Cleansing The Temple
Proof text that God commanded Israel to worship with instrumental music.
Let's Begin at the Proof-Text but remember that everything has a before and an after to explain itself.
In 728 B.C. Hezekiah becomes King of Judah. Because of the usual evil king, a great wrath or plague had broken out upon the nation of Judah and Jerusalem. The nation of Israel or ten northern tribes were already on their way to captivity and destruction.
So, here is what happened in the minds of our fatal proof-text system:
And he set the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the kings seer, and Nathan the prophet: for so was the commandment of the Lord by his prophets. 2 Chronicles 29:25
End. Period. Here it is in blue and white. Here is the logic which drives us:
> This verse in isolation has God commanding instrumental music under the law.
> God did not change his mind and issue a new law which says: "Thou shalt not worship with instrumental music."
> Therefore, we have proof-text legal authority for instrumental music in the Christian assembly.Sentenced to Worship of Molech, Chiun etc. at Mount Sinai
But Whoa! Back up over a thousand years (1,000) from Hezekiah where the story of the king and kingdom really begins when God turned Israel over to worship the starry host at Mount Sinai. The "because of transgression" was rising up to play in the musical idolatry of Egypt.
Astrology is one of the primary methods of obtaining a message from the dead.
"Manesseh also cultivated star and planetary worship (II Kings 21:3, 5) and the cult of Moloch, an Ammonite deity, whose worship was closely connected with astral divination (Amos 5:25, 26 Acts 7:41-43) and whose ritual was characterized by parents sacrificing their children by compelling them to pass through or into a furnace of fire." (Unger, Merrill, Archaeology and the Old Testament, Zondervan, P. 279)
Ephraim Syrus On Our Lord notes that Sinai was a test. The Israelites were consummate idolaters in Egypt. However, God gave them one more shot at the Abrahamic Covenant. By removing Moses as a visible "authority figure" He wanted to let them answer their own prayer:
18. But when their heathenism from being inward became open, then Moses also from being hidden openly appeared; that he might openly punish those whose heathenism had revelled beneath the holy cloud which had overshadowed them.
But God removed the Shepherd of the flock from it for forty days, that the flock might show that its trust was fixed upon the calf.
And he was there in the wilderness forty days tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him. Mark 1:13
While God was feeding the flock with all delights, it chose for itself as its Shepherd the calf, which was not able even to eat.
Moses who kept them in awe was removed from them, that the idolatry might cry aloud in their mouths,
which the restraint of Moses had kept down in their hearts. For they cried: Make us gods, to go before us.19. But when Moses came down, he saw their heathenism revelling in the wide plain with drums and cymbals.
Speedily, he put their madness to shame by means of the Levites and drawn swords.
So likewise here, our Lord concealed His knowledge for a little when the sinful woman approached Him, that the Pharisee might form into shape his thought,
as his fathers had shaped the pernicious calf.
The story of the Jews is God's record of a great detour. God was happy with His people living right and treating others right under the patriarchal system. He owned all of the cattle so how could you offer God one of His cows as "worship"? God said later: "If I get hungry I will not tell you."
Spiritual religion has no external ritual nor can it use the works of men's hands as "worship." That is why God defined Synagogue and church as "assembly" for allowing Him to teach us. The Babylonian "god" created mankind to serve the "gods." Therefore, Yahweh wants to know that we worship Him spiritually when we allow Him to serve us. His Sabbath was never for "going to church" but for honoring Him in quietness. The "Lord's Day" is our day if we do not listen to the Lord "In spirit."
Where the Detour Began: And we had better not get on the Detour as modern Narrative Theologians insist upon doing.
And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. Acts 7:41
Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets (Amos), O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness? Acts 7:42
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. Acts 7:43
This is the Jerusalem model of Molech or Remphan which God turned Israel over to. Yep! Right there in the "king's music grove" or Topheth which came to stand for hell itself. They were using their "musical worship team" to move the worshipers into the presence of the god. However, they had to sacrifice a child (Yep, right there in Jerusalem). This is what God turned Israel over to and that is what they worshiped.Worship of a Spirit God has never taken place except in the PLACE of the human spirit devoted to seeking God through Truth or His word.
Therefore, what God "permitted" was not to save Israel but to protect His own Holy name from their paganism.
Israel's Elders Fire God, Demand a System Like the Canaanites or Jebusites. God answered their prayers for the Moment.
When Israel's Elders Demanded A King Like the Nations this was to worship like the nations but not like the Law of Moses. This story is repeated numerous times in the Old Testament. However, Ecclesiasticus quoted later on notes that:
Elijah... brought kings down to destruction, and famous men from their beds; Ecclesiasticus 48: 6.
who heard rebuke at Sinai and judgments of vengeance at Horeb; Ecclesiasticus 48: 7.
who anointed kings to inflict retribution,
and prophets to succeed you. Ecclesiasticus 48: 8.And Hosea and all Old Testament history agrees:
O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help. Hosea 13:9
I will be thy king: where is any other that may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes? Hosea 13:10
I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath. Hosea 13:11God Sent the Musical Prophets From The Philistine High Place as Judgment
God sent Two Primary Signs when he was "perverting" Saul to make the warriors so disgusted that they didn't want to follow him: Prophesying Musicians and the Destruction of the Crops proved that Israel's new "star gods" were not the true God of Fertility. If they worshiped God with wine, women and song as condemned by Amos and others then they would hunger and thirst to death. Even more damaging, they would die from spiritual hunger and thirst for the WORD but could not find it.
"The religious activities by which the people sought to please Yahweh provoked only scorn from the prophet, for the festal and cultic activities obscured Yahweh's real nature and activity (4:4-5).
"If we take Amos' words as they stand, there seems to be little doubt that he condemned the entire religious pattern--feasts, sacrifices, ritual music, offerings, tithes--everything. Jerald LaRue, Old Testament Life and Liturature (ch 18)
The first "prophesying with harps" was by the "prophets" from the Philistine high place. "Prophesying with instruments" was a distinctly pagan charismatic practice. See more details on 1 Cor 13 and prophesying or speaking in tongues. We can understand the "uncovered prophesying" in 1 Cor. 11:5 only by understanding the pagan practices in Corinth where women prophesied with music, wine and more.
Euripides Iphigeneia in Taurus 1123
And you, lady, the Argive penteconter will bear you home; [1125]
..........the wax-bound reed of the mountain god Pan, piping, will shout to the oars,
..........and Phoebus the prophet, with the ring (twang) of his seven-stringed lyre, singing,"Singing served as a means of inducing ecstatic prophecy (speaking in tongues).will guide you well to the gleaming land of the Athenians. Leaving me here, you will go with splashing oars. Inthe breeze, the forestays of the ship that carries you swiftly will spread out over the front beyond the prow.
May I come to the bright race-course, where the sun's fire goes; [1140] over the chambers of my home, may I cease to flutter the wings on my back.
May I take my stand in the dances of glorious marriages, where I stood as a maiden, [1145]
..........twirling about in the dancing bands of other girls, away from my dear mother;
..........rushing on to the contest of charms,
..........the luxuriant strife of hair, I covered my cheeks with the multi-colored veil [1150]
..........and shadowed them with the locks of my hair.
Thus the essential relationship between music and prophecy can be clearly seen.
