Template:Elders: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 14:14, 26 October 2024

Elder was never an office of the Church from the beginning nor one of the Levites, the church in the wilderness, as Moses directed. Elder is an office of the family.
The family is an institution of God and elders are merely the heads of families. Those heads of families might be chosen and appointed to fulfill or accomplish certain tasks with in the duties of the Early Church.
The early Church in general was a network of families who came together in a pattern of ten families to form a peculiar kind of fellowship that bound their intentional community together by love and charity, in faith instead of force, and in hope instead of entitlements, according to the *perfect law of liberty* in the practice of what was called Pure Religion.
The Church ministers appointed by Christ offer an alternative to the covetous practices of the world which according to Peter will make you merchandise and curse children, and according to Polybius "*degenerate the masses into perfect savages who find once more a master and monarch*".
Understanding **eldership**^[1] will help us seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
The Elders of Liberty form the Altars of Earth that assemble themselves into groups of families congregating in 10s, 100s, 1000s for the purposes of Christ who came to serve while setting the captive free.

Elders of God

The term Elder, contrary to popular beliefs of the modern Church, is not an office of the Church. The Greek word we see translated "elder"^[1] was commonly used to identify the head of a family. The Greek word presbuteros^[1] can mean just "old man" or the "eldest" man within the basic unit of society which is the family. The word presbuteros appears more than 60 times in the New Testament^[2] who were appointed to positions of service.

A common Hebrew word for elder zaqen (ןקז) appears over a hundred seventy times in the Old Testament where it also means old man or oldest man in relation to a family group. The five thousand men and their families at the miracle of the loaves and fishes were all elders of their families by Jewish traditions. When Christ commanded his disciples to make the people organize themselves into these ten family groups he was directing the practical structural form of the Christian community which was well known among the Jews.

"To this day, at least among the Jews, all it takes to form a synagog is ten elders! Ten men, rather... they constitute a synagog and the elder who was chosen by the ten heads of household conduct the services. That’s the way it was."

"The apostles as they went out established, Paul for example, church after church in one place after another and he appointed and ordained elders, and he moved on."^[3]

When Christ commanded his disciples to get the people to organize in groups of tens he was simply organizing them in what would be called synagogues, a group of ten elders.

Elders are the elders or heads of families. An "Elder" is not an "0ffice" of the Church.
Paul and others were appointing men who were "elders of families" to be responsible for certain duties within the network of free assemblies which formed the whole "community" of Christians that is the kingdom of God.
There are people "appointed" as we see Luke 22:29 to positions of the Church and with the "Seven men" by Peter in Acts 6. But none of these positions are meant to be used by men to "exercise authority one over the other". Matthew 20:25-26, Mark 10:42-43, Luke 22:25-26.
All the elders of the congregation of the people were normally counted by the heads of families. (Matthew 14:21) One of the purposes of the church working together as a body of all the people together as Christ commanded was to provide the Corban of Christ so no one had to go to the "benefactors" of the "world" who do "exercise authority one over the other", like the Pharisees did with their *Corban* which always makes the word of God to no effect.

Both the Pharisees and Modern Christians have tried to turn terms like elder into an institutional office of power or authority in the Church but that is not the meaning of the term.

In Peter we see, "Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all [of you] be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble." 1 Peter 5:5. All Peter is saying is that younger people should be "yield to one’s admonition or advice" if he is older with more experience at least with respect and humility.

Most of the terms like pastors, ministers, deacon or priest, even overseer or bishop are descriptive words identifying the nature or aspect of a job within the "ekklesia" which provided real services for the people in righteousness. All of those people performing these service jobs were likely also "elders" of families who were chosen to fulfill a certain function within the mission of the ekklesia or early Church.

Ministers were servants of the of God serving the people and like traditional ministers they were expected to be married^[4] so you had some idea of their character for they had an important job and need the humble cooperation of everyone to get that job done.^[5]

The ministers of the early Church were rightly dividing bread from house to house^[6] in the practice of Pure religion through a daily ministration of faith, hope, and charity.

If Christ commanded that we do not exercise authority one over the other then what we are suppose to submit to is the righteousness of God.^[7]

"In writing both to Titus and to Timothy the apostle speaks of the ordination of bishops and of deacons, but says not a word of the ordination of presbyters; for the fact is that the word bishops includes presbyters also." Jerome, Ep. 146.

The Congregation of the people is composed of what Moses called the altars of earth.^[8] Each of us are sacrificial altars of living clay, or “adamah”, sons of Adam whose Father was God, making us all children of God if we will do the will of the Father in heaven.

We are both priest and king of our own free will choice within the individual natural family. This remains true as long as we maintain the power of choice bestowed upon every man by the Creator. We maintain that choice, that liberty, as long as we exercise the responsibility of choice in righteousness. Our offering within the family and to the community must be by charity.^[9] If we seek to take away that right to choose, that liberty of choice, from our neighbor we will lose our own liberty. For as we judge so shall we be judged.

The priests of the people are first the people themselves. Priest is derived from Greek, via Latin presbyter, the term for "elder" or eldest head of a family.

Audio Podcasts

Connecting the dots
of the kingdom of God
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Articles mentioned-Part 1
Family - Enmeshment - Elder - Mass Formation Psychosis - Congregation - Free Assemblies - Trajan - Ignatius of Antioch - The Way - Early Church - Social safety net - Home church - Corban - Social Security - Religion - Legal charity - Kingdom of God - Merchandise - Bondage of Egypt - Welfare

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Gods many - Hierarchy - Daily ministration - Elder - Family - Apostles - Holy Spirit - Romans 13 - Exousia - Trees - Doctrines of Jesus - Little flock - Christian conflict - Covetous practices - Deacon - Bishop - Guru theories - Constantine - Exercise authority - Dearth - Militia - Presbyter - Ekklesia - Pure Religion - Network - Tyranny - Merchandise - Curse children

National priesthood

The priests of a nation were often called kohen in Hebrew or priest.

A priest in a national sense is “a person authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion”. But religion was traditionally defined as “the performance of your duty to God and your fellow man”. That would mean that religion is how you take care of the needs of society. And, according to James, Pure Religion is doing that unspotted by the institution of a government of force.

That religious duty has been pursued by people either through systems of charity, which the Church in the wilderness called freewill offerings and sacrifice, or in the nations of the world through rulers, where the people were provided for through compelled offerings directed by men who rule over the people and were called at times the Fathers of the earth.

In other words, the two systems of national welfare that could be pursued by the people are either by the Church through charity or the State through force. One is based on the free choices of the heads of families and the other is dependent upon rulers like Cain, Nimrod or the Pharaoh of Egypt or the Caesar of Rome who exercise authority over the people.

Israel was a theocratic republic where God was to rule through the hearts of the people; the elders or priests of each family.

The kingdom of God is elder driven because it the head of every family who chooses which minister to support. The more each elder is filled with the Holy Spirit the wiser his choices will be for the nation.

The Levites, as national priests of that society, served the “tabernacles of the congregations” of a nation by serving the "tents" of each family in free assemblies. The Levites were to be the public servants of a free nation.

Those assemblies donated to the minister of their choice who acted as a voluntary health, education and welfare agency to help care for the needs of society through a network of ministers supported entirely by freewill offerings of the people, for the people and by the people. The Corban of the Pharisees was the antitheses of that system of charity and made the word of God to none effect.

The Elders of each family are both priests and kings within their own family. But to come together as a nation requires someone to act as a priest on a national level. The people are gathered in congregations of tens but they share what they produce with the national priests of their society to help maintain an intentional community in hope of strengthening the poor and the natural bonds of a free nation.

A minister of the congregation is first chosen by the people as we see being done in Acts 6:3.^[10] Each individual family is represented by the head or elder of the family who freely chooses their own minister.^[11] In the documents and forms offered in service by His Church, individuals may be called the electorate.^[12]

The electorate have been referred to individually as “elders” of families or collectively as the laity, from the Greek laos, meaning people. In terms of the world they may appear to be a constituency,^[13] but they are simply the people who choose from moment to moment, and day to day, to support the leadership of those who continue to be perceived by the people as the ministers of God and the servants of His people.

Those who are freely chosen as ministers by an electorate of elders who freely giving their votive offering in a free assembly become the living “stones” of lively altars of a sacred sacrifice to God by the people and for the people. They are the public ministers of the congregations who are seeking to follow The Way of Jesus. It is essential that the Holy Spirit is allowed to manifest through the election^[14] of each elder.^[15]

These chosen ministers are the unhewn stones of God’s sacred living altars. Unhewn is a metaphor for being unregulated. In their ministration of this system of faith, hope, and charity, the good will of the people for the people is administered by the choice of the people. The people maintain their right to decide to whom and how much they shall contribute. Whatever they choose to give is paid in full.^[16] There is no coercion in the kingdom of God but their own God-given conscience. The ministers have power over how those contributions shall be managed because once given they are burned up to the people.

