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 Genesis 12a

The origin and history of the church – Part 1

I’d like to break in here and share with you my understanding of the origin and history of the church.  It’s a long story, so I’ll break it down into three parts because it is so important. 

The parts are:-

1) from 2000 to 1000BC (approximately), the time of the tabernacle;

2) from 1000BC to Christ, the time of the temple;

3) from Christ to the second coming, the time of “THE Church”.

When Abram left Haran about 2000BC a great new development took place!!  The followers of God looked at the promise that Abraham’s descendants would become a great “nation” and thought that it meant that his spiritual family should be equal with the political systems around them (a TRIBAL community is what the Son of God intended).

Abraham knew enough not to agree with them, but because he and Sarah were childless he allowed them to become his spiritual family in place of his literal one.  In this way, he became “the father of all them that believe” Romans 4:11, when God should have been their only Father.  However, like a good father, Abraham taught them all he knew and showed them how to worship.

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Genesis 12:

7 And the LORD appeared to Abram, and said, “Unto your Seed will I give this land: and there built he an altar to the LORD, who appeared to him. 8 And he removed from there to a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he built an[other] altar to the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD. 9 And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.

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Wherever he stopped for any length of time Abraham built memorials to remind himself of the Son of God’s sacrifice.  He did this by erecting an altar of earth and sacrificing a burnt offering, and then explaining to his people, and any passers-by, that it kept the death of the Son of God for him fresh in his memory.  He told them that the burnt offering also represented the offerer promising to do good things to those in need, for “pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”  James 1:27.

Later, the Son God explained how He wanted these memorials to be made.

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Exodus 20:

24 An altar of earth you shall make to Me, and shall sacrifice thereon your burnt offerings [to represent the dedication of your life], and your peace offerings [to say thank You], your sheep, and your oxen: in all places where I record My name I will come to you, and I will bless you.

25 And if you will make Me an altar of [natural] stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone: for if you lift up your tool upon it, you have polluted it [by adding your own works].

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It was after Abraham had been twenty-five years away from Ur, and had tried to fulfil God’s word his own way with Hagar, that the LORD able to reach out to him and give him a greater blessing.

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Genesis 17:

1 And when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am the Almighty God; walk before Me, and be you perfect [sincere]. 2 And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.”

3 And Abram fell on his face: and [the Son of] God talked with him, saying, 4 “As for Me, behold, My covenant [agreement] is [now] with you, and you shall be a father of many nations [in the future].

5 “Neither shall your name any more be called “Abram [the father is exalted]”, but your name shall be “Abraham [the father of a multitude]”; for a father of many nations have I made you [right now, seeing you have accepted My word by faith at this very moment].

6 “And I will make you exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come out of you. [Consider Revelation 17:14.] 7 And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your seed after you in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you, and to your seed after you.” [To be a God to you means that all I am and have as God will be yours.] 8 And I will give to you, and to your seed after you, the land wherein you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession [as part of the new world]; and I will be their God.” 

9 And God said to Abraham, “You shall keep My covenant therefore, you, and your seed after you in their generations.

10  “This is [the sign of] My covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your seed after you; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.

11 And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt Me and you.

12 “And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of your seed.  13 He that is born in your house, and he that is bought with your money [adopted into your family], must needs be circumcised: and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 14 And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.” 

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The reason for this experience was explained thus: “And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your seed, to love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, that you may live.” Deuteronomy 30:6.  The physical was used to illustrate the spiritual.

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Romans 4:

11 And he [Abraham] received the sign of [physical] circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not [physically] circumcised [or in the physical church]; that righteousness might be imputed to them also.

12 And [he became] the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only [who ARE in the church], but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised [for the works of Abraham are what is required].

