Musical Worship Teams Overseers of the Flock Kenneth L. Sublett
Musical worship teams may be a revival of ancient pagan choirs, orchestras and drama teams. Rubel Shelly, in Faith Matters, has given women of a searching sector of churches of Christ the permission to be ministers, perform solo singing (preaching with a tune), reading Scripture, testifying in plenary (full and unstricted) assembly.The following topics are growing "files" of research data on many aspects of ancient attempts to attract, appease or overcome the fertility gods with singing and musical instruments. The earliest writings honor those--usually women--who could get a message from the netherworld by uising an old wineskin. More organized fertility rituals involved musical ecstasy with sexual intercourse to guarantee crops, animals and children.
Men who understood resonance from a hollow object or the "godly" ring of a stretched string were honored as gods. Women, especially among the Hittite "old women," told "old wives tales" and were worshipped like Fanny Crosby for the magical incantations written and "worked" during her life. Song writers, singers and even men who can replace the "old wineskin" (Hebrew owb) with the hollow place or chasm of their own chest are still honored in this modern "idolatry of talent."
The intelligent people did not "play the game" and understood that the musical prophesier used ventriloquism echoed from within an old wineskin or a hole in the ground. In time, the musical worship team of the fertility ritual crying "Ab, Ab" or "Lord, Lord" or "praise, praise" was turned into children's games. This is where Jesus came in to relieve the "burden" imposed by the doctors of the law and the Levitical worship team. This burden was "mental anxiety from religious ritual" and the result was "taking away the key to knowledge" (Lk 11:52).
By making this "the age of the Holy Spirit," Christ is denied His role as full Deity (Col 2:9) and the children's games of trying to "triumph over" the other children of the congregation is revived. Students of myth, such as Joseph Campbell, recognize this as an end-of-the-age breaking away to archaic forms of attempts to find the lost gods. Real or pretend "drug images" have a powerful, musterious power.
Musical worship teams were used in the first temple-states to pacify the "subjects" to so that they would be more productive. Their product was then sold by the clergy (god-kings) to support their habits. The workers (those who paid the bill) were sent to their mud huts with a subsistence level of food and clothing. Those without talent or good looks were doomed to serve the clergy-rulers. This continues as many churches abandon "outreach" and turn to "inreach" or self worship as it consumes all of the people's resources on building a more exciting temple-state than the one across the street.
All emphasized text is this researcher's.
Each linked heading will take you to a section on our subject. These headings will be the "file folder" for additional data as it is researched and made available. Do not read this as an "about me" book or as a story.
Click on UP at the end of each heading to return here: Musical Worship Teams and Ancient Commercial Prostitution
Musical Pomp of Lucifer to Triumph Over
Instrumental Rejoicing and Prophesying Women
Instrumental Music Forbidden For Rejoicing
Musical Worship Teams Added by David for the Future Temple
Musical Worship Teams Replace the Word
Musical Worship Teams Put Down and Restored
The Nature of First Century Jewish Practices
Worship Teams For My Own Pleasure
Ancient Musical Worship Teams were the Overseers
Women and Children Ruled when Men Failed
Jesus Came to Take the Musical Worship Teams Off our Backs
Why Women Worship Leaders Were Silenced in Corinth
The Arian Teams Changing the Law
Malchion against Paul of Samosata
Musical Worship Teams are Musical Shepherds
Musical Worship Teams are the True Overseers
Musical Worship Teams are Preachers
Introduction and Definition UP
Instrumental music has a long, dark and abrasive link to ancient superstitious natual religions:
First, it was commonly believed that it was the magical "music of the heavenly spheres." Therefore, it had supernatural power over the heavenly population. This god-control was done vocally until singing was aided by musical instruments. It was believed that the gods lived in the instrument. Therefore, harps and flutes spoke for the bull gods. Trumpets with their copper-red throats hissed out the sounds of the serpent gods. Habbakuk warns against tring to get the idols to speak for them and Paul warns against lifeless or carnal instruments.
Second, people have always believed that the feeling produced by music made them ethically and morally improved. Scholars doubt it. However, if it can appease the often-angry gods then it must surely help confuse the enemy, which, according to Pogo may be "us."
Third, those bent on exploiting people have always known--ask any Rock musician--that music can create drugs in the mind to control the paying masses. The low notes can nail you to the seat of the pew while the high feminine or effeminate sounds can frazzle your nerves and make you want to run for your life even if it does, for the second, scratch some deep-seated, feel-good-but-painful itch. In the ancient world the team thought that they were being worshiped but the sentiment was often resentment over being manipulated.
Call it "get em back alive Sunday night, dead or alive." One "pastor" quipped that it would be easier to slip LSD into the communion juice than to organize all of those self-help programs and sensitive musical teams!
It seems that Scripture opens up when we "turn to the Lord" without trying to find that just-right, smooth stone to sling at the enemy. If this article seems spring - loaded against musical manipulation it is because the evidence--never found by the "gopher-wood-gurus"-- cries out against any form of mind altering in the name of worship. This can be done with or without instruments, with or without a tune.
Thoughtful observers have always known that opening up the worship service to "the idolatry of talent" opens the gate wide to sophisticated but destructive "show and tell." The Catholic Encyclopedia notes that after instrumental performance made an important move in the fifteenth century it was not until the invention of new instruments and the notion of harmony in the sixteenth century that the teaching role of singing (chanting) was drowned in what the Old Testament prophets called "noise" and Albert Barnes called "soulless versifying."
"The present trend is, however, decidedly away from the instrumental idea and back to the purely vocal style. And it is recognized, and in many places acted upon, that the new version of the liturgical chant, proposed to the Catholic world by Pius X, gains its full beauty and effectiveness only when sung without instrumental accompaniment of any kind." Catholic Encyclopedia
But, we are quick to note, that as long as our "music" is purely vocal then we are still "legal" and it doesn't matter much about the content. However, complex harmony in worship rituals was a deliberate attempt to do an "end run" around the law. Quartets or even larger groups sound so good because of complex harmony. For instance, four voices can sound like sixteen. Making this into an act of worship is based on the belief, perhaps, that melody means harmony. Harmonic singing, in fact, was called organum or "after the organ." When this goes too far it destroys Pauls' goal.
"In spite of the early objection to the playing of musical instruments in church the organ became widely accepted in western Europe once it had been imported from the east... It is possible that this composite sound encouraged singers to imitate it: in any case octaves would result from the combined singing of boys and men. Support is given to this view by the fact that the combined singing, suitable for voices of high, low and medium range, was popularly known as organum... The earliest surviving written examples of such duplication of plainsong melody in parallel lines occur in a theoretical tretise of the late 9th or early 10th century. (Brittanica, Music, p. 1067)
Melody does not mean harmony and is not related to it. The pipe and reed organ came first. This taught composers that they could imitate the pipe organ with many human voices. However, modern melody speaks more of "unison and unity." Indeed, the context of Paul's message to Ephesus, Rome and Corinth is that unity is necessary and is improved by collective singing. Melody means--
"The organization of successive musical sounds in respect of pitch... without the aid of harmony which removes it into another category.
"Melody as 'tunefulness' belongs to the 19th century and depends on symmetries of harmony and rhythm which seldom occurs in music written before the 16th century... By the beginning of the 20th century a melody was considered to be the surface line in a series of harmonies. Harmonic rationality and symmetrical rhythm thus combined to produce a tuneful melody that helped to generate the sonata form." (Brittanica, Melody) (A sonata is: "a major work, a symphony or concert music."
