OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT PATTERN SIMILARITIES

1. There were no local shrines, temples or synagogues in each village/town. (Synagogues did not come into existence until the Inter-Biblical Period between the records of Malachi and Matthew.)

2. There were no weekly Sabbath worship services(Synagogues only came into existence in 200 B.C for the primary purpose of teaching the Diaspora Jews).

3. There were not weekly nor monthly collections of tithes and offerings. (I Corinthians 16:1-4) “Now concerning the collection(logia=laying aside, gathering, collection, contribution) for the saints, as I have given order(dialasso=to arrange throughout; thoroughly, prescribed, set in order)to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week(mia=one, first, a certain agreed day, Sunday)let every one of you(hekastos=each one of you, each of you by himself)lay by him(para= let him put aside, near) in store(tithemi=reserve, keep) as God hath prospered him(eudoo=to succeed in business affairs;in whatever he is prospered), that there be no gatherings (logia=laying aside, collections)when I come. And when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve(dokimazo=to test, allow, approve) by your letters(epistole=written message), them will I send to bring your liberality(charis=gift) unto Jerusalem. And if it be meet that I go also, they shall go with me.”

4. There were not full-time clergy; the Levitical priests were provided not just with cities, but also with pasture lands(Joshua 21). They were not exempt from being stewards of God's resources, thus they were shepherds to provide livestock products for their neighbors and nation(II Thessalonians 3:6-10).

5. The Old Testament Jews were required to celebrate communally as a people in the national Temple (Note: God's original design was a portable and transportable Tabernacle) only three times a year: Passover, Pentecost. Tabernacles and the commemoration of the Passover Meal in their homes(Deuteronomy 6:1-11).