THE CONVOCATION AND

ASSEMBLY OF THE SAINTS

INTRODUCTION

All of us have gathered as a church group, have assembled in the Name of God, and according to the Word of God—so we all believe. Yet I’m still compelled to ask myself and you, and to answer the questions: Why are we here? Why have we gone to the many efforts required to gather together, at this time, and in the Name of the LORD our God? And how does the Almighty God respond to what we—children of the God and Father of Jesus Christ and children of the Heavenly Jerusalem, the Mother of us all, as Scriptures like Gal 4:26-27; Is 54:1-5; Rev 12:1-17 show—are zealously trying to do in sincerity and Truth?

Allow me to share with you some inspiring biblical teaching reviewed and re-considered in attempting to answer these questions. And I don’t want to be found guilty of idolatry, vain traditions, arising from the imaginations of men who have a zeal for God but without the Knowledge of God (Rom 10:2; 11:33; 2Pet 3:18), as Matthew 7:21-23 describes those who anticipate Christ’s Coming, and as Hosea 2:11-13; Amos 521-24; 8:10-11; and Is 1:12-21 condemn those who keep feasts but not entirely according to the knowledge of God. The Father of us all wants righteousness to result from observance of His prophetic feasts that speak to us in parables.

Is 1:12-21 says to all: "When you come to appear before Me, who has required this from your hand, to trample My courts (i.e., court of the Tabernacle, courts of the Temple; enclosure for sheep; village or settlement; TDOT.V.131-139)? 13 Don’t bring any more futile sacrifices; your incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies (miqra, convocation); I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting (atsara. These Hebrew words are significant, as we shall see). 14 Your New Moons and your appointed feasts (mo’ade) My soul hates; they are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them. 15 When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not hear.

How extraordinary that people who are keeping the Feasts can be regarded so badly by God! Their worship, their prayers, their religious actions and ideas He despises. Then God describes their spiritual sins, just as Christ explained in Matthew 5-7.

Your hands are full of blood (i.e. malice and unjust hatred). 16 Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean (We are washed by the Word of God; Eph 5:26; Jn 15:3); put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, 17 Learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow (i.e., those who suffer because of deficient family life socially, psychologically, spiritually and who recognise their needs). 18 Come now, and let us reason together," says the LORD.

All of us who confess to following Jesus Christ must always be prepared to allow all godly principles to enter our hearts and affect our lives as God wills.

God says to us: "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 19 If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; 20 but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword." The mouth of the LORD has spoken (i.e., there aren’t other alternatives). 21 How the faithful City has become a harlot! It was full of justice; righteousness lodged in it, but now murderers.

How strange that the City that should be holy has desecrated righteousness. The church must be cleansed of all malice, of all hidden hatreds, all slander, all murmuring and backbiting. It must be filled with every righteous characteristic God presents to us. We must want to always do and actually do what Scripture demands in all situations (Mt 5:48).

VISION OF THE PROPHETS

If we are called, chosen, and faithful, as Rev 17:14 states; if our names are in the Book of Life (Rev 3:5; 20:15); if we always endure in doing righteousness and overcome to the end (Mt 24:13; Rev 3:21; 21:7); if we hunger and thirst after the righteousness of God and His Christ (Mt 5:6); and if we love God with all our heart and being (Dt 6:5; Mt 22:37), then we shall inherit the priceless promises given to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and to all the saints who will be assembled for that glorious gathering with Jesus Christ at His Coming (Mt 24:31; 1Cor 15:52).

God’s immutable and perfect Will includes that the saints love one another as Christ loves them (Jn 13:34-35; 15:12,17; Rom 13:8; 1Pet 1:22; 1Jn 3:11,23; 4:7,11-12). Godly love is expressed by contact, communication, sharing, helping, resolving difficulties, enabling reconciliation—which is fundamental to the Gospel of Peace (Mt 5:9; 2Cor 5:17-21; Jas 3:17-18)—doing what is godly, and celebrating together. Belief in these fundamental principles and practices is communally expressed in the convocations and assemblies of the Israel of God at all God-appointed times—such as this Festival—and at the place where the righteous gather, in sincerity and Truth, and in the Name of God. Matthew 18:20 declares that where two or three gather in the Name of Jesus Christ then He is there! But is Christ among those gathering if they omit the weightier matters of the Law? Is Christ pleased if brothers refuse to fellowship when they are able and ought to fellowship? Do we seek to please ourselves or do we seek to please God by living by every word of God?

