Our English word “apostle” is derived from the Greek word apostolos which literally means, “sent out one.” It was the selected word by Jewish writers in the Greek language to translate the ancient Hebrew word shaliach.

When Jewish writers wrote in Greek, especially those concerned with Hebraic tradition, they selected words that closely reflected the Semitic words they meant in their minds. Such is the relationship between the Hebrew word shaliach and the Greek word apostolos. Behind the Greek word is the Hebrew meaning of our word “apostle.”

What does the word shaliach (“apostle”) mean? It comes from the Hebrew verb shaliach which means “to send.”

An example of the use of the verb is found in Psalm 78:49: “He sent [shaliach] upon them his hot anger, his wrath, indignation and hostility—a band of destroying angels.” In this case, the band of angels were sent [shaliach] by God, the highest legal authority, to represent Him by executing justice on his behalf. Each angel served heaven’s court as a shaliach acting beyond their normal domain in heaven to represent and execute God’s decision to punish wrongdoers on earth. Bear in mind that the meaning for the word “angel” is messenger. This band of angels were messengers of the court of heaven in their apostleship to exercise justice on earth regarding a group of rebellious people. Thus, these heavenly messengers were heaven sent to earth as apostles to execute heaven’s sentence for sin.

The core meaning of an apostle is found in this description of the band of angels as apostles. An apostle, or shaliach, is one concerned with doing justice on behalf of the Judge who sent them. While this is not what most people read into the work of an apostle, nevertheless, biblically it is what is at the heart of the work of an apostle, including the ones sent by our Lord Yeshua (Jesus) who gave apostles as a gift to his church (cf. Ephesians 4:11).

Hence, the noun shaliach means “one who is sent.” More specifically, as literary and historical evidence shows, the word meant “someone designated by juridical authorities to be sent by them to serve their cause, represent their decisions and execute them, usually as an extension beyond their immediate jurisdiction.”

Justice is at the heart of an apostle’s purpose. In Hebrew, it is always helpful to see what other words are derived from the same root verb. By making this observation, we see that the root verb shaliach not only produces the word for apostle (shaliach), it also produces the noun shelach. By changing the first vowel sound “ah” to “eh” in the verb shaliach, we are introduced to shelach, another Hebrew word valuable to our understanding the intent of what an apostle does.

The noun shelach gives us the biblical word used for “missile,” “weapon” or “sword.” A missile or weapon, like a sword, was used to execute justice in the hands of a soldier sent by a juridical authority. When the word is translated as a synonym for “war,” the idea of a “just war” is implied. A just war is one in which a high court has ruled that war is necessary to execute justice upon a criminal people.

In Nehemiah 4:17 we see such a use of the word to mean a “weapon” to execute justice: “Those who were rebuilding the wall, and those who carried burdens, took their load with one hand doing the work and the other [hand] holding a weapon [shelach].” The weapon was typically a sword, in this instance, a sword of justice. The high court had ruled for all to defend themselves against their unjust enemies. In this case the instrument of justice is the sword which serves as an apostle in the hands of the defenders of Jerusalem.

In 2 Chronicles 23:10 we find a similar meaning. The child-king Joash was set in place as the new king of Israel against treacherous foes. The Scripture tells us what action was taken to protect him from his enemies: “And he [the high priest] stationed all the people, each man with his weapon [shelach] in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, by the altar and by the house, around the king.” Again, the swords are the apostles of the guardians. The weapon is not the authority but is in the hand of deputized authority. The high priest is the supreme authority who ruled in this case. Again, we see that serving the court as a deliver of justice is the root idea behind the word “apostle.”

In some cases the word shelach is translated as a synonym for Sheol (hell), a place where unjust angels and people are imprisoned for eternity under the judgment of heaven’s court. In Job 33:18 this meaning seems to be intended:

He keeps back his soul from the pit,
and his life from passing over into shelach.

Various translations render the word shelach here as “war,” “sword,” or Sheol. It is more than a sentence of death. It implies the place of eternal justice, or eternal judgment. Sheol (hell) is understood in this light as the abode of not the righteous dead, but the wicked dead.

In Job 36:12 we read: “But if they do not hear, they will pass over by sword [shelach], and they will die without knowledge.” In this sense, it means to pass over to the wicked dead where judgment is executed for their sins.

