Early Church

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Yet, Israel having seen their Messiah with their eyes, and having heard Him with their ears rejected Him, delivering him up to be killed by crucifixion, and in doing so transgressed the very Sanhedrin council law they themselves administered.
The rejection of Israel’s Messiah by the spiritual leadership; the Sanhedrin, the chief priests, the scribes and the elders of the day, brought judgment upon those to whom He was sent. The then people of God were eventually dispersed throughout all nations, receiving unto themselves spiritually blinded eyes and ears - just as the Hebrew prophet Isaiah (Yesha’yahu) had prophesied.

Of course, Yeshua’s rejection did not surprise God. Gods promise, made all those years ago to Abraham when he declared “In thy seed shall all the Nations of the earth be blessed”, became reality. The seed God spoke of referred to an incorruptible seed from the lineage and house of David, and who would lay down his life as atonement for “the sins of others” (Isa 53).
Further, God declared that through this seed “all the families of the earth would be blessed”.
Christ’s sacrifice and the atoning of His shed blood for the sin of “all families” of “all nations” dawned a New Covenant accepting both Abrahams natural descendants (Jews) - and Gentiles (all other Nations) male or female, bond or free. The New Testament of the bible declares “if you are Christ’s, then you are Abrahams [spiritual] seed, and heirs according to Gods promise” (Gal 3:29).

Through Christ’s atoning death, God’s Church preaching repentance, salvation and hope to all tribes and nations was birthed – a new Kahal, sanctified not by the blood of bulls and goats but by the shed blood of God himself who became flesh in His Son to redeem mankind.
Outside the walls of Jerusalem and nailed to a cross, the Son who loved and obeyed the Father in his last moments cried out in torment “ אלי אלי למה עזבתני” (Eli Eli la ma sabach thani), interpreted “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”. Just as on the Day of Atonement when the sins of the people were laid upon the scapegoat and cast aside out of the camp, God the Father laid the sins of mankind upon his beloved son, then forsook him. The righteous Messiah had atoned for the sins of others, just as Isaiah (Yesha’yahu) had prophesied several hundred years earlier.
The event was fulfilled, the work - finished.

Post Atonement – the birth of the Church.

According to Rabbis and biblical scholars, the Mosaic Law proceeded from Mt Sinai (Mt Horeb) on the fiftieth day on the Jewish feast day of Shavuot.
The bible says the Law (Gods law given through Moses) was a teacher to lead Gods people to the hope of a Messiah. That is, the law’s statutes, its feasts and its ordinances were given to reflect God’s required holiness and righteousness of His people. In doing so, they revealed mans inability to attain such requirements, but presented the solution and provision in a promised Messiah.

The Church was birthed 50 days (seven Sabbaths plus one day) from the first Sabbath after Passover, the 15th of Aviv (Nissan), also on the Jewish feast day of Shavuot. On this day, the New Covenant was affirmed amidst chosen men of Israel by a mighty outpouring of Gods Spirit where His provision for the forgiveness of sin in his son Jesus Christ, was manifested with power thus fulfilling the long awaited prophetic utterance of the OT prophet Joel. The witness of the risen Christ proceeded from God in the person of the Holy Spirit where “power from on high” anointed chosen men and women to testify of the risen Christ, even to the ends of the earth.

The supernatural miracle of being justified and redeemed through faith in the shed blood of a righteous Messiah, enabled man to receive Gods full forgiveness for his sins and thereby meet the requirements the OT Mosaic law demanded. Christ became the propitiation for sin for all who would believe. Just as Abraham’s belief was granted to him as righteousness, mankind could now by the same faith receive the imputation of justification through a righteous Messiah standing in his stead.
With the giving of the Mosaic Law came spiritual death (as a result of the knowledge of Gods laws revealing mans inherent sin).
Whereas, through the sacrificial atonement of God’s son, the promised Messiah of Israel came the provision of spiritual life – to all families of all nations.

