more…

In modernity we’ve come to the phenomenon of the mega-church. These are built more like Microsoft or other corporate entities than how the Bible describes the church. We have a CEO pastor and boards of leaders and the church of today looks more like the world than Jesus.

Back to the Start

In the NT we see 2 primary metaphors for the church- a Body and a Family

Body

• Wrong ideas: The church is something separate from Jesus Christ himself (Just an institution, meeting, or a building)?
  • 1 Cor 12:12-30- Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. (The church is the living expression of Christ)
  • Jesus to Saul… “why are you persecuting ME?” (Jesus was in heaven on the throne here)
  • Paul wrote to the Corinthians… “You have divisions among you, is Christ divided?” (1 Cor 1:13)
  • Just like Eve came out of Adam, so is the relationship of Christ and the church.
• why do we have a body? It is to express the personality and the will of the head.
  • The church exists to express Jesus
• Eph1:22-23- And He put all things in subjection under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
• Col 1:24- Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.

Family

• Family is the chief metaphor for the church that dominates the New Testament.
• Wrong ideas: Christianity is an individual solo pursuit? You are saved as an individual. You read the Bible  and interpret it as an individual. You apply it to yourself as an individual. This whole concept of the individual was completely foreign to the early church. They were a community and an extended family. They were intentionally corporate and had a corporate mind.
  • Every New Testament letter with the exception of Philemon was written to a congregation and not an individual. Timothy and Titus were written to church planters and applied to the whole congregation. So, if we are reading our New Testaments for just individual application, we are taking it out of context. Yes, we can glean ways to live more like Christ, but it is impossible to do so without the whole “body of Christ”.
  • This is why the Christian life doesn’t work for most of us… because we are trying to do it as an individual. This is why in Hebrews we see the call not to forsake the gathering of believers.
  • God purpose from the beginning has been to have a corporate expression of himself… “let US make man” and “Let THEM…” (Gen 1).
  • Side note- pretty much every “you” in the New Testament letters are “Ya’ll” 2^nd person plural.
  • God is after a corporate expression of himself.
• The church is described as New Birth, Children of God, sons of God, brothers and sisters, fathers, and household in the New Testament: Gal 6:10; Rom 8:29, Eph 2:19, 1 Tim 5:1-2, 1 Tim 3:15, 1 John 2:12-13, 1 John 3:14
• How should the church family act?
  • The Members take care of each other. James 2:14-17, Eph 4:28, Gal 6:2, Rom 12:13
  • Spend time with each other. Acts 2:42,46
  • Show affection towards each other.
  • Grow: internally (spiritually) and externally (in numbers)
  • Share responsibility
  • Reflect the triune God in their relationships 1 John 1:1-3,

The bulk of responsibility for pastoral care, teaching, and ministry in the ekklesia rests squarely upon the shoulders of all the brothers and sisters. 

In fact, the richness of Paul’s vision of the body of Christ stems from his continual emphasis that every member is gifted, has ministry, and is responsible in the body and in the family (Rom. 12:6; 1 Cor. 12:1ff.; Eph. 4:7; 1 Peter 4:10). As a consequence, ministerial responsibility is never to be closeted among a few. 

This explains why the word adelphoi, translated “brethren,” appears 346 times in the New Testament. It appears 134 times in Paul’s epistles all the Christians in a local assembly are alone. In most places, this word is Paul’s shorthand way of referring to all the believers in the church—both women and men. By contrast, the 

word “elders” appears only five times in Paul’s letters. “Overseers” appears only four times. And “pastors” appears only once. 

The stress of the New Testament, then, is upon corporate responsibility. It’s the believing community that is called to carry out pastoral functions. To be more specific, called to 

• be devoted to one another (Rom. 12:10) 

• honor one another (Rom. 12:10) 

• live in harmony with one another (Rom. 12:16; 1 Peter 3:8) 

• love one another (Rom. 13:8; 1 Thess. 4:9; 1 Peter 1:22; 1 John 3:11) 

• edify one another (Rom. 14:19; 1 Thess. 5:11b) 

• accept one another (Rom. 15:7) 

• instruct one another (Rom. 15:14) 

• greet one another (Rom. 16:16) 

• agree with one another (1 Cor. 1:10) 

• discipline fallen members (1 Cor. 5:3–5; 6:1–6) 

• organize the church’s affairs (1 Cor. 11:33–34; 14:39–40; 16:2–3) 

• care for one another (1 Cor. 12:25) 

• prophesy one by one (1 Cor. 14:31) 

• abound in the work of the Lord (1 Cor. 15:58) 