This relationship also explains why the expression for "making music" and "prophesying" was often identical in the ancient tongues. origen contra celsum 8.67.The Hebrew word Naba signifies not only "to prophesy" but also "to make music." (Quasten, Johannes, Music and Worship in Pagan and Christian Antiquity, p. 39)
They pretended that their music was the mediator between the "gods" and men needing to buy some information. The "familiar spirit" of the witch of Endor was a crude musical instrument like those defined by Paul in 1 Cor. 13.
The Philistines from the area of Tyre and Sidon are one Biblical model of the king/queen as harp-playing prostitute. Their history is quite identical to that of Israel. Solomon sold cities to Hiram in exchange for cedar to build God a "house." And the plan for the temple which God "showed" David was a warning: the temple was very similar to the temples of the "nations" in the area. Therefore, Hiram's architects actually designed the "house." We can conclude that the "visions" God showed about Israel as an outlaw nation are not to be taken as "proof texts" for Christian worship.
Clement of Alexandria notes: "And Alexander, surnamed Polyhistor, in his work on the Jews, has transcribed some letters of Solomon to Vaphres king of Egypt,
and to the king of the Phoenicians at Tyre, and theirs to Solomon; in which it is shown
that Vaphres sent eighty thousand Egyptian men to him for the building of the temple, and the other as many, along with a Tyrian artificer, the son of a Jewish mother, of the tribe of Dan, as is there written, of the name of Hyperon. (Hiram)When the musical group divided from the 1800 year history of no instrumental music among faithful groups, the dedication of the church followed closely the dedication of Solomon's temple.
This along with the destruction of the wheat crop was God's sign that He had been "fired" and the nation was sold under a monarchy which would lead them into captivity and death to the beat of instrumental music.
God Turned Them Over to These Nations at Sinai. Yet, He Warned Those Who Will Never Listen
From knowledge of the Canaanites and Jebusites which Israel did not drive out, their "like the nations' kingdom was an Jebusite Alternative at a Jebusite holy place.
WHEN the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; Deut 7:1
As for the Jebusites the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out: but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day. Deut 15:63
Reading the Old Testament Proves that Israel's System was just like the Heathen. In fact, the Temple was a "stepped pyramid" similar to a Temple Tower.
For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt,
..........from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt,
..........and had feared other gods, 2 Kings 17:7And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel,
..........and (statutes) of the kings of Israel, which they had made. 2 Kings 17: 8And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the Lord carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger: 2 Kings 17: 11
Also Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made. 2 Kings 17: 19
For he rent Israel from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam drave Israel from following the Lord, and made them sin a great sin. 2 Kings 17: 21
For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they departed not from them; 2 Kings 17: 22
Until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day. 2 Kings 17: 23
However, the king of Assyria replaced the Israelite population with people from Babylon and other areas.
Therefore, this proves that the prophecy of destruction by turning Israel over to worship the starry host was being carried out just a few years after Israel's elders demanded a king and got a king to destroy them.
The Jubusites were descendants of Ham through Canaan. Their rule extended as far as Sodom and Gomorrah.
And John notes:
And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. Re.11:8
David's Worship was for the king and civil rulers.
In all of the "national" temples, beginning at the Tower of Babel which Abraham would have known, the temple was like the White-House or seat of national government. Therefore, the temple "religion" was for the civil authorities like "prayer breakfast at the white house." There are no exceptions to this rule in the Jerusalem temple.
As in all temple-states, the common people were not involved in the temple worship rituals:
"Each of the important deities had, in one or more of the Babylonian cities, a large temple in which he or she was worshiped. Temple services were generally conducted in open courts containing fountains for ablution and altars for sacrifices.
Only the high priest and other privileged members of the clergy and court were permitted to enter the cella, or inner part of the temple, which held the special statue of the deity
[Only these were involved with the musical animal sacrifices for purifying temple or personnel in the Jerusalem Temple.]
The needs of the deity were provided for in accordance with impressive ceremonies carried out by a vast institutionalized clergy that included
priests, musicians, magicians, soothsayers, dream interpreters, astrologers, and hierodules (including prostitutes). Sacrifices of food, drink, or incense were offered daily. Numerous festivals were held, the most important of which was the celebration of the new year at the spring equinox. Encarta Encyclopedia
This was one of the radical changes made by Solomon
Marduk's chief temples at Babylon were the Esagila and the Etemenanki, a ziggurat with a shrine of Marduk on the top. In Esagila the poem Enuma elish was recited every year at the New Year festival. The goddess named most often as the consort of Marduk was Zarpanit, or Zarbanit (She of the City Zarpan). (This was the Akitu.)
However, the common people were excluded because the COVENANT had been conditionally lost way back at Mount Sinai when Israel "rose up to play" in musical idolatry. The image of Paul is saying that if we want to find Christ we will have to go "outside the camp" or "outside the city gates" because not even Christ could have participated in the "worship" in the temple.
"Beginning with David and throughout the entire period of the monarchy, for about four centuries, Israel's worship on Zion gave a central place to the king, not simply as officiant but substantively, as the figure who in his office and person embodied the relationship between God and the nation.
In contrast, the premonarchic worship of Israel, at Shechem and elsewhere, had featured a Covenant between God and the people, through their tribal heads, as the bond in the relationship.
By taking over and adapting Jerusalem's ancient cult, David provided Israel with a new worship, one that featured his own status and its sacral significance. Britannica
> Until the fatal musical idolatry at Mount Sinai, music had no role to play in seeking and finding God through right living and treating others right.
> The musical idolatry at Mount Sinai was part of their "prayer" to return to the Egyptian system.
> God sentenced them to live like the nations.
> Israel again "prayed" for a national government which is called "the idolatry of nationhood."
> The sign of that rejection of God was "national" musical prophesiers from the Philistine high place. The destruction of the crops was a sign that "music" did not produce fertility as the Israelites were led to believe from their history.
> God picked Jerusalem and the Jebusites as the new "national" pattern.
> David offered animal sacrifices to stop the plague because he was too fearful of God's avenging angels to return to Gibeon.
> However, there was no instrumental music at this time because the Tyrian-like temple had not been built and dedicated.
Then the prophet Elijah arose like a fire, and his word burned like a torch. Ecclesiasticus 48:1.In The Intertestament period, Ben Sirach, wrote of Elijah
He brought a famine upon them, and by his zeal he made them few in number. Ecclesiasticus 48: 2.
By the WORD of the Lord he shut up the heavens, and also three times brought down fire. Ecclesiasticus 48: 3.
How glorious you were, O Elijah, in your wondrous deeds! And who has the right to boast which you have? Ecclesiasticus 48: 4.
You who raised a corpse from death and from Hades, by the word of the Most High; Ecclesiasticus 48: 5.
who brought kings down to destruction, and famous men from their beds; Ecclesiasticus 48: 6.
..........who heard rebuke at Sinai and judgments of vengeance at Horeb; Ecclesiasticus 48: 7.
..........who anointed kings to inflict retribution,
..........and prophets to succeed you. Ecclesiasticus 48: 8.And Hosea and all Old Testament history agrees:
O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help. Hosea 13:9
I will be thy king: where is any other that may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes? Hosea 13:10
I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath. Hosea 13:11
"'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. Ezek 20:32
"It is said, in Tosaphoth, that the sin lay 'not in demanding a king, but in the mode of so doing, 'like all the nations' virtually equivalent to a wish to become like surrounding idolaters." Professor Keil finds the wrong "In... nothing more than forsaking him to serve other gods." (Haley, p. 229-230).