Jesus Christ, died by crucifixion on Passover (Pesach) at the ninth hour – exactly the same God-ordained hour when the high priest would have been hanging the sacrifice on the Alter in the Temple.
On the third day Christ was raised from the dead.
After 40 days he ascended to heaven in a cloud.
After 50 days, (the day after the seventh Sabbath), came the Feast of Weeks called Shavuot, also known as the day of “first fruits of summer harvest” (Num 28:26) and the “Feast of Harvest (Ex 23:16).
The birth of Gods Church occurred on the very anniversary Rabbis today believe to be the time when Moses received the Law on Mt Sinai, on Shavuot (known today as the Greek term Pentecost).
God chose Shavuot to birth His Church, and needless to say there are interesting correlations.
 

Two significant events, with two dramatically opposite results, both transpired on the same God-ordained day. Jesus Christ became the first fruit of those who slept awaiting the hope of resurrection from the dead (1 Cor15:20). The rite of Shavuot finally became reality in a risen Redeemer.

Following the destruction of the Temple in 70AD, Pentecost for the rabbis took on a whole new meaning as the three feasts requiring ceremony at the Temple could no longer be obeyed. As a result the rabbis changed the purpose of the Feast of Weeks to the feast of the giving of the Law because it was associated historically with the giving of the Law on Mt Sinai. Soon after, the Rabbis changed the celebration of the Feast of First Fruits to a commemoration of the giving of the Law. It has remained so ever since.

The Upper Room – the Location.

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost which birthed and empowered Gods Church occurred at the same location in Jerusalem where Jesus had just prior instituted the feast of his New Covenant with his disciples. It was also the location where He washed his disciples’ feet and revealed the first son of perdition, Judas Iscariot, who would soon betray him.
Some believe the location that housed a large upper room was the home of Mary the mother of Mark, however there is insufficient evidence to be sure. Given that Jesus issued instructions to his disciples on how to locate the room to prepare for the feast of unleavened bread, suggests they did not have prior knowledge of its location. Regardless the room was sizable certainly large enough to hold a large group of people. (Photo: The Upper Room today displaying the rear wall that may be original, and roof arches typical of the Crusader era).

During the initial period of the Church, referred to as the Apostolic Age (when the Apostles lived), believers were Jewish. In fact for about the first fifteen years almost all believers were Jewish and continued (as Jesus did) in much of the Jewish traditions and laws for some time. They broke bread and fellowshipped together regularly in synagogues and homes, going daily to the Temple in Jerusalem to pray and learn of the apostles doctrine (Acts 2:42, 1Cor 10:16).
Whilst Christians were not allowed to build Churches until Constantine’s edict, Jewish believers were allowed to practice their religion and build synagogues because they were not considered a Roman convert, whereas Gentile coverts (Roman citizens) were severely restricted and persecuted until the turn of the fourth Century. Initially, the high priests, the elders and Sanhedrin also permitted believers to meet, so long as the then called Jesus movement also showed obedience to the Mosaic Law and did not teach in the name of their Christ. However this did not last long as the final journey of Paul to Jerusalem (Acts 21:17-36) reveals the danger Jerusalem’s religious hierarchy presented believers even at this early stage.

Before long, the new movement of believers was known as ‘The Way’ signifying that the risen Messiah had come and was leading the way to a promised life, reward and an eternal Kingdom. The account of Cornelius (Acts 10:1-11:18), saw the first Gentile conversion formally accepted by the Apostolic leadership.
Scripture reveals that preaching during this time was often followed by miraculous signs and wonders as it pleased the Lord (Acts 4:29-30).
Acts 21 reveals two important facts about the early church. First, in spite of geographical differences, the church quickly recognised its members as the single body. For example, the Gentile Church sent aid to the needy Jerusalem congregation, and the leaders of the Jerusalem Church in 51AD corrected an error which propagated the need for Gentiles to be circumcised, (which both Greeks and Romans deplored). It was the Apostle James, the brother of the Lord and senior leader of the Church at Jerusalem (prior to the destruction of the Temple), who pronounced a final judgment at a council rejecting the need for gentile circumcision after hearing submissions from Peter, Barnabas, and other apostles and elders (Acts 15:19, 12:17). Some Jewish believers, including converted Pharisees (Acts 15:1,5) were declaring that adherence to Jewish law, as well as belief in Jesus, was crucial to faith and salvation.