• serve one another (Gal. 5:13) 

• bear one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2) 

• bear with one another (Eph. 4:2) 

• be kind and compassionate to one another (Eph. 4:32) 

• speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (Eph. 5:19) 

• submit to one another (Eph. 5:21) 

• forgive one another (Col. 3:13) 

• teach one another (Col. 3:16) 

• admonish one another (Col. 3:16) 

• encourage one another (1 Thess. 5:11) 

• warn the unruly (1 Thess. 5:14) 

• comfort the feeble (1 Thess. 5:14) 

• support the weak (1 Thess. 5:14) 

• exhort one another (Heb. 3:13; 10:25) 

• incite one another to love and good works (Heb. 10:24) 

• pray for one another (James 5:16) 

• confess sins to one another (James 5:16) 

• offer hospitality to one another (1 Peter 4:9) 

• be humble toward one another (1 Peter 5:5) 

• fellowship with one another (1 John 1:7) 

The modern corporate institutional structure of the church makes it extremely difficult to live out the “one another’s” of the NT.

The church is corporate and non-hierarchical in nature

Other metaphors for the Church

• A House
  • We are the temple of the Spirit and living stones built on Christ
• A Bride
• All of the metaphors are about relationships – with God and each other

The big idea is that the church is not an institution … it’s an organism (it’s organic)!

• There was equality- No clergy/laity divide
• The giftings of the entire body were active to display Jesus
• They met face to face throughout the week in relationships

Church Unity

• Unity is based on Christ. People are accepted by God because they have repented and pledged their allegiance to Jesus. Rom 15:7. If a person is accepted by the Lord, he or she is part of the Body of Christ. On that basis alone we are to accept them into the fellowship.
• Sectarianism is a problem. 1 Cor 1:11-13. (Is Christ divided?)
• John 17:20-23. Are we taking this seriously when we divide over theological beliefs, eschatology, politics, race, bible versions, and other such things?
• Phil 1:27-28 says that our unity is proof of our salvation, and it shows the world they are under judgement for destruction.
  • When we fail to be unified and have infighting the world can’t see Jesus but sees a bunch of hypocrites.

The Better picture we’ll be painting:

Throughout this series we’re going to be looking at what could be a better picture of the church. Invested in relationships rather than rituals, being a living organism rather than an institution, having all the giftings of Christ on display rather than a few gifts by a few people, making disciples rather then converts.

This cannot be done in rows… it must be done in circles, face to face

Church as we know it has become much of what Jesus spoke against. It is big business with a worldwide, organized hierarchy that resembles pharisaical tradition more than anything.

How do we get to a better place? Let me paint a picture.

Every day is completely, wholly given to Jesus and the calling to be a disciple and make a disciple by Jesus’ definition not the worlds

You don’t give your time, treasure, and talents to the world in any way, they are reserved solely for Jesus

You train up your kids as your primary responsibility and your core act of making disciples

You live intimately with Him and present deeper devotion to the king and His kingdom within your family and surround yourself with one accord of a body of believers that think the same way.

Don’t be immersed in the world, let the world find Jesus through you. Offer living water at each and every opportunity. You don’t need to drink the worlds water anymore.

Bring your gifts to and for the body each and every day

Meet regularly as a spiritual family communing with Jesus as a central strand of life together

Your best should be given to Jesus, everything points that way

Work repeatedly and regularly to present yourself completely devoted to Him (a living sacrifice) and your spiritual family of disciples

Get back to God’s ideals, perhaps 7 feasts for 7 days and each sabbath together; or perhaps that was just the beginning of what God wants. Eventually in a recreated heaven and earth we are going to be in fellowship not just 7×7 but completely. That should be the goal today too, not once a week, but wholly given in complete life pursuit. That is the thrust of the New Covenant disciple, not just a tithe, or a first fruit, but all in all the time.

What would it look like if your spiritual family lived this way. Can you imagine it? Could you survive in America? What if you had 10 families that made this commitment. Your gifts enabled housing out of debt. (pipedream, impossible? I think your limiting yourself and God) You shared what was “needed”; you provided for not only your own but the others. You all learned to live this way. I would actually venture to say that it is not only possible but is the ONLY Biblical model and is a recipe for amazing life in Jesus. You might conduct a business but it is surrounded together in Jesus. Maybe the Amish building houses together weren’t too far off from a New Testament picture of working together, they just got hung up on legalism along the way.

In short, whenever the church gathers together, its guiding and functioning principal is simply to incarnate Christ (1 Cor 12:12)

An exegetical study of Exodus 21:22-25

This week in the light of the recent supreme court Roe V. Wade overturn, I have had several people ask if the Torah really supports abortion. The answer is clearly no.

