Archives For Interpretation

The Vital Importance of a Divine Promise of Burial – Genesis 15:15

June 12, 2022

God promised Abram that he would be buried at the end of his life:

Genesis 15:15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.

When God made this promise, He was not following some OT Hebrew preference because Abraham was the first Hebrew so there was no long-standing or well-established Hebrew preference that had already been in place that could be or needed to be followed by God.

Because this verse is the first mention of burial in Scripture, we learn that within the limits of what is revealed in Scripture, we are to hold that God is the One who communicated to the Hebrews the importance of burying their own. He, therefore, was not following some OT Hebrew preference when He did so–He was making a divine promise that communicated the vital importance that He placed on burial!

Moreover, based on this understanding of this key promise, we learn that the numerous repeated mentions of the burials of God’s people in the OT are not instances of OT Hebrew preference of burial. Rather, they show the vital importance that God placed on burial when He promised Abram that he would be buried in a good old age.

Picture Credit: M. Shires

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

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The Worldwide Importance of Christ’s Burial

June 4, 2022

Before the risen Jesus ascended to heaven, He commanded His disciples to preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15). The apostle Paul instructed the Corinthians that the gospel message that He received directly from the glorified Christ specifically states that Christ was buried:

1 Cor. 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

God, therefore, has ordained that we are to tell every human being that Christ was buried.

Regardless of what practices for handling dead bodies may be prevalent anywhere in the world, the Christian must convey to every person everywhere that Christ was buried. In order to do so knowledgeably, we must understand biblically why Christ was and had to be buried. To that end, this article treats three reasons that Christ was and had to be buried.

God’s Command to Bury Had to Be Obeyed

First, more than at least 1300 years before the Passion of Christ, God had commanded His people that those that they had hanged on a tree had to be buried:

Deut. 21:22 And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: 23 His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

Peter and the apostles declared to the Jewish council and high priest that they had slain and hanged Jesus on a tree:

Acts 5:30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.

Later in a premier evangelistic message to Gentiles, Peter preached again that the Jews had slain the anointed Jesus of Nazareth and hanged Him on a tree:

Acts 10:39 And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree:

Because the Jews slew and hanged Jesus on a tree, they had to bury His body in obedience to God’s command. As righteous Jews, Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus obeyed God’s command and buried His body (John 19:38-42).

Christ was and had to be buried because God’s command to bury had to be obeyed. As seen through the gospel ministry of Peter, the truth that Jesus was buried is to be proclaimed to both Jews and Gentiles—it is of worldwide importance!

Christ’s Burial Was Prophesied

Second, Christ was and had to be buried because God had prophesied that the Messiah would be buried:

Isa. 53:9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

Had Jesus of Nazareth not been buried in fulfillment of what God had prophesied, He would not and could not have been the Messiah. There would then not be any gospel of Jesus Christ to proclaim to the world.

Christ Spoke of His Body’s Being Buried

Third, before His crucifixion, Jesus of Nazareth revealed that Mary (John 11:2; 12:3) had anointed His body for His burial:

Matthew 26:12 For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.

Mark 14:8 She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying.

John 12:7 Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this.

He added that what she had done to anoint His body for His burial would be spoken of all over the world wherever the gospel would be preached:

Matthew 26:13 Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.

Mark 14:9 Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.

Christ was and had to be buried in order to fulfill what He said about Mary’s having anointed Him for His burial.

Had His body not been buried after His crucifixion, He would have been shown to have been wrong in what He said. Had He erred in the truthfulness of what He said concerning what Mary had done, He would not and could not have been the Messiah. There would then not be any gospel of Jesus Christ to proclaim to the world.

Conclusion

As the Christ, Jesus of Nazareth was and had to be buried after He had been crucified. As believers, we all must understand biblically why this is true.

We all must also proclaim to all men everywhere the gospel truth that Christ was buried. The burial of Christ is of worldwide importance!

See also my post The Biblical Importance of a Proper Burial

Picture Credit: M. Shires

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

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Burial Was Not a Jewish Cultural Practice in the OT

May 31, 2022

Some Christians today believe that cremation is justified because they hold that burial in the OT was a Jewish cultural practice. Having that viewpoint about burial in the OT, they believe that we are free to follow what is culturally acceptable in our day.

