2 Chronicles 29:25
Proof text that God commanded Israel to worship with instrumental music.In 728 B.C. Hezekiah becomes King of Judah. A great wrath or plague had broken out upon the nation of Judah and Jerusalem. So, here is what happened in the minds of our fatal proof-text system:
And he set the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the kings seer, and Nathan the prophet: for so was the commandment of the Lord by his prophets. 2 Chronicles 29:25
End. Period. Here is the logic which drives our brotherhood:
> I have heard from many who read that verse and declare that God commanded instrumental music under the law.
> God did not change his mind and issue a change of the law which says: "Thou shalt not worship with instrumental music."
> Therefore, we have proof-text authority for instrumental music in the Christian assembly.
> And if you resist me you are a Pharisee, hypocrite, legalist and sectarian, and "we need to root you out."
But Whoa! Back up over 400 years for the "authority."
In 1048 B.C. David defeats the Jebusites and Jerusalem becomes the capital of Israel (all Israel). Because of David's census without redeeming the men, a great plague broke out. God gave some options for the king to pay for the king's sins by wishing a plague on his own people.
Gad was not a "prophet of God" but the king's seer. What is a seer.
Chozeh (h2374) kho-zeh'; act. part. of 2372; a beholder in vision; also a compact (as looked upon with approval): - agreement, prophet, see that, seer, stargazer.
What did God command through Gad?
And the Lord spake unto Gad, Davids seer, saying, 1 Chronicles 21:9 [David was not God's religious leader]
Go and tell David, saying, Thus saith the Lord, I offer thee three things: choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee. 1 Chronicles 21:10
So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Choose thee 1 Chronicles 21: 11
Either three years famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the Lord, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel.
Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me. 1 Chronicles 21: 12
Whatever value this has as a proof-text, I don't want to go through the plague just to get to burn animals and make a loud noise with instruments.
Then the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to say to David, that
David should go up, and set up an altar unto the Lord in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite. 1 Chronicles 21: 18
> And David went up at the saying of Gad,
> which he spake in the name of the Lord. 1 Chronicles 21: 19
And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the Lord; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering. 1 Chronicles 21: 26
And the Lord commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof. 1 Chronicles 21: 27
Jerusalem is also a city set on seven hills. It is called "dueling mountains" and identified with Sodom and Egypt.
Jerusalem Becomes the Alternative Shrine for the King
At that time when David saw that the Lord had answered him in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there. 1 Chronicles 21: 28
For the tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of the burnt offering, were at that season in the HIGH PLACE at Gibeon. 1 Chronicles 21: 29
But David could not go before it to enquire of God: for he was afraid because of the sword of the angel of the Lord. 1 Chronicles 21: 30
If you will, Gibeon where God must be sought became like a "garden of Eden" with flaming cherubim which, in David's Mind, radically separated the king and kingdom from God's presence.
Remember that the kings had been permitted to Israel as an alternative ruler so that they could worship like the nations (Eze 28:32) in a national shrine: the temple in Jerusalem. The prophecy was that the kings would lead Israel into captivity and death.
Of Elijah, Sirach notes of Israel:
"who heard rebuke at Sinai and judgments of vengeance at Horeb; Ecclesiasticus 48: 7.
who anointed kings to inflict retribution, and prophets to succeed you. Ecclesiasticus 48: 8.
I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath. Hosea 13:11
Of David's Original Covenant in a spiritual sense:
He placed singers before the altar, to make sweet melody with their voices. Ecclesiasticus 47: 9.
Before he died, David called a National Convention to provide a smooth transistion to Solomon as civil king and with Jerusalem as capital of the nation and the Temple as sole place for sacrifices.
Because the Monarchy kingdom had been changed from a Theocracy to a "like the nations" kingdom as military capital, the nature of the Levites were changed.
David (king), together with the commanders of the army, set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun for the ministry of prophesying, accompanied by harps, lyres and cymbals. Here is the list of the men who performed this service: 1 Chronicles 25:1
True worship under the law was just as it is in the Christian dispensation: the task is to "seek the Lord" or "give attendance to the Word" and meditate on it. In the future animal sacrifices, after the carnage is over then the people "worship" by bowing down or falling on their face. The Levites were not "musicians" but "prophesiers" which meant to afflict self or others. Their service was:
Abodah (h5656) ab-o-daw'; from 5647; work of any kind: - act, bondage, / bondservant, effect, labour, ministering (-try), office, service (-ile, -itude), tillage, use, work, * wrought
Abad (h5647) aw-bad'; a prim. root; to work (in any sense); by impl. to serve, till, (caus.) enslave, etc.: - * be, keep in bondage, be bondmen, bond-service, compel, do, dress, ear, execute, / husbandman, keep, labour (-ing man), bring to pass, (cause to, make to) serve (-ing, self), (be, become) servant (-s), do (use) service, till (-er), transgress [from margin], (set a) work, be wrought, worshipper.