One of the most important parts about theology is making sure your views within the complete lens of scripture agree. This is partly why denominations exist. The theory is that a denominations theology and doctrinal positions should agree with each other. Unfortunately, they usually don’t agree causing even more problems behind denominational lines. For instance, if you interpret one place in the Bible such as Exodus 21:22-25 to say that life must begin at physical birth there are simply way too many verses to try to reconcile to fit this idea (see the partial list below.) Therefore, you have to go back and ask how else might the one verse that doesn’t seem to agree or fit with the rest may be misinterpreted or reinterpreted to fit within the understanding of the rest of the verses that so plainly seem to describe humanity beginning at conception.

Many pro-choice advocates (especially within traditional Judaism) have tried to use Exodus 21:22-25 to prove that the Bible (and specifically Torah) would not hold life before birth equal to life after. This unfortunately is based on terrible translations. I am most surprised by traditional Jewish sources that seem to advocate for this as when you read this text in Hebrew there is nearly zero grounds to understand the text that way.

The RSV is one translation that supports the pro-choice conclusion. If you follow my Youtube channel or many of my posts you will know that I typically do not prefer the RSV, it reads,

When men strive together, and hurt a woman with child, so that there is a miscarriage, and yet no harm follows, the one who hurt her shall be fined, according as the woman’s husband shall lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. If any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

There are some theological problems with the RSV interpretation. The RSV assumes that a “miscarriage” happens, and the fetus is born dead. The text doesn’t say that. The NIV does not assume that a miscarriage happened. The NIV translates the text like this:

If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life . . .

The difference is significant. The NIV implies the child is born alive. But when you read it in Hebrew, even using a good interlinear, you would even read it significantly more in this way. Remember when most of these translations were written, abortion wasn’t a debate or option. In many ways we are trying to read our modern view, or problems into an ancient text.

Consider this interlinear translation: And when men fight and strike a pregnant woman (‘ishah harah) and her children (yeladeyha) go forth (weyatse’u), and there is no injury, he shall surely be fined as the husband of the woman may put upon him; and he shall give by the judges. But if there is injury, you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

The phrase translated as “and the children go forth” the RSV translates this as a miscarriage while the NIV translates it as a premature live birth.

When looking at the Hebrew and perhaps the NIV translation you might consider the Hebrew verb for miscarry or lose by abortion or be bereaved of the fruit of the womb, namely, shakal. It is used in Exodus 23:26, “None shall miscarry (meshakelah) or be barren in your land.” But this word is NOT used here in Exodus 21:22-25. We have very specific words in Hebrew unlike English which only has a couple options. (For instance, in English we say worship, in Hebrew we have at least 7 specific words for types of worship.)

The Hebrew word for birth here is “go forth” (ytsa’). Nowhere else in the Bible or anywhere else in extra biblical sources does this word ever refer to a miscarriage or abortion. In other words, treating it this way is terrible theology and has no hermeneutical grounds. When it refers to a birth it refers to live children “going forth” or “coming out” from the womb. For example, Genesis 25:25, “And the first came out (wyetse’) red, all of him like a hairy robe; and they called his name Esau.” (See also v. 26 and Genesis 38:28-30.)

Furthermore, the common Hebrew word for miscarry is NOT used but a word is used that elsewhere does not mean miscarry but ordinary live birth. If the text meant to say or imply this, there are other words in the Bible that clearly mean this that would have been used such as (golem, Psalm 139:16) or nephel, Job 3:16; Psalm 58:8; Ecclesiastes 6:3).

Rather here, the ordinary word for children is used in Exodus 21:22 (yeladeyha). It regularly refers to children who are born. “Yeled only denotes a child, as a fully developed human being, and not the fruit of the womb before it has assumed a human form” (Keil and Delitzsch, Pentateuch, vol. 2, p. 135).

In other words, when you study the Hebrew, (even if you don’t know Hebrew but simply use and interlinear), there is no miscarriage in this text. The child is born pre-maturely and is protected with the mother. If the child is injured there is to be recompense as with the injury of the mother.

The RSV translation has caused some issues with modern world abortion problems, but when you read the Hebrew it comes off quite differently. As I also mentioned, we need to be very careful we don’t read our modern ideas into the ancient text. This would also be poor hermeneutics.

This said, the church could do better. We need to care for the marginalized much better. Love Grace and Mercy to all our neighbors.

