A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF (THE APOCALYPSE OF JESUS CHRIST) BOOK OF REVELATION, Part II
Now we will examine the Greek word Ecclesia in greater detail:
THE SEVEN ASSEMBLIES AS A WHOLE (i. 11).
(Taken from Bullinger, E.W. (2011-08-21). The Apocalypse or “The Day of The Lord”: Commentary on Revelation , Trumpet Press. Kindle Edition).
We must here, at the outset, remove the greatest source of all the misunderstandings which have arisen with regard to these seven “churches.” The fact of their being called “churches” has naturally led commentators and students of this book to infer that it is the Church of God, or at any rate the historic Christian Church, which is meant. As a first step toward removing this great evil, let us note at once that the word (…) (ecclesia), rendered “church,” is by no means limited to the restricted sense which is thus forced upon it.
Ecclesia means simply an Assembly: any assembly of people who are called out (for that is the etymological meaning of the word) from other people. Hence, it is used of the whole nation of Israel as distinct from other nations. The Greek word Ecclesia occurs seventy-five times in the Septuagint Translation of the Old Testament, and is used as the rendering of five different Hebrew words. As it is used to represent one of these, seventy times, we need not concern ourselves with the other four words. This Hebrew word is (…) (Cahal), from which we have our English word call. It means to call together, to assemble, or gather together, and is used of any assembly gathered together for any purpose. This Hebrew word Cahal occurs 123 times, and is rendered: “congregation ,” 86 times; “assembly,” 17; “company,” 17; and “multitude,” 3 times: but is never rendered “church.”
Its first occurrence is in Gen. xxviii. 3 – “that thou mayest be a multitude (margin, assembly) of people,” i.e ., a called-out people. That is what Israel was, a people called out and assembled from all other peoples. In Gen. xlix. 6 we read – “O my soul, come not thou into their secret ( Council or Senate); Unto their assembly (cahal), mine honour, be not thou united.” Here the word cahal is used, not of all Israel as called out from the nations, but of the assembly of those called out of form the Tribal Assembly (or Council) of the tribes of Simeon and Levi. Then, it is used of the worshippers, or those called out from Israel, and assembled before the Tabernacle and Temple, and in this sense is usually rendered “congregation.” This is the meaning of the word in Ps. xxii. 22: “In the midst of the congregation will I praise Thee;” and verse 25: “My praise shall be of Thee in the great congregation.”
We ought to use the word Ecclesia in the sense in which it is here used; and not, surely, in the newer and special sense which it acquired, and in which it is used, in the Epistles. In the Pauline Epistles we read nothing about an “angel” as having to do with the churches of God which Paul planted. When the word Ecclesia, in the Apocalypse is rendered “Church,” and the word “Synagogue” in Rev. ii. 9 and iii. 9, is interpreted of the church, it is playing fast and loose with the “words which the Holy Ghost speaketh,” and which He (God) has employed, not only for His revelation, but for our instructions. We hold that the Apocalypse contains a record (by vision and prophecy) of the events which shall happen “hereafter” in the Day of the Lord; that the whole book is concerned with the Jew, the Gentile, and the Earth, but not with the Church of God, or with Christendom; or with the latter only so far as the present corruption of Christianity ……after the Church, the Body of Christ, shall have been removed.
The Mystery (Secret) Revealed (a solved mystery is no longer)
When Jesus taught his disciples how to pray (what has become known as the Lord’s Prayer), he prayed for God’s kingdom to come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. THIS PRAYER HAS YET TO BE ANSWERED! When Jesus prayed this prayer he did not know about the Secret which God kept hidden from everyone from the foundation of the world. This secret was first revealed to the Apostle Paul and the other Christian Apostles and Prophets.
Rom 16:25-27
25 Now to him that is able to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which hath been kept secret since the world began,
26 But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:
27 To God the only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.
WebsterEph 3:1-5
3 For this cause, I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you the nations (Gentiles),
2 if, indeed, ye did hear of the dispensation of the grace of God that was given to me in regard to you,
3 that by revelation He made known to me the secret, according as I wrote before in few [words] —
4 in regard to which ye are able, reading [it], to understand my knowledge in the secret of the Christ,
5 which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it was now revealed to His holy apostles and prophets (Christian) in the Spirit —
YLT
Since then, very few people have taken notice of it, especially The Church. God kept it a secret for over 4,000 years and virtually no one in the church today can tell you what it was, let alone it’s significance. Practically everything being taught today about the Kingdom of God as it relates to the church of the Body of Christ is FALSE, DEVILISH and COUNTERFEIT, and sickening, to everyone who knows and understands the Secret of Romans 16:25,26; Eph 3:1-9 and Col 1:25-29.