Because of the huge number of animal carcases to be moved and burned, the Levites along with the porters did hard time on the "rock pile" to do what we lust to do as free people under Christ who has removed the burden.
Canaan, Jerusalem, the temple was the only place God permitted this like the nation's government to exist. At the musical idolatry at Mount Sinai, the people were labeled "strangers" to the Tabernacle and the newly-assigned clergy. Even at the time of Christ, the common people never "worshiped" in the temple nor came near when sacrifices were made.
All later Jews understood that the only way you could use Hezekiah as proof text would be to return to Jerusalem, rebuild the temple and restore the priesthood and animal sacrifices.
Now, forward to Hezekiah 328 years later:
2 Chronicles 29:25 has some other verses connected to it.
Therefore, notice the sequence as Hezekiah opened the closed temple and told the priests that the place was so polluted that:
Wherefore the wrath of the Lord was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes. 2 Chron 29:8
Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us. 2 Chronicles 29:10
Hezekiah, like David, made a covenant to turn away the fierce wrath from Jerusalem and its temple specificially so that the outlying people could take sanctuary behind the walls.
Notice that the "people's congregation" is never involved in the temple rituals. After making many sacrifices, the blood was sprinkled on the altar
Then Hezekiah the king rose early, and gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the Lord. 2 Chronicles 29:20
And they brought seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven he goats, for a sin offering
for the kingdom, and
for the sanctuary, and
for Judah.
Take notice that this was for the kingdom, the temple and the little nation of Judah. Israel in the north was not the sanctuary for the nation of Judah and therefore it did not, indeed could not, as a nation be a place for God's presence.
And he commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to offer them on the altar of the Lord. 2 Chronicles 29:21
So they killed the bullocks, and the priests received the blood, and sprinkled it on the altar: likewise, when they had killed the rams, they sprinkled the blood upon the altar: they killed also the lambs, and they sprinkled the blood upon the altar. 2 Chronicles 29:22
The Levites did not participate in the offering of killing or sprinkling of the blood.
Only Judah and Jerusalem were involved in the first part of shedding blood and sprinkling it on the altar.
There were two nations: Judah at Jerusalem and Israel in the north with a temple on Mount Gerezim. David had been king of the whole nation.
Israel was not there because Hezekiah would later invite them to a Passover festival.
Therefore, to try to reconcile Israel to Judah they were now included:
And they brought forth the he goats for the sin offering before the king and the congregation (representatives only); and they laid their hands upon them: 2 Chronicles 29:23
And the priests killed them, and they made reconciliation with their blood upon the altar,
to make an atonement for all Israel:
for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel. 2 Chronicles 29:24
Notice that there is two sets of commands: one for the king and kingdom but another one from Nathan. We will show parallel passages later:
What?: And he set the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps,
Authority: according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the kings seer,
What?: and Nathan the prophet:
Authority: for so was the commandment of the Lord by his prophets. 2 Chronicles 29:25
This is the correct interpretation as proven by the next verse:
So the Levites stood ready with David's instruments,
and the priests with the trumpets. 2 Chronicles 29:26
And Hezekiah (the king) commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar.
(Ordained by God) And when the burnt offering began, the song of the Lord began also with the trumpets,
(Ordained by the King) and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel. 2 Chron 29:27
The whole assembly (only those called)
bowed in worship,
while the singers sang
and the trumpeters played.
All this continued until the sacrifice of the burnt offering was completed. 2 Chr 29:28
Worship in this sense was to bow or fall prostrate on the ground while the animals were being sacrificed.
"All had hitherto been preparatory. Now Hezekiah gave orders that 'the burnt offering--i.e. the daily morning sacrifice should be offered upon the Brazen Alter in front of the porch, thus restoring and reinstituting the regular Temple-service.
A burst of music gave notice to the people of the moment when the old worship recommenced." (Barnes, p. 416).
The "assembly" was not the nation of Israel nor the nation of Judah nor the people of Jerusalem. The assembly was those whom Hezekiah had gathered to go to the temple which, to this point, was not a place of Jewish worship but of pagan worship. In addition to the priests and Levites,
When the offerings were finished, the king and everyone present with him knelt down and worshiped. 2 Chr 29:29
Worship is "seeking God" but animal sacrifices are seeking forgiveness for sins paid for by the sinners own sacrifice.
