As I say, I immediately deleted this email, because I don’t believe that the Lord is pleased with evangelistic campaigns which compromise doctrine and bring contrary churches together in unequal yokes. But as I contemplated our message, I thought that perhaps this might be a good introduction. This isn’t talking about a city-wide campaign as Billy Graham has done in the past, but it is similar. Should we take a group of lost people into a Nazarene or Friends church to hear a gospel presentation? Should I go into one of their churches in order to preach the gospel? When Paul went into a Jewish synagogue in order to preach Christ was that the same thing? When we see the Lord Jesus in the synagogue was there compromise involved? Isn’t that the same thing as joining with a modern interdenominational church in an evangelistic campaign? No, it is not the same thing, although there are some interesting comparisons and contrasts.
Have you ever wondered about the synagogues which we find in the Word of God?
The word “synagogue” is derived from the Greek language, and it means a “gathering” or “gathering place.” It is found 69 times in the Bible, but only once in the Old Testament where is means “congregation.” Over time it came to speak specifically a religious gathering. The first actual synagogue is lost in the obscurity of tradition. Jewish Rabbis, who are prone to exaggeration, take it back to the days of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Alfred Edersheim, my expert on this subject, says that there can be no occasion for considering synagogues before the Babylonian captivity. There is certainly no hint of synagogues anywhere in Moses’ Law nor in the Biblical history of Israel. However, when the Jews were taken by the Babylonians from their temple, one of their traditions kicked in. Many believed that the prayers of an individual man were essentially useless. It was necessary to either pray in the temple surrounded by others, or to pray in groups of at least ten. I am told that the Babylon Talmud declares that the prayer which a man addresses to God only has proper effect, if it is offered in a synagogue. It goes on to say that if a man misses a synagogue service, even once, God will demand an account, and missing becomes an habit that man is to be called an “evil neighbor.” Furthermore if God finds fewer than ten persons gathered in the synagogue, His anger will be kindled. Wherever the diaspora were scattered, if there were at least ten men living in any one place, then of necessity there should have been a synagogue established. Edersheim wrote, “It must be borne in mind, that, in proportion as the spiritual import of the Temple service was lost to view, and Judaism became a matter of outward ordinances, nice distinction, and logical discussion, the synagogue would grow in importance. And so it came to pass, that at the time of Christ there as not a foreign settlement of Jews without one or more synagogues. Jewish history says that at the time of its destruction in 70 AD, the city of Jerusalem had at least 460 synagogues.
Perhaps in this light, we should remember what fear there was in Jesus’ day that someone might be expelled from the synagogue. Remember the blind man whom the Lord healed in John 9, and the fear that his parents had. The priests were questioning them about their son. They fearfully replied, “by what means he now seeth, we know not; or who hath opened his eyes, we know not: he is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself. These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue.” Like Catholicism and so many other world religions, it appears to have become a part of the corrupted Jewish faith that without membership and regular attendance at the synagogue a person was lost. Without his “church” the sinner was doomed.
Edersheim goes on to describe the synagogue and its service. He said that unlike the Temple, whose doors faced east, synagogues always faced toward Jerusalem. How the synagogues within Jerusalem were situated, I don’t know. As one entered his synagogue there was a separation of the sexes. This was based upon Zechariah 12 which speaks several times about the women mourning “apart” from the men. In the middle, at the opposite end of the building, was a platform with a lectern in the middle. On the men’s side there were steps by which the reader and speaker ascended the pulpit. And of course there were special chairs, the chief seats, set up for the rich and powerful in the community. Prayer and the reading of the scriptures were led by a man chosen by the ruler of the synagogue. These aspects of the ministry were done standing, but the teaching and preaching were done sitting down. We can see little glimpses of these things as we read through the Gospels and the Book of Acts.
