“…not forsaking our own assembling
together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”[1]
For as long as I can remember this
verse has been used as the coups de grâce in the fight against anyone who might
suggest that Church attendance is optional. Let me first say that fellowship is
important and that I believe fellowship is a healthy traditions. But, to say
this verse commands Church attendance is wrong.
“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves
together - That is, for purposes of public worship. Some expositors have
understood the word rendered here as “assembling”- ἐπισυναγωγὴν
episunagōgēn- as meaning “the society of Christians,” or the church; and they have
supposed that the object of the apostle here is, to exhort them not to
apostatize from the church. The arguments for this opinion may be seen at
length in Kuinoel, in loc. But the more obvious interpretation is what is
commonly adopted, that it refers to public worship. The Greek word (the noun)
is used nowhere else in the New Testament, except in 2Th_2:1, where it
is rendered “gathering together.” The verb is used in Mat_23:37; Mat_24:31;
Mar_1:33; Mar_13:27; Luk_12:1; Luk_13:34, in all
which places it is rendered “gathered together.” It properly means an act of
assembling, or a gathering together, and is nowhere used in the New Testament
in the sense of an assembly, or the church. The command, then, here is, to meet
together for the worship of God, and it is enjoined on Christians as an
important duty to do it. It is implied, also, that there is blame or fault
where this is ‘neglected.’”[2]
Barnes quite clearly represents the
voice of the traditional institutional Church, his comments are based on the
word church in the English Bible representing the historical Church and its
customs.
“Then we should continue to meet together
and not desert the local
fellowship, as some do. This may be considered as a general exhortation
for all believers to be faithful in their church attendance. Without question
we find strength, comfort, nourishment, and joy in collective worship and
service.
It
may also be looked on as a special encouragement for Christians going through
times of persecution. There is always the temptation to isolate oneself in order
to avoid arrest, reproach, and suffering, and thus to be a secret disciple.
But
basically the verse is a warning against apostasy. To forsake the local
assembly here means to turn one's back on Christianity and revert to Judaism.
Some were doing this when this Letter was written. There was need to exhort one
another, especially in view of the nearness of Christ's Return. When He comes,
the persecuted, ostracized, despised believers will be seen to be on the
winning side. Until then, there is need for steadfastness.”[3]
“…assembling of ourselves
together — The Greek,
“episunagoge,” is only found
here and 2Th_2:1 (the gathering together of the elect to Christ at His
coming, Mat_24:31). The assembling or gathering of ourselves for
Christian communion in private and public, is an earnest of our being gathered
together to Him at His appearing. Union is strength; continual assemblings
together beget and foster love,
and give good opportunities for “provoking to good works,” by “exhorting one
another” (Heb_3:13). Ignatius says, “When ye frequently, and in numbers
meet together, the powers of Satan are overthrown, and his mischief is
neutralized by your likemindedness in the faith.” To neglect such assemblings
together might end in apostasy at last. He avoids the Greek term “sunagoge,”
as suggesting the Jewish synagogue
meetings (compare Rev_2:9).”[4]
“Hebrews 10:25 has been used to try to convince people that they must
not forsake going to church. In fact, it is the only Scripture in the New
Testament that could remotely have been used in such a way. But it is wrong to
use it this way. The Greek and the context simply do not support it, and when
we understand the true meaning of Hebrews 10:25, the entire idea of "going
to church" as something we must do entirely falls apart.
The
truth is that the ekklēsia (the
word mistranslated as "church" in most English Bibles) is not
something we go to; it is what we are. As Christians, we cannot
forsake our assembly because we are always assembled before God. We are the
assembly, the "called out" of Christ. (The literal meaning of ekklēsia is the "called out
ones," but it was used by Greeks to refer to the people who were called
out of the community to be members of the assembly.) Certainly, the Bible also
speaks of the ekklēsia in a
local sense as being in a city, according to (kata) houses or families, and as coming together (sunerchomai—literally, "come
together"). But it is never spoken of as something apart from us that we
go to, nor is our coming together locally ever spoken of as a duty. I will
address this aspect further in another article.”[5]
I have included this portion of an
article to demonstrate that not everybody believes the verse is commanding
people to attend Church.
