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Have there been any physical objects, whether manmade or not, that have been used as musical instruments that have been and are unacceptable for use in corporate worship?

Here are some possible considerations that we must think through biblically:

1. A drum that has multiple horns on it that signify that it is dedicated to demons and used to interact with them

2. A drum that has a humanly indecipherable inscription on it that in actuality expresses praises to Satan

3. A drum that has been used in human sacrifices and has been consecrated for that use by the application of sacrificial human blood to one or more parts of the instrument

4. A drum intentionally shaped in some manner so that one or more parts of it are like human private parts

5. A drum “decorated” with one or more engraved images of “one-finger salutes” or some other vulgar symbol, graphic, etc.

6. A drum that has occult symbols engraved on it

7. A drum that is a real human skull or is shaped like a human skull


See also: Are All Musical Styles Inherently Moral?

On Singing, Dancing, and Playing Instruments in Scripture

Assigned Musical Meanings and Christian Use of Rock Music

We Must Reject a Man-Centered Understanding and Practice of Music

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

Jeff Godwin on Rock Music

October 24, 2022

There is one rule we should never forget. Rock is Rock is Rock is Rock. Whether it’s called “Soft” Rock, “Acid” Rock, “Punk” Rock or “Christian” Rock, we are still dealing with music more ancient than the classics. Rooted in the Druid demon worship of Celtic England, and baptized in voodoo ceremonies of Africa and the Caribbean, Satan’s rock rules the world.

–Jeff Godwin, Dancing with Demons: The Music’s Real Master, 8

Please Note: My sharing of this quoted material does not mean that I endorse all the content of this work, all the views of the author of this work or all the content and views that he expresses in this or in any of his other works. It does not mean that I agree with everything that he says and holds in this work or anywhere else.


See my post Resources That Provide Answers to Key Issues Concerning CCM for much more biblical information about issues concerning what music God accepts in corporate worship.

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

Scripture makes clear that God required that those who ministered music to Him in His temple be skillful in playing and singing music to Him:

Psalm 33:3 Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise.

1 Chronicles 15:22 And Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was for song: he instructed about the song, because he was skilful.

Of course, those who ministered such music to Him had to do so with a right heart toward God for it to be acceptable to Him (Josh. 22:5; 1 Sam. 12:20, 24; Isa. 29:13; Matt. 15:8).

Why, then, do some or perhaps even many believers today hold that skillfulness in ministering music to God no longer matters and that all that God requires from His people today is that they have a right heart when ministering music to Him?

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

Bible Reading Order 2022

October 8, 2022

It has been many years now since I have read the Bible through in its canonical order from Genesis to Revelation. Instead, I have kept track of what I have read each year to make sure I read all the books by the end of the year in whatever order I end up reading them.

This morning, I decided to chart my reading order for 2022. Beginning on January 1, I finished the Bible on August 26 and finished reading the books in the following order:

Year 2022
Book No. Name Chapters Date Completed Book No. Name Chapters Date Completed
19 Psalms 150 108 56 Tit 3 719
1 Gen 50 127 57 Philem 1 719
20 Prov 31 131 58 Heb 13 721
9 1 Sam 31 211 24 Jer 52 722
2 Exod 40 225 59 Jam 5 722
23 Isa 66 307 25 Lam 5 723
10 2 Sam 24 314 60 1 Pet 5 724
44 Acts 28 320 61 2 Pet 3 724
13 1 Chron 29 407 62 1 John 5 726
45 Rom 16 412 63 2 John 1 726
3 Lev 27 417 64 3 John 1 726
66 Rev 22 418 65 Jude 1 726
11 1 Kings 22 420 6 Josh 24 729
46 1 Cor 16 503 43 John 21 802
47 2 Cor 13 514 7 Judg 21 805
12 2 Kings 25 523 8 Ruth 4 805
14 2 Chron 36 524 26 Ezek 48 810
4 Num 36 602 27 Dan 12 810
40 Matt 28 607 28 Hos 14 811
18 Job 42 612 29 Joel 3 812
48 Gal 6 612 30 Amos 9 813
49 Eph 6 620 31 Obad 1 814
21 Eccl 12 623 32 Jonah 4 814
41 Mark 16 623 33 Mic 7 815
5 Deut 34 626 34 Nah 3 815
50 Phil 4 630 35 Hab 3 816
22 Song 8 701 36 Zeph 3 816
42 Luke 24 715 37 Hag 2 817
51 Col 4 715 38 Zec 14 820
52 1 Thess 5 715 17 Esth 10 821
53 2 Thess 3 715 15 Ezra 10 823
54 1 Tim 6 718 16 Neh 13 826
55 2 Tim 4 718 39 Mal 4 826

NOTES:

1. I have been reading the Bible through each year for many years now in a similar fashion and approach reading it through in whatever order I want to read the books instead of reading them through in consecutive canonical order.