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When He was challenged by some Pharisees who thought being descended from Abraham was sufficient, Jesus replied, “I know that you are Abraham's seed; but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. I speak that which I have seen with MY Father: and you do that which you have seen with YOUR [spiritual] father.” They answered and said to him, “Abraham is our father.”  Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill Me, a man that has told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. You do the deeds of YOUR father.” Then said they to him, “We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of Myself, but He sent Me [gave Me permission to come]. 43 Why do you not understand My speech?  Even because you cannot hear My word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do.  He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him.  When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. 45 And because I tell you the truth, you believe Me not.”  John 8:37-45.

Later, Jesus was to say, “And call no man your [spiritual] father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.”  Matthew 23:9.

Sadly, Abraham’s “family” soon turned into “THE Church” (with a capital “C”) and the great downward movement had begun.  The family became the thing that men make so much of.

In men’s eyes “THE Church” came into being as God’s “nation” and ever since it has wanted to be the boss, or if not that, at least the equal, of the other nations.  This was the underlying cause of all the wars of conquest in the Old Testament times and eventually led to the rejection of the Son of God as their leader and the setting up of a king in His place.

After the exodus from Egypt, the people wanted a building where they could house their God as the Egyptians did, so they set a side a special tent for that purpose.  After the terrible revelation that at the golden calf incident they were worshipping the Son of God as though He were Baal the fighting god, the LORD left them to ponder when He told them that He could no longer travel with them and protect them His way; that His very presence under those conditions would cause their deaths immediately.

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Exodus  33:

4 And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man did put on him his ornaments, 5 for the LORD had said to Moses, “Say to the children of Israel, You are a stiffnecked [stubborn and rebellious] people: I will come up into the midst of you in a moment, and consume you. Therefore now put off your ornaments [of pagan worship] from you, that I may know what to do to you.” 6 And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount Horeb [Sinai]. 

7 And Moses took the [homemade] tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the “Tabernacle of the Congregation.” And it came to pass, that every one which sought the LORD [to confess their sin] went out to the Tabernacle of the Congregation, which was without the camp.

8 And it came to pass, when Moses went out to the tabernacle [after that] that all the people rose up, and stood every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle. 9 And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the LORD talked with Moses. 10 And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man in his tent door [too afraid to go near].

11 And the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. 

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By the divine direction the tent that had served as a temporary place of worship was removed “afar off from the camp.” This was still further evidence that the LORD had withdrawn His presence from them. He could reveal Himself to Moses, but not to such a people. The rebuke was keenly felt, and to the conscience-smitten multitudes it seemed a foreboding of greater calamity. Had not the LORD separated Moses from the camp that He might utterly destroy them? But they were not left without hope. The tent was pitched outside the encampment, but Moses called it “the Tabernacle of the Congregation.” All who were truly penitent, and desired to return to the Lord, were told to go there to confess their sins and seek His mercy. When they returned to their tents Moses entered the tabernacle alone. With agonizing interest the people watched for some token that his intercessions in their behalf were accepted. If God should condescend to meet with him, they might hope that they were not to be utterly consumed. When the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the entrance of the tabernacle, the people wept for joy, and they “rose up and worshiped, every man in his tent door.”

It was after that that they were allowed to build a proper sanctuary. Moses was told, “And let [allow] them [to] make Me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.  [However], according to all that I show you, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall you make it.” Exodus 25:8-9.  Then the Son of God used it to teach about the sanctuary in heaven and the work He was doing in it.

God’s version of the beginning of the church and its subsequent history is somewhat clearer and more detailed:

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Ezekiel 16:

1 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations, 3 and say, Thus says the LORD GOD to Jerusalem; Your birth and your nativity is of the land of Canaan; your father was an Amorite, and your mother a Hittite [You are NOT My child, I had nothing to do with your beginning]. 

4 And as for your nativity [your birthday], in the day you were born your navel was not cut, neither were you washed in water to supple you; you were not salted at all, nor swaddled at all. 5 No eye pitied you, to do any of these to you, to have compassion upon you; but you were cast out in the open field, to the loathing of your person, in the day that you were born [no one cared whether you lived or died].

6 And when I passed by you, and saw you polluted in your own blood [about 2000BC], I said to you when you were in your blood, “Live”.  Yes, I said to you when you were in your blood, “Live” [I’ll adopt you.]. 

