I Will Build My Ekklesia

EKKLESIA AND QAHAL IN THE OLD COVENANT

We can easily see how ekklesia and qahal work together from two different passages of the LXX.⁹ The first example comes from the dedication of Solomon’s temple in 1 Kings 8:14.

And the king turned his face about, and blessed all the congregation(qahal) of Israel: (and all the congregation(qahal) of Israel stood;)
καὶ ἀπέστρεψεν ὁ βασιλεὺς τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ καὶ εὐλόγη σεν ὁ βασιλεὺς πάντα Ισραηλ καὶ πᾶσα ἐκκλησία Ισραηλ εἱστήκει [LXX] In the LXX, see the phrase, πᾶσα ἐκκλησία Ισραηλ?

This is translated as “all the congregation of Israel.” However, if we were to translate this by modern standards, it would be, “all the church of Israel.” This would cause many to lose their sweet, cherub-like demeanor, and start rock throwing. This only demonstrates that what we call “Church” is not necessarily the best answer for ekklesia. Our second illustration is when David brought the ark of God up from Kirjath-jearim.

And David said unto all the congregation(qahal) of Israel, If [it seem] good unto you, and [that it be] of the LORD our God, let us send abroad unto our brethren every where, [that are] left in all the land of Israel, and with them [also] to the priests and Levites [which are] in their cities [and] suburbs, that they may gather themselves unto us: [1 Chr. 13:2 KJV]
καὶ εἶπεν Δαυιδ τῇ πάσῃ ἐκκλησίᾳ Ισραηλ εἰ ἐφ ̓ ὑμῗν ἀγαθ ὸν καὶ παρὰ κυρίου θεοῦ ἡμῶν εὐοδωθῇ ἀποστείλωμεν πρ ὸς τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς ἡμῶν τοὺς ὑπολελειμμένους ἐν πάσῃ γ ῇ Ισραηλ καὶ μετ ̓ αὐτῶν οἱ ἱερεῗς οἱ Λευῗται ἐν πόλεσιν κα τασχέσεως αὐτῶν καὶ συναχθήσονται πρὸς ἡμᾶς [LXX]

Notice the phrase in the LXX of 1 Chronicles 13:2 above,
τῇ πάσῃ ἐκκλησίᾳ Ισραηλ

Again, if we were to translate this according to modern standards, we would be reading, “all the church of Israel.” We would be accused of Replacement Theology, antisemitism, and who knows what other crimes against humanity would be leveled at us. We would probably be required to socially distance and mask our faces in shame.

Again, this demonstrates that Church is likely not the best translation of ekklesia. The word, Church has accumulated so much negative, historical baggage that it has evilly affected the perception of many. Why all the baggage? The Church, as we call it, through the years has not always acted as her Head desired. Also, down through the centuries, many have done heinous things in her name and the name of her Lord. These things would damage her witness and mission.¹⁰

We can see the most prominent word used to translate qahal is congregation (70% of the time). This Hebrew word is not the name of the people but refers to the collective body of the people. The name of the people is Israel, but when the collective people are referred to as a whole unit, they are “the congregation of Israel.”

STEPHEN’S CHURCH IN THE WILDERNESS, CON'T

Getting back to Stephen’s sermon in Acts 7, it should be noted that earlier English translations of Acts 7:38, did not translate ekklesia as Church.

1. Wycliffe, who translated directly from the Latin Vulgate, used Chirche (kir-kay) for ecclesia.
2. Tyndale, Coverdale, and the Geneva Bible all translated ekklesia as Congregation. These have Stephen saying, “Congregation in the wilderness.”
3. There is a change when we get to the Bishop’s Bible(1568). Here, they translate ekklesia as Church. The KJV (1611) follows the Bishop’s Bible, with Church.

As we have seen previously, our English word, Church, is not necessarily the best translation for Ekklesia. Given the history of its use in the LXX, and that it is exclusively used to translate the Hebrew, Qahal, the best translation for ekklesia would be Congregation or Assembly. Congregation would be best used for referring to the whole body of Christ, while Assembly would be best for referencing a local body.

There may be some who are not comfortable with my suggestion that the word, Church, is not the best translation for ekklesia. They may feel I am touching a holy thing. There is nothing holy about the word, Church, in itself. What it represents is holy indeed. If you are one who holds the word itself as a holy thing, consider this.

The New Covenant Ekklesia existed for over 1,500 years without using the word, Church, to identify itself. What name did it go by? It went by the name the Scriptures gave it, Ekklesia, or any of its affiliates — congregation or assembly. Remember, the Latin Vulgate, the official Bible of the Western Ekklesia for almost a thousand years, transliterated the Greek word, as Ecclesia. This is how New Covenant Israel referred to itself for all that time. Greek or Latin, the Body of Christ was the Ekklesia. Calling itself, Church, is a rather recent development.

JESUS BUILDS HIS OWN CONGREGATION

I believe this is what Jesus meant when He said, “I will build My congregation(qahal/ekklesia).” The body of His people of faith, the Israel of God, would be New Covenant Israel. He was not going to pour the new wine of the New Covenant into the old wineskin of the Sinai container. He would require a new wineskin, a new qahal/ekklesia for the new wine of the Spirit.

Our point is this. When Jesus said these words,

And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not pre- vail against it. [Matt. 16:18]

He was speaking in the same sense in which congregation (qahal) is used in the Old Covenant. It speaks of the full body of God’s covenant people, Israel. However, it would be His Qahal, His Congregation, as opposed to the one that existed under the Sinai Covenant. His intent was this,

Upon this foundation of the revelation from heaven that I am the Anointed One, the Son of the living God, I will establish My congregation and the gates of Sheol will not be able to withstand nor prevail against it.

This New Covenant congregation would be different from the one which existed under the Sinai covenant.

The congregation of New Covenant Israel consists of those who have received the heavenly revelation that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. This would bring to pass the saying,

And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them. [Jer. 31:34]

It is also recorded in Isaiah,

And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children. [Isa. 54:13]

Jesus seems to reference these verses when He said,

It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. [John 6:45]

Those who have learned from the Father would comprise His Qahal/Ekklesia, His Congregation/Assembly. The congregation He establishes would belong exclusively to Him. He would be its Law-giver and Head, while it would be His Body. He is the Last Adam to this new humanity.

It would be a New Congregation, existing under the banner of Christ Himself, who embodies New Covenant Israel. The old congregation (qahal) of Israel would pass away with its covenant, while the new congregation He establishes would be composed of new creatures, born from above, who place no confidence in the flesh. This is to be the Israel of God. Everything about this Israel would be new.

The New Covenant would create an Israel the prophets of old envisioned, a glorious Israel under the kingship of the Messiah, the son of David. This Israel would be glorious because her All-Glorious and Powerful Davidic King, was her Great Shepherd.

In the New, Israel is no longer a divided nation. The Messiah unifies Israel into one fold, with one shepherd-king ruling over them.
Ezek. 37:24 And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.

In the New Covenant, Israel is united as one fold, and the Great Shepherd has merged two folds into one flock. He has united the fold of believing Israel and the fold of the believing nations into one flock. This one flock is New Covenant Israel, or the Israel of God. John 10:15-16 states,

15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

There is no Jewish flock or Gentile flock; there is One Flock, One Qahal, with One Shepherd.

The fallacy of the separation of a Jewish body, Israel, from a Gentile body, the Church, is a damnable lie.
There are not two covenant peoples of God. There's only ONE. Those who are In Christ.

It is damning to the unbelieving Jews, causing them to trust in their own flesh and works. It is clearly not Apostolic Doctrine, but a rabbinic concoction used to ensnare the nations into believing a lie. The lie they are pushing, quite successfully so far, is that there is still something holy and special about Jewish DNA. They are deceived into thinking they are good with God, without faith in Christ Jesus. This lie that they are special within themselves, is the lie thrust upon the nations.

Did I just hear someone say, “Antisemitic”? In truth, the real Antisemite is he who tells the Jews they have no need of Christ, because of the specialness of their DNA. Jewish flesh is as fallen and sinful as Gentile flesh. It is all fallen, Adamic flesh doomed for judgment. Their only hope is found in Christ Jesus. There is no other remedy for fallen men, regardless of their genetic profile. Only Christ can lift the veil covering their minds and hearts [2 Cor. 3:14-16].

Remember, Peter said,

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. [Acts 4:12]

The “we” he speaks of is Jews. Peter says, “There is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we Jews must be saved.” This is long before he received the vision of Gentile inclusion, while on the rooftop of the house in Joppa [Acts 10].

You might say, “What about their Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants with God? Don’t those still give them special covenant status?” No, because all subsequent covenants end or find their fulfillment in the New Covenant of Christ’s blood.

There are no promises of God to His people, that are outside of Jesus Christ and the New Covenant. For the Apostle Paul proclaims, "For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us." [2 Cor. 1:20]

Israel now has a New Covenant based upon better blood. The Messiah Himself is the foundation and embodiment of this covenant. The Congregation of New Covenant Israel continues as a peculiar people, a holy nation, a kingdom of priests unto their God [1 Pet. 2:9]. The God of all grace has opened the way for the nations to be fellow-citizens in this congregation of Israel. This congregation of new creations in Christ will forever dwell in New Jerusalem, with a new and living temple, built of living stones. And so much more!

Footnotes

⁹ We have at least 43 to choose from. I think these two will make the point.
¹⁰ Think Inquisitions and Crusades, to name a few.