Believing the Lords word that He would return again to set up an earthly kingdom, believers distributed their possessions among one another (Acts 2:45). However there is no evidence to show how long after the Apostolic Age this continued. Jews, from Asia Minor, Europe and Egypt also began to be converted which began to insight opposition from non-believing Jewish communities in those areas (Acts17:5).
Gentile followers were referred to by early theologians as “interested spectators” of the synagogue service and became known as God Fearers. Many God-fearers knew the Old Testament well, understood its theology and moral teaching, which made evangelism in the Age of the Apostles toward this prepared field of people unique in comparison with groups from other Ages.

The first persecution documented was around 32 - 36AD and marked the persecution of the first Christian martyr, Stephen. It also marked a partial dispersal of the Jerusalem Church to outer regions such as Cyprus, Antioch, Samaria and Damascus. It was at Antioch where believers, for the first time, were called ‘Christians’ - initially as a derogatory term by those opposing the Church, however willingly accepted by the believers. Antioch soon grew in Christian influence and became a major centre for outreach. Paul joined Barnabus there in 44AD.
By the end of the fourth century Antioch had grown to 500,000 people and was reported that half of the population was Christian.

Paul’s Arabia

Paul spoke Greek fluently, was familiar with its literature, and being a Roman citizen he was granted greater freedom of movement to minister the Lords Gospel. However, prior to this and immediately after his conversion Paul spent thirteen years in Arabia, possibly to escape Roman persecution under Jewish influence. This is not the region of Saudi Arabia today as many presume. Biblical Arabia encompassed the Nabataean kingdom of the Negev and south western regions of today’s Jordan which were out of the jurisdiction of both the Romans (until 106AD) and Jews. Petra today is a ruin of old burial grounds, but was once a thriving city and the Arabian capital, one of several cities that supported the Frankincense and Myrrh trading caravans.
We know this area became influenced by Christianity, and quite possibly as a result of Paul’s influence during his Arabian retreat. Every Nabataean city had a church with Petra alone having several. There is no record that identifies who brought the gospel to this region excepting Paul’s reference in scripture.
Petra lasted until 638 before it was conquered with the rise of Islam. Years later, the barren region of Petra became a favorite location for Byzantium Churches to send renegade and problematic bishops. (Photo: remains of a 6th C Ridge Church, Petra Arabia).

The Great Revolt (66-73AD) – the end of a dispensation.

The Second Temple had been completed in 64AD after 83 years of construction. However, soon after and provoked by Greeks sacrificing birds in front of a local synagogue in Caesarea, the Great 66AD Revolt (המרד הגדול‎) began. The High priest, Eliezar ben Hanania refused to perform prayers and sacrifices for the Emperor at the Temple and subsequently led a successful attack on Jerusalem’s Roman garrison.
Emperor Nero appointed General Vespasian to crush the rebellion, which held out for four years, although this was due to much of the Roman armies being required further south. After Nero’s death in 68, Vespasian was proclaimed the new emperor in 69. By 70 AD, and with multitudes having already succumbed to murder, starvation or disease within Jerusalem’s walls, the Roman garrison lead by General Titus, brother of Vespasian, breached the walls and ruthlessly sacked the city.
Josephus (37-100), Jewish historian and apologist, (photo) estimated over one million people were killed during the siege, and a further 97,000 were captured and enslaved. Everything was looted and burnt and the spoils of the Temple were carried off to Rome.