Nothing is more to be pitied than the growing belief that the clergy must lead or perform the worship for the watching and applauding audience. This leads to a total destruction of the body as a one another teaching ministry. Therefore, it might be helpful to look at the words for musical worship team:
First: Musical means ""for the creation, production, or performance of music. Theatrical or film production, often elaborately costumed and staged, with dialog developing the story line and an integrated musical score." Translate: "entertainment." Or overseeing the flock
"It may not be amiss to remind the student that the musical structure today called psalmody was certainly not the original practice of psalm-rendering. For it presupposes a strictly systematized rendition, whereby each verse is sung, or recited, according to a rigid formula.
Yet the very diversified headings of the psalms seem to preclude a uniform psalmody and with it the assumption that the chant of primitive Christiniaty was a direct heritage of the temple.
"Nonetheless, there are indications of 'stage directions' in the text of psalms, which reflects their practice of performance in the Second Temple." (Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, p. 460, Abingdon). (To which temple the Shekinah of God never returned.)
Second: "Worship or reverence for a Deity." God is worshipped in the "voice of a whispered silence" according to Karen Armstrong in A History of God. He is in His Holy Temple--me--and I don't need you to speak or sing while I am trying to listen to Christ in His Holy Temple.
Three: The word team is totally consistent with the oppressive nature of loud music. A team is "a pair of draft animals." It is associated with a "bridle" or a yoke "It is a brood of young animals, especially ducks of pigs. A group of people constituting one side in a contest or competition." (Webster) Antiphonal singing was denounced because it developed into competition between groups--even to the point of murderous internecine warfare which is a hallmark of all revivalism. Levitical oversight teams have been called "menial worshipers."
We will see later that a primary mission of Jesus--the whole purpose of Christianity--was to eliminate Sabbaths or rituals which believers must serve. The burden laden upon the back by the ancient and modern rabbi or "Doctor of the Law" was:
Phortizo (g5412) for-tid'-zo; to load up (as a vessel or animal), figurative: to overburden with ceremony or spiritual anxiety: - lade, be heavy laden.
During war, the religious musicians were like the Scottish Bagpipers. They could create enough instrumental music to panic the enemy. Doesn't the hair stand up on the back of your neck when you hear them? Of course, the Bible treats this as just noise when used to extort money or service out of people in a religious sense. No warrior would go into the valley of death without being tranquilized with the instrumental music drug. And, unfortunately, a lot of those big efforts to, like Nimrod, corral everyone in one big "pin" often resort to musical entertainment to pay the bills.
Even those who have always defended music note the creeping nature of conforming to the new age rather than the Bible. This is especially powerful in the Laughing Revival Music Imparts Spirit. These writers note the use of "Rap" in the Promise Keepers movement.
Babylonian Worship Teams UP
The very name "Serpent" is directly connected to brass musical instruments which had the magical power to "hiss" and arouse or appease the serpent gods. Moses, at God's direction, wrote up to 2000 years after the Babylonian musical worship teams were the accusers and overseers of the Babylonian people. His God-given goal was to turn Israel away from the same form of worship they had practiced in Egypt to the worship of Yahweh Who revealed Himself in righteousness and justice. He could not be awakened by arousal psalms. Under another heading we will look into this further.
In ancient pagan temple states, the musical worship team was part of the religious-commercial complex. In Babylonia, they were part of a state worship team made up of priests, soothsayers and musicians. The prophets identified Tyre as the harp-playing prostitute. These all had roles to play in creating endorphins (meaning "morphine-like" or within) in the slave class to force them to create more religious and secular merchandise. The reward for the "laiety" was the feeling that they had met the gods "face to face." And, again, as Pogo would say, "He is us."
"All early civilizations saw their ideal music as an image (idol) of cosmic order and its practice in temple ritual and court ceremonial as a means of helping to maintain or reflect universal harmony. From such a philosophy stem the age-old concepts of the efficacy of numerical proportions in musical sound; the ethos (magical effect) of particular modes; the music of the spheres; and the musical foundation of the state. Such ideas steadfastly maintained throughout the ages, made for very conservative traditions of music whose fundamental patterns changed little over long periods of time." (Britannica, Music, p. 1091)
Musical worship groups seem to have unnatural power over the minds of lower class or immature people. For this reason, it was an early belief of the Babylonians that sensual (read sexual) enjoyment from women singers (and men singers for the priestly classes and others) had magical power. In the end, of course, anything directed to the human emotion and bypassing the rational (spirit) is really idolatry which is always self worship. In defining Christian singing as "filling up with the Word or spirit and then speaking that truth to one another to teach and warn" Paul understood that:
"According to the system which Nimrod was the grand instrument in introducing, men were led to believe that a real spiritual change of heart was unnecessary, and that so far as change was needful, they could be regenerated by mere external means. Looking at the subject in the light of the Bacchanalian orgies (Read Ephesus and Corinth), which, as the reader has seen, commemorated the history of Nimrod, it is evident that he led mankind to seek their chief good in sensual enjoyment, and showed them how they might enjoy the pleasures of sin, without any fear of the wrath of a holy God.
In his various expeditions he was always accompanied by troops of women; and by music and song, and games (ritual drama) and revelries, and everything that could please the natural hearts, he commended himself to the good graces of mankind." (Hislop, Alexander, The Two Babylons, p. 55, Loizeaux Brothers)
Parkes notes that most groups normally do not excede about 150 (the Mormans understand that) and there is normally no professional leadership. However, often during a crisis, someone often emotionally or sexually abnormal might chant a song during a dry spell. Sure enough, it rains the the non-productive member becomes a prophet. It isn't too long before he turns from servant to master. "If you want your pigs to be born alive you had better pay me."
"in Primitave religion any violent or abnormal emotional state was attributed to the gods and regarded as mystical. Both in the Bible and in Homer there are examples of misleading and catastrophic inspiritation. When Jehovah wished King Ahab to be killed in battle, he put a 'lying spirit' in the mouths of his prophets in order that they might encourage the king to go to war (I Kings, xxii, 22)." (Parkes, Henry Bamford, Gods and Men, p. 33)
It is common for performers who worship or lead for the congregation to believe that God has given them some talent. If He did not want it used in church then why did He give it to me? The implication, inherent in a common Hebrew word for "praise." that my self-boast, even if it seems unnatural, has more power than that of the "audience."
"The flash of insight that enabled an individual to achieve an original act of creation, whether in art or in technology, was always mysterious, and for early mankind it could be due only to the intervention of a god. Long after the advent of civilization, in fact, poets continued to believe that they wrote from divine dictation; inventors attributed their discoveries to divine aid." (Parkes, p. 34).
"What primative men... wanted from the gods was health and strength, riches and long life, and they hoped to attain these things chiefly by ritual and sacrifice rather than by good conduct. The methods of early religion always remained largely magical, and its motivations thoroughly materialistic." (Parkes, p. 36).
In time, these abnormal men and women found that they could build a pyramidal marketing plan. If he hired ten more "gifted" people they could expand the "ministry" and he could get a "cut of the take." Then, if he is going to contact the gods for you to keep them from harming you, it is important to build a temple-state. All surplus energy is devoted to the "institution" and if you got a spare moment he could, because he was idle, plan a new "program" to make the "involvement minister" look good. This "anxiety from religious ritual" is the burden these professionals placed on your back. The highest goal of Jesus was to "get them off your back" by removing the "middle man" so that you could contact the God yourself without getting zapped.
