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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

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