Author: Joe
Last saved by: Auth User
Company: GDC

99-11-21-A.JSH-230 / 

© 1999  Joe Griffin

Gift of Pastor-Teacher, Eph 4:11-13; Development of the Study of Joshua
Before returning to our study I need to reorient you to where we are, where we have been, where we are going, and why.
Some of you have expressed discouragement over the fact that you do not know where we are in our study and I want to ease that frustration.
First of all, let me explain my approach to teaching the Word of God.  Through the sovereignty of God, and obviously His sense of humor was instrumental to some degree, I was imputed the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher.  The fact that the attributes of  pastor and teacher are combined into one spiritual gift was revealed to Paul when he wrote in:
Ephesians 4:11 -	And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as pastors and teachers
v 12 -		for the equipping of the saints for combat, for the vocation of the ministry, to the edification of the body of Christ
v 13 -		until we all attain the unity of doctrine and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature person to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
In verse 11 the word “pastors” is the plural of the Greek noun poim»n /poimen /.  According to Ephesians 4:8 it is assigned to men only and carries with it the authority to teach the Word of God to that portion of God’s flock assigned to him.  No man can effectively communicate divine revelation unless he has the authority to do so.  That authority comes with the spiritual gift and his personality has noting to do with it.
Further there is only one pastor per congregation.  None of the male members of a local church has the authority to communicate truth to that congregation.  One or more may have the spiritual gift but he is in preparation under that church’s pastor and once ordained my move to another congregation and use his authority to communicate to his assigned flock.
No woman is assigned this gift.  Both men and women in a congregation may teach children.  The men may teach their wives at home.  But no one, man or woman, may teach doctrine to other members of the congregation other than its pastor-teacher.
Combined with the concept of “pastor” is the concept of “teacher,” mentioned in verse 11 by the plural of the Greek noun did£skaloj / didaskalos / and it refers to the function of teaching the Word of God.
Between these two nouns is the conjunction ka… / kai / which is a coordinate conjunction, coordinating two nouns instead of subordinating them.  So the correct translation is "pastor-teacher." 
This is technically known as an hendiadys, in which two nouns are joined by a conjunction to express one idea.  This is also the use of the Granville Sharp Rule:  If two nouns of the same case are connected by a ka… / kai / and the article is used with both nouns, they refer to different persons or things.  If only the first noun has the article then both the first and second noun refer to the same person or thing.
Example from Ephesians 4:11: toÝj poimšnaj kaˆ didask£louj / tous poimenas kai didaskalous /Tous is the accusative masculine plural article in agreement with poimenas and didaskalous.  The two nouns are also accusative masculine plurals, separated by the conjunction ka… / kai /  but the second noun does not have an article.  Therefore the two nouns represent the same spiritual gift and can best be translated by the use of a hyphen: pastor-teacher.
Thus the pastor-teacher must use his authority to teach the Word of God to that portion of God’s flock that God has assigned to him.  The teaching aspect of the gift involves communication of divine truth.  The English word “didactics” is derived from the Greek word for “teacher” that is found in this verse.  It refers to the art or science of teaching.  The pastor who knows the Word of God instructs members of God’s flock who do not know it.
Where does he get this knowledge?  From his own personal study under the mentorship of the Holy Spirit.  Where does he get his credentials to instruct God’s flock?  From the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher.  How is this communication successfully carried out?  Through the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit to all those who are assembled that are filled with the Holy Spirit.  Who are those who are filled with the Holy Spirit?  Those who are in status quo spirituality through confession alone to God alone.
You assemble, I teach.  The objectives to be accomplished by this endeavor are mentioned in Ephesians 4:12,
1)	To equip and train the royal family for combat.
2)	For the vocation of the ministry, i.e., training future pastors.
3)	For the edification of the body, i.e., to teach, study, discipline, reprimand, and encourage by steadfastness and doctrine.
When I prepare to teach doctrine I rely not only on the mentorship of the Holy Spirit but also the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  When I decide to embark upon a certain area of study, I am confident that I have been led there by the Holy Spirit.
However, you must understand that the way I teach is different from almost every other pastor with whom you are familiar.  We take a general subject and we examine that subject from every possible aspect.  I believe I am led to that general subject by the Holy Spirit, but after we commence I am bound by His mentorship and leadership.  Therefore, although the general subject remains the central theme, I must go where the Holy Spirit leads me.  Often a certain passage of Scripture will demand emphasis on a related doctrine. 
On other occasions I will become aware of areas of misunderstanding on the part of members of the congregation that must be addressed.  Also, each of you confronts problems and encounter difficulties that can best be resolved by incorporating certain passages of Scripture into our studies.