Worship was not possible until sins had been paid for with the blood of animals. Then the burning of animals began with a loud noise. Only then would God accept the worship of the king, priests, Levites and rulers of the city.
Remember that the Levites were under the king and the commanders of the army or officials. The Lord did not commanded GAD to institute the playing of various instruments. Therefore,
King Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to praise the LORD with the words of David and of Asaph the seer.
So they sang praises with gladness
and (they) bowed their heads and worshiped. 2 Chr 29:30
Only when the regular Temple service was established would it be proper for people to approach with the confidence that they would not be destroyed and their service would be accepted.
"Since the Scripture expressly states that the musical instruments sounded 'until the burnt-offering was finished'
the congregational praise which followed must have been a Capella." (Notes on The Biblical Doctrine of Worship, Presbyterian Church of N.A.).
Finally, the nation and "buildings and grounds" have been purified to make the restoration of regular sacrifices possible.
Then Hezekiah answered and said,
Now ye have consecrated yourselves unto the Lord,
come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of the Lord.
And the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank offerings; and as many as were of a free heart, burnt offerings. 2 Chron 29:31
Edersheim notes that when the instruments began for the nation, the people were put outside the gates or outside the camp. After the state sacrifices were complete individuals could make offerings but there was no music involved.
Remember that the burning with music seems connected to Israel. We know that Judah and Israel were separate nations and the "congregation" was the civil rulers and clergy:
AND Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto the Lord God of Israel. 1 Chronicles 30:1
For if ye turn again unto the Lord, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him. 2 Chron 30:9
So the posts passed from city to city, through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh even unto Zebulun: but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked them. 2 Chr.30:10
Other Parallels
The Syriac Version of Hezekiah's Wrath Stopping Sacrifice
Hezekiah appointed the Levites in the house of the Lord,
with instruments of music, and the sound of harps,
and with the hymns of David, and hymns of Gad, the King's prophet;
for David sang the praise of the Lord his God, as from the mouth of the prophets" (Syriac Version).
This agrees with the Temple-Dedication ritual. The First Temple was completed in 957 BC. There were other sanctuaries which continued until Josiah (reigned c. 640-609 BC) abolished them and established Jesuralem as the only place in Judah where sacrifices could be made. The court yard was very large, the porch; the Holy Place (hekhal) as the mail room of religious service; and the Holy of Holies (devir) where the Ark rested.
Hezekiah looked all of the way back to David's "plague stopping" ceremony which did not use instruments. David's plan for the Temple connected to the Civil state did not use instruments until Solomon's (king) dedication.
NOW when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the house. 2 Chron 7:1
And the priests could not enter into the house of the Lord, because the glory (heaviness) of the Lord had filled the Lords house. 2 Chron 7:2
This did not matter because God's promise was to listen to the prayers from OUTSIDE the temple and answer from HEAVEN. The worship was bowing down and not listening to "music."
And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever. 2 Chron 7:3
Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord. 2 Chron 7:4
The Levitical musicians were under the KING and the COMMANDERS of the Army. The temple was the shrine of the Temple-State which God allowed when the elders "fired" Him and demanded a king "like the nations" so that they could "worship like the nations."
And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty and two thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep:
1. so the king and all the people (clergy and officials only) dedicated the house of God. 2 Chronicles 7:5
2. And the priests waited on their offices: (Religious)
1A. the Levites also with instruments of musick of the Lord, which David the king had made to praise the Lord, because his mercy endureth forever,
when David praised by their ministry;
2A. and the priests sounded trumpets before them, and all Israel stood (only those called to be present or stand fast). 2 Chronicles 7:6
The LIV: The priests were standing at their posts of duty,
and the Levites were playing their thanksgiving song, "His Loving-Kindness Is Forever," using the musical instruments King David himself had made and had used to praise the Lord.
Then, when the priests blew the trumpets, all the people stood again. 2 Chron 7:6LIV
It is clear that the court where sacrifices were made with a loud noise in service of the priests was a type of the World where Jesus was sacrificed with musical mocking "outside the city" or outside the gates.
The Holy Place was a type of the body or church of Christ: the bread of remembrance, the seven LIGHTS (seven Spirits of God) and the incense altar looking into the Most Holy Place. This is replaced by individual prayers. Jesus built an ekklesia or synagogue or school of Christ which became the church.
NO SINGER OR MUSICIAN COULD EVER ENTER INTO THE TYPE OF THE CHURCH-Not even in the most vile pagan temple.
Worship now occurs in the NEW PLACE which is the human spirit as it GIVES HEED to the Words of Christ. This is the only clear worship word Paul used. No singers or musicians could evern enter.
