Archives For rajesh

Top 20 posts 1.18.14This graphic shows the top 20 posts & pages viewed on my blog, according to Jetpack. Although Jetpack says that these are the all time statistics for my blog, they actually are only the statistics since I first got Jetpack for my blog.

I find it interesting that 12 of the 20 have to do with music, 4 have to do with Christian books, and 2 are posts about free guitar music.

Because these are the top 20 posts & pages viewed on my blog, which I consider a vital ministry that God has given me, you might want to take a look at any of these that you have not looked at before to find out what has been so interesting to all the other people who have looked at them.

  1. Home Page/Archives
  2. On “Cultural Racism” and Christian Opposition to “Holy Hip-Hop”
  3. Striking Parallels between Jesus and Stephen
  4. The Autobiography of Dr. Frank Watson Garlock
  5. Christian Health/Fitness Quotes I
  6. Gene Simmons, American Idol, and the CCM Debate
  7. The Wilds Songbook: Eighth Edition
  8. Learning from “The Cross-Billy Graham’s Message to America”
  9. Will the Sensuality of CCM Worsen the Wickedness of Many Herod-Like People in Your Church?
  10. Will Jesus Raise You Up at the Last Day?
  11. Guitar Music for “Praise Him, All Ye Little Children”
  12. Resources That Provide Answers to Key Issues Concerning CCM
  13. New Book by Shelly Hamilton about CCM
  14. New Hymnal from Majesty Music
  15. About Rajesh Gandhi
  16. The “Problem” of Jemimah, Keziah, and Keren-Happuch?
  17. Do 1 Timothy 4:4-5 and Romans 14:14 Refute What Shai Linne Says They Do?
  18. About a People for His Name
  19. Guitar Music and Chords for “Cristo me ama”
  20. Is Scripture Silent about Musical Styles That Are Inherently Unacceptable to God?

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

Although many believers think that it is not possible for them to endanger themselves and others through music if it has Christian words, careful attention to biblical revelation and other evidence concerning fallen spirits and their influences on human music proves otherwise. The following treatment of that revelation and evidence warns us to beware endangering others and ourselves through music.

Fallen Spirits and Their Activities

God is the only eternal Being (Ps. 90:2; John 1:1-2), and He created everything else that exists (Gen. 1:1; John 1:3), including all supernatural spirit beings (Gen. 2:1; Exod. 20:11; Neh. 9:6; Ps. 148:1-5; Col. 1:16). Supernatural spirit beings mentioned in Scripture include seraphim (Is. 6:2), cherubim (Gen. 3:24), four living creatures (Rev. 4:8), holy angels (Matt. 25:31), and evil spirits (Acts 19:12).

Because God is not the Author of evil (Gen. 1:31; cf. James 1:13), we know that the evil spirits mentioned in Scripture were created as holy spiritual beings  (Ezek. 28:14-15a; cf. Jude 6). At some point after their creation, they rebelled against God and became fallen spirits (Ezek. 28:15b; cf. Jude 6; 2 Pet. 2:4).

Fallen spirits are intent on denying God the glory that He alone is due from His creatures (Is. 14:12-14; cf. Col. 2:18; Rev. 9:20). They seek to harm as many of His creatures as possible and to bring about their destruction (cf. Matt. 8:32; John 8:44; Acts 19:12), especially humans (Luke 13:16; Acts 10:38; 1 Pet. 5:8).

Because the Father desires people who will worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:23-24), we can be certain that fallen spirits want to prevent people from giving Him that worship. Undoubtedly, they do so continuously throughout the world either through preventing it entirely (2 Cor. 4:3-4; Col. 2:18; Rev. 9:20) or through corrupting it in as many ways as possible and as much as possible (cf. 2 Cor. 11:3; 1 Tim. 4:1-3).

Fallen spirits have influenced humans to do evil things without their knowing anything about that influence (1 Chron. 21:1; 1 Kings 22:22; 2 Cor. 11:14). They have had this covert influence on both unbelievers (1 Kings 22:22; John 13:27) and believers (1 Chron. 21:1; Acts 5:3).