The ministers of the Church have an unregulated authority on how they use that offering, but if they are not a fruitful government that provides for the people with love and mercy and strengthens the poor, then future offerings will go to other ministers according to the free choice of the people. That liberty to choose remains with the people and the elders of each family. This system of thanksgiving will be like Christ who came to serve or it will perish. Together, the ministers and the people form the temple of God, made of living earth and stones, formed in their hearts and minds by God in Pure Religion. This is the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

The Old Testament elder

In the days of Samuel there were people who rejected God and desired to have a ruler not because they had set up a system of Corban like Herod and the Pharisees but because they were slothful^[17] in the way of righteousness. Moses had set the people up in the tens and instructed them to the Fact and Law of the "judgments". The Levites formed the cities of refuge were actislly appeals courts to prevent injustice at the local level. But to police those *apelet courts* the elders funded or withheld funding to the Levites through the heave offerings passed up by the elders in every congregation of ten who chose their ministers in free assemblies with their votive offerings of tithe.
Eventually, 1 Samuel 8 warns how this would degenerate the voice of society into something God would not hear. Sloth^[17] leads to foolishness and bondage. If we understand Deuteronomy 17 we may see clearly where Saul went wrong. Samuel rebukes Saul because he engage in the sacrifice of fools, which was the Corban of the Pharisees which was the covetous practices that is idolatry^[18] which provides the dainties^[19] that destroys liberty ^[20] and degenerates^[21] the people into the bondage of Egypt.

We see in the Old Testament that there were elders there too. The word in Hebrew just meant someone who was an "old man or old women". Israel was to respect their elders and honor their parents and grandparents. That honor and respect caused society to be more stable as each generation learned to respect and care for the generation that came before. The oldest member of a family was the "elder" of that family. God and nature had instituted the family and those families freely assembled themselves, voluntarily providing for one another in a network of charity. The Church in the wilderness, who were the levites, served the tabernacles or tents of the congregations in these free assemblies where every elder was a functional part of a voluntary society and government.

When the people rejected God that He should not rule over them, creating the office of king, some of the authority of each "elder" was vested in the king. That process takes away some of the rights of natural fathers who are the elders of each family and vests it in rulers who become the Fathers of the earth spoken of by Jesus.

By the time Israel evolved into Judea after centuries of kings, the governments and people turned the word elder into an office. Since the modern Christians have the Pharisee view of the Old Testament and Torah rather than a more Essene view, they have likewise turned the word elder into an office "clothed with authority".^[1]

The Easton's Bible Dictionary tries to equate the Arab word "sheik" with elder since they both mean an "old man"^[1] but the Latin word for "senate" (senatus) also means "old man". The problem is in the early Republic under the principles of "Libera res publica" the Senate had no power to make laws nor "exercise authority" over their fellow citizens. They were merely a body of respected elders from good families that came together to serve in the organization of the people. The Senate evolved into an office of power as the people devolved through a culture of sloth and covetous practices. This process was well underway during the days of Polybius who explains that the cultural customs of the people degenerated them and opened the way to despotism and tyranny.

Easton misinterprets the body of Seventy chosen by Moses to be something akin to the Senate of Rome. ^[1]

The Senate

The original Senate of Rome may have been more like the seventy men of Moses and Christ. They were established in 7

53 BC as approximately 100 elders of prominent families and survived the overthrow of the Tarquinian kings in 509 BC, the fall of the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC, the division of the Roman Empire in 395 AD, the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD, and even the barbarian rule of Rome from the 5th, through the 7th century but it did not remain the same.

The word Senate derived from the Latin word senex, which meant nothing more than "old man" and was merely an "assembly of elders" as the tribes of the Latins formed a viable community and nation. The family of Romans was considered a sovereign social unit called a gens or "clan". The eldest father of a clan was the patriarch, called a pater which is the Latin word for "father". The gens gathered in hearths and the leading patriarch of the gentes gathered in voluntary council to form a representative body for the gentium or nation. At that time the family was still sovereign but with the election of the first Tarquinian king or rex was vested with some sovereign power of the Pater Familias known as the Imperium.

Israel was warned in 1 Samuel 8 of the dangers of the same process of vesting rights and responsibility in others which God has designed to remain with everyman. Romulus chose 100 senators called the patres minorum gentium. Seven kings later many of them were executed by Lucius Tarquinius Superbus which spawned a civil war which ended the Tarquinian rule in 509 BC Rome. Lucius Junius Brutus and Publius Valerius Publicola chose 300 "Conscripti Patri" to hold the executive power which had been vested in the fathers of each family by nature and nature's God. They would eventually increase their numbers to 500 and act as an electoral college choosing new emperors.

The Senate was chosen from a pool of elders who acted as "magistrates" because of their power to hear disputes of law like an appeals court. That Roman Senate was usually composed of wealthy "old men" because it was unpaid position and eventually the Emperor appointed new senators for life but required that their net worth was equal to at least a million sesterces.^[22]

Over time the decrees of the Senate, called senatus consulta, evolved from what was only "advice" which held "no hold legal force" into a binding system of law (Lex, legis) which regulated the lives of the people. The power and authority of natural fathers was legally consolidated in the Pater Patriae and eventually the Patronus of Rome. These were the Fathers of the earth Jesus warned us not to pray to or call upon. He came to return every man to his family^[23] by restoring the rights of the elders or natural fathers of each family.

Do not be seduced into thinking that an elder is an office of authority or that you are to exercise authority over one another through that office which should only be contained within the family. Christ clearly called out men to be the clergy of the kingdom as servants to the people which may be called the laity. Together they make a peculiar people.

Moses and Jesus had their senate called the Sanhedrin but they were not legislators or lawmakers but were titular leader of righteousness. But because of the wantonness and sloth of most of the people, the Libera res publica became the road not taken.

Hebrew elder

The Hebrew word for elder is zaqen^[24] which is the same word for old or aged^[25]. We can see these two words as three Hebrew letter ZayinKufNun.

ז ZAYIN The Service and Valor, cut and bread, war and nourish. [weapon.... Cut to cut off manacle] 7
ק KUF or Kof Omnipresence - Redemption of Fallen Sparks The paradoxical union reish and a zayin holiness or separateness omnipresence of God [Cord... back of the head... Behind the last, least] 100
נ ן NUN Heir to the Throne, Aramaic fish in the Mem (fish in flowing waters) or in the Hebrew the Nun may mean the kingdom. [fish moving... Activity life] 50

The first time we see the word translated "elder" in the Bible is Genesis 18^[26] which simply referred to Sarah as "old".

Some looking at Exodus 3:16^[27] try to turn this natural position into an office of government. But Moses was setting the people free from men who exercise authority.

Even the word "gather"^[28] just means to "gather" or "to gather oneself or themselves" and has nothing to do with "appointing an office of authority" to rule over the people. Each of these elders ruled over their own families because they were the natural heirs of the wealth of the family ready to pass on their wealth and power to their natural sons from "generation to generation".

We even see the see this same term "elder" is used by Moses in Exodus 10:9^[29] mean "old" as opposed to young.

The Kingdom of God was from generation to generation and the power of the state in Israel remained in the hands of the individual families so it was only natural that the eldest member of any family group held the power of the state. That power was not to include power over the next family.

Israel could not form a nation with the families power of choice intact if it was not for the Levites who formed a separate body.

There was a clear disposition of God for the younger to respect the older. This moderated society because of the natural maturity brought with age and a paternal love that molded a view of love and honor among each family of a kingdom where there were no kings from generation to generation.

The same letters ZayinKufNun are also translated age, old age, old man or old women, ancient, aged, eldest, ancient man, beard 19 times and even into the word "senators" in Psalms 105:22 "To bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom."

Another elder

Another word translated elder in the Old Testament is gadol^[30] from the Hebrew verb gadal ^[31] composed of the same Hebrew letters GimelDeletLamed meaning "to grow, become great or important".

All forms of gadal, GimelDeletLamed, GimelDeletVavLamed and even GimelDeletVavLamedHey^[32] indicate great, greatness or magnify.

ג Gimel Reward and Punish, Cause and effect. Do to others as they should do.
ד DALET Selflessness – Charity, back and forth or through a door or pathway, to enter like a fish.
ל LAMED means Aspiration of the Heart or to learn or even direct like a shepherd. It has to do with what the Hand produces, or directs with staff, whip... like the tongue may direct.

The word gadal is translated elder or eldest about a dozen times but forms of great over four-hundred times. Almost everywhere you see the word as elder or eldest they are speaking of elder siblings like Shem to Japheth or Esau to Jacob or David's older brothers. Age gave an automatic rank in society but this word is not the word we see Moses use in Exodus 10:9 ^[33]. The word we see there for "old" is zaqen^[24] ZayinKufNun and is actually translated Senator at least once. The same letters also produce the word for beard and almost always have to do with age but can be connected with authority because the younger should respect the elder.

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 ^1.5 4245 ~πρεσβύτερος~ presbuteros \@pres-boo’-ter-os\@ comparative of presbus (elderly); adj AV-elder 64, old man 1, eldest 1, elder woman 1; 67
1) elder, of age,
1a) the elder of two people

1b) advanced in life, an elder, a senior 1b1) forefathers

2) a term of rank or office
2a) among the Jews
2a1) members of the great council or Sanhedrin (because in early times the rulers of the people, judges, etc., were selected from elderly men)

2a2) of those who in separate cities managed public affairs and administered justice

2b) among the Christians, those who presided over the assemblies; (or churches) the NT uses the term bishop, overseers, 1985 pastors, 4166 elders, and presbyters 4245 interchangeably {#Ac 20:17,28 Eph 4:11 Tit 1:5,7 1Pe 5:1-4 etc.}

2c) the twenty four members of the heavenly Sanhedrin or court seated on thrones around the throne of God Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "elder" defined multiple times with different content
↑ Matthew 15:2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders <4245>? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
Matthew 16:21 From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders <4245> and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.

Matthew 21:23 And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders <4245> of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?

Matthew 26:3 Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders <4245> of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas,

Matthew 26:47 And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders <4245> of the people.