-Dr. Will Ryan

ProLife Bible Verses

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5)

For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. (Psalm 139:13,15)

“God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27)

“Truly children are a gift from the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward” (Psalm 127:3)

Listen to me, O coastlands,  and give attention, you peoples  from afar.    The LORD called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name… And now the LORD says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him—for  I am honored in the eyes of the LORD,  and my God has become my strength. (Isaiah 49:1,5)

“Be fertile and multiply” (Genesis 1:28)

“And Isaac besought the Lord for his wife, because she was barren: and he heard him, and made Rebecca to conceive. But the children struggled in her womb…” (Genesis 25:21-22)

“In the womb he supplanted his brother, and as a man he contended with God.” (Hosea 12:3)

“But when Rebecca also had conceived at once of Isaac our father. For when the children were not yet born, nor had done any good or evil (that the purpose of God according to election might stand) . . .” (Romans 9:10-11)

Yet you are he who  took me from the womb;  you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.  On you was I cast from my birth, and from  my mother’s womb you have been my God. (Psalms 22:9-10)

“God… from my mother’s womb had set me apart and called me through his grace” (St. Paul to the Galatians 1:15)

“They mingled with the nations and learned their works…They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons, and they shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, desecrating the land with bloodshed” (Psalm 106:35, 37-38)

“Thou shalt not kill” (Exodus 20:13, Deuteronomy 5:17)

“Do unto others as you would have them do to you” (Matthew 7:12)

Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death. (Exodus 21:12) 

‘Cursed be anyone who takes a bribe to shed innocent blood.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ (Deuteronomy 27:25)

 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. (1 Corinthians 3:16-17)

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16 )

Soon afterwards, He began going around from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God. The twelve were with Him, Luke 8:1 NASB

Matt and I are preparing for a new in-depth multi-part upcoming series on the church. In preparation I have been posting in large part about the problem of modern western culture church, or at least what we have evolved church into. I have identified some issues with hierarchy instead of equality, hiring kings to run our churches instead of worshiping THE ONE king, and business models replacing the family within church politics. But there is another area that likely trumps all of these. Matt and I have touched on this many times in several different videos.

The primary message of Jesus was for all to leave the world and completely be immersed in His kingdom. This was his definition of a disciple. In my mind the main problem with the modern western church is that we have missed or forgotten the pre-emanate calling of Jesus and replaced that calling with a lot of things that don’t fit, and in many cases are actually the opposite of what Jesus asked us to do.

At the beginning of Luke 8 we get a picture of what Jesus wants for His disciples and how the church will come together. He uses the expression the “kingdom of God.” Matthew’s circumlocution is very similar, “king of heaven.” I want you to stop and consider something that you may have never thought of.

Jesus wasn’t preaching a good life, he wasn’t even necessarily preaching the salvation of the world, or the desire to give you miraculous powers and gifts; He didn’t even really seem to be to bent on getting you to heaven. Jesus simply invited people to experience His kingdom. Today the church has sadly wandered from this invitation.

The Old Testament set the picture for what the message of Jesus would bring. But we have gotten way off track. Roman Catholicism turned Christianity into a celebrity religion that isn’t in the Bible. Rather than realize this is wrong and not advocate it, the modern evangelical church has continued to attempt to turn Christian leaders into celebrity saints. The modern-day lead pastor has become the icon of a celebrity saint to be nearly worshipped as a god-king for all within the political church. This has come full circle back to the ancient problem of Genesis. Humankind wants to worship themself not God. I have written enough about this though, let me continue with how this affects the kingdom.

When you walk into any synagogue during any place in time you won’t find great people (celebrities of the faith) on display like you do at a catholic church. The Hebraic way of thinking was on the central message not those associated with bringing the message. To esteem them equal to the message would make them idols which God clearly warned about in the Torah. What mattered was the message not the messenger. This is why even Messianic Jews consider Jesus a bit different than our modern evangelical friends do. Jesus brought the message of His father’s Kingdom.

“The kingdom of heaven [of God] resembles a concept in rabbinic Judaism called tikkun ha-olam, which literally means ‘mending the world.’ When one enters (or joins) the kingdom of heaven, one becomes a partner with God in spreading redemption throughout a hurting world. That person goes out and feeds the hungry; clothes the naked; visits those who are in hospital and prison; prays for the sick and defends the rights of the orphan and widow. A person who has entered the kingdom of heaven gets involved in people’s lives. He or she pursues a lifestyle characterized by mending our world: where there is hatred, he or she bestows love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.”[1]

I have for many years said that modern evangelical Christianity is bi-polar. If you came to Christ through a step plan of salvation like the Romans road, or a colorful bracelet that tells a story of PSA/ECT style “abusive” thinking your likely in need of therapy. Too many have tried to make this plan of salvation fit with the overall message of Jesus and it simply doesn’t. It’s cut up and re-arranged to fit an agenda. My main problem with presenting the plan of salvation (and hell) this way is that it frames God as worse than Hitler (in being the judge that chooses to send people to what sounds like a never-ending torture chamber rather than the author of love, grace and mercy. It’s simply trying to preach or promote a bi-polar version of Jesus or His message. It’s messed up, but that’s humankind, not God.