In these two usages of the word shelach in Job, we see that the meaning of this word is attached to a sense of doing eternal justice, executing final judgment. Again, we see the strong attachment of this Hebrew word to its sister word shaliach—our word “apostle.” The root meaning behind “apostle” and “weapon” is to serve justice.

We understand better the reference to the Word of God as a sword, or the message of Yeshua (Jesus) as a sword, when we see the direct connection between a sword and the work of an apostle sent to do justice. The “sword of the Lord” is not a metal sword to slay people. It is an apostolic word, a powerful, slicing, penetrating word to judge people according to God’s prescribed justice. This “spoken sword” pierces hearts and souls with the truth of Messiah’s offer of his kingdom and the hearer’s responsibility to it having once heard it. This is why Paul writes in Ephesians 6:17 that “the sword of the Spirit … is the word of God.” Consider also John’s vision of Messiah that shows Messiah returning to earth the second time as Judge: “…with justice he judges and makes war … Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations” (Revelation 19:11, 15).

Apostles of the court. In ancient Jewish courts a shaliach was a deputized person bound to and submitted to the will of the court of law as servant of the court to do its bidding. The gist of the meaning is found in two words: “servant” and “deputy.” Under the court’s direction, the shaliach was sent beyond the courtroom to speak, act and execute justice on its behalf, often beyond the provincial jurisdiction of the court in a foreign territory when needed. Therefore, the charge of a shaliach was to act as a deputized authority to conduct court business outside the court room and juridical province and, if necessary, to make arrests and execute justice. Such is the ancient, long-held purpose of an apostle as an agent of justice.

Yeshua (Jesus) points out the subservient role of the apostle to the sending authority. He said: “Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master; neither is an apostle greater than the one who sent him” (John 13:16).

Seven distinguishing characteristics. When we think of what apostles are we should keep seven distinguishing characteristics in mind. An apostle is:

• of a court of law observant of the Torah
• a submitted servant of the court of law
• deputized by this court to act on its behalf
• sent as a messenger of the court to announce its judgments
• sent to enforce the court’s action
• responsible to uphold his chief concern to do justice in the name of the court
• sent beyond the immediate juridical province of the court to ensure justice is done by and for those living far away, often in a foreign territory without God’s law

Understanding these seven elements helps us understand the nature of the ministry of the Messiah Yeshua (Jesus), the chief apostle of heaven, at his first coming and his deputized apostles in their mission under Him since then.

The Bet Din. In ancient Judaism was the Bet Din, or “house of judgment.” We would use the word “courthouse” today. The Supreme Court was called the Sanhedrin. It was the Assembly, or Council of the Elders. The Sanhedrin applied the laws of the Torah to daily Jewish life and executed justice accordingly.

In turn, each synagogue had a judicial council, or lower court of law. Again, the law these synagogue courts enforced was God’s law as found in the Torah. They interpreted and applied these laws to specific situations. The judges in the lower synagogue courts were called “the bench of three.” At least three justices served jointly to try each case. Sometimes they were called “the pillars” of the assembly. Those who sat on the judicial council were all presiding elders—the nesi’im. They were not the apostles but the higher authority which sent out apostles (shlichim). Apostles submitted to their judgments.

The Shammash, or Shaliach Bet Din. Each synagogue court had a person who served as the shammash (servant), or shaliach of the court. These were synonymous terms for the same office. To serve the court faithfully as an officer of the court was the main objective. It was an important job, a combination of a deputy sheriff and prosecuting attorney in one.

The apostle Paul was such a person before He became a believer in the Messiah Yeshua (Jesus). In his position of an officer of the Supreme Court, the Sanhedrin, he was sent to Syria to arrest and imprison Jewish believers in Messiah Jesus. He acted within the scope of his credentials issued by the Sanhedrin. Before he was an apostle (shaliach) of the Lord Jesus to Gentiles Paul was first an apostle of the Sanhedrin to the Jewish people.

