Patrick Mead Rivers and Rubicons Review 6

http://tentpegs.patrickmead.net/2007/06/18/rivers-and-rubicons-part-6/

Patrick Mead: Anytime a discussion arises about changes, whether they involve instrumental music, music groups, the use of PowerPoint, clapping, multiple cups for communion, or Sunday Schools, someone will trot out the story of Nadab and Abihu as a trump card: if God killed them for bringing in unauthorized fire, should that not serve as a warning to us?

Patrick uses the usual diversion of associating the use of "machines for doing hard work" with multiple cups. It is pretty clear that the "cup" was divided among the Apostles before the bread. Next, the number of cups does not destroy the only object of the assembly which is to "use one mind and one mouth to teach that which is written for our learning."  Third, any reader of the text would know that Christ the Rock ordained the synagogue to  EXCLUDE vocal or instrumental rejoicing which included Patrick Mead's type of elevated forms of speech. God doesn't need and will never tolerate help.

Rick Atchley: The era of the progressive Church of Christ is over.

Back in the 80’s you could go to any major city, especially in the South, and you could find a progressive Church of Christ — and if they would preach grace, and if they would put words on a screen, and if they would let divorced people place membership, they would grow.

The generation of Boomers has enough denominational loyalty that they’re going to find the least legalistic

Well, we discipled the children of those progressive churches
        for a whole generation to grow past us Boomers.
        They never heard the sermons we heard.
        They never heard the rationale for a cappella music.

We sent them to youth rallies and Church of Christ events
        with some of the finest Christian bands in the world.

        We discipled our children to leave our Movement!

The only legalistic concept promoted today is using the Levites making loud sounds during the burnt offering of the goats for Israel which had already defected in a civil war.

Rick Atchley says: that the Levites -- following the NACC pattern -- were commanded to make instrumental music and this is used to say that "God commanded instrumental music" and "you had better not be disobedient." Instrumental music has therefore been the identifying mark of godly people: there is no longer an option.

  1. It was because of musical idolatry at Mount Sinai that the Levites volunteered to execute 3,000 of the "brethren."
  2. Moses then commanded that the Levites stand in ranks to warn any one not of Levi that they would be executed if they came later.
  3. It was David who commanded the Levites to make noise during the burnt offering of the goats
  4. The godly congregation was "outside" the gate or outside the camp to escape being executed.
  5. Christ through the prophets especially Isaiah 1 and Jeremiah 7 said that God DID NOT command sacrifices or burnt offerings: they were imposed when God turned them over to worship the starry host at a Jebusite High Place, Jerusalem, called Sodom by John.
  6. Sorry, but God will never let them read BLACK text on BROWN Paper.
2Chronicles 29:27 And Hezekiah
        commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar.
        And when the burnt offering began,
                the song of the LORD began also with the trumpets,
                and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel.
IF YOU UNDERSTAND THAT THE QAHAL, SYNAGOGUE OR CHURCH OF CHRIST IN THE WILDERNESS YOU WILL NEVER MAKE SUCH A STATEMENT.

When you musicate you REFUSE to listen to the Word of God just as the Isralites refused to listen to God and TURNED back to musical idolatry. Therefore, the Nadab and Abihu example is a PERFECT FIT: so perfect that false preachers love to ridicule it:

See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: Heb 12:25

Jesus is the ONLY Rabbi or Teacher and ONLY when we "teach that which has been taught." Peter spoke of a recorded MEMORY as a MARKER for anyone who would teach otherwise. Paul in Romans 10 and 1 Cor 10 warns of the PLAY which was musical idolatry of the TRINITY and those with EARS will be able to hear the message and LOOK where Paul points to repudiate the musical paganism at Corinth:

Whose voice then SHOOK the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet ONCE MORE I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. Heb 12:26

And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the REMOVING of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken [a trumpet-like word] may remain. Heb 12:27

Wherefore we RECEIVING a KINGDOM which cannot be moved, let us have GRACE,

whereby we may SERVE God acceptably with REVERENCE and godly fear: Heb 12:28

For our God is a consuming fire. Heb 12:29

THE NADAB AND ABIHU EXPERIENCE IS RESERVED FOR THOSE WHO MOCK THE THE STORY FOR PROFIT.

G2124 eulabeia yoo-lab'-i-ah From G2126 ; properly caution, that is, (religiously) reverence (piety); by implication dread (concretely): ;fear (-ed

G2126 eulabïs yoo-lab-ace' From G2095 and G2983 ; taking well (carefully), that is, circumspect (religiously, pious):&emdash; devout.

The only "worship" concept in the curse of the sacrificial system was falling on your face: pretty hard to PLAY literal harps in that position.

Rĕvĕrentĭa , ae, f. [revereor] , I. timidity arising from high respect or (more rarely) from fear, respect, regard, fear, awe, reverence, the deference or veneration due to you, your dignity,

Aidōs , oos, contr. ous, ē (late nom. pl. aidoi Sch.E.Hipp.386), as a moral feeling,
A. reverence, awe, respect for the feeling or opinion of others or for one's own conscience, and so shame, self-respect
sobriety, moderation 2. regard for others, respect, reverence
         sōphrosunē u^, A. soundness of mind, prudence, discretion
        2. moderation in sensual desires, selfcontrol, temperance

WHEN PEOPLE SPEAK OF GETTING THE ENERGY LEVEL UP WITH MUSIC THEY ARE PROMOTING MADNESS.

        Opposite mania (II. enthusiasm, inspired frenzy, “m. Dionusou paraE.Ba.305;
        “apo Mousōn katokōkhē te kai m.Pl.Phdr. 245a; Being possessedor enthused by the musicians
Plat. Phileb. 45e “nothing too much,” which guides their actions; but intense pleasure holds sway over the foolish and dissolute even to the point of madness and makes them notorious.
Socrates
Good; and if that is true, it is clear that the greatest pleasures and the greatest pains originate in some depravity of soul and body, not in virtue.
Hēdonē , Dor. hadona (or in Trag. chorus hēdona S.OT1339), h(, (hēdomai) to speak so as to please another it is a pleasure or delight to another,
Plat. Ion 536c and you have plenty to say: for it is not by art or knowledge about Homer that you say what you say, but by divine dispensation and possession; just as the Corybantian worshippers are keenly sensible of that strain alone which belongs to the god whose possession is on them, and have plenty of gestures and phrases for that tune, but do not heed any other. And so you, Ion, when the subject of Homer is mentioned, have plenty to say, but nothing on any of the others. And when you ask me the reason
ANYONE WHO THINKS THEIR SONGS OR SERMONS ARE INSPIRED ARE BY DEFINITION MAD. OR TO BELIEVE THAT THEY CAN IMPRESS GOD BY WHAT JESUS CALLED THE HYPOCRITIC ARTS CANNOT BE A DISCIPLE OF CHRIST.
Mousa  A. Olumpiades M., Dios aigiokhoio thugateresIl.2.491, cf. Hes.Th.25, etc.; nine in number, first in Od.24.60; named in Hes.Th.75 sqq. II. mousa, as Appellat., music, song, “m. stugeraA.Eu.308 (anap.); “euphamosId.Supp.695 (lyr.); “kanakhan . . theias antiluron mousasS.Tr.643 (lyr.); “Aiakō moisan phereinPi.N.3.28

Plat. Phaedrus 245a  ills is found. And a third kind of possession and madness comes from the Muses.
        This takes hold upon a gentle and pure soul,
        arouses it and inspires it to songs and other poetry,
        and thus by adorning countless deeds of the ancients educates later generations.
But he who without the divine madness comes to the doors of the Muses, confident that he will be a good poet by art, meets with no success, and the poetry of the sane man vanishes into nothingness before that of the inspired madmen.
NO LEVITE WITH OR WITHOUT INSTRUMENTS WAS ALLOWED ANY TO BE NEAR OR IN ANY HOLY PLACE OR THING.