“Therefore, brethren, since we
have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and
living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh,
and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart
in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure
water. Let us hold fast the
confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling
together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging
one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near. For if we go on
sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer
remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE
FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES. Anyone who has set aside the
Law of Moses dies without mercy on the
testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and
has regarded as unclean the blood of the
covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?”[6]
The writer included himself with
the recipients in practicing essentials of fellowship; we have confidence, we have a great priest, let us draw
near, let us hold fast, our hope, let us consider, stimulate one another, not
forsaking our own assembling, and encouraging one another. Everything suggests
a situation that was shared between the writer and the ones to whom he wrote. I
believe the common element was Judaism, and that they had had accepted Jesus as
the Messiah. The letter was written to Hebrews; Jews most likely in Palestine.
The theme of the message was the supremacy of Jesus over every aspect of
Israel’s religion. It was written before the destruction of the temple since no
mention is made of that event. It was written at a time when Jewish Christians
were expected to live in compliance with the Law. “And the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders
were present. After he had greeted them, he began to relate one by one the things which God had done among
the Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it they began glorifying God; and they said
to him, "You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of
those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law; and they have
been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the
Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to
walk according to the customs. ‘What, then, is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come.
Therefore do this that we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow; take
them and purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so that they
may shave their heads; and all will know that there is nothing to the things
which they have been told about you, but that you yourself also walk orderly,
keeping the Law. But concerning the Gentiles who have believed, we wrote,
having decided that they should abstain from meat sacrificed to idols and from
blood and from what is strangled and from fornication.’ Then Paul took the men,
and the next day, purifying himself along with them, went into the temple
giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the
sacrifice was offered for each one of them.”[7]
Jewish Christians were expected to live according to the Law, Jesus was the
Messiah, but as long as the temple was there the Law of Moses applied to
everyday life.
The author of Hebrews made the
statement, “all the more as you see the
day drawing near,” a statement that would have little meaning to Gentiles,
but to Jews it was the shortest form of “the day of the Lord”. That was the day
Jesus spoke of in the “Olivet Speech”; the end of the age, and the destruction
of the temple. Jews and Jewish Christians in Judea would be most impacted by
the destruction of the temple. Gentile Christians and Jews of the Diaspora
would be affected to a lesser extent. To suggest that “the day approaching” was Sunday, is absolutely wrong! The
injunction “not forsaking our own
assembling together” was directed to Jews in the period before the
destruction of the temple in 70 CE. The intention of the phrase was not to instruct
to attend Church, it was an order not to neglect the opportunity to stimulate
others to love and good deeds, and to encouraging one another. The problem was
not being absent from a scheduled meeting, but, failing to encourage and
support each one another. In no way can the admonition be interpreted as “attendance
for attendance sake”. To suggest that the writer was concerned about Church
attendance misses the point entirely; the purpose of being together was to
support and encourage continued faith in Christ’s sacrifice. The injunction was
specific to Jews some of whom had reverted to Judaism. The subject of the pericope
in which the injunction is embedded has to do with forgiveness through Christ.
Consider the words “assembling together” - ἐπισυναγωγή; “The usage of the LXX is decisive in shaping
the NT concept, for it is here that ἐπισυναγωγή acquires the eschatological note
proper to it in the NT. The noun itself occurs only once; it denotes the
eschatological gathering and restoration of Israel from dispersion ... 2 Macc.
2:7 f. The anchoring of the term in the vocabulary of eschatology and its
special nuance in relation to the hope of a gathering of the scattered may be
seen commonly and clearly in the verb ἐπισυναγω. This eschatological focus of
the verb persists in the NT, as may be seen esp. in the eschatological address
of Jesus: … Mk. 13:27; cf. Mt. 24:31.
3.
Ἐπισυναγωγή occurs twice in the NT. In both instances the context confirms
the eschatological orientation - lines 5 ff. In 2 Th. 2:1 ἐπισυναγωγή and
παρουσία are closely related (common article), and both introduce the
eschatological teaching which follows: … The object of the ἐπι is expressly
stated: the Kurios. It is to Him that the ἐπισυναγωγή of Christians will take
place at the Lord's return. This is not active assembling; it is a being assembled
and united (1 Th. 4:17).
