The Grand Assembly

In Ephesians the words “inheritance” and “church” are connected and have Old Testament ties.

Throughout Ephesians, Paul talks about inheritance and the church. Here are just two samples:


Ephesians 1:18
I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

Ephesians 1:22
And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church,

I believe Paul is using Old Testament terminology to communicate a New Testament idea. Joshua 13-21 tells how the promised land (Israel’s inheritance) was to be divided among the tribes. Joshua 18:1-2 shows how this process took place:

Joshua 18:1-2
The whole assembly of the Israelites gathered at Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting there. The country was brought under their control, but there were still seven Israelite tribes who had not yet received their inheritance.

The Israelites called an assembly in order to divide up the inheritance. As I’ve written before, the word “church” actually means “assembly”. I believe Paul has this Old Testament setting in mind when he writes the Ephesians about their spiritual inheritance (side note: I also think the assembly setting is what John saw in Revelation 4). The Ephesians had been “called” to an “assembly” to receive their “inheritance” and Paul makes reference to this idea throughout his letter.