Interpretation | A People for His Name

What The Music Used in Heavenly Corporate Worship Teaches Us

March 11, 2017

The only authentic information that we have about the worship in heaven is what God provides us with in Scripture. Every reference to singing in the worship of heaven is directly connected to the use of musical instruments:

Rev 5:8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; 10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

Rev 14:2 And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:

3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.

Rev 15:2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.

3 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. 4 Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.

We know that the worship of heaven is perfect in every way. We should learn from the music used in heavenly corporate worship that we should use instruments to accompany our singing when we worship God corporately.

In Discipleship, Interpretation, Music, Theology

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

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

Refugees and the Bible: Part I

January 29, 2017

I have seen several people recently cite OT passages about strangers and foreigners to argue that we need to receive refugees and treat them in the same benevolent ways that Israel was supposed to do with strangers. A thorough examination of Scripture, however, reveals that this argument is not a valid use of Scripture because it does not account for certain specific ways that God’s Law made important distinctions between Israelites and strangers.

Distinctions between Israelites and Strangers

Strangers in Israel were not entitled to be treated exactly as Israelites were in the following specific ways:

1. Taking people as bondmen and how such people were to be treated

Lev 25:44 Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids.

45 Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they begat in your land: and they shall be your possession.

46 And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever: but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour.

2. Creditors being required to release debts

Deu 15:1 At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release.

2 And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbour shall release it; he shall not exact it of his neighbour, or of his brother; because it is called the LORD’S release.

3 Of a foreigner thou mayest exact it again: but that which is thine with thy brother thine hand shall release;

3. Charging interest on lending

Deu 23:19 Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is lent upon usury:

20 Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury; but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to in the land whither thou goest to possess it.

These passages from God’s Law that He gave to Israel show that the Bible cannot be used legitimately to argue that the Bible teaches that refugees must be treated in every respect exactly the same way that all Americans are treated.

In Interpretation, Theology

An Instructive Statement about a Rapist

January 21, 2017

Rape is a horrible crime that should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. I detest rapists with a passion. Having said that, I recently observed something in Genesis 34 that I found to be very instructive concerning what the Bible has to teach us about this subject.

Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, raped Dinah, the daughter of Jacob (Gen. 34:2). After he had defiled her, Shechem became deeply attached to her, loved her, and he wanted to marry her (Gen. 34:3-18).

When Hamor and Shechem approached Jacob’s sons to ask them that they would give her in marriage to him, Jacob’s sons devised a deceitful plan to kill Shechem and all the males of their city because he had defiled their sister (Gen. 34:13) and treated her as a harlot (Gen. 34:31). Not knowing of the evil intent of Jacob’s sons, Hamor and Shechem agreed to their terms (Gen. 34:18).

Writing under divine inspiration, Moses recorded an instructive statement about what then took place:

Gen 34:19 And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob’s daughter: and he was more honourable than all the house of his father.

Even after Shechem had become a rapist, the Holy Spirit yet chose to speak of something that was still commendable about him: “he was more honourable than all the house of his father.” The Spirit could have phrased this statement so that it read that all the house of his father were more wicked than him, but that is not what He chose to have Moses write.

Based on this divine statement, God seems to teach us that we are to learn that even when someone is a wicked rapist, we are not justified in making him out to be a completely vile person about whom no one should say anything good, even if what would be said was true. I am not saying that we need to look for the good in rapists nor am I saying that we should not say anything bad about them.

What I am saying is that what the Spirit has recorded in Genesis 34 for our profit about how He chose to speak about a rapist must be heeded and has been given for our profit.

In Discipleship, Interpretation, Theology

A Key Truth about the Use of An Instrumental Number in Worship

January 16, 2017

First Corinthians 14 is one of the most important chapters in the Bible concerning divine worship. In that chapter, the apostle Paul provides teaching about musical instruments that reveals a truth that vitally pertains to the use of an instrumental number in worship.

1Co 14:7 And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped?

⁸ For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?

These verses explain that a musical instrument, such as a pipe (flute) or a harp, is a nonliving entity that produces sound. For the hearer to know what is played on that instrument, it must produce a distinction in the sounds that it makes.

Paul supports this teaching by giving the example of what was true about the use of a trumpet to alert people to prepare themselves for a battle. Through a question that demands a negative answer, he asserts that no one will prepare himself for a battle if a trumpet gives an indistinct sound.

From this teaching, we understand that a proper use of an instrument in an instrumental number in worship requires that the hearers know what is being played on it by paying attention to the distinct sounds that it makes. Unless, therefore, one is certain that every hearer of an instrumental number in a service will know exactly what the song is that is being played and what all the words of the song are, the words of the song must be provided to the hearers in some manner so that they know what is being played on the instrument.

In Discipleship, Interpretation, Music, Theology

Does God Make Comparisons about How Much Faith People Have?

January 3, 2017

Scripture clearly teaches that having faith in God is essential, but many believers likely do not appreciate that Scripture also teaches that God cares about how much faith a believer has:

Mat 8:26 And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.

This remarkable statement by Jesus teaches us that He confronted His disciples with the reality that they were believers “of little faith”! Plainly, Jesus cared about the smallness of their faith and made known that fact to them.

What’s more, Jesus expressed His amazement at how great a faith a certain centurion had:

Mat 8:10 When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

We must note that Jesus did more than merely state that this centurion was a man of great faith—Jesus said that his faith exceeded the faith of anyone else that He had encountered in Israel to that point! This divine comparison teaches us that God makes comparisons about how much faith people have.

From these two instructive statements of Jesus, let us strive to be people of such great faith among our countrymen so that God marvels, taking note of how much our faith exceeds that of other believers in our country!

In Discipleship, Interpretation, Theology

Archives For Interpretation

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

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

Talking Unnecessarily about or Joking about Human Excrement

Conclusion

Share this:

Share this:

Distinctions between Israelites and Strangers

1. Taking people as bondmen and how such people were to be treated

2. Creditors being required to release debts

3. Charging interest on lending

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: