A19. Assembling with the Brethren. [Make a Comment]
We are not to forsake congregational assembly & fellowship with brother believers.
This precept is derived from His Word (blessed be He):
Key Scriptures
Matthew 18:20
For wherever two or three are assembled in my name, I am there with them.
1 Corinthians 14:26
What is our conclusion, brothers? Whenever you come together, let everyone
be ready with a psalm or a teaching or a revelation, or ready to use his
gift of tongues or give an interpretation; but let everything be for
edification.
Hebrews 10:24-25
And let us keep paying attention to one another, in order to spur each other
on to love and good deeds, not neglecting our own congregational meetings,
as some have made a practice of doing, but, rather, encouraging each other.
And let us do this all the more as you see the Day approaching.
1 John 1:7
But if we are walking in the light, as he is in the light, then we have
fellowship with each other, and the blood of his Son Yeshua purifies us from
all sin.
Supportive Scriptures - Holy Convocations & Festive Assemblies of the Mosaic Law
Exodus 23:14-17
Three times a year, you are to observe a festival for me. Keep the festival
of matzah: for seven days, as I ordered you, you are to eat matzah at the
time determined in the month of Aviv; for it was in that month that you left
Egypt. No one is to appear before me empty-handed. Next, the festival of
harvest, the firstfruits of your efforts sowing in the field; and last, the
festival of gathering, at the end of the year, when you gather in from the
fields the results of your efforts. Three times a year all your men are to
appear before the Lord, ADONAI.
Exodus 34:23-24
Three times a year all your men are to appear before the Lord, ADONAI, the
God of Isra'el. For I am going to expel nations ahead of you and
expand your territory, and no one will even covet your land when you go up
to appear before ADONAI your God three times a year.
Leviticus 8:4
Moshe did as ADONAI ordered him, and the community was assembled at the
entrance to the tent of meeting.
Leviticus 23:1-2
ADONAI said to Moshe, "Tell the people of Isra'el: 'The designated
times of ADONAI which you are to proclaim as holy convocations are my
designated times.'"
Leviticus 23:3
Work is to be done on six days; but the seventh day is a Shabbat of complete
rest, a holy convocation; you are not to do any kind of work; it is a
Shabbat for ADONAI, even in your homes.
Leviticus 23:6-8
(see also, Numbers 28:18, 25)
On the fifteenth day of the same month is the festival of matzah; for seven
days you are to eat matzah. On the first day you are to have a holy
convocation; don't do any kind of ordinary work. Bring an offering
made by fire to ADONAI for seven days. On the seventh day is a holy
convocation; do not do any kind of ordinary work.
Leviticus 23:21
(see also, Numbers 28:26)
On the same day, you are to call a holy convocation; do not do any kind of
ordinary work; this is a permanent regulation through all your generations,
no matter where you live.
Leviticus 23:24
(see also, Numbers 29:1)
Tell the people of Isra'el, 'In the seventh month, the first of
the month is to be for you a day of complete rest for remembering, a holy
convocation announced with blasts on the shofar.'
Leviticus 23:27
(see also, Numbers 29:7)
The tenth day of this seventh month is Yom-Kippur; you are to have a holy
convocation, you are to deny yourselves, and you are to bring an offering
made by fire to ADONAI.
Leviticus 23:34-35
(see also, Numbers 29:12)
Tell the people of Isra'el, 'On the fifteenth day of this seventh
month is the feast of Sukkot for seven days to ADONAI. On the first day
there is to be a holy convocation; do not do any kind of ordinary
work.'
Leviticus 23:36
(see also, Numbers 29:35)
For seven days you are to bring an offering made by fire to ADONAI; on the
eighth day you are to have a holy convocation and bring an offering made by
fire to ADONAI; it is a day of public assembly; do not do any kind of
ordinary work.
Deuteronomy 16:16
Three times a year all your men are to appear in the presence of ADONAI your
God in the place which he will choose - at the festival of matzah, at the
festival of Shavu'ot and at the festival of Sukkot. They are not to
show up before ADONAI empty-handed
Deuteronomy 31:12-13
Assemble the people - the men, the women, the little ones and the foreigners
you have in your towns - so that they can hear, learn, fear ADONAI your God
and take care to obey all the words of this Torah
Psalm 50:5
Gather to me my faithful, those who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.
Psalm 55:15(14)
We used to share our hearts with each other; in the house of God we walked
with the crowd.
Psalm 133:1
Oh, how good, how pleasant it is for brothers to live together in harmony.