If you used the patternism of the Levite infant burners and THEN go into the church as the true synagogue you have sentenced you to be executed for your presumptiousness. Ignorance will not save you.
Gen. 49:5 Simeon and Levi are brethren;
        instruments of cruelty are [h3627 psaltery, weapon]
        in their habitations. [stabbing, burning Bello 
to wage or carry on war, to war, to fight in war.
Caes. Gal. 1.2 incited by lust of sovereignty, formed a conspiracy among the nobility, and persuaded the people to go forth from their territories with all their possessions, [saying] that it would be very easy, since they excelled all in valor, to acquire the supremacy of the whole of Gaul.

From these circumstances it resulted, that they could range less widely, and could less easily make war upon their neighbors; for which reason men fond of war [as they were] were affected with great regret. They thought, that considering the extent of their population, and their renown for warfare and bravery, they had but narrow limits, although they extended in length 240, and in breadth 180 [Roman] miles.

This was the condition when David had destroyed all of the enemies and he had a host of Levites on his hand.
Iniquitas B. Unfairness, injustice, unreasonableness: luxuria, praetoris, unreasonable demands in the shape of taxes,
Gen. 49:6 O my soul, come not thou into their secret;
         [counsel: don't look to Levi for a pattern]
        unto their assembly
, mine honour, be not thou united:
        for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall.
The secret is 5475. cowd, sode; from 3245; a session, i.e. company of persons (in close deliberation); by implication, intimacy, consultation, a secret:-assembly, consel, inward, secret (counsel)
Gen. 49:7 Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce;
         and their wrath, for it was cruel:
        I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.
The mortal sin was SELF WILL and that still applies.

The Covenant with Abraham was by God in Christ. Christ is the Rock which accompanied Israel and after their fall into musical idolatry at Mount Sinai He separated the Godly people from the Civil-Military-Clergy nobility which had been abandoned to WORSHIP THE STARRY HOST. And that defines all of the worship were there was any hint of instrumental music.
Genesis 49:8 Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise:
        thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies;
        thy father’s children shall bow down before thee.
Genesis 49:9 Judah is a lion’s whelp:
        from the prey, my son, thou art gone up:
        he stooped down, he couched as a lion,
        and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?
Genesis 49:10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah,
        nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come;
        and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

That ecclipse is proven when Paul shows that we are children of Abraham directly because we have been baptized into Christ.

After the musical idolatry at Mount Sinai, God turned them over to worship the starry host: God had not needed sacrifices, had not "commanded" them but IMPOSED them.  All of the NON-LEVI people were declared STRANGERS and could never again come into the easy presence of God.  The Levites were to serve (hard bondage) to bear the burden of sacrifices CAUSED by their own tribal members.
Num 18:2 And thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou with thee,
        that they may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee: 

        but thou and thy sons with thee shall minister
        BEFORE the tabernacle of witness. [never IN]
H8334 sharath shaw-rath' A primitive root; to attend as a menial or worshipper; figuratively to contribute to:---minister (unto), (do) serve (-ant, -ice, -itor), wait on. 
Num 18:3 And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle:
        only they shall NOT come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar,
        that neither they, nor ye also, di
e.

Num 18:4 And they shall be joined unto thee,
        and keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation,
        for all the service of the tabernacle: [hard bondage]
        and a stranger shall not come nigh unto you.


Num 18:5 And ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar:

        that there be no wrath any more upon the children of Israel.

Patrick Mead: This bolsters an "argument of silence" that, simply phrased, is: whatever God did not authorize, he prohibited. God did not have to tell Nadab and Abihu all of the kinds of fire they were NOT to bring. All He had to do was name the one fire that was acceptable. That fire, by the way, came from the great brazen altar in the court. The fire on the incense altar was not a perpetual one: it couldn’t be. It was a mere foot and a half square, located in an enclosed place.

There was no temple and no brazen altar in the wilderness. Later, when the tribes east of the Jordan errected an altar they almost brought on civil war. There was only ONE rough stone altar which was a TESTIMONY which bound all of the tribes together.  God never changed His mind and did NOT command the king, kingdom, temple or animal slaughter: He did command that the Levites under the KING and COMMANDERS of the Army stand in ranks and make a great noise to warn anyone from coming near.

As a matter of Fact God is quite competent and is NEVER SILENT: some people can no longer hear or read the LOUD VOICE of God because they mock His Word. The MARK in sight and sound of God driving His enemies into hell are wind, string and percussion instruments.  See Isaiah 30 where Christ defined that which most cannot read.

John repeats the patternism in Revelation 17 where the beginning time Harlot returns and uses lusted after "fruits" as speakers, singers and instrument players. John calls them SORCERERS in Revelation 18 and says that they will be cast alive into the lake of fire.

These are the same wind, string and percussion instruments Lucifer brought with him/her/it into the garden of Eden: Christ calls him/her asinging and harp playing prostitute. 

That might be true but Christ in the Prophets and Apostles was NOT SILENT: if you cannot read BLACK text on BROWN paper then you fall into the clergy group of Scribes and Pharisees Jesus called hypocrites by naming performance preachers, singers and instrument players. 

However, those who make fun of the Nadab and Abihu story are fooled just as Jesus said they were fooled from the foundation of the world by parables. A parable does not mean that it is not true but that it is MORE than a surface reading.  It would be well to begin with Jacob whom Jesus approved along with Abrham and the prophets

The secret is 5475. cowd, sode; from 3245; a session, i.e. company of persons (in close deliberation); by implication, intimacy, consultation, a secret:-assembly, consel, inward, secret (counsel)

The Israelites had been turned over to worship the starry host (Acts 7) because of musical idolatry at Mount Sinai: Stephen confirms what Amos said about the use of David's warrior's instruments for their sabbaths.  This was NOT Jehovah they worshipped whatever their Scribes wrote.

Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on John,  

That the Pharisees puffed up unto strange boasting,
        were wont to pretend that the Divine Word was with them and in them,
        and therefore foolishly affirmed that they had advanced to marvellous wisdom, 
        the Spirit Itself will testify, 
        since Christ says by the Prophet Jeremiah unto them, 
                How do ye say, WE are wise, and the word of the Lord is with us?
                For nought to the scribes became their lying pen;
                the wise
men were ashamed, were dismayed and taken;
                what wisdom
is in them? because they rejected the word of the Lord. 

Dunlap, in his introduction to "Sod, the Mysteries of Adonis," explains the word "Sod" as arcanum, religious mystery, on the authority of Schindler's "Penteglott." "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him," says Psalm xxv., 14. This is a mistranslation of the Christians, for it ought to read "Sod Ihoh (the mysteries of Ihoh) are for those who fear him" (Dunlap, "Mysteries of Adonis," xi). "Al (El) is terrible in the great Sod of the Kadeshim (the priests, the holy, the Initiated), Psalm lxxxix, 7" (ibid.). The Kadeshim were very far from holy. (Vide Part II., "The Holy of Holies.")