Several lines of reasoning from Scripture show that these beliefs are not right.

Job and Eliphaz Did Not Follow Jewish Cultural Practices

Job and Eliphaz were God’s people, but Scripture never speaks of them as being Hebrews or Jews. Furthermore, we do not have any basis to hold that they ever had any contact with any people who were Jewish.

As such, what they believed and practiced attests to what God’s people who were not Jews, never under the Mosaic Law, and never had received that revelation believed and practiced. Because Job and Eliphaz spoke about burial in ways that either declare or imply its propriety, we know that burial by at least certain of the people of God in the OT was not a Jewish cultural practice.

Job

Job 3:22 Which rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave?

Job 10:19 I should have been as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.

Job 17:1 My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are ready for me.

Job 21:32 Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb.

Job 27:15 Those that remain of him shall be buried in death: and his widows shall not weep.

Eliphaz

Job 5:26 Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season.

Moreover, there are no passages in which Job or Eliphaz speak of the propriety of cremation.

Many Other Peoples Did Not Follow Jewish Cultural Practices

Scripture reveals that many other peoples that also were never Jews practiced burial. When they did so, they certainly were not following Jewish cultural practices of burying dead people.

Cananites

Gen. 23:6  Hear us, my lord: thou art a mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead.

Egyptians

Num. 33:4  For the Egyptians buried all their firstborn, which the LORD had smitten among them: upon their gods also the LORD executed judgments.

Babylonians

Isa. 14:19  But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet.

Asshurites

Ezek. 32:22  Asshur is there and all her company: his graves are about him: all of them slain, fallen by the sword:

Elamites

Ezek. 32:24  There is Elam and all her multitude round about her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, which caused their terror in the land of the living; yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit.

People of Meshech and Tubal

Ezek. 32:26  There is Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude: her graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, though they caused their terror in the land of the living.

Furthermore, Scripture never speaks of any of these peoples practicing cremation.

God Did Not Follow Jewish Cultural Practices

Scripture reveals in multiple ways that God did not follow Jewish cultural practices when He dealt with either His people or other peoples.

First, God commanded the Israelites that those who were hung had to be buried.

Deu 21:23 His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

He was not following a Jewish cultural practice when He issued that command.

Second, when God buried Moses, He did not do so because He was under any obligation to follow any so-called Jewish cultural practice.

Deuteronomy 34:6 And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.

His choosing to bury Moses and to reveal that He did so shows that burial was not a Jewish cultural practice in the OT.

Third, God fiercely judged the Moabites for burning the bones of the king of Edom to powder. God was not judging the Moabites for their failure to follow a Jewish cultural practice.

Amos 2:1 Thus 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 Kerioth: 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.

These passages show that divine actions pertaining to burial in the OT were not instances of God’s following Jewish cultural practices.

In addition, God never authorized or approved of cremation in the OT.

Conclusion

Scripture makes plain that burial in the OT was not a Jewish cultural practice. It also never speaks of the propriety of cremation.

Christians who support the use of cremation instead of burial cannot appeal to burial in the OT as being merely a Jewish cultural practice that can be set aside in favor of the cultural practices of their own time. They also do not have any passages in the OT that they can cite as support for cremation.

See also The Biblical Importance of a Proper Burial

The Vital Importance of a Divine Promise of Burial – Genesis 15:15

Picture Credit: M. Shires

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

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57 Verses That Help Illumine “The Counsel of the Ungodly” in Psalm 1:1

May 21, 2022

I have been studying Psalm 1:1 intensively for many days now:

Ps. 1:1  Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

Tonight, I compiled 57 verses that help illumine our understanding of what God wants us to understand about “the counsel of the ungodly” that is spoken about in Psalm 1:1.

 

Num. 31:16  Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD.

 

2 Sam. 15:34  But if thou return to the city, and say unto Absalom, I will be thy servant, O king; as I have been thy father’s servant hitherto, so will I now also be thy servant: then mayest thou for me defeat the counsel of Ahithophel.

