In this chapter, we want to talk about one of the central keys of establishing Yeshua’s kingdom globally. We could talk about the priesthood, being that it is the priesthood that ties all the congregations together worldwide.
But right now we want to talk about the selection requirements for righteous congregational elders. Because without the congregational elders there really is nothing to tie together worldwide. It is the righteous congregational elders that truly build Yeshua’s kingdom, and without righteous congregational elders, effectively, Yeshua’s kingdom does not get built. And this is because the congregational level is where most of the real evangelization, pastoring, spiritual growth, development, and the sanctification of the believers takes place. So, it is an exemplar, challenging, service-oriented job. It takes total and complete dedication. First and primarily to Yahweh Elohim, and then also to Elohim’s people.
Basically, the job calls for loving the people as if they were your own children. And that is something that is easy to say, yet it is definitely not easy or simple to do.
As we have spoken about before, what Yeshua wants are Proverbs 31 brides who are going to help Him build His global, unified kingdom. That is to say, Yeshua wants one single ministry worldwide because His ministry is His spiritual kingdom. He wants for all of His ministers (His true workers) to work together. Not building their own kingdoms and ministries, but building His kingdom and His ministry. And this takes a special discipline and a special commitment, especially on the part of the congregational elders.
Now, I got called to the Hebrew Roots movement back in 1999 and I have watched a lot of things take place. I have seen a lot of pastors, ministers, rabbis, and people trying to serve Yahweh Elohim in basically their own way, their own power, and their own strength. Not all, but most of those ministries are now gone. We talk about this because most of them are independent ministers or ministries. The problem is that operating apart from the rest of the body does not give Yeshua what He wants, it does not help to build Yeshua’s unified, global kingdom. And if what Yeshua wants is a unified, global kingdom and we help to build something other than that, really there is no reward for it. What we are really saying here is that if we want to be in Yeshua’s will and to receive a reward for our works, then we need to work together to build Yeshua’s singular, unified, global ministry worldwide (His spiritual kingdom). We talk a lot more about that in the Torah Government study and also in Acts 15 Order.
But the selection of righteous elders is such a critical thing, it is so especially important. And having been in the Hebrew Roots movement since 1999, this is what I have noticed. Because the people do not truly know and have not taken the time to be educated in what the true standards are in the Hebrew Roots, Ephraimite, or the Messianic movement, there is what you might call an anything goes attitude when it comes to leaders and teachers. And part of the reason for that is that most of the people do not realize what the true standards are.
So anything goes as long as it looks like a minister and sounds like a minister. And it has kind of devolved to the point where all you need to have is a bible and a camera in order for you to be in ministry. And all you have to have are some pleasant words and a fancy sounding message. And then you can sell your books and tapes, make a lot of money, preach prosperity doctrine, preach remarriage and redivorce, all kind of things. I have seen so much of that. The biggest problem is it is absolutely unscriptural. And even beyond the fact of that, we are told not to market the word for profit.
The big problem is it does not truly build a unified ministry or a unified spiritual kingdom for Yeshua based on His rules. And we know that in the day of judgment we are going to be held to His standards. We have to do things His way. If we do not do things His way, how do we expect to gain a reward? If we want a true reward, we have to build in stone, gold, silver, and precious gemstones, and we need to not build in wood, hay, and stubble. Because even though we may be saved as if by fire, the wood, hay, and stubble will all be burnt up.
What I have kind of noticed since 1999 is that because of a lack of information and a lack of understanding as to what Yeshua’s true standards are, you have a lot of people following many ministers who really do not qualify as ministers. They get remarried and redivorced, and remarried and redivorced and they do not step down from ministry. You might learn a lot of things from them, but what you do not get is an example from them of how to be conformed to Yeshua’s example. And that is really a big problem. They are tying a great big millstone around their neck. Forgive me for saying so, it is kind of a blind leading the blind situation and everyone is going to fall into the ditch.