Patrick Mead: Since that story was first used to oppose religious innovations and support patternism, it has been used for scores of issues. In addition to the few above we could add located preachers, youth ministers, eating in the building, forming colleges, singing in harmony, songbooks, etc.

John Calvin noted that there is no statute of limitation about heresy: all of these WERE indeed considered heresy from the beginning because there is no ROLE and assuredly no DOLE for any of the above.  And just because "we got away with little heresy" does not give one the authority to violate direct commands which no historical scholar was ignorant about.

Honoring God's Commands, Examples and inferences is well established in the Bible and defended by all historic scholars who could read the Word..

Is. 8:20 To the law and to the testimony:
         if they speak not according to this word,
         it is because there is no light in them.
John 11:10 But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.
The Monarchy was under NEITHER the Law or the Testimony of the Prophets: if you speak from the curse of the sacrificial system there IS NO LIGHT IN YOU.
1Pet. 1:10 Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently,
        who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
1Pet. 1:11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify,
        when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.

Rev. 19:10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me,
        See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant,
        and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship
        God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
Peter authorized the PROPHETS and the prophecies made more perfect for out learning: if you private intgerpret or further expound then Peter says that YOU are a false teacher.  The Church and the national sacrificial system have NOTHING in common. The New Style Music in fact is the meaning of the BEAST in Revelation.

Patrick Mead: More than one preacher has warned teens who got too excited in worship that Aaron’s sons were also "on fire for the Lord." Perhaps it would be beneficial to figure out what it was that got Nadab and Abihu killed. Was it that they brought in an innovation; an unauthorized fire (as some versions put it)? That they violated the Law of Silence?

1 And Nadab H5070 and Abihu H30, the sons H1121 of Aaron H175,

  1. took either of them his censer  
  2. and put fire therein 
  3. and put incense thereon 
  4.  and offered strange fire
  5. BEFORE the LORD 
    which he commanded them not.

See more of the story:

Patrick Mead: Impossible…because of the synagogue. Before you respond that the synagogue wasn’t in place yet, understand that that is the point.

The TEMPLE was designed as the CAPITAL, bank, center of animal sacrifices--not commanded under The book of the Covenant.

Qahal (h6951) kaw-hawl'; from 6950; assemblage (usually concr.): - assembly, company, congregation, multitude.

"A community, qahal in Hebrew, is a Jewish community of any size. The qahal was a well established concept and was called an ekklesia in the Nazarean Codicil. In English we translate the Greek ekklesia as church. So, whenever we see the word church in our Nazarean Codicil's, we should have in mind the concept of a qahal, a community or congregation.

The Septuagint uses the word Ecclesia seventy times when it translates the Hebrew word: kve (qahal could also be spelled Cahal), from which we get our English word call. It means to call together, to assemble, or gather together.

The synagogue serves the same purpose for a community that the Temple served for the nation. (Greg Killian)

From this midrash we learn that the study and application of the scriptures and the oral law, are the work that a group of people put in to establish a qahal. However, without a structure to impart this wisdom, the qahal will not prosper. The structure that establishes and prospers a qahal is the synagogue.

The outlawed alarm which Judas would try on Jesus was:

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.

The assembly was for hearing the Words of God:

Specially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children. Deut 4:10 

THE QAHAL, SYNAGOGUE OR CHURCH OF CHRIST IN THE WILDERNESS NEVER CHANGED..

Psalms 74:8 They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together:
        they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land.
Psalms 74:9 We see not our signs:
         there is no more any prophet:
        neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.
Psalms 74:10 O God, how long shall the adversary reproach?
        shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?

Preachers look for words like "synagogue" and because they cannot find them make great leaps over firey furnaces and give people authority to repeat the folly.  For people who have violated the direct commands of God it is too late: for others, ignorance about the synagogue is DELIBERATE because the Church of Christ has exactly the pattern of the Synagogue with the addition of the Lord's Supper as the ONLY preaching commanded.

Mark 1:21 And they went into Capernaum;
         and straightway on the sabbath day
        he entered into the synagogue, and taught.
Mark 1:23 And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out,
Mark 1:29 And forthwith, when they were come out of the synagogue,
        they entered into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.

Both the Jews and Gentiles were well prepared for Christ.  If you believe the following then you will understand why false teachers PROVE that some things are correct by mocking the music issue:

Acts 13:26 Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham,
        and whosoever among you feareth God
        to you is the word of this salvation sent. 

Acts 13:27 For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers,
        because they knew him not,
        nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day,
        they have fulfilled them in condemning him.
Acts 15:21 For Moses of old time
        hath in every city
        them that preach him,
        being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.

DON'T LET ANYONE IMPOSE ANYTHING UNDER THE SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM: YOU TOO WILL REMAIN BLIND.

2Cor. 3:13 And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face,
        that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:
2Cor. 3:14 But their minds were blinded:
        for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away
        in the reading of the old testament;
        which vail is done away in Christ.
2Cor. 3:15 But even unto this day,
        when Moses is read,
        the vail is upon their heart.
2Cor. 3:16 Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.
2Cor. 3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
2Cor. 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord,
        are changed into the same image from glory to glory,
        even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

IF THEY DO NOT FOLLOW THAT SIMPLE PATTERNISM PLEASE STOP FEEDING THEM.

See what all Bible readers know about the synagogue.

Patrick Mead: When the people were taken into captivity and the temple destroyed (after being stripped of its treasures, including the Ark of the Covenant),
        their worship changed far more dramatically than most Christians realize.

We repeat: the Godly people NEVER worshipped at the temple much less INSIDE of the temple. The Civil-Military-Clergy complex had been been abandoned to WORSHIP THE STARRY HOST.  Why would a preacher try to lead you into the curse of animal sacrifices as an approved patternism.  I repeate the warning:

Jacob says I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord!" Of Simeon and Levi the patriarch remarks that they

Genesis 49.5 Symeon et Levi fratres vasa iniquitatis bellantia

Gen. 49:5 Simeon and Levi are brethren;
        instruments (weapon, psaltery)
        of cruelty are in their habitations.
                 (stabbing, dig through furnace, for burning
                 Bellor fight,  carry on war,

Iniquitas B. Unfairness, injustice, unreasonableness: luxuria, praetoris, unreasonable demands in the shape of taxes,

Both the Sabbath and the tithe or "taxes" came from Babylon.

Cruelty h2555 unjust gain Habitations h4380 Stabbing, a sword a furnace, boiling
         Instruments:  7015. qiynah, kee-naw´; from 6969; a dirge (as accompanied by beating the breasts
                               or on instruments):—lamentation.       
                       6969. quwn, koon; a primitive root; to strike a musical note, i.e. chant or wail (at a funeral):—
                       lament, mourning woman [from CAIN]
Remember That Cain was of the wicked one and Paul said that Eve was totally deceived as a wife is taken before her husband.

Verg. A. 11.660 The maids of Thrace
ride thus along Thermodon's frozen flood,
and fight with blazoned Amazonian arms
around Hippolyta; or when returns
Penthesilea in triumphal car
'mid acclamations shrill, and all her host
of women clash in air the moon-shaped shield.