Being warned of the judgment to come by Jesus’ earlier warnings, many of the Jewish Christians had fled to Pella and other regions of Arabia which was outside Roman jurisdiction.
This was looked upon by the non-Christian Jews as treason and the consequence was significant. From this point of time any Jew wishing to be true to Judaism could not be a Christian. The new Jesus faith was to be viewed from Judaism’s perspective, as a divisive cult, and any association to it would be a denial of their Jewish identity. This Judaist condition became further entrenched during the atrocities afflicted upon Jews by Roman Catholicism and remains to this day as a pre-condition for Israeli believers seeking Israeli citizenship.
The end of the Apostolic Age therefore was marked with the fulfillment of Jesus’ prophetic pronouncement of the destruction of the Temple (70AD) and the ensuing judgment in the scattering of the Jewish people from their homeland. This was to last until 1948.

The Church of the Apostles

In Hebrew a house of prayer is called Beit (or Beth Knesset), meaning house of assembly. Much of the Jewish population who believed were Greek speaking Jews, called Hellenistic Jews. It was under the Hellenistic influence that the word changed to synagogue.
On the ground floor beneath the Upper Room, is a location that bears evidence of a synagogue style church thought to be dated around 80-90AD. It is believed it was established by Jewish believers somewhere between 73-83AD returning after the sacking of Jerusalem.
When the early believers returned, they established a familiar administration in a place that was meaningful to them - that of a Synagogue in the location of Gods visitation, the Upper Room.

In 1951 Jacob Pinkerfield, an Israeli archeologist, discovered below the Upper Room location an old Synagogue niche (photo).
However this niche bore some interesting characteristics. Pinkerfield knew all niches in Jerusalem traditionally pointed toward Solomon’s Temple, however this one pointed north (NNE) to the site that some believe today as the site of Christ’s crucifixion, the Holy Sepulcher and/or further north to the site of the Garden Tomb. Further to this, they believe the stones used to build the niche date to the same era as the Temple stones and therefore could not dismiss the possibility they may have used displaced stones from the Temple itself. The most revealing evidence however were the inscriptions found there scribed into the plaster walls. The interpretation of the Greek words, which Professor Emmanuele Testa and Bellarmino Bagatti later published, may be translated 'Conquer, Savior, mercy’ and ‘O Jesus, that I may live, 0 Lord of the autocrat’. – Biblical Archeology Review may/June 1990.

Along with other Christian inscriptions, the symbol of the fish and the lamp stand (photo) was discovered inscribed on pottery. This is Christendom’s oldest symbol and older than any known symbol of the cross. The lampstand symbolizes Israel, and the fish symbolizes Gentile believers. The base of the lampstand joins with the tail of the fish supporting the doctrine that Paul affirmed in his letter to the Church at Ephesus “For he himself (Jesus) … has made the two one (Jew and Gentile), and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility" (Between Jew and Gentile) Eph 2:14 - Netanel Nickalls Heritage Centre Jerusalem.
Jacob Pinkerfield was killed in 1956 by a Jordanian shell whilst attending an archaeologist’s convention at Ramat Rachel, south Jerusalem. However, it was Pinkerfield’s discovery that helped to identify this site as the Judeo-Christian synagogue called The Church of the Apostles.
Early writers such as the Patriarch of Alexandria, Euthychius (896-940 AD) wrote of this location with reference to the returning Judeo-Christians who previously fled to Pella to escape the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. According to Euthychius Christians returned in the fourth year of the emperor Vespasian, 73 A.D, the year Masada fell to the Romans.
It was Simon Bar Kleopha, (son of Kleophas, the brother of Joseph of Nazareth), who succeeded James (the brother of the Lord) as the second bishop of Jerusalem and who led the congregation to Pella (Transjordan) to escape Jerusalem’s 70AD four year long sacking and enslavement.
Records show that Simon was martyred at the age of 120yrs. This means he may have known Jesus personally and almost certainly witnessed the birth of the church during the Pentecostal outpouring. Simon was recognised as an Apostle (outside of the 12), hence the acceptance of the term The Church of the Apostles. – Biblical Archaeology Review may/June 1990.