Moreover Solomon hallowed the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord: for there he offered burnt offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the brasen altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt offerings, and the meat offerings, and the fat. 2 Chronicles 7:7
Then Solomon offered burnt offerings unto the Lord on the altar of the Lord, which he had built before the porch, 2 Chronicles 8:12
The commandment of God: Even after a certain rate every day, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts, three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles. 2 Chronicles 8: 13
Note NOT in the Holy Place or the Most Holy Place
The Syriac Version
God: Then Solomon offered burnt offerings unto the Lord on the altar of the Lord, which he had built before the porch, 2 Chronicles 8:12
Even after a certain rate every day, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts, three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles. 2 Chronicles 8:13
Note: first day and seventh day were sabbaths with animal sacrifices between.
No command of God is ever called the COMMAND of a man. Therefore, it is easy to get mixed up when there are several parallel statements:
David: And he appointed, according to the order of David his father,
the courses of the priests to their service,
and the Levites to their charges,
to praise and minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required: the porters also by their courses at every gate:
for so had David the man of God commanded. 2 Chronicles 8:14
The Levites "charges" is the Hebrew is NOT
Mishmeret (h4931) mish-meh'-reth; fem. of 4929; watch, i. e. the act (custody) or (concr.) the sentry, the post; obj. preservation, or (concr.) safe; fig. observance, i. e. (abstr.) duty, or (obj.) a usage or party: - charge, keep, to be kept, office, ordinance, safeguard, ward, watch.
Mishmar (h4929) mish-mawr'; from 8104; a guard (the man, the post, or the prison); fig. a deposit; also (as observed) a usage (abstr.), or an example (concr.): - diligence, guard, office, prison, ward, watch.
Shamar (h8104) shaw-mar'; a prim. root; prop. to hedge about (as with thorns), i. e. guard; gen. to protect, attend to, etc.: - beware, be circumspect, take heed (to self), keep (-er, self), mark, look narrowly, observe, preserve, regard, reserve, save (self), sure, (that lay) wait (for), watch (-man).
David was the king and the Levites were under the commanders of the army. Therefore, what David commanded was for the civil or temple-state over which he was king. David was not the "worship minister."
In fact, the Levitical "musicians" were slave drivers over the building of the temple.
There are no Levites in the church. Jews who consider themselve of the Tribe of Levi DO NOT consider themselves priests. Without the temple the notion would be meaningless.
When the Jews returned the Temple was rebuilt and compled in 515 BC. From Solomon's dedication to the return was over 390 years. Until the dedication of the Second Temple was 442 years.
After the return from Captivity Nehemiah had to look all the way back to David and Asaph for an example of purifying the temple.
And at that time were some appointed over the chambers for the treasures, for the offerings, for the firstfruits, and for the tithes, to gather into them out of the fields of the cities the portions of the law for the priests and Levites: for Judah rejoiced for the priests and for the Levites that waited. Nehemiah 12:44
And both the singers and the porters
kept the ward (sentry) of their God,
and the ward of the purification,
according to the commandment of David, and of Solomon his son. Nehemiah 12:45
For in the days of David and Asaph of old there were chief of the singers,
and songs of praise and thanksgiving unto God. Nehemiah 12:46
The non-Levitical Israelites were STRANGERS after the musical idolatry at Mount Sinai. They were excluded from the temple and the LOUD NOISES was their signal to "be gone" or "bow or fall on their face." They were outside the temple gates.
The "commoners" congregation gathered in ASSEMBLY (Quahal or synagogue) and loud instruments and "making a joyful noise before the Lord" was outlawed. Why? Why, because the "church" is for GIVING HEED to God and His word and not "making noise."
But, So What?
Even if you could prove that God commanded Gad to command David to use instrumental music for animal sacrifices, it would not be "congregational singing with instrumental accompaniment." "Music" is not an operative worship word in the Bible and the "congregation" of the people (non-civil or non-clergy) never worshiped with instrumental music.
It would only be to try to keep the rubbish, idols and idoalters out of the Temple in Jerusalem which was the king's alternative place for animal sacrifices "because David was too fearful of the angel's swords to ever return to Gibeon to seek God." Seeking God through prayer and study was always the only meaning of worship as a spiritual part of "falling on your face."
To use Hezekiah to justify "Christian music" would be to give total support to animal sacrifices. At best, you would have chased the evil influences from your physical "church house."
When it was all over, you would discover that even then the Levites sang as David intended them to do before the Temple was established under king and commanders of the army. This is defined as a cappella, but your worship would still be "outside the gates" where you were placed when the loud instruments signalled the burning animal sacrifices.