Fellowship in Assembled Worship

By Jeff Curtis

Hebrews 10:25 implies that Christians are part of a fellowship, as was the first church in Jerusalem (Acts 2:42). “Fellowship” is translated from koinonia, which means a “partnership” or “participation in common” with others. In Hebrews 10:19 the readers of Hebrews were addressed as “brethren.” What a wonderful thought implied here – to be part of one family, having on Father, loving one another as brothers and sisters should. When Admiral Nelson was asked the key to his success in the battle for Britain, he said, “I had the privilege to command a band of brothers.” That is the key to the success of the church as well.

Christians need fellowship to be brothers. We need the encouragement we receive through assemblies for prayer and admonition. We should want to go to worship services – not only for what we can get out of participating, but also for what we contribute to the faithfulness of others.

A subtle heresy is “We need Jesus, but don’t need the church.” Even at the time when the Hebrew letter was written, some were evidently saying, “It isn’t worth going to church. It’s causing us too much trouble. Something discouraging always happens, so we just won’t go to worship with the rest of the believers in Jesus.”

The Lord designed the church as the ekklesia – a true “assembly,” which is the way the word should be translated. The word “church” is not from ekklesia; it came from the German and Middle English word kirche in the Scottish kirk and developed into “church” in English. But, the term “church” is associated in thought with kuriakos, which means “belonging to the Lord” or simply “of the Lord.” Kuriakos (“Lord’s”) is used only twice in the New Testament, in 1Corinhtians 11:20 (“the Lord’s Supper”) and Revelation 1:10 (“the Lord’s Day”). The ekklesia belongs to the Lord. (Jesus called it “My church” in Matthew 16:18.) We are to maintain regular assembly for worship to keep the fellowship of the church and actually be “the Lord’s church.”

We cannot be faithful to Christ without maintaining a living fellowship with His chosen people – the saints, who are all members of His cleansed body (Ephesians 5:25-27).

So why do some neglect the worship assembly?

Christians in the first century had begun to neglect the worship is not stated. Their reasons were probably similar to the causes of indifference to assembling for worship in the 21^st century. Some don’t want to be recognized as Christians, because they are ashamed of Christ’s church. Some prefer the world, with its temporary allurements, over the promise of eternal life given to faithful members of Christ’s church. Others think they can be faithful enough apart from the brothers and sisters who assemble regularly. This is a sad mistake, as the admonition of Hebrews 10:25 suggests, and can lead to the apostasy mentioned in verse 26. We have to help each other see the risk they are taking. The constant urging of Hebrews is to “hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm to the end” (Hebrews 3:6). A similar thought is expressed in chapter 10:23: “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering.” The author of this letter said this in introducing the admonition about “not forsaking our own assembling together” (10:25). This encouragement to remain faithful came in the light of the faithfulness of Christ (10:23b). He was true to His Father – shouldn’t we be the same?

Conclusion to the Book of Judges

By Jeff Curtis

The book of Judges has a double conclusion as well as a double introduction. The last five chapters can be divided into two parts: the story of Micah’s idol worship and then the moral depravity of the Benjamite men in Gibeah. Together, the two parts show the shameless religious and moral status of Israel at the end of the downward spiral described for us in the text.

The twofold conclusion shows the result of Israel’s gradual departure from the ways of the Lord. While chapters 17 & 18 detail the religious decline of Israel, 19-21 reflect on the moral degeneration of the nation.

Parallel elements are emphasized in repeated theme statements in the last five chapters. The narrator said that “every man did what was right in his own eyes” (17:6). The second statement, often combined with the other, includes the line “In those days there was no king in Israel” (17:6; 18:1; 21:25). These two statements appear in part of the conclusion.

The concern of the first theme statement that “every man did what was right in his own eyes” reflects in previous material in the Pentateuch. Moses called on Israel to do what was “right in the sight of the Lord.” God told Moses that the Israelites would fall away from Him and do what was right in their own eyes (Deut. 31:14-21). His prediction finally came to pass at the end of the book of Judges.

“Every man did what was right in his own eyes” also recalls earlier material in Judges. Seven times, the book includes some variation of the line “did evil inf the sight of the Lord.” At the end of the nation’s downward spiral, Israel was no longer able to see what was right in the eyes of the Lord. Out of repeated occasions of doing what was evil in “the sight of the Lord,” each Israelite finally did what was right in his own eyes and ignored the Lord’s will.

“No king in Israel,” the second theme statement, considers earlier material in two ways: in the lack of a human king and in ignoring the Lord as King. While nations around them had kings, Israel was to be led by God, not a human monarch. Moses laid out qualifications for a future Israelite king in Deuteronomy 17:14-20. Neither Moses nor Joshua assumed that role. Among the twelve judges in this book, none became a king, although the issue arose late in the life of Gideon, and in the life of his son Abimelech (Judges 8&9). Even as Judges concludes, “there was no king in Israel” (21:25).

At the end of the period of the judges, as Israel called for a human king, the Lord said in 1Samuel 8:7: “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.” This line echoes the second theme statement in Judges 17-21. Not only was there no human king in Israel, but the people did not serve the Lord as King either. Both themes reflect Israel’s disregard for the Lord and His teaching.

Together, the two conclusions of the book of Judges show the end result of the religious and moral decay of the nation. Each person did what he or she wanted to do, and no human or divine leader had any influence over Israel.