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== Bishops and Overseers == | == Bishops and Overseers == | ||
The word ''[[overseer]]'' is translated from the same word we see as ''[[bishop]]''<Ref>{{1985}} </Ref> in the New Testament. | The word ''[[overseer]]'' is translated from the same Greek word episkopos which we see as ''[[bishop]]''<Ref name="episkopos">{{1985}} </Ref> in the New Testament. | ||
A [[Bishop]] or [[Overseer]] provided actual services to the Christian community by ''over seeing'' the needs of the ministers of small congregations of [[tens|ten families]]. The head or eldest ''natural Father'' of each [[family]] group was an [[elder]] who chose the [[Minister]]s for their family while forming [[free assemblies]]. | |||
Those congregations were not a corporation nor associations but were free souls under God. They chose the ministers they believed served God's kingdom according to His [[righteousness]] and the [[perfect law of liberty]]. They were not bound by contracts, covenants nor constitutions but by [[faith]], [[hope]] and [[charity]] which were a mutual union of [[love]]. | |||
That union of [[love]] was nurtured by a [[communion]] of [[love]] filled with the [[eucharist]] of [[Christ]] providing for the [[care]] and [[welfare]] ''for the people, by the people and of the people.''<Ref name="Johnwy">{{Johnwy}}</Ref> | |||
Those minister of those free assemblies gathered together in their own congregations of ministers and chose a minister who would be called a "[[bishop]]" and "[[overseer]]". This empowered that minister to be someone who provided direction and aid during the [[dearth]]s which plagued the people during Acts. | |||
These ministers of God's [[one form of government|form of government]] were truly [[titular]] leaders because they ''could not [[exercise authority]] one over the other.''<Ref name="exauth">{{exauth}}</Ref> | |||
There position was the result of conforming to Christ and His requirements of being in the [[world]] and not of it and giving up their [[Vow of poverty|personal estate]] to become [[joint heirs]] with [[Christ]]. | |||
While this was important to the [[kingdom of God]] so that it could ''return everyman to his [[family]] and His possessions''<Ref name="retfam">{{retfam}}</Ref> it would only prevail as they also sought the [[righteousness]] of God as the servants of the people in that same [[love]] of Christ. | |||
This divine relationship is all established by mutual witness, service, and sacrifice through that [[perfect law of liberty]] where a covering is provided both [[breeches|by the people]] and their [https://www.hisholychurch.org/declarations/church/DeclarationofSacredPurposeA.pdf witness and testimony]. | |||
The [[kingdom of heaven]] is like unto a net<Ref>[[Matthew 13]]:47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:</Ref> In choosing your minister for your family as you sit down in the [[tens]] you are [[network|weaving a net]] of [[righteousness]] through [[charity]], not choosing a ruler nor a guru. | |||
{{Template:Ancient Orders}} | |||
These terms like "[[bishop]]" and "[[overseer]]" are used regularly in today's [[modern Church]], but what did they mean at the time of the [[early Church|first-century Church]] by those [[early Christians]]? | These terms like "[[bishop]]" and "[[overseer]]" are used regularly in today's [[modern Church]], but what did they mean at the time of the [[early Church|first-century Church]] by those [[early Christians]]? | ||
Revision as of 10:41, 3 November 2024
Bishops and Overseers
The word overseer is translated from the same Greek word episkopos which we see as bishop[2] in the New Testament.
A Bishop or Overseer provided actual services to the Christian community by over seeing the needs of the ministers of small congregations of ten families. The head or eldest natural Father of each family group was an elder who chose the Ministers for their family while forming free assemblies.
Those congregations were not a corporation nor associations but were free souls under God. They chose the ministers they believed served God's kingdom according to His righteousness and the perfect law of liberty. They were not bound by contracts, covenants nor constitutions but by faith, hope and charity which were a mutual union of love.
That union of love was nurtured by a communion of love filled with the eucharist of Christ providing for the care and welfare for the people, by the people and of the people.[3]
Those minister of those free assemblies gathered together in their own congregations of ministers and chose a minister who would be called a "bishop" and "overseer". This empowered that minister to be someone who provided direction and aid during the dearths which plagued the people during Acts.