Watch this video for more on that: https://youtu.be/GXl3u5DoDGs

Christianity’s eschatological focus is on the afterlife. We have made Christianity a religion of death not life. What originally drew me into the Old Testament was the emphasis God gives in the Torah to live here and now, and the theological idea that God will reign on this earth. That was also the culminating message of Jesus. “Unto the least of these” is a kingdom attitude and that kingdom is here on earth.

When you study the Hebrew and Greek of the Bible, we find that there are 17 different terms that describe what evangelicals simply call the church, bur what we make out the church to be is closer to some concoction or pieced together potion than it is the picture that Jesus painted for us. The transition from the first century Hebraic minded church to the modern evangelical, dare I say Roman Catholic version of Jesus, has nearly destroyed the message Jesus preached and His kingdom. The fact that that ekklēsía doesn’t mean “church,” and brings imagery that isn’t biblical is just the beginning of our modern problem. Ekklēsía is but one of dozens of significant problems that is affected by our birth culture thinking.  Faith, salvation, obedience, law, gospel, kingdom, sin, forgiveness, repentance, grace, and love need to be interpreted within the meaning of Jesus and His kingdom message, the meaning of God’s word in the lives of the men who heard them and what it meant in their context. We have evolved the church and its terms to mean things far different than what they meant when Jesus proclaimed them to His first century disciples.

Let’s get back on track with the central message of the scripture and Jesus, to be fervent disciples and proclaim His kingdom in all of life. Some of us need a total reset.

[1] Joseph Frankovic, The Kingdom of Heaven (HaKesher, Inc., 1998), pp. 31-32.

We have spent our lives trying to be good Christians that “go to church”. However, you would be hard pressed to find anything that looks like modern day American church anywhere in the pages of the Bible. It might even surprise you to know that the word “church” isn’t in the Bible. We have created the traditional concept of what we call church.

What about the texts where we literally read the word church in nearly all translations such as the infamous Matthew 16:18 in the NASB? “Upon the Rock I will build my church”? Or how about the beginning of Philemon when it clearly states the church as a home meeting? Let me better explain.

In the greek we usually see the word ekkelsia/ekklésia and in Hebrew the word typically translated as church is qehelah. But Jesus never used these words to describe the congregations of people that came to Him. One of my life Mantras has always been to try to figure out exactly what God desires of us. I have written books and countless articles on the subject; what are God’s ideals in our life? If we were to follow exactly what God is asking and Jesus’ calling to live as wholly devoted disciples what would it look like; specifically in this article what would the coming together of believers and the unity of the body best look like. Would it still resemble and Old Testament torah observant festival schedule or perhaps look like a more evolved version of family meetings in people’s houses? Or if the great commission is successful, would we naturally arrive at the concept of the great American mega church?

In the Old Testament we have Torah. Torah explains how the community of believers might live towards a life that points to holiness and purification and eventually to Jesus. There were 7 festivals that the family attended, 3 of which were pilgrimage large community meetings and then the idea of coming together as a family each sabbath to stay on track with what Yahweh desired of you. It was a great mosaic life picture to stay on track with God as a stop Gap until the Messiah would once and for all act as atonement for sin. But the Torah continually encouraged all of life to surround God.

In the New Testament we get similar pictures of keeping your family on track and functioning in one accord as the body of Christ. But what we have turned this act into, (what we refer to as church), is likely far from what Jesus was asking. Did his disciples regularly attend church as we know it? Was Jesus commissioning Peter to build the modern church brought to us by Catholicism?

We have all heard and probably studied that the word mostly translated as church in the Bible is is ekklēsía, an assembly, but you might find it interesting that this Greek word is more accurately described in Greek as a non-religious assembly.  Consider its use in Acts 19:32 and other verses. So then, some were shouting one thing and some another, for the assembly was in confusion and the majority did not know for what reason they had come together. Acts 19:32 NASB It is described as an angry confused mob. Well that actually might be a pretty good definition for most people’s modern day church experiences ha ha.