Remember again: Israel "prayed" to be able to return to their Egyptian idolatry. The Israelites never forgot that slavery in Egypt gave them more food than worship of Yahweh in righteousness and justice. They prayed and God answered their prayer and "turned them over" to idolatry.
If this is not what happened during the reigh of the kings then the prophecy of Exodus endorsed by Stephen has no meaning.
When they demanded a king "like the nations" so that they could "worship like the nations" God answered their prayer after warning that the kings would consume them and destroy them.
Isaiah 30 defines the fate of those, including the Jews, who had accepted being turned over to worship the starry host under Molech, Chiun, Jupiter or other titles. When you hear the sound of musical instruments you can understand that it is God pouring out His wrath upon the people. Click to look at Isaiah 30.
Nevertheless, God protected the common people from the temple worship by excluding them "outside the gate" or "outside the camp" when music signaled the burning of animals.
If one wants to deny that the entire Monarchy Period was an example of them worshiping LIKE THE NATIONS then one has to believe that Israel did not MAKE SUCH A PRAYER and that GOD DID NOT GRANT them their wish in keeping with all of the Bible and history.
Now, let's Look at The Authority of David and Gad spoke of by Hezekiah 328 years later as part of a prescription for a "wrath stopping" animal sacrifice but not for "worship."
In 1048 B.C. David defeated the Jebusites and Jerusalem becomes the capital of Israel (all Israel). Because of David's census without redeeming the men, a great plague broke out. Jebus really means "to trample down" or "to pollute."
Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O Lord, art our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting. Isaiah 63:16
O Lord, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants sake, the tribes of thine inheritance. Isaiah 63:17
The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a little while:
our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary. Isaiah 63:18When David and Gad are used for "authority" it is for the burnt and peace offerings for STOPPING A PLAGUE or with Hezekiah STOPPING GOD'S WRATH. In the actual events it is not called "worship" but paying for national sins with national wealth using Military Musicians under king and commander of the army.
However, there was no instrumental music at this first ritual because the Temple had not been built in Jerusalem. Because there was no national headquarters LIKE THE NATIONS there were no musicians under the king and commanders of the army.
The Worship of The starry Host: Stargazers
God can deliver His message through a donkey. God even broke into the seance of the witch of Endor as she divined from her Familiar Spirit which was an old wineskin.
So, don't be disturbed that God spoke to David through the king's "seer" because David could never return to Gibeon to inquired from God in a spiritual sense.
Nabi' (Hebrew) [from naba' to deliver an oracle] A prophet, one inspired to foretell future events; the name given to prophecy in the Bible. One of the "spiritual powers, such as divination, clairvoyant visions, trance-conditions, and oracles. But while enchanters, diviners, and even astrologers are strictly condemned in the Mosaic books, prophecy, seership, and nobia appear as the special gifts of heaven. In early ages they were all termed Epoptai, the Greek word for seers, clairvoyants; after which they were designated as Nebim [nebi'im] 'the plural of Nebo, the Babylonian god of wisdom.' The kabalist distinguishes between the seer and the magician; one is passive, the other active; Nebirah [nabi'] is one who looks into futurity and a clairvoyant; Nebi-poel [nebi'-po`el], he who possesses magic powers" (IU 1:xxxvii).
Gad was not a "prophet of God" but the king's seer. What is a seer? Seers are often grouped with prophets but Gad was to advise the king in civil and temple affairs:
Chozeh (h2374) kho-zeh'; act. part. of 2372; a beholder in vision; also a compact (as looked upon with approval): - agreement, prophet, see that, seer, stargazer.
For when David was up in the morning, the word of the Lord came unto the prophet Gad, Davids seer, saying, 2 Sa 24:11
All these were the sons of Heman the kings seer in the words of God, to lift up the horn. And God gave to Heman fourteen sons and three daughters. 1 Chr 25:5
Ruwm (h7311) room; a prim. root; to be high act. to rise or raise (in various applications, lit. or fig.): - bring up, exalt (self), extol, give, go up, haughty; (be) lofty, mount up, presumptuously, (be) promote (ion), proud, set up, taller, take (away, off, up), breed worms.
Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee. Isa 47:13
Stargazer: Kowkab (h3556) ko-kawb'; prob. from the same as 3522 (in the sense of rolling) or 3554 (in the sense of blazing); a star (as round or as shining); fig. a prince: - star [-gazer].
But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves. Am 5:26
Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms (maggots) cover thee. Isa 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! Isa 14:12
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: Isa 14:13
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Isa 14:14
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: Isa 14:13
Therefore, what did God command through Gad? It certainly was not a spiritual revelation!
And the Lord spake unto Gad, Davids seer, saying, 1 Chronicles 21:9 [David was not God's religious leader]
Go and tell David, saying, Thus saith the Lord, I offer thee three things: choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee. 1 Chronicles 21:10
So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Choose thee 1 Chronicles 21: 11
Either three years famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the Lord, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel.
Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me. 1 Chronicles 21: 12
Whatever Gad gave David as God's message has no relationship to "spiritual worship" which never has value unless it is free will: one does not go to the electric chair as a spiritual act of worship.
Whatever value this has as a proof-text, I don't want to go through the plague just to get to burn animals and make a loud noise with instruments.
David didn't want to lose power so he choose a plague. In time, God put up his sword:
Then the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to say to David, that
David should go up, and set up an altar unto the Lord in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 1 Chronicles 21: 18
> And David went up at the saying of Gad,
> which he spake in the name of the Lord. 1 Chronicles 21: 19And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the Lord; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering. 1 Chronicles 21: 26
And the Lord commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof. 1 Chronicles 21: 27
Jerusalem Becomes the Alternative Shrine for the King and kingdom:
At that time when David saw that the Lord had answered him in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there. 1 Chronicles 21: 28
For the tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of the burnt offering, were at that season in the high place at Gibeon. 1 Chronicles 21: 29
But David could not go before it to enquire of God: for he was afraid because of the sword of the angel of the Lord. 1 Chronicles 21: 30
If you will, Gibeon where God must be sought became like a "garden of Eden" with flaming cherubim which, in David's Mind, radically separated the king and kingdom from God's presence.
There is no mention of instruments in this message from God through Gad to David.
Of David's Original Covenant in a spiritual sense:
For he wiped out his enemies on every side,
..........and annihilated his adversaries the Philistines;
.......... he crushed their power even to this day. Ecclesiasticus 47: 7
In all that he did he gave thanks to the Holy One, the Most High, with ascriptions of glory;
..........he sang praise with all his heart, and he loved his Maker. Ecclesiasticus 47:8
He placed singers before the altar, to make sweet melody with their voices. Ecclesiasticus 47: 9
He gave beauty to the feasts, and arranged their times throughout the year, while they praised God's holy name, and the sanctuary resounded from early morning. Ecclesiasticus 47: 10Warrior Levites For the King and Military
Remember: no temple "like the nations" no instruments "like the nations." That was a fact before Solomon and the Jews understood that when the temple was destroyed the last time.
Before he died, David called a National Convention to provide a smooth transition to Solomon as civil king and with Jerusalem as capital of the nation and the Temple as sole place for sacrifices. This included making the warrior instrumentalists guard and assist at the King's temple.
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, Nathan 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
Musical Worship Quarantined in Jerusalem
The adoption of the Jebusite system was the "like the nation's" king and worship Israel wanted when they "fired" God. If this is not true then God did not allow Israel to fall from grace like they had demanded and He had conceded to.
"When David took Jerusalem, he assumed the rule over its inhabitants and their religious institutions with the cult centered on Mt. Zion.