Ululo (Halal) Howl, make to ring, resound,
Gallus castrated priests of Cybele.A. Galli , ōrum, m., the priests of Cybele, so called because of their raving, . Quint. 7, 9, 2: “resupinati cessantia tympana Galli,” —And satirically
(on account of their emasculated condition), in the fem.: Gallae , ārum, Cat. 63, 12, and 34.—

Tumultus of thunder, a  sudden or impending war, civil war, insurrection, pertubatio

Exsulto B.  In partic., to exult, rejoice exceedingly; to run riot, to revel; to vaunt, boast:
1. Boastful, vain-glorious: “turbati aut exsultantis animi motus,Tac. H. 1, 17.—
2.  Of an orator or an oration, diffuse, prolix: “fiunt pro grandibus tumidi ... laetis corrupti, compositis exsultantes,

        Gen. 49:6 O my soul, come not thou into their secret;
                unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united:
                for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall.

Consilior to take counsel, to consult,
h5475 Sod h3245session, deliberaton, secret.
h3519  Kabod theglory  or darkness of the temple
Coitus come A.  Abstr., a coming or meeting together, an assembling: A. A uniting, joining together, combination

            Gen. 49:6 O my soul, come not thou into their secret;
                    unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united:
                    for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill
                    they digged down a wall.

Gen. 49:7 Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel:
        I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.
Divido I. To force asunder, part, separate, divide (very freq. and class.; cf.: distribuo, dispertio; findo, scindo, dirimo, divello, separo, sejungo, segrego, secerno).

They PROFANED the Sabbath (made musical noises) by making animal sacrifices. The GODLY people attended synagogue from the wilderness onwared to LEARN THE WORD OF GOD ONLY.

Patrick Mead: What instruments they were able to take with them were still used, but they often mourned so deeply that they hung their harps on the willow trees so that God’s wind (same word as Spirit most of the time) could make music on them, as they could not. They had no access to priests, the Ark, the brass altar, the incense…nothing.

Christ the Rock ordained the synagogue for the godly people.  He abandoned the Levites to worship the starry host.  Christ said that God did not command animal slaughter or burnt offerings: He did not command the king, kingdom, temple or anything during the Monarchy.

Acts 7:41 And they made a calf in those days,
        and offered sacrifice unto the idol,
        and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
euphrainō , Ep. euphr-, fut. Att.155.12, Pi.I.7(6).3
Pind. I. 6
Just as we mix the second bowl of wine when the men's symposium is flourishing, here is the second song of the Muses for Lampon's children and their athletic victories: first in Nemea, Zeus, in your honor they received the choicest of garlands, (the Crooked Race)
Pind. I. 7 In which of the local glories of the past, divinely blessed Thebe, did you most delight your spirit? Was it when you raised to eminence the one seated beside Demeter of the clashing bronze cymbals, flowing-haired [5] Dionysus?
But since ancient grace sleeps, and mortals are forgetful of whatever does not reach the highest bloom of skillful song, joined to glorious streams of words, [20] then begin the victory procession with a sweet-singing hymn for Strepsiades;
Aristoph. Ach. 5 Just imagine how this blow struck straight at my heart! On the other hand, what joy Dexitheus caused me at the musical competition, when he played a Boeotian melody on the lyre! But this year by contrast!

Hom. Od. 2.309

Then wise Telemachus answered him: [310] “Antinous, in no wise is it possible for me in your overweening company to sit at meat quietly
        and to make merry with an easy mind.
        Is it not enough, ye wooers, that in time past
        ye wasted many goodly possessions of mine,
        while I was still a child?
But now that I am grown, [315] and gain knowledge by hearing the words of others, yea and my spirit waxes within me, 

Acts 17:24 God that made the world and all things therein,
        seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth,
        dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

Acts 17:25 Neither is worshipped with men’s hands,
        as though he needed any thing,
        seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
Exodus 32:6
hŏlŏcaustum , i, n., = holokauston, Which God had not commanded.
I. a whole burnt - offering, holocaust, Prud. Apoth. 537; id. Psych. 784; Vulg. Exod. 40, 6; id. Lev. 4, 7 al.; cf. the foll. art.

Surgo surrexi and subrexi, surrectum and subrectum,  applaude, They rose up AGAINST GOD. ESPECIALLY OF AN ORATOR first on  the list of "Hypocrites."

Play is LUDO to play at a game, to sport, dally, wanton play, Amourous play
Esp., to play on an instrument of music, to make or compose music or song: “ludere quae vellem calamo permisit agresti,Verg. E. 1, 10:
Musa the muses goddessess of poetry, music, mimic, oratory
Canto I. Neutr., to produce melodious sounds (by the voice or an instrument), to sound, sing, play
III. In the lang. of religion, as v. n. or a., to use enchantments, charms, incantations, to enchant, to charm,
Carmen declaim I. . a tune, song; poem, verse; an oracular response, a prophecy; a form of incantation (cf.: cano, cantus, and canto).
I. In gen., a tune, song, air, lay, strain, note, sound, both vocal and instrumental
Acts 7:42 Then God turned,
        and gave them up to worship the host of heaven;
        as it is written in the book of the prophets,
        O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts
        and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness?
Acts 7:43 Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan,
        figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.

"The Hebrews became infected with Sabeanism, the oldest form of idolatry, the worship of the Saba or starry hosts, in their stay in the Arabian desert, where Job notices its prevalence (Job 31:26); in opposition, in Am 5:27, Jehovah declares Himself "the God of hosts."

Amos 5:21  I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.
Amos 5:22 Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings,
        I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.
Amos 5:23 Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs;
        
for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.
Amos 5:24 But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
Amos 5:25 Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?
Amos 5:26 But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.
Amos 5:27 Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the LORD, whose name is The God of hosts.

. Acts 7:44 Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness,
        as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should
        make it according to the fashion that he had seen.
Acts 7:45 Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles,
        whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David;
Acts 7:46 Who found favour before God,
         and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.
        But Solomon built him an house. Acts 7:47
Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Acts 7:48
Acts 7:49 Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool:
        what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?

Acts 7:50 Hath not my hand made all these things?
Acts 7:51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears,
        ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.

Acts 7:52 Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted?
        and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One;
        of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:
Acts 7:53 Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.

Jer. 7:21 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel;
        Put your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh.
Jer. 7:22 For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them
        in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt,
        concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:

But this thing commanded I them, saying,

> Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people:
> and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you. Jer 7:23

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

Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day, I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them: Jer 7:25

No one but a Levite could make "noise" with a musical instrument in a religious sense.  God promised that the SONGS in their temples would be MOURNING when they were taken into captivity because God said He would "not pass by them again." Mourning was PUNISHMENT for making music instead of teaching the people the Worod of God. They hungered and thirsted for the WORD because the PREACHERS were fleeching them and making music in the temple.

God permitted David to build a tent at Zion rather than let him be killed.
But, Solomon built God a HOUSE.
But, God does not live in houses built by human hands or worshipped by the works of human hands.



John Chrysostom who had READ Acts 7 knew what almost no preacher knows or cares about.

Hence these same "customs" date their origin, hence the sacrifices:
..........they were themselves the first that made sacrifices to their idols!
..........For that is why it is marked,

Editor's Note 7: dia gar touto epishmainetai. The meaning is: Stephen was accused of speaking against "the customs,"-sacrifices, temple, feasts, etc. Therefore he significantly points to that critical conjuncture. from which these "customs" date their introduction: namely, the Provocation at Horeb.
Prior to that, he tells of "living oracles," life-giving precepts:
after it, and as its consequence, sacrifices, etc.,

those statutes which were not good, and ordinances by which a man shall not live, as God says by Ezekiel.

