2005.04.D.07 Elders, Apostles & Pastors Created by James3 on 9/7/2019 3:25:27 PM Elders, Apostles & Pastors
Greetings
An article containing some interesting points.
Warm regards and blessings
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From: Restoration Records
To: james@etimin.org
Sent: Wednesday, April 13, 2005 5:09 AM
Subject: Elders, Apostles & Pastors
* Hear Oh Yisrael Yahweh Our Mighty One Yahweh Is One
* *And You Shall Love Your Neighbor As Yourself
Elders, Apostles & Pastors
The roles and positions in the Body
These are terms often heard in the churches, along with deacons and evangelists, and are English translations and transliterations of the Greek text. Sometimes different English translations are given for the very same source word such as Bishop and Elder which can be confusing. In this article we want to base our understanding on the Aramaic text in a consistent way that helps everyone understand the various roles and positions within the body of Yeshuå Mashiħa.
Let's start with the head of the body, Yeshuå Natzraya, who defined himself as our only leader and rabi.
Matti 23
8"But you are not to be called 'Rabi' for only one is your greater, but you are all brothers."
10"And do not be called 'Mdabrana' because only one is your leader, Mashiħa”
Here we learn of two titles and roles that we are prohibited to fulfill. We confirm that Yeshua is our only Rabbi and Leader without exception. This is why do not refer to ourselves or our brothers as “rabi” or “leader”.
Our Mdabrana (leader) selected twelve talmidahy (disciples) who were trained by their malpana (teacher) making them into qashisha (elders), those experienced, trained, and accomplished in the faith. Qualifications for qashisha (elders) are given in the Letter to Titus ch. 2; and 1 Timotheos ch. 3.
Once elders have been produced then they can fulfill one of two basic elder roles.
Qashish Shliħa – (Elder Emissary or Apostle) This is the first kind of elder, the Apostolic or Missionary Elder who often travels about preaching the initial message and overseeing and starting new congregations, imparting the Spirit and appointing the second type of elder.
Qashish Råya – (Elder Shepherd or Pastor) These are the pastoral elders, of which there may be one, a few, or several in any congregation. They are basically homebound and remain close to the congregation looking after their needs, helping them develop, teaching them, judging on minor issues with the other elders, etc. 1 Kefa (Pet.) ch. 5.
The wives of elders also have a special supporting role alongside their husbands, while being in submission to them they can more appropriately instruct the women, especially those in training. If the wife of an elder is not able to teach, they should be supportive to the best of their ability, showing all honour, humility, and hospitality.
Both kinds of elders can appoint assistants/understudies to assist them in a variety of ways and learn the role of elder.
A Shliħa may take in a Masbran (student of evangelism),
while a Råya would take in a Shamash (servant, deacon).
The Qashish Shliħa to the Chinese people would take a Masbran from the Chinese brothers and train him for work among the Chinese. This way the Masbran can be best trained and suited according to the needs of the Chinese hearers. It wouldn’t make much sense for the Shliħa to the Chinese to train a Masbran who is going to work among the farmers of Cuba. We have to take into account cultural sensibilities. The Qashish Shliħa must be culturally adaptive and flexible and may have to make frequent use of translators.
If for some reason an elder can not continue in their duties either permenantly or temporarily, or passes away, then an new elder should be selected from among the students. There is no shame if an elder so decides that their duties are too much to handle at anytime.
A fine choice of a wife for a shamash or qashish would be from among the female shamasha. But normally a deaconess would not become a qashish (elderess) without being married to a qashish. There are no examples of an independent female qashish from scripture. Æphesians 5:22-33.
The Qashish Shliħa Polus (Paul) took under his wing two Masbrana, Aquila and Priscilla, husband and wife, who worked together in harmony and became effective Qashish Shliħa themselves. Acts 18; Romans 16:3. And also Timotheos who was a masbrana of Polus and later became appointed qashish of the congregation in Æphesus.
Some plough up the hard soil, some sow seed, some water, and others fertilize, weed, and harvest. These activities are typically divided between the two kinds of elders, but overlap often happens.
Qashish Shliħa
Plough – challenge and destroy false religion and doctrine
Sow – replace with the message of repentance
Water – mikwa or immerging from water in new birth (baptism)
Qashish Råya
Fertilize – teaching in the ways of righteousness from the word
Weed – wielding the sharp instrument and cutting out sin and lies
Harvest – maturing others into new seed as assistants and elders or even preparing the mature for death and the afterlife
Then the cycle repeats, and the next season there is a larger harvest.
Bishop – This term was used by one of the translation teams that worked on the King James Bible and decided to translate a qashish as “Bishop” (Philippians 1:1, I Timotheos 3, Titus 1) rather than “Elder” thus the inconsistency. They are both based upon the same word in Aramaic, and are not two different roles. There is one single unique occurrence in 1 Kefa (Pet.) 2:25 where it is mistranslated, and should read “caretaker,” “curator”, or “custodian”.
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Restoration Records is a ministry serving believers on Yahshua HaMashiach (Yahshua The Messiah) who are interested in the scriptural message of proclaiming "the restoration of all things" (Matt 17:11; Mark 9:12; Acts 1:6; 3:19-21) and in scripturally-based praise n worship psalms. The ministry is led, and the related websites www.restorationrecords.com and www.kahalyahshuahamashiach.org are published by Yochanan Mascaro.
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