Didache - Lesson 2

Chapter 11: Traveling Ministers

Chapter 11 gives an interesting look at what was typical in the 1^st Century Church with regard to traveling teachers, preachers, and prophets. The necessity of a life of faith for those ministering to the church while traveling around is stressed. Even the duration of the stay of the minister was kept short. It is interesting that the new Christians were not to test the “Thus saith the Lord” pronouncements of the traveling minister because God would take care of that. Also some prophets lived lives called out of society. Think of Agabus in Acts 11:28 and 21:10. Prophets like this were removed from society, “They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth” Hebrews 11:37-38. 

Chapter 12: Visitors

Christians who were traveling received help but there were clear limits on the duration and work was expected during extended stays. 

Chapter 13: Resident Ministers

They were to be paid and honored. This is similar to the Old Testament support for the Levites who had no land in the Promised Land. This section sounds very "Old Testament". 

Chapter 14: Church Meeting

Church was on Sunday and not Saturday. Communion was a regular part of worship and each person was to be careful to present themselves only after dealing with known sins.

Chapter 15: Church Organization

The use of both bishops and deacons is mentioned in the Didache. You could argue that we have our staff as bishops and our deacons as deacons. That works pretty well but some deacons are teaching and deacons were largely waiters. With communion and dinner each week it certainly would create a need for people who could organize and distribute to the needs of the congregation. This chapter gives instructions for what to do when someone commits a serious sin. In this case, the congregation is to stop communicating with the unrepentant man until that person repents. 

Chapter 16: Eschatology

The summary encourages keeping watch in your life. It also encourages an application of your resources toward sanctification. Much of what we find in this chapter is also in Scripture. We have another fuzzy bit toward the end of the chapter. We have the following clearer statement from Paul in first Thessalonians.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 … For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 

Maybe the Didache is just was more difficult to translate. You could take it to be saying the same thing but the Didache is not as clear as this Scripture.