Interpretation | A People for His Name

Is Exodus 32 A Record of Singing and Dancing without Musical Instruments?

October 20, 2018

The Golden Calf Incident (GCI) is an infamous biblical account of idolatrous worship. Exodus 32 provides the lengthiest record of what took place on that occasion and informs us that both singing and dancing were part of their worship:

Exodus 32:18 And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear.

Exodus 32:19 And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.

In spite of the record of their singing and dancing, many people believe that the lack of mention of musical instruments in any of the passages that record the GCI means that there were no musical instruments used in their worship at that time. Is it a reasonable position to hold that these people sang a cappella and danced “a musica”¹?

The Relevance of Exodus 15 to the Interpretation of Exodus 32

After the Israelites had crossed the Red Sea and God had drowned Pharaoh and all his hosts, the Israelites sang praise to God for the deliverance that He had provided them (Exod. 15:1-19). Miriam then led all the women in singing and dancing that was accompanied by the playing of timbrels:

Exodus 15:20 And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. 21 And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

Exodus 15 thus establishes an important precedent that the Israelites used musical instruments in corporate worship of God that included both singing and dancing. Because we know that the Israelites had at least timbrels and had used them prior to the GCI in worship that included both singing and dancing, we do not have any biblical basis to hold that the Israelites did not use at least timbrels in the GCI.

Conclusion

Allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture, there is no reasonable basis to hold that the GCI was an occasion of idolatrous worship where the people sang and danced without the use of any musical instruments. Exodus 32 is not a record of singing and dancing without the use of musical instruments.²

¹“A musica” is a term that I coined to signify when dancing is done without the use of musical instruments to accompany the dancing.

²For more information about the Golden Calf Incident, see point #12 on this page.

In Interpretation, Music, Theology

Four Problems with the Common Interpretation of Ezekiel 26:13

October 6, 2018

I recently read through Ezekiel and was again struck by what God said that He would do when He would judge Tyre:

Ezekiel 26:13 And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard.

Based on conversations that I have had online with some other believers, it seems that the common interpretation of this text is that it is not revealing that there was anything bad or sinful about the music of Tyre; rather, the text communicates that God would bring to an end the enjoyment of music in Tyre.

I have never found this interpretation tenable. I think that there are at least the following four problems with it:

1. If the point of verse were that God would bring an end to their enjoyment of music when He would destroy them, why does the text elaborate by speaking of both their vocal music and their instrumental music instead of just saying that He would cause their music to end?

2. When a nation becomes wicked to the extent that God determines to destroy it, we do not have any good reason to think that their wickedness would not also express itself in what they sing, how they sing what they sing, what they play on musical instruments, and how they play what they play on those instruments.

3. In the immediately surrounding context of this statement, God’s judgment on many other nations surrounding His people is related, but none of the passages that relate His judgment of all those other nations speaks of His bringing their enjoyment of music to an end:

Ammonites (25:1-7); Moab & Seir (25:8-11); Edom (25:12-14); Philistines (25:15-17); Tyre (26:1-28:19); Sidon (28:20-26); Egypt (29:1-32:32)

Why is the cessation of music only said about the people of Tyre and not about any of the other nations that God was going to destroy at that time?

4. If the point is that destroying them will bring about the denial of their enjoyment of all good things, why does the passage mention explicitly both their vocal and instrumental musical activities instead of their art, dancing, literature, drama, sports, etc.? To put it differently, according to the denial-of-enjoyment-of-good-things view, how do you explain that the cessation of their music is specifically mentioned but there is no mention of the cessation of their enjoyment of any of these other cultural activities that people also enjoy?

In Interpretation, Music, Theology

How Does God Want Us to Profit from Ezekiel 26:13?

September 22, 2018

Ezekiel 26:13 And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard.

Because God revealed that He would do this and inscripturated it, we can be certain that we are to consider what this statement reveals to us.

How does God want us to profit from this statement about what He would do to the sound of the harps of Tyre?

Here are some possibilities to consider:

God decreed that He would bring an end to the sound of their harps because . . .

1. The people of Tyre were ungodly people.

2. The people who were playing the harps were ungodly people.

3. The setting, purpose, motivation, etc. of the people who were playing the harps was ungodly.

4. The actual sounds of the music that was being produced by the harps were themselves ungodly.

What exegetical and theological principles do we use to determine whether God wants us to understand that one or more or all of these were true about His bringing the sound of the harps of Tyre to an end?