What actually was the normal job description of a shaliach, or apostle of a Bet Din? We note several tasks:

• He was the servant of the Bet Din and assisted the presiding elders or justices—the nesi’im
• He was the caretaker of the bureaucratic details of the court
• He administered “stripes,” i.e., whippings on the backs of those so sentenced by the judges for breaking the law
• When the minyan (the quorum of ten men necessary to have a synagogue) were needed in the synagogues to teach or to do righteous acts, he brought them together for the nesi’im (“the bench of three” synagogue rulers)
• He made arrangements for weddings and funerals
• At sunset on Friday, he announced the arrival of the Sabbath by blowing six blasts on the shofar
• Under the court’s credentials, he went beyond the provincial jurisdiction of the court to enforce justice upon those in foreign lands who were citizens under the rule of provincial court
• He collected the temple tax from Jewish people living in foreign lands while on a foreign mission of the court
• He collected funds from diaspora Jews for the poor that justice may be done for their needs

During the late Second Temple era, the Jewish historian Josephus used the title of shaliach, or apostle, for a group of men who were sent from Jerusalem by the Jewish Sanhedrin on a mission to Rome (Antiquities 17.11.1).

After the destruction of Jerusalem, the term signified a few men who formed a brief council in order to assist the patriarch at home and to execute his orders abroad.

Where did the Greek word apostolos originate? Every word has its own history. We depart from the history and purpose of the Semitic meaning of the word shaliach to see why the Greek word apostolos was a fitting word in Greek to describe the work of an apostle of justice. With this departure to look at the origins of the Greek word apostolos, we should bear in mind that the role and activity of the apostle was not determined by this Greek history. In every case, the role of an apostle is established according it its Hebraic meaning.

In Attic maritime language where the Greek term was first employed, it applied to a fleet, or naval cargo ship, dispatched on foreign service. The term was often combined with ploion which meant a freighter or transport ship. In Demosthenes writings (Orations 18:80) the word denotes a fleet in a naval expedition.

As the meaning of the word developed it subsequently came to imply the commander of a naval expedition. The naval title apostoleus signified an admiral.

In the Greek payri, apostolos was the word often used for an invoice or passport. Eventually the word apostolos was applied to each person who were members of a group of colonists sent overseas to expand the jurisdiction of the sending government.

It was not until Herodotus (Histories 1.21, 5.38) that the term first came to represent an individual who was an envoy or emissary. The term which was usually accorded this meaning was angelos (“angel,” or “messenger”) or keruz (“herald”).

In each of these applications of apostolos two common notions are prominent: one which expresses a commission by a sending authority, and another which conveys someone being sent – whether overseas or elsewhere. These two meanings agree with their corresponding verb (apostello) which denotes the sending of an individual on a specific mission. Such an envoy functioned as the personal representative of the one who sent him.

This was described in popular Stoic philosophy by the concept which taught that an envoy’s authority represented his master. Eventually, this meaning acquired a religious meaning in Stoicism, and the use of apostolos ultimately became a technical term connoting divine authority.

We should have no difficulty in seeing why the Greek word apostolos was selected to translate the Hebrew word shaliach into Greek. They were close parallels in both cultures.

Usage in Jewish writings in Greek language. The verb apostello, which emphasized the one who imparted his authority to another, was used in the Septuagint nearly seven hundred times, while apostolos occurs only once (3 Kings 14:6). This emphasis was altered dramatically by Rabbinic Judaism which understood the function of such a representative to be similar to that which was taught in the Semitic law regarding messengers. The Mishnah expressed this as: “A man’s agent is like himself” (Berakoth 5.5). Hence, the messenger became the proxy of the one who commissioned him.

Apostolos is referred to seventy-nine times in the New Testament. In most cases the term is used to describe a comparatively small group of persons whom Yeshua (Jesus) and the church’s top elders, the nesi’im, entrusted the church’s mission.

Yeshua and the Twelve. The Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) identified only twelve of his disciples as apostles. After his resurrection and ascension, others were added to the list (Acts 14:14; 2 Corinthians 12:11; 1 Thessalonians 2:6; Revelation 2:2). The twelve men chosen by the Messiah are rarely called apostles by the Gospel writers, but their names have been preserved in each of the four Gospel accounts. We further find their names in later catalogs of apostolic traditions.

Why would the Gospel writers scarcely mention the Twelve as “apostles”? In fact, they are only referred to this way nine times in the four Gospels. Matthew’s Gospel refers to them only once as apostles (10:2), Mark’s Gospel refers to them as apostles three times, (3:14; 6:13, 30), Luke’s Gospel five times (9:10; 11:49; 17:5; 22:14; 24:10) and never once in John’s Gospel. Do you find this curious?