Fallen Spirits and Music in Scripture

The angels sang when God created the earth and everything on it (Job. 38:6-7). Angels sound trumpets (Exod. 19:16; Rev. 8:2) and heavenly spirit beings worship God, play harps, and sing praise to God and the Lamb (Rev. 4:8-11; 5:8-14). We know, therefore, that supernatural spirit beings, including fallen spirits, are musical beings (see this post for further explanation of this point.

Fallen spirits have observed and heard all the worship of heaven that has included music (Job 38:6-7; Ps. 148:2; cf. Is. 6:3). They know experientially what heavenly music that pleases God sounds like.

Fallen spirits have observed the activities of humans from the beginning of mankind (Gen. 3; 2 Cor. 11:3; cf. Job 1:7). They know exactly what music man has made that has pleased God (e.g. 2 Chron. 5:11-14).

Fallen spirits know about the godly instrumental music produced by a Spirit-empowered man that drove out an evil spirit from another man (1 Sam. 16:14-23). At least one fallen spirit, therefore, has personally experienced the spiritual power of such godly music (1 Sam. 16:23).

Fallen spirits have full knowledge also about the music that man has made that has not pleased God (e.g. Is. 5:11-12; Dan. 3:5-7, 10, 15). They undoubtedly played a major role in the musical activities of multitudes of people who were destroyed in the Flood because “every imagination of the thoughts of [their hearts] was only evil continually” (Gen. 4:21 cf. Gen. 6:5; see this post for a full explanation of this key point).

After the Flood, on a particularly sordid occasion, fallen spirits influenced people who had eaten meat offered to an idol in syncretistic worship of Yahweh to sing in a way that the Holy Spirit highlights by providing an explicit record of that singing (Exod. 32:17-18). Because that singing was produced by demon-influenced people (cf. 1 Cor. 10:20) who were idolatrously eating, drinking, and playing (1 Cor. 10:7; including ungodly dancing [Exod. 32:19]) in such an evil, uncontrolled way that even their enemies were ashamed of them (Exod. 32:25), we can be certain that their singing that was supposedly to Yahweh was evil as well.

Fallen Spirits and Dangerous Music

Given all that we know about the aims and activities of fallen spirits and about their full knowledge about music that pleases God and music that does not please Him, believers must not be at all dismissive about the role of fallen spirits in the production of ungodly popular musical styles (Eph. 2:2-3; 1 John 5:19). Rather, we have every reason to believe that fallen spirits have influenced and continue to influence as many people as possible to listen to and produce music that does not please God, especially in their worship of Him.

In fact, many popular musicians have testified in various ways that the source of their music has been supernatural influences from outside themselves.[1] Believers must not reject such testimonies—they must stay as far away as possible from any music, even if it has Christian words, when there is even the slightest possibility that fallen spirits have played a role in originating that dangerous music (see also Are Secular Testimonies about Fallen Spirits and Music Inherently Unreliable?).

Conclusion

Christians must reject (Ps. 1:1; Eph. 5:11) all music, including music with Christian words, that employs ungodly popular musical styles that evil humans have produced for explicitly stated evil purposes, such as rock music, because vital biblical considerations and sobering personal testimonies point to fallen spirits as the supernatural origin of those ungodly styles. Beware endangering yourself and others through music!

 


[1] The following quotes are from a website that I found by doing a Google search on evil spirits and rock music:

David Bowie: “Rock has always been THE DEVIL’S MUSIC. . .” (Rolling Stone, Feb. 12, 1976);

John Lennon: “I’ve sold my soul to the DEVIL.” (Ray Coleman, Lennon, p.256);

Little Richard: “I’m the Rock ‘n Roll singer that you heard about through the years. . . I was directed and commanded by another power. The power of DARKNESS. . . The power of the DEVIL, SATAN.” (Charles White, The Life and Times of Little Richard, pp. 205-206);

During a 1993 Oprah Winfrey interview, Michael Jackson, explained the reason for some of his filthy sexual gestures during his concerts: “It happens subliminally. IT’S THE MUSIC THAT COMPELS ME TO DO IT. You don’t think about it, it just happens. I’M SLAVE TO THE RHYTHM.” (The Evening Star, Feb. 11, 1993, p. A10)

—http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Evils%20in%20America/CCM/hip_hop.htm; accessed 1/17/14; 3:55 pm

I also found the following sources from that same search: Note the testimonies provided in point II of this web article (http://truediscipleship.org/Gtopics/general108.htm; accessed 1/17/14; 3:59 pm) and the many testimonies from rock musicians themselves in this article (http://www.inplainsite.org/html/voices_of_rock.html; accessed 1/17/14; 4:09 pm); see also the similar testimonies in a similar article (http://wayoflife.org/index_files/rock_musicians_as_mediums.html; accessed 1/17/14; 4:14 pm.)