These ministers of God's form of government were truly titular leaders because they could not exercise authority one over the other.[4]
There position was the result of conforming to Christ and His requirements of being in the world and not of it and giving up their personal estate to become joint heirs with Christ.
While this was important to the kingdom of God so that it could return everyman to his family and His possessions[5] it would only prevail as they also sought the righteousness of God as the servants of the people in that same love of Christ.
This divine relationship is all established by mutual witness, service, and sacrifice through that perfect law of liberty where a covering is provided both by the people and their witness and testimony.
The kingdom of heaven is like unto a net[6] In choosing your minister for your family as you sit down in the tens you are weaving a net of righteousness through charity, not choosing a ruler nor a guru.
The Ancient Orders of Overseers
We see the word "paqad" translated [8] more than one way. While it appears more than three hundred times in the Bible but only translated overseer a few times but visit 59 times.
Most of the time it is translated number(119). If you added the letter Hey to paqad you got the word pequddah[9] which included ideas like "oversight, care, custody, mustering, visitation, store".
All these words together described the role of an overseer in the national network of the tens, hundreds, and thousands. They played a role in the service of the people but did not rule over the people.
They were in theory chosen by God but had no authority except by the recognition of the people and the granting of their support through freewill offerings.
They supplied oversight to prevent corruption and provide care. They were part of a charitable network providing care and welfare for the people freely given by the people.
These overseers would take custody of the property of the ministers they served in the case of death or loss of capacity to make sure it got to the next minister chosen by the people through a pattern of recognition by the people.
These overseers were key to ordering the number of the people in congregation of ten families identified as free assemblies and became an important element of the care of the people as a nation.
In time of war or attack they would muster those who would come to the aid of society; In the time of disease or famine they would not just visit but bring aid to those communities that needed more help which is what the practice of Pure Religion was all about; Because they were connected in the network of tens, gathering with other overseers of congregations in free assemblies they could call on a huge storehouse of aid without putting all their supplies in one place or a central treasury.
A repeated pattern
Before the Early Church appointed by Jesus and the Church in the wilderness appointed by Moses there was Abraham and Melchisedec who was tithed to and provided a righteous mammon through a network of living Altars.
Israel, the early Church and many nations throughout history gathered in a numerical pattern of tens, hundreds, and thousands.
An overseer is a joint heir in a national and international network and one of the main purposes of an overseer was to account for those he served by keeping everyone connected in a system of service.
He would gather with other overseers like himself in his own congregation called an Order not of the world.
Those who chose him as overseer did so in hope that he would connect them with the rest of the people seeking the kingdom of God in other congregations.
These terms like "bishop" and "overseer" are used regularly in today's modern Church, but what did they mean at the time of the first-century Church by those early Christians?
- "Bishops, presbyters(Elder) and deacons occupy in the church the same positions as those which were occupied by Aaron, his sons, and the Levites in the temple." Jerome, Ep. 146
Does the modern church do what the first-century church did?
Do "bishops" and "overseers" fulfill the same role and duties we see being done in those early days when James explained "pure Religion"?
Do Modern Christians depend on the Church for its Daily ministration of free bread - rightly divided from house to house like by the first-century Church, which was called the Eucharist?
Modern Christians often think it is okay to go to men in government who "exercise authority"[4] but that is the covetous practices condemned by Moses and doctrine of Jesus, and of course by Paul and Peter warned the people that such covetousness was idolatry[10] and would make them merchandise.
The early bishops and deacons provided a righteous system of social welfare through the tables of charity and the voluntary network of of love through the Church appointed by Christ.
Are modern bishops fulfilling the same purpose as the original bishops or overseers of the early Church in the practice of pure Religion, or do modern Christians pray to the government benefactors of the world who exercise authority one over the other?[4]
It does not appear they are in the harlot churches that ride the beast. They do not appear to teach the pure religion that is unspotted by the world. While the teach a reductionist gospel they deliver the people back in the yoke of bondage through the welfare system that Psalms, Proverbs, and Paul call a "snare and trap".[11]
And are their apostles among these men?
And are they Apostles of Christ or someone else?
Titular ministers
The Church is defined as one form of government. For any government to function, there must be participation by the people in the supply and demand of services within and to participants of society.
The titular leaders of a free government cannot be given power to exercise authority over how much or when the people entrust their ministers with their freewill offering. Christ commanded that His appointed ministers not “exercise authority”.