Though Luke’s Gospel mentions the Twelve as being apostles the most—five times, in his Book of Acts he mentions the Twelve as apostles no less than 28 times (1:2, 26; 2:37, 42, 43; 4:33, 35, 36, 37; 5:2, 12, 18, 29, 40; 6:6; 8:1, 14, 18; 9:27; 11:1; 14:4, 14; 15:2, 4, 6, 22, 23; 16:4) and the related word “apostleship” once (1:25). Why should their mention in the Book of Acts of the Apostles be so frequent while the Gospels refer to them as apostles so begrudgingly?

Who’s in charge of the Torah? The answer lies, at least in part, to the fact that an apostle was a person serving and representing the orders of a national or local court of law. These orders were understood in Jewish society to be the enforcement of the laws of the Written Torah and the traditions of the elders, often cited as the Oral Torah. The enforcers of the laws of the Torah and the oral tradition of the elders in the time of Yeshua (Jesus) of Nazareth were the Sanhedrin on the national level and the lower court synagogues.

God’s rule, of course, for Israel was set in place in the written Torah. In the centuries following the giving of the Torah to Moses, when no king held court over Israel, the chief priest was the highest ranking authority to enforce the Torah. By the Second Temple era, a time without a king due to the Jewish people being made subjects to Caesar of Rome, the larger body of elders known as the Sanhedrin were the judicial body under the high priest.

The Torah, of course, did not provide for the Sanhedrin or the synagogue courts. They were in place by tradition since the Babylonian exile ended. Their right to make, interpret and enforce the laws of Israel was unchallenged. Consequently, they were the apostle-makers. None existed apart from them since apostles served them and their cause.

For Yeshua (Jesus) to have his own apostles (plural, shlichim), therefore, was outrageous in the thinking of many Jews, and vehemently so of those elders of the Sanhedrin and lower court synagogues. Their questions were simple: who is Yeshua of Nazareth to have his own court and establish his own rule? By what authority did He act? The conclusion was that either He was overthrowing the Torah by having his own rule of law, or He was trumping the role of all other courts as the chief interpreter of the Torah. No middle ground could be found.

Which was it? Did He come to abolish the Torah or to fill it up in Himself? Either idea was ludicrous to conventional wisdom. Yeshua (Jesus) answered the controversial question: He came to fill the Torah up in Himself, in his own flesh and blood (cf. Matthew 5:17-20). Very few Jewish authorities received Him, for to do so was to believe his authority was greater than theirs over the meaning, purpose and rule of Torah.

For Him to have apostles was to say that He was the chief justice sworn to apply the Torah’s judgments in people’s daily lives. Inherent in his sending apostles was his claim to be greater in passing judgment than the High Priest in Jerusalem.

The question, obviously, was by what authority did Yeshua (Jesus) speak and act. Did He disregard the high court of the Sanhedrin or the lower courts of the synagogues? Of course He did in this deliberate sense. For Him to call, teach and send apostles was to admit that He was in charge of the Torah! The Torah belonged to Him. He was greater than Moses who received it from God. His claim was that He gave the Torah, and whatever He spoke was Torah.

The issue was not missed on the Jewish authorities in the Temple. They understood Yeshua (Jesus) of Nazareth, as all Jews were, to be under their traditional authority of succession. The Gospel of Matthew (21:23) reports their suspicion and complaint against Him:

And when He had come into the temple, the chief priests and
the elders of the people came to Him as He was teaching, and
said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who
gave you this authority?”

Yeshua (Jesus) replied: “Who sent John the Immerser (Baptist)? Was it you or God?” Unable to reply, He said it would be of no use to tell them who sent Him then. Of course, He was saying that his Father sent Him, the ultimate authority.

In this light, the Gospel writers were aware how dangerous in Judea it was to speak of Yeshua’s apostles as apostles, particularly as long as the chief priest lived as the Supreme Justice of the High Court, the Sanhedrin. Yeshua (Jesus) was a political threat to the central establishment of law regarding who was in charge of the Torah.

Not until the Roman siege of Jerusalem during AD 67-70 did the Levitical priesthood end. Not until the Temple was destroyed did the Sanhedrin disband. When this occurred, the uncomfortable threat of imminent imprisonment inherent in being called Yeshua’s (Jesus’) apostles subsided.

When the Book of Acts was written, it appears the Temple was already destroyed and the Sanhedrin disbanded. Thus, Luke refers to the Twelve as being apostles with frequency and little, if any, caution.

