Church in the Wilderness and Music, I

RESTORING LAWFUL CHURCH WORSHIP
II. "The Church In The Wilderness: Membership"

"All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name" (Psalm 86:9). "O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker" (Psalm 95:6).

"A recent research indicated that half of the Christian population is Catholic with more than a billion followers, while 800 million were Protestant and 260 million were Orthodox."ⁱ Previously, we have purposed to restore the church of the NT. There are those that criticize such intention to restore the NT church. Their voices say, "Why not restore the church of the entire Bible?" Should this be done?

For our inquiry into restoring the church of the Bible, we find the earliest mention of the church to be in the wilderness under Moses.ⁱⁱ Leviticus 8:3, "And let all the congregation hold an assembly^G1577 [church] at the door of the tent of the testimony!"

In the NT's Acts 7:38, Stephen, the first "Christian martyr" mentioned this church at his trial before the Jewish council: "This is he [Moses], that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us."

THE 40 YEAR PERIOD. We are looking at the history of God's people before they invaded Canaan. The Israelites left Egypt and wandered for approximately 40 years in the wildernessⁱⁱⁱ

Who and what constituted this church? Is it applicable to us today? In other words, should we seek to restore its identity in order for us to have acceptable worship of God? Will it help us to be neither Catholic, Protestant nor Orthodox but a church pleasing to God?

In order to restore an organization, one must identify membership rules and re-apply them today.

WHO WERE ITS MEMBERS? Just anybody could not be a participating member in the church in the wilderness.

1. All In This Church Were Jacob's Descendants. They had been slaves in Egypt (Exodus 19:3). The name "Israel" meant descendant of Jacob (Genesis 32:28). This would disqualify all living today including descendants of Israel if we include the bondage factor. This was a church with exclusive membership. The text in Psalm 86:9 prophesies that all nations would worship God: "All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee." We are interested in not just Israel, Jacob's children, but all people being able to come and worship God. This church is not applicable to us.

2. Certain Categories Were Excluded. Certain people, nationalities, even some Israelites who were mutilated sexually or bastards, sabbath violaters (Exodus 31:15), and ceremonially unclean (read Leviticus 22) were forbidden to be or become members in this church (Deuteronomy 23:1-8). The Bible prophesies "All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name" (Psalm 86:9). The NT church invites all with no exception. "Whosoever will, let him come" (Revelation 22:17). Jesus would say, "Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me" (Mark 8:34). This church is hence not applicable today.

3. All Were Circumcised. All members had to have been circumcised. "Though all the people who came out had been circumcised... " (Joshua 5:5a). This was a requirement of all the male members in the church in the wilderness. This was given to Abraham and hence predated the Law given through Moses (John 7:22). Uncircumcized strangers that would dwell among the church must be circumcised with the male children in order to feast with them (Exodus 12:48).

The NT church on the contrary accepts the uncircumcised. "But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God" (Romans 2:29). A new creature is required in the NT and not circumcision (Galatians 6:5; Philippians 3:3). "Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision^iv" (Philippians 3:2).

4. All Were "Baptized" People. No exceptions. They had all crossed the divided waters of the "Red Sea" (Exodus 15:4). God Himself had baptized them in the Sea. The Bible says that God blew the water back with a strong wind and there was a wall of water on both sides. God's cloud covered from above. They were completely covered, as it were. The NT apostle Paul described the church in the wilderness in the following manner, "Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers^v were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto (eis) Moses in the cloud and in the sea " (1 Corinthians 10:1,2).

It was not the baptism "into Christ" (Romans 6:3; Galatians 3:27) but still it was a required baptism: it was the baptism "into Moses." It was something that they allowed to happen to them. This baptism was necessary for salvation from physical bondage in Egypt. The same preposition "into" (eis) is also used in the baptism prescribed by Jesus Christ ("into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit", Matthew 28:19). The miracle of the Red Sea baptism can not be performed by men. There's no need to pilgrimage to the Red Sea for it to be performed.

It is assumed that all would agree that it is impossible to restore the miraculous signs and circumstances of the Red Sea crossing (Deuteronomy 26:8). Only God can assert and perform these miracles. Only God could baptize the people in the Red Sea. This church is not applicable to us.

5. All Were To Be Saints (made holy; purify; set apart). "And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes, And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai [Horeb]" (Exodus 19:10, 11). People had to be sanctified ("set apart"; purified) in order to present themselves before the Holy God at Mount Sinai (Horeb).

The NT church members have had themselves washed and have been sanctified (1 Corinthians 6:11). Jesus does this cleansing with the water by the Spirit's Word (NT) (Ephesians 5:26); our God of peace sanctifies a person wholly (1 Thessalonians 5:23); Jesus sanctifies the people in the NT with His own blood (Hebrews 13:12).

^{It
would be difficult and even impossible to restore all the membership
rules of the church in the wilderness.}

WORSHIP. The church in the wilderness discovered the hard way that God does not look kindly upon unauthorized worship. What did they do wrong in their worship? How if ever did that church worship God acceptably? Can we imitate them in any way and thereby please Almighty God today?

i https://biblethingsinbibleways.wordpress.com/2014/09/06/2000-years-of-christianity-what-happened-part-i-30ad- 300ad/

ii Ekklesia G1577: the Greek form of church is mentioned in the LXX version first in Leviticus 8:3, then in Numbers 20:8 and Deuteronomy 4:10.

iii Wilderness--ἔρημοςG2048 erēmos, Thayer Definition: 1) solitary, lonely, desolate, uninhabited 1a) used of places 1a1) a desert, wilderness 1a2) deserted places, lonely regions 1a3) an uncultivated region fit for pasturage - Exodus 15:22; 16:35; Acts 7:36). "I have led you forty years in the wilderness" (Deuteronomy 29:5a; see also, Deut. 8:2; 1:3).

iv Concision. Thayer's: "a cutting down; i.e., mutilation"; hence, beware of those that mutilate the body.

v Although the apostle is speaking to Gentile believers, he refers to the church in the wilderness as "our fathers" showing an intimate relationship with them. To Gentile believers, "If ye are Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 3:29).