Lev. 4:13--"And if the whole congregation of Israel sin through
ignorance, and the thing be hid from the eyes of the assembly . .
. ." The Hebrew word for _assembly_ means to _call_ or
_assemble,_ and is used not only for the act of calling itself,
but also for the assembly of the called ones. In this sense Israel
is called a "church," an assembly, because called out from among
the other nations to be a holy people (Acts 7:38, "the church in
the wilderness"). There is always a religious aspect associated
with this particular call.