Now, we have to ask ourselves about the divine authority for these things. And our first observation is that there was no command for the establishment of the synagogue. On the other hand there was no condemnation against them either. I realize that ordinarily this isn’t a great argument, but in this case we have to consider it. The synagogue apparently arose during the days of the captivity, when there was no access to the temple. They were places where the Word of God could be taught, and where prayers could be offered. There were no sacrifices made in the synagogue and there was no altar. But we also remember that Godly men, like Daniel, didn’t take seriously the tradition that prayer had to be offered to the Lord in groups. We don’t read of that man attending any of the synagogues in Babylon. Generally speaking, is there anything wrong with publically reading or teaching the Word of the Lord? Is it sin to pray for the Lord’s blessings, or to offer thanksgiving – either at home or in groups? The Old Testament declares that fathers were to teach their sons the Law of God. There was no direct command or provision for the establishing of synagogues.
But in regard to the question of divine authority, we have to consider Christ’s attendance at the synagogue. The Lord Jesus is often seen attending the synagogue, and even participating in the services in the traditional way in which it was done. He not only attended regularly, but He never condemned them, even though there may have been a lot to criticize. Luke 4:16 even makes a curious comment – “And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.” I must conclude that it was acceptable to attend the synagogue, at least in those early days, because we see that the Lord did it on a regular basis.
Before we move on, there is one other general consideration we need to make. Over time the synagogues became cliquish for one reason or another. There may have been more than 400 synagogues in Jerusalem in Jesus’ day and shortly thereafter. Why were there so many? A similar question might be – Why are there so many Baptist churches in any one city? Acts 6:9 we have a reference to specific synagogue. “Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.” As one might imagine, people moving to Jerusalem from Alexandria Egypt, or from Tarsus in Cilicia, would naturally associate, perhaps speaking their native languages – if not in the services, at least at the front door. They would also bring their own particular customs, with might create conflicts with people from other synagogues. I would guess that some of those many synagogues grew out of regional differences.
And finally, the Book of Revelation speaks twice about “the synagogue of Satan.” That might mean nothing more than a congregation of wicked people. But it might also refer to specific synagogues which had become so corrupt that Satan became their god. What constitutes a synagogue of Satan? Is it possible that the synagogue of the Libertines, or any of the others, might have become a synagogue of Satan? It’s not only possible but probable, as we can see from so many so-called “Christian churches.” Is it possible for a good Baptist church to become heretical? Absolutely.
Now let me reach back to my allegory from the last couple of weeks.
The Jewish synagogue bears a lot of resemblance to the modern Christian church. Generally speaking, the purpose of each are about the same – prayer, Bible study and worship. There are the regular members who attend for these sorts of reasons. Some people attend the House of God seeking for a blessing from God. And some broken souls attend church actually looking for the Saviour.
But just as there were varieties among the Jewish synagogues there are varieties among churches. There are assemblies of the heathen, where there is no resemblance to a true church. They shouldn’t be called “churches” any more than a political rally or a meeting of the KKK should be a church. Then there are those which repeat the name of Christ, but which believe heresy and practice confusion. There may be nothing that we can do from keeping them away from the term “church” or even the name “Christian,” but we know that those words don’t really apply. There are also those evangelical churches which approach the truth, but still miss the mark. How many of the Galilean synagogues of Jesus’ day might be likened to quasi-Baptist churches?
And then we come to those churches which we believe to be scriptural and God ordained. Do they have any similarities with the synagogues which our Lord visited while here on earth? Yes, there are similarities and dissimilarities.
How does the Bible describe the activities which took place in the synagogues?
Obviously, there were some who attended synagogue services seeking the Lord’s blessings. I can’t tell you how many there were, but there must have been people like Anna and Simeon who awaited the Lord in the Temple. Perhaps this man with the withered arm was expecting a visit from the Lord that sabbath. In Acts 15:21 in the midst of a discussion about Paul’s Gentile churches, James says something about the synagogue service. “For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.” That isn’t to say that since the time of Moses, the scriptures have been read in the synagogues. It is saying that every sabbath day for a very long time, Moses had been read and preached in the Jewish synagogues. The reading and studying of the Word of God is a good thing wherever it is honest and sincere. And I think that we can also say that prayers were offered up to God in those synagogues. There were both good and commendable activities practiced regularly in the Jewish synagogue.