"Conquering tribes of herdsmen established themselves as ruling aristocracies and then decayed, each of them in turn bringing new languages and new religious beliefs; urban merchants and money-lenders devised methods of exploiting the food-producers and tried to impose their own rationalistic modes of thinking."
"Prior to the spread of the commercial and industrial revolutions there was no essential change in agricultural techniques; and although the original neolithic fertility rituals, cleansed of their more barbaric elements and adapted to the worship of new gods, gradually faded into popular festivals and folk tales and finally into children's games, the beliefs associated with them retained much of their vitality." (Parkes, Henry Bamford, Gods and Men The Origins of Western Culture, p. 49, Knopf)
When Jesus came the Jews were practicing ancient fertility rites in rituals such as the Feast of Tabernacles. He refused to dance to their tune and called them "musical children just playing games." These were the fertility rituals of wedding and funeral to be seen each Sunday in thousands of churches where revival and the sexual element are combined.
Musical Worship Teams and Ancient Commercial Prostitution UP
Isaiah said that Satan worked through the king of Babylon as his agent. However successful the Babylonians and Tyrians were at using music for commercial purposes, Isaiah warned:
Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm (maggots) is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. Is 14:11
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! Is 14:12
The word "Lucifer" is derived from the Hebrew halal a common word for praise often with instruments. The viol is from an old water or wine skin.
Musical harmony as we know it was derived from the pipe organ and was called organum singing. Because instrumental music as worship was rejected, the church, especially among the celibate monks, developed choirs with harmonic music performed by young boys who looked, dressed and sang like women.
"From the very beginning, even during its Jewish phase, monasticism cultivated choral singing as an integral part of its observance. A later historographer of the church, Eusebius, was aware of the musical predilections of the old ascetic sects in Judaism. In fact, he excerpted Philo's description of the ritual of the Alexandrian Therapeutes, which he likened to the Christian practices of his own time (4 centuries later): 'The men and women rise, each group forming a choir, and sing thanksgiving hymns to God the Redeemer' (Hist. II.17). (Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, p. 460, Abingdon).
Instrumental playing violated the Sabbath. (Always did). These were monastic Jews who usually studied all day and frolicked all night. Early church groups were a product of strong monastic (meaning celibate?) influenct:
"Philo of Alexandria had already emphasized the ethical qualities of music, spurning the 'effeminate' art of his Gentile surroundings. Similarly, early synagogue song intentionally foregoes artistic perfection, renounces the playing of instruments, and attaches itself entirely to 'the word'--the TEXT of the Bible" (Encyclopaedia Judaica, 1971 ed., "Music")
For a good look at The Male Actor and Gender-Bending just Click.
Did Women Sing in the Thesmophoriazusae?
When we understand the practices of the Egyptian sectarian Jews we are not tempted to imitate them.
"The majority of Christian monks in Egypt and Palestine championed organized choral chant, often in the face of a sternly opposed authority. When all historical circumstances are taken into account, there can be no doubt that the tremendious expansion and refinement of Christian chant before Pope Gregory was due to the intensive and continuous musical activities of the monks... Soon after his (Augustine's) death, the regional- ethnic forces of Gentile Christianity caused the split in the liturgico-musical development of the Eastern and Western churches." (Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, p. 460, Abingdon).
It was clear that the musical practices in Egypt, like the play at Mount Sinai, was derived from pagan sources. These practices have strong roots in the beginning and ending system of musical worship practices which began in Babylon and will end in spiritual "Babylon" not necessarily in Rome:
"Herodotus mentions that when in Egypt, he was astonished to hear the very same mournful but ravishing 'Song of Linus, sung by the Egyptians (although under another name)... Linus was the same god as the Bacchus of Greece, or Osiris of Egypt; for Homer introduces a boy singing the song of Linus, while the vintage (new wine festival) is going on, and the Scholiast says that this song was sung in memory of Linus, who was torn in pieces by dogs... In some places in Egypt, for the song of Linus or Osiris, a peculiar melody seems to have been used. Savary says that, in the temple of Abydos, 'the priest repeated the seven vowels in the form of hymns, and that musicians were forbid to enter it.'
We will see later that Josephus (and Ezekiel) note that the Levites had no authority to dress in priestly (or choral) garb and enter where God met the priests. Similar to the Ishtar-Tammuz worship at the Jerusalem Temple, condemned by Ezekiel, the worship came from Babylon:
"Now the name of Linus or Osiris, as the 'husband of his mother,' in Egypt, was Kamut. "When Gregory the great introduced into the church of Rome what are not called the Gregorian Chants, he got them from the Chaldean mysteries, which had long been established in Rome; for the Roman Catholic priest, Eustace, admits that these chants were largely composed of 'Lydian and Phrygian tunes.' Lydia and Phrygia being among the chief seats in later times of those mysteries of which the Egyptian mysteries were only a branch. Thes tunes were sacred--the music of the great god, and in introducing them Gregory introduced the music of Kamut. And thus, to all appearance, has it come to pass, that the name of Osiris or Kamut, 'the husband of the mother,' is in every day use among ourselves as the name of the musical scale; for what is the melody of Osiris, consisting of the 'seven vowels' formed into a hymn, but--the Gamut?" (Hislop, Alexander, The Two Babylons, p. 22, Loizeaux Brothers.)
This, along with much more, informs us of the worship of Apis at Mount Sinai where the Israelites, who "broke down the walls" and permitted a "mixed multitude" to contaminate the "congregation," rose up to play. This is defined as singing, dancing and playing musical instruments with often--remember David--caused people to strip off their clothes (or mind) and worse.
This form of singing, to which Christian women were later admitted, was a clergy function. The method imitated the pipe organ by musical worship teams without bringing in the literal organ. The method was used because it was found to be commercially valuable in bringing in the mixed crowd (often for the big show).
The noise of the king of Tyre and Babylon as Satan's change agents is related to the multitudes gathered together to make music. It is from:
Hamah (h1993) haw-maw'; to make a loud sound (like Engl. "hum"); by impl. to be in great commotion or tumult, to rage (see Halal or praise), war, moan, clamor, cry aloud, be disquieted, loud, mourn..
The king of Tyre was also the change agent of Satan:
At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, the span of a king's life. But at the end of these seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute: Is.23:15NIV
Take up a harp, walk through the city, O prostitute forgotten; play the harp well, sing many a song, so that you will be remembered." Is 23:16
The king of Tyre got most of his traffic (attendance) by overpowering or appeasing the customer. He came "equipped with musical instruments" and female musicians. He, himself, is called "effeminate" because he "doted on these things." His female or effeminate musicians and singers were his designated overseers. They had the power to appease the customers so that they were sold damaged goods. If he couldn't slick you out of your money with his musical females, he calmed you down with his teams so that you could be murdered. The story of Wen Amon is a perfect story to prove this. The team leader or prince calms you down and pats you on the back while finding "a soft spot to stick the dagger." "Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow you die." Of Wen Amu
"He went and told it to the prince. The prince began to weep at the evil words which they spoke to him. He sent out his letter-scribe to me and brought me two jars of wine and a ram. He sent to me, Tento, an Egyptian singer (feminine), who was with him, saying: 'Sing for him; let not his heart feel apprehension.' He sent to me, saying: 'Eat, drink, and let not they heart feel apprehension. Thou shalt hear all that I have to say unto thee in the morning." (Barton, George A., Archaeology and the Bible, p. 452)
As we approach what many think will be the final Jubilee we should be aware that the end-time churches of all forms will return to the religion of the great harlot, Babylon, where the musical worship overseers originally began. Whatever they used for building their false system would go with them into the grave:
And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all. Re 18:14
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 (In Hebrew 'grinder' is a synonym for harlot, "that being her trade.") shall be heard no more at all in thee; Re 18:22
Pomp of Lucifer means to triumph over UP
The pomp of Lucifer was a boasting (halal) praise. It involved "standing over" you or "overseeing" you. He "mounted up" to the high places prepared to be seen. He (often a she) puffed out the breast, was ornamented, swelled up and just blew hot air from an old billy goat skin:
Gaown (h1347) gaw-ohn'; from 1342; the same as 1346: - arrogancy, excellency (-lent), majesty, pomp, pride, proud, swelling.
