-278-
In the Greek, we are told the Presbuteerion or Presbytery consists of Presbuteroi or Elders and Episkopoi or Overseers.8 The Office of "Elder" (Presbuteros)1 or "aged person" (presbuteros),2 is grounded in God the Father as the white-haired Ancient of days9 and sovereign Ruler of the universe.10
Certainly, no female but only an old man could be called a "gray-headed bearded one!" And the earthly Elders were His representatives within the earlier Commonwealth of Israel and the later Christian Church.
This all-male Triune God and great King-Prophet-Priest, made the mature male man Adam as His Own image and viceroy or Governor-General.11 Thus, man too is a king-prophet-priest. Before the fall, Adam (as the great "Elder" of the human race)12 was to subdue the Earth and to rule it as God's representative and as a king-under-God.13