In Interpretation, Music, Theology

Are Secular Testimonies about the Perverseness of Rock Music Inherently Unreliable?

September 13, 2018

Many Christians today are quite dismissive of testimonies from secular rock musicians and music authorities who have said that rock music is perverse music that should be rejected, especially by Christians in their ministries. These believers argue that unbelieving musicians and music authorities are unable to judge spiritual truth accurately concerning whether rock music is fit for use in ministry.

I have previously presented evidence from two passages that counters this dismissiveness by pointing out that lost people were reliably able to give testimonies about spiritual realities. Judges 7 provides additional evidence to hold that unbelieving people can accurately assess spiritual realities.

Judges 7:13-14

During the period of the judges who ruled over Israel, the Lord directed Gideon to be His deliverer of the Israelites from the Midianites (Judg. 7:7). To alleviate possible fearfulness on Gideon’s part to carry out this mission (Judg. 7:10), the Lord directed him and his servant to go and hear what certain men in the host of Midian would say (Judg. 7:10-11).

The record of this incident reveals that an unsaved man in the camp of the enemies of Israel remarkably interpreted the spiritual significance of a dream with striking accuracy:

Judges 7:13 And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along. 14 And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host.

Observing what transpired, Gideon was moved to worship God for the testimony that he had received through these two lost people:

Judges 7:15 And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped, and returned into the host of Israel, and said, Arise; for the LORD hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian.

The biblical record of this incident is yet another passage that shows that lost people have given accurate testimonies to spiritual realities in spite of their being unbelievers. Just because people are unbelievers does not automatically invalidate anything that they say about the spiritual significance of any event or the spiritual fitness of any practice.

Conclusion

Christians should not dismiss the validity of testimonies by secular rock musicians and music authorities about the perverseness of rock music and its unfitness for use in Christian ministry simply because these authorities on music are unbelievers. Judges 7:13-14 and other passages provide evidence that doing so is not a right approach to such information.

In CCM, Interpretation, Theology

A Sobering Warning for True Believers

August 21, 2018

Scripture warns true believers in many passages that they must not associate themselves closely with those who hate God. One of the most sobering warnings is found in the following account from the life of king Jehoshaphat:

2 Chronicles 19:1 And Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem. 2 And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD. 3 Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God.

Jehoshaphat was a true believer in the Lord, yet a prophet of God said to him that there was wrath on him from the Lord because he had helped the ungodly and loved those who hate the Lord.

The prophet also made known that at the same time as there was wrath on him from the Lord, there were yet good things found in him. This revelation warns us that true believers can have good things about them and yet be at the same time a source of great provocation to God.

In Discipleship, Interpretation, Theology

Poll Results and Analysis: What Caused Eve to Transgress Against God?

August 9, 2018

I recently polled my friends on Facebook about what caused Eve to transgress against God. Here is the exact way that I stated the poll:

Friends, I would like to do a poll about a theological question with *no discussion* about the answers. Please, no comments about the answers.

Did Eve transgress against God because of a wrong heart, wrong knowledge, or both?

To make it simple, please use the following to indicate your answer:

Like = wrong heart

Sad face = wrong knowledge

Angry face = both

Poll Results

Eighteen friends participated in the poll. I am surprised by the results:

Wrong heart – 10

Wrong knowledge – 4

Both a wrong heart and wrong knowledge – 4

Analysis

Given the choices in this poll, it is noteworthy that 10 out of 18 respondents chose a wrong heart over the two other choices, which addressed wrong knowledge as the cause or a contributing cause for Eve’s transgression.

The NT authoritatively interprets the OT account of Eve’s transgression in two passages:

2 Corinthians 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

1 Timothy 2:14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

Both passages explicitly speak of Eve’s being deceived, which highlights that she was presented with false information from an external source. Additionally, in the first passage, by how Paul applies to believers what happened to Eve, we learn that he stresses that her mind was corrupted.

I believe, therefore, that it is untenable to say that Eve transgressed because of a wrong heart in distinction from saying that she transgressed because of wrong knowledge.

Conclusion

Given the choices that were in this poll, the right choice for explaining her transgression was that both a wrong heart and wrong knowledge caused her to transgress against God.

In Interpretation, Theology

The Fearful Reality of the Deceptive Power of a Single Demon

June 11, 2018

Just prior to his death in battle, king Ahab of Israel heeded the false prophecy of 400 or so of his prophets who told him that he would succeed in his military endeavor:

1Ki 22:6 Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall I go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king.