The previous (Jebusite) ruler had been both king and high priest, and played the role of mediator between the city and its deity. There was no precedent for such a mediative and priestly role of kings in Israelite religion,nor of walled cities as the seat of government and worship. Apparently, David simply took over the Jebusite cult on Zion and adapted it to his own (and Israelite) use. Britannica
Chrysostom speaking for all scholars notes why God imposed sacrifices.
"Ye are mad, and will needs sacrifice: well then, at any rate sacrifice to Me. (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.")
When the Jews lost Jerusalem they did not sacrifice anywhere else in the world? Therefore, it was not until AD 1815 that the Jews added instruments played by Gentiles because it was unlawful to play instruments on the Sabbath.
The adoption of a new doctrine and worship is acknowledged by most ancient scholars.
If this is NOT TRUE then God did not permit Israel to be governed and worship LIKE THE NATIONS. Then why were they destroyed?
THE word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. Isaiah 2: 2:1
And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lords house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. Isaiah 2: 2
And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Isaiah 2: 3
And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. Isaiah 2:4
O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord. Isaiah 2:5
Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please them selves in the children of strangers (adulterous women). Isaiah 2:6
Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made: Isaiah 2:8
Anan (h6049) aw-nan'; a prim. root; to cover; used only as denom. from 6051, to cloud over; fig. to act covertly, i. e. practise magic: - * bring, enchanter, Meonemin, observer of times, soothsayer, sorcerer.
Nachash (h5172) naw-khash'; a prim. root; prop. to hiss, i. e. whisper a (magic) spell; gen. to prognosticate: - * certainly, divine, enchanter, (use) * enchantment, learn by experience, * indeed, diligently observe.
Nachash (h5175) naw-khawsh'; from 5172; a snake (from its hiss): - serpent.
And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers: Micah 5:12
And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: Acts 16:16
Manteuomai (g3132) mant-yoo'-om-ahee; from a der. of 3105 (mean. a prophet, as supposed to rave through inspiration); to divine, i.e. utter spells under pretence of foretelling: - by soothsaying.
"From mantis, a seer, diviner. The word is allied to mainomai, "to rave," and mania, "fury" displayed by those who were possessed by an evil spirit represented by the pagan god or goddess while delivering their oracular message." Vine
Mainomai (mainomai) (g3105) mah'ee-nom-ahee; mid. from a prim. mao , (to long for; through the idea of insensate craving); to rave as a "maniac": - be beside self (mad)
But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness. Acts 26:25
If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad? 1 Corinthians 14:23
Anan (h6049) aw-nan'; a prim. root; to cover; used only as denom. from 6051, to cloud over; fig. to act covertly, i. e. practise magic: - * bring, enchanter, Meonemin, observe (-r of) times, soothsayer, sorcerer.
We noted above that the writer for Britannica notes:
By taking over and adapting Jerusalem's ancient cult, David provided Israel with a new worship, one that featured his own status and its sacral significance. Britannica
We also noted that the Bible is clear that both Israel and Judah worshiped like the nations.
And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel,
and (statutes) of the kings of Israel, which they had made. 2 Kings 17:8
All ancient scholars who write about the "firing" of God in favor of a human king "like the nations" agree that the temple worship was not according to the Law of Moses. Therefore, to the extent God permitted the change it was to facilitate and test Israel before finally turning them over to the Assyrians who would force the this pagan form of worship by force of arms or fiery furnace:
"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, bu 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)
Does it mean nothing that this new Canaanite-Jebusite Jubilant Praise really meant to drive yourself into the Baal-like slobbering madness? This praise which cause David to sing, dance, play instruments and go naked before the slave girls was not something for "spiritual" worship:
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.
Heylel (h1966) hay-lale'; from 1984 (in the sense of brightness); the morning-star: - Lucifer.
"David succeeded in transferring the traditions of the Confederacy to Jerusalem: the Ark, the Tabernacle, the priesthood. But in this change something happened to the character of 'Israel,' to the structure of the community. No longer was Israel, the people of God, bound together on the basis of covenant allegiance to Yahweh at the central sanctuary; Israel was now bound together politically, on the basis of a contract between king and people (II Sam. 5:3). As citizens of the state, the people of Israel owed allegiance to a king who could take a census, exact forced labor, and require submission to his power...As Israel became a state modeled after other oriental monarchies, more and more she lost her distinctive character and faced the danger of being swallowed up in the power struggle and cultural stream of the Near East." (Anderson, Bernard, Theology of OT, p. 188).
Sure, God turned them over to worship and praise Molech right there in Jerusalem. Molech was Lucifer's agent. Nevertheless, each time Israel did it God poured out His wrath upon them.
The Source for the Levitical Sounders
The musical Levites were warrior instrumentalists before David had defeated all of the enemies. After the wars the king and commanders of the army had lots of Levites who probably had no skill as teachers, lawyers or policement. The original altar did not require such a large body of men to serve the priests.
However, after God picked the Jebusite model for David's secular kingdom, the surplus men became, as God warned them, a pyramidal ministry system. As such, the king would use a system of patronage and take away the fields and orchards from the people and give them to his court favorites. The king would take the girls for his court and young boys to make "instruments of chariots" which were musical instruments used to toot the common people off the roads when the king was approaching.
As a Jebusite or Canaanite pattern, David needed men trained in the Canaanite tradition of sacrificial music.
"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 Monarchy, 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, Music, p. 457).
"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).
"professional musicians emerged in Israel about the time of David and Solomon. From then on, we have abundant historical evidence of the role which the professional musicians played in the organization of the temple ritual." (International Dictionary of the Bible, p. 461, Abingdon).
"the testimonies of neighboring civilizations are of little value, as they 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 Phoenicia and Syria almost all popular music reflected the worship of Ishtar, the goddess of fertility.
Thus, popular song was usually a prelude to sexual orgies in honor of the goddess, led and organized by her thousands of hierodules." (Interpreter's Dict of the Bible, Music, p. 461).
The "musical guilds" amazingly have Canaanite names!
The Warrior Levites are not called "musicians" because music is not an operative word for worship. Rather the "worship" was "service" which implies hard bondage made vivid by having to move and burn thousands and thousands of animal carcasses.
Asaph was not a spiritual "worship leader."
Asap (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.
This is probably not the same Nathan who rushed ahead and gave David permission to build the temple against God's will:
Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer, 1Chr.29:29
"In addition, 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)
"Other names occurring in connection with the musical guilds are Chalcol (calcol) and Darda (I Chron. 2:6), which with Ethan and Heman appear in the list of wise men in I Kings 4:31. This classification is quite appropriate, since a great musician was commonly also a seer (I Chron. 25:5) or prophet (I Chron 25:2,3), as well as a wise man.
Chalcol and Darda are designated 'sons of Mahol' or 'members of the orchestral guild,' and seem to reflect a class of plant or flower names applied to musicians. The equivalent of 'Chalcol' significantly appears on several ivories found at Megiddo in the hieroglyphic form of Kulkul, as a singer attached to the temple of Ptah in the Canaanite city of Ashkelon, dated about the thirteenth century B.C." (Unger, Merrill, Archaeology and the Old Testament, Zondervan, P. 217)
Ashkelon was on the coast and was a major Canaanite trading center and close to Tyre and Sidon. Much of Ashkelon's trade was with Egypt. Because Israel always lusted to return to lush and joyful Egypt, God permitted them to worship like the Egyptians but not to return there. In time, they would go into bondage or return to Egypt to build a new "Jewish" temple. Parts of the temple on Elephantine Island can still be seen and the Ethiopic church claims to own the Ark of the Covenant.