2. Instead of using the traditional date notation, I came up with the idea of multiplying the number of the month by 100 and then adding to it the number of the day of the month.

For example, 701 means July 1 because July 1 is the first day of the 7th month (7*100 + 1 = 701). I devised and used this system because it makes working with and sorting the dates easier in Excel.

3. Because I often have been reading multiple books at the same time, the completion dates for the various books do not necessarily signify that I read the entirety of a book before beginning the next book that I have listed as completed after it.

For example, here’s what I read during the first ten days of the year:

101 Gen. 1-3

102 Gen. 4-11; Ps. 1-12

103 Ps. 13-29; 30-36; 37-40; 41-50

104 Ps. 51-67; 68-76

105 Ps. 77-84

106 Ps. 85-101

107 Ps. 102-110

108 Ps. 116-150

109 Ps. 135-150; Prov. 1

110 Gen. 12-14; Prov. 2-9; etc.

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

Scripture speaks explicitly about “strange” gods in at least 17 verses:

Gen. 35:2  Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments:

Gen. 35:4  And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.

Deut. 32:12  So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.

Deut. 32:16  They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.

Jos. 24:20  If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good.

Jos. 24:23  Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel.

Jdg. 10:16  And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the LORD: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.

1 Sam. 7:3  And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.

2 Chr. 14:3  For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves:

2 Chr. 33:15  And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the LORD, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city.

Ps. 44:20  If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god;

Ps. 81:9  There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god.

Isa. 43:12  I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God.

Jer. 5:19  And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the LORD our God all these things unto us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.

Dan. 11:39  Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain.

Mal. 2:11  Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god.

Acts 17:18  Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.

These verses reveal several facts about divine revelation concerning strange gods:

Both Testaments speak about strange gods.

Both God’s people and pagans speak about strange gods.

Scripture speaks about strange gods repeatedly being a problem among God’s people.

Scripture seems to connect earrings with strange gods in one passage (Gen. 35:4) and speaks explicitly of altars for strange gods in another passage (2 Chr. 14:3).

Scripture speaks about the daughter of a strange god (Mal. 2:11).

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

Revelation 19 provides for us a striking record of a future time when there will be repeated heavenly exclamations of joyful praise to God:

Revelation 19:1 And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: 2 For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. 3 And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever. 4 And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia. 5 And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. 6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.

Suppose that various groups of people on the earth would hear these composite sounds (produced by these heavenly beings) successively emanating from heaven but would not be able to hear distinctly the words being spoken. Suppose further that among these groups of people, some groups in certain cultures would regard the composite sounds as joyful, but other groups in other cultures would not regard them as being joyful sounds.

Would the differing characterizations of these sounds by differing groups in differing cultures show that what joyful praises sound like is culturally determined and does not have any objective, fixed character to it?

Because these sounds will be the composite sounds of righteous heavenly beings and because the Spirit has revealed them to us objectively to be the sounds of joyful praise to God, those cultures on earth that would regard these composite sounds not to be joyful sounds would be wrong in their assessments. It is not true, therefore, that what the sounds of joyful exclamations of praise sound like is culturally determined.

Rather, Revelation 19:1-6 establishes that the composite sounds of such joyful praise and therefore the composite sounds of such joyful music do have an objectively joyful character to them that is not culturally determined.

Furthermore, because all these exclamations of praise will be produced by godly heavenly beings, we know that all these composite sounds will be the sounds of godly praise. These facts, therefore, establish for us that the composite sounds of godly joyful music have an objectively joyful character to them that is not culturally determined.

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

How pleasing it would be to God if there were more Christians who approached worshiping Him with the mindset that meeting multiple times a week gives us more opportunity to give God glory through corporate worship in such a manner that no other activities can give Him and that no other people than His people can give Him.

What a difference it would make in our world if more Christians on their own accord valued assembling themselves together so much that they would consider it a matchless privilege to meet with His people and hear from Him and be ministered to by His gifted servants multiple times a week instead of the bare minimum of once a week.

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

For a few weeks now, I have been intensely examining occurrences in the Hebrew OT of elohim with plural verbs. In the process, I have learned a lot about how to use the GSE in BibleWorks 10 to do Hebrew searches.

The following PDF shows what the search query is that finds all occurrences of elohim preceded by a plural verb form with exactly 3 words between:

GSE Elohim Plural Verb Preceding Exactly 3.

This query finds occurrences that occur after a 3rd person plural perfect, imperfect, waw-consecutive perfect, or waw-consecutive imperfect verb. It also finds occurrences after an active participle or a passive participle.