 

2 Sam. 17:21  And it came to pass, after they were departed, that they came up out of the well, and went and told king David, and said unto David, Arise, and pass quickly over the water: for thus hath Ahithophel counselled against you.

 

1 Ki. 12:14  And spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

 

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.

 

2 Ki. 6:8  Then the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp.

 

1 Chr. 10:13  So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it;

 

2 Chr. 22:3  He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab: for his mother was his counsellor to do wickedly.

 

2 Chr. 22:4  Wherefore he did evil in the sight of the LORD like the house of Ahab: for they were his counsellors after the death of his father to his destruction.

 

2 Chr. 22:5  He walked also after their counsel, and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramothgilead: and the Syrians smote Joram.

 

Ezr. 4:5  And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

 

Neh. 4:15  And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel to nought, that we returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work.

 

Neh. 6:7  And thou hast also appointed prophets to preach of thee at Jerusalem, saying, There is a king in Judah: and now shall it be reported to the king according to these words. Come now therefore, and let us take counsel together.

 

Job 5:13  He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.

 

Job 10:3  Is it good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress, that thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked?

 

Job 18:7  The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down.

 

Job 21:16  Lo, their good is not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

 

Job 22:18  Yet he filled their houses with good things: but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

 

Job 38:2  Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?

 

Job 42:3  Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.

 

Ps. 2:2  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,

 

Ps. 5:10  Destroy thou them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against thee.

 

Ps. 31:13  For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life.

 

Ps. 33:10  The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.

 

Ps. 64:2  Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity:

 

Ps. 71:10  For mine enemies speak against me; and they that lay wait for my soul take counsel together,

 

Ps. 81:12  So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels.

 

Ps. 83:3  They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.

 

Ps. 106:43  Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.

 

Prov. 12:5  The thoughts of the righteous are right: but the counsels of the wicked are deceit.

 

Isa. 7:5  Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying,

 

Isa. 8:10  Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us.

 

Isa. 19:3  And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.

 

Isa. 29:15  Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?

 

Isa. 30:1  Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:

 

Isa. 47:13  Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.

 

Jer. 7:24  But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.

 

Jer. 18:23  Yet, LORD, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thus with them in the time of thine anger.

 

Jer. 19:7  And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives: and their carcases will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.

 

Jer. 49:30  Flee, get you far off, dwell deep, O ye inhabitants of Hazor, saith the LORD; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath taken counsel against you, and hath conceived a purpose against you.

 

Ezek. 11:2  Then said he unto me, Son of man, these are the men that devise mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city:

 

Dan. 6:7 All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.

 

Hos. 4:12  My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.

 

Hos. 10:6  It shall be also carried unto Assyria for a present to king Jareb: Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.

 

Hos. 11:6  And the sword shall abide on his cities, and shall consume his branches, and devour them, because of their own counsels.

 

Mic. 6:16  For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels; that I should make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing: therefore ye shall bear the reproach of my people.

 

Nah. 1:11  There is one come out of thee, that imagineth evil against the LORD, a wicked counsellor.

 

Matt. 22:15  Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk.

 

Matt. 27:1  When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death:

 

Matt. 28:12  And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers,

 

Mk. 3:6  And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.

 

Lk. 23:51  (The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them;) he was of Arimathaea, a city of the Jews: who also himself waited for the kingdom of God.

 

Jn. 11:53  Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death.

 

Acts 5:33  When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them.

 

Acts 5:38  And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought:

 

Acts 9:23  And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him:

 

1 Cor. 4:5  Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.

 

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

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Beware Allowing Balaam and Jezebel to Corrupt Your Church!

April 18, 2022

By the time the Spirit inspired the apostle John to write the book of Revelation, Balaam had likely been dead for somewhere around 1500 years, and Jezebel, for more than 900 years. In spite of the vast spans of time involved, the glorified Christ confronted Christian churches late in the first century AD about their allowing Balaam and Jezebel to corrupt their churches!

Because the Spirit ended His letters to two churches with commands to all churches of all time to hear these warnings, we know that we too must beware allowing Balaam and Jezebel to corrupt our churches!