Ptah is Egyptian and represents the rising sun. In the Jerusalem temple the women worshiped Tammuz (Babylonian) and the men bowed to the sun (Ezekiel 8). This was one example of an "abomination" in the holy place. Ptah is also the master architect and is associated with freemasonry as is Hiram the architect of the Jerusalem temple.
Ptah was the god of craftsmen. He was usually represented as a man wearing a close-fitting cap on his head. The deities closely associated with Ptah were the lion-headed goddess Sakhmet, the god Nefertum, and Apis (almost always shown as a bull with special markings).
Apis represented Osiris and the golden calf was an idol of Apis. This was the worship at Mount Sinai.
This is an old woodcut showing the Jews worshiping the starry host in Jerusalem.
See the musical worship of Tammuz by the women in the temple.
"Amos stressed "that violations of the moral law could not be remedied by means of festive rites, offerings, or liturgical indulgence on the part of the sinner. In point of fact, God was already standing beside the altar (Am. 9:1ff), poised and ready to shatter it.
No ritual, however, elaborate and symbolic in nature,
could possibly substitute for the sincere worship of the human spirit, grounded in high moral and ethical principles." (Harrison, R. K., Introduction to the Old Testament, Eerdmans, p. 895)."The prophets were singularly unimpressed by all this religious busyness. They asserted that the people had abandoned the true God for heathen idolatries and that their much-frequented sanctuaries were sinks of iniquity. Recent archaeological discoveries go a long way towards confirming their condemnation of popular religion. It is significant, for example, that on the ostraca from eighth-century Samaria, the proportion of names compounded with Baal suggests that no less than a third of the population practiced some form of Canaanite religion." (Heaton, E. W., Everyday Life in the Old Testament, Scribners), p. 231).
You have lifted up the shrine of your king, the pedestal of your idols, the star of your god -- which you made for yourselves. -- Amos 5:26
Yea, ye took the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Raephan, the image of them which ye made for yourselves." Amos 5:26 LXX"The neighboring gods of Phoenicia, Canaan, Moab--Baal, Melkart, Austerity, Chemosh, Moloch, etch--were particularly attractive to Jerusalem, while the old Semitic calf-worship seriously affected the state religion of the Northern Kingdom...the worship of the sun, moon, stars and signs of the Zodiac became so intensely fascinating that these were introduced even into the temple itself (2 Kit. 17:16; 21:3-7; 23:4, 12; Jet. 19:13; Ezek. 8:16; Amos 5:26)" (It Sty Bible Envy., Idolatry, p. 1448).
What was the nature of the SERVICE of the Levitical sounders?
In the then but now Babylonian system of "worship," the "gods" were represented by the god's agents or priests or preachers KEPT THE SABBATH DAY HOLY. However, the common people were forced to slave to enhance the lives of the priestly class. This is why God demanded absolute rest on the Sabbath because God and His true ministers serve the people:
However, to be LIKE THE NATIONS the Levites were not true "musicians" but "prophesiers" which meant to afflict self or others. Their service was worship in the pagan sense
Abodah (h5656) ab-o-daw'; from 5647; work of any kind: - act, bondage, / bondservant, effect, labour, ministering (-try), office, service (-ile, -itude), tillage, use, work, * wrought
Abad (h5647) aw-bad'; a prim. root; to work (in any sense); by impl. to serve, till, (caus.) enslave, etc.: - * be, keep in bondage, be bondmen, bond-service, compel, do, dress, ear, execute, / husbandman, keep, labouring man), bring to pass, (cause to, make to) serve (-ing, self), (be, become) servant (-s), do (use) service, till (-er), transgress [from margin], (set a) work, be wrought, worshipper.
Because of the huge number of animal carcases to be moved and burned, the Levites along with the porters did hard time on the "rock pile" to do what we lust to do as free people under Christ who has removed the burden.
Canaan, Jerusalem and at the temple was the only place God permitted this like the nation's government to exist. At the musical idolatry at Mount Sinai, the people were labeled "strangers" to the Tabernacle and the newly-assigned clergy. Even at the time of Christ, the common people never "worshiped" in the temple nor came near when sacrifices were made.
All later Jews understood that the only way you could use Hezekiah as proof text would be to return to Jerusalem, rebuild the temple and restore the priesthood and animal sacrifices. Jews are still looking for the almost-supernatural harps to allow the third temple to take place.
Now, fast forward to Hezekiah close to 300 years later:
2 Chronicles 29:25 has some other verses connected to it.
Beginning about 1000 BCE (before the Common Era&emdash;BC), David's reign lasted for about 40 years (until 962 BCE).
Hezekiah reigned at a time when the Assyrian empire was consolidating its control of Palestine and Syria. His father had placed Judah under Assyrian suzerainty in 735 BC. Hezekiah may have taken part in a rebellion against King Sargon II of Assyria (reigned 721---705 BC), which the Assyrians apparently crushed in the year 710. At the accession of Sennacherib (705--681 BC), further rebellions broke out all over the Assyrian empire. Hezekiah may have been the leader of the rebellion in Palestine, which included the city-states of Ascalon and Ekron and gained the support of Egypt.
In preparing for the inevitable Assyrian campaign to retake Palestine, Hezekiah strengthened the defenses of his capital, Jerusalem, and dug out the famous Siloam tunnel (2 Kings 20:20, 2 Chronicles 32:30), which brought the water of the Gihon springs to a reservoir inside the city wall.
Therefore, notice the sequence as Hezekiah opened the closed temple and told the priests that the place was so polluted that:
Wherefore the wrath of the Lord was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes. 2 Chron 29:8
Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us. 2 Chronicles 29:10
Hezekiah, like David, made a covenant to turn away the fierce wrath from Jerusalem and its temple specifically so that the outlying people could take sanctuary behind the walls.
Hezekiah was hoping against hope that the reformed temple and people would make captivity easier.
Notice that the "people's congregation" is never involved in the temple rituals. After making many sacrifices, the blood was sprinkled on the altar
Then Hezekiah the king rose early, and gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the Lord. 2 Chronicles 29:20
And they brought seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven he goats, for a sin offering
..........for the kingdom, and
..........for the sanctuary, and
..........for Judah.Ginzberg notes a common belief:
But Azazel persisted obdurately in his sin of leading mankind astray by means of sensual allurements.
> For this reason two he-goats were sacrificed in the Temple on the Day of Atonement, the one for God, that He pardon the sins of Israel,
> the other for Azazel, that he bear the sins of Israel.
To continue to use this as authority for "music" in the Christian Era would deny that Christ bore the sins once for ALL times.
1 Moreover Azazyel (Tubal-Cain etal.) taught men to make swords, knives, shields, breastplates, the fabrication of mirrors, and the workmanship of bracelets and ornaments, the use of paint, the beautifying of the eyebrows, the use of stones of every valuable and select kind, and all sorts of dyes, so that the world became altered.
(r) Genun (Tubal-Cain etal.) the Canaanite, son of Lamech the Blind,
living in the Land of the Slime Pits,
..........was ruled by Azael from his earliest youth,
..........and invented all sorts of musical instruments.
..........When he played these, Azael entered into them too,
..........so that they gave forth seductive tunes
..........entrancing the hearts of all listeners.Genun would assemble companies of musicians,
..........who inflamed one another with music
..........until their lust burned bright like fire
..........and they lay together promiscuously.