When Israel in Exodus came to the foot of Mt. Horeb in the wilderness they refused to join with Moses in communion with the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ. They "begged that His Word should not be spoken to them anymore", as we’re told in Hebrews 12:19. The power and glory of those events overcame them, so that they refused to come face to face with the Face of God. Even today so many are terrified of the power of God’s Word and Christ’s huge demands upon them that they would rather avoid direct contact—for that is easier: "Let me see God with my human perspectives." The apostle Paul, probably the writer of Hebrews (perhaps Mark edited it), goes on to say that what the Israel of God comes before is far greater than what confronted Israel in the Exodus—and this cannot be refused:

Heb 12:22-24 You have come to Mount Zion, to the Heavenly Jerusalem, the City of the Living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly (the Greek, panegyris, means: in festal assembly; for the festival), 23 to the Church of the firstborn, whose names are written in Heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, 24 to Jesus the Mediator of a New Covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

Abel was murdered and his brother lost out. Christ was murdered and those guilty (all of mankind), who have repented and accepted Him as the Lamb of God, have received Life.

Mt. Zion, the Heavenly Jerusalem and City of God, the Church of the firstborn in the presence of the angelic hosts in festive spirit, anticipates being with all the perfected spirits of the saints before us, all the mighty women and men of God—all together—brought into the presence of the Almighty God and His Christ. These are visionary realities before which Scripture says we come. What does it all mean to us?

Abraham, the father of the faithful and the friend of God (as in Gal 3:6-9; Jas 2:23; 2Chr 20:7; Is 41:8 say), expressed his prophetic belief with long-range vision in:

Heb 11:9-10 By faith Abraham sojourned in the Land of Promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents (i.e., as if he were in tabernacles, always a sojourner in this world) with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same Promise. 10 For he looked forward to the City which has foundations (The foundations of the walls of that City are the twelve apostles [Rev 21:14]), whose Builder (Architect) and Maker is God.

There is nothing definitive in OT Scriptures we have from or before the time of Abraham that tell us how he knew of this. Paul informs us in Gal 3:8 that the Gospel was preached to Abraham. We know from Gen 14:18-20; Ps 110:1-7; Heb 5:5-11 and 7:1,15-17,21 that Abraham spent time with the king and priest of Jerusalem, Melchizedek, who typified the High Priest of the Father. This implies that Abraham had knowledge of the final outcomes for the resurrected saints, with all of whom he longed to be. And how I long to be with him forever and with all the saints who are the friends of this friend of God.

Isaiah longed for and understood the relationships working in and amongst the community of the saints, in the City of God, between God the Father and Jesus Christ:

Is 60:14-15 (NJB) Your oppressors’ children will humbly approach you, at your feet all ‘who despised you will fall addressing you as "City of Yahweh", "Zion of the Holy One of Israel". 15 Instead of your being forsaken and hated, avoided by everyone, I will make you an object of eternal pride, a source of joy from age to age.

Joel too understood that in the end the Church of the Living God, the resurrected Remnant, would be together:

Joel 2:32 (NJB; 3:5) All who call on the Name of Yahweh will be saved, for on Mount Zion will be those who have escaped, as Yahweh has said, and in Jerusalem a Remnant whom Yahweh is calling.

Obadiah expresses in his last verse, in a wonderful way, what other prophets knew:

21 Then saviours shall come to Mount Zion to judge the mountains of Esau, and the Kingdom shall be the LORD’s.

Micah puts this overall knowledge into what some might see as NT language:

Mic 4:6-7 "In that day," says the LORD, "I will assemble the lame, I will gather the outcast and those whom I have afflicted; 7 I will make the lame a Remnant, and the outcast a strong nation; so the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion from now on, even forever."