John 7:10
But after his brothers had gone up to the festival, he too went up, not
publicly but in secret.
Acts 2:1
The festival of Shavu'ot arrived, and the believers all gathered
together in one place.
Supportive Scriptures - Examples of Assembling with Brother Believers in Yeshua
Matthew 12:30
Those who are not with me are against me, and those who do not gather with
me are scattering.
John 7:10
But after his brothers had gone up to the festival, he too went up, not
publicly but in secret.
Acts 2:1
The festival of Shavu'ot arrived, and the believers all gathered
together in one place.
Acts 2:41-42
So those who accepted what he said were immersed, and there were added to
the group that day about three thousand people. They continued faithfully
in the teaching of the emissaries, in fellowship, in breaking bread and in
the prayers. They continued faithfully in the teaching of the emissaries,
in fellowship, in breaking bread and in the prayers.
Acts 2:44-47
All those trusting in Yeshua stayed together and had everything in common;
in fact, they sold their property and possessions and distributed the
proceeds to all who were in need. Continuing faithfully and with singleness
of purpose to meet in the Temple courts daily, and breaking bread in their
several homes, they shared their food in joy and simplicity of heart,
praising God and having the respect of all the people. And day after day the
Lord kept adding to them those who were being saved.
Acts 4:31
While they were still praying, the place where they were gathered was
shaken. They were all filled with the Ruach HaKodesh, and they spoke
God's message with boldness.
Acts 5:12
Meanwhile, through the emissaries many signs and miracles continued to be
done among the people. United in mind and purpose, the believers met in
Shlomo's Colonnade
Acts 5:42
And not for a single day, either in the Temple court or in private homes,
did they stop teaching and proclaiming the Good News that Yeshua is the
Messiah.
Acts 14:27
When they arrived, they gathered the Messianic community together and
reported what God had done through them, that he had opened a door of faith
to the Gentiles.
Acts 15:5-6
But some of those who had come to trust were from the party of the
P'rushim; and they stood up and said, "It is necessary to circumcise
them and direct them to observe the Torah of Moshe." The emissaries and the
elders met to look into this matter.
Acts 20:7
On Motza'ei-Shabbat, when we were gathered to break bread, Sha'ul
addressed them. Since he was going to leave the next day, he kept talking
until midnight.
1 Corinthians 5:4
In the name of the Lord Yeshua, when you are assembled, with me present
spiritually and the power of our Lord Yeshua among us, hand over such a
person to the Adversary for his old nature to be destroyed, so that his
spirit may be saved in the Day of the Lord.
Ephesians 5:19
... sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs to each other; sing to the Lord
and make music in your heart to him
1 Thessalonians 5:11
Therefore, encourage each other, and build each other up - just as you are
doing.
2 Thessalonians 2:1
But in connection with the coming of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah and our
gathering together to meet him, we ask you, brothers, not to be easily
shaken in your thinking or anxious because of a spirit or a spoken message
or a letter supposedly from us claiming that the Day of the Lord has already
come.
1 John 1:3
What we have seen and heard, we are proclaiming to you; so that you too may
have fellowship with us. Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son,
Yeshua the Messiah.
Supportive Scriptures - Assembling in the Wrong Way & for the Wrong Reasons
1 Corinthians 11:17-34
But in giving you this next instruction I do not praise you, because when
you meet together it does more harm than good! For, in the first place, I
hear that when you gather together as a congregation you divide up into
cliques; and to a degree I believe it (granted that there must be some
divisions among you in order to show who are the ones in the right). Thus,
when you gather together, it is not to eat a meal of the Lord; because as
you eat your meal, each one goes ahead on his own; so that one stays hungry
while another is already drunk! Don't you have homes to eat and drink
in? Or are you trying to show your contempt for God's Messianic
community and embarrass those who are poor? What am I supposed to say to
you? Am I supposed to praise you? Well, for this I don't praise you!
For what I received from the Lord is just what I passed on to you - that the
Lord Yeshua, on the night he was betrayed, took bread; and after he had made
the b'rakhah he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you.
Do this as a memorial to me"; likewise also the cup after the meal, saying,
"This cup is the New Covenant effected by my blood; do this, as often as you
drink it, as a memorial to me." For as often as you eat this bread and
drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord, until he comes.
Therefore, whoever eats the Lord's bread or drinks the Lord's cup
in an unworthy manner will be guilty of desecrating the body and blood of
the Lord! So let a person examine himself first, and then he may eat of the
bread and drink from the cup; for a person who eats and drinks without
recognizing the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. This is why
many among you are weak and sick, and some have died! If we would examine
ourselves, we would not come under judgment. But when we are judged by the
Lord, we are being disciplined, so that we will not be condemned along with
the world. So then, my brothers, when you gather together to eat, wait for
one another. If someone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you
meet together it will not result in judgment. As for the other matters, I
will instruct you about them when I come.
1 Corinthians 14:22-23
Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while
prophecy is not for unbelievers but for believers. So if the whole
congregation comes together with everybody speaking in tongues, and
uninstructed people or unbelievers come in, won't they say you're
crazy?
Supportive Scriptures - Assembling in the Right Way & for the Right Reasons
1 Corinthians 14:24-40
But if you all prophesy, and some unbeliever or uninstructed person enters,
he is convicted of sin by all, he is brought under judgment by all, and the
secrets of his heart are laid bare; so he falls on his face and worships
God, saying, "God is really here among you!" What is our conclusion,
brothers? Whenever you come together, let everyone be ready with a psalm or
a teaching or a revelation, or ready to use his gift of tongues or give an
interpretation; but let everything be for edification. If the gift of
tongues is exercised, let it be by two or at most three, and each in turn;
and let someone interpret. And if there is no one present who can
interpret, let the people who speak in tongues keep silent when the
congregation meets- they can speak to themselves and to God. Let two or
three prophets speak, while the others weigh what is said. And if something
is revealed to a prophet who is sitting down, let the first one be silent.
For you can all prophesy one by one, with the result that all will learn
something and all will be encouraged. Also, the prophets' spirits are
under the prophets' control; for God is not a God of unruliness but of
shalom. As in all the congregations of God's people, let the wives
remain silent when the congregation meets; they are certainly not permitted
to speak out. Rather, let them remain subordinate, as also the Torah says;
and if there is something they want to know, let them ask their own husbands
at home; for it is shameful for a woman to speak out in a congregational
meeting. Did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people
it has reached? If anyone thinks he is a prophet or is endowed with the
Spirit, let him acknowledge that what I am writing you is a command of the
Lord. But if someone doesn't recognize this, then let him remain
unrecognized. So, my brothers, eagerly seek to prophesy; and do not forbid
speaking in tongues; but let all things be done in a proper and orderly
way.
Hebrews 3:12-13
Watch out, brothers, so that there will not be in any one of you an evil
heart lacking trust, which could lead you to apostatize from the living God!
Instead, keep exhorting each other every day, as long as it is called Today,
so that none of you will become hardened by the deceit of sin.
Commentary
God's commandments that we assemble with each other and with Him, are initially given during the time of the Mosaic Covenant. Early in the Covenant, the Tabernacle served as the place of assembly for the Israelites to receive communication from God, to pray, and to perform the commanded sacrifices. The Tabernacle and later the Temple also served as places where the Israelites could assemble with each other (e.g. Joshua 18:1), and by the time of Yeshua, the synagogue and individual homes also had become places of communal assembly - mainly for prayer, but also for study and discussion.
With the advent of the New Covenant, Jewish and Gentile followers of Yeshua made increased use of their homes for worship, prayer, and fellowship (Acts 2:46, 5:42), and these home gatherings developed into what eventually became known within Christianity as "home churches", and within Messianic Judaism as "home fellowships", "chavurot" or, when they have elder leadership, "congregations".
Scripture enjoins believers1 to be in regular congregational fellowship with one another (Hebrews 10:24-25) as a means of providing mutual spiritual protection and accountability. Being part of a believing community enables us to observe one another's lives, share our burdens, and rebuke and correct one another (Galatians 6:1) in the event that we observe any of us falling into sin or straying from the faith. Congregational community also provides us with leaders (elders) whose responsibility it is to protect the community from outside evil encroachment (Acts 20:28-29), to stop sin when it is observed (Acts 20:30), to bring correction to members of the community, to judge disputes (Matthew 18:17), and to maintain reconciliation among community members (Luke 17:3; Colossians 3:13).
1. In this Mitzvah, the term "brother" (applies to both males and females) means either a believer in God the Father and/or in Yeshua the Messiah, according to the context of its use. To the classical commentators (Maimonides, Meir, and Hachinuch), "brother" means "fellow Jew".
Classical Commentators
This Mitzvah is not addressed by any of the Jewish classical commentators.
NCLA: JMm JFm KMm KFm GMm GFm