Allowing Balaam to Corrupt the Church at Pergamos

The glorified Christ confronted the church at Pergamos by saying to them,

Revelation 2:14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.

More than 1000 years earlier, the Spirit had revealed just how corrupt and dangerous an occultist Balaam was:

Numbers 24:1 And when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness.

Numbers 31:16 Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD.

Joshua 13:22 Balaam also the son of Beor, the soothsayer, did the children of Israel slay with the sword among them that were slain by them.

These passages show that Balaam was an occultist who wickedly taught people to corrupt others through the eating of things sacrificed unto idols and through immorality.

Incredibly, many, many centuries later, somehow there were people in the church at Pergamos who held the wicked doctrine of Balaam and thereby corrupted that church. Even the passage of more than 1000 years did not make the occult and immoral doctrine and practices of Balaam any less of a problem for God’s people!

Allowing Jezebel to Corrupt the Church at Thyatira

After confronting the church in Pergamos, the glorified Christ confronted God’s people in another church about their having very similarly allowed an occultist to corrupt their church:

Revelation 2:20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. 21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. 22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. 23 And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.

24 But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden.

As He had done with Balaam, so the Spirit had also revealed many centuries earlier to God’s people that Jezebel was a wicked and immoral occultist:

2 Kings 9:22 And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?

Horrifically, similar to what was true in the church at Pergamos through the lasting influences of the ancient occultist Balaam, somehow there was in the church at Thyatira great corruption through the lasting influences of another ancient occultist, Jezebel, that defiled the church through the wickedness of another woman with the same name. This modern-day Jezebel had so corrupted some people in the church that there was fornication, the eating of things offered to idols, and the knowledge of the depths of Satan among the people of the church!

Commonalities between Balaam and Jezebel and Their Ongoing Corrupting Influences

Both Balaam and Jezebel corrupted God’s people with fornication and eating things offered to idols. Both were wicked practitioners of the occult.

Shockingly, their occult and immoral wickedness manifested its horrific corrupting affects in Christian churches many centuries later in spite of vast amounts of time having elapsed since these two prominent occultists had died.

Application

Christian churches must not have anything to do with wicked people or things having to do with immorality, idolatry, or the occult. Christian churches must purge themselves of all such corruption due to any influences of Balaam, Jezebel, or any other occultists in their churches!

Especially in our day, we must not be deceived into thinking that things that were corrupt and immoral things of the occult in the past, such as rock music, are no longer a problem for God’s people today because of the passage of considerable time. The passage of many decades has not at all changed the necessity of God’s people rejecting from their churches rock music as corrupt occult and immoral music in our day.

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

In CCM, Discipleship, Exposition, Music, Theology
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Why Our Singing in Worship Is Not To Be Only A Cappella

April 9, 2022

For various reasons, some people believe that the singing in church must only be a cappella. This position is not biblical for several reasons.

1. The singing in heavenly worship is not only a cappella singing (Rev. 5:8-10; 14:2-3; 15:2-5). Heaven’s worship is the pattern for ours (Matt. 6:10).

Our singing in worship is not to be only a cappella.

2. It is not true that only the Israelites were to use musical instruments to accompany their singing in temple worship and to do so only as long as the burnt offerings were being made.

Rather, God has commanded all the world to worship Him with singing accompanied by musical instruments (Ps. 98:4-6). NT Christians are among all the people of the world that God has commanded to worship Him with singing accompanied by musical instruments.

Our singing in worship is not to be only a cappella.

3. The NT does not show that all singing in Christian churches was only a cappella. In the corporate worship in the church at Corinth, Paul revealed that when they came together, every one of them had a psalm (1 Cor. 14:26). There is no legitimate lexical, grammatical, or contextual basis to insist that what Paul meant was only either the speaking of the words of a psalm or the singing of it a cappella. There is no basis to hold that this statement excludes the singing of the psalm with musical accompaniment.

Our singing in worship is not to be only a cappella.

Clarification

By making these statements, however, I am not saying that we can never sing a cappella in our churches when we worship. What I am saying is that it is not biblical to insist that all our singing in corporate worship must only be a cappella.

