Leadership, structure and authority have been a part of God’s design from Genesis through Revelation. In every age, God has made a place for Elders to lead among His people. Unfortunately, the Elders in most modern churches do not have the same purpose as ordained by the Spirit in the New Testament. As we seek to rediscover their Spirit-gifted leadership of church, it is helpful to understand the context and culture in which the term Elder grew.
The term “elder” is familiar to most Christians, but it is also misunderstood by many. To some, the elder is the pastor of a church; to others, he is one of many pastors; or to a few, he is one of a board of elders who serve with a pastor. The one constant idea in all these is that he is a leader of the church.
Such a concept, however, is not sufficient. Several factors unfold the meaning of “elder”—lexical definition, historical use of the term, and the context in which it appears. Above all, it is critical to divorce oneself from contemporary concepts of the church and to keep in mind the Jewish context in which the term “elder” was used. Often overlooked, this Jewish heritage gives a significant dimension to the meaning of “elder.” The word has a lexical meaning determined by its cultural and historical setting. Paul’s idea of what an elder was is critical to a proper understanding and function of that office in the church.
Dallas Theological Seminary, Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 144, 144:87 (Dallas Theological Seminary, 1987; 2002).
The context begins with the nation of Israel. From ancient times, elders were the older men from each family, and later they had a distinct role of leadership alongside Moses.
In the Pentateuch elders are referred to among the Egyptians (Gn. 50:7) and the Moabites and Midianites (Nu. 22:7), as well as among the Israelites. In Ex. 3:16 the Israelites are represented as having had elders from the time of the Egyptian captivity, and it is with them that Moses is commanded to collaborate in his bid for freedom. They were probably the heads of families in the first instance, but Ex. 24:1 gives a fixed number of seventy. It was upon this inner circle of seventy elders that the Lord poured out the spirit in order that they should share the government of the people with Moses (Nu. 11:25).
D. R. W. Wood and I. Howard Marshall, New Bible Dictionary, 3rd ed., 305 (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1996).
In later times, Elders had very specific roles ordained by God among the nation of Israel.
After the wilderness period every city seems to have had its own ruling body of elders whose duties, according to Deuteronomic legislation, included acting as judges in apprehending murderers (Dt. 19:12), conducting inquests (Dt. 21:2) and settling matrimonial disputes (Dt. 22:15; 25:7). If theirs was a city of refuge they also heard pleas for asylum (Jos. 20:4; but see also Nu. 35:24).
ibid.
Generations later, during the New Covenant period of Acts, we see the Jewish religious Elders in conflict with the Apostles (Acts 4:5). Yet despite these conflicts the young church still valued and embraced the role of Elder in serving the new-covenant-people of God (Acts 11:30, Acts 15:2, Acts 20:17, Acts 21:18).
The Apostle Paul and the prophet Barnabas were commissioned by the church in Antioch to plant churches among the Gentiles (Acts 13:1-3). At the end of their very first missionary Journey, Paul and Barnabas made sure to appoint Elders for each young church in the region of Galatia.
Acts 14:21-23 After they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” When they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
As we move beyond the early church in Acts into the future Kingdom, the Apostle John’s vision from the Lord shows us that Elders will continue to serve even in the throne room of YHWH (Rev 4:4; 19:4).
The one who plants a first-century-styled church leaves that church without a pastor, elders, a music leader, a Bible facilitator, or a Bible teacher. If that church is planted well, those believers will know how to sense and follow the living, breathing headship of Jesus Christ in a meeting. They will know how to let Him invisibly lead their gatherings.” (pg 234)
This statement is misleading first, because it paints a false portrait of these Spirit-led community. From the very beginning, the churches planted by Paul and his co-workers had many false doctrines, conflicts, and disruptions which required the good leadership gifts of Elders and Apostles (Acts 15:1-41 & Gal 2:1-9). Second, it is an historically and biblically incorrect statement to say that God’s ideal church has no Elders. From the Jerusalem church and beyond, Elders were a part of God’s design for a healthy Family.
The Gentile church soon began to take on the design and order of the Jerusalem church. Paul and Barnabas appointed elders in every new church (Acts 14:23). As Hort observed,
Paul and Barnabas follow the precedent of Jerusalem by appointing elders in Jewish fashion (elders being indeed an institution of Jewish communities of the Dispersion as well as of Judaea), and with this simple organization they entrusted the young Ecclesiae to the Lord’s care, to pursue an independent life.
In Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he addressed both bishops (ἐπισκόποις) and deacons, showing a structure similar to that in Jerusalem (Phil 1:1). In Acts 20:17, 28 Paul reminded the Ephesian church elders of their responsibilities as spiritual leaders.
Dallas Theological Seminary, Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 144, 144:72 (Dallas Theological Seminary, 1987; 2002).
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