But in addition to these worthy things, there was much evil in those Jewish synagogues.. In the Sermon on the Mount the Lord said, “When thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men.” “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.” Are there any Christian brethren who love to be called on to lead in prayer just so that their voices might be heard? The synagogues of Jesus’ day were sometimes like religious courts. Matthew 10:17 – “Beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues.” Do professed churches ever become public squares where the wicked are pilloried and whipped? Toward the end of His ministry Jesus was rebuking Israel saying – “Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city.” On several occasions the Lord warned people about seeking the chief seats in the synagogues, and He warned about the people who sat in those seats. As I said earlier, the Jews attached the same kind of relationship that some denominations place on their churches. Apparently they believed that membership in one of the synagogues was tantamount to salvation. So “among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue.” What would have been so terrible with being put out of the synagogue? Would it be a terrible thing to be booted out of a Methodist or Episcopal church? Some people undoubtedly think so.
These are some of the things which went on in the Jewish synagogue.
But what did the Lord Jesus do when He was in one of those synagogues?
Luke 4 describes our Lord’s temptation in the wilderness. That episode concludes with the words, “And when the devil ended all the temptations he departed from him for a season.” The next paragraph begins – “And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” This scripture tells us several things, some of which are repeated in other scriptures. For example, we are told that it was our Lord’s custom to visit the synagogue each sabbath. Secondly, the Lord was used to being asked to read the scriptures. Then on this occasion and others He was permitted by the ruler of the synagogue to preach or expound the scripture which had been read. The Lord often used the synagogue as an opportunity to declare Himself to be the Messiah.
He also met people in the synagogue who were in need of His blessings. He healed people there. And obviously, many times the gathering was on the sabbath, so problems were to be expected with the legalistic Pharisees But of course the Lord didn’t care about the perverted opinions of the Scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees.
It cannot be denied that the Lord didn’t avoid the synagogue.
Now what does that have to do with that letter I received about joining in a Billy Graham crusade?
I think that it is safe to assume that Jesus never entered what He knew to be a synagogue of Satan. And just as He eventually left the Temple, leaving it to its corrupted priests, I think that as time progressed, there were more and more synagogues which He stopped attending. I assume that there were synagogues whose rulers were in the pockets of the Pharisees. As time progressed and as Jesus’ popularity began to fall, the opportunity for Christ to serve His Father in those synagogues fell away. In other words, the further and further a congregation diverged from the truth of God’s Word, the less likely that the Lord Jesus visited it.
City-wide evangelistic campaigns, or programs like the one to which I was invited…. Programs which bring together dozens of churches and denominations cannot be considered Biblical. Churches which consider salvation to be up to the choice of the sinner, are not pleasing to God. Churches which consider themselves to be the owners and mediators of salvation are not God’s churches. Churches which teach their people to look for the Anti-Christ, rather than the true Christ, may still be churches of God, but they are in error. How many erroneous doctrines can a congregation hold before the Lord removes its candlestick and His authority. I believe that at some point Christ Jesus stopped visiting some of the synagogues where He had earlier worked miracles. When they began rejecting Him, and then attacking Him, He withdrew from them entirely. And I don’t believe that He would have much to do with many so-called “Christian” churches today.
95% of modern, mass evangelistic efforts mix together churches with varying degrees of heresy. And at some people, a point which Bill Graham crossed years ago, even unbelievers are incorporated into the leadership of those campaigns. The Bible says, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”
I may not have a lot of scriptures to back this up, but I believe that early in Christ’s ministry He ministered in the synagogues of Israel. Many of the simple people in those synagogues were looking for the Messiah. But as more and more priests, Pharisees, and synagogue rulers rejected Christ – Christ’s message and His authority, the Lord Jesus withdrew Himself from them. And today, I don’t think that He would have anything to do with the campaign about which I received that e-mail.