[For 2000 years from Eden to Abram the Christians had been the Son of God’s brothers and sisters, but now they wanted to be His children, so He said “OK, I’ll settle for that,” and became their “Everlasting Father.”  Isaiah 9:6.  Then He progressed in their minds to become their “Husband” i.e “Protector”]. 

7 [Since then] I have caused you to multiply as the bud of the field, and you have increased and waxed great, and you are come to excellent ornaments: your breasts are fashioned, and your hair is grown, whereas you were naked and bare. 8 Now when I passed by you, and looked upon you, behold, your time was the time of love; and I spread My skirt over you, and covered your nakedness.  Yes, I sware to you [I promised], and entered into a covenant [an agreement to be married] with you, says the Lord GOD, and you became Mine [by the marriage service at Sinai, in Moses’ time, 500 years later. See Exodus 20 for the marriage vows]. 

9 Then I washed you with water [like a baptism, 1 Corinthians 10:1-2]; yes, I thoroughly washed away your blood [your sinful origin] from you, and I anointed you with oil [the guidance of the Spirit, Nehemiah 9:19-20]. 10 I clothed you also with embroidered work, and shod you with [shoes made of] badgers' skin, and I girded you about with fine linen [the robe of righteousness], and I covered you with silk.

11 I decked you also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon your hands, and a chain on your neck. 12 And I put a jewel on your forehead, and earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown upon your head [the sanctuary service, about 1500BC]. 

13 Thus were you decked with gold and silver; and your raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and embroidered work; you ate fine flour, and honey, and oil: and you were exceeding beautiful, and you did prosper into a kingdom [about 1000BC].

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What a nice way God treats us! 

How that should change our attitude towards our church! 

We, as a group, are “special” but only because He has taken us in and clothed us with His righteousness.

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Jeremiah 33:

14 Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will [be able to] perform that good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. 15 In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up to David; and He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. 16 In those days shall [all] Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith SHE shall be called, “The LORD our righteousness.” 

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Jeremiah also bore witness in another place of the coming Redeemer as a Prince of the house of David: “Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will raise to David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.  In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is His name whereby He shall be called, ‘The LORD our righteousness’.” Jeremiah 23:5-6.

And as a Priest: “Thus says the LORD: David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel; neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat (flour) offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.” Chapter 33:17-18.

See you next week,

Ron

Some of the comments in these readings are adapted from books in my library.  No recognition is given because they are not intended as authorities, but are used because they express my understanding clearly. All the ideas expressed in these readings, right or wrong, are my own.

The ten promises:

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Exodus 20:

1 And God spoke all these words, saying, 2 I am the LORD your God, which have brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. [I promise that if you will allow Me to guide you …]

3 You shall have no other gods before Me.

4 You shall not make to you any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 you shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of them that hate [reject] Me; 6 and showing mercy to thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments. 

7 You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that takes His name in vain.

8 [You shall] Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shall you labour, and do all your work: 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God: in it you shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger that is within your gates: 11 for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.

12 [You shall] Honour your father and your mother: that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God gives you.

13 You shall not kill. 

14 You shall not commit adultery. 

15 You shall not steal. 

16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour. 

17 You shall not covet your neighbour's house, you shall not covet your neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is your neighbour's.  Back

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1 Corinthians 10:

1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 and were all baptized to Moses in the cloud and in the sea. Back

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Isaiah 9:6  

For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name[s] shall be called “Wonderful,” “Counsellor,” “The mighty God,” “The everlasting Father,” “The Prince of Peace.” [depending on how His followers saw Him].  Back

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Nehemiah 9:

19 Yet You in Your manifold mercies forsook them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way wherein they should go. 20 You gave also Your good Spirit to instruct them, and withheld not your manna from their mouth, and gave them water for their thirst.  Back

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Revelation 17:14

“ .  .  .  the Lamb shall overcome them: for He is LORD of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful.”  Back

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