Discipleship | A People for His Name

Is God the Divine Instrumentalist?

March 4, 2017

Through the prophet Zechariah, God has provided vital revelation about the future of the nation Israel and of the world. Reading the book today, I was struck by a statement that appears to reveal a profound truth about God Himself:

Zechariah 9:14 And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord GOD shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south.

This statement informs us that God Himself will blow the trumpet on this future occasion!

God certainly did not learn to do this from any human beings; this verse, therefore, seems to reveal the stunning truth that God Himself will play this musical instrument! If this is the right understanding of this text, it puts a new light on many related texts:

Exo 19:16 And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.

19 And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.

Isa 18:3 All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye.

Isa 27:13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.

1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

Is God the divine Instrumentalist?

In Interpretation, Music, Theology

What God Wants All His People to Do on His Day

February 27, 2017

God has revealed what He wants all His people to do on His day:

Psa 92:1 <A Psalm or Song for the sabbath day.> It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High:

2 To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,

3 Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound.

4 For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands.

Under inspiration, the Psalmist exclaims that it is good to sing praises to God’s name using stringed instruments both in the morning and in the night on the Sabbath Day. This is one of the clearest passages that teaches the importance of corporate worship both in the morning and in the evening on the one day of the week that God specifically set aside to be uniquely His.

For NT believers, the Lord’s Day is that day. Based on the teaching of this passage, believers all over the world need to accept the truth that worshiping God corporately both in the morning and in the evening on the Lord’s Day with the use of singing accompanied by musical instruments is a good thing that God wants us to do every week.

I think it is very disturbing and concerning that churches are discontinuing corporate worship services on the Lord’s Day, especially in the evenings. We should use passages such as this one to disciple believers all over the world about what God wants His people to do on His day.

We should also strongly encourage our brethren that developing skillfulness in instrumental musical ministry is an essential aspect of giving God the glory due His name.

In Discipleship, Interpretation, Ministry, Music, Theology

We Must Learn Humility from God’s Dealings with Our Predecessors

February 23, 2017

Scripture records that two kings did not learn humility from God’s dealings with their predecessors and how their predecessors responded to God’s humbling them for their sinfulness:

2Ch 33:23 And humbled not himself before the LORD, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more.

Dan 5:20 But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he [Nebuchadnezzar] was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him:

²¹ And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will.

²² And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this;

These biblical accounts show us that God notes when people fail to learn humility from how he has dealt with their predecessors. They also show that He holds people responsible for not learning from how He has dealt with others whom they know.

We must learn humility from the godly examples of those whom we have seen humble themselves under God’s mighty hand on their lives, especially from those who were our predecessors.

In Discipleship, Interpretation, Theology

Human Dung and the Holiness of God

February 20, 2017

Scripture surprisingly speaks about dung in more than two dozen verses. As far as we can tell from Scripture, God created human bodies to excrete solid waste as a natural process, and we know that process is essential for maintaining life.

A close examination of the following passage concerning human dung, however, teaches us some truths about God that we might not otherwise think would be true.

Deu 23:13 And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon; and it shall be, when thou wilt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee:

¹⁴ For the LORD thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy: that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee.

Through this divine revelation given to Israel, God commanded them to cover their excrement when they would go to relieve themselves (Deut. 23:13). The explanation of this command in the following verse makes clear that the reason for this directive was not concerning potential health ramifications of leaving human excrement strewn about uncovered in the field.

Rather, God revealed that they were to do this because He walked in the midst of their camp and therefore their camp had to be holy, including that there would not be seen in the midst of the camp any unclean thing that God would see and therefore turn away from them. Even though God created the bodies of the Israelites to function as they did, nonetheless, the excrement that their bodies expelled was an unclean thing in the sight of God and something that was unfitting to be seen openly because of His holiness.

Furthermore, Scripture says that God sees everything and nothing is hid from His eyes, which therefore would include dung whether it is in a human body or on the ground or covered under something. Yet, God informs us in Deuteronomy 23:13-14 that human dung uncovered on the ground is something that is unclean in His sight and something that He does not want to see among His people.

Beyond the obvious relevance of this passage for what should be done when humans defecate, this revelation has other important ramifications.

God’s Holiness and His Separateness from Something that is Not Sinful

First, many conceive of God’s holiness as His separateness from sin and sinful things. This passage, however, shows us that God’s holiness also includes His separateness from something that is not sinful and yet it is something that is indecent in His sight. Our understanding of God’s holiness must include this important truth that He has revealed to us.