Gaah (h1342) gaw-aw'; a prim. root; to mount up; hence in gen. to rise, (fig.) be majestic: - gloriously, grow up, increase, be risen, triumph.
Gaavah (h1346) gah-av-aw'; from 1342; arrogance or majesty; by impl. (concr.) ornament: - excellency, haughtiness, highness, pride, proudly, swelling.
This was outlawed by God but He was always put in the background by loud rejoicing forms of worship.
But when the congregation is to be gathered together, ye shall blow, but ye shall not sound an alarm. Nu 10:7
Ruwa (h7321) roo-ah'; a prim. root; to mar (espec. by breaking); fig. to split the ears with sound, i. e. shout (for alarm or joy): - blow an alarm, cry (alarm, aloud, out), destroy, make a joyful noise, smart, shout for joy, sound an alarm, triumph.
This was acceptable at the Jubilee because Jubilee was not an assembly called for instruction. When Israel was called into assembly for instruction it was illegial and destructive to have the musical children tooting their little horns (literally and figuratively). Judas, whose bag was for "carrying the mouthpieces of wind instruments," as Satan's agent, tried to defeat Jesus, perhaps by panicking Him into premature action, but he would not triumph over Him:
By this I know that thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me. Ps.41:11
Triumph over in Greek is:
Thriambeuo (h2358) three-am-byoo'-o; from a prol. comp. of the base of 2360 and a der. of 680 (mean. a noisy iambus, sung in honor of Bacchus); to make an acclamatory procession, i.e. (fig.) to conquer or (by Hebr.) to give victory: - cause to triumph over.
Because of conquering Greeks and Romans, Bacchus was worshiped right in the old temple. His were the fertility rituals at the perverted Feast of Tabernacle as the "walls" were let down and everyone was allowed in. They were literally practicing a "new wine" gospel.
Bacchus or Dionysius was the "god of wine" which Paul warned against in Ephesians 5 when he demanded that the people fill up with spirit or mind from the Word. Their mode would not be the noisey chorus but a one-another teaching ministry. Bacchus is the father of all new wine in new wine skin religions.
The Jewish clergy, defined by Jesus as musical - dramatic children, tried to get Jesus to lament:
And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented. Mt.11:17
Jesus and John refused to wail or dance in the chorus or circular dance.
Those who were tortured on a musical instrument frame in Greek were profaned or polluted in Hebrew. A word related to the flute, prostitute, stealing one's property or polluting someone is;
- Chalal (h2490) khaw-lal'; to bore, i. e. by implication: to wound, to dissolve; figurative: to profane (a person, place or thing), to break one's word, to begin as if by an "opening wedge"; (from 2485) ;
- 1. to play (the flute): - defile,
- 2. eat (as common things), gather the grape thereof,
- 3. take inheritance,
- 4. pipe, player on instruments,
- 5. pollute, (cast as) profane self,
- 6. prostitute, slay (slain), sorrow, stain, wound.
This is derived from a word meaning "to be rubbed or worn, to grieve, make sick, to stroke in flattering." It is connected to the whirling or circular dance which imitated the writhing of a woman giving birth, or the planets around the Sun. This word also means "to pervert" or "to consume your branches." This is similar to melody which was related to pruning to gather the grapes to take your inheritance. It is also similar to external Greek melody which means to rub to bits or to abrade. The people "polluted" Adonijah by triumphing over him:
And all the people came up after him, and the people piped (2490) with pipes (2485), and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them. 1K.1:40
And Adonijah and all the guests that were with him heard it as they had made an end of eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, Wherefore is this noise of the city being in an uproar? 1Ki 1:41
Except for Bathsheba (remember her?) the next king should have been Adonijah. When David died, Adonijah was pronounced king. However, Solomon was chosen by another group and the musical celebration was proof that Adonijah was being rejected as king. Solomon then had Adonijah murdered because he was a threat--perhaps to his inclusion of pagan worship. This began by adding thousands of instruments and men and women singers who were "concubines" or "musical instruments." In Ecc 2:8. These "musical instruments" or "men and women singers" meant:
Shadad or "to be burly, to ravage, to destroy, to oppress, to rob, to spoil, to utterly lay waste."
The musical worship teams were deliberately chosen to oversee or exercise domion over the wisdom of the elders. They were agents of the ruling class (often self-appointed) and their task was that of violence--weapons and musical instruments are defined by the same Greek and Hebrew word. Paul would not use "carnal weapons or instrument." He choose the revealed Words of Christ.
In the temple state punishment would be with whips and then by scorpions. The musical males took over the female roles and became Solomon's "overseers" with force. However, Zechariah prophesied of Messiah and showed that failure came when the senior males were replaced with "young lions" who oversaw with musical instruments and appeased the flock (meant for slaughter) so well that the shepherds were retired to the sidelines. He wrote:
OPEN thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars. Zec 11:1
Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest (thicket) of the vintage (pruning the grape vines) is come down. Zec 11:2
There is a voice of the howling (boisterous, wailing tone; just whistling in the cemetary) of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a voice of the roaring of young lions (the young lions cover, condone, or appease the city); for the pride (arrogance, proud swelling) of Jordan is spoiled. 11:3
Thus saith the Lord my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter; Zec 11:4
Their buyers (procurers) slaughter (smite with deadly intent) them and go unpunished. Those who sell (give in marriage or slavery) say, 'Praise the LORD, I am rich!' Their own shepherds do not spare them. Zec 11:5
Lord yes. You can buy and sell the "flock" and make more money than anyone else in the "corral."
The fir trees which do the howling when the "cedar" falls has always been music as a way to prop up failing institutions. The fir is:
Berowsh (h1265) ber-osh'; a cypress (pine) tree; hence a lance or a musical instrument (as made of that wood): - fir (tree). (Instruments and weapons are defined by the same word). (Eze 32 the tree is Assyria who was in the garden of Eden)
And David and all the house of Israel were making merry before the LORD with all their might, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals. 2Sam 6:5
David and team were repeating the play which brought destruction to Israel at Mount Sinai. He was separating the Ark of the Covenant from the portable tent God selected. He would move the ark into his own tabernacle or tent. It would them move into Solomon's temple and be lost forever because it, like the bronze serpent, had become an idol's box in which their god was kept.
History recognized the "curved trumpet" as the red-mouthed, crooked serpent:
Bariyach (h1281) baw-ree'-akh; a fugitive, i. e. the serpent (as fleeing), and the constellation by that name: - crooked, noble, piercing
Leviathan was a wreathed animal, i. e. a serpent (espec. the crocodile or some other large sea-monster); fig. the constellation of the dragon; also as...a Symbol of Babylon.: - leviathan, mourning.