All Jews were asking the same question after the destruction of the Temple and the cessation of the Levitical priesthood. Who’s in charge of the Torah? Everyone wanted to know. It was appropriate to answer the question, and Luke did so more frequently than the other Gospel writers. Yeshua was the Living Torah. He was in charge. “Ask his apostles,” Luke argued. “They are eye witnesses of the Messiah and some still live among us!”

For the Jews who rejected Yeshua (Jesus) as the Living Torah, a consolidated form of Judaism emerged out of the aftermath of Jerusalem’s collapse as the alternative to Messiah’s kingdom offer. Before the end of the first century the form of Judaism still prevailing today—Rabbinic Judaism—was birthed. It remains fundamentally anti-Yeshua, rejecting Him as the Living Torah and focusing only on the Written Torah (and traditions of the elders) without regarding the Torah’s fullness in the Messiah.

Apostles of God are about the Messianic rule of God. The message of Yeshua (Jesus) and the Twelve was the offer the kingdom (i.e., the rule) of God to Israel. “Repent,” Yeshua (Jesus) proclaimed, “for the kingdom of heaven is near you” (cf. Mark 1:14). Yeshua was Himself an apostle of his Father in announcing this message and offering citizenship in God’s kingdom first to Israel.

The kingdom of God is the rule of God. The rule of God is the reception of the Living Torah, Messiah Yeshua (Jesus), into our lives. By his Holy Spirit, He writes his Torah on our hearts, thus imparting and implanting in us the spiritual means of obedience to God’s Messianic rule.

With our awareness that Yeshua’s (Jesus’) apostles were emissaries of heaven’s Court of Law, their reason for existence was three-fold: (1) to present their credentials and demonstrate their authority to those outside the kingdom of God, (2) to announce God’s offer of his kingdom (rule) to those outside the kingdom and (3) to teach and interpret the Messianic rule of God’s kingdom to those who received the message and believed.

Other apostles than the Twelve. Like others, the Twelve would die. But the kingdom offer would continue to the regions beyond where the gospel message was yet to be heard and received. After the ascension of our Lord into glory, other apostles were called by the Messiah from heaven in addition to the Twelve Yeshua (Jesus) appointed when on earth. In Ephesians 4:8,11-13, they are listed among the human gifts of Messiah to his church.

Therefore it says, “When He ascended on high, He led captive
a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men.” … And He gave
some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and
some pastors and teachers, for the training of those made holy
for the work of service, to the building up of the body of
Messiah; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the
experiential knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature
person, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the
fullness of Messiah.

Both Barnabas and Paul are called apostles in the book of Acts (14:4, 14). Paul referred to James, the brother of Jesus, as an apostle (Galatians 1:19). Additionally, Timothy, Silas (1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2:6), Andronicus and Junias—a woman (Romans 16:7)—were called apostles.

Tasks of Messiah’s apostles: forerunners of the church. Apostles are called by Messiah, given to his church as gifts and sent to every generation. Their message is the offer of the kingdom of God, of Messiah’s rule. They are driven to take this message and offer it to those who yet await the hearing of God’s offer for the first time. This is a primary work of Messiah’s true apostles. They are not called and sent by the church, but, are larger than this. They are emissaries of the kingdom of God sent by the King of kings and Priest of priests—Messiah Yeshua—to the nations ahead of the church’s presence. As such, they are gifts to the church yet sent to those outside the kingdom of God where the gospel has not yet reached in any substantial way. They are forerunners of the church to the nations of the world.

Apostles are always about justice. They are to do justice with the gospel message, for those who have never heard and for those who have. They live under the conviction that every person, Jew and Gentile, deserve to hear the gospel message of the Messiah at least once in a clear, understandable appeal before they die to stand before the judgment seat of God. To them, anything less is unjust. It is not the will of God’s Court that any should perish but that all should come to eternal life through faith in the Messiah.

As gifts to the church, apostles are sent to the church to teach justice in human relationships in light of the Living Torah—the Messiah. They instruct in the truth (1 Corinthians 1:17), a function performed in close association with the gift of prophets to the church (Ephesians 2:20).

Nearly contemporary with Paul was a treatise which incorporated apostolic responsibility within its title: The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles. It is often called the Didache, or, in English, the Teaching. This is the earliest Jewish-Christian manual claiming to be a collection of oral traditions spoken by the Twelve.