Matthew 26:57 And they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders <4245> were assembled.

Matthew 26:59 Now the chief priests, and elders <4245>, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death;

Matthew 27:1 When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders <4245> of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death:

Matthew 27:3 Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders <4245>,

Matthew 27:12 And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders <4245>, he answered nothing.

Matthew 27:20 But the chief priests and elders <4245> persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus.

Matthew 27:41 Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders <4245>, said,

Matthew 28:12 And when they were assembled with the elders <4245>, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers,

Mark 7:3 For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders <4245>.

Mark 7:5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders <4245>, but eat bread with unwashen hands?

Mark 8:31 And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders <4245>, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

Mark 11:27 And they come again to Jerusalem: and as he was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders <4245>,

Mark 14:43 And immediately, while he yet spake, cometh Judas, one of the twelve, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders <4245>.

Mark 14:53 And they led Jesus away to the high priest: and with him were assembled all the chief priests and the elders <4245> and the scribes.

Mark 15:1 And straightway in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders <4245> and scribes and the whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him to Pilate.

Luke 7:3 And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders <4245> of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant.

Luke 9:22 Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders <4245> and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day.

Luke 15:25 Now his elder <4245> son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing.

Luke 20:1 And it came to pass, that on one of those days, as he taught the people in the temple, and preached the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes came upon him with the elders <4245>,

Luke 22:52 Then Jesus said unto the chief priests, and captains of the temple, and the elders <4245>, which were come to him, Be ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and staves?

John 8:9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest <4245>, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

Acts 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men <4245> shall dream dreams:

Acts 4:5 And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders <4245>, and scribes,

Acts 4:8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders <4245> of Israel,

Acts 4:23 And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders <4245> had said unto them.

Acts 6:12 And they stirred up the people, and the elders <4245>, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council,

Acts 11:30 Which also they did, and sent it to the elders <4245> by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.

Acts 14:23 And when they had ordained<5500> them elders <4245> in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.

Acts 15:2 When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders <4245> about this question.

Acts 15:4 And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders <4245>, and they declared all things that God had done with them.

Acts 15:6 And the apostles and elders <4245> came together for to consider of this matter.

Acts 15:22 Then pleased it the apostles and elders <4245>, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren:

Acts 15:23 And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders <4245> and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia:

Acts 16:4 And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained<2919> of the apostles and elders <4245> which were at Jerusalem.

Acts 20:17 And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders <4245> of the church.

Acts 21:18 And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders <4245> were present.

Acts 23:14 And they came to the chief priests and elders <4245>, and said, We have bound ourselves under a great curse, that we will eat nothing until we have slain Paul.

Acts 24:1 And after five days Ananias the high priest descended with the elders <4245>, and with a certain orator named Tertullus, who informed the governor against Paul.

Acts 25:15 About whom, when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders <4245> of the Jews informed me, desiring to have judgment against him.

1 Timothy 5:1 Rebuke not an elder <4245>, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren;

1 Timothy 5:2 The elder women <4245> as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity.

1 Timothy 5:17 Let the elders <4245> that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.

Hebrews 11:2 For by it the elders <4245> obtained a good report.

Titus 1:5 For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain<2525> elders <4245> in every city, as I had appointed thee:

James 5:14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders <4245> of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:

1 Peter 5:1 The elders <4245> which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:

1 Peter 5:5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder <4245>. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

2 John 1:1 The elder <4245> unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth;

3 John 1:1 The elder <4245> unto the wellbeloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth.

Revelation 4:4 And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders <4245> sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.

Revelation 4:10 The four and twenty elders <4245> fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

Revelation 5:5 And one of the elders <4245> saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

Revelation 5:6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders <4245>, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

Revelation 5:8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders <4245> fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

Revelation 5:11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders <4245>: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;

Revelation 5:14 And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders <4245> fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.

Revelation 7:11 And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders <4245> and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,

Revelation 7:13 And one of the elders <4245> answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?

Revelation 11:16 And the four and twenty elders <4245>, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,

Revelation 14:3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders <4245>: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.

Revelation 19:4 And the four and twenty elders <4245> and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.
↑ "The World Under God’s Law, The Church Under God’s Law" by Professor Rushdoony.
↑ 1 Timothy 3:2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
1 Timothy 3:12 Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.

Titus 1:6 If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.
↑ 1 Corinthians 16:16 That ye submit yourselves unto such, and to every one that helpeth with [us], and laboureth.
↑ Isaiah 58:6 [Is] not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? [Is it] not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
Acts 2:46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
↑ Romans 10:3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
↑ Exodus 20:23 Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold. 24 An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.
↑ 1 Corinthians 13:13 “And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these [is] charity.”
↑ Acts 6:3 “Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.”
↑ Acts 6:5 “And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:”
The word chose is from eklegomai meaning to pick out, choose, to pick or choose out for one’s self1a) choosing one out of many, i.e. Jesus choosing his disciples) choosing one for an office.
↑ 1588 ~ἐκλεκτός~ eklektos \@ek-lek-tos’\@ from 1586; TDNT-4:181,505; {See TDNT 431} adj AV-elect 16, chosen 7; 23
1) picked out, chosen
1a) chosen by God,
1a1) to obtain salvation through Christ
1a1a) Christians are called "chosen or elect" of God

1a2) the Messiah is called "elect," as appointed by God to the most exalted office conceivable

1a3) choice, select, i.e. the best of its kind or class, excellence preeminent: applied to certain individual Christians
↑ “a body of citizens entitled to elect a representative” Merriam-Webster Dictionary of Law, © 1996
↑ 1589 ἐκλογή ekloge ek-log-ay’ from 1586; TDNT-4:176,505; {See TDNT 431 } n f AV-election 6, chosen 1; 7
1) the act of picking out, choosing
1a) of the act of God’s free will by which before the foundation of the world he decreed his blessings to certain persons

1b) the decree made from choice by which he determined to bless certain persons through Christ by grace alone

2) a thing or person chosen
2a) of persons: God’s elect
↑ 2 Peter 1:10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
↑ Luke 16:8 “And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.”
↑ ^17.0 ^17.1 The Slothful
Proverbs 6:9 "How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard <06102>? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?"

Proverbs 12:24 "The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute. 25 ¶ Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad. 26 ¶ The righteous [is] more excellent than his neighbour: but the way of the wicked seduceth them. 27 The slothful [man] roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but the substance of a diligent man [is] precious. 28 ¶ In the way of righteousness [is] life; and [in] the pathway [thereof there is] no death."...

Proverbs 13:4 "The soul of the sluggard <06102> desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat."

Proverbs 15:19 "The way of the slothful [man is] as an hedge of thorns: but the way of the righteous [is] made plain."

Proverbs 18:9 "He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster."

Proverbs 19:15 "Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger." 24 "A slothful [man] hideth his hand in [his] bosom, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again."

Proverbs 21:25 "The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour."

Proverbs 22:13 "The slothful [man] saith, [There is] a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets."

Proverbs 24:30 "I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;... 33 [Yet] a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: 34 So shall thy poverty come [as] one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man."

Proverbs 26:13 "The slothful [man] saith, [There is] a lion in the way; a lion [is] in the streets. 14 [As] the door turneth upon his hinges, so [doth] the slothful upon his bed. 15 The slothful hideth his hand in [his] bosom; it grieveth him to bring it again to his mouth. 16 The sluggard <06102> is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason."

Ecclesiastes 10:18 "By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through."

Matthew 25:26 "His lord answered and said unto him, [Thou] wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I : sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:"

Romans 12:11 "Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;"

Hebrews 6:12 "That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises."
↑
Covetousness is idolatry
Colossians 3:5 "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: 6 For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:"

Ephesians 5:5 "For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God."

1 Corinthians 5:10 "Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. 11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat."
- For it is written that the tables of dainties provided by rulers of the world are a snare because they cause the masses to bite one another through government systems of legal charity which are covetous practices which are a form of fornication or adultery where the people are devoured as merchandise, curse children and are "entangled again in the yoke of bondage" with the aid of the false religion of the whore who rides the beast.
↑ "The masses continue with an appetite for benefits and the habit of receiving them by way of a rule of force and violence. The people, having grown accustomed to feed at the expense of others and to depend for their livelihood on the property of others... institute the rule of violence; and now uniting their forces massacre, banish, and plunder, until they degenerate again into perfect savages and find once more a master and monarch." Polybius 150 years before Christ.
↑ Destroyers of liberty
"That the man who first ruined the Roman people twas he who first gave them treats and gratuities. But this mischief crept secretly and gradually in, and did not openly make it's appearance in Rome for a considerable time." Plutarch's Life of Coriolanus (c. 100 AD.) This would include Julius Caesar and eventually Augustus Caesar which is why Plutarch also reported, “The real destroyers of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations, and benefits.” This was a major theme of the Bible:

There were tables of welfare which were both snares and a traps as David and Paul stated and Peter warned would make us merchandise and curse children. Proverbs 23 told us not to not eat the "dainties" offered at those tables of Rulers and Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10 we cannot eat of those tables and the table of the Lord. We are not to consent to their covetous systems of One purse or Corban which makes the word of God to none effect.

We know when the masses become accustomed to those benefits of legal charity which are the rewards of unrighteousness provided by benefactors who exercise authority and the Fathers of the earth through the covetous practices that makes men merchandise and curse children as a surety for debt.
↑ Bread of oppression
Matthew 16:6 "Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees... 11 How is it that ye do not understand that I spake [it] not to you concerning daily bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? 12 Then understood they how that he bade [them] not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

Mark 8:15 "And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and [of] the leaven of Herod."