Zechariah has a number of things to say on the subject, for example, in 1:14-17; 2:7,10; 9:9.

Zech 8:2-3 adds to these prophecies: Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘I am zealous for Zion with great zeal; with great fervour I am zealous for her.’ 3 Thus says the LORD: ‘I will return to Zion, and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth, the Mountain of the LORD of hosts, the Holy Mountain.’

All the prophets of the true God shared the same vision of all the saints being eternally together as the assembly of saints in the Holy City, about which I’ll speak more on the Last Great Day of this festival period.

THE ASSEMBLY IN HEAVEN

What goes on in Heaven should have been reflected in Israel during the Exodus and thereafter. What is the Will of God in Heaven must be reflected in what happens in the churches of God. It will be so in the Remnant. The types in God’s Tabernacle, Temple, City, Holy Mountain and Throne are for us to live, for it is our great ideas and godly vision that nobly govern our present behaviour. And it is our carnal ideas and our distortion of godly vision that govern us to produce ignoble behaviour. It is our personal responsibility to always reflect the Will of God in our personal and social lives. We are our brothers’ keepers. The children of God are Mount Zion’s inhabitants who will live together eternally in the presence of the Divine Realm. What meaning is there in the assembly in Heaven? What happens in the Divine convocations?

The first seven chapters of Revelation are awesome in answering these questions. These visions depict prophetic outcomes: what is happening in Heaven. Sometimes we have visionary description of the present and future together. Let’s look at some of this in Rev 4 and 5:

In Rev 4:2 John tells us: I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne.

4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads.

6 And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back.

That is to say, all that happens in all creation, among and in all people, is seen at the Throne of God.

7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle.

10 The twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: 11 "You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created."

All the spirit beings of Heaven worship the LORD our God. None of them seeks worship, but instead directs all worship to God (Rev 22:8-9; 19:10).

Rev 5:1-13 And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. 2 Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?" 3 No one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it. 4 So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it. 5 But one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals." 6 And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

Christ’s shepherding care and leadership of the children of God is consistent throughout history (cf. Is 8:18; Heb 2:11-13; Christ always looks after the children God has given Him). His devotion to the Will of His God and Father is constant through all eras and epochs of history—and all the angelic beings in Heaven acknowledge that!

7 Then the Lamb came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. 8 Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying:

"You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed them to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, 10 and have made them kings and priests to our God; and they shall reign on the earth."

The angelic realm rejoices spontaneously and exuberantly, acknowledging that the spiritual brethren of Christ will be elevated. They are delighted that He was appointed Redeemer and Messiah. They fully agree to the Will of the Ancient of Days. Lucifer, in contrast, had sought the aggrandisement and honour, but not the humility and devotion to all of the Will of the omniscient and perfect Father. Honour cannot come before humility.

11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice:

"Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honour and glory and blessing!"

13 And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them.

Rom 8:19-23 says that the whole creation cries out for the revelation of the children of God. Here, in Revelation, John states that he heard the whole angelic host in heaven shout out in overwhelming joy and power:

"Blessing and honour and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!"

What we also see described here is the wonderful bond and trusting relationship between the Son of God and His Father, which Ps 2 prophesies unbelievers want to see broken (see Ps 2:1-5,12).

Daniel’s visions are similar (see also 1Ki 22:19-23; Job 1:6-12; 2:1-7; Is 6:1-13; Acts 7:55-59).

Dan 7:9-14 As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat (In 1Enoch He is called the Antecedant of Time). His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. 10 A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened. 11 Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire. 12 (The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time.) 13 In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a Son of Man (LXX has, as the Son of Man; Aramaic, ke’bar enash, as Son of Man; bar is Son in Ps 2:12: Kiss the Son nashaqu bar), coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshipped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his Kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