What we hope to do in this video is to help people understand what the true standards are. So if you are a person who wants to know what the true standards are for an elder, so that you can follow someone who is going to lead you in the way that you should go, this video is for you.
In this three-part series, we hope to show what Scripture commands and also what Scripture prohibits regarding congregational elders. In these first two parts we will talk about elders and in the third part, we are going to talk about congregational deacons. We are going to show people how to identify righteous elder and deacon teams so that they and their families can follow someone who is following Scripture. We are not going to end up with a blind following the blind situation where everyone falls into a ditch. We also hope to show how following righteous scriptural leadership will help to build Yeshua’s global ministry and His global, unified kingdom. So if that is of interest to you, I encourage you to continue reading “Set-Apart Communities, Part Nine” where we talk about selecting righteous elders.
There is an old saying, “If you do not know where you have come from and you do not know where you are going, you are for all practical purposes lost.”
Sad to say, that is really the case with a lot of the leaders and teachers in the Messianic and Hebrew Roots movements. They do not really understand what the first century was all about. So, when they go to earnestly contend for the first-century faith, they do not really know what that is. And apparently, from their teachings, they do not really know where we are going either. So they are not able to lead people in the way that they should go so that they can find approval in that day.
What we would like to do before we launch into our explanation of congregational elders is to first talk about the future to which we are headed. And then we are going to talk about where we have come from. Then we are going to be able to see the continuity between the two.
We know from the prophecies in Ezekiel, chapters 44 through 48 that it speaks about how Israel is once again going to be led by a constitutional prince (constitutional president). That term in Hebrew is Nasi.
Yehezqel (Ezekiel) 45:22-23
22 And on that day the nasi [prince] shall prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bull for a sin offering.
23 On the seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt offering to Yahweh, seven bulls and seven rams without blemish, daily for seven days, and a kid of the goats daily for a sin offering.
There are a lot of people who have not read the Revelation & the End Times study and they do not know what the end-times are all about. So they assume that this prince is Yeshua because we are told that Yeshua is the Tsar Shalom, the Prince, or the Field Marshal of Peace. But what they do not realize is that Tsar (Field Marshal) of Shalom (or Prince) is different from a Nasi (a constitutional king, constitutional prince, or a constitutional president). And we know that this president (constitutional prince) is not Yeshua because Yeshua is the spotless, sinless, blemish-free lamb. He does not need to offer a sin offering for himself.
We also know that the Nasi (the constitutional prince) is going to marry and that he will have earthly sons. I do not know what your theology allows you to think, I have a challenging time imagining Yeshua taking an earthly wife and bearing earthly children, which does not fit with my understanding. If you want to know my understanding, I encourage you to read or watch the Revelation study on the YouTube channel. We have a study called Revelation Simplified and also a book called Revelation and the End-Times. Either one of those two studies will bring you up to speed on where we believe we are going in the end-times and where we pretty much are right now.
So, we know we are headed to a constitutional kingship (princeship or nasiship). But when talking about where we have come from, it comes as a major surprise to a lot of the Messianic leaders and teachers that we had the same thing in the first century. As we explained in our studies in The Torah Government and also in Acts 15 Order, we know that the apostle Yaakov (James) was the leader of the Nazarene Beit Din Gadol (the Nazarene Big Court, the Nazarene Big Council, or if you prefer, the Nazarene Sanhedrin). We also know from those two books and from our earlier studies that Nazarene Israel in the first century, as still today and in the future, is organized according to the Beit Din Gadol model. We know that the Nasi is the prince, and we also know that Ezekiel chapter 44 and 45 tells us what the prince will do in the millennium. Meaning, after the tribulation, Armageddon, and the ingathering when all Israel comes back home to the land, which is when the Nasi is going to be instituted. And he will then lead Israel as the saints rule and reign for a thousand years with Yeshua’s rod of iron. We explain all that in the Revelation study.