Matthew 16:11 "How is it that ye do not understand that I spake [it] not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?"

Mark 8:15 "And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod."

Luke 12:1 "In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy."

Jesus and John the Baptist opposed the leaven of Herod, the Pharisees and of the Sadducees because they misinterpreted the way of Moses and the LORD. They collected the resources for their tables of welfare, their social safety net of free bread and care for the needy of society through forced offerings. Peter, Paul, David, and the prophets have been warned us that such covetous practices were setting a snare and a trap. Herod and the Pharisees had set up a system of legal charity rather than fervent charity which always makes the word of God to none effect so that Christ would say the kingdom of God shall be taken from them and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits. We should know that their system "degenerates" the "masses" until they become "perfect savages". Legal charity and its benefits and dainties provided through men who exercise authority are the wages of unrighteousness and the covetous practices that makes men merchandise and will curse children.
↑ a silver coin or, later, bronze coin of ancient Rome worth a quarter of a denarius, equal to 2½ asses: introduced in the 3rd century b.c.
↑ Leviticus 25:10 And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout [all] the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.
↑ ^24.0 ^24.1
02205 ^ןקז^ zaqen \@zaw-kane’\@ ZayinKufNun from 02204 old; adj; AV-elders 115, old 23, old man 19, ancient 14, aged 3, eldest 1, ancient man 1, senators 1, old women 1; 178
1) old
1a) old (of humans)

1b) elder (of those having authority)
- זָ ז Zayin The "Crowned" head. The Service and Valor, cut and bread, war and nourish. [weapon.... Cut, to cut off, manacle] (Numeric value: 7)
- ק Kuf or Kof Omnipresence - Redemption of Fallen Sparks The paradoxical union Reish and a Zayin holiness or separateness omnipresence of God [Cord and needle 𐤒 ... back of head neck... the last or least] (Numeric value: 100)
- נ ן Nun Heir to the Throne, Aramaic fish in the Mem (fish moving in flowing waters) or in the Hebrew the Nun may mean the kingdom with a double Nun suggesting spiritual insight in two realms. [fish moving... Activity life] (Numeric value: 50)
- Note: The Latin senex meaning old evolved into the Latin term senator but in the Libera res publica had no legislative power but was simply a gathering of old men who were heads of families.
↑ 02204 ^ןקז^ zaqen \@zaw-kane’\@ a primitive root see also ZayinKufNun 02205; v; AV- … old 26, aged 1; 27
1) to be old, become old
1a) (Qal) to be old, become old

1b) (Hiphil) to grow old, show age
↑ Genesis 18:11 Now Abraham and Sarah [were] old [and] well stricken in age; [and] it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.
↑ Exodus 3:16 ¶ Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and [seen] that which is done to you in Egypt:
↑
0622 ^ףסא^ AlefSemechPei ‘acaph \@aw-saf’\@ a primitive root; v; AV-together 51, gather 86, assemble 15, rereward 5, misc 51; 200 1) to gather, receive, remove, gather in
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to gather, collect

1a2) to gather (an individual into company of others)

1a3) to bring up the rear

1a4) to gather and take away, remove, withdraw

1b) (Niphal)
1b1) to assemble, be gathered

1b2) (pass of Qal 1a2)

1b2a) to be gathered to one’s fathers

1b2b) to be brought in or into (association with others)

1b3) (pass of Qal 1a4)

1b3a) to be taken away, removed, perish

1c) (Piel)
1c1) to gather (harvest)

1c2) to take in, receive into

1c3) rearguard, rearward (subst)

1d) (Pual) to be gathered

1e) (Hithpael) to gather oneself or themselves
- א Alef Father-Son- begin- The Paradox: God and Man - (ox bull) [strength, leader, first] (Numeric value: 1)
- ס Samech The Eternal Cycle The circular symbolizes the fundamental truth described in the mystery of the ten statements [ prop... Support, turn] (Numeric value: 60)
- פ ף Pei Communication: The Oral Torah The mouth, blow, edge. [Mouth speak open word] (Numeric value: 80)
↑ Exodus 10:9 And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we [must hold] a feast unto the LORD."
↑ 01419 ^לודג^ gadowl \@gaw-dole’\@ GimelDeletVavLamed or (shortened) ^לדג^ gadol \@gaw-dole’\@ GimelDeletLamed from 01431; ; AV-great 397, high 22, greater 19, loud 9, greatest 9, elder 8, great man 8, mighty 7, eldest 6, misc 44; 529 adj
1) great

1a) large (in magnitude and extent)

1b) in number

1c) in intensity

1d) loud (in sound)

1e) older (in age)

1f) in importance
1f1) important things

1f2) great, distinguished (of men)

1f3) God Himself (of God)

subst
1g) great things

1h) haughty things

1i) greatness

n pr m
1j) (CLBL) Haggedolim, the great man?, father of Zabdiel
↑ 01431 ^לדג^ gadal \@gaw-dal’\@ a primitive root; v; AV-magnify 32, great 26, grow 14, nourish up 7, grow up 6, greater 5, misc 25; 115
1) to grow, become great or important, promote, make powerful, praise, magnify, do great things
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to grow up

1a2) to become great

1a3) to be magnified

1b) (Piel)
1b1) to cause to grow

1b2) to make great, powerful

1b3) to magnify

1c) (Pual) to be brought up

1d) (Hiphil)
1d1) to make great

1d2) to magnify

1d3) to do great things

1e) (Hithpael) to magnify oneself
↑ 01420 ^הלודג^ gᵉduwlah \@ghed-oo-law’\@ or (shortened) ^הלדג^ gᵉdullah \@ghed-ool-law’\@ or (less accurately) ^הלודג^ gᵉduwllah \@ghed-ool-law’\@ from 01419; n f; AV-greatness 7, great things 3, majesty 1, dignity 1; 12
1) greatness
1a) of man

1b) of God’s greatness (as an attribute)
↑ Exodus 10:9 "And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we [must hold] a feast unto the LORD.

[elder-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 ^1.5 4245 ~πρεσβύτερος~ presbuteros \@pres-boo’-ter-os\@ comparative of presbus (elderly); adj AV-elder 64, old man 1, eldest 1, elder woman 1; 67
1) elder, of age,
1a) the elder of two people

1b) advanced in life, an elder, a senior 1b1) forefathers

2) a term of rank or office
2a) among the Jews
2a1) members of the great council or Sanhedrin (because in early times the rulers of the people, judges, etc., were selected from elderly men)

2a2) of those who in separate cities managed public affairs and administered justice

2b) among the Christians, those who presided over the assemblies; (or churches) the NT uses the term bishop, overseers, 1985 pastors, 4166 elders, and presbyters 4245 interchangeably {#Ac 20:17,28 Eph 4:11 Tit 1:5,7 1Pe 5:1-4 etc.}

2c) the twenty four members of the heavenly Sanhedrin or court seated on thrones around the throne of God Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "elder" defined multiple times with different content

[2] Matthew 15:2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders <4245>? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
Matthew 16:21 From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders <4245> and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.

Matthew 21:23 And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders <4245> of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?

Matthew 26:3 Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders <4245> of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas,

Matthew 26:47 And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders <4245> of the people.

Matthew 26:57 And they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders <4245> were assembled.

Matthew 26:59 Now the chief priests, and elders <4245>, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death;

Matthew 27:1 When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders <4245> of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death:

Matthew 27:3 Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders <4245>,

Matthew 27:12 And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders <4245>, he answered nothing.

Matthew 27:20 But the chief priests and elders <4245> persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus.

Matthew 27:41 Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders <4245>, said,

Matthew 28:12 And when they were assembled with the elders <4245>, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers,

Mark 7:3 For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders <4245>.

Mark 7:5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders <4245>, but eat bread with unwashen hands?

Mark 8:31 And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders <4245>, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

Mark 11:27 And they come again to Jerusalem: and as he was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders <4245>,

Mark 14:43 And immediately, while he yet spake, cometh Judas, one of the twelve, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders <4245>.

Mark 14:53 And they led Jesus away to the high priest: and with him were assembled all the chief priests and the elders <4245> and the scribes.

Mark 15:1 And straightway in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders <4245> and scribes and the whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him to Pilate.

Luke 7:3 And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders <4245> of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant.

Luke 9:22 Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders <4245> and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day.

Luke 15:25 Now his elder <4245> son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing.

Luke 20:1 And it came to pass, that on one of those days, as he taught the people in the temple, and preached the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes came upon him with the elders <4245>,

Luke 22:52 Then Jesus said unto the chief priests, and captains of the temple, and the elders <4245>, which were come to him, Be ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and staves?

John 8:9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest <4245>, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

Acts 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men <4245> shall dream dreams:

Acts 4:5 And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders <4245>, and scribes,

Acts 4:8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders <4245> of Israel,

Acts 4:23 And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders <4245> had said unto them.

Acts 6:12 And they stirred up the people, and the elders <4245>, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council,

Acts 11:30 Which also they did, and sent it to the elders <4245> by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.

Acts 14:23 And when they had ordained<5500> them elders <4245> in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.

Acts 15:2 When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders <4245> about this question.

Acts 15:4 And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders <4245>, and they declared all things that God had done with them.

Acts 15:6 And the apostles and elders <4245> came together for to consider of this matter.

