This description later boiled down to “Notzrim” used as the identical name of the early congregation of Yahoshea Meshiyach.
There were others who named them the “Ebionites” based on their practices that resembles those of the sect called the “Ebionites”. They were equally called the “Essenes” based on doctrinal resemblance.
These and others were names given to them by their critics or those that were ignorant to their activities and purpose. The founder called them his followers meaning that they were “Yahosheans” and nothing else.
Therefore, those Hebrew converts that were part of the movement were called the “Hebrew Yohosheans” while the Gentiles that were converted to the fold were called the “Gentile Yahosheans”.
THE TWELVE APOSTLES:
The first set of earliest twelve followers of Yahoshea Meshiyach were described as the “Apostles”. During the life and ministry of Yahoshea, the twelves apostles were his closest converts and set as the central figures as well as the primary teachers of the good-news of Yahoshea. The first of the apostles was Peter and he was made the head of others.
The term “Apostles” is taken from Greek word “apostolos” meaning “send from 1” which means a “messenger” or “envoy” or “delegate” it is translated from Hebrew word “shelrach”. The term was later translated into Latin as “Missio” which was the source of the English form “Missionary”.
The original names of the early apostles were rendered in Hebrew language because all of them were Hebrew citizens. Their names were later rendered in Greek based on Hellenisation of the works of the saviour and his followers. The twelve apostles were often referred as the “twelve disciples” which was equally coined from Greek word for “followers”.
The journey to apostleship of the twelve men commenced with their conversions by Yahoshea Meshiyach. They were equally commissioned as the twelve apostles with the responsibility to carry out the spreading of the teachings from Yahoshea Meshiyach to different parts of Gallilee.
The twelve apostles learnt directly from Yahoshea Meshiyach and taught same to other peoples from whom they made converts to the Yahoshean movement.
As primary followers of Yahoshea, the twelve disciples were central figure in the movement both at his life time and after resurrection and ascension. During the great tribulation of Yahoshea Meshiyach, one of the apostles name Yudias Iscariot betrayed him and later to kill himself. This reduced the number of the apostles to eleven whom Yahoshea met after his resurrection from death and gave them the “great commission” of preaching the glad-news to all peoples of all nations. That gave rise to the “dispersion of the apostles” in which all the apostles scattered to many territories of the Roman Empire, Middle East, Africa, India to spread the message and established stations.
The eleven apostles casted lot to replace Yudias with Mattiah to complete their twelve in number. Other serious converts later joined them to propagate the message across many cities. One of such converts who assumed an apostolic status was Paul who was converted on his way to Damascus to eliminate all the apostles as they were carrying out their assignment as commissioned by Yahoshea Meshiyach.
When Paul was absorbed into the movement, he carried out serious propagation of the goodnews to many peoples of non-Hebrew territories that were generally termed as the “Gentile nations”. He was often accompanied by other faithful as Barnabas, Silas and Timothy who were latterly refered as “continuing apostles”. Paul was termed as the “apostles of the gentiles” and he supported the gentile converts to be effective in the movement which later turned into negative transference of the movement from its Hebrew garbs to gentile apparel.
The twelve apostles whom Yahoshea ealier commissioned to towns in Galilee to preach the goodnews and heal the sick lived up to their calling as they established about forty stations of the movement before the physical exit of the last one. They equally developed an account of their deeds in various stations that were later assembled into what is presently termed as the “new testament” of the scriptures.
The works of the apostles of the Meshiyach was lately referred as the “Acts of the Apostles” which was a detail of the activities of some of the apostles at various cities they visited with the goodnews. It equally show case the persecution and dangers they encountered along the way. Their works commenced fully on the day of the “feast of first ingathering” which was latterly rendered as the “Pentecost Day” where they were empowered spiritually to carryout their assignment.
The apostles equally developed many texts such as the “Didache”, “Apostolic Constitutions”, “Apostolic Greed” etc. The later followers of the movement esteemed the apostles, their works and names became authoritative and the stations they founded later became the “Apostolic Sees”. This estimation generated into the negative establishment of the “Apostolic succession” by Christendom in which Bishops draw their lineage from the twelve apostles. By this Christian tradition, the early church fathers that associated with the apostles were referred as the “Apostolic fathers” while their writing became identified as the “Patristic writings”. The apostles faced severe persecution and such was evidenced in their accounts of Martyredom with exception of Yohannan the Revelator that survived into old age.
Senior apostles as Peter, Paul and Yames were killed by both Hebrew and Roman authorities. Apostle Marthiah that replaced Yudous was killed at Yerusalem – Apostle Matthew was killed at the city of Nadabah. Apostle Philip was killed at Helipoles in Phrygia. Apostle Andrew met his execution at Patras in Greeks.
Apostle Bartholomew was killed at Baskale, Turkey. Apostle Mark was thrown to wild beast at the city of Alexandria. Apostle Yude was impaled at Edessa. Apostle Simon the Zealot was impale in Mauritania in Africa. Apostle Thomas was
Meshiyach Yahzitere Yahmarabhi
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