The
sense of ἐπισυναγωγή is harder to fix in Hb. 10:25 … It is most natural to
think of the congregation gathered for worship. ἐγκαταλείπω "to leave in
the lurch" agrees with this, and so does the singular ἐπισυναγωγή. In
the case of liturgical meetings one would expect the plural, though it is hard
to differentiate between the assembled congregation and congregational
assembling; either way ἐπισυναγωγή has a cultic character.”[8]
The idea of Israel being gathered together at some future time was built into
its expectations. “The Lord GOD, who
gathers the dispersed of Israel, declares, ‘Yet others I will gather to them, to those already gathered.’”[9]
It is clear that the first Christians were mostly Hebrew, Hellenistic Jews, and
some proselytes who were Gentiles converted to Judaism. The book of Hebrews was
written to Jews, it dealt with the patriarchs of the nation, the religion, its
sacrifices and priesthood; much of the book’s content would have had little to
no relevance to gentiles; “For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from
one Father; for which reason He
is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, ‘I WILL PROCLAIM YOUR NAME TO MY
BRETHREN, IN THE MIDST OF THE CONGREGATION I WILL SING YOUR PRAISE.’”[10]
We do not know for certain who wrote the Hebrew letter, obviously a Jew well
versed in Jewish religious principles. The author addressed his writing to Jews
as his brethren much like Paul did; “Brethren
and fathers, hear my defense which I now offer
to you.”[11] “For I could wish that I myself were
accursed, separated from Christ
for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are
Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the
covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from
whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed
forever. Amen.”[12]
Judaism had a profound influence on the first Christian communities; Christians
in Jerusalem were predominately Jewish; if Christian Jews did not keep the Law
of Moses they would have been barred from the temple. As we know the apostles
continued to practice Judaism, going up to the temple at the time for prayer[13].
“But some believers who belonged to the
party of the Pharisees rose up and said, ‘It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of
Moses…’”[14] Jews
were completely familiar with the synagogue and it was the model for Christian
gatherings and community. “For if a man
comes into your assembly …”[15]
The word translated assembly is, συναγωγή.
The paragraph from verse 19 to 25
is inset into the main topic of Christ the sacrifice for sin. Verse 18 states “Where there is forgiveness of these, there
is no longer any offering for sin,” and the subject of sacrifice is
continued from verse 26 “For if we go on
sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no
longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
but a fearful expectation of
judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has
set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three
witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one
who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the
covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?”[16]
An inset of this nature suggests to me that it was very specific; it was
definitely not a vague command to attend Church. There was a matter that
required immediate attention; whatever it was, it was serious and “life”
threatening, souls could be lost, souls for whom Christ had died. “…if we go on sinning deliberately,” one
might argue that all sin is deliberate, but in this sense it means to know
exactly what one is doing, and exactly what the consequences are for the
particular action or behaviour. But, even then surely God forgives; not if one
has rejected Christ’s sacrifice in favour of temple sacrifices. That was the
subject the author had been discussing; and why he interrupted the flow of his
letter to tell people that giving up on Christ had tragic consequences. The pre-emptive
measures needed to stop people from reverting to dependence on Jewish
sacrifices were the constant support and encouragement from others who were
wholly committed to Christ. “Let us hold
fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is
faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good
deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but
encouraging one another; and
all the more as you see the day drawing near.”
Rather than misinterpreting Heb
10:25 as a command for members to attend Church, Churches should pattern their
gatherings on the instructions; “let us
consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds” and “encouraging one another.” If the
care and encouragement of believers was the focus of fellowship, it wouldn’t be
necessary to contrive a command to oblige people to attend. Doesn’t it seem
strange that Jesus never once told his disciples they had to assemble together
on a fixed schedule, or even, at all? If Church attendance was so vital, why isn’t
there more teaching on it; actually why isn’t there any teaching on it? Jesus
attended synagogue gatherings, and he and his disciples went to the temple. There
is a huge difference between the synagogue gatherings of the early Christians
and Church today. “But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any
so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a
reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler--not even to eat with such a one.”[17] “Sufficient
for such a one is this punishment which was inflicted by the majority, so that
on the contrary you should rather forgive and comfort him, otherwise such a one
might be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.”[18]
Paul’s instructions regarding wayward Christians was to avoid them, and not
even share a meal with them. In his second letter to the Christian community in
Corinth he told them to forgive the believer who has been dealt with in the manner
advocated. It appears that not being able to enter Christian fellowship was severe
punishment; it doesn’t sound like that congregation needed a command to have
believers attend. Fellowship was cherished by early Christians, it wasn’t
necessary to order people to come together; it was a privilege and pleasure. We
live in a society suffering from spiritual malnutrition, the Church that offers
genuine spiritual nourishment will not be able to keep people away. The Church has
failed its community by institutionalizing individual rights and opportunities
in order to promote itself and prove its need to exist. The synagogue it is believed began during the
exile for the purpose of helping Jews remain faithful to God in an alien
environment. The first Christian gatherings were for support of believers in a
hostile environment.