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

In Interpretation, Music, Theology
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Four Thoughts about What Music Would Have Been the Most Fitting Music to Use for the Worship in Daniel 3

March 5, 2022

Daniel 3 records a worship setting in which idolatrous worship was compelled from a vast, noteworthy group of people by their hearing the statements revealed in these verses:

Daniel 3:4 Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, 5 That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up:

6 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

Based on the information that was given to them to elicit their idolatrous worship, we learn the following points about the nature of the worship and the instrumental music that was used to elicit it:

1. This was idolatrous worship that was compelled from people who were under the threat of dying a horrific death for any who would refuse to comply.

2. Such an idolatrous worship setting was anything but a setting of acceptable worship that was characterized by love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance.

3. Such compelled idolatrous worship was not acceptable worship from the heart and in spirit and in truth.

4. The instrumental music used to elicit this idolatrous worship would reflect all these realities. Ominous, intimidating, and overpowering music that aggressively and assertively communicated the urgency and necessity of complying with the demand and also communicated the danger of failure to comply was the most fitting music to use for the use of music to elicit such compelled idolatrous worship.

These considerations definitively support the conclusion that the instrumental music used to elicit the idolatrous worship that is recorded in Daniel 3 was not good music that would ever be acceptable to God for use in worship.

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

In Discipleship, Interpretation, Music, Theology
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Why Does God Specify His Future Judgment on These Sounds of Babylon’s Music?

February 28, 2022

Scripture speaks of God’s judging His own people to deprive them of the voice or sound of various things:

Jeremiah 7:34 Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate.

Jeremiah 16:9 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place in your eyes, and in your days, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride.

Jeremiah 25:10 Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle.

Scripture also speaks of God’s restoring those voices and sounds to His people:

Jeremiah 33:10 Thus saith the LORD; Again there shall be heard in this place, which ye say shall be desolate without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast, 11 The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith the LORD.

In the final such passage, Scripture, however, strikingly highlights something different that it did not specify in any of the previous passages of divine judgment—God’s depriving Babylon of the voices and sounds of her instrumental music and of her musicians:

Revelation 18:22 And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; 23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.

Why does God specify His future judgment on these sounds of Babylon’s music?

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

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What Does “Play” Mean in 1 Corinthians 10:7?

February 19, 2022

In a NT epistle, the Spirit confronts us as Christians with an authoritative prohibition that we must not be idolaters.

1 Corinthians 10:7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

Notice that in this verse, He specifies that such unholy worship includes playing that is idolatrous.

Knowing correctly, therefore, what that idolatrous playing in worship is and rejecting it completely is mandatory for all believers–it is not something that is optional for any of us.

In a recent online conversation, someone commented that the meaning of “play” in 1 Corinthians 10:7 should be understood to refer to immorality because of what the next verse says:

1 Corinthians 10:8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.

Because, however, 1 Corinthians 10:7 cites Exodus 32:6 but 10:8 refers to Numbers 25, we know that the Spirit has directed us to two different accounts to understand what He wants us to know about those directives. Because He has done so, we need to compare Exodus 32 and Numbers 25 to understand properly what God wants us to know about the two negative directives that He has given us in 1 Corinthians 10:7 and 8.

A Comparison of Exodus 32 and Numbers 25

The following table presents an analysis of Exodus 32 compared with Numbers 25 concerning key aspects of both accounts of idolatry:

Exodus 32 Numbers 25
Idol(s) Explicit Implicit
Altar Explicit Implicit
Bowing down Implicit Explicit
Sacrifices Explicit Explicit
Eating Explicit Explicit
Drinking Explicit Implicit
Singing Explicit Not mentioned
Dancing Explicit Not mentioned
Instrumental music Implicit Not mentioned
Immorality Not mentioned Explicit
Divine judgment Explicit Explicit

Looking closely at the differences between the two accounts, we see clearly that the Spirit has focused His attention on differing activities in the two accounts. In Exodus 32, He explicitly speaks about the people’s singing and dancing, but He does not say anything about such activities in Numbers 25.

By contrast, He speaks explicitly about fornication in Numbers 25 but not in Exodus 32.