The devil has had about 2,000 years to eradicate its knowledge and has done a marvelous job. The Kingdom of God and of Christ is in the FUTURE, not now! Jesus is not now ruling as King of kings! If he is, he is certainly not doing a very good job! The late Apostle Frederick Price said last Sunday, “if God Almighty is controlling the world, as most Christians think he is, I don’t want to go to Heaven!” If what we see in the world today is a reflection of God’s way of doing things, then what could there possibly be to look forward to? This is not the Kingdom of God! We, Christians, aren’t building any such thing. We are building the Body of Christ.
1 Corinthians 12:27-30
27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
28 And God has appointed in the church, ekklesia, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.
29 Are all apostles? (no) Are all prophets? (no) Are all teachers? (no) Do all work miracles? (all can)
30 Do all possess gifts of healing? (no, but many do) Do all speak with tongues? (no, but all can) Do all interpret? (no, but all can).Ephesians 4:1-8
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,
2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body and one spirit–just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call–
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men…..” ESV4:11-16
11 And he gave some as apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers,
12 to equip the holy ones (us) for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
13 until we all attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the extent of the full stature of Christ,
14 so that we may no longer be infants, tossed by waves and swept along by every wind of teaching arising from human trickery, from their cunning in the interests of deceitful scheming.
15 Rather, living the truth in love, we should grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ,
16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, with the proper functioning of each part, brings about the body’s growth and builds itself up in love. NAB
This is what Christians should be doing, not being kingdom builders! What is it going to take to wake you up? Take a look again at the prayer Jesus taught his Jewish followers to pray: “Our Father who art in heaven.” God’s kingdom is in heaven where he is! Jesus taught them to pray for God’s kingdom to come to earth and now Christian’s pray it every Sunday. If it’s already here, why continue to pray for it to come? Makes no sense.
One of the greatest mistranslations of most translators, has been the Greek word musterion. The problem is it was not translated at all, it was merely transliterated into a similar English word. This word is used throughout the Church Epistles of Paul given by revelation from Jesus himself. These Church Epistles serve as the new doctrine for correct believing for the church today. The transliteration of musterion into mystery was purely satanic, in that it has lead believers to understand that there are some things concerning God that are just unable to be understood. Nothing could be further from the truth. The actual translation of this word is “secret.” It does not regard a secret that any man kept, but one which God kept from the foundation of the world. You and I both know, that a secret between 2 people is one of the hardest things to keep. Deep down inside we are just dying to tell someone else or in some cases, we forget it is a secret over time, and it inadvertently slips out.
Since this was a secret that God kept, it is considered by some a Sacred Secret. No one else, including God’s only Son knew about it. Jesus was not told the secret until he had ascended into Heaven. Soon after he was told this secret, he chose a man named Saul who was a very religious Jew to reveal it to. Saul was so religious he was legally killing followers of Jesus Christ because he believed they were heretics. He was present at the stoning to death of Stephen; he gave the consent for it to be done.
Romans is the first Doctrinal Epistle written directly to believers in Jesus Christ of this Age. As I cited previously, Ro 16:25-26 says, “Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery (the secret) which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the (Christian) prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith; NASU
Here we see that this sacred secret was first revealed to Paul for our obedience of true faith and became known as his gospel. Two of the most important words used in his letters the the Church are the words “according to.” When you read these words pay close attention because our lives are to be patterned accordingly. You will see that Paul’s gospel is actually the true gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I will leave you with further evidence of this secret revealed from the epistle to the Colossians vss 1:24-29
24 I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and do fill up the things lacking of the tribulations of the Christ in my flesh for his body, which is the assembly (improperly translated Church),
25 of which I — I did become a ministrant according to the dispensation of God, that was given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God,
26 the secret that hath been hid from the ages and from the generations, but now was manifested to his saints,
27 to whom God did will to make known what is the riches of the glory of this secret among the nations — which is Christ in you, the hope of the glory,
28 whom we proclaim, warning every man, and teaching every man, in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus,
29 for which also I labour, striving according to his working that is working in me in power.
We are now living during this administration of God, just as we are living during the Trump administration. One being spiritual in nature and the other physically. There is nothing more important in the Word of God to understand for the believer than that the Epistles of Paul were written according to revelation from Jesus Christ, making them our supreme guide for faith and practice. There are no mysteries in the Bible at all, just misunderstandings. God bless.
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