Who are the two churches?

[Bruce Jasper]

Dear Friends,

I'm writing this to share something important concerning what I believe are the two churches.

Many years ago, I bought some music and thought it sounded like a lot of musicians had been reading their Bibles. Some were even singing about Kenites. After investigating, here's what came up.

Like everything else in the Bible, music is used positively and negatively.

Negative

In Genesis 4, the names of Cain's descendants Jabal, Jubal, and Tubal all come from the same Hebrew root (Strong's 2986). These Kenites were fathers of implements Satan has used and continues to use for division and confusion.

As "the father of all such as handle the harp and the organ" (Genesis 4:21), Jubal points to sons of Cain being involved in the music industry, and some musicians must be familiar with them from having to deal with them. A deeper look into the meaning of "handle"(Strong's 8610) brings more insight.

Later, the king of Babylon had a large orchestra in the third chapter of Daniel, foreshadowing a large orchestra Satan will have. When the orchestra played, people were to bow down to the golden image:

Daniel 3:4-6: Then an herald cried aloud, "To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up: And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace."

Positive

When David assigned the Levites their duties in the Temple Solomon was to build, he made a point to name 24 courses of singers in I Chronicles 25. Prophesying in song was an important function in the Temple, and since we're building the Temple of the end times, we might expect singers who prophesy in song to be a very natural part of the body of Christ at this time.

Smith's Bible Dictionary notes, "The prophets were great cultivators of music, and it was an important branch of the instruction in the schools of the prophets."

A friend pointed out that the ancient Levite singers must have been very knowledgeable people, so we might expect the singers our Father has chosen for modern times to be very knowledgeable.

Interestingly, the word translated "prophesy" in connection with the Levite singers who prophesied in song is the same word used in Joel 2:28, "Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy." It means:

5012 naba', naw-baw'; a prim. root; to prophesy, i.e. speak (or sing) by inspiration (in prediction or simple discourse): prophesy (-ing), make self a prophet.

If one thinks about the position a modern singer would be in, it fits with the words spoken to the church of Smyrna:

Revelation 2:9: "I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty (but thou art rich), and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan."

For some, "tribulation" and "poverty" is doing our Father's work in places of spotlight and being cut off from the love of and fellowship with their other brothers and sisters - something every true Christian desires. Others travel hundreds of miles for to perform for small sums and keep tiring touring schedules. They are "rich" in knowledge and have an awesome responsibility in singing for our Father to audiences around the world.

In his "Two Churches" lecture, Pastor Arnold Murray spoke of "Two churches . . . very Biblical, very serious, and something we all need to be made aware of." These two churches (candlesticks) make up the body of Christ, the Temple of Revelation 11:1, and we find them both in Revelation 11:4. It is important that these two churches become aware of who the other is in our Father's time, appreciate the purpose each serves, and understand that we're all one under Christ.

[Dana Vandenbos]

The two out of the seven candlesticks that God found no fault with are:

Smyrna (Revelation 2:8) and Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7)

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[Bob Taylor]

Yes, that’s what the Bible says. But who are Smyrna and Philadelphia? The clue is in the description of the temple servants in I Chronicles. The two types of servants called out by name were the priests (teachers) and musicians. My belief is that teachers (Philadelphia) and musicians (Smyrna) are the pillars of the two churches.