Acts 15:22 Then pleased it the apostles and elders <4245>, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren:

Acts 15:23 And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders <4245> and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia:

Acts 16:4 And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained<2919> of the apostles and elders <4245> which were at Jerusalem.

Acts 20:17 And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders <4245> of the church.

Acts 21:18 And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders <4245> were present.

Acts 23:14 And they came to the chief priests and elders <4245>, and said, We have bound ourselves under a great curse, that we will eat nothing until we have slain Paul.

Acts 24:1 And after five days Ananias the high priest descended with the elders <4245>, and with a certain orator named Tertullus, who informed the governor against Paul.

Acts 25:15 About whom, when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders <4245> of the Jews informed me, desiring to have judgment against him.

1 Timothy 5:1 Rebuke not an elder <4245>, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren;

1 Timothy 5:2 The elder women <4245> as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity.

1 Timothy 5:17 Let the elders <4245> that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.

Hebrews 11:2 For by it the elders <4245> obtained a good report.

Titus 1:5 For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain<2525> elders <4245> in every city, as I had appointed thee:

James 5:14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders <4245> of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:

1 Peter 5:1 The elders <4245> which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:

1 Peter 5:5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder <4245>. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

2 John 1:1 The elder <4245> unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth;

3 John 1:1 The elder <4245> unto the wellbeloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth.

Revelation 4:4 And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders <4245> sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.

Revelation 4:10 The four and twenty elders <4245> fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

Revelation 5:5 And one of the elders <4245> saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

Revelation 5:6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders <4245>, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

Revelation 5:8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders <4245> fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

Revelation 5:11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders <4245>: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;

Revelation 5:14 And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders <4245> fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.

Revelation 7:11 And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders <4245> and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,

Revelation 7:13 And one of the elders <4245> answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?

Revelation 11:16 And the four and twenty elders <4245>, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,

Revelation 14:3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders <4245>: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.

Revelation 19:4 And the four and twenty elders <4245> and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.

[3] "The World Under God’s Law, The Church Under God’s Law" by Professor Rushdoony.

[4] 1 Timothy 3:2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
1 Timothy 3:12 Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.

Titus 1:6 If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.

[5] 1 Corinthians 16:16 That ye submit yourselves unto such, and to every one that helpeth with [us], and laboureth.

[6] Isaiah 58:6 [Is] not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? [Is it] not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
Acts 2:46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,

[7] Romans 10:3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

[8] Exodus 20:23 Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold. 24 An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.

[9] 1 Corinthians 13:13 “And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these [is] charity.”

[10] Acts 6:3 “Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.”

[11] Acts 6:5 “And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:”
The word chose is from eklegomai meaning to pick out, choose, to pick or choose out for one’s self1a) choosing one out of many, i.e. Jesus choosing his disciples) choosing one for an office.

[12] 1588 ~ἐκλεκτός~ eklektos \@ek-lek-tos’\@ from 1586; TDNT-4:181,505; {See TDNT 431} adj AV-elect 16, chosen 7; 23
1) picked out, chosen
1a) chosen by God,
1a1) to obtain salvation through Christ
1a1a) Christians are called "chosen or elect" of God

1a2) the Messiah is called "elect," as appointed by God to the most exalted office conceivable

1a3) choice, select, i.e. the best of its kind or class, excellence preeminent: applied to certain individual Christians

[13] “a body of citizens entitled to elect a representative” Merriam-Webster Dictionary of Law, © 1996

[14] 1589 ἐκλογή ekloge ek-log-ay’ from 1586; TDNT-4:176,505; {See TDNT 431 } n f AV-election 6, chosen 1; 7
1) the act of picking out, choosing
1a) of the act of God’s free will by which before the foundation of the world he decreed his blessings to certain persons

1b) the decree made from choice by which he determined to bless certain persons through Christ by grace alone

2) a thing or person chosen
2a) of persons: God’s elect

[15] 2 Peter 1:10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

[16] Luke 16:8 “And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.”

[slothn-17] 17.0 ^17.1 The Slothful
Proverbs 6:9 "How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard <06102>? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?"

Proverbs 12:24 "The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute. 25 ¶ Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad. 26 ¶ The righteous [is] more excellent than his neighbour: but the way of the wicked seduceth them. 27 The slothful [man] roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but the substance of a diligent man [is] precious. 28 ¶ In the way of righteousness [is] life; and [in] the pathway [thereof there is] no death."...

Proverbs 13:4 "The soul of the sluggard <06102> desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat."

Proverbs 15:19 "The way of the slothful [man is] as an hedge of thorns: but the way of the righteous [is] made plain."

Proverbs 18:9 "He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster."

Proverbs 19:15 "Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger." 24 "A slothful [man] hideth his hand in [his] bosom, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again."

Proverbs 21:25 "The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour."

Proverbs 22:13 "The slothful [man] saith, [There is] a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets."

Proverbs 24:30 "I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;... 33 [Yet] a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: 34 So shall thy poverty come [as] one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man."

Proverbs 26:13 "The slothful [man] saith, [There is] a lion in the way; a lion [is] in the streets. 14 [As] the door turneth upon his hinges, so [doth] the slothful upon his bed. 15 The slothful hideth his hand in [his] bosom; it grieveth him to bring it again to his mouth. 16 The sluggard <06102> is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason."

Ecclesiastes 10:18 "By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through."

Matthew 25:26 "His lord answered and said unto him, [Thou] wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I : sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:"

Romans 12:11 "Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;"

Hebrews 6:12 "That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises."

[Isidolatry-18] Covetousness is idolatry
Colossians 3:5 "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: 6 For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:"

Ephesians 5:5 "For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God."

1 Corinthians 5:10 "Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. 11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat."

For it is written that the tables of dainties provided by rulers of the world are a snare because they cause the masses to bite one another through government systems of legal charity which are covetous practices which are a form of fornication or adultery where the people are devoured as merchandise, curse children and are "entangled again in the yoke of bondage" with the aid of the false religion of the whore who rides the beast.

[19] For it is written that the tables of dainties provided by rulers of the world are a snare because they cause the masses to bite one another through government systems of legal charity which are covetous practices which are a form of fornication or adultery where the people are devoured as merchandise, curse children and are "entangled again in the yoke of bondage" with the aid of the false religion of the whore who rides the beast.

[massesnf-19] "The masses continue with an appetite for benefits and the habit of receiving them by way of a rule of force and violence. The people, having grown accustomed to feed at the expense of others and to depend for their livelihood on the property of others... institute the rule of violence; and now uniting their forces massacre, banish, and plunder, until they degenerate again into perfect savages and find once more a master and monarch." Polybius 150 years before Christ.

[desliberty-20] Destroyers of liberty
"That the man who first ruined the Roman people twas he who first gave them treats and gratuities. But this mischief crept secretly and gradually in, and did not openly make it's appearance in Rome for a considerable time." Plutarch's Life of Coriolanus (c. 100 AD.) This would include Julius Caesar and eventually Augustus Caesar which is why Plutarch also reported, “The real destroyers of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations, and benefits.” This was a major theme of the Bible:

There were tables of welfare which were both snares and a traps as David and Paul stated and Peter warned would make us merchandise and curse children. Proverbs 23 told us not to not eat the "dainties" offered at those tables of Rulers and Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10 we cannot eat of those tables and the table of the Lord. We are not to consent to their covetous systems of One purse or Corban which makes the word of God to none effect.

We know when the masses become accustomed to those benefits of legal charity which are the rewards of unrighteousness provided by benefactors who exercise authority and the Fathers of the earth through the covetous practices that makes men merchandise and curse children as a surety for debt.

[leavenp-21] Bread of oppression
Matthew 16:6 "Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees... 11 How is it that ye do not understand that I spake [it] not to you concerning daily bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? 12 Then understood they how that he bade [them] not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

Mark 8:15 "And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and [of] the leaven of Herod."

Matthew 16:11 "How is it that ye do not understand that I spake [it] not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?"

Mark 8:15 "And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod."

Luke 12:1 "In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy."

Jesus and John the Baptist opposed the leaven of Herod, the Pharisees and of the Sadducees because they misinterpreted the way of Moses and the LORD. They collected the resources for their tables of welfare, their social safety net of free bread and care for the needy of society through forced offerings. Peter, Paul, David, and the prophets have been warned us that such covetous practices were setting a snare and a trap. Herod and the Pharisees had set up a system of legal charity rather than fervent charity which always makes the word of God to none effect so that Christ would say the kingdom of God shall be taken from them and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits. We should know that their system "degenerates" the "masses" until they become "perfect savages". Legal charity and its benefits and dainties provided through men who exercise authority are the wages of unrighteousness and the covetous practices that makes men merchandise and will curse children.

[22] silver coin or, later, bronze coin of ancient Rome worth a quarter of a denarius, equal to 2½ asses: introduced in the 3rd century b.c.

[23] Leviticus 25:10 And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout [all] the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.