These terms are symbolic of the false shepherds who kept the sheep so that they could fleece them and eat their flesh as they tore the body into pieces. Solomon should have been a proper shepherd but he multiplied David's musical teams, under the commanders of the army, to force Israelites into grand building programs "for his own glory and pleasure."
Instrumental Rejoicing and Prophesying Women UP
Was Miriam a real prophet or a musical prophetess who usurped God's authority by questioning the role of Moses as God's spokesman?
Paul will say that the songs in Corinth should be revealed doctrinal truth (1 Cor. 14:6) but Miriam claimed that she as a prophetess had the right to speak for God. However, the presbyterian George Girardeau wrote that--
"In the first place, it will be noticed from the account of the triumphant rejoicing on the shore of the Red Sea that the men sang only: 'Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake saying.'" (Girardeau, George, p. 33)
"The triumphal hymn of Moses had unquestionably a religious character about it; but the employment of music in religious services, though idolatrous, is more distinctly marked in the festivities which attended the erection of the golden calf." (Smith's, Music, p. 589).
Miriam was not condemned for repeating what had already been revealed by Moses. Later, when she claimed to be inspired, God judged her.
"In the second place, it was Miriam and the women who used instruments of music on the occasion: 'And Miriam, the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went after her with timbrels and with dances." (Girardeau, p. 33).
On the other hand, Moses spoke or recited the songs where were not musical in nature. The goal was that the elders could learn the songs and repeat them to their tribes.
THEN sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, (command with speech) I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. Ex 15:1
But: 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. Ex 15:20
Miriam led the women away from Moses' recital. When they went out the Hebrew word is:
Yaca (h3318) yaw-tsaw'; break out, bring forth (out, up), carry out, come (abroad, out, threat, without), be condemned, departure, draw forth, in the end, escape,
Miriam's insubordination did not make her inferior. However, God has the right to select those who will speak for Him.
Later, when she "led away" Aaron it was to usurp authority. She was trying to escape her role and became a threat to God's plan. As a result, she was condemned. Therefore, when Miriam led the women away from the quiet, orderly teaching environment it was in imiation of ancient "prophesying" which including singing, dancing and playing musical instruments. The goal was to get a direct message from the "gods."
Paul used "prophesying" in this sense when he spoke of the Corinthians "prophesying" with uncovered heads which was a visual sign that the woman was not "subordinate" to her husband. This had nothing to do with deciding the color of the wallpaper. It meant that she would depart from her husband and engage in sexual unfaithfulness at the fertility rituals. This was outside the assembly and Paul's fuller instructions begin for when you gather in assembly in 1 Cor. 11:17.
This pattern of disrupting instructions from God with loud, musical rejoicing was condemned in the law. Furthermore, it is a prototype of many Biblical patterns where instrumental music was a cause and a symption that people did not want to listen to the designated prophets speak the Words of and from God.
Moses was a meek and mild "elder" who would remain quiet to keep the "flock" from being upsed. However, God acted directly against Miriam who, like Eve, assumed the oversight of the family.
The tongue speaking women were singing and speaking and claiming that they were being moved by God. The content of their singing and speaking proved that they were not prophets and would be seen as insane. Supplying Paul's information for Corinth, Moses wrote:
And they said, Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it. Nu 12:2
And the Lord spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out. Nu 12:4
And the Lord came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth. Nu 12:5
And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. Nu 12:6 However, of Moses
With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches (riddles); and the similitude (shape or phantom) of the Lord shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? Nu 12:8
God left them and Miriam was struck with leprosy. She had no prayer ability to get it cured.
"She 'took part in the festival; a custom that was kept up in after times in the celebration of victories (Judg. 11:34; 1 Sam. 18:6, 7; 21:12; 24:5), possibly in imitation of an Egyptian model." (Keil and Delitzsch, Com. on the OT, Pentateuch, Vol. II, p. 57).
Of the musical dance:
"It was probably usual to welcome a king or general with music and dancing...The distinctly religious dance is more frequently mentioned. The clear instances of it in the Bible are the dance of the women of Israel at the Red Sea, headed by Miriam with her tambourine (Ex 15:20); the dance of the Israelites round the golden calf (32:19); the dance of the maidens of Shiloah at the annual feast (Jgs 21:19 ff); the leaping or limping of the prophets of Baal round their altar on Carmel (1 K 18:26); and the dancing of David in front of the ark (2 S 6:14-16) (Int. Std. Bible Ency., p. 1169-70).
"In the O. T., 'prophet' is also applied to the sacred musicians (1 Ch. 25:1); and it may be only because Miriam led the concert (Ex. 15:20, 21) that she was reckoned as a prophetess. So Deborah is called a 'prophetess' (Judg. 4:4). Aaron is spoken of as a prophet (Ex. 7:1)--being one who delivered another's message" (Book, Hist. Digest., p. 265).
"It is probable that Miriam, Deborah, Huldah, and others were called 'prophetesses,' not so much because they were supposed to be gifted with knowledge of futurity, like the seers, as because they possessed a poetical inspiration..." (Book, Hist. Digests., p. 265).
"It should be noted, however, that women like Miriam (Exod. 15:20), Deborah (Judges 4:4) and Hulda (2 Ki. 22:14) were not credited with the seer's insight into the future, but were called 'prophetesses' because of the poetical inspiration of their speech." (Int. Std. Bible Ency., Prophetess, p. 2467).
"It is remotely possible that he (Paul) has in mind the incident of Aaron and Miriam (Num. 11); there are some intriguing parallels between that incident and Paul's discussion here. If this is the background informing his remarks, it may mean that Miriam was functioning as the prototypical insubordinate prophetess who is reprimanded for her questioning the authority of Moses, the prophet: (they) should be subordinate is precisely the point of the narrative in Numbers 12. One can therefore conjecture that Paul's remarks here are addressed to quite a specific problem: prophetesses within the Corinthian church whose utterances were either unsettling or even perhaps calling Paul's authority into question; it is significant that these remarks prompt him to a rather stern and pointed reminder of his prophetic authority (vs 37)" (Holladay, Carl, p. 190).
The writer notes that only men were priestly musicians after David "changed the Law." Women were excluded except "for my personal pleasure" in the case of Solomon and others.
The work of the prophets has been completed. By ignoring the written record of their work under the direct inspirition of the Spirit of Christ (1Pe 1:11), both women and men are insubordinate prophets and prophetesses. The sermons have been preached and the songs have been composed. Our task, according to Paul to Timothy, is to "deliver it as it has been delivered to you."
Jesus abrogated clergy roles and made each member a priest of God and able to read and pray without the oppressive "anxiety from religious ritual."
Miriam was called a prophetess which Strong says "is the feminine of prophets but by implication a poetess or a prophet's wife."
When Moses recited his later instructions or song from God it was so that the elders could learn the song and return to their tribes and teach it to everyone.
Gather unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak (recite) these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to record against them. Deu 31:28
For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days; because ye will do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands. Deu 31:29
And Moses spake in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song, until they were ended. Deu 31:30
GIVE ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. Deu 32:1
My doctrine (instructions) shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass: Deu 32:2
Because I will publish the name of the Lord: ascribe ye greatness unto our God. Deu 32:3
And he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law. Deu 32:46
Instrumental Rejoicing Forbidden By the Law UP
After swearing to keep the Book of the Covenant--a renewal of the Abrahamic Covenant--the Israelites, perhaps under the foreign influence of the "mixed multitude," got impatient for the Word as a written letter and forced their leaders to permit them to fall back into Apis worship which is defined as play. This involved singing, dancing, instrumental music and more. As a result God gave The Book of the Law which, according to the prophets, was not good.
