The "Church" in the Wilderness

by Leisa Garcia

Recommended to read first:  One New Man

Acts 7:38  “This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sanai, and with our fathers, who received the lively oracles to give unto us.

There are many in the Hebrew/Jewish Roots movement who believe that the church existed in the Old Testament, that Israel WAS the church, is the church now, and always will be the church.  They use this passage as a proof text.  The King James Version uses the word “church” in this verse.  (So does the ASV & the WEB).  At first glance, it appears to be an error in translation, but the translators really did have a logical reason for using the word "church."

The Greek word "ekklesia," which is translated "church" in this passage, is often translated as such in the New Testament meaning "a gathering of citizens called out from their homes into a public place--an assembly or any gathering or throng of men assembled by chance, tumultuously."¹

In Volume Four of Dr. Norman Geisler’s “Systematic Theology” he states:

“In classical Greek, ekklesia referred to an assembly of any kind, religious or secular, lawful or unlawful.  The Hebrew words qahal and edhal, often translated as ‘ekklesia’ in the Greek Old Testament, meant a gathering or assembly such as Judaism eventually had in the synogague²

Our English word “church” originates from the Greek word κυριακός "Kyriakos"--which means “belonging to the Lord.”³ That is exactly what the Ekklesia is, The Ekklesia of Christ, the one that belongs to Christ the Lord.  Choosing to translate “called-out assembly” as “church” when it is the Ekklesia of Christ makes sense because the Ekklesia of Christ belongs to the Lord. But technically it isn't a translation of the word ekklesia.   It would have been more prudent to translate the Greek word ekklesia according to it's actual meaning of a "called-out assembly."  Then the type of assembly would be determined by the context, as it still should be now.  Unfortunately, using the word "church" creates unnecessary confusion.

It also makes sense why the KJV translates the “ekklesia” in the wilderness as “church.”  It was a called-out assembly of the nation of Israel “who belonged to God” as a nation, however it most certainly DOES NOT make that gathering the equivalent or interchangeable with the Ekklesia of Christ which is a very specific ekklesia for the following reasons:

FACT #1:  There are various ekklesai  (plural of ekklesia) and assemblies.   It must be determined by context, what type of assembly is being spoken of. 

FACT #2:  There is a specific Ekklesia which is the Ekklesia belonging to Christ.  It is NOT equal to any other types of ekklesai.  (Matthew 16:18)

FACT #3:  The Ekklesia belonging to Christ, is synonymous with the Body of Christ.  The Ekklesia IS the Body of Christ.  (Ephesians 1:22,23; Colossians 1:18,24) 

FACT #4:  The Ekklesia is made up of ONLY believers.  (The Nation of Israel was made up of believers AND unbelievers)

(Ephesians 4:12,13; Acts 1:47; Romans 12:5; 1 Cor. 10:16,17; I Cor. 12:13,27)

FACT #5:  The Ekklesia of Christ is built upon the Apostles and (New Testament) Prophets with Jesus Christ being the Chief Cornerstone.

(Ephesians 3:5; Ephesians 2:20)

FACT #6:  The Jews as a nation, the Gentiles as nations, and the Ekklesia of God are three separate entities.  (1 Cor. 10:32)

They are spoken of separately again and again.  The Ekklesia IS NOT the equivalent of the nation of Israel, it is NOT the equivalent of the Jew and Gentile nations put together.  None of the three are synonymous.  There is the Nation of Israel, there are the Gentile nations and there is the Ekklesia of God (of Christ) which is made up of ONLY believers  taken from both Israel and the Gentile nations as proven in Fact #4.

FACT #7:  Israel as a nation are the People of God, but individually only a small number have ever been true believers.  This group has historically been called “the remnant.” 

(Romans 11:5)

FACT #8:  Jesus states:  Upon this rock (himself, the cornerstone) I WILL build my Ekklesia (Church).  The Ekklesia is built upon a foundation made up of Jesus Christ as the cornerstone and the New Testament Apostles and Prophets. 

The Ekklesia is built upon the foundation.  That foundation (Fact #5) could not exist until Jesus rose from the dead and the Holy Spirit came upon the Ekklesia at pentecost.

The Ekklesia of Christ could not exist until the foundation had been laid, so it could be built upon the foundation.  It could not have existed before.  A foundation is the first thing made the building is built upon it, the building could not exist until the foundation was first laid.

FACT #9:  “I WILL build” is translated from the Greek word οἰκοδομήσω which is in the Future Tense. 

At the time Jesus spoke these words in Matthew 17:18, what he was speaking of was still something that would happen in the future.  The Ekklesia could not have existed before.  Future means future.

Greek Lesson:

The most important part of Greek verbs is the ending of the verb, the ending of the verb tells us more than one thing, but what is important in this instance is the sigma σ.  This is called a tense formative.  The sigma is the tense formative that tells us the verb is in the future tense.

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Works Cited

¹"ekklesia.” def 1(c).   BlueLetterBible.org. Web.

http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G1577&t=KJV

²Geisler, Norman.  Systematic Theology:  Volume Four – Church, Last Things. pg 17.  Minneapolis:  Bethany House. 2005.  Print.

³"kyriacos." def 1-2.  BlueLetterBible.org. Web.
http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G2960&t=KJV