Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar;
Acts 2:42: “And they devoted themselves in the apostle’s doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.”
Recently Americans, especially American conservatives, were shaking their heads over a recent prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas. It was a little unbalanced as the Hamas released one Israeli prisoner for 1,027 Hamas terrorists. The radio talk shows were really humming with this and Americans were baffled over how Israel would dare to release so many prisoners for the sake of one soldier. They were even going as far as to say it was not fair the Americans who may suffer at the hands of one such terrorist. Actually, Israel did pretty much the same thing in 1985 when they released 1,150 prisoners for three Israeli soldiers captured in Lebanon. I have heard even Christians speak negatively about Israel for doing such a thing. Actually, such people who criticize Israel for trading one soldier for 1,027 terrorist do not understand Hebrew culture very well. It is really a shame on Christians who criticize such a move for that shows they have no idea what Acts 2:42 really means. We who are the people of the New Testament are put to shame by the people of the Old Testament who practice a New Testament verse better than we do.
That Talmud teaches that to save one life is to save the world. What amazes me is that the 1,027 terrorist were even kept alive. Many of these terrorist were convicted murders. They were tried and Israel could have put them to death, but they did not. Israel does not just value the life of their own soldiers, they also value the life of their enemies. But back to the Israeli soldier. Another reason for the exchange is that everyone in Israel are related, they are all of the same family, descendents from their father Abraham. If one Jew is held prisoner, that is their brother or sister. That person is a member of their family. I believe there is a lesson there for the Christian church.
Luke, who wrote the Book of Acts, was an extremely educated person. He was of Greek origin educated in the Hellenistic city of Antioch. He studied Greek philosophy, medicine and art. Tradition holds he made paintings of Peter and Paul and was the founder of Christian iconography. So what amazes me about Acts 2:42 is that someone who is so steeped in the Greek culture and Greek language would write this verse in a very Hebraic style. In Greek as in English, we would write this passage as “And they devoted themselves in the apostle’s doctrine, fellowship, breaking of bread and in prayers.” The Greek and English would not repeat the word “and.” We just stick a comma after each word in a series and stick the “and” at the end. In Hebrew you use an “and” after each word in a series as Luke does here.
This leads me to believe that Luke was thinking in Hebrew and not Greek when he wrote this passage. That being the case, when he came to the word fellowship, he may have wrote the Greek word “koinos” but he was thinking the Hebrew word “asephah.”
This is really important when you consider that the early Christians did not just “have” fellowship, they “devoted” themselves to fellowship. You hear the average Christian talk about devoting themselves to doctrine and prayer, but in terms of fellowship, they simply “have” it.
I used to always show the movie the “Fiddler on the Roof” in my Hebrew classes to get my students to think like a Hebrew. In that movie we saw how one of the more serious issues within the Jewish culture was the relationship of the individual to the collective. According to Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, “In Judaism, one thing may be certain: Jews know that it’s more important to gather in meetings than to gather rosebuds.” He further states that when Moses blessed his kinsmen, he assures them that when the heads of the Jewish people gather together in unity (be-hitasseph rashei am) then they have an ideal Israel, one whose sovereign is the Torah itself.
The Hebrew equivalent for “koinos” is “asephah” which means to gather, to collect, as well as to heal and to die. The root word, in its primitive state, had to do with agriculture. Every day in the Shema the Jews repeat God’s promise that, as a reward for good behavior – veasafta deganekha (you shall gather in your grain). I did not hear one mention from the news media that the prisoner exchange on October 17, took place during the festival of Sukkot (October 12-October 19). The harvest festival of Sukkot is called the Hag ha asiph. Hence this fellowship involves eating together. The young Israeli was released in time to celebrate “asephah” during the feast of Sukkot. The root word of “asephah” is also associated with David’s chief musician – Asaph. It also involves singing together which is also done during Sukkot.
Even in modern Hebrew today if you see a bus in Israel you will find the words “me’asseph” on the front which indicates that the bus makes all local stops, picking up passengers along the way. No stop or passenger is overlooked.
Christians should take note that “asephah” involves all believers, no one is to be left out. Even if they are shy, backward and would rather be alone, or they just do not fit in. If that person is a believer, then such an individual is not to be left out. Some Jews even search for a “misfit” Jew and invite them to celebrate Sukkot with them. They are even disappointed if they can not find a Jew that is isolated. I’ve been in the Christian church all my life and I have found many Christians who hold their breath, hoping some “misfit” of a Christian does not join their fellowship.
In other words, fellowship is more than getting together for a pot luck dinner, holding hands, singing, praising God and encouraging each other in the Word of God. It also has the idea of healing, both physical and emotional. Sometimes the ones who need the most emotional healing are the ones who will lock themselves away.
The Nation of Israel just celebrated their high holidays and made an extreme sacrifice for the sake of one individual, one member of their family. We as Christians are approaching our “high holidays,” can we aspire to the heights of “asephah” “fellowship” like the Nation of Israel whose land and people gave birth to our Savior? Can even one church as a united body search for a believer, a member of God’s family that is isolated due to health, financial ruin, divorce, disfigurement, handicap, homelessness, or whatever reason and sacrifice their time, resources and comfort for just one, just one believer? Or do we have to have that American mind set that we must save hundreds. Sometimes when we try to save hundreds, we spread ourselves so thin that not even one is saved. If we follow Israel’s example and the teaching of Acts 2:24 and focus our attention on one, we will save the world.
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