Please note that I have not independently verified the quotes provided in any of these sources. I have no reason, however, to doubt their veracity, especially since several sources provide some of the same quotes.

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

Learning to Pray in Spanish

January 14, 2014

I am trying to learn to pray in Spanish. I produced the following model prayers using BibleWorks 8, Google Translate, the translation tool at Spanishdict.com (http://www.spanishdict.com/translation), and Webster’s Comprehensive Spanish-English Dictionary.

The Bible references provide the verse that I used to write each prayer. If you know Spanish and see any problems with anything below, please let me know.

(Estoy aprendiendo a orar en español. Si ves algún error en las oraciones siguientes, por favor, házmelo saber.)

Ten misericordia de nosotros, Jehová, porque somos pecadores. (Ps. 9:13)

Abre nuestros ojos para que veamos las maravillas de tu ley. (Ps. 119:18)

Nosotros deseamos que tus santos sean prosperado en todas las cosas y que tengan salud, así como prosperan sus almas. (3 John 2)

Padre santo, guarda en tu nombre a todos nosotros, a quien tú has dado a tu Hijo Jesucristo, para que seamos uno, así como tú y tu Hijo y tu Espíritu Santo somos uno. (John 17:11)

Te rogamos que nos guardes del mal. (John 17:15)

Santifícanos en tu verdad; tu palabra es verdad. (John 17:17)

Conceda que tu pueblo sean perfecto en unidad. (John 17:23)

Padre, por favor, haz que nosotros, a quien has dado a tu Hijo, para estar con Él donde Él está para que podamos contemplar su gloria. (John 17:24)

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

My Bible reading goal for this year is to read through the whole Bible in Spanish. So far, after 12 days, I have read 40 chapters in the Reina Valera (R60).

Reading the Bible through in another language like Spanish is for me similar to reading a commentary on the Bible in some respects because the translational choices sometimes bring out conceptual links between passages and concepts that I have not seen from reading the English Bible.

For example, compare how the prohibition against lusting after the evil woman/strange woman (Prov. 6:24-25) reads in English versus Spanish:

Pro 6:24 To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman. 25 Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.

R60 Pro 6:24 Para que te guarden de la mala mujer, De la blandura de la lengua de la mujer extraña. 25 No codicies su hermosura en tu corazón, Ni ella te prenda con sus ojos;

Webster’s Comprehensive Spanish-English Dictionary provides “to covet” as the definition of codiciar (the verb used in the R60 in the first statement in verse 25). Reading that, Exodus 20:17 came to mind, so I checked and found that the R60 uses the same verb there as it does in Proverbs 6:25:

Exo 20:17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

R60 Exo 20:17 No codiciarás la casa de tu prójimo, no codiciarás la mujer de tu prójimo, ni su siervo, ni su criada, ni su buey, ni su asno, ni cosa alguna de tu prójimo.

Exodus 20:17 specifically prohibits coveting “thy neighbour’s wife.” The larger context of Proverbs 6:24-25 warns about lusting after the beauty of an evil strange woman and going into one’s neighbor’s wife:

Pro 6:29 So he that goeth in to his neighbour’s wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.

R60 Pro 6:29 Así es el que se llega a la mujer de su prójimo; No quedará impune ninguno que la tocare.

The use of codiciar in both Exodus 20:17 and Proverbs 6:25 brings out that lusting for illicit physical relations with your neighbor’s wife is a key aspect of what characterizes the sinful coveting that God prohibits concerning her. In this way, reading the R60 helped me to see a key connection between important passages that I do not rember specifically linking before.

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

First Samuel 16 reveals several truths that are lacking in the theology of music of many believers today. Because the Holy Spirit has inspired this passage of Scripture to profit us so that we will be thoroughly equipped to do every good work (2 Tim. 3:15-17), we must give close attention to this passage if we are to have a sound theology of music.

