Discipleship | A People for His Name

Does Skillfulness in Ministering Music to God Still Matter?

October 17, 2022

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?

In Music, Theology

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.

In Bible reading

What Revelation 19:1-6 Teaches Us about Godly Joyful Music

September 18, 2022

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.

In Interpretation, Music, Theology

Pleasing God and Valuing Assembling with His People

September 10, 2022

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.

In Discipleship, Exhortation

GSE Search: Elohim Preceded by Plural Verbs with Exactly 3 Words Between

September 7, 2022

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.

In Biblical Hebrew, Biblical Languages, Computers

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.

In Bible reading

“Elohim” with Plural Verbs to Signify the True God

August 25, 2022

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.

In Biblical Greek, Biblical Hebrew, Biblical Languages, Theology

“Elohim” with Plural Verbs to Signify False Deities

August 18, 2022

Using the search capabilities of the GSE tool in BibleWorks 10, I am currently in the process of examining intensively the occurrences of elohim in the Hebrew OT. So far, I have not found a single occurrence of elohim functioning as the subject of a plural verb form where elohim refers to the true God.

Each of the following 18 verses has elohim with a plural verb. In every verse, it refers to false gods and not to Yahweh.

Exod. 32:1 And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

Exod. 32:4 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

Exod. 32:8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

Exod. 32:23 For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

Deut. 32:17 They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.

Jdg. 2:3 Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.

Jdg. 10:14 Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation.

1 Ki. 12:28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

1 Ki. 19:2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.

2 Ki. 18:33 Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

2 Ki. 18:35 Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of mine hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand?

2 Ki. 19:12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed; as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Thelasar?

2 Chr. 28:23 For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him: and he said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel.

2 Chr. 32:13 Know ye not what I and my fathers have done unto all the people of other lands? were the gods of the nations of those lands any ways able to deliver their lands out of mine hand?

Isa. 36:18 Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, The LORD will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

Isa. 37:12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar?

Isa. 41:23 Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.

Jer. 2:28 But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah.

In Biblical Hebrew, Biblical Languages, Interpretation, Theology

More Than 10,000 Hours!

June 25, 2022

After God saved me in 1990, I immediately had an immense hunger for reading and studying the Bible. I read the Bible through three times that first year.

Recently, the thought occurred to me that I have probably spent thousands of hours reading and studying the Bible.

Very conservatively doing the math, this is what I came up with for how much time I have spent:

8 years X at least 30 minutes a day x 365 days/year = 1460 hours

23.5 years X at least 1 hour a day X 365 days/year = 8577.5 hours

Total time: 10,037.5 hours

In my 31 1/2 years as a believer, I have spent more than 10,000 hours reading and studying just the Bible itself.

I fully realize that many, many other people have done far more than I have, but I still praise God for the freedom and ability that He has given me to spend this much time reading and studying His Word!

In Bible reading, Discipleship, Testimony

Cremation versus Burial – Amos 2:3

June 16, 2022

Amos 2:1-3 is direct divine speech that reveals fierce divine punishment on a pagan nation for burning the bones of a pagan king into lime:

Amos 2:1Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime: 2 But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kirioth: and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet: 3 And I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, and will slay all the princes thereof with him, saith the Lord.

God provided this revelation on purpose because He wanted to communicate truth not just about the sinful people involved–most importantly, He wanted to communicate truth about Himself and His mind.

To understand and profit fully from this revelation, we need to ponder the answers to two key questions:

What does this passage teach us about God?

Why does God want us to know this information?

If God judged the pagan Moabites for burning to powder a pagan king, what do the following verses imply about His mindset about those who burn the bodies of believers to powder?

1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;

Revelation 1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Revelation 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

We are a royal priesthood! We are kings unto our God and Father! We will reign on the earth!

Because God was intensely displeased when pagans burned the bones of a pagan king to powder, how much more intensely displeased is He when anyone burns the body of one of His royal saints to powder!

Our bodies belong to Him. We are not free to do whatever we want to them.

Through this revelation, He has made known that He does not want human bodies burned, etc. to powder (except when He may have specifically authorized it as a form of judgment). Burial—not cremation—is the mind of God for His own!

In Discipleship, Interpretation, Theology

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Observations about these verses

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