Talking Unnecessarily about or Joking about Human Excrement

Second, this passage applies to what believers talk about and joke about. Because God indwells us, we are to be holy as He is holy. Because God considers uncovered human excrement to be something that is unclean and unfitting to be seen openly, we rightly infer that God also does not want us to talk unnecessarily about human dung.

Although some people try to support joking about human excrement by saying that it is just the product of a natural process that God made to take place in our bodies, Deuteronomy 23:13-14 shows us that such reasoning is invalid. Yes, it is the product of a natural process, but no, that reality does not change the fact that God views seeing it uncovered as an indecent thing.

Because uncovered human excrement is something that God says is indecent in His sight, we can be confident that talking unnecessarily about or joking about human excrement has no place in the life of a consecrated believer who desires to please God with speech that is edifying, as God commands that it should be.

Conclusion

Let us profit fully from this important revelation that God has given to us in Deuteronomy 23:13-14!

In Discipleship, Interpretation, Theology

Beware This Misleading Teaching about Music

February 17, 2017

I was appalled to find recently an article in the Life Application Bible that asserts the following:

Music in Bible Times: Paul clearly puts forth the Christian view that things are not good or bad in and of themselves (see Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 14:7, 8, 26). The point should always be to worship the Lord or help others by means of the things of this world, including music. Music was created by God and can be returned to him in praise. Does the music you play or listen to have a negative or positive impact upon your relationship with God?

—LAB, 759.

These statements that probably represent what many Christians believe about music are misleading. The first sentence is patently false:

Paul clearly puts forth the Christian view that things are not good or bad in and of themselves (see Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 14:7, 8, 26).

No, Paul does not teach this! Paul teaches that anything that God has in fact made is good in and of itself: “For every creature of God is good” (1 Tim. 4:4).

Also, I do not find a single statement in the Bible that says that “music was created by God” in the sense that is implied in this article.

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.

In CCM, Quotes, Theology

On Dressing Modestly in Public Worship

February 14, 2017

God provided definitive instruction to His people about how those who would draw near to Him in public worship had to be dressed:

Exodus 28:42 And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness; from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach: 43 And they shall be upon Aaron, and upon his sons, when they come in unto the tabernacle of the congregation, or when they come near unto the altar to minister in the holy place; that they bear not iniquity, and die: it shall be a statute for ever unto him and his seed after him.

God specified that Aaron and his sons had to have on linen breeches (underwear) that were of a specific length to cover the nakedness of specific parts of their bodies (“from the loins even unto the thighs”) when they drew near to Him to worship Him. In an all-male context and even in a context when there would have been no other humans present at all, Aaron and his sons had to do this.

Moreover, they had to have other garments on over these linen breeches. If God required these men in an all-male context to dress modestly to cover their nakedness in this way, how much more so does God want all people to dress modestly in public worship in a mixed group by covering these parts of their bodies at least as much as these priests had to when they worshiped God in the tabernacle and in the holy place!

God certainly wants people to dress modestly in public worship.

In Discipleship, Interpretation, Theology

A Review of “Contemporary Worship Music: A Biblical Defense”

February 11, 2017

Twenty years ago, John M. Frame produced a highly touted work that has been spoken of as a premier biblical defense of contemporary worship music (CWM). I recently finished reading this work and found it to be commendable in some ways but lacking in key respects.

Strengths

Frame is a skilled writer who writes with an engaging style. He generally maintains a very commendably irenic tone throughout this work.

He treats his subject with considerable thoroughness concerning biblical considerations about the lyrics and many other related aspects of CWM. For those who approve of CWM, he provides what should be helpful direction in the selection and use of such music.

Weaknesses

In spite of choosing “A Biblical Defense” as the subtitle of the book, Frame’s treatment of the Bible is lacking because he does not provide any detailed exegetical treatment of many specific passages in the Bible that speak about instrumental music (such as 1 Samuel 16:14-23). He may have done so because he believes that they do not provide pertinent information concerning a biblical assessment of CWM.

In support of that evaluation of his views is what he writes as a concluding point in his chapter on some basics of a theology of worship:

Music is an area in which we have little explicit scriptural direction, and in which, therefore, human creativity should be encouraged, within the limits of general biblical standards.

—Frame, 28.

In my opinion, it would have been helpful in his attempting to make his case had he spent the time discussing what those “general biblical standards” are and how specifically they determine what music is acceptable for use in worship.

