Grafted into Israel

   Are we the Church or Israel?

To begin, the King James translation uses the word “church” 112 times, having translated the word ecclesia to mean “church.” Let’s first look at where they got the word church from. In the earlier Greek it was pronounced "ku-ri-a-kos" or "ku-ri-a-kon."

The meaning of "ku-ri-a-kos" is understood by its root, "ku- ri-os," which means "lord." Thus, "kuriakos" (i.e., "church") means "pertaining to a lord." It refers to something that pertains to, or belongs to, a lord, not necessarily ‘the’ Lord.  As you can see the word, "kuriakos" doesn't remotely resemble the Greek word "ecclesia" which it somehow replaced.

The word “Church” later translated into other languages like the German word "kirche".  In Scotland and Northern England it was "kirk" and meant what the Christians think of as church. The Greek "kuriakos" eventually came to be used in an Old English form as "cirice" (pronounced kee-ree-ke), which evolved to "churche" (pronounced kerke), and eventually to "church" as the Christians use it today.

 

The Greek word "kuriakos" actually only appears in the New Testament two times. It is found once in I Corinthians 11:20 where it refers to "the Lord's supper," and once again in Revelation 1:10 where it speaks of "the Lord's day." In both of those cases, it is translated "the Lord's..," not "church." Even though the word does not appear again in the New Testament the word "church" as it has come to be known in the English language has replaced "ecclesia."

 

"Ecclesia" is an entirely different word with an entirely different meaning than "kuriakos." 

 So, let's now look at the correct meaning of the word, "ecclesia" in Strong's Concordance ekklésia: an assembly, a (religious) congregation.

 

This Greek word is found in the New Testament approximately 115 times, and that’s just in this one grammatical form. It appears also in other forms. There are three exceptions in the King James translation where it is properly translated. They are found in Acts 19:32, 39, 41.  Here the translators used the word "assembly" instead of "church" which was the correct translation. But, the Greek word "ecclesia" in other 112 entries where "church" was used in other parts of the New Testament was translated incorrectly. But now the word Church which derived from “Kuriakos” to Church in English, it has now replaced ecclesia in most New Testaments and also placed into some Concordance and dictionaries by the Christian translators the word “Church” along with the original word “Assembly” and “Congregation”.

 

In the Tanach or what the Christians call the Old Testament has the word Ecclesiastes, which comes from the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew word “Kohelet” קֹהֶלֶת.  “Kohelet” means collector (of sentences), preacher, public speaker, speaker in an assembly.

As you can see here that it has nothing to do with the Church and relates to the assembly. Ecclesiastes reflects on the meaning of life and the best way of life. There is a long discourse of death. These are collections of wisdom of thoughts collected or written down in sentences to speak to the Assembly of God’s People Israel.

 

The root word of Kohelet is קָהַל qâhal, 'kaw-hal'; a primitive root; to convoke:—assemble (selves) (together), gather (selves) (together).

Strong's Number H6950 matches the Hebrew קָהַל (qahal ),
which occurs 47 times in 39 verses in the Hebrew concordance of the KJV.

 

Devariym 4:10 Specially the day that thou stoodest before YHVH thy ’Elohiym in Horeb, when YHVH said unto me, assemble[qahal] the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.

 

Devariym 9:10 And YHVH delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words which YHVH spoke with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly

 

In Devariym 7:6 YHVH calls this assembly a HOLY people.

 

Devariym 18:15-19 (read this one carefully)YHVH thy ’Elohiym will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken. According to all that thou desiredst of YHVH thy ’Elohiym in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the YHVH my ’Elohiym, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not. And YHVH said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put MY WORDS in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them ALL that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will REQUIRE it of him.

 

Acts 7:37-39 This is that Moses whom said unto the children of Israel, A Prophet shall YHVH your ’Elohiym, raise up unto you of your brethren, like me; him shall ye hear. This is He that was in the “assembly” in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to Him in Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, who received the living oracles to give unto us; Whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt ...

 

Yehoshua‘ (Joshua) 8:35 There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers among them.

 

Shofetiym (Judges) 20:1-2Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered together as one man, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, with the land of Gilead, unto YHVH in Mizpah. And the chiefs of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God ...

 

To translate “ecclesia” as the “Church” is bad because the true meaning is lost in translation if the word “Church” is used, this is where the replacement theology comes from, this is why the Christians believe that they have replaced Israel. The believers of the Messiah Yeshua should never call themselves the Church because it links to Christianity which is Pagan in origin. God does not like the Holy to be mixed with the unholy.

 

Therefore, we should call ourselves “Israel the bride” or the Assembly of God’s Holy People Israel, it is because of God’s Mercy that He sent His begotten son our Messiah Yeshua to die and shed His blood on the altar to atone for the sins of His people Israel and to graft in the gentiles so that we too will be called Israel and share in the inheritance with the natural born Israel.

 

Everyone was warned that if anyone adds anything, God will add to them the plagues described in the Holy Scriptures and if anyone takes words away from the book of the prophecy, God will take away from them their share in the tree of life and in the Holy city, which are described in the Holy Scriptures.

 

I hope that this has opened your eyes to the truth and it was never intended to divide but to bring in or other words to gather in the lost children of Israel and the gentiles to graft themselves in as mentioned by Rav. Shaul (Apostle Paul) in his teachings. For the Children of Israel sometimes referred to the People of the Assembly or my Assembled People as God had use this term to always to refer to His "Chosen People Israel" back then, now and will always be His Chosen People forever.

Shalom Alecheim,

Yosef David

 

***Some Words here and paragraphs may come from other Messianic Teachers to come into form with this teaching, but it is by the power of the Ruach Hachodesh (Holy Spirit) and with the permission of our Maker Adonai Yahweh and His son our Messiah Yeshua for this teaching and for us to be a light to the Nations so that the Gentiles too may come in to be part of His people Israel to the Glory of our Father and His son our Messiah Yeshua for ever and ever, Amen.