"The triumphal hymn of Moses had unquestionably a religious character about it; but the employment of music in religious services, though idolatrous, is more distinctly marked in the festivities which attended the erection of the golden calf." (Smith's, Music, p. 589).
After the discipline from the musical play at Sinai was over, God directed the making of two silver trumpets to signal marches or war:
When ye blow an alarm the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side shall take their journey: they shall blow an alarm for their journeys. Nu 10:6
However, when Moses called Israel together for instructions from God, they could use the trumpets much like a church bell. However, they could not then turn the edification assembly into a "praise the Lord" affair which would say that they didn't care much about hearing from God:
But when the congregation is to be gathered together, ye shall blow, but ye shall not sound an alarm. Nu 10:7
Ruwa (h7321) roo-ah'; a prim. root; to mar (espec. by breaking); fig. to split the ears (with sound), i. e. shout (for alarm or joy): - blow an alarm, cry (alarm, aloud, out), destroy, make a joyful noise, smart, shout for joy, sound an alarm, triumph.
Most Israelites, except those who went to the high places to worship Baal, honored this.
"the trumpets were assigned a number of complicated signals, which implied their ability of blowing legato, staccato, and trills, and tonguing, all in unison, not 'simultaneously,' but 'as with one mouth.' Moreover, these apocalyptical trumpets bear different names: trumpets of assembly, of battle, of the slain, of ambush, etc. In generaly, they were used to terrorize the enemy into panic (Judges 7:19-20). This function was, for all practical purposes, identical with that of the trumpets of Revelation. In the temple the signals of the trumpet introduced every ceremony and every sacrifice." (Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible, p. 472-3, Abingdon).
"All the various usages of the shophar can be viewed under one category: that of a signalling instrument. It sounded all signals in war and peace; it announced the new moon, the beginning of the sabbath, the death of a notable; it warned of approaching danger; it heraled excommunication; it was instrumental in exorcisms and magic healing." (Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible, p. 473, Abingdon). See the Dead Sea Scrolls War Rules.
David expanded the signals used in warfare to be used in his new temple-state. Remember that when the leaders of Israel demanded a king like the nations it was so that they could worship like the nations.
You say, "We want to be like the nations, like the peoples of the world, who serve wood and stone." But what you have in mind will never happen. Eze.20:32
The kings which were selected were "after God's own choice" because they were demanded to lead them into a different form of religion. The kings, like the law, were a curse for people who rejected the direct rule of God and demanded a pagan-like secular priest king. It is well recognized that the worship instituted by David was different from the Law of Moses:
"The book of Psalms contain new doctrine after the Law of Moses. And after the writing of Moses, it is the second book of doctrine... (David) first gave to the Hebrews a new style of psalmody, by which he abrogates the ordinances established by Moses with respect to sacrifices, and introduces the new hymn and a new style of jubilant praise in the worship of God; and throughout his whole ministry he teaches very many other things that went beyond the law of Moses." (Fragment of Commentary by Hippolytus, bishop of Rome, Ante-Nicene, V, p. 170)
There were a few times for rejoicing such as Jubilee which was associated with the hope for future atonement. However, the "church" or the congregation did not gather for singing with instrumental accompaniment. Worship was a state ritual and not a weekly "congregational" show and tell." The musical worship team chosen by David and the commanders of the army were like the nations:
"From (the Uraritic text) come references to a class of Temple personnel designated by the term serim, who exercised functions similar to those of the Hebrew singers during the monarchy and later times. Some of the servants of David who were designated in 1 Kings 4:31 by (a) term meaning 'aboriginal' or 'native sons,' and who possessed Canaanite names such as Heman, Chalcol, and Darda, were engaged in various forms of musical activity. As such they were described by the phrase 'sons of Mahol (dancer),' a Hebrew term closely related to (the Greek), used of a semi-circular area in which the Greek chorus danced, and meaning 'members of the orchestral guild.' A further reflection of this musical interest became apparent when Megiddo was excavated and the treasure room of the royal palace was uncovered. From this area was recovered a plaque inlaid with ivory, depicting a royal personage seated on a throne. He was drinking from a small bowl, and was being entertained by a court musician who stood before him plucking the strings of a lyre." (Harrison, R. K., Introduction to the Old Testament, Eerdmans, p. 335, see p. 411).
A half dozen, wired-up-amplified voices have the power--was intended to replace--a literal pipe organ. The complex harmony which results somehow reaches beyond the rational and into our animal nature to turn on "fight or flight or mating." It is this pleasing but confusing well-constructed melody which seems like fun but is really pain. Most ancient and modern commentators show that, as theatrical organs helped invent complex harmony, choirs then gave way to the organ. As they used to say: "Wine is fine but Likker is quicker."
ERASMUS "We have brought into our churches certain operatic and theatrical music; such a confused, disorderly chattering of some words as I hardly think was ever in any of the Grecian or Roman theatres. The church rings with the noise of trumpets, pipes, and dulcimers; and human voices strive to bear their part with them. Men run to church as to a theatre, to have their ears tickled. And for this end organ makers are hired with great salaries, and a company of boys, who waste all their time learning these whining tones." (Commentary on I Cor. 14:19)
God understood that music abraded the nerves so that it was not possible to get anything but panic or some other emotion out of it. The Trumpet of God may sound while we are enjoying our vocal or literal trumpet-quartet! However, the "spiritual feeling" created by a drug high is really just music-induced endorphins.
Speaking of the love for icons (material or human) Armstrong notes that people have always believed that God could be found in music-like art. She was somewhat prophetic of the new wine-skin gospels which have always popped up around the world when people lose their security and look for a new messiah to lead them into a kingdom which will come with rapture:
"Emotion and experience are conveyed by music in a way that bypasses words and concepts... They found that God was better expressed in a work of art than in rationalistic discourse... Instead of arguing rationally about God's nature, the 'new' theology relied on direct, personal religious experience. It was impossible to know God in conceptual terms. (Armstrong, Karen, A History of God, p. 223).
Armstrong notes that Amos warned that Israel refused to enter into dialog with God and this caused their failure.
Instrumental music as loud rejoicing was forbidden by the law (Nu 10:7) when Israel assembled for instruction. See below for details.
When they turned the instruments upon God in order to "worship like the nations," David and the commanders of the army reassigned the warrior priests and Levites to the emerging temple state. Instrumental music which had been the domain of idolatry, prostitution or motivational-panic-martial musicians was adapted to certain dedicatory or purification animal sacrifices focused in or around Jerusalem. These were state worship rituals because in the nations the little people did not worship in the show-and-tell animal sacrifices. However, when the trumpets of God and the instruments of David sounded you could be sure that something--animal or principle--was being sacrificed.