But in the first century we know that Yaakov was the leader (Nasi) of the Beit Din Gadol. That is what they are referring to when they talk about the Jerusalem Council in Acts chapter 15 and again in Acts chapter 21. They are talking about the Jerusalem Beit Din.
Another thing that many Messianic leaders, teachers, and many Christians also do not realize is that the apostle Kepha (Peter) was an apostle to the circumcised (Orthodox Jews) because Orthodox Jews believe they become saved by following the rabbinic traditions regarding male circumcision. We read about that in Galatians chapter two, verse eight. But an especially important thing many Messianic do not realize is that the apostle Kepha reported to Yaakov in Acts chapter 15. It was not just a bunch of guys getting together in a room and having a big discussion, this was a Beit Din Gadol Council meeting.
Also, we see that the apostle Shaul (Paul), an apostle but to the gentiles (or in context, to the Ephraimites, the northern house and kingdom of Israel, or the house or the kingdom of Ephraim), also reported to the apostle Yaakov. So, if we think about that, we can see at least two levels of authority and servant-led organization in that the servants Kepha and Shaul both reported to Yaakov.
Then, if we take a look in Titus 1, verse five, we are going to see the apostle Shaul commanding the apostle Titus to appoint (recognize) servant elders in every city.
Titus 1:5
5 For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you:
If we take a look here, we see clearly that the apostle had the authority to command the apostle Titus. We also see that the apostolic priesthood has the authority to appoint (recognize) the elders. We will talk about that difference next week. We also see that the apostle Shaul commanded Titus to appoint elders in every city, meaning that the appointment of elders is an apostolic priesthood function. And we know from our earlier studies that we still need to be organizing ourselves according to the five-fold ministry model, big news to the Messianic rabbis.
So we can infer that there are at least five levels of servant leadership, or five levels of servant-led authority in this passage.
1. Yeshua is our High Priest in the heavenlies, (we submit to Him and to His spirit.
2. Yaakov (Nazarene Beit Din Gadol leader/Nasi).
3. Shaul (Over the Gentiles/Ephraimites).
4. Apostle Titus appointed by Shaul.
5. Those elders appointed by Titus.
So if we just take a look at this and think about it just for a minute, we see at least five levels of servant leadership, or servant-led authority. What that means is that as we go to re-establish the original first-century faith, we also need to be re-establishing this kind of unity and organization because it is the organization and the hierarchy that allows for the global unity. We talk about that in both in The Torah Government and in Acts 15 Order. If you do not have the authority and you do not have the organization, you cannot have the global unity, and that is how you end up with the Messianic mess that we have today.
There are a lot of people teaching against this kind of servant-led leadership that we see written, right there, in Titus 1, verse five. There is no denying it, but people do tend to deny it. But again, talking about where we have come from, let us look at Jude.
Yehudah (Jude) 1:3
3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.
Jude is saying that you are saved, I am saved, everyone is saved here, but there is a problem. Because we are not adhering to this original first-century faith that was delivered for all the saints. So, do we understand in the Hebrew Roots, Messianic, Ephraimite movements that what we are really being told here is to earnestly contend for this servant-led organization and authority? Do we understand that?
Of course, hopefully, we are all submitting to Yeshua and to His spirit. Hopefully, submission to His spirit is a 24-7 kind of a thing. If it is not then we have some praying to do. But then we are provided cover by Yeshua and by His spirit. From there we are provided covering by the priesthood. Well, we have already seen at least three diverse levels in the priesthood in the first century. First you had Yaakov, then you had Shaul or Kepha, then you had Titus, timothy, Apollos, Barnabas, for example. So there are many different priestly levels depending upon how developed the organization is. Hopefully, in time, we will be even more developed. Then from there the priesthood provides covering to the elders, the elders provide covering to the deacons, and the deacons then provide coverings to the families. Both for the husbands and the wives, and then of course the children. Below is a graphic we had made up in order to depict this.