Not a word of sacrifice till then: and the first mention is, of the sacrifices offered to the calf. In like manner, "they rejoiced," "the people ate and drank, and rose up to play:" and in consequence of this, the feasts were prescribed: kai eufrainonto, fhsin: dia touto kai eortai.-'Epishmainetai might be rendered, "he marks," "puts a mark upon it" (so the innovator, who substitutes, touto kai Dauid epishmainomenoj legei): we take it passively, "there is a mark set over it-it is emphatically denoted." In the active, the verb taken intransitively means

"to betoken or announce itself," "make its first appearance."-

In the Treatise adv. Judaeos, iv. §6. tom. i. 624. C. St. Chrysostom gives this account of the legal sacrifices: "To what purpose unto Me is the multitude of your sacrifices? etc. (Isaiah i., 11, ff.)

Do ye hear how it is most plainly declared, that God did not from the first require these at your hands? Had He required them, He would have obliged those famous saints who were before the Law to observe this practice.

`Then wherefore has He permitted it now?

In condescension to your infirmity. As a physician in his treatment of a delirious patient, etc.: thus did God likewise. For seeing them so frantic in their lust for sacrifices, that they were ready, unless they got them, to desert to idols: nay not only ready, but that they had already deserted, thereupon He permitted sacrifices. And that this is the reason, is clear from the order of events.

After the feast which they made to the demons, then it was that He permitted sacrifices: all but saying: `Ye are mad, and will needs sacrifice: well then, at any rate sacrifice to Me. 0'"-(What follows may serve to illustrate the brief remark a little further on, Kai h aixmalwsia kathgoria thj kakiaj.)

"But even this, He did not permit to continue to the end, but by a most wise method, withdrew them from it ...

For He did not permit it to be done in any place of the whole world,

but in Jerusalem only. Anon, when for a short time
they had sacrificed, he destroyed the city.
Had He openly said, Desist, they, such was their insane passion for sacrificing, would not readily have complied. But now perforce, the place being taken away, He secretly withdrew them from their frenzy."
So here: "Even the captivity impeaches the wickedness (which was the cause of the permission of sacrifice.")

Patrick Mead:
They designed an entirely new way of worship based on communion and congregation; mutual leadership in prayer, reading, and contemplation (think of a gathering of the Society of Friends [Quakers] without the strident pacifism and political ardor).

No. The temple system was Babylonian because that is what the elders requested and what God abandoned them too. The godly people always RESTED on the Sabbath: they READ and DISCUSSED the Word of God and NEVER did any kind of congregational worship at the temple.  The GODLY people always attended synagogue which by direct command "had no praise service" and the Godly people still attend what Paul called "synagogue" to PREACH "that which is written for our learning" with ONE MIND and ONE MOUTH (unison, human language).

Patrick Mead:  None of this was authorized. All of it was 180 degrees away from the Torah’s regulations on worship. And God accepted the worship. No one was struck with lightning (the probable meaning of the fire coming from God to kill Nadab and Abihu).

As a matter of fact God did NOT command the Temple worship which was NATIONAL like other nations and He sentenced Israel to go into captivity and death. Later He sent Judah into Captivity and only a tiny remnant ever returned to a tiny temple which was soon deserted.  If a nation of more than three million was trimmed down to about 50,000 who returned and probably the 120 reserved and baptized by John.  And all of the temples were destroyed and not a trace remains.  How can you say that God did not strike THE WHOLE NATION with plagues?

It was the Civil-Military-Clergy which burned down all of the synagogues and murdered the prophets. God had COMMANDED the synagogue as the church of Christ in the wilderness: that pattern never changed until Jesus.  Jesus further destroyed the Civil-Military-Clergy complex, had the temple burned down and the people scattered.  The Synogogue never ceased to exist for the godly people.

Patrick Mead: Jesus worshiped according to the new, innovative pattern not found in Leviticus and so did His followers. It was what they expected. It was what they were used to. While never authorized by God, their worship was accepted by Him.

Jacob cursed the tribe of Levi and everything until the time of Shiloh whose assembly He commanded them and us to attend. Since Christ the ROCK ordained the Synagogue in the wilderness which excluded "vocal or instrumental rejoicing or elevated form of speech" Jesus as Shiloh was to come and continue the synagogue after finally scattering the evils of Judaism which plagued Jews, Gentiles and everyone.

Matthew 26.30 When they had 'hymned" they went out to the Mount of Olives.

I believe that the Latin agrees with the common understanding that "singing was using the normal inflections of the human voice." Especially when you are confessing God the Father by the use of a hymn or prayer which gives HIM the glory. Mature males then and probably now do not agree to get together to appease God with singing.

Matthew 26.30  et hymno dicto exierunt in montem Oliveti

Hymnus , i, m., = humnos, I. a song of praise, a hymn: “hymnus cantus est cum laude Dei,Aug. Enarr. in Psa. 148, 17; Ambros. Expos. Psa. 118, prol. § 3; Lucil. ap. Non. 330, 9; Prud. Cath. 37 praef.; 4, 75: “divinorum scriptor hymnorum, Lact. 4, 8, 14; Vulg. Psa. 60 tit.; id. Matt. 26, 30.

Psalm 60 A teaching poem by David, when he fought with Aram Naharaim and with Aram Zobah, and Joab returned, and killed twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.

There is no SINGING TUNEFULLY involved in hymning:

Dīcoto say, tell, mention, relate, affirm, declare, state; to mean, intend (for syn. cf.: for, loquor stands for the Gr. eipein pros tina,
Ontōs , Adv. part. of eimi A. (sum), really, actually, verily, with Verb
Alēth-ēs a^, Dor. ala_thēs , es, (lēthō,
I. Hom., Opposite. pseudēs, in phrases alēthea muthēsasthai, eipein, agoreuein, alēthes enispein
3. of oracles, true, unerring, “alathea mantiōn thōkonPi. P.11.6, cf. S.Ph.993, E.Ion1537; of dreams, A.Th.710. “alēthei logō khrasthaiHdt. 1.14
        Opposite Epos
1. song or lay accompanied by music, 8.91,17.519. b. generally, poetry, even lyrics
        5. celebrate, of poets, “Aiantos bian
Acts 7:38 This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:
Romans 3:2 Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.
Hebrews 5:12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
1Peter 4:11 If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Luke 2.34 and Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, his mother, "Behold, this child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which is spoken against.

When Dico is translated SING it never speaks of tunefulness:

Dīco, 4. To describe, relate, sing, celebrate in writing (mostly poet.): “tibi dicere laudes,Tib. 1, 3, 31; so, “laudes Phoebi [Apollo, Abaddon, Apollyon] et Dianae,Hor. C. S. 76: “Dianam,

Laudo, I. to praise, laud, commend, extol, eulogize, approve
1. To pronounce a funeral oration over a person:
3. To praise, compliment, i. e. dismiss with a compliment, leave,
        to adduce, name, quote, cite a person as any thing: sermo
Sermo , ōnis, m. 2. sero, qs. serta, conserta oratio, Of prose as opposed to poetry
b. of verses in a conversational style, To Inculcate
II. Transf., a manner of speaking, mode of expression, language, style, diction, etc. (cf. lingua):

IF PATRICK IS WRONG THEN HE HAS JUST LIED TO GOD AND ABOUT GOD FOR HIS OWN PROFIT.

LET PATRICK MEAD FIND ANY MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS COMMANDED IN THE TORAH.

Patrick Mead: So how do we reconcile what happened to Nadab and Abihu with the license given to those who worshiped God in the synagogue? Nadab and Abihu’s sins were much deeper than breaking an established pattern of worship. They were sons of Aaron, called nobles in Israel (Ex.24:11). God asked for them by name in Exodus 24:1 to come commune with Him on Sinai. They were men of power, privilege and status in the religious world.

