Page 3 - Ecclesiology Textbook Masters

Ecclesiology

By Dr. Kris Bjorgen

Study Section 1: Before the Church Began

1.1 Connect.

Have you ever read about the church in the Old Testament? Maybe the tabernacle was the
church in the Old Testament. The Mosaic law of the sacrifices and the various feasts are
difficult to fit into what we know as the church in the New Testament. If you traveled back in
time to meet the prophet Isaiah, and had a little talk, and if you asked him about the church,
he probably would look at you as if you were crazy! He would not know what you are talking
about. Today, we want to start our study of the church looking at the church from the
vantage point of the Old Testament prophets and characters. Were they looking forward to this new
model for worship and fellowship? Let’s find out….

1.2 Objectives:

1. The student should be able to describe how both Israel and the church are “called out” from
the world to represent God to the nations.

2. The student should be able explain that the promises made to Israel will be literally fulfilled
and cannot be transferred to the church.

3. The student should be able describe the birth of the church in the New Testament as predicted by
Jesus Christ Himself.

4. The student should be able state the unique promises made to the church made by Jesus Christ
during the Olivet Discourse.

1.3 The Old Testament era

Before Pentecost and the initiation of a New Covenant, the concept of the church was a
mystery. But in the Old Testament, the idea of a special called out group of people is clearly
revealed. In Lev. 4:13, Moses wrote, “And if the whole congregation of Israel sin through
ignorance, and the thing be hid from the eyes of the assembly…” The Hebrew word for
assembly means to “call” or “assemble” or “a gathering of people.” It is an
assembly of those who are called out or specially chosen. In a sense, Israel is a
unique group of people called out from the rest of the nations to be a holy people. They
were called to be holy so that the world would know who God is. In this same sense, Israel
was the “church” or assembly of specially “called out ones” so that the nations could come
to God long before the actual “church of believers” was instituted by Christ.

Moses commanded the people to assemble before the Lord. In Deuteronomy 4:10, God told Moses to
“assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they
live in the land and may teach them to their children.”

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