There are lots of parallels with what we read in Revelation. Some scholars claim that because of these kinds of verses, especially in the Psalms, the early religion of Israel was polytheistic. This so-called polytheism, it is believed, has impacted some of the NT writings; for instance, Stehen’s vision in Acts 7 challenges Trinitarian ideas. These are false claims, feeding on ignorance, against Scripture, against logic and reasoned philosophy that proclaim monotheism, but whose worship system encompasses prayer to numerous gods, supposed saints, and even the worship of an imaginary Queen of Heaven (see Jer 7:18; 44:15-26; D.R. Jones’ Jeremiah, The New Century Bible Commentary; (Eerdmans, 1992; pp 151-2); Geoffrey Ashe, The Virgin, (London: RKP, 1976; pp 121-123; 23-26). There is no queen and no mother of God in any of the visions of the throne, the court, or the Council in Heaven as described by the biblical prophets. The mocking parodies of pagan myths scorn Scriptures such as Isaiah 54 and Revelation 12.

Let’s note how the Psalms speak about the assemblies of the divine beings in God’s court—they worship Him only. There isn’t the slightest hint that any of them should be worshipped.

Ps 82:1 God stands in the congregation of the mighty; He judges among the gods (lit: Elohim stands in the Assembly of El—He judges (and is to judge) the elohim).

[LXX] The God stands in the synagogue of the gods; but in the midst of them will judge gods.

[NJB] God takes his stand in the divine assembly, surrounded by the gods he gives judgement.

Leopold Sabourin, S.J., in his commentary, The Psalms (New York: Alba House, 1974), has much of value to say on the topic of many gods assembling in Heaven and on biblical monotheism (see pp 72-74; 102-104,278, 307-309). This Jesuit’s scholarship helps verify our position on the subject. Dictionary articles in TWOT, Item 93, pp 41a-45b (which is not difficult); TDOT, Vol 1.242-261 [el], 267-284 [elohim]; TDNT, Vol III.79-89, though sometimes very difficult, will afford readers additional biblical support to what is explained here.

Ps 86:8 Among the gods (elohim) there is none like You, O Lord; nor are there any works like Your works.

The apostle Paul tells us, in 1Cor 8:5, that there are many gods (theoi) and many lords (kyrioi). Theos is the regular Greek word for God or god; Kyrios is the word for Lord or lord. Many—because the shepherds are blind dogs who cannot bark, as Isaiah says (56:10-12)—don’t know that Satan and the demons are the gods of this world. And all worship is toward the Devil in his many masks and perverse deceptions.

Ps 89:6-8 speaks to the saints: For who in the heavens can be compared to the LORD (YHWH)? Who among the sons of the mighty ones (bene elim; from el, mighty one) can be likened to the LORD? God is greatly to be feared in the assembly (sod, council, assembly) of the saints, and to be held in reverence by all those around Him. 8 O LORD God of hosts, who is mighty like You, O LORD? Your faithfulness surrounds You.

Ps 95:1,3 Oh come, let us sing to the LORD! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. 3 For the LORD is the great God (in Heb: El gadol YHWH), and the great King above all gods (elohim).

Ps 97:7-9 Let all be put to shame who serve carved images, who boast of idols. Worship Him, all you gods (elohim). 8 Zion hears and is glad, and the daughters of Judah rejoice because of Your judgments, O LORD. 9 For You, LORD, are most high above all the earth; You are exalted far above all gods (elohim).

Ps 135:5 For I know that the LORD is great, and our Lord is above all gods (elohim).

Ps 138:1 I will praise You with my whole heart; before the gods (elohim) I will sing praises to You.

Ps 148:2 Praise Him, all His angels; praise Him, all His hosts!

Many Scriptures make it clear that in the Divine Realm of the true God there are many divine entities who are not worshipped, but who worship the Almighty God. On the other hand, the leading god of this world, the Devil (see e.g., Rev 12:9; 2Cor 4:4; Eph 2:2; 1Jn 5:19), with his demonic angels, seeks the worship of all humanity and even of Christ himself, as in the Temptation (Mt 4:9-10; Lk 4:7-8), as do his demons—hence the polytheism of much of Christianity and pagan religions such as Hinduism.

The angelic forces outside the divine court, outside the Council of God, outside the assembly in Heaven are condemned, whereas all the heavenly host around the Throne together worship the Ancient of Days. The oneness of the Almighty is manifested in agreement on all things: All those who are actively led by the Spirit of God and the angelic beings are unified in worship toward the Father, unified in purpose and will, in belief and in the Way of Life that Son of the Father has revealed and reveals. And the saints on earth are to worship the God and Father of Jesus Christ as the gods in Heaven worship the GOD of all.

