Why was Israel in the wilderness called an Ekklesia if it wasn't a church?
Israel was called an Ekklesia because the word means a called-out assembly, not a church organization. God called Israel out of Egypt unto Himself, so that company was an ekklesia. Stephen’s phrase “Church in the wilderness” describes that assembly, though it was not a Church.
Les explains that Ekklesia, in its true translated form, means a called-out assembly. It does not necessarily mean a group with pastors, bishops, and deacons, although when Paul speaks of the Body of Christ in the local church, it does. Stephen referred to Israel as the “Church in the wilderness” in Acts chapter 7, but Les says it wasn’t a Church; it was a called-out assembly because God called Israel out of Egypt unto Himself. The Jewish believers in Jerusalem were also a called-out assembly, separated from Judaizers, yet not the Body of Christ. Les also notes the Ephesus riot mob was called an Ekklesia, and the King James translators used “assembly” rather than “Church” there.
This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:
More Questions
What did Stephen mean by 'the church in the wilderness' in Acts 7:38?
The 'church in the wilderness' in Acts 7:38 is the Old Testament assembly of Israel at Mount Sinai, not the New Testament church.