There is always a distinction between "the trumpets of God" and the "musical instruments of David" who was God's replacement to rule or oversee the Israelites. Music, therefore, was not just religious but civil in imitation of the nations:
"The testimonies of neighboring civilizations... concern chiefly the music of courts or temples, which in Sumer, Babylon, and Canaan was then in the hands of professional priests-musicians. We have only a few remarks of Herodotus about Egyptian practices, which were similar to those of ancient Hebrew popular singing. He refers to the 'lament for Linos,' also to women's chants in procession of the cult of Osiris and the Diana of Bubastis. In Phonicia and Syria almost all popular music reflected the worship of Ishtar, the goddess of fertility. (Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible, p. 461, Abingdon)
Of David, it is clear that--
"He wanted to replace the old Tent with a splendid royal temple patterned after the temples of other nations. However, the conservative religious traditions of the Confederacy was voiced by the prophet Nathan, who argued that Yahweh had not dwelt in a 'house' since the time of the Exodus but had been 'moving about in a tent' (II Sam. 7:6) So David wisely conceded to the prophet that this was going to for--at least for the time being. He contented himself himself with reorganizing Israel's religion in other spheres, especially music. According to the Chronicler (1 Chron 25) David organized the musicians into guilds." (Anderson, Bernard, A Theology of the Old Testament, p. 183)
Musical Worship Teams Added by David for the Future Temple UP
Israel demanded a king to replace the direct rule of God. He gave them kings but prophesied that they would destroy the nation and He would not hear their prayers. Ezekiel and others make it clear that Israel, for much of their life, worshiped like the nations. It was logical therefore that David begin and Solomon construct a temple and worship like the nations. God would not tolerate it and within five years of Solomon's death, Shishak from Egypt came to get his gold.
"Indeed not before David's time do professional musicians appear in the Bible. From where did they come? Considering the apparent connection of professional musicians with the institution of Monarcy, we must bear in mind that in the neighboring countries, Egypt and Assyria, the professional musician was an old and familiar figure. It seems that the midrash alludes to an ancient tradition when it relates that King Solomon's Egyptian wife, daughter of the Pharaoh, carried in her dowry a thousand foreign instruments. Yet an instrument is of no use without a musician able to play it. Hence, we may assume that the systematic import and subsequent training of professional musicians took place in the era of David and Solomon." (Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible, p. 457).
Not only is it clear that the musical worship teams were the overseers or presiding elders during growth efforts and in the service of God's "house," they assumed the role of priests during animal sacrifices. When the Phonecians were having trouble cheating the Egyptian, Wen Amon, out of his ship-load of cedar, the prince sent a female musician to lull him to sleep so that eventually he might be murdered to cheat him:
"Most likely, Israel first became acquainted with ecstatic prophecy in Canaan, where it was connected with Baal religion. The Egyptian story of Wen Amon tells of a religious festival in the Phoenician port of Byblos where 'the god seized one of the youths and made him possessed'--that is, he fell into an ecstatic state.
Centuries later, prophets of Baal, imported from Phoenicia, worked themselves into an ecstatic frenzy on the top of Mount Carmel as they danced around the altar, cut themselves with knives, and raised their cultic shouts (I Kings 18:20-29). This type of orgiastic prophecy was also known in Asia Minor, from which it spread into the Mediterranean world and later took the form of the orgies of the cult of Dionysus" (Anderson, Theology of the O.T., p. 229).
"The ecstatic condition appears to have been normal to the prophetic guilds of the period of the judges and the early kingdom, and for the first time in 1 Sam. 10:5-10, 19:20-24 the contagiousness of the condition comes to light, in the case of Saul.
Someone has suggested that much modern church music is really "low-level glossolalia." It is intended to manipulate the paying audience with a deliberate attempt to dismiss the Biblical text and substitute what Albert Barnes called "soulless versifying."
"The trained musicians which eventually appear around the time of David and Solomon mark a distinctive change in the history of Jewish music. Before this time much of the music was made by women." (Zondervan Pict., Music p. 313).
David introduced a new form of military-like prophesying which was singing with instrumental accompaniment. However, this was a temple ritual where the temple was more private shrine of the king than synagogue of the congregation:
David, 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 Chr 25:1
From the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah and Asarelah. The sons of Asaph were under the supervision of Asaph, who prophesied under the king's supervision." 1 Chr 25:2
All these men were under the supervision of their fathers for the music of the temple of the LORD, with cymbals, lyres and harps, for the ministry at the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun and Heman were under the supervision of the king." 1 Chr 25:6
These sons of Mahol belonged to a Canaanite-like guild of musical propheseers or "wise men."
"Such terms as 'Asaph,' 'Heman' and 'Ethan' or 'Jeduthun' are evidently used by the Chronicler to designate musical guilds, and in the case of 'Heman' and 'Ethan' are closely paralleled by scores of abbreviated names found at Ugarit and elsewhere, and are characteristically Canaanite and early, not appearing in later Hebrew lists of contemporary names." (Unger, Merril, Archaeology and the Old Testament, Zondervan, P. 217)
"David introduced innovations in the age and service of the Levites (I Chron. 23-26). Certain Levites, particularly Asaph, became musicians and probably wrote some of the Psalms." (Libing Bible Ency., p. 1143)
"Radical reconstructions, that seek to discover an opposition between David's Levites and the 'image worshiping' Aaronic priests, have been advocated by writers such as Theophile Meek:
'Thus were the Levites ensconced in a positon of supreme priestly authority in the religion and there came a tempory eclipse of the bull cult and its Aaronite priesthood. This did not mean the suppression of the bull cult nor of any other; it simply meant that Yahwism was now the state religion and Yahweh the national god. In their local sanctuaries the people could and did worship what gods they would.'
"But though no evangelical would take Meek's theories seriously, it is true that the Levites were given the leadership in the new musical service which was created by David and which constituted a matter of his particular concern." (Theology of the OT, p. 376)
"Music and psalmody likewise flourished, especially as Solomon lavished the resources of the state on the new Temple, enriching its cultus in various ways (1 Ki. 10:12). Although we know too little of prevailing musical techniques to make definite statements, Israelite music under Phoenician influence probably soon reached standards of excellence as high as any in the contemporary world." (Bright, John, A History of Israel, p. 198).
As one example, Asaph's name is from:
Acaph (h622) aw-saf'; a prim. root; to gather for any purpose; hence to receive, take away, i. e. remove (destroy, leave behind, put up, restore, etc.): - assemble, bring, consume, destroy, fetch, gather (in, together, up again), * generally, get (him), lose, put all together, receive, recover [another from leprosy], (be) rereward, * surely, take (away, into, up), * utterly, withdraw.
Later writers understood that it was David in connection with the temple and not the Law who commanded musical worship:
And both the singers and the porters kept the ward of their God, and the ward of the purification, according to the commandment of David, and of Solomon his son. Neh 12:45
For in the days of David and Asaph of old there were chief (ruler or captain) of the singers, and songs of praise and thanksgiving unto God. Neh 12:46
Musical Worship Teams Replace the Word UP
Ezekiel shows why Judah was destroyed, speaks prophetically of the children who would musically attack or try to "triumph over" Messiah, and then described a proper worship which does not consist of doing our own thing or even speaking our own words.
For when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons to pass through the fire, ye pollute yourselves with all your idols, even unto this day: and shall I be enquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be enquired of by you. Eze 20:31
And that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, that ye say, We will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone. Eze 20:32
When Israel came into Canaan they enjoyed "joint meetings" with the idolaters at the groves or high places. It was from these high places that we see the charismatic prophets coming down to meet with Saul as they assisted in "turning him into another man." This new "spirit" would convert the humble, bashful Saul to a king who errected a monument to his own honor and took it upon himself to serve as both king and priest.