Well, we can take a look at the exact same thing, only in a different order. We take a look at the same servant leadership structure by using the analogy of an olive tree (the righteous tree). Here we have Yeshua as the root. Then you have the Foundation of Apostles and Elders, also called the Foundation of Apostles and Prophets or the Beit Din Gadol. Then they in turn support the elders, the elders in turn support the deacons, and the deacons in turn support the families. Then the husbands of course support the wives. But it is the organization and the leadership that allows for the unification and for a single tree (unified tree structure). Without the leadership and without the organization you cannot have the unification.
The same thing holds true if we talk about the living temple (living tabernacle). On the bottom we see the Foundation of Apostles and Prophets with Yeshua Messiah being the Chief Cornerstone. Then we have the congregational elders which typically, although not always, have the gifts of pastors, evangelists, and teachers. It is not necessary. They can have the gift of apostles or prophets but typically speaking, elders more often have the gifts of pastors, evangelists, and teachers. But it is the organization that allows for the unification. Without that organization you do not have unification. And if you cannot unify and put the living stones in the right order, you cannot get that space for worship inside where the Spirit can enter.
It is the organization that is so very lacking in the Messianic or the Hebrew Roots movements today. Please share this with the people in your fellowship, this is something they need to know because this is something Yeshua wants us to do. Because if we do not have this organization based on servant leadership, then really, you do not have a living temple with the stones all arranged to form a space for worship inside. All we really have at that point is a big pile of rubble all scattered about a field. And that is effectively what we have today with a bunch of independent ministers and ministries.
What we see from all this is that there are various requirements for righteous congregational elders. In Yeshua’s kingdom a righteous elder is going to be appointed by the apostolic priesthood. Because the elder’s job is to build the congregation and it is the apostle’s job to tie all of the congregations together. So the elder has to be appointed by the apostolic priesthood, as we saw in Titus 1 and verse five.
The elder has also got to be willing to take direction and discipline from the apostolic priesthood. If the apostolic priesthood appoints him, then there needs to be direction and discipline. And another thing that is quite often lost is that there has to be a submission on the part of everyone, first to Yahweh Elohim in His spirit, and then one to another in the Spirit. And we must let the Spirit be the one to order us and to show us where it is that we need to serve in Yeshua’s ordered kingdom. And it is this operation of the Spirit that is so lacking.
For example, in the Catholic church and in the Orthodox churches, because they stick more to forms and rote services, there is no operation of the Spirit. And then in many of the Christian churches there is an operation of a spirit, but not truly of the Set-Apart Spirit. Because most of them deny not only the Torah, but they also deny the kinds of order that is needed in order to accomplish Yeshua’s will.
If you think about it, Yeshua’s spirit is going to lead us to do the same things that Yeshua is doing so. What is Yeshua doing? Yeshua is establishing His global, unified kingdom. Yeshua is establishing and building one global ministry structure worldwide which is His spiritual kingdom. So if we engage in building Yeshua’s one true spiritual kingdom, then we can say we are led by His spirit because that is what His spirit is doing. And if we are not actively building Yeshua’s global, unified ministry (Yeshua’s global, unified spiritual kingdom) then how can we say that we are led by His spirit? Maybe we are led by a spirit or maybe we are led by a portion of His spirit, but are we truly led by the fullness of His spirit? It is that fullness of His spirit that we are all going to want so very much in the day of judgment.
So if your leader or teacher is not truly leading you to take part in Yeshua’s one singular, unified, global ministry, then are they really an elder, or do they perhaps fall into the category of a false (pseudo) elder who is really setting up an alternate kingdom? There is such a thing as an anti-elder, there is such a thing as an anti-kingdom. And to have a bunch of independent ministries is to not really have a global tabernacle of David set up. It is not to have a temple built with living stones, it is to have a bunch of stones strewn about the field. And with a bunch of stones strewn about, there is no place for the Spirit to enter in and dwell, and there is really no place for global worship to take place.