When we read the word ekklēsía in Greek you find it starts with the Greek word kaléō which means to call or invite, which better translates to Hebrew as qārāʾwhich is the more common word for being called. In Hebrew religious assemblies were synagogues, but this carries a problem in the first century. Synagogues became associated with Greco-Roman pagan connections to the extent that most Jews stopped using the word to describe the place where Yahweh was met. In the Greek it specifically does not mean “a religious assembly.” Synagogue meant any religious assembly; it is used far more in first century literature to describe temples for Athena or Zeus than for Yahweh. As a result, the word synagogue just migrated into a Jewish term just like ekklesia, it wasn’t Jewish to begin with.

The reason the word ekklēsía is (rightly) used is because it meant “the called-out ones.”  It is an invitation, particularly focused on God’s provision of salvation (which in Hebrew is better described as an exodus or rescue).  To be part of the body that was summoned and invited by the sovereign God for the purpose of rescue from immediate danger.  But Paul repeatedly uses the term such as in 1 Corinthians 1 to take on an exodus motif. There are several modern day Biblical scholars that have picked up on this such as Frank Viola and Francis Chan. Mark Nanos offers this:

“It is widely recognized that the first appearance of christianos postdate Paul and that he never refers to himself or anyone else by this term or its cognates.”[1]

“ . . . the term ekklesia, from which the translation ‘church’ derived, has also come to represent something that is by definition distinguishable from ‘synagogue.’ . . . ekkelsia was a term that, if not also qualified as being specifically Christ-following, would naturally be understood to represent synagogue gatherings of Jews that were not assumed to be affiliated with Christ-followers: the ekklesia were not yet what ‘church’ came to represent. Thus it is anachronistic and unhelpful for understanding Paul in his own context to use the translation ‘church’ when reading and discussing Paul and his Jewish ‘assemblies.’”[2]

What Mark, and most theologians will tell you is that church as we know it, was a religion of later gentiles, most probably the Roman Catholic Church. Paul and Jesus and the first century disciples didn’t practice this form of “church”.

Skip Moen suggests that as “This may seem bold, unsettling, even heretical. But it is heresy only if you accept the revised history of the Church. What actually happened is a matter of historical investigation. What the Church teaches is something quite different. So, who’s the heretic? Was Paul a Christian? The historical record strongly suggests that he was not, and neither were any of his compatriots. The historical record suggests that Paul never converted; he was always a Torah-observant Jew with a Jewish Messiah. The historical record recounts the creation of the Christian Church with a separate theology, Christology and ecclesiology in the mid-third and fourth centuries. So it’s time to correct the text and remove all those terms whose meaning was determined by men who never shared the faith of Paul or his Messiah.”

My problem with the great American church is that it is more worldly than it is Biblical. Didn’t Jesus preach the opposite?

Against Christianity by Peter Leithart is a penetrating examination of the difference between the post-modern view of the world and the biblical view. According to Leithart:

Modernity refers to the civilization of the West since about 1500. Culturally, modernity is characterized by “value pluralism,” which entails the privatization of religious institutions and religious claims. Every individual and every group chooses its own shared values, and civil society is the arena where those values enter into combat. Politically, modernity is shaped by “liberalism,” the political system dedicated to the one proposition that political systems must not be dedicated to one proposition.

Through its roots in the patristic period, Christianity in its more developed form is the Church’s adjustment of the gospel to modernity, and the Church’s consequent acceptance of the world’s definition of who we are and what we should be up to. Christianity is biblical religion disemboweled and emasculated by (voluntary) intellectualization and/or privatization.

Christianity is not merely haphazard embrace of the values and practices of the modern world. Worldliness in that sense has plagued the Church since Corinth and will be a temptation to the end of time. Christianity is institutionalized worldliness, worldliness accepted in principle, worldliness not at the margins but at the center, worldliness build into the foundation.[1]

Some don’t like the term Christianity anymore and I can see why. It is unfortunate that the name so closely associated with Jesus has been perpetrated by the world to represent something near counter to what Jesus taught. Leithart picks up on this. Unfortunately, Christianity is tied to the systems of the world which is what Jesus routinely spoke against. Jesus wasn’t interested in joining any systems other than the His own, the kingdom of God. Jesus calls for radical discipleship, kingdom living, and challenges the message of this world and people’s allegiances to systems, structures, and ideologies. 

Church as we know it has become much of what Jesus spoke against. It is big business with a worldwide, organized hierarchy that resembles pharisaical tradition more than anything.

Skip Moen makes another point that I have to completely agree with, “Just consider the almost universal acceptance of democracy as the proper political system of Christianity. Nothing in the biblical record supports this idea. Where did it come from? From the Greeks. The Church is not a democracy. The Kingdom of God is not a democracy. But most Christians have accommodated to the state by accepting democracy as the correct political system.”