THE ASSEMBLY OF ISRAEL AND COMMANDED CONVOCATIONS

The patterns in Heaven are reflected in the lives of the patriarchs and were instituted (see Heb 8:5; 9:23-24) through Moses, who was a type of Christ (verified in Dt 18:15-19; Acts 3:22-26; 7:37-43), into the culture of the tribes of Israel through priesthood and ritual that were parables of what was spiritually intended. But without faith and the Spirit of God, the nation continually turned to idolatry and the worship of demons, as Dt 31:29; 32:5-6,17-18; Rev 9:20 state. Readers who diligently consider these Scriptures will be horrified at the perversity of man in his adamant worship of the demonic while attributing God’s Name to what he worships and ignorantly believes (Dt 18:20,22; Jer 44:16; 6:16).

It is no surprise then that all Sabbaths and festival days are seen as commanded assemblies. They are convocations commanded for the saints on the weekly Sabbath (Lev 23:3), on the first and seventh days of Unleavened Bread (Lev 23:7-8), Pentecost (Lev 23:21), the feast of Trumpet blowing (v 24), the Day of Atonement (v 27), the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles (v 35), and the eighth day of the Feast (v 36); Lev 23:37 summarises by saying that these feasts (i.e., mo’ade, appointed times) are convocations. The Hebrew word each time is miqra, which means a calling together, an assembling to hear, to heed, and to do what is heard (TWOT, Item 2063, pp 810a-811a). So the convocation also suggests that faith without works is dead (Jas 2:26).

Before the giving of the Law and the ratifying of the Covenant at Mt. Horeb (Ex 19, 20:1-24:8), in preparation for the Passover in Egypt, and as the tribes of Israel were being prepared for the Covenant offering them the promise of becoming a Kingdom of priests—as Ex 19:3-8 says in the preamble to the giving of the Law (but this promise is to the resurrected saints: 1Pet 2:5,9; Rev 1:6; 5:10)—the twelve tribes of Israel were told that the first day of the seven-day Passover observance was to be a holy convocation (Ex 12:16 miqra qodesh). The nation and tribes of Israel are God’s firstborn and firstfruits (Ex 4:22; Jer 2:3; 31:9; Rom 11:16).

Do we see that those who had the Holy Spirit in OT times, such as David and all the faithful overcomers, as Ps 51:10-11; Rom 8:9; Heb 11:4-40 show, knew they would be resurrected with all the saints at the Coming of the Messiah? They knew they belonged to the congregation of the saints!

Ps 35 by David, says to us in v18, "I will give You thanks in the great assembly (qahal); I will praise You among many people."

Ps 40:9-10 (also by David) "I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness in the great assembly (qahal); indeed, I do not restrain my lips, O LORD, You Yourself know. 10 I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great assembly (qahal).

TWOT (Item 1991) defines qahal as assembly, congregation, company, gathering. The LXX translates this word generally as ekklesia (church, ‘those called together’), or synagoge (which essentially means, to bring together—people, harvest, discussion, collection of books, troops; cf. TDNT). These Psalms declare that individual saints rejoice with all the assembled children—for this is what they do and want to do. We are then doing another aspect of the Will of God and learning more about the nature of divine relationships (see Ps 111:10). And it continues:

Ps 107:31-32 Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! 32 Let them exalt Him also in the assembly (qahal) of the people, and praise Him in the company of the elders.

Ps 111:1 Praise the LORD! I will praise the LORD with my whole heart, in the assembly (sod; confidential advice; council; as in Ps 89:7; Jer 23:18; Amos 3:7) of the upright and in the congregation (a word synonymous with qahal; edah is related to mo’ed; assembly, congregation, community; [TWOT, Item 878, pp 387b-388a]).

Ps 149:1 Praise the LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song, and His praise in the assembly of saints (qahal qodeshim: gathering of the holy ones).