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

Through the Bible in 2022!

August 31, 2022

On August 26, I finished reading through the Bible for this year! I praise God for His goodness in allowing me to have the freedom and opportunity for doing so for one more year!

Deut. 17:18 And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites:

19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them:

20 That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.

Joshua 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

Psalm 1: 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Acts 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

12 Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few.

Revelation 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

Through information from some language references and my ongoing research in the Hebrew OT, I have learned that there are at least 3 clear instances where elohim is the subject of a plural verb form and signifies the true God:

Gen. 20:13  And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt shew unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.

Gen. 20:13  ἐγένετο δὲ ἡνίκα ἐξήγαγέν με ὁ θεὸς ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ πατρός μου καὶ εἶπα αὐτῇ ταύτην τὴν δικαιοσύνην ποιήσεις ἐπ᾽ ἐμέ εἰς πάντα τόπον οὗ ἐὰν εἰσέλθωμεν ἐκεῖ εἰπὸν ἐμὲ ὅτι ἀδελφός μού ἐστιν

Gen. 20:13 וַיְהִ֞י כַּאֲשֶׁ֧ר הִתְע֣וּ אֹתִ֗י אֱלֹהִים֘ מִבֵּ֣ית אָבִי֒ וָאֹמַ֣ר לָ֔הּ זֶ֣ה חַסְדֵּ֔ךְ אֲשֶׁ֥ר תַּעֲשִׂ֖י עִמָּדִ֑י אֶ֤ל כָּל־הַמָּקוֹם֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר נָב֣וֹא שָׁ֔מָּה אִמְרִי־לִ֖י אָחִ֥י הֽוּא׃

 

Gen. 35:7  And he built there an altar, and called the place Elbethel: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother.

Gen. 35:7  καὶ ᾠκοδόμησεν ἐκεῖ θυσιαστήριον καὶ ἐκάλεσεν τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ τόπου Βαιθηλ ἐκεῖ γὰρ ἐπεφάνη αὐτῷ ὁ θεὸς ἐν τῷ ἀποδιδράσκειν αὐτὸν ἀπὸ προσώπου Ησαυ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ

Gen. 35:7 וַיִּ֤בֶן שָׁם֙ מִזְבֵּ֔חַ וַיִּקְרָא֙ לַמָּק֔וֹם אֵ֖ל בֵּֽית־אֵ֑ל כִּ֣י שָׁ֗ם נִגְל֤וּ אֵלָיו֙ הָֽאֱלֹהִ֔ים בְּבָרְח֖וֹ מִפְּנֵ֥י אָחִֽיו׃

 

2 Sam. 7:23  And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to himself, and to make him a name, and to do for you great things and terrible, for thy land, before thy people, which thou redeemedst to thee from Egypt, from the nations and their gods?

2 Sam. 7:23  καὶ τίς ὡς ὁ λαός σου Ισραηλ ἔθνος ἄλλο ἐν τῇ γῇ ὡς ὡδήγησεν αὐτὸν ὁ θεὸς τοῦ λυτρώσασθαι αὐτῷ λαὸν τοῦ θέσθαι σε ὄνομα τοῦ ποιῆσαι μεγαλωσύνην καὶ ἐπιφάνειαν τοῦ ἐκβαλεῖν σε ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ λαοῦ σου οὗ ἐλυτρώσω σεαυτῷ ἐξ Αἰγύπτου ἔθνη καὶ σκηνώματα

2 Sam. 7:23 וּמִ֤י כְעַמְּךָ֙ כְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל גּ֥וֹי אֶחָ֖ד בָּאָ֑רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֣ר הָלְכֽוּ־אֱ֠לֹהִים לִפְדּֽוֹת־ל֙וֹ לְעָ֜ם וְלָשׂ֧וּם ל֣וֹ שֵׁ֗ם וְלַעֲשׂ֙וֹת לָכֶ֜ם הַגְּדוּלָּ֤ה וְנֹֽרָאוֹת֙ לְאַרְצֶ֔ךָ מִפְּנֵ֣י עַמְּךָ֗ אֲשֶׁ֙ר פָּדִ֤יתָ לְּךָ֙ מִמִּצְרַ֔יִם גּוֹיִ֖ם וֵאלֹהָֽיו׃

Observations about these verses

1. The plural Hebrew verb of which elohim functions as the subject in each verse precedes it in all three verses.

2. The KJV correctly renders elohim as God in all three verses even though it is the subject of a plural verb in the Hebrew text.

3. The Septuagint correctly renders elohim as the singular theos and renders the plural Hebrew verb of which it is the subject as a singular verb in all three verses. The translators thereby reflect correctly that the plural noun and verb in the Hebrew text signify actions by the true God.

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.