The ekklesia of Christ in the first century was in not anything
like Church today. In the early decades it was indistinguishable from Judaism.
Most gatherings were in homes, most gatherings were at a time suitable to
participants, not scheduled for institutional convenience. Some gatherings were
held in secret avoiding public view. Belief and commitment were personal,
fellowship was communal. Jesus was king, and believers, citizens of his
kingdom. Fellowship was founded on the conviction that Jesus was God’s Son the Messiah.
Faith in Christ was personal and portable.
The Jewish leadership although antagonistic to those who believed Jesus
to be the Messiah saw them as a Jewish sect. For however long it was between
the death of Jesus and Paul’s trial before Felix the Sanhedrin and high priest
considered believers to be a sect of Judaism. “For we have found this man a
real pest and a fellow who stirs up dissension among all the Jews throughout
the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.”[19] Early
Christian gatherings and charitable activities were patterned on those of the
synagogue. The scriptures used by Christians were the same as used by Jews;
Christians provided for widows and those in need as did the Jews. The purpose
of the synagogue was not to convert Gentiles to Judaism, but to encourage Jews
to be godly; the synagogue became the focal point of the surrounding Jewish
society. A synagogue was not designed for “outreach”, it was not evangelistic; I
cannot find any Old Testament injunction for Jews to go out and convert people of
other nationalities. I would suggest that the focus of any Church should be its
family; gatherings are to be “family” time. I’m not suggesting “closed
communion”, but family time that is open to anyone who might wander in. The
purpose of gathering is not to convert people from other Churches, but to feed
and strengthen the family of believers, not only those from a particular group,
but all believers. There is no biblical order of “service’, that is purely tradition
flowing down from the Roman Church. Early Christians met whenever they were
able, often to break bread in honour of the Lord. The gathering didn’t focus on
unbelievers, evangelists did that as a personal calling and commitment.
Everything about those early gatherings was about encouragement and hope in
Jesus. The Church has become a business organized to sustain itself and promote
itself. Where the believer’s need is for encouragement and support to live as a
disciple of Jesus, the Church’s requirement is for funding to maintain its
facilities and programs.
Jesus made it very clear that being religious may not be what God wants.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of
heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day
many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast
out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ Then I will
declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’”[20] Did
we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many powerful
deeds in your name? The very things that established the apostles as ambassadors
for Christ were claimed by those rejected. I wonder, what in today’s religious
world would correspond to the things done by the people rejected? Maybe the activities
today that would come to mind as exemplary would be, preacher, Sunday school teacher,
elder or deacon.
Another passage that sets the bar high on personal activity is, “Then
the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;
for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something
to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me
clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited
me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you
hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when
was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you
clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’
And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of
the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’”[21]
Going to Church or being a Church member has benefits, but it is not a
substitute for living for Jesus, doing God’s will. The Church must encourage
people to serve God, and not just be good Church members. “Then they said to
him, ‘What must we do to perform the works of God?’ Jesus answered them, ‘This
is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.’”[22]
[1] Heb
10:25
[2] Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
[3] Believer’s Bible Commentary
[4] Jamiesen, Fausset and Brown
Commentary
[5] What Are We Not To Forsake? Peter Ditzel
[6] Heb
10:19-29
[7] Act
21:18-26
[8] Theological Dictionary of the New
Testament, G. Kittel
[9] Isa
56:8
[10] Heb
2:11, 12
[11] Act
22:1
[12] Rom
9:3-5
[13] Act
3:1
[14] Act
15:5
[15] Jas
2:2
[16] Heb
10:26-29
[17] 1Co 5:11
[18] 2Co 2:6, 7
[19] Act 24:5
[20] Mat 7:21-23
[21] Mat 25:34-40
[22] John
6:29
