Order in the Court of the King! (Elders and Order-1)

Grace Thoughts

Order in the Court of the King! (Elders and Order-1)

For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you— if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination. Titus 1:5-6

God does everything in an orderly fashion, so it makes sense that He would want things ‘set in order,’ especially those things that are lacking. Appointing elders to work together to oversee the ministries of each church is part of that process.

Elder Authority

Even though I was an atheist before becoming a Christian, I had spent my childhood attending churches. So, I was familiar with the terms ‘pastor, preacher, evangelist, Bible teacher, deacon, etc.’ in a church setting. I knew they had positions of authority in the church, but I didn’t think of them as having any authority over me personally. That’s because I didn’t believe in a ‘God’ who had authority over me.

Atheists have it easy compared to Christians in my opinion. Who has authority over an atheist? From my years as an atheist the answer is clear – nobody. Sure, there were certain authorities at your place of employment or with the government, but otherwise atheists could come and go as they pleased.

All of that changed when I became a Christian as an adult. I became familiar with various authoritative positions in churches as I studied the Bible. I learned that their authority came directly from Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:18-20). I read Ephesians 4 where the Apostle Paul wrote about Christ giving His Church ‘apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors and teachers.’ Paul wrote that their jobs in churches were –

for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. Ephesians 4:12-16

I also learned in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12 about how God gave Christians ‘spiritual gifts’ to bring glory to God and finish the work He had given them to do. Some of the spiritual gifts seemed to go along with people who had positions of authority in churches (e.g. leadership, apostles, prophets, teachers).

I also came across these names in my early studies of the New Testament – bishops, overseers, and elders. Who were they and what role did they play in the life of a Christian?

Elders in History

‘Elders’ have been ‘leaders’ in Judaism and Christianity for thousands of years. The first use of the word ‘elder’ was for Noah’s son Japheth because he was ‘older’ than Shem (Genesis 10:21). Ham is called Noah’s ‘younger son’ in Genesis 9:24, so Japheth may have been the oldest son.

The term ‘elder’ was used for an ‘older child’ in many places in the Bible, but the word was first used for leaders in Genesis 50 –

So Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, as well as all the house of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s house. Only their little ones, their flocks, and their herds they left in the land of Goshen. Genesis 50:7-8.

Notice that the term ‘elders’ referred to those of the house of Pharaoh, all the elders of Egypt, as well as the house of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s house. The Hebrew word zaqen simply translates as ‘old.’ The age when someone was thought of as ‘old’ seems to have been people in their 60s or older.

The tombstone of one fifty-year old male from Roman Algeria in the third century C.E. recorded that he died ‘‘in the flower of his youth.” Encyclopedia.com

Elders in Israel

When God spoke to Moses from the ‘burning bush,’ He told Moses to go back to Egypt and gather the ‘elders’ of Israel together to deliver this message –

Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, “I have surely visited you and seen what is done to you in Egypt; and I have said I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.’ Exodus 3:16-17

Moses called for the ‘elders of Israel’ many times during his ministry. You’ll find what God expected of the elders in the Writings of Moses. You may find Numbers 11 especially interesting. You’ll also find ‘elders’ and their responsibilities mentioned in the writings of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Job, Psalms, and many of the prophets (e.g. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Joel). Elders played an important role in the life of Israel, though not always for good.

Elders at the Gate

The ‘gates’ of cities were often the meeting places for ‘elders’ of cities –

Her husband is known in the gates, When he sits among the elders of the land. Proverbs 31:23

Elders were believed to have more knowledge and experience about the issues of life, thus able to help guide people of a city in making important decisions –

But if the man does not want to take his brother’s wife, then let his brother’s wife go up to the gate to the elders, and say, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to raise up a name to his brother in Israel; he will not perform the duty of my husband’s brother.’ Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him. Deuteronomy 25:7-8

And when he flees to one of those cities, and stands at the entrance of the gate of the city, and declares his case in the hearing of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city as one of them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them. Joshua 20:4

And all the people who were at the gate, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. The Lord make the woman who is coming to your house like Rachel and Leah, the two who built the house of Israel; and may you prosper in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. Ruth 4:11

Elders and Jesus

The ‘elders of Israel’ did not accept Jesus Christ as God’s promised Messiah to Israel. They should have known from the ‘works’ of Jesus that He was the Messiah, but they didn’t want to believe because Jesus was a threat to their power and way of life. Jesus knew that and warned His disciples about the ‘elders’ of Israel. He told them that the ‘elders’ would be involved in killing Him and would persecute them as well –

From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. Matthew 16:21

And while He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and elders of the peoples … Now the chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death. Matthew 26:47, 59

When morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put Him to death. Matthew 27:1

But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. Matthew 27:20

Jesus was right. The ‘elders’ of Israel were heavily involved in having Him murdered. When Jesus rose from the dead, the ‘elders’ helped pay off the soldiers who were supposed to protect the tomb (Matthew 28:12). The ‘elders’ also went after the apostles and disciples after Jesus returned to Heaven (e.g. Acts 4; 5; 6).

Elders in Christianity

The Greek word for ‘elder’ is presbuteros (the feminine singular, presbytera, does not occur in the New Testament). It means ‘mature man’ and carries the idea of someone who has experience and good judgment. It is the same word used for the ‘elders’ of Judaism and the ‘elders’ of Christianity. You’ll know which one based on the context.

The first usage of the term for followers of Christ is found in Acts 11 –

Then the disciples, each according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren dwelling in Judea. This they also did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul. Acts 11:29-30

We see in Acts 14 that the Apostle Paul ‘appointed elders in every church’ from the very beginning of his missionary travels. Paul preached the Gospel, planted churches, and appointed elders in ‘every church.’ These ‘elders’ were mature men who Paul entrusted to guide Christians in obedience to Christ’s commands.

Paul revisited church elders during his second and third missionary journeys even as he was establishing new churches and appointing new elders. We see some of the interactions between Paul and various church ‘elders’ in Acts 15; 20; and 21. Though the term ‘elder’ was not always used, Paul revisited many of the leaders and members of churches he had planted in later missionary journeys.

[Podcast version of this study coming soon.]

Next Time

Paul knew that the time of his departure from earth to Heaven was approaching. What could he do to ensure that the work of ‘elders’ would continue according to God’s plan? We’ll look at the Holy Spirit led Paul to do that in the next part of our special series, Order in the Court of the King!

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Order in the Court of the King! (Elders and Order-1)