We just read the Biblical text and understand that the Synagogue was always Christ's pattern to let people REST from the horrors of slavery.  They were to READ and REHEARSE the Word of God as it was delivered. There was no preaching, singing or passing the collection plates. The Church from the wilderness onward was to protect the godly people FROM religious worship services.

No one but the tribe of Levi and only those on rare duty entered IN THE TABERNACLE. There was no singing with or without instruments in the synagogue where the godly-not cursed Levites assembled in their own little area to REST, Read and Rehearse the Word of God.

God knew that the Levites had been an old Molech infant burning, instrumental noise makers in Egypt. Therefore, in Exodus 31 God COMMANDED them not to permit any kind of MUSIC MAKING on the REST DAY.  Music would MARK them as pagans and violate the Sabbath.  Because they had refused to listen to God's voice, they were blinded to the Word. As a result, they engaged in MUSICAL IDOLATRY.  God removed The Book of The Covenant of Grace, Gave them The Book of The Law and sentenced them back to "beyond Babylon."

Click for Exodus 31 and 32 to define the New Style of Musical Idolatry.

Exod 31:14 Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you:
        every one that DEFILETH it shall surely be put to death:
        for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.

8104. shamar, shaw-mar´; a primitive root; properly, to hedge about (as with thorns), i.e. guard; .

Keep in Latin: Custodio II. With the access. idea of hindering free motion, A. In gen., to hold something back, to preserve, keep: To prevent PLAY or Ludo A. To sport, play with any thing, to practise as a pastime, amuse one's self with any thing, B. To sport, dally, wanton Esp., to play on an instrument of music, to make or compose music or song:

It is a fact that the Apis calf represented Osiris and the whole Egyptian trinity.  What happened at Mount Sinai is well documented by the Greek and Egyptian literature by those well aware of the Jews.  Therefore, if we look where the Bible POINTS we will not force godly people to repeat the terminal folly of instrumental worship.


Verg. G. 2.386
For no offence but this to Bacchus bleeds
The goat at every altar, and old plays
Upon the stage find entrance; therefore too
The sons of Theseus through the country-side—
Hamlet and crossway—set the prize of wit,

And on the smooth sward over oiled skins
Dance in their tipsy frolic. Furthermore
The Ausonian swains, a race from Troy derived,
Make merry with rough rhymes and boisterous mirth,

Grim masks of hollowed bark assume, invoke
Thee with glad hymns, O Bacchus, and to thee
Hang puppet-faces on tall pines to swing.
Hence every vineyard teems with mellowing fruit,

Till hollow vale o'erflows, and gorge profound,
Where'er the god hath turned his comely head.
Therefore to Bacchus duly will we sing
Meet honour with ancestral hymns, and cates
And dishes bear him; and the doomed goat
Led by the horn shall at the altar stand,
Whose entrails rich on hazel-spits we'll roast.

SYMMACHUS, LAMPRIAS, MOERAGENES. Plutarch

Here Symmachus, greatly wondering at what was spoken, says: What, Lamprias, will you permit our tutelar god, called Evius, the inciter of women, famous for the honors he has conferred upon him by madmen, to be inscribed and enrolled in the mysteries of the Jews?

Or is there any solid reason that can be given to prove Adonis to be the same with Bacchus? Here Moeragenes interposing, said: Do not be so fierce upon him, for I who am an Athenian answer you, and tell you, in short, that these two are the very same.

And no man is able or fit to bring the chief confirmation of this truth, but those amongst us who are initiated and skilled in the triennial [Greek omitted] or chief mysteries of the god.

But what no religion forbids to speak of among friends, especially over wine, the gift of Bacchus, I am ready at the command of these gentlemen to disclose.

When all the company requested and earnestly begged it of him; first of all (says he), the time and manner of the greatest and most holy solemnity of the Jews is exactly agreeable to the holy rites of Bacchus; for that which they call the Fast they celebrate in the midst of the vintage, furnishing their tables with all sorts of fruits while they sit under tabernacles made of vines and ivy; and the day which immediately goes before this they call the day of Tabernacles.

Within a few days after they celebrate another feast, not darkly but openly, dedicated to Bacchus, for they have a feast amongst them called Kradephoria, from carrying palm-trees, and Thyrsophoria, when they enter into the temple carrying thyrsi.

What they do within I know not; but it is very probable that they perform the rites of Bacchus. First they have little trumpets, such as the Grecians used to have at their Bacchanalia to call upon their gods withal.

Others go before them playing upon harps, which they call Levites, whether so named from Lusius or Evius,--either word agrees with Bacchus.

And I suppose that their Sabbaths have some relation to Bacchus; for even now many call the Bacchi by the name of Sabbi, and they make use of that word at the celebration of Bacchus's orgies.

And this may be discovered out of Demosthenes and Menander. Nor would it be out of place, were any one to say that the name Sabbath was given to this feast from the agitation and excitement [Greek omitted] which the priests of Bacchus display.

Patrick Mead: Seeing this, one could ask if God overreacted to a minor infraction in Leviticus 10 and Numbers 3. Some commentators — conservative, non-fringe ones, at that — believe the evidence points to Nadab and Abihu attempting to offer their incense in the Holy of Holies, an area they were not allowed to enter. They knew that, but could have been convinced that they were important enough to enter it even though they were not High Priests. Look at Leviticus 16:1,2 and see what is being inferred there.

That is true: in order to offer the not-commanded incense they had to DOUBT that the job done by Moses and Aaron was good enough.  The command of God was that the Levites "stand gurad" at the gate of the Tabernacle and later temple and  EXECUTE any one not on duty.  If the Holy Place was a type of the Body or Church of Christ the prophetic message was that "any rhetorician, singer or instrument player" who enters into the church was to be executed.

Any Levite who went into the Holy Place (type of church) or the Most Holy place (our spirit were we meet God's Spirit) was by TORAH commanded to be executed.

There is evidence that Nadab and Abihu did not revere God or the sanctuary as they should’ve done. See Leviticus 10:3 and compare it to Psalms 111:10 and Leviticus 19:30.

The strange fire was only part of the sinful actions of Nadab and Abihu that day. God had legislated what fire was to be brought in and how it was to be kindled on the incense altar. They didn’t violate a law of silence, but one of specificity. The fire to be used was the offspring of the original fire God used to send down to the brazen altar to consume sacrifices. It was fire from God, not from man. These two priests attempted to enter an area that was forbidden to them, in a way that showed disrespect to God, and bringing fire that wasn’t from God. This was no minor — or mistaken — action. It was an act of open defiance and self-deification.

WELL, WE WILL JUST HAVE TO LISTEN TO THE WORD.

1 And Nadab H5070 and Abihu H30, the sons H1121 of Aaron H175,

  1. took either of them his censer  
  2. and put fire therein 
  3. and put incense thereon 
  4. and offered strange fire
  5. before the LORD 
    which he commanded them not.

God issued commands to Moses and Aaron: He did not command Nadab or Abihu to do any of the listed things. It is a fact that any Levite teacher, singer or instrument player who went NEAR or INTO any holy place was to be executed by their brethren as the Levites executed 3000 of their brethren because of musical idolatry at Mount Sinai.

The Holy Place had all of the typical furnishings to define the future church: the bread of fellowship, the candlesticks or 7 spirits of God (Isa 11) all the knowledge of God and the incense altar which is now our own prayers looking into the Most Holy Place.