Let us think about this. We serve a great King, He is the greatest, He is the King above all kings. What is a king but a monarch? And what do monarchs like? Well, monarchs like centralized organization and authority. Why? Because they are more efficient. Again, what Yeshua wants is for all of His ministers to work together at His ministry according to the Five-Fold Ministry doctrine. That is, on a single apostolic foundation which is what provides for unity. So if your leader is not willing and eager to take part in building Yeshua’s global organized kingdom, why is he not eager and willing to build Yeshua’s single global unified ministry? If we are not working to build Yeshua’s single, global, unified ministry, then what are we really doing? Are we truly serving Yeshua?
And what are we doing with our minas? That is not just to tithe money. We know from the parable of the minas that Yeshua speaks of a certain man who goes away to a far country in order to receive a kingdom and then return. We know Yeshua is going to receive His kingdom then He is going to return. But before He goes away, He calls His servants all together and gives them all a mina, which is a euphemism for our saved lives as well as basically all of our life resources, everything we have, and everything we can do for Him. And He tells His servants to do business until He comes, meaning we are supposed to do as much as we can with our saved lives to help build His kingdom. That is what we are supposed to do. We are supposed to do everything that we can to help build His kingdom.
There is a great reward for helping to build His one true, unified, global ministry, meaning His spiritual kingdom, and there is punishment for those who simply bury their minas and do not do anything with it. So this really is something that we need to think about every day. If you will, this is something we need to wear as frontlets between our eyes and to bind as a sign on our hand, so to speak. It should be our every thought that goes on in our forehead and building His kingdom is what we should be looking to do, to build His kingdom. And really, it is everything that we do that binds it as a sign on our hand. Because if we are not working to build Yeshua’s global kingdom (unified ministry), then what are we doing and how are we expecting a reward when we are not doing Yeshua’s will? That just does not make any sense.
As Yohannan HaMatbil (John the Baptist) tells us, “We must decrease so that He might increase.” And what this calls for is for a lot of people to swallow their pride and to swallow the things that they want to do, and realize that this is not about us. This is not about prosperity doctrine, it is not about making a bunch of money, it is not about being hot-shots on Saturday Night Live tv shows. This is not anything like that. This is not about us, this is about us building up our Husband. This is about us lifting up our Husband’s kingdom. This is about us coming together to help build a single, global, unified ministry where all the true ministers work together to build His ministry (not our own ministries).
If you think about it is a team sport, to be a rogue minister, apostle, or elder does not help to build a global unified team. If we are going to do things our way, guaranteed, we are not doing things Elohim’s way. And if we are not building Yeshua’s kingdom then what we are doing is we are aiding fragmentation and helping to further the agenda of the enemy. That is really what rogue ministers are doing.
This is something so important. We have to understand that Yeshua is a great King, He is a monarch. He wants one single kingdom (ministry), and He wants everyone to work together at it, or else we are not doing our job and we cannot expect a reward.
Well, people say, ‘Norman, come on! We know from Mark chapter 9, verse forty that Yeshua tells us’…
Marqaus (Mark) 9:40
40 “For he who is not against us is on our side.”
Well, kind of, sort of, but not really. Because Matthew 12, verse thirty is the verse that is not often quoted (and really needs to be). Yeshua says:
Mattityahu (Matthew) 12:30
30 “He who is not with Me is against Me,
and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.”
What He wants is for all of us to work together to do His kingdom business, He wants all of us to work together to serve Him. And if we are not doing His will, then effectively, we are setting up alternate kingdoms and stumbling stones. We are setting up distractions from Yeshua’s true kingdom work. So it is an important message. I really hope and pray that every single elder and every single minister out there will listen to this message and be struck in the heart. Because if we are not here to do Yeshua’s will, what are we doing? Are people making a bunch of money off selling books and tapes and they are really not interested in doing what Yeshua says to do? And if so, what does that say about us? What does that say about our reward in the day of judgment? Ouch!