This comparison instructs us that we should not take the word “play” in 1 Corinthians 10:7 to mean that the people were fornicating. Rather, the word “play” refers to the people’s singing and dancing in their idolatrous worship.

Additional Biblical Support for This Interpretation

In a previous post, I have provided some additional biblical considerations that support this interpretation:

Undeniably, Exodus 32:17-18 is divine revelation that has been given by inspiration of the Spirit:

Exodus 32:17 And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp. 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.

Because verse 18 mentions singing explicitly, these verses are undeniably divine revelation about music. The only question that remains is whether these verses are divine revelation about worship music.

Exodus 32:5 shows that what took place in the Golden Calf Incident (GCI) took place on an occasion that was supposed to have been a feast to the Lord, which would have been a divinely ordained occasion of corporate worship (cf. John 12:20). In addition, apostolic citation of Exodus 32:6 in 1 Corinthians 10:7 decisively shows that the GCI was an occasion of worship because it says that they were idolaters on that occasion:

1 Corinthians 10:7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

1 Corinthians 10:7 μηδὲ εἰδωλολάτραι γίνεσθε, καθώς τινες αὐτῶν· ὡς γέγραπται, Ἐκάθισεν ὁ λαὸς φαγεῖν καὶ πιεῖν, καὶ ἀνέστησαν παίζειν.

Furthermore, Paul specifies that their idolatrous worship extended to their eating and drinking what had been offered to the idol and to their subsequent playing. The Greek verb παίζειν that is rendered “to play” in this statement is used in the LXX to signify singing and playing of musical instruments:

1 Chr. 13:8 And David and all Israel played before God with all their might, and with singing, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with cymbals, and with trumpets.

1 Chr. 13:8 καὶ Δαυιδ καὶ πᾶς Ισραηλ παίζοντες ἐναντίον τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν πάσῃ δυνάμει καὶ ἐν ψαλτῳδοῖς καὶ ἐν κινύραις καὶ ἐν νάβλαις ἐν τυμπάνοις καὶ ἐν κυμβάλοις καὶ ἐν σάλπιγξιν

This biblical data justifies holding that the idolatrous worship in the GCI included their singing.

Conclusion

A careful comparison of the accounts of idolatry in Exodus 32 and Numbers 25 teaches us that the Spirit intends for us to understand the verb “play” in 1 Corinthians 10:7 as referring to the people’s idolatrous singing and dancing in the Golden Calf Incident. We must accept that God has forbidden us from engaging in any such idolatrous playing!

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

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Idolatry, Occult Practices, and Divine Judgment

February 7, 2022

Isaiah 19 is striking in what it teaches about the effects of idolatry, occult practices, and divine judgment with a perverse spirit:

Isaiah 19:3 And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.

Isaiah 19:14 The LORD hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit.

This revelation provides us with several important points of instruction.

First, because of God’s judgment on the counsel of the idolatrous Egyptians (cf. Is. 19:1), they resort to idols and to various occult practices (Is. 19:3).

Second, God judges them by mingling a perverse spirit among them (Is. 19:14a). It is unclear whether this means that He employs an actual demon to judge them or that He judges them in some other unstated manner so that they become perverse in their spirits.

Because of their extensive seeking of occult practitioners and their occult practices, understanding “the perverse spirit” that God mingles in their midst as a demon is entirely legitimate. We, however, cannot be completely certain that the verse speaks of the work of an actual demon.

Third, God’s judgment on them through that perverse spirit causes the Egyptians to err in everything that they do (Is. 19:14b). He thus judges them that they become so debilitated and incapacitated that they are not able to do any work properly.

Fourth, the judgment with a perverse spirit causes them to become like a drunken man who staggers in his vomit (Is. 19:14c). Such a person is obviously incapable of doing any work properly and certainly cannot do anything that pleases God.

Application

Clearly, this passage teaches us of the fearful realities of the judgment that God inflicts on some people who are idolatrous and participate in various occult practices. Undoubtedly, God intends that this revelation would serve as a stern warning to us not to have anything to do with idolatry and the occult.

 

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

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