© 23 June 2017 Revive Israel Ministries

Apostle in Original Context (Part 1)

Cody Archer

Have you ever wondered what the word "apostle" meant to those living in the time the New Covenant was written? I believe that understanding the original meaning and use of the word "apostle" will help bring clarity to the role of apostles today. Here are some things I have discovered:

Before the New Covenant was written, Phoenicians and Greeks first developed and used the word apostle, and later the Roman Empire adopted the word and developed its meaning and function further. Apostle, in its most simplistic form, means a sent one. But when we dig deeper and ask who was the sender, for what purpose was the messenger sent and what was the message he carried, we discover layers of profound meaning and truth that point to the Kingdom of God.

Mission Possible

Two thousand years ago, apostle was not a religious word or title, but was used in secular language to describe a king sending out a fleet of battle ships (but not limited to ships) on a specific mission. Their mission was to sail to foreign territory for the purpose of colonizing that new territory, and transforming it to be just like the territory they had been sent out from. The head captain on the lead ship was called an apostle.

Alongside the apostle traveled a team of skilled tradesmen, for example: teachers of language and culture, architects and builders, soldiers to fight and maintain order, doctors and many other foundational occupations for the success and expansion of the new colony. The apostle was sent with exclusive authority from the king to oversee and direct the development of the new colony. The apostle's end goal was to make sure that if the king ever visited that new colony, he would immediately feel as though he had never left his capital city. The way of life, culture, language, architecture, education and so on, was supposed to be just like it was in Rome.

Huge Statement

I have put a positive light on the role of a Roman apostle from 2000 years ago, but in reality, their colonial mission was full of bloodshed, corruption and abuse of power. Despite this, when Jesus gave power and authority to his disciples and called them apostles, in the language and context of that day this was a HUGE statement.

In part 2, I will share some spiritual principals we can take from understanding the original meaning of "apostle", and highlight the clear connection to five-fold ministry (Eph. 4:11).

In this message Asher Intrater shares seven important words like trust, integrity and faithfulness that come from the root of the Hebrew word "emunah" - faith - and gives a clear call and challenge to the church to live out true biblical faith with moral courage. 

To watch in English click here.

Yehudit

We approached two middle-aged couples. Camilla asked one of the ladies if she suffered from any pain in her body and, if so, if we could pray for her healing. The woman responded that she had back pain. I asked if I could put my hand on the hurting spot and pray. Praise God, she agreed! 

I put my hand on her upper back and commanded the pain to leave. She jumped and shouted, “What did you do?!” She looked totally surprised and Camilla asked whether the pain was totally gone.  “Almost,” she replied. So I put my hand on her back again and commanded all the pain to leave—which it did!

Another woman told us that she doesn't believe in God. Still, she confessed she had upper back pain. I asked if I could put my hand on her back. I commanded the pain to leave and she jumped, asking, “What happened?!” The pain had left! Hallelujah! She said that if she had not seen this happen, she would not have believed.

I told her that it was Yeshua the Messiah, who healed her and shared with her about Tiferet Yeshua congregation. She took all the information and called for her husband to come over. She was totally blown away. She told us that she also had pain in her abdomen. I asked if it was an infection. She replied, “Yes, very painful.”

I put my hand upon that spot and commanded the pain to leave and the pain left! Glory to Yeshua! She was all smiles. It seemed that hearing about Yeshua was very natural for her, after the miracles she received. 

Many more amazing things happened that day. Yeshua told us that we would lay hands on the sick and they would get well—that this would be a sign to the unbeliever. The word of God is proving true in Tel Aviv.

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