We need to understand that there is a continuity of requirements for elders today with regard to the requirements for elders in ancient times. So for the rest of this chapter, we want to get ready to look at how the requirements still exist in the renewed covenant, which we will further cover in the next chapter. To do that, we want to take a look at the advice that Moshe’s (Moses’) father-in-law Yitro (Jethro) gave to him.
We will see that, basically, Yitro told Moshe that he was unable to serve the nation of Israel working as one man alone without organization. This is something that should speak to every Messianic minister, independent leader, and teacher. I have seen ministers stand up and boast before congregations about how they are an independent minister and how they are not associated, affiliated, or allied with any other ministry. And they boast about this. And I just cannot help but wonder, are we the leaders and teachers of Israel and we do not even understand what Yeshua wants? Because we do not know where we have come from, and we do not know where we are going, so we do not know what it is that we need to be doing right now.
What Yitro basically told Moshe is that if he wanted to lead the nation of Israel to their place in safety and in peace, then he needed to establish organization. Or perhaps, he needed to establish an organization in order to lead the nation effectively.
Brother Judah seems to have very little difficulty with the concept that we need to have organization and order, Brother Judah just tumbles to that very quickly. But we in Ephraim, we are so rebellious that it is like we do not want organization. We do not want leadership, we do not want tithing, we do not want rules, we do not want regulations. We want none of that. We just know we want absolutely nothing to do with that even though it is what Yeshua wants us to do. So we really have to make a choice between our Ephraimite identity and our identity as disciples of Yeshua (as Nazarenes).
As Yeshua says,
Luca (Luke) 6:46
46 “But why do you call Me ‘Adon, Adon,’ and not do the things which I say?
If we want to be His disciples and to have a portion in the world to come, in the resurrection and in the judgement, we really need to pay close attention to what Yeshua says. If we have a close physical or emotional reaction to what Yeshua says to do, we really need to look at that. Because there is really no place to be calling ourselves disciples when we do not want to do what Yeshua says to do.
Shemote (Exodus) 18:13-15
13 And so it was, on the next day, that Moshe sat to judge the people; and the people stood before Moshe from morning until evening.
14 So when Moshe’s father-in-law saw all that
he did for the people, he said, “What is this
thing that you are doing for the people? Why
do you alone sit, and all the people stand before you from morning until evening?”
15 And Moshe said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of Elohim.”
Basically, Moshe was a judge. And the people would wake up, bring something to a judge, and the judge will pray and listen. A judge is kind of like an old testament apostle and the new testament apostle is like and old testament judge. By definition, both an apostle and a prophet have the ability to hear in the Spirit and speak according to it. If they do not have the prophetic gift then they are not an apostle and they are not a prophet, they have to be able to hear in the Spirit and speak according to it. Then an apostle also has an understanding of the doctrine.
In Tanakh (Old Testament) times a judge had to have the ability to hear in the Spirit and speak according to it, he had to have the prophetic gift. He also had to have an understanding of leadership, basically the kingship function. So again, we can see that a judge was kind of like an old testament apostle, and vise versa, except that there is only one judge at a time whereas you can have more than one apostle at a time. But there has to be order between them because everything has to be ordered in Elohim’s kingdom.
Let us continue with what Moshe’s answer to Yitro was.
Shemote (Exodus) 18:16-18
16 “When they have a difficulty, they come to me, and I judge between one and another; and I make known the statutes of Elohim and His laws.”
17 So Moshe’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you do is not good.
18 Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you; you are not able to perform it by yourself.”
So, Moshe prays and listens for what Elohim says, he makes sure it comes from Elohim, makes sure it comes from the Spirit, and not from himself.
You would think that this is a good thing and exactly what he is supposed to do as a judge. But Moshe’s father-in-law Yitro said ‘Hold up, hold up, the thing that you are doing is not good! Because both you and these people who are with you are surely going to wear yourselves out.’