[zaqen-24] 24.0 ^24.1 02205 ^ןקז^ zaqen \@zaw-kane’\@ ZayinKufNun from 02204 old; adj; AV-elders 115, old 23, old man 19, ancient 14, aged 3, eldest 1, ancient man 1, senators 1, old women 1; 178
1) old
1a) old (of humans)

1b) elder (of those having authority)

זָ ז Zayin The "Crowned" head. The Service and Valor, cut and bread, war and nourish. [weapon.... Cut, to cut off, manacle] (Numeric value: 7)

ק Kuf or Kof Omnipresence - Redemption of Fallen Sparks The paradoxical union Reish and a Zayin holiness or separateness omnipresence of God [Cord and needle 𐤒 ... back of head neck... the last or least] (Numeric value: 100)

נ ן Nun Heir to the Throne, Aramaic fish in the Mem (fish moving in flowing waters) or in the Hebrew the Nun may mean the kingdom with a double Nun suggesting spiritual insight in two realms. [fish moving... Activity life] (Numeric value: 50)

Note: The Latin senex meaning old evolved into the Latin term senator but in the Libera res publica had no legislative power but was simply a gathering of old men who were heads of families.

[26] זָ ז Zayin The "Crowned" head. The Service and Valor, cut and bread, war and nourish. [weapon.... Cut, to cut off, manacle] (Numeric value: 7)

[27] ק Kuf or Kof Omnipresence - Redemption of Fallen Sparks The paradoxical union Reish and a Zayin holiness or separateness omnipresence of God [Cord and needle 𐤒 ... back of head neck... the last or least] (Numeric value: 100)

[28] נ ן Nun Heir to the Throne, Aramaic fish in the Mem (fish moving in flowing waters) or in the Hebrew the Nun may mean the kingdom with a double Nun suggesting spiritual insight in two realms. [fish moving... Activity life] (Numeric value: 50)

[29] Note: The Latin senex meaning old evolved into the Latin term senator but in the Libera res publica had no legislative power but was simply a gathering of old men who were heads of families.

[25] 02204 ^ןקז^ zaqen \@zaw-kane’\@ a primitive root see also ZayinKufNun 02205; v; AV- … old 26, aged 1; 27
1) to be old, become old
1a) (Qal) to be old, become old

1b) (Hiphil) to grow old, show age

[26] Genesis 18:11 Now Abraham and Sarah [were] old [and] well stricken in age; [and] it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.

[27] Exodus 3:16 ¶ Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and [seen] that which is done to you in Egypt:

[28] 0622 ^ףסא^ AlefSemechPei ‘acaph \@aw-saf’\@ a primitive root; v; AV-together 51, gather 86, assemble 15, rereward 5, misc 51; 200 1) to gather, receive, remove, gather in
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to gather, collect

1a2) to gather (an individual into company of others)

1a3) to bring up the rear

1a4) to gather and take away, remove, withdraw

1b) (Niphal)
1b1) to assemble, be gathered

1b2) (pass of Qal 1a2)

1b2a) to be gathered to one’s fathers

1b2b) to be brought in or into (association with others)

1b3) (pass of Qal 1a4)

1b3a) to be taken away, removed, perish

1c) (Piel)
1c1) to gather (harvest)

1c2) to take in, receive into

1c3) rearguard, rearward (subst)

1d) (Pual) to be gathered

1e) (Hithpael) to gather oneself or themselves

א Alef Father-Son- begin- The Paradox: God and Man - (ox bull) [strength, leader, first] (Numeric value: 1)

ס Samech The Eternal Cycle The circular symbolizes the fundamental truth described in the mystery of the ten statements [ prop... Support, turn] (Numeric value: 60)

פ ף Pei Communication: The Oral Torah The mouth, blow, edge. [Mouth speak open word] (Numeric value: 80)

[34] א Alef Father-Son- begin- The Paradox: God and Man - (ox bull) [strength, leader, first] (Numeric value: 1)

[35] ס Samech The Eternal Cycle The circular symbolizes the fundamental truth described in the mystery of the ten statements [ prop... Support, turn] (Numeric value: 60)

[36] פ ף Pei Communication: The Oral Torah The mouth, blow, edge. [Mouth speak open word] (Numeric value: 80)

[29] Exodus 10:9 And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we [must hold] a feast unto the LORD."

[30] 01419 ^לודג^ gadowl \@gaw-dole’\@ GimelDeletVavLamed or (shortened) ^לדג^ gadol \@gaw-dole’\@ GimelDeletLamed from 01431; ; AV-great 397, high 22, greater 19, loud 9, greatest 9, elder 8, great man 8, mighty 7, eldest 6, misc 44; 529 adj
1) great

1a) large (in magnitude and extent)

1b) in number

1c) in intensity

1d) loud (in sound)

1e) older (in age)

1f) in importance
1f1) important things

1f2) great, distinguished (of men)

1f3) God Himself (of God)

subst
1g) great things

1h) haughty things

1i) greatness

n pr m
1j) (CLBL) Haggedolim, the great man?, father of Zabdiel

[31] 01431 ^לדג^ gadal \@gaw-dal’\@ a primitive root; v; AV-magnify 32, great 26, grow 14, nourish up 7, grow up 6, greater 5, misc 25; 115
1) to grow, become great or important, promote, make powerful, praise, magnify, do great things
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to grow up

1a2) to become great

1a3) to be magnified

1b) (Piel)
1b1) to cause to grow

1b2) to make great, powerful

1b3) to magnify

1c) (Pual) to be brought up

1d) (Hiphil)
1d1) to make great

1d2) to magnify

1d3) to do great things

1e) (Hithpael) to magnify oneself

[32] 01420 ^הלודג^ gᵉduwlah \@ghed-oo-law’\@ or (shortened) ^הלדג^ gᵉdullah \@ghed-ool-law’\@ or (less accurately) ^הלודג^ gᵉduwllah \@ghed-ool-law’\@ from 01419; n f; AV-greatness 7, great things 3, majesty 1, dignity 1; 12
1) greatness
1a) of man

1b) of God’s greatness (as an attribute)