When people lose their daily right to choose, they are made subjects of those who have a right to choose for them.
Servants of sacrifice
What is given to a minister or bishop of the Church is given freely and completely, like a burnt offering or bread cast upon the water, but the free will choice to give must remain with the people. The choice and manner of service provided by that gift must remain entirely with the minister, who is a servant of God.
In essence, this form of sacred purpose trust, with the minister as the steward (a kind of trustee), is at the foundation of His Church and the Daily ministration of Pure Religion.
It has been customary that another group oversees the ministers in a network of service. But again, not as rulers one over the other.
Of course, in truth, the actual overseer of the Church is the Holy Spirit or what is sometimes called the Comforter.[12]
The Apostles met the requirements laid down by Christ. They were prepared to represent the Holy Spirit, and when they had received the power to do so from that Spirit, they were able to go out and preach the Kingdom as the physical representatives of that Comforter. They exercised no authority by their own hand over the people but relied entirely upon the power of that Holy Spirit.
The definition of overseership today might be called "the office or status of an overseer."
Since a deacon was a minister to groups of Tens in a network of Christians. A Bishop was a minister of ten ministers. He might be called an Archdeacon or Archbishop, not because he ruled over the minister but over the responsibility of an office of service. While, these terms are still used today they originally came down to us from the early Church which provided all social welfare for Christians through Pure Religion dependent on a daily ministration of charity.
"An Archdeacon pre-eminently a priest with pastoral gifts and spiritual maturity, able to relate to, encourage and support both clergy and laity in the archdeaconry in their fulfillment of the church's mission". THE DIOCESE OF NEWCASTLE
Preaching the gospel of the kingdom does not isolate congregations under an exclusive pastoral leader or divide the "body of Christ" by denominations. The common denominator for all Christians is Christ who said we were not to be like the governments of the Gentiles who call themselves benefactors but exercise authority one over the other, nor pray to the Fathers of the earth who provide benefits like free bread or the Corban of the Pharisees.
The overseership of the Church established by Jesus does not divide people into isolated groups but is desiring to connect all families in a network of charity and love.
Christ preached the kingdom of God at hand and if we repent and seek it and the righteousness of God it will lead us away from despotism[13] and back to liberty under God.
The modern Church is often making the word of God to none effect like the Pharisees with their state run Corban because it fails to teach the people The Way of Pure Religion and depend heavily on what was called public religion and the covetous practices of the world. These two systems were at the core of the Christian conflict.
- ↑ Matthew 13:47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:
- ↑ 1985 ~ἐπίσκοπος~ episkopos \@ep-is’-kop-os\@ from 1909 and 4649 (in the sense of 1983); n m AV-bishop 6, overseer 1; 7
- 1) an overseer
- 1a) a man charged with the duty of seeing that things to be done by others are done rightly, any curator, guardian or superintendent
- 1b) the superintendent, elder, pastor, or overseer of a Christian church; the NT uses the term bishop, overseers, 1985 pastors, 4166 elders, and presbyters 4245 interchangeably { Acts 20:17,28; Ephesian 4:11; Titus 1:5,7; 1 Peter 5:1-4 etc.}
- 1) an overseer
- ↑ Is the Bible about religion which it seldom mentions only once in a good way as Pure Religion or is it about governments and law including Natural Law? "This Bible is for the Government of the People, by the People, and for the People." is attributed to the General Prologue to the John Wycliffe Bible translation of 1384, as Lincoln quoted at Gettysburg.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Not exercise authority
- Matthew 20:25 "But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you:..."
- Mark 10:42 "But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you:..."
- Luke 22:25 "And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye [shall] not [be] so:..."
- ↑ Return to family
- 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."
- Leviticus 25:41 "And [then] shall he depart from thee, [both] he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return."
- Exodus 20:2 " I [am] the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage."
- John 8:32 "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
- Matthew 23:9 "And call no [man] your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven."
- Romans 8:14 "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 ¶ And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with [him], that we may be also glorified together."
- 2 Corinthians 6:18 "And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."
- 1 John 3:1 ¶ "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not."
- ↑ Matthew 13:47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:
- ↑ Garcillasso de Vega, an ancient Inca historian says Peru was divided into small districts containing ten families with each registered under a magistrate.