Because without organization and without appointing other leaders, this thing is too much for one person. Moshe was not able to perform it alone. So, what was Yitro’s advice?
Shemote (Exodus) 18:19-23
19 “Listen now to my voice; I will give you counsel, and Elohim will be with you: Stand
before Elohim for the people, so that you may
bring the difficulties to Elohim.
20 And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do.
[Which, even in ancient times, was to do the preparation work of building Yeshua’s kingdom.]
21 Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear Elohim, men of truth, hating covetousness; [both a Tanakh requirement and a Brit Hadashah (New Testament) requirement.] and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.”
22 “And let them judge the people at all times. Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So, it will be easier for you, for they will bear the burden with you.
[Just like happens in the congregations the elders judge the vast majority of the cases.]
23 If you do this thing, and Elohim so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people will also go to their place in peace.”
That is a nice promise, is it not? Is this not what we also want? To go to our place in peace?
Well, if they had to organize in Tanakh times in order to go to their place in peace, then what about us in renewed covenant times? Do we not also have to organize so that we may go to our place in peace?
So, we notice that in the Levitical Order (in Tanakh times) the chosen (not anointed) leader (in such a case as Moshes) had to appoint the elders and the leaders over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. Now, as we have talked about before, the specifics are going to change between the Levitical Order and the Melchizedekian Order and there is going to be different details between the different priesthoods, but the principles and the precepts are going to be the same. The details can change, but the principles and the precepts always remain the same between the orders. Now, we do not know whether the numbers in the Levitical Order were exactly a thousand, exactly a hundred, exactly fifty, and exactly ten, or if those were rough approximations. But what we know is that the numbers are going to differ in the Melchizedekian Order, because we organized by cities instead of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. But while the numbers differ, we are still going to have the exact same need for organization and servant-led authority in the Melchizedekian Order.
In the next chapter, we are going to see that there is still a need for organization and still a need for servant leadership in order to make things work and flow correctly, so that we can all go back home to our place in the land of Israel in peace. That is because we need to be establishing Yeshua’s single, global, organized ministry and kingdom. And we cannot do that without organization.
Well, the Christians will tell us that ‘All that stuff was done away with at the cross (stake, gallows, tree). All that stuff was done away at Calvary (Golgotha). That stuff does not apply to us anymore, that does not apply right now.’
Let us not be so sure about that. Because in Luke chapter 9, verse fourteen, in the feeding of the five thousand, we see that Yeshua Himself followed this pattern when he said to his disciples make them sit down in groups of fifty.
Luqa (Luke) 9:14
14 For there were about five thousand men. Then He said to His disciples,
“Make them sit down in groups of fifty.”
He is talking about the same groups of fifty as in the thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. So Yeshua Himself was still following the organization by thousands, hundreds fifties, and tens. And if Yeshua is our example, then how is it that we feel that we do not need to be organized by thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, or by cities and families or this kind of a thing?
As will see in the next chapter, the apostle Shaul also basically wanted leaders over groupings. We could say tens, fifties, hundreds, and thousands, but basically over cities and over groupings. And this is why the apostle Shaul told the apostle Titus to appoint righteous servant elders in every town, so that the body could edify itself in love in his absence. Moshe could not address every case, he had other leaders in order to handle the vast majority of the cases. Likewise, the apostle Shaul could not be in every town. So that is why he had Titus appoint righteous servant elders so that the body could edify itself in love.
Please keep reading the next chapter, “Selecting Elders, Part 2”, to see the specifics of what it takes to be a righteous servant elder in Renewed Covenant (Brit Hadashah) times. So that the body can edify itself in love, unify at the set-apart community level, and do the mission Yeshua expects us to do, so that we can all go back home to our place in the land of Israel in peace one day. So if this interests you, I encourage you keep reading for the qualifications of “Selecting (righteous) Elders, Part Two”.