1Ki 22:11 And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron: and he said, Thus saith the LORD, With these shalt thou push the Syrians, until thou have consumed them.

¹² And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramothgilead, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the king’s hand.

One lone prophet of the Lord warned him that his prophets had all been deceived by a lying spirit to give their false prophecy so that he would go to his doom:

1Ki 22:22 And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.

²³ Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee.

What a fearful reality it is that a single demon can successfully deceive 400 or so religious authorities to utter unanimously a lying prophecy!

In Interpretation, Theology

What Is “Hair as the Hair of Women”?

June 1, 2018

Scripture speaks about human hair in many passages. A passage that does so provides an important insight about biblical teaching about the hair of women:

Revelation 9:7 And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. 8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.

John describes these demons as having “the faces of men” and “hair as the hair of women.” It hardly makes sense to say that they had a masculine “face-style”; the contrast in the passage therefore does not support the idea that these demons had hair that was styled in a feminine hairstyle (which would be nonsensical even if the contrast were not a factor in the passage).

This passage, therefore, testifies to Scriptural revelation that points to something intrinsically distinctive about “the hair of women.” By comparing this passage with the following passage, we understand plainly what that distinctive characteristic is:

1 Corinthians 11:14 Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? 15 But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.

Noting the male-female contrast in both passages and allowing Scripture to interpret itself by comparing Scripture with Scripture, it is plain that both passages are speaking of the length of a woman’s hair as that which is to distinguish it from the hair of a man and not of a “feminine” hairstyle. “Hair as the hair of women” means hair that is of such a length that it is a glory to a woman (and a shame to a man).

In Interpretation, Theology

Is It Wrong to Call Vicious People “Animals”?

May 24, 2018

The Bible teaches that all human beings are made in the image of God and are therefore of inestimable intrinsic worth. Based on this biblical teaching, some Christians reason that it is wrong to call even vicious human beings “animals.”

The following sampling of various relevant biblical statements shows that this position is not true.

Eze 22:27 Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.

Zep 3:3 Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow.

Mat 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

Mat 10:16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

Luk 10:3 Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.

Luk 13:32 And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.

Act 20:29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.

Tit 1:12 One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. 13 This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;

2Pe 2:12 But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

Jud 1:10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.

The prophets (Ezek. 22:27), Jesus (Matt. 7:15; Luke 10:3; 13:32), and the apostles (Acts 20:29; 2 Peter 2:12) all spoke of certain human beings being animals or like animals. Even unbelievers have validly done so (Titus 1:12).

The Bible does not support the view that it is wrong to call vicious people “animals.”

In Discipleship, Interpretation, Theology

An Illuminating Passage about Farmers That Has a Profound Significance for Our Understanding of Acceptable Music for Corporate Worship

May 19, 2018

Isaiah 28:23-29 is a passage that provides illumination that has a profound significance for a proper Christian understanding of how Christians are to approach their understanding of acceptable music for corporate worship.

Isa 28:23 Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech.

24 Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? doth he open and break the clods of his ground?

25 When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rie in their place?

26 For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him.

27 For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod.

28 Bread corn is bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen.

29 This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.

This passage teaches that the farmer’s God teaches him how to engage properly in the various tasks involved in his work. Not stated but clearly understood in this passage is the reality that the plowman is not knowingly seeking to rebel against his God in whatever he is doing.

What is also clear is that there are not numerous right ways that the various tasks are to be done. It is also important that the passage does not say anything about special revelation given by God to the farmer so that the farmer accomplishes the tasks properly in the way that God wants him to do them.

The passage ends by highlighting that God’s directing and instructing the farmer to do what is right without giving him special revelation about what to do is a manifestation of the glory of the Lord of hosts who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working.

Arguing from the lesser to the greater, God certainly is able to teach those who are His and who are not seeking to rebel against Him how to play instrumental music that is pleasing to Him and played the right ways that He accepts in worship. Moreover, God is able to do so without having given them special revelation about the specifics of how He wants them to play instrumental music when they worship Him.

As believers, we do not need to have special revelation from God that provides specific information about how to play music that is acceptable to Him in corporate worship. Provided we do not rebel against any of His directives, such as by conforming ourselves to the musical perspectives and practices of this present evil world, we can be confident that He will guide us by His Spirit’s working in us to play music that pleases Him.

In Interpretation, Music, Theology

Archives For Interpretation

The Relevance of Exodus 15 to the Interpretation of Exodus 32

Conclusion

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Judges 7:13-14

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Poll Results

Analysis

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