THE ASSEMBLY OF THE SAINTS—THE CHURCH

So again we cannot be surprised that throughout the NT the church, the saints, the elect, the children of God, the spiritual Israel of God, the firstfruits, respond as we’ve seen in the Scriptures. Let’s look at Joel 2:15-17 as a bridge from where we’ve been to our concluding Scriptures. Joel mixes the tragic dramas to come with the glorious anticipations of the saints.

Joel 2:15-17 Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly (atsarah; restrain from activity to create time for assembly; TWOT, Item 1675); 16 gather the people. Sanctify the congregation (qahal); assemble the aged; gather the children, even infants at the breast (When it’s urgent even mothers with babes in arms must come, despite Ex 23:17; 34:23; Dt 16:16—all males are to come to the festival convocations). Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her canopy (Even the most joyous human events must be put on hold). 17 Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep. Let them say, "Spare your people, O LORD, and do not make your heritage a mockery, a byword among the nations. Why should it be said among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’"

The people who know the true nature of God and of His Son, who know the nature of the relationships in the heavenly realm and their meanings on earth, will hear and see the wonderful consistencies of Scripture. These people will zealously do what they have seen and heard—in sincerity and Truth.

The Epistle to the Hebrews confirms these teachings.

Heb 2:11-13 For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren.

Jesus Christ views himself as friend and brother to each of the saints (Mt 12:50; Jn 15:14). Verse 12 has Jesus quoting Ps 22:22:

"I will declare Your Name to My brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You."

The Greek word for assembly in Heb 2:12 is ekklesia, commonly translated as church, is the synonym for qahal in Ps 22:22. Ekklesia is from the Greek root kaleo, which means to call, and to call together.

13 And again: "I will put My trust in Him."

The LXX quote from Is 8:17 uses trust rather than wait, as in the Hebrew. Christ has absolute trust in His Father and His Father has absolute trust in Him. The first characteristic and quality mentioned in the marital relationship in Proverbs 31:10-31 is trust (batach, which means, to feel completely secure; TDOT.II.88-94).

Heb 2:13 goes on to give Jesus’ response to the sheep the Father has given Him by quoting Isaiah 8:18:

"Here am I and the children whom God has given Me."

Christ delights and looks forward to being with all His friends, all the children His Father has given into His care.

Hebrews 10 has a section we’ve probably heard many times before, but how fascinating to now view it with the biblical culture we have seen described.

Heb 10:19-25 Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living Way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and having a High Priest over the House of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling (from episynagoge) of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

THE GLORIOUS LIBERTY OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD

The whole of creation, the entire angelic realm in Heaven, GOD the Father and Jesus Christ, the faithful Shepherd of all the saints, wait for the glorious liberty of the children of God which will be revealed when the Son is sent (Rom 8:19-23).

Jesus’ final great and powerful prayer on this earth included these words:

Jn 17:11 Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I’m coming to You. Holy Father, keep through Your Name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.

14-20 I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the Evil One. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your Word is truth. 18 As You sent Me into the world, I also am sending them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. 20 I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word.

And verse 26: I have declared to them Your Name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.

When this prayer is fully answered, the Father will send His Son to meet the saints. This is how John saw it in Revelation 14:

Rev 14:1-4 Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000, having His Father’s Name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps. 3 They sang as it were a new song before the Throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the 144,000 who were redeemed from the earth.

4 These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.

My spiritual journey to this point of time and place has taken me through strange places, through weird circumstances and ideologies, through many and varied trials and tribulations that you also have been through. We have seen untold hurt and harm done to many, many people. We have seen doctrines that blasphemed and withheld the knowledge and grace we are now experiencing more and more. The Scriptures make so powerfully evident the Almighty Father’s love and care for His children, who endure to the end, who fight the good fight of Faith, who win their crowns, who won’t let anyone take from them what God has given them. So also is the love of Christ for His brothers and sisters. The whole Divine Assembly waits to shake the creation with song and music when they see the perfected Church called and gathered to Mount Zion—and there all will sing the new song together!

We have assembled because we believe God, we believe His Word, we believe His Promises, and we trust completely that all will be as He has said.