The role of the apostle is defined in the document as one who teaches in order “to promote righteousness and knowledge of the Lord.” Like Paul in his letters, the Teaching lists the first two orders (or offices) of the church as apostles and prophets. “Apostle” is used in the broader sense—not referring to the Twelve called by Yeshua (Jesus), but to all who are called in every generation to the apostolic office. Again, their responsibility was primarily that of teachers sent to make disciples and to offer the justice of the kingdom of God.

In this light, we should not be surprised when we read the letters of the apostles in the New Testament that in their work among those without the gospel, as deputized justices of God they also performed the duty to correct the church in its errant ways.

Another key duty of apostles in their work of justice was to ensure the feeding and care of the poor. Thes acts were righteous acts of justice. When Paul was with the pillars of the church of Jerusalem, in submission to them, they urged him to minister to the poor, something Paul said he was glad to do (Galatians 2:10). True apostles always care for the poor.

Apostles sent by the Lord submitted to the presiding elders—the nesi’im—of the church. Barnabas was sent by the presiding elders in Jerusalem to teach Paul after he became a believer and was called to be an apostle (cf. Acts 9:26-30; 11:22-26). They, in turn, as apostles of Messiah’s justice, went out to make disciples in the regions beyond.

The credentials of apostles. Apostles of the Sanhedrin and the lower courts of the synagogues carried court documents to certify that they were authorized to act in foreign territories on behalf of their government. These were more than travel documents, but were court documents to act in a foreign land with the judicial authority of the sending court of home.

Never do we see Yeshua (Jesus) issue travel papers of authority. Why not? After all, He did call, authorize and send apostles out under his jurisdiction. Why no court documents? How, then, can it be determined that his apostles are legitimate?

The answer lies in the Messiah authorizing his apostles to act in his Name according to his power. Their acts were their credentials. Luke’s Gospel 9:1-6 shows this clearly:

And He called the Twelve together, and gave them power and
authority over all the demons and to heal diseases. And He
sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform
healing. And He said to them, “Take nothing for your journey,
neither a staff, nor a bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not
even have two tunics apiece. Whatever house you enter, stay
there until you leave that city. And as for those who do not
receive you, as you go out from that city, shake the dust off
your feet as a testimony against them.”

Departing, they began going throughout the villages, preaching
the gospel and healing everywhere.

Their credentials were the working of miracles in the Name of Yeshua (Jesus), though others did the same. Paul affirms the same not only for the Twelve but for all who are true apostles. In 2 Corinthians 12:11-12 he writes about his own apostolic credentials:

For in no respect was I inferior to the most eminent apostles,
even though I am a nobody. The signs of a true apostle were
performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and
wonders and miracles.

Again, Paul reaffirms this test of the credentials of a true apostle in Romans 15:18-19 (bold print). But he further validates the very idea of what apostles do in the greater scope of his testimony in verses 15-26:

But I have written very boldly to you on some points so as to
remind you again, because of the grace that was given me from
God to be a minister of Messiah Yeshua to the Gentiles,
ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of
the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy
Spirit.
boasting in things pertaining to God. For I will not presume to
speak of anything except what Messiah has accomplished
through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word
and deed in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of
the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as
Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Messiah.

And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Messiah was
already named, so that I would not build on another man's
foundation. But as it is written, “They who had no news of Him
shall see, and they who have not heard shall understand.”

For this reason I have often been prevented from coming to
you. But now, with no further place for me in these regions,
and since I have had for many years a longing to come to you
whenever I go to Spain—for I hope to see you in passing, and
to be helped on my way there by you, when I have first enjoyed
your company for a while—but now, I am going to Jerusalem
serving the ones made holy. For Macedonia and Achaia have
been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among those
made holy in Jerusalem.

Are apostles unique from other ministry gifts to the church? Is there a significant difference between apostles and prophets that sets them apart? Is there a distinction between apostles and evangelists, pastors and teachers that sets them apart. In every case the answer is yes. Yet it is well to remember that apostles were also listed among the elders.

The five-fold offices given by Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) to oversee and steer the church, direct its affairs and mature believers are listed in Ephesians 4:11-13. They are the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.

As a group of five different kinds of ministries to help the church accomplish God’s will, they may be generally referred to as the elders of the church. Often, however, any one of this group of elders may be cited to distinguish them in particular from the other elders. Such is the case with the phrase “apostles and elders” in Acts 15:2-6. Such a literary custom was common place. Nevertheless, when we consider the work of the elders we may not slight the work of apostles among the eldership of the church.