He also brewed beer, gathered great crowds in taverns, gave them to drink,
..........and taught them to forge iron swords and spear-points,
..........with which to do murder at random when they were drunk.Take notice that this was for the kingdom, the temple and the little nation of Judah. Israel was not involved with the temple of Judah.
And he commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to offer them on the altar of the Lord. 2 Chronicles 29:21
So they killed the bullocks, and
..........the priests received the blood,
..........and sprinkled it on the altar:
likewise, when they had killed the rams,
..........they sprinkled the blood upon the altar:
they killed also the lambs, and
..........they sprinkled the blood upon the altar. 2 Chronicles 29:22The Levites did not participate in the offering of killing or sprinkling of the blood.
We know that Israel was not there because Hezekiah would later invite them to a Passover festival.
Therefore, to try to reconcile Israel to Judah the king wanted them included:
And they brought forth the he goats for the sin offering before the king and the congregation (representatives only); and they laid their hands upon them: 2 Chronicles 29:23
And the priests killed them, and they made reconciliation with their blood upon the altar, [This says: "This goat is dying for the sins of all Israel]
to make an atonement for all Israel:
for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel. 2 Chronicles 29:24
Israel had been turned loose by God and the temple worship was the worship of the civil state because they insisted that they be permitted to "worship like the nations."
The goat was symbolic of Satan or the satyrs who seduced mankind with music which meant singing and dancing:
Saiyr (h8163) saw-eer'; or sair saw-eer'; from 8175; shaggy; as noun, a he-goat; symbol of.. a faun: - devil, goat, hairy, kid, rough, satyr
Saar (h8175) saw-ar'; a prim. root; to storm; by impl. to shiver, i. e. fear: - be (horribly) afraid, fear, hurl as a storm, be tempestuous, come like (take away as with) a whirlwind.
Easton's: Hairy one. Mentioned in Greek mythology as a creature composed of a man and a goat, supposed to inhabit wild and desolate regions. The Hebrew word is rendered also "goat" (Leviticus 4:24) and "devil", i.e., an idol in the form of a goat (17:7; 2 Chr. 11:15). When it is said (Isaiah 13:21; comp 34:14) "the satyrs shall dance there," the meaning is that the place referred to shall become a desolate waste. Some render the Hebrew word "baboon," a species of which is found in Babylonia.
They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new (stranger, prostitutes) gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not. Deut 32:17
Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee. Deut 32:18
For this last offering, notice that there is two sets of commands: one for the king and kingdom but another one from Nathan. We will show parallel passages later:
What: And he set the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps,
Authority: according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the kings seer,
What: and Nathan the prophet:
Authority: for so was the commandment of the Lord by his prophets. 2 Chronicles 29:25
Nathan, the son of Asaph, was one of the PROPHESIERS ordained for the kingdom. If this is Nathan the true prophet rather than the instrumental overseers then we know that he was not involved in the plague-stopping of David. However, we have no record of Nathan the true prophet ever commanding music.
Chozeh (h2374) kho-zeh'; act. part. of 2372; a beholder in vision; also a compact (as looked upon with approval): - agreement, prophet, see that, seer, stargazer.
Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer, 1Chr.29:29
Don't lose sight of the fact that at Mount Sinai because of the musical idolatry God turned Israel over to worship the starry host of heaven:
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 7:42
God told Israel that the kings would destroy them. In the book of Ecclesiasticus written by Ben Sirach in the Intertestament Period, he notes:
Then the prophet Elijah arose like a fire, and his word burned like a torch. Ecclesiasticus 48:1.
He brought a famine upon them, and by his zeal he made them few in number. Ecclesiasticus 48: 2.
By the word of the Lord he shut up the heavens, and also three times brought down fire. Ecclesiasticus 48: 3.
How glorious you were, O Elijah, in your wondrous deeds! And who has the right to boast which you have? Ecclesiasticus 48:4.
You who raised a corpse from death and from Hades, by the word of the Most High; Ecclesiasticus 48: 5.
who brought kings down to destruction, and famous men from their beds; Ecclesiasticus 48: 6.
who heard rebuke at Sinai and judgments of vengeance at Horeb; Ecclesiasticus 48: 7.
who anointed kings to inflict retribution,
and prophets to succeed you. Ecclesiasticus 48: 8.O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help. Hosea 13:9
I will be thy king: where is any other that may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes? Hosea 13:10
I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath. Hosea 13:11
Can you "seek the Lord through His Word" as the only way to "worship in spirit and in truth" and grasp that the king, kingdom and temple were part of God's permissive will to facilitate the destruction of a people who would not or COULD NOT hear God through His Word.
I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all who live in Jerusalem. I will cut off from this place every remnant of Baal, the names of the pagan and the idolatrous priests-- Zeph 1:4
those who bow down on the roofs to worship the starry host, those who bow down and swear by the LORD and who also swear by Molech, Zeph 1:5
those who turn back from following the LORD and neither seek the LORD nor inquire of him. Zeph 1:6
Here is the only meaning of true worship in the Old or New Testament:
Baqash (h1245) baw-kash'; a prim. root; to search out (by any method, spec. in worship or prayer); by impl. to strive after: - ask, beg, beseech, desire, enquire, get, make inquisition, procure, (make) request, require, seek (for).
Darash (h1875) daw-rash'; a prim. root; prop. to tread or frequent; usually to follow (for pursuit or search); by impl. to seek or ask; spec. to worship: - ask, * at all, care for, * diligently, inquire, make inquisition, [necro-] mancer, question, require, search, seek [for, out], * surely.
Therefore, Gad was part of the system of seeking answers from the starry host. We cannot doubt that God interceded with Gad but He did not tell Gad to tell David to institute instruments which were part of the worship of the stary host in Amos 5 and 6.
Hezekiah confirms this so that Hezekiah doesn't contradict Hezekiah (or the scribe)So the Levites stood ready with David's instruments,
and the priests with the trumpets. 2 Chronicles 29:26
If they are David's Instruments then they are not God's Instruments because God isn't worshiped with the works of men's hands.
People separated by 328 years are called upon for AUTHORITY for this wrath-stopping ritual. However, if God commanded the musical instruments for the people's WORSHIP then every other parallel passage contradicts 29:25. And Hezekiah contradicts Hezekiah:
And Hezekiah (the king) commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar.
(Ordained by God) And when the burnt offering began, the song of the Lord began also with the trumpets,
(Ordained by the King) and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel. 2 Chron 29:27
If David ordained or commanded the instruments then God did not:
"NO command of God was ever so ascribed to man. The use of the instruments of music in the Old Testament were of man, not of God." (Tract on music, David Lipscomb).
The Methodist scholar, Adam Clark, noted that:
"It was by the hand or commandment of the Lord and his prophets that the Levites should praise the Lord; for so the Hebrew text may be understood:
"and it was by the order of David that so many instruments of music should be introduced into the Divine service." (Adam Clark, Commentary on 2 Chron. 29:25).
However, the singers and trumpeters were not worshiping.
And all the congregation (those invited) worshipped (bowed),
..........and the singers sang,
..........and the trumpeters sounded:
..........and all this continued until the burnt offering was finished. 2 Chr 29:28Worship in this sense was to bow or fall prostrate on the ground while the animals were being sacrificed.
