*ATTENTION: We will not be having church at the Conway, Fairfield Inn & Suites on February the 16th. Instead, we will be having church on the 16th at the Pottery Landing neighborhood Clubhouse, located at the end of Wahee Place, Conway (in the Pottery Landing Community). If you have any questions or need further directions, please reach out to Pastor Andrew at (843)-424-0002 or at [email protected]. Please see our Calendar page for more details about the Clubhouse and directions.

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The Christian Sabbath Part 1: What Does ‘Assembly’ Even Mean?


– 11 Min Read

As usual, when you read a header like this, you know that we are about to get into some Hebrew and Greek word studies. But please, before you skip over or make yourself a cup of coffee so you don’t fall asleep in this section, remember that words and phrases have meanings and it is important to understand them. Especially when we are basing our doctrine on the meaning of them. Therefore, we should be giving much attention to words when we are searching to better understand biblical truths.

The Hebrew word for “assembly” is קָהַל (qahal) and it means to “assemble or gather.” The first time it is seen in the Old Testament is in Exodus. It’s not in a great place in Israel’s history, but it certainly gives us great insight into the use and meaning of the word. We see this in the scene where Israel comes together to make a golden calf at the bottom of Mount Sinai.

“Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled (qāhal) about Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.””

Exodus 32:1 (parentheses added)

This word is used 40 times in the Old Testament. In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the word for “assembly” is ἐκκλησία (ekklesia). The word ekklesia is used 114 times in the New Testament and it has several uses and meanings. It is used to refer to a gathering or a meeting of people but it is typically used to refer to the church. It is translated as “church77 times out of the 114 places. The local and universal church is literally called the “assembly.” Twice we see in Matthew’s gospel where Jesus uses the word ekklesia.

“I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church (ekklesia); and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”

Matthew 16:18 (parentheses added)

“If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church (ekklesia); and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”

Matthew 18:17 (parentheses added)

It is also used to refer to the Israelites.

“This is the one who was in the congregation (ekklesia) in the wilderness together with the angel who was speaking to him on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received living oracles to pass on to you.”

Acts 7:38 (parentheses added)

The word ekklesia is not to be confused with the Greek word συναγωγή (synagoge) which is mostly translated in our New Testaments as “synagogue”. It does have a similar meaning, “a bringing together, gathering, an assembly of men.” But it is obvious that when Jesus was talking about building His assembly, in Matthew 16, He purposefully chose to use the word ekklesia instead of synagoge to communicate a difference between the two. Part of the difference would be that we see the church assembles on Sunday and the synagogue assembles on Saturday. Also, the ceremonial practices of the two will be quite different. As we see in the New Covenant, the ekklesia celebrate the Lord’s Supper and perform a baptism in Christ’s name (Acts 2:38; 10:48). This would be different because it is new. There were several suppers and feasts for Israel to celebrate and there was judeo proselyte baptism. Jesus wanted to communicate the same principle of assembly but apply it differently to the New Covenant. This new assembly will be for all people of the world instead of an exclusive, ethnic people, like national Israel.

This would be Christ’s main difference between the synagoge of the Jews and the ekklesia of Christians. The kingdom of God is what is in sight here. The very point of an assembly of people coming together is to prepare themselves to enter into the kingdom of God. The assembly anticipates the arrival of the kingdom of God. Though it is in some sense already here with the church, it will be realized fully in a future day. They have distinguished themselves from the world by assembling together as a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession (1 Peter 2:9) that they may enter the kingdom of God. This is done not by a tribe, a family, or a nation, but by individuals. This sacred kingdom of God is for the sacred people of God.

“Then His mother and His brothers arrived, and standing outside they sent word to Him and called Him. 32 A crowd was sitting around Him, and they said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You.” 33 Answering them, He said, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” 34 Looking about at those who were sitting around Him, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.””

Mark 3:31-35

There is no scenario where people get into the kingdom of God just because they are relatives of a family, nation, or tribe. That is not how it works in the Old or New Covenant. We read this in further detail in Jesus’ parable of the landowner of the vineyard. Jesus tells them that the kingdom of God will be taken away from them, Israel, and given to people.

“Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard and put a wall around it and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey. 34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his produce. 35 The vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Again he sent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them. 37 But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ 39 They took him, and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?” 41 They said to Him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.” 42 Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone which the builders rejected, this became the chief corner stone; this came about from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? 43 Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it. 44 And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.” 45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them.”

Matthew 21:33-45 (emphasis added)

The kingdom of God will be given to a people who produce its fruit. Louis Berkhof says, “True Christians constitute a Kingdom in their relationship to God in Christ as their Ruler, and a Church in their separateness from the world in devotion to God, and in their organic union with one another.” [1]. The church and the kingdom of God are connected. The kingdom of God is marked therefore by the church of God. Those who trust in Christ as Lord, those who assemble together, are a partial picture of the glorious kingdom of God that is coming. In the next verse, after Jesus tells Peter that He is going to build His church, He says;

“I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”

Matthew 16:18-19

The church is directly connected to the kingdom of God because the church has the keys to it. This of course is not a text to be used to establish Peter as pope, but to inform the church of their responsibility and actions with the use of the gospel. In Wilhelmus à Brakel’s (reformed Dutch theologian) Christian’s Reasonable Service, he says;

“There are two keys: the Word of God and Christian discipline. The first key is the proclamation of the Word of God…[and] Christian discipline.” “[Which] has been given to the church as an administrative power to close the kingdom of heaven to those who give offense and are ungodly, and to open it again to those who repent concerning their former life, promise reformation of life, and confirm this with their deeds. (Luke 10:16; John 3:36; Acts 16:31; Rom. 2:9; 1 Cor. 5:12-13;1 Tim. 1:20)”

– Wilhelmus à Brakel [2]

We are called to preach Christ crucified to the world. This is what God has tasked us to do and displays our role in this world as the church.

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

2 Corinthians 5:17-20

God appeals to the world through us, the church, for we are ambassadors of His Kingdom. The gospel is the keys to the Kingdom of God and we, as ambassadors, beckon sinners to be reconciled to God through Christ Jesus. Like ambassadors, we are placed in foreign lands to represent the kingdom we truly are from, which is the kingdom of God. The church is the representation of God’s Kingdom on earth, though it is not the full reality of the Kingdom, it is a sign of its coming arrival by the message it heralds to the world.

When the church assembles together on the Lord’s Day, we are gathering to proclaim in one voice that the Kingdom of God is coming, for its King has already come, established His ambassadors, and is coming back for them.

“‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come…”

Matthew 6:9-10

The assembly of God is the gathering of God’s people who are representatives of the Kingdom of God. This is a serious thing, is it not? Shouldn’t we, as people who belong to the Kingdom, represent the Kingdom as God has commanded of us? I hope you answered ‘Yes!’ and are eager to be challenged and pushed towards a higher reverence and treatment of God’s assembly and His sacred day. Knowing that we are the ekklesia of God, the called out ones who assemble together, should cause our hearts to be humbled and filled with gratitude to God. Therefore, may we be moved to become diligent slaves of Christ who honor Him with our lives no matter the cost.


Read Next: The Christian Sabbath Part 2: Two Testaments, One Assembly

Works Cited

[1] Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1938. Page 569.

[2] Wilhelmus à Brakel, The Christian’s Reasonable Service. vol. 2, (Reformation Heritage Books, 1993. 4 vols.), Page 159-160.