The Prophetiic Type would threaten any of the performing arts in the School of Christ where the inclusive / exclusive goal is to "teach that which has been taught" or "that which is written for our learning."

Strange is:

H2114 zûr zoor A primitive root; to turn aside (especially for lodging); hence to be a foreigner, strange, profane; specifically (active participle) to commit adultery:—(come from) another (man, place), fanner, go away, (e-) strange (-r, thing, woman).
Christ in Isaiah 24 had something to say about the STRANGE people.

From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. Isa 24:16

Zamiyr (h2158) zaw-meer'; or zamir zaw-meer'; and (fem.) zÿmirah zem-ee-raw'; from 2167; a song to be accompanied with instrumental music: - psalm (-ist), singing, song

Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law. Psa 119:53

But, David who was never a Worship Leader said:

Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage. Psa 119:54

I have remembered thy name, O Lord, in the night, and have kept thy law. Psa 119:55

But I said, My leanness, my leanness,

The Lord will be terrible unto them: for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and men shall worship him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the heathen. Zep.2:11

woe unto me the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.

Bagad (h898) baw-gad'; a prim. root; to cover (with a garment); fig. to act covertly; by impl. to pillage: - deal deceitfully (treacherously, unfaithfully), offend, transgress (-or), (depart), treacherous (dealer, -ly, man), unfaithful (-ly, man), * very.

Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat in a dry place; even the heat with the shadow of a cloud: the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low. Is.25:5

The Branch of the terrible ones is corrected to the :

Zamiyr (h2158) zaw-meer'; or zamir zaw-meer'; and (fem.) zÿmirah zem-ee-raw'; from 2167; a song to be accompanied with instrumental music: - psalm (-ist), singing, song

Isa 25:5 Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat in a dry place; even the heat with the shadow of a cloud: the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low.

It is important to look at individual words and we won't be lusting after MUSIC. Music is always called NOISE in one form or another:

Shaown (h7588) shaw-one'; from 7582; uproar (as of rushing); by impl. destruction: - * horrible, noise, pomp, rushing, tumult (* -uous).

Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it. Is.5:14

The Strangers are:

Zuwr (h2114) zoor; a prim. root; to turn aside (espec. for lodging); hence to be a foreigner, strange, profane; spec. (act. part.) to commit adultery: - (come from) another (man. place), fanner, go away, (e-) strange (-r, thing, woman).

For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk; the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up. Ho.8:7

Shiyr (h7891) sheer; or (the orig. form) 7788 (1 Sam. 18:6), shoor; a prim. root [rather ident. with 7788 through the idea of strolling minstrelsy]; to sing: - behold [by mistake for 7788], sing (-er, - ing man, -ing woman).

Shuwr (h7788) shoor; a prim. root; prop. to turn, i. e. travel about (as a harlot or a merchant): - go, sing. See also 7891.

Branch A symbol of kings descended from royal ancestors (Eze 17:3, Eze 17:10; Dan 11:7); of prosperity (Job 8:16); of the Messiah, a branch out of the root of the stem of Jesse (Isa 11:1), the "beautiful branch" (Isa 4:2), a "righteous branch" (Jer 23:5), "the Branch" (Zac 3:8; Zac 6:12). Disciples are branches of the true vine (Joh 15:5, Joh 15:6). "The branch of the terrible ones" (Isa 25:5) is rightly translated in the Revised Version "the song of the terrible ones," i.e., the song of victory shall be brought low by the destruction of Babylon and the return of the Jews from captivity. The "abominable branch" is a tree on which a malefactor has been hanged (Isa 14:19). The "highest branch" in Eze 17:3 represents Jehoiakim the king. [Easton's Bible Dictionary]

Patrick Mead: Why did they do this? The evidence is that they were drunk! Right after this incident, read what was said to Aaron in Leviticus 10:9,10. Interesting point: in almost every classical commentary, drunkenness is given as the reason for their actions. It is after the rise of Scottish Rationalism and the resultant religious patternism that we first find this being given as a moral lesson against tampering with the worship of God.

Keil and Delitzsch 354). J.A. Selbie wrote in Dictionary of the Bible (James Hastings, ed.), "There is not the slightest warrant for the idea. . . that the prohibition (v. 8f) against the use of wine or strong drink by priests on duty implies that Nadab and Abihu were intoxicated when they committed their fatal offence" (III:471). Even if the sons of Aaron were drunk, they compounded their sin in offering "strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not." Whereas later texts emphasize that Nadab and Abihu sinned in offering "strange fire," not once is there any evidence that they were guilty of drunkenness (cf. Num. 3:2-4; 26:60-61). The effort to find Nadab and Abihu guilty of drunkenness in connection with their worship stems from an unwillingness to believe that God would punish Nadab and Abihu with death for the relatively small offense of taking fire from an unauthorized source!

Before you rush to try to force this story into the instrumental music question (or any of those listed above)  please remember that God did, in fact, order instruments in worship (and indicated great joy in them).

They chose their own method of returning thanks and giving praise to God, a method unsanctioned by God's command, unauthorized by their official superiors (F. Meyrick, The Pulpit Commentary 2:150).

Their crime was not in doing what was forbidden, but in doing what was not enjoined. Will-worship is offensive to God. No body of uninspired men has any business to "decree rites and ceremonies" (J.A. McDonald, The Pulpit Commentary 2:157).

For their essence of their sin was this, that it was will-worship; worship in which they consulted not the revealed will of God regarding the way in which He would be served, but their own fancies and inclinations. The directions for worship had been, as we have seen, exceedingly full and observed, "Doubtless it seemed to Nadab and Abihu a matter of no consequence at all that they should take fire from one altar rather than from another. To us it may seem a comparatively small thing, when viewed in connection with the terrible doom that immediately ensued. Obviously, however, it was a great thing in the sight of God" (The Pulpit Commentary 158).

BUT, PATRICK MEAD IS RUSHING TO MAKE IT GIVE AUTHORITY FOR WHAT HE CONFESSESTO BE SIN.

God never commanded sacrifices or the instrumental NOISE which is called SOOOTHSAYING as part of an exorcism of a NOT-commanded temple.

God DID NOT command the king, temple, sacrificial system or EXORCISM noises with the warrior's instruments.  2 Chronicles 29 was a plague stopping exorcism conducted close to 300 years after David's first exorcism animal sacrifice WITHOUT instruments.  The Levites under the KING and COMMANDERS of the Army DID NOT make any noise during the animal sacrifices for the king, kingdom, city and temple which had become polluted by Assyrian idolatry which INCLUDED instruments in the holy places. 

AFTER that, Hezekiah decided ON HIS OWN to burn some goats for Israel which was the Instrumental Sectarians of that day. He did this as a UNITY effort.  You have to read further to see just WHAT the Levites actually performed and by WHOSE authority:

2Chr. 29:26 A. And the Levites stood [in ranks] with the instruments of David, (Military)
                   
B. and the priests with the trumpets(Religious)

2Chr. 29:27 And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar.
                   And when the burnt offering began,
                  
B. the song of the LORD began also with the trumpets,
                  
A. and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel.
Anyone who says that THIS is God commanding "congregational singing with instrumental accompaniment" should turn in their still bleeding sheep skin. Shame.

Patrick Mead: It wasn’t His command that stopped their use, but the swords and shackles of barbarian invaders. There is no evidence of His resending His orders, though, as He is a God of grace, He accepted the worship that the people were able to offer Him, even though it was miles away from the commands He had issued.

