THE ASSEMBLIES OF THE SAINTS
by Richard Burkard
Spend time in a Church of God group, and certain Scriptures will come up so often that they'll become commonplace. Hebrew 10:24-25 is one of them - some verse ministers will quote when Bible study attendance starts to slip, or groups consider leaving a congregation. You may know it best from the King James Version:
"And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching."
What is "assembling," in a Biblical context? We might think automatically of a weekly worship service. But does it applies to a midweek Bible study or prayer meeting? To church groups such as Spokesman Club? To the annual church picnic or ice cream social? And what happens if a church group assembles to do something you might consider wrong or ungodly?
This can be a big issue for Church of God ministers. Some contend you have to be face-to-face with other believers on the Sabbath, and cannot keep the day privately at home. Others use telephone conference calls or the Internet to connect with worshipers, and want nothing to do with organized groups which they believe preach errors.
So what is a Christian to do -- especially someone who may live in an isolated area, with no Sabbath-keeping group close by? We reviewed all the Bible verses concerning assemblies, along with similar words such as "gathering" and "congregation," hoping to find God's answer.
What is an Assembly?
Perhaps we should start by defining our terms. "Assembling" appears only once in the New Testament, in the passage cited above. It comes from the Greek word meaning "a complete collection, specifically a Christian meeting for worship." (Strong's Exhaustive Concordance #1997) That Greek word appears in one other verse: "Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him . . . " (II Thes. 2:1)
In fact, the Greek word episynagoge combines two words. E.I. as some prefixes can be modifiers such as on, in or that. The main word -synagoge means exactly what you might guess: "synagogue" - or "a gathering of worshipers, usually a Jewish congregation, though in some contexts it may refer to a Christian assembly . . . " (The Strongest NIV Exhaustive Concordance, 1999 ed., Greek #5252)
I've heard one Messianic speaker use this finding (with other verses) to declare believers in Christ should get over "aversions toward Judaism" they might have, and embrace more of the Jewish approach to following God. But there's one big problem with that. If you join your nearby synagogue, then declare Jesus Messiah, your membership is not likely to last long. In fact, rabbis and boards frequently wind up confirming a warning of Jesus: "They will put you out of the synagogue . . . " (Jhn. 16:2; see also 9:22)
The Synagogue Example
Since Jesus as a Jew did go to the synagogue on Sabbath days (Lk. 4:16), it's good for us to examine what happened at such places. Jesus read from the Scriptures there, in keeping with Jewish tradition (Acts 13:14-15). He taught people there, sometimes on a daily basis -- and that by itself was enough to upset some people (Mt. 13:54, 57). He preached there as well (Mk. 1:39) Worship took place there (Psm. 74:8, compare KJV and NIV). And the ruler of one synagogue indicated it was a great place for healing - six days a week, but not on A Sabbath (Lk. 13:14).
Based on Jesus's words, synagogues or "temples" also were places where the needy were helped (Mt. 6:2) and people could pray (Lk. 18:10-13). But He noted such things needed to be done with a proper attitude and motive, and suggested that didn't always happen. And Jesus warned. His disciples eventually would be "brought before synagogues" to defend their actions (Lk. 12:11) - and even flogged or scourged for them (Mt. 10:17).
The New Testament indicates synagogues were satellite worship locations, connected in a spiritual way to a main temple in Jerusalem. David describes a desire to live at such a place, "to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple" (Psm. 27:4). It was the place where God was thought to dwell (Psm. 43:3-4, 46:4) - a place so cherished that believers would bow in worship toward it, if they weren't there (Psm. 5:7, 138:2). This explains why Daniel prayed with windows opened toward Jerusalem (Dan. 6:10), and perhaps explains why Muslims always pray facing Mecca.
From There to Here
But the New Testament also indicates something changed, when it comes to temple worship. Paul suddenly declares in his letters to the Corinthians: "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? .... God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple" (I Cor. 3:16-17). This is such a stunning adjustment that Paul repeats it in II Corinthians 6:16.
How did that happen? Through the One who declared Himself a temple in John 2:19-21 -- and "one greater than the temple" in Matthew 12:6. If Christ is in you as "the hope of glory," (Col. 1:27), then we can say the temple has entered into the believer and has become the believer.
At this point in the chain of understanding, I fear the "loner Christian" concept originates. You're a temple, Jesus and the Holy Spirit dwell in you - so you don't need to be part of an organized body of believers. God + You = Enough. Right?
Well, that's not how the early church saw it. "Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.... and ate together with glad and sincere hearts," notes Acts 2:46. Paul later suggests Jesus builds a "holy temple in the Lord" from "members of God's household" - not as individuals, but "built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit" (Eph. 2:19-22).
Togetherness can build strength -- in purpose, as well as godly understanding. The author of Ecclesiastes knew this when he wrote, "Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken" (Ecc. 4:12). So we can see why the author of Hebrews endorses assembling, as opposed to worship on an isolated basis.
Why We Gather
Since assembling still matters today, how is it to be done? The Bible shows assemblies occurred for all sorts of reasons, many of which should look familiar to Christian believers:
* People kept the Holy Days of God - from the killing of the Passover lamb and the Days of Unleavened Bread (Ex. 12:6, Deut. 16:8) to the fall festival season (Lev. 23:34-36, Num. 29:35).
* They gave thanks to God (Psm. 35:18).
* They exalted God, and gave praise to Him (Psm. 107:32, I Chr. 29:10).
* They served God (Psm. 101:22) - or as the NIV says, "worship" Him.
* They confessed their sins before God, and sought His intervention (I Sam. 7:5-6, II Chr. 20:3-5) -- even with fasting.
* They prayed in general as a group (I Kng. 8:22, Acts 12:12).
* People heard God's law proclaimed. In fact, God did it personally in Deut. 5:22 (see also II Kng. 23:1-2).
* They assembled to hear teaching and instruction (Deut. 31:12, Acts 11:26).
* They ordained and commissioned leaders (Leviticus 8, Num. 27:19).
* They gathered to mourn and bury leaders who had died (I Sam. 25:1).
Then there were the assemblies which might not necessarily be considered "worship" or a religious service, but brought believers together nonetheless.
* Old Testament nations assembled for battle (Judg. 10:17) - including one noteworthy occasion when Judah was ready to "make war" against Israel (I Kng. 12:21).
* Believers ate together (Acts 1:4) - although Church of God groups as well as Bible scholars dispute whether "breaking bread" refers simply to a meal, or a communion service.
* They met to set rules and regulations for the body (Exodus 35, Leviticus 19).
* They came together to register families (Neh. 9:5).
* They heard reports on the works God was doing in other places (Acts 14:27, Num. 13:26). We might call those last several items "church business meetings" today.
Assembling For Sin?
But other Biblical "church meetings" (admittedly putting a New Testament term on Old Testament customs) had surprisingly different purposes - which would raise eyebrows if any Christian groups did them today.
"I am going to hold a great sacrifice for Baal.... Call an assembly in honor of Baal," declared King Jehu of Israel in II Kng. 10:19-20. The king even claimed he wanted to serve Baal (v. 18) - but it was all a trap to kill ministers of a false god (v. 25). Jehu lied to set up a massive wipe-out of religious worship! Yet when it was over, God praised what he had done (v. 30)! Some commentaries call a blessing to the fourth generation a "reward" to Jehu, while others call it a "restriction" and only "qualified approval" from God.
Then there was the man caught in perversion in the Corinthian church. Paul recommended the people be "assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus" - to "hand this man over to Satan...." (I Cor. 5:4-5) There's no evidence from Scripture of any other "hand-over" services, so this may have been done as part of a regular weekly assembly. But the story is told online of one COG minister who went down the roster after a church service and eliminated some members from the rolls -- personally telling them to leave.
Keep It Clean
This is one of many cases where God wants His assemblies to emphasize purity. Unclean people were "cut off from the congregation" in Old Testament times, according to Numbers 19:20. Purification was so important that an assembly of temple leaders spent more than two weeks doing it (II Chr. 29:15-17) - and the parents of Jesus honored a 40-day purification period in Luke 2:22. But the cleansing concept went well beyond that.
"My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations," the Lord is quoted as saying in Ezekiel 13:9. "They will not belong to the council of my people...." or as KJV puts it: "they shall not be in the assembly of my people...." Ask yourself how well various Churches of God have honored this standard over the years. If they have not, could that explain the words of Lamentations 2:6?
"He has laid waste his dwelling like a garden; he has destroyed his place of meeting." If God can build up and bring down political leaders, He can do the same with even His religious assemblies. And keep reading to the end of the verse in KJV: "The Lord has caused the solemn feasts and sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion...." Don't be fooled by the wording "her appointed feast and her Sabbaths" in NIV. Why would Israel be keeping Sunday or Christmas at this point?
Some COG leaders would respond by turning to the rather awkward KJV wording of Isaiah 1:13: "the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with...." The leaders often presume a "do" between "cannot" and "away," and conclude from verse 14 that God opposes man-made festivals. But other translations indicate that misses God's point. "I cannot bear your evil assemblies" in NIV refers to "Sabbaths" with a capital S -- and the Contemporary English Version says, "I can't stand the evil you do...." at God-ordained times.
The message seems clear that God is prepared to take extreme steps to have pure assemblies - even to the point of abolishing them for a time. Some Church of God ministers have followed this approach over the years; I know one who dissolved a church singles group because too few members showed up for service projects.
You Can't Come In
But consider how far God went to have a pure assembly in ancient Israel. Based on Deuteronomy 23:1-3....
* No one with (ahem) cut off "secret parts" (to borrow from the King James) could be part of the assembly. The CEV margin explains: "This was sometimes done to show devotion to pagan gods."
* Offspring from a "forbidden marriage" were barred as well, even if they came along nine generations later! The NIV margin says "one of illegitimate birth," so out-of-wedlock children could not take part. This may help explain why Latter-Day Saints have such an interest in genealogy - but how far back did Church of God leaders go, to review the heritage of ministers?
* Even certain nationalities were excluded for ten generations: the Ammonites and Moabites. Yet the book of Ruth shows King David was only three generations removed from Ruth the Moabitess (Ruth 4:5, 21-22) - and fourth-generation King Solomon led an assembly dedicating a temple to God (I Kings 8).
The Bible speaks of a group called the "assembly of the wicked." They persecute, as in Psalm 22:16 - a psalm some consider a prophecy of Jesus's sufferings. They plot against God's leaders, as Korah's gathering did in Numbers 16:19. But based on Psalm 26:5, God wants us to avoid such groups and "refuse to sit with the wicked."
In contrast, God wants us to join in "the assembly of the saints" (Psm. 89:5, KJV). Some translations call these saints "holy ones," or even angels -- but another Psalm refers to saints "that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice" (50:5). There's no Scriptural evidence angels ever have offered sacrifices before God's throne (at least not in terms of what Israel was required to offer).
Closing Assemblies
Old Testament prophecies show God plans to organize two massive assemblies at the end of this age. One of them is downright frightening. "I have decided to assemble the nations, to gather the kingdoms and to pour out my wrath on them - all my fierce anger. The whole world will be consumed by the fire of my jealous anger" (Zeph. 3:8; see also Joel 3:2, 11-12). This assembly is reminiscent of the one to supposedly honor Baal.
Thankfully, the other assembly is much happier. It's one we mentioned earlier in II Thessalonians 2:1, where believers are gathered to Jesus when He returns. Note they're described as "the exiles of Israel.... the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth...." (Isa. 11:12) They're spread across "the four winds," according to Matthew 24:31 (see also Gen. 28:13-14) -- and they'll join thousands of angels in a "joyful assembly" in the New Jerusalem (Heb. 12:22).
If you "want to be in that number, when the saints go marching in," as a classic song puts it, there's one key thing you must do: "return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul," Moses advised in Deuteronomy 30:2-4; "then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back."
Conclusions
So what conclusions can we draw from all of these assemblies and gatherings? Here's what I conclude:
1. While God's "temples" may be scattered, they need to assemble together. There were times in the Old Testament when failure to show up at an assembly was punishable by expulsion, forfeiture of property (Ezra 10:7-8) -- or even death (Judg. 21:8-10). So assemblies are for our good. And while modern technology makes them possible by phone or Internet, face-to-face meetings are even better.
2. Not all assemblies are necessarily for worship. So not all of them come under the Greek understanding of an "assembly" we must forsake. If a minister applies that verse to imply a Spokesman Club session or a Holy Day dance is mandatory, ask yourself - is it worshipful?
3. Worship should be directed toward where God is. And if you've accepted Jesus as your Savior, Christ is in you through the Holy Spirit (I John 3:24) - not necessarily in a city or a church headquarters building.
4. Assemble with the purest group you can find. That would be the one walking closest to God and His Word. And it's not necessarily the one with the longest list of rules; James scolded a church for showing favoritism based on clothing (Jms. 2:1-4).
If you're wondering how to determine which group is purest, consider the ethical list David outlines in Psalm 15. If that list convicts you, take time to repent to God in prayer -- and seek the High Priest of heaven described in Hebrews 8:1-2, "who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man."
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© 2009 Richard Burkard, All Rights Reserved.