Because Frame assesses the Scriptural data in this way, he provides very little discussion of the fitness of the instrumental musical styles used in CWM. Later in the book, interestingly, he does say that he personally does not find Christian words set to heavy metal music to be edifying:

I cannot hear this style of music, even performed by Christians, without being harassed by emotions of anger, contempt for others, justification for drugs, violence, perverted sex, and other forms of rebellion against God. Musically, it draws attention to the artists, as audiences marvel at the increasing outrageousness of each performance. This atmosphere may be acceptable as entertainment, but it is not easily reconcilable with the purposes of worship.

—Frame, 58

In spite of having such a corrupting personal response to this music, he yet holds out the possibility that “in time that may change” (58). Yet, he provides no biblical justification for holding such optimism.

The rest of the book is similarly lacking in any biblical treatment of the key issue of whether the instrumental musical styles used in CWM are acceptable to God.

Conclusion

Christians who are looking for a solidly biblical defense of the contemporary instrumental musical styles used in contemporary worship music will be disappointed with this book. Because this book has been highly touted as a key work in supporting CWM, I find that its lack of Scriptural attention to this key issue supports my view that it is in fact not possible to make such a biblical defense of using contemporary worship music that incorporates certain contemporary instrumental musical styles commonly used in CWM.

See my post Resources That Provide Answers to Key Issues Concerning CCM

In CCM, Christian Books, Music

Refugees and the Bible: Part II

February 1, 2017

Scripture profoundly emphasizes the Israelites’ responsibilities to treat strangers in their midst properly. Scripture also, however, makes clear that strangers in Israel were not entitled to be treated exactly in all the same ways as all other Israelites were.

Furthermore, Scripture makes clear additional key truths about what God instructed Israel to do concerning strangers who sojourned in the land. Consider the following verses and what they reveal about strangers in Israel:

Exo 12:19 Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land.

Lev 17:10 And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people.

Lev 18:26 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you:

Lev 20:2 Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth any of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones.

Lev 24:16 And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the LORD, shall be put to death.

Lev 24:22 Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country: for I am the LORD your God.

Num 15:29 Ye shall have one law for him that sinneth through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them.

Num 15:30 But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.

Eze 14:7 For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to enquire of him concerning me; I the LORD will answer him by myself:

These verses (and others not cited here) make clear these key truths:

1. Strangers in Israel could not flout God’s laws that He gave to Israel—they were under the same obligations as native Israelites to obey these laws (for example, Lev. 24:22).

2. Strangers who violated Israel’s laws were to be punished, just as the Israelites who did so were punished—strangers were not exempted from such punishments and certainly were not above the laws of the land (for example, Num. 15:30).

3. Strangers could not practice false religions among the Israelites (Lev. 20:2) nor could they engage in any of the abominations of the heathen whom God cast out before the Israelites (Lev. 18:26).

Those who wish to use the Bible to argue for what America should do concerning refugees must account for all that the Bible teaches about strangers in Israel. Only when such a careful and thorough accounting is done will what God would want America to do be fulfilled concerning refugees who come here.

In Discipleship, Theology

Beware Such Distortion of Scripture!

January 31, 2017

In a Christian Today magazine article posted today, James Macintyre gives the following as one of “10 Bible verses on the stranger”:

4. Let strangers feast on your wealth and your toil enrich the house of another (Proverbs 5:10).¹

Compare what Proverbs 5:10 actually says::

Proverbs 5:7 Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth. 8 Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house: 9 Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel: 10 Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;

Perhaps, somehow, this is an unintentional distortion of Scripture that he will yet correct; as it stands now, we must beware such distortion of Scripture!

¹ From Welcoming The Stranger In Our Midst: 10 Bible Verses (http://www.christiantoday.com/article/welcoming.the.stranger.in.our.midst.10.bible.verses/104300.htm; accessed 1/31/17; 11:02 pm)

In Exhortation, Theology

Preaching Four Messages about the Bible and Music!

January 28, 2017

Lord willing, I will be preaching a series of four messages about the Bible and music on March 26! I would appreciate prayers for Spirit-filled skillfulness in preparing for these messages and in preaching them. Thanks in advance to anyone whom God leads to pray for me concerning this preaching series.

In Music, Prayer, Preaching

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God’s Holiness and His Separateness from Something that is Not Sinful

Talking Unnecessarily about or Joking about Human Excrement

Conclusion

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Strengths

Weaknesses

Conclusion

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