[33] Exodus 10:9 "And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we [must hold] a feast unto the LORD.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-[[Image:Fract10s-100s.jpg|250px|right|thumb|link=The Living Network|The family is an institution of God and [[elder]]s are merely the heads of families. Those heads of families might be chosen and appointed to fulfill or accomplish certain tasks. The [[early Church]] in general was a [[network]] of families who came together in a pattern of ten families to form a peculiar kind of [[fellowship]] that bound their [[Intentional Community|intentional community]] together by [[love]] and [[charity]], in [[faith]] instead of force, and in [[hope]] instead of entitlements, according to the ''[[perfect law of liberty]]'' in the practice of what was called [[Pure Religion]]. The [[Church]] ministers [[appoint]]ed by Christ offer an [[The Way|alternative]] to the [[covetous practices]] of the [[world]] which according to [[Peter]] will make you [[merchandise]] and [[curse children]], and according to [[Polybius]] "''degenerate (the people) into perfect savages who find once more a master and monarch''". Understanding '''[[eldership]]'''<Ref name="elder"></Ref> will help us seek the [[kingdom of God]] and His [[righteousness]]. The [[Elder]]s of Liberty form the [[Altars]] of Earth that [[Free Assemblies|assemble]] themselves into groups of families congregating in [[Tens|10s, 100s, 1000s]] for the purposes of [[Christ]] who came to serve.]]
+[[Image:Fract10s-100s.jpg|250px|right|thumb|link=The Living Network|Elder was never an office of the Church from the beginning nor one of the Levites, the church in the wilderness, as Moses directed.
+Elder is an office of the family. <Br>The [[family]] is an institution of God and [[elder]]s are merely the heads of families. Those heads of families might be chosen and appointed to fulfill or accomplish certain tasks with in the duties of the [[Early Church]].<Br> The [[early Church]] in general was a [[network]] of families who came together in a pattern of [[tens|ten families]] to form a peculiar kind of [[fellowship]] that bound their [[Intentional Community|intentional community]] together by [[love]] and [[charity]], in [[faith]] instead of [[force]], and in [[hope]] instead of [[entitlements]], according to the ''[[perfect law of liberty]]'' in the practice of what was called [[Pure Religion]]. <Br> The [[Church]] ministers [[appoint]]ed by Christ offer an [[The Way|alternative]] to the [[covetous practices]] of the [[world]] which according to [[Peter]] will make you [[merchandise]] and [[curse children]], and according to [[Polybius]] "''[[degenerate]] the [[masses]] into [[perfect savages]] who find once more a master and monarch''". <Br>Understanding '''[[eldership]]'''<Ref name="elder"></Ref> will help us seek the [[kingdom of God]] and His [[righteousness]].<Br> The [[Elder]]s of Liberty form the [[Altars]] of Earth that [[Free Assemblies|assemble]] themselves into groups of families congregating in [[Tens|10s, 100s, 1000s]] for the purposes of [[Christ]] who came to serve while setting the [[captive]] free.]]
 == Elders of God ==
-The term [[Elder]], contrary to popular beliefs of the modern Church, is not an office of the Church. The Greek word we see translated "elder" was commonly used to identify the head of a family. The Greek word ''presbuteros''<Ref>{{4245}} </Ref> can mean just "old man" or the "eldest" man. The word appears more than 60 times in the New Testament.<Ref>[[Matthew 15]]:2  Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders <4245>? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
+The term [[Elder]], contrary to popular beliefs of the modern Church, is not an office of the Church. The Greek word we see translated "elder"<Ref name="elder">{{4245}} </Ref> was commonly used to identify the head of a family. The Greek word ''presbuteros''<Ref name="elder">{{4245}} </Ref> can mean just "old man" or the "eldest" man within the basic unit of society which is the family. The word ''presbuteros'' appears more than 60 times in the New Testament<Ref>[[Matthew 15]]:2  Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders <[[4245]]>? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
 : Matthew 16:21  From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders <4245> and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
 : Matthew 21:23  And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders <4245> of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?
@@ Line 36: / Line 37: @@
 : Acts 6:12  And they stirred up the people, and the elders <4245>, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council,
 : Acts 11:30  Which also they did, and sent it to the elders <4245> by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.
-: Acts 14:23  And when they had ordained them elders <4245> in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.
+: [[Acts 14]]:23  And when they had ordained<[[5500]]> them elders <4245> in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.
 : Acts 15:2  When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders <4245> about this question.
 : Acts 15:4  And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders <4245>, and they declared all things that God had done with them.
@@ Line 42: / Line 43: @@
 : Acts 15:22  Then pleased it the apostles and elders <4245>, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren:
 : Acts 15:23  And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders <4245> and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia:
-: Acts 16:4  And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders <4245> which were at Jerusalem.
+: [[Acts 16]]:4  And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained<[[2919]]> of the apostles and elders <[[4245]]> which were at Jerusalem.
 : Acts 20:17  And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders <4245> of the church.
 : Acts 21:18  And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders <4245> were present.
@@ Line 52: / Line 53: @@
 : [[1 Timothy 5]]:17  Let the elders <4245> that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.
 : [[Hebrews 11]]:2  For by it the elders <4245> obtained a good report.
+: [[Titus 1]]:5  For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain<[[2525]]> elders <[[4245]]> in every city, as I had appointed thee:
 : [[James 5]]:14  Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders <4245> of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
 : [[1 Peter 5]]:1  The elders <4245> which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
 : [[1 Peter 5]]:5  Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder <4245>. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
 : [[2 John 1]]:1  The elder <4245> unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth;
-: 3 John 1:1  The elder <4245> unto the wellbeloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth.
+: [[3 John 1]]:1  The elder <4245> unto the wellbeloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth.
 : Revelation 4:4  And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders <4245> sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.
 : Revelation 4:10  The four and twenty elders <4245> fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
@@ Line 68: / Line 70: @@
 : Revelation 11:16  And the four and twenty elders <4245>, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,
 : Revelation 14:3  And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders <4245>: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
-: Revelation 19:4  And the four and twenty elders <4245> and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.</Ref>
+: Revelation 19:4  And the four and twenty elders <4245> and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.</Ref> who were appointed to positions of service.
-A common Hebrew word for [[elder]] appears over a hundred seventy times in the Old Testament where it also means ''old man'' or ''oldest man'' in relation to a family group. Both the [[Pharisees]] and [[Modern Christians]] have tried to turn these terms into an institutional office of the [[Church]] but that is not the meaning of the term.
+A common Hebrew word for [[elder]]  zaqen (ןקז) appears over a hundred seventy times in the Old Testament where it also means ''old man'' or ''oldest man'' in relation to a family group. The five thousand men and their families at the miracle of the loaves and fishes were all [[elders]] of their families by Jewish traditions. When Christ [[commanded]] his disciples to make the people organize themselves into these [[tens|ten family groups]] he was directing the practical structural form of the Christian community which was well known among the Jews.
-Most of the terms like [[pastors]], [[ministers]], [[deacon]] or [[priest]]. even [[overseer]] or [[bishop]] are descriptive words identifying the nature or aspect of a job. All of those people were likely also elders of families who were chosen to fulfill a certain function within the mission of the Church.
+----
+: "To this day, at least among the Jews, all it takes to form a [[synagogue|synagog]] is ten [[elder]]s! Ten men, rather... they constitute a ''synagog'' and the elder who was chosen by the ten heads of household conduct the services. That’s the way it was."
+: "The [[apostles]] as they went out established, Paul for example, church after church in one place after another and he appointed and ordained [[elders]], and he moved on."<Ref>"The World Under God’s Law, The Church Under God’s Law" by Professor Rushdoony.</Ref>
+----
+When Christ '''[[commanded]]''' his disciples to get the people to organize in groups of '''[[tens]]''' he was simply organizing them in what would be called [[synagogue]]s, a group of ten [[elders]].
+[[File:Jesusfeeds.jpg|right|200px|thumb|[[Elders]] are the elders or heads of [[family|families]]. An "Elder" is not an "0ffice" of the Church.<Br> Paul and others were appointing men who were "elders of families" to be responsible for certain duties within the [[network]] of [[free assemblies]] which formed the whole "community" of Christians that is the [[kingdom of God]]. <Br>
+There are people "[[appoint]]ed" as we see [[Luke 22]]:29 to positions of the Church and with the "[[Seven men]]" by Peter in [[Acts 6]]. But none of these positions are meant to be used by men to "[[exercise authority]] one over the other". [[Matthew 20]]:25-26, [[Mark 10]]:42-43, [[Luke   22]]:25-26.<Br> All the elders of the congregation of the people were normally counted by the heads of families. ([[Matthew 14]]:21)
+One of the purposes of the church working together as a body of all the people together as Christ [[commanded]] was to provide the [[Corban of Christ]] so no one had to go to the "[[benefactors]]" of the "[[world]]" who do "[[exercise authority]] one over the other", like the [[Pharisees]] did with their ''[[Corban]]'' which always makes the word of God to no effect.  ]]
+Both the [[Pharisees]] and [[Modern Christians]] have tried to turn terms like ''elder'' into an institutional office of power or authority in the [[Church]] but that is not the meaning of the term.
+In Peter we see, "Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all [of you] be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble." [[1 Peter 5]]:5. All Peter is saying is that younger people should be "yield to one’s admonition or advice" if he is older with more experience at least with respect and humility.
+Most of the terms like [[pastors]], [[ministers]], [[deacon]] or [[priest]], even [[overseer]] or [[bishop]] are descriptive words identifying the nature or aspect of a job within the "[[ekklesia]]" which provided real services for the people in righteousness. All of those people performing these service jobs were likely also "[[elders]]" of families who were chosen to fulfill a certain function within the mission of the ''ekklesia'' or [[early Church]].
+Ministers were servants of the of God serving the people and like traditional ministers they were expected to be married<Ref>1 Timothy 3:2  A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
+: 1 Timothy 3:12  Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.
+: Titus 1:6  If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.</Ref> so you had some idea of their character for they had an important job and need the humble cooperation of everyone to get that job done.<Ref>1 Corinthians 16:16  That ye submit yourselves unto such, and to every one that helpeth with [us], and laboureth.</Ref>
+The ministers of the [[early Church]] were ''rightly dividing bread from house to house''<Ref>[[Isaiah 58]]:6  [Is] not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?  [Is it] not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
+: [[Acts 2]]:46  And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,</Ref> in the practice of [[Pure religion]] through a [[daily ministration]] of [[faith]], [[hope]], and [[charity]].