In addition, as I study I grow in grace.  As I do I discover principles of which I was unaware before beginning my research.  Often these doctrines and principles find their way into our study and on occasion prompt our examination of additional concepts related to them.
Therefore, in our study, the book of Joshua is intended to be our base of operations in order to accomplish the objective of learning doctrines that apply to our execution of the spiritual life of our dispensation.  All Joshua and his fellow Israelites had available to them was the faith-rest drill and the Torah.  We have not only the faith-rest drill but also a system that involves the four spiritual mechanics along with a completed canon of Scripture.
Therefore my efforts is using the book of Joshua as a base of operations is to allow it to initiate a host of studies that will assist us in the execution of the Christian way of life.  It is not as important that you constantly understand the warp and woof of the tapestry that I am weaving as it is for you to learn and apply the individual studies into which Joshua leads us.
The intent of the study is to let Joshua be the guide and let its narrative be the stimulus to examine the various subjects into which it leads us.  Nevertheless, so that you can see that portion of the fabric that we have developed so far, allow me to give you a summary of where we’ve been and an idea of where we are headed.
When we completed our study of the Way to Santa Fé, we had observed the experiences of the first generation of Israel as they made their 40-year journey through the Sinai’s Jornada.  We saw how they failed under the tests God presented them in that environment.  We learned how it was one’s reliance on the Word of God through personal faith that enabled the second generation to out do their fathers.
Therefore, when Joshua took command of the Israeli army and the leadership of its people on the Eastern Shore of the Jordan River, his mission was entirely dependent upon his ability to stay completely focused on the spiritual life of his dispensation.  That spiritual life was the faith-rest drill.  Joshua was to learn the Word of God and he was to apply its principles and mandates as he led the children of Israel into the land of Canaan.
But before he could make application he had to know the principles and the doctrines.  Fortunately, Joshua was one of histories most privileged people.  He, along with the Levitical priesthood, was given a copy of that portion of the canon of Scripture that had been completed up to that moment.  It was called the Pentateuch, or the Torah, and he was to know it, believe it, and apply it.
In order to appreciate this we studied the Pentateuch’s five books.  Then we took a look at Joshua the man followed by a brief look at Joshua the book.  There we noted the four-fold message of this famous Israelite general.  His writings show:
1)	The faithfulness of God even when Israel is faithless.  When we are faithless, it never hinders God’s faithfulness toward us.  This is grace.
2)	That the believer can only enjoy God’s gracious provisions as he appropriates them by faith.
3)	That divine essence can never co-exist with sin.  The emphasis in Joshua is the sin of the Canaanites.  They are so degenerate that God had to remove them from the earth in order to protect the rest of the human race.  This was an expression of divine love for those who loved Him.
4)	The literal warfare that takes place in Joshua between the children of God and the inhabitants of the land are analogous to the spiritual warfare we face in the Church Age.  In this Invisible War, we do not fight against flesh and blood but against unseen forces that seek to destroy our spiritual advance and short-circuit our spiritual lives.
In order to appreciate the book’s emphasis on faith we took time to study the concept from the New Testament, specifically 1 John 5:4-6 and the principle of “Victory through Faith.”  That faith was expressed by the Jews just before leaving Egypt by their observation of the first Passover.  The blood of the sacrificial lamb caused the destroyer angel to pass over their homes and spare their firstborn male children.
We then took time to study the Doctrine of the Blood of Christ which is a technical term that expresses the fact that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Testament shadows, for example, those of the Feast of Passover.  Gerhard Kittel in the first volume of the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament defines the term, the blood of Christ, as a “pregnant verbal symbol for the saving work of Christ” thus confirming that the phrase has a figurative rather then a literal meaning.
Our study of Joshua has so far included the first nine verses of chapter one:
Joshua 1:1-4: Command for Conquest
Joshua 1:1 -	[CTL] And it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying,
v 2 -	“Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel.
v 3 -	“Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you [ the inheritance given by promise to Abraham in Genesis 13:15 ], just as I spoke to Moses.
v 4 -	“From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun, will be your territory.”
In this opening paragraph we learned about the inheritance that was promised to the citizens of Israel.  That inheritance is real estate on planet earth that includes everything between the Nile and Euphrates Rivers and everything from Turkey down to the Indian Ocean.  But we learned through closer inspection that the promise was not actually given to racial Israel but rather to spiritual Israel.  In documenting this principle we tracked the promise through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and then through those who had the God of these three patriarchs as well as their genes.
Then we took up the second paragraph of chapter one:
Joshua 1:5-9:  Provision for Conquest
Joshua 1:5 -	“No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life.  Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you.  I will not fail you or forsake you.
v 6 -	“Be confident and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore unto their fathers to give to them.
v 7 -	“Only be confident and courageous.  Perform extraordinary diligence to do according to all the Law which Moses My servant commanded you.  Do not turn from the wheel-tracks of righteousness to the right into legalism or to the left into licentiousness, so that you may act wisely wherever you go.
v 8 -	“The book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth but you shall facilitate its content day and night so that you may be extraordinarily diligent to do according to all that is written in it; for then your lifestyle will accomplish what I intend and you will act wisely.
v 9 -	“Have I not commanded you?  Be confident and courageous!  Do not fear to the point of panic nor allow dismay to destroy your courage.  The Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
This paragraph motivated studies of the inheritance that we possess as members of the Royal Family of God in the Church Age.  We have been granted promises that we can claim that add to our confidence and courage to execute the Christian way of life.  In addition we have been bequeathed a system for its execution by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  He invented, tested, and proved the prototype system in His true humanity during the Incarnation.  He has passed it on to believers in the Church Age.  The fulfillment of the four spiritual mechanics enables us to not only arrive in Santa Fé but to acquire the capacity righteousness necessary for the conveyance of escrow blessings in time and eternity.  We studied these truths during this second paragraph.
We then compared the spiritual lives of the dispensation of Israel and the Church Age through a study of the use of the faith-rest drill by Abraham.  His willingness to sacrifice Isaac on an altar was a demonstration of the power of faith among the Old Testament heroes, especially Abraham who had no written canon to consult.  We will return to this episode in the near future in order to amplify and broaden our understanding of the use of the faith-rest drill in the Church Age.