The defining issue around which the assemblies of The Way (the 1st Century followers of Yeshua) defined themselves was the belief in and allegiance to Yeshua as the true Messiah, proven by His resurrection and ascension to the right hand of the Father. Moreover, the Apostles understood that the ekklesia Yeshua promised to build, which He designated as “My ekklesia,” was the beginning of the final phase of the ekklesia that would be marked by the ingathering of the Gentiles in fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise, “in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."