+If Christ commanded that we do not ''[[exercise authority]] one over the other'' then what we are suppose to ''submit'' to is the ''[[righteousness]] of God''.<Ref>[[Romans 10]]:3  For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.</Ref>
 ----
-"In writing both to [[Titus]] and to Timothy the apostle speaks of the ordination of bishops and of deacons, but says not a word of the ordination of presbyters; for the fact is that the word bishops includes presbyters also." Jerome, Ep. 146.
+<blockquote>
+ "In writing both to [[Titus]] and to Timothy the apostle speaks of the ordination of bishops and of deacons, but says not a word of the ordination of presbyters; for the fact is that the word bishops includes presbyters also." Jerome, Ep. 146.
+</blockquote>
 ----
-[[The Congregation]] of the people is composed of what [[Moses]] called the ''[[altars]] of earth''.<Ref>Exodus 20:23 Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold. 24 An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.</Ref> Each of us are sacrificial [[altars]] of ''living clay'', or “adamah”, sons of Adam whose Father was God, making us all children of God if we will do the will of the [[Father]] in heaven.
+[[The Congregation]] of the people is composed of what [[Moses]] called the ''[[altars]] of earth''.<Ref>[[Exodus 20]]:23 Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold. 24 An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.</Ref> Each of us are sacrificial [[altars]] of ''living clay'', or “adamah”, sons of Adam whose Father was God, making us all children of God if we will do the will of the [[Father]] in heaven.
 We are both priest and king of our own free will choice within the individual natural family. This remains true as long as we maintain the ''power of choice'' bestowed upon every man by the Creator. We maintain that choice, that liberty, as long as we exercise the responsibility of choice in righteousness. Our offering within the family and to the community must be by [[charity]].<Ref>1 Corinthians 13:13 “And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these [is] charity.”</Ref> If we seek to take away that right to choose, that liberty of choice, from our neighbor we will lose our own liberty. For as we judge so shall we be judged.
@@ Line 84: / Line 113: @@
 The [[Priests|priests]] of the people are first the people themselves. [[Priest]] is derived from Greek, via Latin ''presbyter'', the term for "elder" or eldest head of a family.
-{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin-center: 10px;" width="25%"
+== Audio Podcasts ==
-| '''Audio Podcasts'''
-|-
+[http://www.hisholychurch.net/audio/181010eldership0102.mp3 Audio 1 Eldership]
-| [http://www.hisholychurch.net/audio/181010eldership0102.mp3 Audio  1 Eldership ]
-|-
+[http://www.hisholychurch.net/audio/181010eldership03.mp3 Audio 2 Eldership]
-| [http://www.hisholychurch.net/audio/181010eldership03.mp3 Audio 2 Eldership]
-|-
+[http://www.hisholychurch.net/audio/181117elder04.mp3 Audio 3 Elders]
-| [http://www.hisholychurch.net/audio/181117elder04.mp3 Audio 3 Elders ]
-|-
+[http://www.hisholychurch.net/audio/181117elder06.mp3 Audio 4 Elders]
-| [http://www.hisholychurch.net/audio/181117elder06.mp3 Audio 4 Elders ]
-|-
+[http://www.hisholychurch.net/audio/181020leaving01.mp3 Audio 5 Leaving]
-| [http://www.hisholychurch.net/audio/181020leaving01.mp3 Audio 5 Leaving]
-|-
+[http://www.hisholychurch.net/audio/18102701apology.mp3 Audio 6 Apologies]
-| [http://www.hisholychurch.net/audio/18102701apology.mp3 Audio 6 Apologies]
-|-
-|}
+<Br>{{condotsaud}}<Br>
 == National priesthood ==
@@ Line 111: / Line 140: @@
 In other words, the two systems of national [[welfare]] that could be pursued by the people are either by the [[Church]] through [[charity]] or the [[State]] through [[force]]. One is based on the free choices of the heads of families and the other is dependent upon rulers like [[Cain]], [[Nimrod]] or the [[Pharaoh]] of [[Egypt]] or the [[Caesar]] of [[Rome]] who exercise authority over the people.
-Israel was a theocratic [[republic]] where God was to rule through the hearts of the people; the elders or [[priests]] of each family. The [[Levites]], as national priests of that society, served the “tabernacles of the [[congregations]]” of a nation by serving the ''"tents"'' of each family in free assemblies.  The [[Levites]] were to be the [[servants|public servants]] of a free nation.
+[[Israel]] was a theocratic [[republic]] where God was to rule through the hearts of the people; the elders or [[priests]] of each family.
+The [[kingdom of God]] is elder driven because it the head of every [[family]] who chooses which minister to support. The more each elder is filled with  the [[Holy Spirit]] the wiser his choices will be for the nation.
+The [[Levites]], as national priests of that society, served the “tabernacles of the [[congregations]]” of a nation by serving the ''"tents"'' of each family in free assemblies.  The [[Levites]] were to be the [[servants|public servants]] of a free nation.
 Those assemblies donated to the minister of their choice who acted as a voluntary health, education and welfare agency to help care for the needs of society through a [[network]] of ministers supported entirely by [[freewill offerings]] of the people, for the people and by the people. The [[Corban]] of the [[Pharisees]] was the antitheses of that system of [[charity]] and ''made the word of God to none effect''.
@@ Line 128: / Line 161: @@
 == The Old Testament elder ==
+[[File:Saultearsamuel2.jpg|right|thumb|In the days of [[Samuel]] there were people who rejected God and desired to have a [[rulers|ruler]] not because they had set up a system of [[Corban]] like [[Herod]] and the [[Pharisees]] but because they were [[slothful]]<Ref name="slothn">{{slothn}}</Ref> in the way of [[righteousness]]. [[Moses]] had set the people up in the [[tens]] and instructed them to the [[Nullification|Fact and Law]] of the "[[judgments]]". The [[Levites]] formed the [[Cities of refuge|cities of refuge]] were actislly appeals courts to prevent injustice at the local level. But to police those ''apelet courts'' the [[Elders|elders]] funded or withheld funding to the [[Levites]] through the [[heave offering]]s passed up by the [[Elders|elders]] in every congregation of ten who chose their ministers in [[free assemblies]] with their [[votive offerings]] of [[Tithe|tithe]]. <Br>Eventually,  [[1 Samuel 8]] warns how this would [[degenerate]] the voice of society into something God would not [[hear]]. [[Sloth]]<Ref name="slothn">{{slothn}}</Ref> leads to [[Foolishness|foolish]]ness and [[Bondage|bondage]].  If we understand [[Deuteronomy 17]] we may see clearly where Saul went wrong. [[Samuel]] rebukes [[Saul]] because he engage in the [[sacrifice of fools]], which was the [[Corban]] of the [[Pharisees]] which was the [[covetous practices]] that is [[idolatry]]<Ref name="Isidolatry">{{Isidolatry}}</Ref> which provides the [[dainties]]<Ref name="massesnf">{{massesnf}}</Ref> that destroys [[liberty]] <Ref name="desliberty">{{desliberty}}</Ref> and degenerates<Ref name="leavenp">{{leavenp}}</Ref> the people into the [[bondage of Egypt]].]]
 We see in the Old Testament that there were ''elders'' there too. The word in Hebrew just meant someone who was an "old man or old women". Israel was to respect their elders and honor their parents and grandparents. That honor and respect caused society to be more stable as each generation learned to respect and care for the generation that came before. The oldest member of a family was the "elder" of that family. God and nature had instituted the family and those families freely assembled themselves, voluntarily providing for one another in a [[network]] of [[charity]]. The [[Church in the wilderness]], who were the [[levites]], served the tabernacles or tents of the congregations in these [[free assemblies]] where every ''elder was a functional part of a voluntary society and government.
@@ Line 136: / Line 171: @@
 <Br>The Jewish [[eldership]] was transferred from the old dispensation to the new. "The creation of the office of elder is nowhere recorded in the New Testament, as in the case of deacons and apostles, because the latter offices were created to meet new and special emergencies, while the former was transmitted from the earlies times. In other words, the office of elder was the only permanent essential office of the church under either dispensation." Easton's Bible Dictionary</Ref>
-The Easton's Bible Dictionary tries to equate the Arab word "sheik" with elder since they both mean an "old man"<Ref name="elder"></Ref> but the Latin word for "senate" (senatus) also means "old man". The problem is in the early [[Republic]] under the principles of "[[Libera res publica]]" the Senate had no power to make laws nor "exercise authority" over their fellow citizens. They were merely a body of respected elders from good families that came together to serve in the organization of the people. The Senate evolved into an office of power as the people devolved through a culture of [[sloth]] and [[covetous practices]]. This process was well underway during the days of [[Polybius]] who explains that the cultural customs of the people degenerated them and opened the way to despotism and tyranny.
+The Easton's Bible Dictionary tries to equate the Arab word "sheik" with elder since they both mean an "old man"<Ref name="elder"></Ref> but the Latin word for "[[senate]]" (senatus) also means "old man". The problem is in the early [[Republic]] under the principles of "[[Libera res publica]]" the Senate had no power to make laws nor "exercise authority" over their fellow citizens. They were merely a body of respected elders from good families that came together to serve in the organization of the people. The Senate evolved into an office of power as the people devolved through a culture of [[sloth]] and [[covetous practices]]. This process was well underway during the days of [[Polybius]] who explains that the cultural customs of the people [[degenerate]]d them and opened the way to despotism and [[tyranny]].
 Easton misinterprets the body of [[Seventy]] chosen by [[Moses]] to be something akin to the [[Senate]] of [[Rome]]. <Ref name="elder"></Ref>
@@ Line 145: / Line 180: @@
-The Hebrew word for [[elder]] is ''zaqen''<Ref>02205 ^ןקז^ zaqen \@zaw-kane’\@ from 02204; adj; AV-elders 115, old 23, old man 19, ancient 14, aged 3, eldest 1,  ancient man 1, senators 1, old women 1; 178  1) old    1a) old (of humans)    1b) elder (of those having authority)</Ref> which is the same word for old or aged<Ref> 02204 ^ןקז^ zaqen \@zaw-kane’\@ a primitive root; v;  AV- … old 26, aged 1; 27 1) to be old, become old   1a) (Qal) to be old, become old    1b) (Hiphil) to grow old, show age</Ref>. We can see these two words as three [[Hebrew]] letter ZayinKufNun.
+The Hebrew word for [[elder]] is ''zaqen''<Ref name="zaqen">{{02205}} </Ref> which is the same word for old or aged<Ref>{{02204}} </Ref>. We can see these two words as three [[Hebrew]] letter ZayinKufNun.
 * ז ZAYIN The Service and Valor, cut and bread, war and nourish. [weapon.... Cut to cut off manacle] 7
@@ Line 183: / Line 218: @@
 The word ''gadal'' is translated [[elder]] or '''eldest''' about a dozen times but forms of ''great'' over four-hundred times. Almost everywhere you see the word as elder or eldest they are speaking of elder siblings like Shem to Japheth or Esau to Jacob or David's older brothers. Age gave an automatic rank in society but this word is not the word we see [[Moses]] use in Exodus 10:9 <Ref>[[Exodus 10]]:9 "And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we [must hold] a feast unto the LORD.</Ref>.
-The word we see there for "old" is zaqen<Ref> 02205 ^ןקז^ zaqen \@zaw-kane’\@ from 02204; adj; AV-elders 115, old 23, old man 19, ancient 14, aged 3, eldest 1,   ancient man 1, senators 1, old women 1; 178
+The word we see there for "old" is ''zaqen''<Ref name="zaqen">{{02205}} </Ref> ZayinKufNun and is actually translated ''Senator'' at least once. The same letters also produce the word for beard and almost always have to do with ''age'' but can be connected with ''authority'' because the ''younger'' should respect the ''elder''.
-: 1) old
-::    1a) old (of humans)
-::    1b) elder (of those having authority)
-</Ref> ZayinKufNun and is actually translated ''Senator'' at least once. The same letters also produce the word for beard and almost always have to do with ''age'' but can be connected with ''authority''.

Template:Elders: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 14:14, 26 October 2024

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Elders of God

Audio Podcasts

National priesthood

The Old Testament elder

The Senate

Hebrew elder

Another elder

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Template:Elders: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 14:14, 26 October 2024

Elders of God

Audio Podcasts

National priesthood

The Old Testament elder

The Senate

Hebrew elder

Another elder

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