MEET/GATHER/ASSEMBLE: ya’ad, verb (Strong’s 3259)
Root: יָעַד
Sounds like: yaw’ad
Many of us, this weekend, met together with our faith families to worship God in song and study. From the earliest of days, communities gathered together to give thanks and praise to the God of the Universe. In the Hebrew Bible we find that, not only did humans assemble together to worship but, God also met up with humans.
After YHWH gave instructions for the building of the Ark of the Covenant, He said this:
Exodus 25:21-22
[YHWH:] “Then you shall put the atoning cover on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony which I will give to you. There I will meet [w-noh-ad’ti וְנוֹעַדְתִּ֣י] with you; and from above the atoning cover, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about every commandment that I will give you for the sons of Israel.”
The Tabernacle was the sacred, set-apart, meeting place where heaven united and overlapped with earth. This was the arrangement that made it possible for YHWH to dwell on earth. It was a physical place where people could be in the holy presence of God:
Exodus 30:1a, 6
[YHWH:] “Now you shall make an altar as a place for burning incense… You shall put this altar in front of the veil that is near the ark of the testimony, in front of the atoning cover that is over the ark of the testimony, where I will meet [iwwa’ed אִוָּעֵ֥ד] with you.”
God consistently called the Tabernacle the place where I will meet with you (Exodus 25:22, Exodus 29:42, Exodus 29:43, Exodus 30:6, Exodus 30:36).
The Tabernacle/Temple was sacred-space, where the people could gather and meet in the presence of YHWH. It was such a holy space that there were many rules in place for the protection of the people. Only the high priest could go into the “holy of holies”, where the Ark of the Covenant was placed, but all could assemble at the Tabernacle and experience the joy of being in close proximity to their Almighty God, YHWH. It was a meeting place to gather in joy and celebration.
Ya’ad (יָעַד) is all about people who meet together, but associated with this word is mowed (מוֹעֵד), which means an appointed time or place of meeting. Ohel Mowed, was the tent of meeting which was a prevalent term in the Torah for the Tabernacle (see Exodus 30:16, 36; Exodus 31:7; Exodus 33:7; Exodus 38:8; Exodus 39:40; Exodus 40:6; Leviticus 4:7, 18; Leviticus 16:16; Numbers 1:1; Numbers 3:8, 25, 38; Numbers 4:15, 25, 28, 33, 41; Numbers 6:8; Numbers 25:6; Numbers 31:54; Deuteronomy 21:14, to name a few).
YHWH wanted a meeting place because He wanted to connect with humans. He loved them and He wanted a relationship with them:
Numbers 10:1-4
YHWH spoke further to Moses, saying, “Make yourself two trumpets of silver, you shall make them of hammered work; and you shall use them for summoning the congregation and breaking camp. Now when both are blown, all the congregation shall meet you [w-noh-adu וְנֽוֹעֲד֤וּ] at the entrance of the tent of meeting [ohel mowed אֹ֥הֶל מֹועֵֽד]. But if only one is blown, then the leaders, the heads of the divisions of Israel, shall meet you [w-noh-adu וְנוֹעֲד֤וּ].”
The trumpets were the summoning call for meetings, much in the way a church-bell became the gathering call for a Sunday service. Trumpets and feasts and communal prayer brought people together and it’s exactly what YHWH wanted… a community that responds to the call to sing together, eat together, and joins together in worship.
Eventually a permanent home was built to house the Ark of the Covenant, and king Solomon and the congregation of Israel all gathered together to celebrate the arrival of the Ark and the official opening of the new House of YHWH:
1 Kings 8:3-6 (see also 2 Chronicles 5)
Then all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. And they brought up the ark of YHWH, the tent of meeting [ohel mowed אֹ֣הֶל מֹועֵ֔ד], and all the holy utensils which were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who were gathered together [ha-noh-adim הַנּוֹעָדִ֣ים] to him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of YHWH to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim.
This was a great celebration, a gathering party to bring YHWH into their presence permanently (or so they hoped).
Gathering parties are some of my most cherished memories. We gather with friends and family to celebrate great life events: a birthdays, a new jobs, a wedding, a birth, a graduation… we gather to share in our communal joy!
We also gather in grief. A funeral, a vigil for a dying family member, an appointment to sit with our grieving friends. This is what Job’s friends did for him:
Job 2:11-13
Now when Job’s three friends heard about all this adversity that had come upon him (Job), they came, each one from his own place—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite; and they made an appointment [wai-wa-adu וַיִּוָּעֲד֣וּ] together to come to sympathize with him and comfort him. When they looked from a distance and did not recognize him, they raised their voices and wept. And each of them tore his robe, and they threw dust over their heads toward the sky. Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights, with no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.
Although we know that, later, Job’s friends said a lot of the misguided words to him, their first actions of gathering with Job and sitting silently in their communal grief was just what Job needed. They felt his pain, they wept with him, and they silently grieved.
Sometimes we just need to be there, in the presence of each other, without words, without explanation, without justification… just silently together.
Although ya’ad almost always referred to humans assembling together, Jeremiah used the word to describe the placement of figs:
Jeremiah 24:1-3
After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the officials of Judah with the craftsmen and metalworkers from Jerusalem and had brought them to Babylon, YHWH showed me: behold, two baskets of figs placed assembled [mu-adim מוּעָדִ֕ים] before the temple of YHWH. One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, and the other basket had very bad figs which could not be eaten due to rottenness.
Then YHWH said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?”
And I said, “Figs: the good figs are very good, and the bad ones, very bad, which cannot be eaten due to rottenness.”
Then the word of YHWH came to me, saying, “This is what YHWH, the God of Israel says: ‘Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans.’ For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land; and I will build them up and not overthrow them, and I will plant them and not uproot them. I will also give them a heart to know Me, for I am YHWH; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me wholeheartedly.
Jeremiah’s choice of assembling the figs before the Temple, rather than setting or placing the figs, helped emphasize that YHWH was really speaking about humans. The good gathering humans would be saved; the rotten humans who gathered to destroy, would themselves be destroyed.
In His day, Yeshua picked up this simile and expressed it another way. He spoke about the final judgement when all the nations would be gathered together at the foot of the heavenly throne:
Matthew 25:31-45
“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered [Greek: synachthesontai] before Him; and He will separate them from one another, just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left.
Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’
Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You as a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’
And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of Mine, you did it for Me.’
Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you accursed people, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’
Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or as a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’
Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for Me, either.’”
Yeshua had gathered quite a following throughout Galilee and Judea. People assembled to hear Him wherever He went. They met on mountain tops, in the plains, and in towns and cities to hear His words. And these gatherings caused the Jewish elite leaders to fear His influence over the people. While the people gathered to hear the words of Yeshua, the Sanhedrin gathered to take Yeshua down:
Matthew 26:1-4
When Jesus had finished all these words, He said to His disciples, “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man is to be handed over for crucifixion.”
At that time the chief priests and the elders of the people were gathered [Greek: synechthesan] together in the courtyard of the high priest named Caiaphas; and they plotted together to arrest Jesus covertly and kill Him.”
The people assembled to hear Yeshau; the Jewish leaders assembled to destroy Yeshua; and the Roman cohort assembled to torture Yeshua:
Mathew 27:27-31
Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered [Greek: synegagon] the whole Roman cohort to Him. And they stripped Him and put a red cloak on Him. And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and put a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they spit on Him, and took the reed and beat Him on the head. And after they had mocked Him, they took the cloak off Him and put His own garments back on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.
Public executions have a morbid history of being big ticket events across the globe. Some public hangings caused thousands of people, of all ages, to assemble and witness the macabre spectacle. The last public hanging in Canada was in 1869 in Goderich, Ontario. The previous hanging had been such a raucous event that the planners quietly pushed up the time so that the crowd of thousands coming to town might miss it. This was a death gathering. By 1870 these outdoor death spectacles were abolished in Canada. However, it took almost another 100 years to abolish the death penalty entirely. The last Canadian execution (now behind doors) was in 1962. It was a double execution and the prison chaplain, Cyril Everitt, led both men to God’s saving grace. The graveside litany for these two men, who were buried in unmarked graves, said, “May it please Almighty God”, but Everitt changed the words. Shortly before he died in 1986 he said (regarding the execution of Arthur Lucas and Ronald Turpin), “To this day, I don’t believe it pleased Almighty God”.
In contrast, the execution of Jesus was very public. Huge crowds gathered to watch Him die. He suffered in humiliating agony, with people yelling at Him, insulting Him, spitting on Him. It was horrific… and it, in no way, pleased Almighty God. This was a moment of great grief, necessary for the redemption of all people, and the only pleasant thing to come out of such misery was the rescue of every human willing to accept God’s gift of salvation. Yeshua had to die, because He had to fulfill the plan for human redemption, but He didn’t have to succumb to the finality of death. He went to the grave, but He did not stay there… and now we don’t have to either!
To watch people die is a death gathering. But we are called to gather together for life, and all the beauty that surrounds it. Yeshua had a crowd to watch him die, but His death was His crowning moment leading to everlasting life. He became the King of Life who would break the chains of death that had held humans captive for so long. This, however, wasn’t immediately apparent to His disciples.
During the three days after His execution, some of the female followers of Yeshua met together to visit His tomb. Their meeting took a surprising turn:
Matthew 28:1-7
Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the tomb. And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone, and sat upon it. And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. The guards shook from fear of him and became like dead men. And the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you to Galilee. There you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”
The women went to meet with the disciples, but someone else met with them first:
Matthew 28:8-10
And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to report to His disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Rejoice!” And they came up and took hold of His feet, and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go! Bring word to My brothers to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.”
Meanwhile, the guards who had witnessed the angel and the announcement of Yeshua’s resurrection met with the religious elite and announced what they had seen. As a result, the Jewish leaders assembled together to discuss their plans:
Matthew 28:11-15
Now while they were on their way, some of the men from the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. And when they had assembled [Greek: synachthentes] with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, and said, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him while we were asleep.’ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will appease him and keep you out of trouble.” And they took the money and did as they had been instructed; and this story was widely spread among the Jews and is to this day.
While all this was going on, the disciples also gathered together and they followed the instructions to go to Galilee:
Matthew 28:16-20
But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated to them. And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Whether you meet in a church, a synagogue, or in a home, gathering together in the presence of the Almighty is what we are called to do. We are the children of God and we’re meant to gather together, like a family, to worship, and study, and praise YHWH. But we are also called to “Go!” We are to leave the comfort of the gathering and share the Good News to the wide world. We can’t invite others in, if we don’t go out.
Invite people to the Assembly! Don’t worry about whether they look like they will fit in, or not; everyone should be invited to the table. Leave your judgement behind, and tell the world to knock on the door, and it will be open to them, because behind the door should be a family of believers gathered together to welcome them home.
Next week: A Sermon on Worthiness
Hebrew Word Lessons 