"All had hitherto been preparatory. Now Hezekiah gave orders that 'the burnt offering--i.e. the daily morning sacrifice should be offered upon the Brazen Alter in front of the porch, thus restoring and reinstituting the regular Temple-service.
A burst of music gave notice to the people of the moment when the old worship recommenced." (Barnes, p. 416).
In the temple dedication there were 120 trumpets SOUNDING. Now, this could hardly be called "music."
"At the dedication of the later edifice, the priests blew the trumpets at the same time that the Levites sang and played upon instruments of music, so as 'to make one sound;but it is evident that on that great occasion of rejoicing, what was aimed at was not musical harmony, but a powerful crash of jubilant sound.
We are shut up to the conclusion that there was nothing in the tabernacle-worship, as ordered by Moses, which could be justly characterized as instrumental music." (George Girardeau, p. 29 - a Presbyterian).
"The statute, law, ordinance here mentioned manifestly relates especially to the feast of the Passover, which, when it occurred at the new moon, was attended with the solemn blowing of trumpets, as the parallel passage shows: Ex. 13:8, 9, 14-16.
If this is not deemed satisfactory, let the statute, law or ordinance be pointed out which enforced the use of timbrels, harps and psalteries upon the Israelites in connection with their exodus from Egypt. Until that is done loose assertion will avail nothing." (Girardeau, George, Instrumental Music in Church Worship, p. 76).
Sounding was not "making music" but to signal and warn people:
Chacar (h2690) khaw-tsar'; a prim. root; prop. to surround with a stockade, and thus separate from the open country; but used only in the redupl. form chacocer khast-o-tsare'; or (2 Chron. 5:12) chacorer hhats-o-rare'; as dem. from 2689; to trumpet, i. e. blow on that instrument: - blow, sound, trumpeter
The sounding for which the Levites ware selected was the Hebrew:
Shama (h8085) shaw-mah'; a prim. root; to hear intelligently (often with impl. of attention, obedience, etc.; caus. to tell, etc.): - * attentively, call (gather) together, * carefully, * certainly, consent, consider, be content, declare, * diligently, discern, give ear, (cause to, let, make to) hear (-ken, tell), * indeed, listen, make (a) noise, (be) obedient, obey, perceive, (make a) proclaim (-ation), publish, regard, report, shew (forth), (make a) sound, * surely, tell, understand, whosoever [heareth], witness.
The "assembly" was not the nation of Israel nor the nation of Judah nor the people of Jerusalem. The assembly was those whom Hezekiah had gathered to go to the temple which, to this point, was not a place of Jewish worship but of pagan worship. In addition to the priests and Levites,
When the offerings were finished, the king and everyone present with him knelt down and worshiped. 2 Chr 29:29
Worship is "seeking God" but animal sacrifices are seeking forgiveness for sins paid for by the sinners own sacrifice.
Worship for the people was not possible until sins had been paid for with the blood of animals. Then the burning of animals began with a loud noise. Only then would God accept the worship of the king, priests, Levites and rulers of the city.
Remember that the Levites were under the king and the commanders of the army or officials. The Lord did not commanded GAD to institute the playing of various instruments. Therefore,
King Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to praise the LORD with the words of David and of Asaph the seer.
So they sang praises with gladness
and (they) bowed their heads and worshiped. 2 Chr 29:30Only when the regular Temple service was established would it be proper for people to approach with the confidence that they would not be destroyed and their service would be accepted.
"Since the Scripture expressly states that the musical instruments sounded 'until the burnt-offering was finished'
the congregational praise which followed must have been a Capella." (Notes on The Biblical Doctrine of Worship, Presbyterian Church of N.A.).
Finally, the nation and "buildings and grounds" and leaders have been purified to make the restoration of regular sacrifices possible.
Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now ye have consecrated yourselves unto the Lord, come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of the Lord. And the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank offerings; and as many as were of a free heart, burnt offerings. 2 Chron 29:31
Edersheim notes that when the instruments began for the nation, the people were put outside the gates or outside the camp. After the state sacrifices were complete, individuals could make offerings but there was no music involved.
Remember that the burning with music is connected to all Israel. We know that Judah and Israel were separate nations and the "congregation" was the civil rulers and clergy:
AND Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, to keep the Passover unto the Lord God of Israel. 1 Chronicles 30:1
For if ye turn again unto the Lord, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him. 2 Chron 30:9
So the posts passed from city to city, through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh even unto Zebulun: but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked them. 2 Chr.30:10
Hezekiah, perhaps as a compromise, offered the he goats for all of Israel with the instrumental sounding hoping for a reconciliation at the commanded Passover. However, the nation of Israel just mocked the messengers sent to them over and over.
Other Parallels
Adam Clark Notes: Here, however, the author of this book states
he had the commandment of the prophet Nathan, and Gad the king's seer;
and this is stated to have been the commandment of the Lord by his prophets:
but the Syriac and Arabic give this a different turn-"Hezekiah appointed the Levites in the house of the Lord, with instruments of music, and the sound of harps,
and with the HYMNS of DAVID,
and the HYMNS of GAD, the king's prophet,
and of [Hymns of] NATHAN, the king's prophet: [This Nathan was a son of Asaph and a musician.]
for David sang the praises of the Lord his God,
..........as from the mouth of the prophets."This agrees with the Temple-Dedication and other parallel rituals:
And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty and two thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep:
1. so the king and all the people (clergy and officials only) dedicated the house of God. 2 Chronicles 7:5
2. And the priests waited on their offices: (Religious)
1A. the Levites also with instruments of musick of the Lord, which David the king had made to praise the Lord, because his mercy endureth forever,
when David praised by their ministry;
2A. and the priests sounded trumpets before them, and all Israel stood (only those called to be present or stand fast). 2 Chronicles 7:6
God's mercy was permitting the king and court to offer sacrifices at Jerusalem and only at Jerusalem because David, the king, was so fearful of God's angel's sword at Gibeon that he could never return their to enquire of God.
Thus, the kings were usually in exile from the favor of God and God kept their "like the nation's" rituals bottled up in Jerusalem.
Moreover Solomon hallowed the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord: for there he offered burnt offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the brasen altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt offerings, and the meat offerings, and the fat. 2 Chronicles 7:7
Then Solomon offered burnt offerings unto the Lord on the altar of the Lord, which he had built before the porch, 2 Chronicles 8:12
The commandment of God: Even after a certain rate every day, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts, three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles. 2 Chronicles 8: 13
The burnt offerings made to Israel was commanded by God through Moses.
If 1 Chron. 29:25 means that the instruments were by the command of God this is solely in relationship to the Jebusite system which God "turned them over to" when they fired Him as their spiritual Leader.
The Syriac Version for the Temple Dedication:
God: Then Solomon offered burnt offerings unto the Lord on the altar of the Lord, which he had built before the porch, 2 Chronicles 8:12
Even after a certain rate every day, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts, three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles. 2 Chronicles 8:13
David: And he appointed, according to the order of David his father, the courses of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their charges,
to praise and minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required: the porters also by their courses at every gate: for so had David the man of God commanded. 2 Chronicles 8:14
Because the common people did not enter where the priests were ministering, and the Levites ministered to the priests, the people's congregation did not participate in this animal sacrifice. Edersheim noted that if individuals offered sacrifices it was after the state rituals had been completed for king and kingdom and the instrumentalists were silent. Therefore, the individual "came before God in silence."