God was not REQUIRED to rescend something He did NOT COMMAND.
God was not REQUIRED to rescend the instrumental noise under the KING and COMMANDERS of the Army if the King is dead and the Jewish Army was defeated.
If God turned them over to worship the STARRY HOST and they used the military musicians, He is not REQUIRED to rescend the worship of the Starry host for those who are not Disciples of Christ: Disciples are students. Students do not make war or perform religious rituals. Disciples of Christ attend the School of Christ to Rest, Read and Rehearse the Word of God.

By Christ's permissive will He had their CHURCH HOUSE torn down and burned up three times. Can't get the HINT?

Christ OUTLAWED "vocal or instrumental rejoicing" for the synagogue in the wilderness.
Christ repudiated the civll-military-clergy as robbers and parasites in the PROPHETS.
Jesus called the Scribes and Pharisess, hypocrites by naming false preachers, singers and instrument players.

Patrick Mead: The synagogue stands as a testimony to God’s willingness to listen to those who seek Him; even if they don’t do everything right.

THE SYNAGOGUE WAS COMMANDED BY CHRIST (THE ROCK) AS THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN THE WILDERNESS.

Even if TOLERATED and therefore PATTERNISM for TOLERATING the use of Instruments the GRACE CONCEPT is a clear confession that WE ARE SINNING if we use instruments BUT grace is going to cover it up like a dog pile. Sowing discord will NEVER be tolerated or forgiven. Here is the PATTERNISM endorsed by Jesus, commanded by using the word, ekklesia, commanded and defined by Paul and Peter with "that which is written" the ONLY resource to be read.  It cannot be private interpreted or further expounded and it cannot be corrupted meaning SELLING LEARNING AT RETAIL.  Grace is another word for Jesus: He teaches us to DENY that which selfish men want to impose for their own PLEASURE.

Acts 15:21 For Moses of old time
        hath in every city
        them that preach him,
        being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.

WHAT IS DIRECTLY COMMANDED FOR THE CHURCH

Catholic Encyclopedia.

Every seven years, that is in the year of release, during the feast of Tabernacles, 
the Law was to be read before all the people according to the command found in Deut., xxxi, 10.

But this enactment was probably soon found to be impracticable;
        and thus the Jewish authorities arranged to read on every sabbath,
        commencing with the sabbath after the feast of Tabernacles in one year of release
        and ending with the feast of Tabernacles in the next year of release,
        a portion of the Law so calculated that the whole
       
Pentateuch would be read through in seven years.

This would in some way the commandment be fulfilled. Some time later,
        the Jews of Palestine lengthened the sections for each sabbath
        in such a manner that he entire Law could be read in three years (Talm. Babyl. Megillah, 29b).

Miqra (h4744) mik-raw'; from 7121; something called out, i. e. a public meeting (the act, the persons, or the place); also a rehearsal: - assembly, calling, convocation, reading.

So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading. Ne.8:8

And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence. Is.4:5 

WHAT IS DIRECTLY EXCLUDED FOR THE CHURCH

God only authorized the two silver trumpets: these were reserved for sending important signals.  However, many people had their own flutes or shofars, tambourines and sistrums: Miriam had here sistrum as a priestess or prophetess in Egypt.  The women especially were prone to parade around singing, clapping, dancing and beating on instruments.  Therefore, the command:

Num. 10:5 When ye blow an alarm, then the camps that lie on the east parts shall go forward.
Num. 10:6 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.

"Despite the differences between the Mosaic and the Egyptian cults, it can hardly be denied that Egyptian influence on Jewish musical practices were quite significant. They would stand to reason because of the high quality of egyptian cultic music.

The tambourine or timbrel, a hoop of bells over which a white skin was stretched, came from Egypt. Miriam used this instrument to accompany the singing and dancing on the shores of the Red Sea (Ex. 15).

The trumpet blown for decampment, at the gathering of the people and on different cultic occasions, especially during sacrifices (2 Chron. 30:21; 35:15; Num 10:2), was the signaling instrument of the Egyptian army.

The sistrum, according to 2 Sam 6:5, was used by the Israelites and bore the name mena'aneim. It was the same as the Egyptian kemkem which was employed in the cult of Isis.

The solemnity celebrated on the occasion of the transferring of the Ark to Sion, as well as the dances of the daughters of Israel at the annual feast of the Lord of Shiloh (Judg 21:21), were similar in thier musical embellishments to Egyptian customs in the liturgy and at parades. As Herodotus reports,

women sang the praises of Osiris while likenesses of the gods were born about and, during the festival of Diana at Bubastis,

choirs of men and women sang and danced to the beating of drums and the playing of flutes." (Quasten, Johannes, Music and Worship in Pagan and Christian Antiquity, p. 65)

THIS IS THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN HOLD SYNAGOGUE OR SCHOOL OF THE BIBLE

Numbers 10.[7]  [7] quando autem congregandus est populus simplex tubarum clangor erit et non conciseululabunt

Con-grĕgo
Academia congregation. Collect into a flock,  where plato taught, scholars are called Academici, and his doctrine Philosophia Philosophia Academica,
THE DIRECT COMMAND: ē-lŏquor  I. v. dep. a., to speak out, speak plainly, to utter; to pronounce, declare, state, express: Rhetorical, Eloquent, ornate  B. Trop., to adorn, decorate, set off; to commend, praise, extol; to honor, show honor to, distinguish:
in distinction from Stoica, Cynica, etc., Cic. de Or. 1, 21, 98; id. Or. 3, 12; id. Fin. 5, 1, 1 al. .
THE CYNICS WERE THE OLD STYLE PRAISE SINGERS: CATAMITES

Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. Phil 3:2

Dogs were the CYNICS they stamped, clapped and made noises like DOGS to attract their fellow homosexuals. It assuredly works in churches of Christ which have been INFILTRATED and DIVERTED into "theaters for holy entertainment" where theatron means to MAKE A SPECTACLE. True to all of history, about HALF run for their lives.

The philosophy of the Acadamy, A. For The philosophy of the Academy: “instaret academia, quae quidquid dixisses,

Parabolos, poet. paraib- , on, ( [paraballô] ):I. (parox.) with a side-meaning, deceitful, paraibola, kai chalepon pragma Isoc.6.49,  kertomeousin A. taunt, sneer ah.Merc.56

Cyrenaica pleasure is the only good. Good in a pleasing agitation of the mind or in active enjoyment. hedone. Nothing is just or unjust by nature, but by custom and law.  Cynics Diogenes, in particular, was referred to as the Dog.. a distinction he seems to have revelled in, stating that "other dogs bite their enemies, I bite my friends to save them."  Later Cynics also sought to turn the word to their advantage, as a later commentator explained:

Augustine stating that they had, "in violation of the modest instincts of men, boastfully proclaimed their unclean and shameless opinion, worthy indeed of dogs." De Civitate Dei 14.20.

For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. Re.22:15

SORCERERS TO BE BURNED are the speakers, singers and instrument players in Revelation 18: they are the lusted after FRUITS (Same as in Amos) as priests of the Babylon mother of harlots (Rev 17)

But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. 2Pe.2:22

Caphaq (h5606) saw-fak'; or saphaq (1 Kings 20:10; Job 27:23; Isa. 2:6), saw-fak'; a prim. root; to clap the hands (in token of compact, derision, grief, indignation or punishment); by impl. of satisfaction, to be enough; by impl. of excess, to vomit: - clap, smite, strike, suffice, wallow

For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Phil 3:3



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