Apostles
4: 11a
Furthermore, He gave some people as apostles.
Sha’ul now enumerates the specific spiritual gifts that are given to Yeshua’s followers. The gift of being an apostle is for those sent out to represent Messiah. In Judaism, it has a much stronger meaning than merely one sent out. It also means a direct spokesman. The Talmud (see the commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Ei – The Oral Law) says, “a shaliach (one who is sent) is the same as the one who sent him” (Tractate Berachot 34).158 They were given two basic responsibilities. First, to lay a foundation of the Church (Ephesians 2:20), and secondly, to confirm God’s Word through signs and wonders and miracles (Second Corinthians 12:12; Acts 8:6-7; Hebrews 2:3-4).
Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You that in Your great chesed love and care for Your children, You gave signs and wonders and miracles to confirm Your Word. You could have gone to heaven and been finished with miracles, but You graciously chose to bestow the ability to perform signs and miracles on the early Church that it would grow as it proclaimed Messiah Yeshua’s great victory over sin and death.
Thank You for so clearly fulfilling all the many prophecies in the TaNaKh about the coming Messiah. It is especially powerful that Messiah Yeshua performed all the signs and wonders that Isaiah had predicted that the Messiah would do. Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will sing (Isaiah 35:5-6a). He opened my eyes! . . . Since the beginning of the world, no one has ever heard that anyone has opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, He couldn’t do anything.” (John 9:30c, 32-33). Thank You for using miracles that so clearly express Your power and Sovereign Godliness to draw people to Yourself, by Messiah’s many and Awesome miracles and as signs to confirm Your Word to the early Church. In Messiah Yeshua’s holy Name and power of His resurrection. Amen
The first of the gifted men in the B’rit Chadashah Church were the apostles, of whom Yeshua Messiah Himself is foremost (Hebrews 3:1). In its primary and most technical sense, apostle is used in the B’rit Chadashah only of the Twelve, including Matthias, who replaced Judas (Acts 1:26), and of Paul, who was uniquely set apart as the apostle to the Gentiles (Galatians 1:15-17; First Corinthians 15:7-9; Second Corinthians 11:5). The qualifications for apostleship were having been chosen directly by Yeshua and having witnessed the resurrected Messiah (Mark 3:13; Acts 1:22-24). Paul was the last to meet those qualifications (Romans 1:1). It is not possible therefore, as some claim, for there to be apostles in the Church today. Some have observed that the apostles were like delegates to a constitutional convention. When the convention is over, the position ceases.
The term apostle is used in a more general sense of other men in the early Messianic Community, such as Barnabas (Acts 14), Silas and Timothy (First Thessalonians 2:6), and few other outstanding leaders (Romans 16:7; Second Corinthians 8:23; Philippians 2:25). The false apostles spoken of in Second Corinthians (see the commentary on Second Corinthians Bz – Servants of Satan) no doubt counterfeited this class of apostleship, since the others were limited to thirteen and were very well known. The true apostles in this second group were called messengers (Hebrew: apostoloi) of the churches (Second Corinthians 8:23), whereas the thirteen were apostles of Yeshua Messiah (Galatians 1:1; First Peter 1:1). When the B’rit Chadashah canon of Scripture was completed, and the foundation of the Church had been laid, the office of apostle therefore ceased.159
However, there is a new unbiblical religious movement called The New Apostolic Reformation, or NAR, which contradicts this biblical teaching. They emphasize experience over Scripture, mysticism over doctrine, and modern-day “apostles” over the plain text of the Bible. Of particular distinction in the NAR are the role and power of spiritual leaders and miracle-workers, the reception of “new” revelations from God, an over-emphasis on spiritual warfare, and a pursuit of cultural and political control in society. The seeking of signs and wonders in the New Apostolic Reformation is always accompanied by blatantly false doctrine.
Growth in the NAR is driven primarily through small groups and church planting, often completely independent of a parent congregation. The movement is not centrally controlled, and many of its followers will not self-identify as part of it or even recognize the name. All the same, thousands of churches and millions of believers adhere to the teachings of the New Apostolic Reformation. Popular teachers associated with the New Apostolic Reformation include Bill Johnson, Rick Joyner, Kim Clement, and Lou Engle.
The NAR teaches that God’s intended form of church governance is “apostles and prophets,” holding leadership over evangelists, pastors, and teachers. However, this has not been the case for the vast majority of Christian history. So, according to the NAR, God began to restore prophets and apostles over the last thirty to forty years. Only now, as the church is properly guided by the appropriate spiritual leaders, can it fulfill its commission. This commission is seen as more than spiritual, as it includes cultural and political control.
In the NAR, “apostles” are seen as the highest of all spiritual leaders, being specially empowered by God. True maturity and unity, per the New Apostolic Reformation, is only found in those who submit to the leadership of their “apostles.” According to this teaching, as the church unifies behind “the apostles,” these leaders will develop greater and greater supernatural powers. Eventually, this will include the ability to perform mass healings and suspend the laws of physics. These signs are meant to encourage a massive wave of converts. These “apostles” are supposedly to be recipients of a great wealth transfer (in the end times), which will supposedly enable the Church to establish God’s kingdom on earth.160
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