Jesus spoke of a radically different culture. It was family based with regular teaching and accountability to the body of and fellowship of believers (not the church leadership) in Him and only Him. It wasn’t about routine programming, or a schedule of events driven by what the world looks like. It was the opposite of that. Today Christians act more like Greeks following a pagan God in a pagan Temple than they do theocratic followers of the one king. Being a follower of Christ was never supposed to be aligned with being a morally upright member of a political nation. To Jesus that was described as having two masters and being a slave to something of the world. The central message of Jesus was to not conform to the world, yet this is exactly what modern American Church has done. We have built churches that look desirable to the world. Rock and roll light show events, cool Christianity, and events geared towards entertainment or prosperity over discipleship.

A BETTER VIEW

What is the answer, what is the solution? How do we get back to Jesus in one accord? Is there any room to migrate from the Torah or the New Testament Biblical model? If you want to follow God’s ideals I am afraid the unpopular answer to these questions is likely, “NO.” We were given similar models in both the Old and New Testaments and are simply asked to follow them, but in typical human fashion we think we can build a better model than what Jesus asks for. God offers a theocracy, man demands their own king, Jesus says he is the only king, we try to hire pastor kings, Jesus says leave the world on the beach and completely follow me, we want to enslave ourselves to the world for 40-50 hours a week with mortgages of enslavement up to our eyeballs. How is that God way?

In the Torah dedication to a holy God is the meaning and source of life. Nothing can take precedence over this. Everything about life itself pointed to life in Yahweh. You were surrounded by Him and the body of His people. In the first church we get the same idea. Your life existed to promote Jesus as king and deny the ways of the world.

Home church, church underground, whatever you might call it is a better picture than big business church. I like some of the aspects of American church. Perhaps some people come out of the world and find God at a traditional church first. I consider myself a missionary to the evangelical church in hopes of shepherding those that realize they are looking for a better picture of dedicated discipleship in Jesus.

The better goal of following Jesus is to live every day live as if your mission of holiness for your spiritual family was/is all you are concerned about. It is hard to imagine this calling in our American lives, in fact it would be a complete paradigm shift, totally radical. But guess what, it was the same thing in the first century. It was totally radical and completely counter cultural; yet the first century church embraced it. Today I think most evangelical Christians desire the world more than we desire Jesus.

How do we get there? Let me paint a picture.

• Every day is completely, wholly given to Jesus and the calling to be a disciple and make a disciple by Jesus’ definition not the worlds
• You don’t give your time, treasure, and talents to the world in any way, they are reserved solely for Jesus
• You train up your kids as your primary responsibility and your core act of making disciples
• You live intimately with Him and present deeper devotion to the king and His kingdom within your family and surround yourself with one accord of a body of believers that think the same way.
• Don’t be immersed in the world, let the world find Jesus through you. Offer living water at each and every opportunity. You don’t need to drink the worlds water anymore.
• Bring your gifts to and for the body each and every day
• Meet regularly as a spiritual family communing with Jesus as a central strand of life together
• Your best should be given to Jesus, everything points that way
• Work repeatedly and regularly to present yourself completely devoted to Him (a living sacrifice) and your spiritual family of disciples
• Get back to God’s ideals, perhaps 7 feasts for 7 days and each sabbath together; or perhaps that was just the beginning of what God wants. Eventually in a recreated heaven and earth we are going to be in fellowship not just 7×7 but completely. That should be the goal today too, not once a week, but wholly given in complete life pursuit. That is the thrust of the New Covenant disciple, not just a tithe, or a first fruit, but all in all the time.

What would it look like if your spiritual family lived this way. Can you imagine it? Could you survive in America? What if you had 10 families that made this commitment. Your gifts enabled housing out of debt. (pipedream, impossible? I think your limiting yourself and God) You shared what was “needed”; you provided for not only your own but the others. You all learned to live this way. I would actually venture to say that it is not only possible but is the ONLY Biblical model and is a recipe for amazing life in Jesus. You might conduct a business but it is surrounded together in Jesus. Maybe the Amish building houses together weren’t too far off from a New Testament picture of working together, they just got hung up on legalism along the way.

or the body is not one member, but many. 1 Corinthians 12:14 NASB

Modern church looks very different than New Testament church did. 2-3 times a year we have an EXPEDITION 44 range night loosely associated with the Hebrew calendar and based on a more Biblical style of worship (such as God instructed during the OT festivals) and the NT church continued. This year we have shifted the date to this Friday Night June 3 as Shavuot this year is recognized from Sunset Saturday June 4 until Monday Evening June 6.