After the return from Captivity:
And at that time were some appointed over the chambers for the treasures, for the offerings, for the firstfruits, and for the tithes, to gather into them out of the fields of the cities the portions of the law for the priests and Levites: for Judah rejoiced for the priests and for the Levites that waited. Nehemiah 12:44
And both the singers and the porters
..........kept the ward (sentry) of their God,
..........and the ward of the purification, according to the commandment of David,
and of Solomon his son. Nehemiah 12:45
..........For in the days of David and Asaph of old there were chief of the singers,
..........and songs of praise and thanksgiving unto God. Nehemiah 12:46The "chief singers was not truly a musician. They were the overseers.
Rosh (h7218) roshe; from an unused root appar. mean. to shake; the head (as most easily shaken), whether lit. or fig. (in many applications, of place, time, rank, etc.): - band, beginning, captain, chapiter, chief (- est place, man, things), company, end, * every [man], excellent, first, forefront, ([be-]) head, height, (on) high (-est part, [priest]), * lead, * poor, principal, ruler, sum, top.
Rosh (h7219) roshe;(Deut. 32:32), roshe; appar. the same as 7218; a poisonous plant, prob. the poppy (from its conspicuous head); gen. poison (even of serpents): - gall, hemlock, poison, venom
However, the musicians along with most of the "staff" returned to their own homes and farms and did not participate in the temple which was seen as obsolete because of their "worship in spirit and in truth" in their synagogues.
Nevertheless, Nehemiah yanked some hair and forced them back. However, Malachi notes that the staff was not out collecting from the farmers.
But, So What?
Even if you could prove that God commanded Gad to command David to use instrumental music for animal sacrifices, it would not be "congregational singing with instrumental accompaniment." "Music" is not an operative worship word in the Bible and the "congregation" of the people (non-civil or non-clergy) never worshiped with instrumental music.
It would only be to try to keep the rubbish, idols and idolaters out of the Temple in Jerusalem which was the king's alternative place for animal sacrifices "because David was too fearful of the angel's swords to ever return to Gibeon to seek God." Seeking God through prayer and study was always the only meaning of worship as a spiritual part of "falling on your face."
To use Hezekiah to justify "Christian music" would be to give total support to animal sacrifices. At best, you would have chased the evil influences from your physical "church house."
When it was all over, you would discover that even then the Levites sang as David intended them to do before the Temple was established under king and commanders of the army. This is defined as a cappella, but your worship would still be "outside the gates" where you were placed when the loud instruments signaled the burning animal sacrifices.
The common people of Israel never worshiped God with instrumental music in an approved sense. Only in the break-away ten northern tribes did attempt to worship with instruments according to Amos 5 and 6. They were, however, worshiping the same "gods" God turned them over to in the identical musical idolatry at Mount Sinai.
End Time Star Gazers and the Mark of The Beast
A Seer is: Chozeh (h2374) kho-zeh'; act. part. of 2372; a beholder in vision; also a compact (as looked upon with approval): - agreement, prophet, see that, seer, stargazer.
God didn't command any spiritual remedy for David's sin. Remember what happened at Mount Sinai: this continued right in the Jerusalem temple as part of the "national worship." Therefore, along with the prophets of God, the machinery of the worship of Molech and other "gods" was built right into the city of Jerusalem by Solomon.
Star of David was originally the secret symbol of the stargazing priests, later adopted by the Israelite Kings David and Solomon and subsequently by the Hebrew people as a whole."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."
The star of your god--R. ISAAC CARO says all the astrologers represented Saturn as the star of Israel. Probably there was a figure of a star on the head of the image of the idol, to represent the planet Saturn; hence "images" correspond to "star" in the parallel clause. A star in hieroglyphics represents God (Nu 24:17). "Images" are either a Hebraism for "image," or refer to the many images made to represent Chiun.The Mark of the Beast
We have a right to try to identify "the mark of the beast" or the mark of Molech as the mortal enemy of God and His Word in many different forms. The star has always been a symbol of the occult and of Satan worship. The star has six angles, six sides, and six points. The image above shows that it was an attempt to symbolize some of the stars which the Jews worshiped. The "wandering stars" could not be fixed and were therefore "superior gods." Saturn is particularly identified with Molech. Ishtar is identified with Venus and her consort--husband-son-was Tammuz worshiped by the women in the Jerusalem Temple and Ishtar or Inanna was worshiped as Easter or the rising sun: the morning star.
The Israelites at Sinai said: "We will not hear any more from God." The sentence to star worship at Sinai was based on the musical idolatry of Egypt, the worship in the temple became musical and numerous passages connect instrumental music to ignoring God or telling Him: "We will not hear any more from you."
The star of David was the star of Molech or other named "gods" which signified the worship of the heavenly bodies. It is significant that we call theatrical performers STARS. Beginning at the Tower of Babel, the superstitious was sold on the idea that the musicians could sing and play you up and down the steps so that you might meet a "god either ascending or descending." Of course, the god's agent, the priest, had a temple at the top with a collection plate. The top of the tower was like a "heliport for the gods." It is significant that "praise" and "dance" teams believe that they can elevate you up into the presence of God and even claim to be "a platform upon which God lands."
It is important to understand that the Jews went in musical procession to the mountain of God to engage in the burning of babies to the beat of musical instruments. They were told that they would get a message from Molech (Chiun in Amos). However, while engaged in musical performance, the story of Amos 5 and 6 is that they were sacrificing their children to the devil. The primary evil was that they allowed musical worship to take away the knowledge of the Word of God.
Of course, these people are ignorant dupes but Satan doesn't need bright people to form "mixed-sex choirs, instrumental music, dress, ornaments and wine" to seduce people away from the Word of God. This is the story of The Book of Enoch. The Islamic tradition is consistent with them all: music as worship is from Satan.
In Islamic Worship, Iblis (SHAYTAAN) said: "What will be my book?" (Shaytan is the name of all devils. Iblis is the one who refused to bow to Adam. Iblis is both female and male)
The Divine Answer came: "Your writing will be to tattoo; your reciting will be poetry; your messengers will be the fortune-tellers and astrologists; your food will be that food on which Bismillaah was not recited; your drink will be alcohol; your truth will be falsehood; you home will be the toilets;
- your net (to ensnare) will be women;
- your muezzin will be the musical instruments,
- and your musjid will be the market-place."
"In pagan traditions, musical instruments are invented by gods or demi-gods, such as titans (Satans). In the Bible, credit is assigned to antediluvian patriarchs, for example, the descendants of Cain in Genesis 4:21. There is no other biblical tradition about the invention of musical instruments." (Freedman, David Noel, Bible Review, Summer 1985, p. 51). (Proof Here).
There was no "praise service" in the Synagogue as there was not in the Christian assemblies. The urge to restore instruments flows directly from a wrong grasp of Mount Sinai and the Monarchy as God's "instrument" to carry Israel to Assyrian captivity and death and Judah beyond Babylon as prophesied and fulfilled.
This file references: olan hicks, Michael Blakley, a cappella worship leader, dwaine e. dunning, ray downen, Lee Wilson, 1 chronicles 29:25, stargazers, lucifer, Mount Sinai, rising up to play, molech, chiun, remphan, star worship, temple, jerusalem, Jebusite, animal sacrifices, David's instrumental music, golden calf, canaanites, philistine high place, tyre, ben sirach, ecclesiasticus, jewish idolatry, golden calf, hathor, starry host, flaming cherubim, levites, asaph, Jerusalem temple, instrumental music in worship.
Counter added 7.27.06 8:53a 2500 Rev 3.08.07
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