- ↑ 06485 ^דקפ^ paqad \@paw-kad’\@ a primitive root; v; AV-number 119, visit 59, punish 31, appoint 14, commit 6, miss 6, set 6, charge 5, governor 5, lack 4, oversight 4, officers 4, counted 3, empty 3, ruler 3, overseer 3, judgment 2, misc 28; 305 v
- 1) to attend to, muster, number, reckon, visit, punish, appoint, look after, care for
- 1a) (Qal)
- 1a1) to pay attention to, observe
- 1a2) to attend to
- 1a3) to seek, look about for
- 1a4) to seek in vain, need, miss, lack
- 1a5) to visit
- 1a6) to visit upon, punish
- 1a7) to pass in review, muster, number
- 1a8) to appoint, assign, lay upon as a charge, deposit
- 1b) (Niphal)
- 1b1) to be sought, be needed, be missed, be lacking
- 1b2) to be visited
- 1b3) to be visited upon
- 1b4) to be appointed
- 1b5) to be watched over
- 1c) (Piel) to muster, call up
- 1d) (Pual) to be passed in review, be caused to miss, be called, be called to account
- 1e) (Hiphil)
- 1e1) to set over, make overseer, appoint an overseer
- 1e2) to commit, entrust, commit for care, deposit
- 1f) (Hophal)
- 1f1) to be visited
- 1f2) to be deposited
- 1f3) to be made overseer, be entrusted
- 1g) (Hithpael) numbered
- 1h) (Hothpael) numbered
- n m pl abstr
- 2) musterings, expenses</Ref>
- 1) to attend to, muster, number, reckon, visit, punish, appoint, look after, care for
- ↑ 06486 ^הדקפ^ pᵉquddah \@pek-ood-daw’\@ pass part of 06485; n f; AV-visitation 13, office 5, charge 2, oversight 2, officers 2, orderings 1, account 1, custody 1, numbers 1, misc 4; 32
- 1) oversight, care, custody, mustering, visitation, store
- 1a) visitation, punishment
- 1b) oversight, charge, office, overseer, class of officers
- 1c) mustering
- 1d) store
- 1) oversight, care, custody, mustering, visitation, store
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Table as a snare
- Psalms 69:22-23 “Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap. 23 Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake."”
- Romans 11:9 “And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them:”
- Proverbs 23:1 "When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what [is] before thee: 2 And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite. 3 Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat."
- Exodus 23:32 "Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. 33 They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee."
- Exodus 34:12 "Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee:"
- Deuteronomy 7:16 "And thou shalt consume all the people which the LORD thy God shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them: neither shalt thou serve their gods; for that [will be] a snare unto thee."
- Judges 2:2 "And ye shall make no league [covenant] with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?"
- Proverbs 1:10 "My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not."
- Proverbs 6:2 “Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.” Swear not
- Luke 21:34 "And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and [so] that day come upon you unawares. 35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth."
- 1 Timothy 6:9 "But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and [into] many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."
- "Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?" Isaiah 40:21 is about the message of John the Baptist who was "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God" Isaiah 40:3 to avoid the "snare" of the legal charity of the welfare state which which makes the word of God to none effect bringing man back into captivity as human resources.
- ↑ Parakletos translated comforter 4, advocate 1. 1) summoned, called to one’s side, esp. called to one’s aid. 1a) one who pleads another’s cause before a judge, a pleader, counsel for defense, legal assistant, an advocate.
- ↑ : “Despotism, suspicious by its very nature, views the separation of men as the best guarantee of its own permanence and usually does all it can to keep them in isolation. No defect of the human heart suits it better than egoism; a tyrant is relaxed enough to forgive his subjects for failing to love him, provided they do not love one another. He does not ask them to help him to govern the state; it is enough that they have no intention of managing it themselves. He calls those who claim to unite their efforts to create general prosperity “turbulent and restless spirits” and, twisting the normally accepted meaning of the words, he gives the name of “good citizens” to those who retreat into themselves.”
- “Thus the vices fostered by tyranny are exactly those supported by equality. These two things are complementary and mutually supportive, with fatal results.” Democracy in America: And Two Essays on America, by Alexis de Tocqueville