Of topeth (and tabret or tambourine) one writer notes that--
"the most probable is its connection with a root meaning 'burning'--'place of burning." (Int Std Bible Ency, p. 2999)
From the above text Isaiah warned that destruction would come to the beat of musical instruments and ended with the statement that--
"Topheth has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its fire pit has been made deep and wide, with an abundance of fire and wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of burning sulfur, sets it ablaze. Isa 30:33
From the evidence we understand that the "music grove" which Solomon established along with the temples of his idolatrous wives, finally became the symbol of hell itself.
Topheth occurs in two places in a striking comparison. I n verse 32 it is tambourines or tabrets in the King James Version. In verse 33 it is Topeth. The tabrets with which Satan came equipped are a symbol of punishment and the almost identical word, topheth, is the place which came to stand for hell. He would go into the same place and his viols would go with him.
"The Hebrew words are nearly identical; and Tophet was probably the king's 'music grove' or garden, denoting originally nothing evil or hateful. Afterwards it was defiled by idols, and polluted by the sacrifices of Baal and the fires of Molech. Then it became the place of abomination, the very gate or pit of hell." (Smith, p. 960)
"Once the music-grove, where Solomon's singers, with voice and instrument, regaled the king, the court and the city; then the temple of Baal, the high place of Moloch, resounding with the cries of burning infants; then (in symbol) the place where is the wailing and gnashing of teeth." (p. 3313-14, four-volume Smith).
Even as Solomon built the temple with slave labor driven with the Levites and their musical instruments, he built temples and altars for false gods. And as he had himself celebrated with musical instruments in his royal garden, this very place became the site of Molech as drums were used to prevent mothers from hearing the screams of their children as they were sacrificed. Of the worship of Molech it is said--
"Sometimes he was represented as a horrible idol with fire burning inside so that what was placed in his arms was consumed. In the above illustration, a heathen priest has taken a baby from its mother to be offered to Molech. Lest the parents should relent, a loud noise was made on drums to hide the screams The word for drums is tophim from which the word 'Tophet,' the place mentioned in verses such as Jeremiah 7:31: ''They have built the high place of Tophet... to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire. While drums sounded, bands played, and priests chanted, human sacrifices were devoured in the flames." (Woodrow, p. 72-73).
We have the creepy feeling up the back of the neck that the church is devoting itself to building "high places" with asherahs (steeples) in the errected position as a mark of civic pride to "make a name for ourselves" so that we will be remembered. Perhaps in direct proportion to a David-like urge to reject the "laws" and turn to the "suggestions" our children are literally being sacrificed as they are fed with "cut and paste" Bible study even into high school. To make the prophetic type come true the only thing needed is the human or literal sounding gong and clanging cymbals.
When the people polluted themselves and God the word is:
Chalal (h2490) khaw-lal'; to bore, i. e. by implication: to wound, to dissolve; figurative: to profane (a person, place or thing), to break one's word, to begin as if by an "opening wedge"; (from 2485) ;
- 1. to play (the flute): - defile,
- 2. eat (as common things), gather the grape thereof,
- 3. take inheritance,
- 4. pipe, player on instruments,
- 5. pollute, (cast as) profane self,
- 6. prostitute, slay (slain), sorrow, stain, wound.
This word is used of the king of Tyre, who was Lucifer's change agent. He was the harp-playing prostitute. God warned also about his (her?) tambourines and pipes. He tempted the nations through music and commerce and was there profane.
Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets (toph) and of thy pipes (unclear) was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Eze 28:13
By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Eze.28:16
Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. Eze 28:17
Lucifer is derived from a common Hebrew word for praise which was most often self-praise:
Halal (h1984) haw-lal'; a prim. root; to be clear (orig. of sound, but usually of color); to shine; hence to make a show, to boast; and thus to be (clamorously) foolish; to rave; causat. to celebrate; also to stultify: - (make) boast (self), celebrate, commend, (deal, make), fool (- ish, -ly), glory, give [light], be (make, feign self) mad (against), give in marriage, [sing, be worthy of] praise, rage, renowned, shine.
In the Apocalyptic literature the holy mountain is the place wheree the holy people of God lived. Satan taught the Cainites, notably Genun (Jubal), how to seduce or pollute the Sethites by the use of musical instruments and mixed singing groups. Everyone knew that any women mixed up was available after "services."
In Isaiah's account, the Septuagint asks:
"Must ye always rejoice, and go into my holy places continually, as they that keep a feast? and must ye go with a pipe, as those that rejoice into the mountain of the Lord, to the God of Israel? Isaiah 30:29 LXX
This treatment of instrumental music is consistent in the LXX and, therefore, when Amos condemned Israel for imitating David's musical practices he said of them--
"who excel (oversee and are applauded) in the sound of musical instruments; they have regarded them as abiding, not as fleeting pleasure." Amos 6:6 LXX
God continued to warn that the "playing children" did not understand that musical worship has always been God's sign of His judgment which is often beyond remedy:
The LORD will cause men to hear his majestic voice and will make them see his arm coming down with raging anger and consuming fire, with cloudburst, thunderstorm and hail. Isa 30:30
The voice of the LORD will shatter Assyria; with his scepter he will strike them down. Isa 30:31
Every stroke the LORD lays on them with his punishing rod will be to the music of tambourines and harps, as he fights them in battle with the blows of his arm. Isa 30:32
Topheth has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its fire pit has been made deep and wide, with an abundance of fire and wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of burning sulfur, sets it ablaze. Isa 30:33
Of the king of Babylon, who was also Lucifer's change agent, God said:
All your pomp has been brought down to the grave (Sheol or the place where the musicians demanded answers), along with the noise of your harps; maggots are spread out beneath you and worms cover you. Is.14:11
Musical instruments, therefore, were with Lucifer in various rulers as he came prepared for a musical ministry. He would seduce the clergy system to offer your child so that he could get a message from the dead while your child was screaming to death. Assyria (the tallest "fir tree" in the garden of Eden) would be driven into Topheth to the musical beat of musical instruments. These agents would go to sheol which was a prepared place for a prepared people. They and their musical instruments would lose their luxurious ivory beds and lie on a bed of maggots. At Topheth, a place of ever-burning garbage and unclaimed bodies, would be consumed by the everlasting fire.
The people were so consumed with their outlawed "trumpet quartets" and "praise the lord, praise the lord" rituals that they would not hear the musical instruments "drumming" Lucifer's agents into hell. The people who "went in musical procession to the temple" did not hear the hoof beat of either Assyria or Babylonia who came to lead them by fish-hooks in the nose into captivity among the Chaldeans, a term which is equal to "astrologer."
The literal trumpet player:
Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman (overseer): Eze 33:2
If when he seeth the sword (from "to parch through droughth") come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; Eze 33:3
Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. Eze 33:4
But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow (clang or clatter an instrument) not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchmans hand. Eze 33:6
The spiritual "trumpet player":
So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me. Eze 33:7
When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Eze 33:8
Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live? Eze 33:10
A watchman came from Jerusalem and told Ezekiel that Jerusalem was smitten or captured. Ezekiel was no longer dumb and God sounded the alarm telling the people how they could escape judgment. In condemning musical worship, which will cease in the idealized temple beginning in chapter 40, God warned that:
Then shall they know that I am the Lord, when I have laid the land most desolate because of all their abominations which they have committed. Eze 33:29
Because the people were violating God's commandment against instrumental rejoicing--which would be involved in the idolatry He has just condemned--God told Ezekiel that they could not hear the trumpet of the Watchman when they were looking for musical triumph music in violation of Numbers 10:7. They had "broken down the walls" between them and pagan idolatry and therefore God warned:
Ezekiel
Jesus