It is believed the Church of the Apostles was recognised by Christians at that time as Mount Zion. Prior to this, Mt Zion to Gods people was always the location where the presence of God dwelt. When King David brought the Ark to Jerusalem, the City of David was Mt Zion. When Solomon’s Temple was built, that became Mt Zion because God dwelt in the Temple. When the Temple was destroyed, the returning Christians from Pella (Petra) built the Synagogue Church which they believed was the new dwelling place of God (in the hearts of the bodily temples of believers). If the stones used to build the Niche were indeed from the destroyed Temple, this connection may well have had an emotional factor.
It was in 382 that Emperor Theodosius (347-95), who governed the Christian Roman Empire, instituted the destruction of all synagogue churches and brought an end to the Jerusalem Church of the Apostles.

The BBC reported in 2008 that Archaeologists Dr AL-Hassan of Rihab Archaeology Centre, Jordan, recently discovered an underground chapel dating to the period 33-70AD and believed to be a place of worship and home for persecuted refugee Christians fleeing from Jerusalem. The cave is located beneath the ancient church of St Georgeous, Rihab - itself also one of the oldest places of worship in the world. Within the underground church cave bears an inscription on its floor “70 beloved of God and the divine”, and crosses made of iron were found in the tunnel toward the water cistern.
The site of the earliest confirmed Gentile church building (non synagogue) as we know them today is dated at 286AD, and is located in Acaba, Jordan. (Photo)

The Age of Catholic Christianity

The years between 70 and 312AD that is, between the Apostolic Age and the formation of the ‘Christian Roman Empire’ is known as the ‘Age of Catholic Christianity’ (not to be confused with Roman Catholicism).
With Christianity scattered into the major cities of the empire, there eventually came a call to establish a sense of ‘one body’. Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, was first to employ the word ‘catholic’ meaning universal when communicating to other Bishops.
By 112AD the governor of a region in northwest Asia Minor was complaining to Emperor Trajan, that all the pagan temples were emptying because of Christian converts. (Photo: old Trajan temple, Pergamum).
Several factors contributed to an accelerated growth of Christianity throughout the Roman Empire.
The most significant being:
1. A continued measured outpouring of Gods spirit witnessing the gospel of the risen Jesus Christ through His believers.
2. People were convicted by the revelation that God had visited humanity, was condemned to death by crucifixion, rose from the dead and presented the hope of salvation for all people.
3. In the midst of unemotional Greek Stoic belief, the witness of a change in the lives of believers was demonstrated by their adherence to moral values, love for one another and for their God. An example of this was vividly illustrated in the purchase of burial grounds around Rome. The oldest, was south of Rome in a place called Catacumbas, hence the word ‘Catacombs’. Catacombs grew to 600 miles of underground corridors and tunnels where believers honored and buried their dead. Christians were later forced to use the Catacombs during uprisings and persecutions as a safe place to fellowship and worship.
4. The witness of martyrdom. Many Roman citizens were convicted and converted after seeing Christians humbly accept their suffering even unto death as a way appointed by the Lord.

By the end of the third century most major cities had been touched, however not many of the outer lying villages and towns were reached until after the Constantinian Revolution of 312.
At that time, the upper class generally spoke Latin and the lower class spoke Greek. It was among the Greek lower class that Christianity initially found an ear, whilst North Africa claimed the first Latin speaking Church.
Christianity began as a minor offshoot of Judaism and within only 300 years, became the official religion of the entire Roman Empire under Constantine the Great. Whilst the persecution ceased for a time, biblical Christianity was about to change with the entry of pagan influence and ungodly leaders seeking status from material wealth and an emperor who held to his pagan ideals and manifested little of the new Christian faith.
Gods Kahal would only return to the authority of Scripture in the 15th and 16th Centuries with the rise of Reformers like Jan Huss, Calvin, Zwingli and Luther.