Exchanges - 'Ecclesia Unbound' (Nos. 3-4)
Being Notes of Exchanges by brethren Ezekiel Livingstone, Satya Raj & P. Ben.
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Exchange no. 3.

At Colossae, slavery was to be viewed with liberational inferences. The slaves at Colossae, under Christian mastery could hope for a just and an equal remuneration (Col 4:1) but not for seventh year and the Jubilee. Slavery as defined under the law, was redeemable by time and not by upgradation of status in terms of remunerative pay. A slave could be paid to be a slave without the right of seeking emancipation. But if the right exists, he can choose to be free as in 1 Cor 7:21.

The Epistle of Colossians, when it treats of slavery has an element of conferred obligation to pay a remuneration for the work done. This was alien to the slavery package under the law.

The Laodicean church had to exchange the Ephesian letter for the Colossian epistle (Eph 4:16). Then comparing both the epistles, the following two ideas emerge: (with respect to master-slave relationships)

1) Ephesian Epistle: forbearing to threaten

2) Colossian Epistle: remuneration

Exchange no. 4. (Woman)

The woman is outside the seven day creation. Her position stemmed out of man's need. Creatorial thoughts unless espoused along with the prophetic and doctrinal point-views can scarcely serve to be useful.

The fifth day was when the avian and the aquatic life sprouted by divine power from the waters. The cattle and man was created on the sixth day, from the ground. The cattle and the fowl that were created to test the man's relational capacity and the same that were named by him, had their beginnings from the earth. This could not be the fifth day nor the sixth day, as ground (earth) served no purpose of origination on the fifth day, particularly for the avians. On the sixth day, the cattle and man are created but not the avians. Since, the creation of the woman was consequent to the naming of the animals, it is but clear that her creation was outside the seven days.

Doctrinally, as understood from Romans; Adam was the figure of Christ. From Ephesians, the woman was the figure of the Church as new creation. She bears exactly the figurative idea of church as new creation since herself, she is outside the old seven days creational schedule.

The Church (mystery), though not part of the prophetic history of the world (in figure, the seven days as was the woman), but still rules along with Christ in the Millennium (the dispensation of the fullness of times- Eph 1). For this reason, when man appears on the sixth day, she appears along with him to subdue and rule (Gen 1). This is not to be understood as woman being created on the sixth day as this would amount to erroneous application of what actually is an impositional prophetic parenthesis to have actualized in chapter one of Genesis itself. The woman appears along with the man on the sixth day since the sixth day represents the Millennium (as the Sabbath refers to eternity) in prophetic parallels with the Church ruling with Christ in the Millennium (Ephesians 1) even though the Church (as the woman) being new creation is outside the old creation and Old Testament prophetical time schedules.

[Sep. 26, 2016]

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