Godly music is not just about words that are sung

After informing us that the Spirit was on David from the day that Samuel anointed him (1 Sam. 16:13), First Samuel 16:14-23 immediately thereafter provides us with a lengthy report of how David’s skillfully playing the harp relieved Saul from terrible affliction:

1Sa 16:14 But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.

 15 And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.

 16 Let our lord now command thy servants, which are before thee, to seek out a man, who is a cunning player on an harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well.

 17 And Saul said unto his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me.

 18 Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the LORD is with him.

 19 Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy son . . .

 23 And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him. (bold added to the original)

The flow of thought from 1 Samuel 16:13 to this passage shows that the passage is not merely stressing that a skillful harp player profited Saul, but that a Spirit-empowered skillful harp player did so (cf. “the Lord was with him” [16:18]). We know, therefore, that the skillful music that David was playing was not merely humanly produced instrumental music—it was divinely empowered instrumental music and therefore godly music.

Moreover, this passage speaks only of David’s skillfully playing the harp and does not say anything about his singing to Saul. In fact, five explicit references to the playing of a musical instrument (1 Sam. 16:16 [2x]; 17; 18; 23) show incontestably that God is emphasizing instrumental music—apart from any words— in this passage.

The passage thus stresses to us that David’s ministry of that solely instrumental music that was Spirit-empowered powerfully benefited Saul for good (1 Sam. 16:23). A sound theology of music, therefore, must account fully for the teaching of this passage that shows that godly music without words had powerful effects for good.

Godly music is not just about humans

An evil spirit was plaguing Saul (1 Sam. 16:14). To relieve him of his affliction that was caused by that spirit, his servants advised him with confidence that his availing himself of certain skillfully played instrumental music would make him well (1 Sam. 16:15-16).

Just as they had said, Saul’s receiving such ministry did refresh him and make him well (1 Sam. 16:23). David’s instrumental music did so because it had a profound spiritual effect of delivering him from the supernatural cause of his affliction—“the evil spirit departed from him” (1 Sam. 16:23)!

This passage shows that godly instrumental music drove away an evil spirit that was afflicting Saul. David’s godly instrumental music, therefore, not only had a beneficial spiritual effect on Saul—it also had a powerful spiritual effect on an evil spirit!

We must learn, therefore, that godly music without any words does not just affect humans; it also has effects on evil supernatural spirit beings. Although we should expect unbelievers to deny any such aspect of music and hold that music is only about humans, believers cannot and must not deny that godly instrumental music is not just about humans.

Godly music is not just about emotions

This passage shows that godly instrumental music ministered by a believer who had the Spirit upon him (1 Sam. 16:13) did not just profit Saul by changing his emotional state. Although it did benefit him emotionally, the instrumental music also profited him spiritually by driving away an evil spirit that was afflicting him!

We, therefore, must not make the serious mistake of restricting our understanding of godly instrumental music to its emotional effects on humans. Although the emotional effects of music on humans are very important, godly instrumental music has spiritual effects that go far beyond the effects that it has on the emotions of the hearer.

Discussion

A theology of music that understands that godly music must have lyrics for it to benefit other believers spiritually is an unbiblical theology. Rather, believers must hold that godly instrumental music also profits believers not just emotionally but also spiritually, including helping to relieve them from any oppression by evil spirits that they may be experiencing.

In the debates about what music and musical styles are fitting for believers, believers must not just talk about how various pieces and styles of music affect human emotions. They must also keep in mind that instrumental music has spiritual effects on both humans and supernatural beings.

Furthermore, demanding that people explain in detail how such spiritual effects are specifically mediated by specifics about how the godly instrumental music is played is an unbiblical insistence. God has not given us detailed explanations about how godly instrumental music influences the spiritual realm, and many such things may very likely be entirely beyond human comprehension (cf. John 3:8).

Simply because we cannot explain how godly instrumental music affects supernatural beings does not justify our denying that it does. The revelation given in First Samuel 16:14-23 demands that we accept what God teaches about the spiritual effects of godly instrumental music whether we can explain them or not.

Conclusion

A sound theology of music must reflect fully the important divine revelation provided about music in 1 Samuel 16:14-23.  God teaches us through this passage that a sound theology of music understands that not only is godly music not just about words that are sung, it also is not just about humans and their emotions.


Related posts:

David’s Instrumental Music Was Not Amoral

Did an Unholy Spirit from God Torment Saul?

Correcting a Wrong Handling of the Accounts of David’s Music Ministry to Saul

Resources That Provide Answers to Key Issues concerning CCM

 

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

Written by Bernard of Clairvaux, Jesus, Thou Joy of Loving Hearts,” is a good hymn for beginning to intermediate guitarists to learn because it is easy to play and has a nice melody with a rich text. This PDF provides the first stanza, melody notes, and chords for this hymn in the key of D using basic chords that every guitarist should learn and know well.

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

Commentator David E. Garland takes a position on Paul’s teaching about meat offered to idols that differs greatly from what many believers today hold. He teaches,

In this section [1 Cor. 10:23-11:1], Paul tries to insure that the Corinthians do not misconstrue what he says, as they had previously (5:9-10) and think that he is insisting that they withdraw completely from society and have nothing whatsoever to do with unbelievers. He clarifies that food is food, and it is permissible to eat unless it is specifically identified as idol food, which puts it in a special category that is always forbidden to Christians.—1 Corinthians in Baker ECNT (2003: 486)

He thus holds that knowingly eating idol food is never right for Christians to do. He further teaches,

Food that may have an idolatrous history may be eaten unless it is specifically identified as idol food. When it is identified as idol food, however, the principle of love must overrule assumed knowledge or presumed rights. They must abstain out of concern for another’s conscience as well as to avoid arousing the wrath of God for violating their covenantal obligations (489).

He also provides historical evidence that shows that not all meat sold in marketplaces was first offered to idols. He writes,

Paul’s permission to eat whatever is sold in the marketplace presumes that not everything offered for sale had been contaminated by idolatrous rituals (491-492).

If Garland is correct, as I believe he is, many believers today are holding a dangerously wrong view that eating meat offered to an idol knowingly is no problem for a believer who knows the truth that an idol is nothing and that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is also nothing (1 Cor. 10:19). Paul does not mean by these statements that it is ok for believers knowingly to eat meat that has been offered to an idol as long as it is not in the context of idolatry—knowingly eating meat that has been offered to an idol is never right for a Christian!

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

I have deleted this post at this time so that I can fix parts of the article to clarify the position that I have held all along. I have not changed my position on the relevance of 2 Kings 4:38-41 in relation to 1 Tim. 4:3-5 and 6:17 and how they pertain to the issue of justifying CCM, but I do believe that the article will be better by my clarifying what I wrote.

Update:

While I continue to work on the full revised version of my article, I would like to share the following brief statements that present the basic gist of how 2 Kings 4:38-41 argues against the validity of justifying CCM through an argument based on creation.

1. Second Kings 4:38-41 shows that something that God originally created as good for food (the wild vine that produced gourds) was no longer good for that God-given purpose. Based on that data, it is illegitimate to claim based on the nature of the original good creation of God that all substances that God originally gave to man for food (plants and animals) are necessarily all still inherently good for the purposes for which God originally created them.

2. God did not create any musical styles. Even if He had created all musical styles originally as inherently good, a claim that all musical styles are all still inherently good for the purposes for which God originally gave music would similarly not be automatically true just because God would have originally created them.

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

Scripture speaks in at least 26 passages about various people dancing.[1] A close examination of three references to dancing in First Samuel brings out an important point about interpreting other passages in Scripture that mention both singing and dancing.

First Samuel 18:6-9

After David had killed Goliath, he served Saul faithfully wherever he sent him (1 Sam. 18:5a). David prospered, he was exalted by Saul to be over his army, and he was pleasing to all the people, including the servants of Saul (1 Sam. 18:5b-c).

When David was returning from killing Goliath, women came out from all the cities of Israel (1 Sam. 18:6a). These women were singing, dancing, and playing musical instruments when they went out to meet King Saul (and David):

1Sa 18:6 And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of musick.

 7 And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.

This musical exaltation of David above Saul led to Saul’s becoming very angry and suspicious of David “from that day and forward” (1 Sam. 18:8-9).

This passage teaches us that there were at least some women in every city of Israel at this time who were able to sing, dance, and play musical instruments at the same time (cf. Exod. 15:20-21). Moreover, they thought it fitting to do all three in honoring those to whom they believed honor was due.