But I shall remain in Ephesus until Pentecost. 1 Corinthians 16:8 NASB

Pentecost or Shavuot?  Most people have never stopped to consider this simple statement. Devout Jews calendar things different than the rest of the world. Everything is in reference to the OT calendar that God gave in the Torah, the Jewish sequence of Festivals. Shavuot is one of the three pilgrimage festivals from Exodus 34. It is 50 days after the start of Pesach (Lev 23) which is when the Torah was given on Sinai.

When you pause to consider Paul’s statement above, you probably go right to Acts 2 and pentecost. The crowd was gathered to celebrate Shavuot which is where the spirit chose to descend and give us the New Testament idea of Pentecost (which wouldn’t be widely celebrated by the church until 200 years after this was written.) Interesting that After Paul clearly becomes a “CHRISTIAN”, yet he is still celebrating the Shavuot. You see Paul (and Jesus) never abolished Torah or God’s ideals. In fact, Paul is always considering how to live as a set apart person only given to what God desires of him.

Just to be clear, Paul and Jesus were both clear that Christians not be legalistic in following tradition. The focus is that they both recognized that they needed to be immersed in God’s ideals and His world and not the ideals of the world. Jesus isn’t simply better, Jesus’ way is the ONLY way.

As we meet again at the EXPEDITION 44 Range worship nights this is and has always been our focus. Let’s get back to what God says is His way.

I Corinthians 12-14 give us framework for coming together under God’s Ideals. He starts out with, “For the body is not one member, but many.” 1 Corinthians 12:14 NASB

Most of us have heard the terminology of the church our entire lives; the church as the bride, one body, the people not the place, we are the church, or perhaps words of order, unity, or in one accord – but we don’t actually believe it or live it. Corinth was a rowdy mess. Yet Paul shepherds the shepherds. He teaches to be like Christ in mercy, grace, obedience, and love. He calls them to order, but by God’s definition to bring order to chaos from the beginning of time; not in the worldly mindset of hierarchy and/or superiority. Their order should be brought according to their gifts, what God designed them to present. He is also clear that anything outside of this form is or will be spiritually abusive. Jesus is the only Head of the church, everyone else is simply a member of the congregation. No one person is spiritually superior over the others. Elders shepherd (verb) those that shepherd. We are all called to shepherd. No one is to “rule over” another. As those of a priestly position in Christ we can only reign and rule in Him. Each member fulfills tasks that together represent the body of Christ through edification, instruction, and the presenting of at least the 22 gifts mentioned (which we pray for a double portion to be applied through God and get 44!) This is the Biblical definition of worship – 44- an expedition of complete lifelong worship.

This Friday night we are asking everyone to consider what they will bring to contribute. How is the Spirit (it is pentecost!!!) leading you to participate as the body? Will you bring food? Will you share a prophetic word? Will you bring edification or healing? Will you admonish with your lips? Will you testify? What has God given you to bring forth?

Too often we have been conditioned by the modern church to think that serving at church means we “work or toil” and aren’t actually part of the church worship “experience” when we are serving. We say things like we are going to serve at the first service and attend the second. Don’t get me started. Ha ha. We are asking for everyone to be “all in” this Friday night.

Let’s take a look at the verse above again, “For the body is not one member, but many.” (1 Corinthians 12:14). When Paul says “not one” he uses the greek word “ouk.” This is the strongest Greek word possible to mean NOT or negative. In the Bible there are 1634 uses of the word “not” and this is the strongest! Not one but many, “polla.” In other words, Paul is STRONGLY telling us we need to equally come before the Lord bearing what has been uniquely gifted to you to the body in one accord. It is coincidence that the spirit chose the day of Shavuot to “rain” down on us as we “reign” together in Christ and only in Him. You are tailored to bring a gift, and not just one, but many of different flavors, seasons, and descriptions continually. Throw off whatever has been holding you back (hierarchy, ideas of what serving should be, those looking down on you, youth, reprisal of silent encouragement/discouragement); bring what you have been given, and bring it to its best.

Shavuot in the OT was a shadow of what was to come in the Messiah. It was by the Coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Shavuot) that God inscribed his Law in their hearts. We are called to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading and obey him in all areas of our life. From the inside out, he changes us into the likeness of Christ – equally contributing in one accord of the body. The Holy Spirit is also called the Spirit of adoption who witnesses to our spirit that we indeed have left the world and our past behind and instead now have a new identity as children of God (Romans 8:15).