From this passage, we infer that music was an important part of life in all Israel at this time in its history. Two later references to the same event teach us an important point about music in relation to singing and dancing in the thinking of the people in one of the neighboring nations.

First Samuel 21:11 and 29:5

The Philistines were one of the key enemies of Israel in the days of Saul and David. Yet, when Saul began to try to kill David, David fled (1 Sam. 21:10) to Achish the king of Gath (a key city of the Philistines and the hometown of Goliath). Somehow, the servants of the king knew about the musical reception that Saul and David had received earlier when they returned from his killing Goliath:

1Sa 21:11 And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

Comparing their report of that event with what actually took place (1 Sam. 18:6-7) brings out two key points. First, the servants of Achish do not mention that it was the women of Israel who sang and danced when they greeted Saul and David with these words. Second, they make no mention of the women playing musical instruments on that occasion.

At a later time, a different situation yet included similar omissions in the reporting of that same event: When the Philistine princes were preparing to go to war with Israelites (1 Sam. 29:1-7), they objected to Achish’s allowing David and his men to join the Philistine forces in fighting the Israelites (1 Sam. 29:1-4). The princes said,

1Sa 29:5 Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying, Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

Comparing all three texts shows that both of the Philistine reports do not mention that it was the women who sang and danced and that they played musical instruments when they sang these words about Saul and David.

This comparison shows that in two later reports about people who sang and danced on an important occasion, the people reporting the event did not think that it was necessary to mention that those who were singing and dancing on that occasion were also playing musical instruments while they were singing and dancing. Apparently, these people took for granted that telling others about singing and dancing taking place would be enough for their hearers to understand that the actual event included singing, dancing, and playing musical instruments.

Alternatively, their failure to mention the playing of music on that occasion could have stemmed from their not being told (by the source of their information) about any music being played at that event. In this case, we still see two clear instances in Scripture of people whose report about an event only talks about singing and dancing taking place when actually the event also included the playing of musical instruments.

The Relevance of These Passages for the Interpretation of Another Key Passage about Singing and Dancing 

Based on the biblical evidence treated above, I believe that we have scriptural warrant for understanding that any account in Scripture of people both singing and dancing was also an instance where there was the playing of musical instruments as well—whether or not the report of that event explicitly says anything about musical instruments being played. The strong Scriptural connection between instrumental music and dancing in many other passages supports this interpretation.[2]

This line of Scriptural reasoning has important implications for how we are to interpret what took place at another key occasion in the history of God’s people. The report of the Golden Calf incident shows that the people were singing (“the noise of them that sing do I hear” [Ex. 32:18]) and dancing (“he saw the calf and the dancing” [Ex. 32:19]) as part of their shameful behavior at this time (Ex. 32:25). Common sense, many other passages that link playing instruments and dancing, and the comparison of the three passages from First Samuel in this article point to the people playing musical instruments as well in the Golden Calf incident while the people were shamefully singing and dancing.

Based on this interpretation of the Golden Calf incident, the passage would further show that the composite sound that Moses and Joshua assessed from a distance to be ungodly—without hearing any of the words—was produced by the people singing and playing of instruments as well. The assessment of Moses and Joshua thus would point to the propriety of holding that music that includes both instrumental accompaniment and lyrics can be assessed to be ungodly by assessing its composite sound without knowing what the words are that are being sung.

 


[1] Exod. 15:20; 32:19; Jdg. 11:34; 21:21, 23; 1 Sam. 18:6; 21:11; 29:5; 30:16; 2 Sam. 6:14, 16; 1 Chr. 15:29; Job 21:11; Ps. 30:11; 149:3; 150:4; Eccl. 3:4; Isa. 13:21; Jer. 31:4, 13; Lam. 5:15; Matt. 11:17; 14:6; Mk. 6:22; Lk. 7:32; 15:25.

[2] Exod. 15:20-21; Jdg. 11:34; 2 Sam. 6:14-15 cf. 1 Chr. 15:27-29; Ps. 149:3; 150:4; Jer. 31:4-7; Lam. 5:14-15; Matt. 11:17; Lk. 15:25

 

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

“O Holy Night” is my favorite song of all time. Here is an MP3 recording of a guitar-cello duet of the song that a friend and I recently played for a service in our church.

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