The Golden Calf: They Rose Up To Play

The Golden Calf: They Rose Up To Play in Musical Idolatry. The word "play" is used of Samson as the pagans caused him to "sport" during their worship services of Dagon. Otherwise, the word is used of David who performed an Egyptian form of naked dance as he moved the Ark to the new tent HE provided in Jerusalem. David was in fact separating the presence of God at the Tabernacle from the Ark of the covenant in which David believed that God lived.

You must remember that David had "numbered the troops" undoubtedly with the intent of keeping a standing army after the battles had been won. As a result of David's sin many people died in a plague because he choose to let the people die for his sin. Just as the angel of death was approaching the area of Jerusalem God stopped the plague.

However, David was too frightened to go to the Tabernacle to enquire of God ever again. Because of this fear God conceded to David's sense of lostness and permitted him to build an altar in Jerusalem. To this place David brought the Ark of The Covenant to his own new tent. This was prophetic because when the ELDERS demanded a king "like the nations" so that they could "worship like the nations" God promised that the kings would destroy them by confiscating property and people for his own temple-state.

Without repentance, Israel was on their fixed path to captivity and destruction because of the sin of "rising up to play" at Mount Sinai. When David "rose up to play" the Monarchy period truly began in Jerusalem and this would tempt "the nations" so that within 5 years of Solomon's death the Egyptians came to the temple to collect their gold and other nation's gold which had been conveniently stashed in the temple often used as a pagan temple.

While David was God's agent to carry out His will, we know that he was not a priest but a civil leader. Therefore, David does not prescribe Jewish worship and the death of Christ moves us beyond external rituals.

You should be aware that "praise" in the Old Testament is very often "just like the nations." Because of mortal fear that the "gods" were going to take your spirit away from you or kill you, the eternal principle was the the gods could not punish the mad or insane. Therefore, musical prophesying was like this word for praise:

Halal (h1984) haw-lal'; a prim. root; to be clear (orig. of sound, but usually of color); to shine; hence to make a show, to boast; and thus to be clamorously foolish; to rave; causat. to celebrate; also to stultify: - (make) boast (self), celebrate, commend, (deal, make), fool (- ish, -ly), glory, give [light], feign self mad, give in marriage, [sing, be worthy of] praise, rage, renowned, shine.

This word is quite identical to the word CHALAL (below) which means to play the flute, pollute or prostitute. This was used to "take your inheritance" or "trim your vines."

They tried it on Jesus and He died but He was not polluted because He arose from the dead. They did not take His inheritance while they "piped" and drummed trying to get Him to perform the effeminate, Dionysus dance and song.

So, David is carrying out God's second phase against Israel's judgment earned in Egypt but seal as Israel turned back to demon (bull) worship. The Egyptian musical drama was "rising up to play."

And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of musick. 1 Sam 18:6

And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. 1 Sam 18:7

Answered is responsive singing:

Anah (h6030) aw-naw'; a prim. root; prop. to eye or (gen.) to heed, i. e. pay attention; by impl. to respond; by extens. to begin to speak; spec. to sing, shout, testify, announce: - give account, afflict [by mistake for 6031], (cause to, give) answer, bring low [by mistake for 6030], cry, hear, Leannoth, lift up, say, * scholar, (give a) shout, sing (together by course), speak, testify, utter, (bear) witness. See also 1042, 1043.

The NIV from somewhere makes play into dance:

And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel,

singing and dancing, to meet king Saul,
with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of musick. 1 Sam 18:6
And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. 1S.18:7

The word "played" is used of David to show that this word means that they played the instruments:

And David and all the house of Israel played before the Lord on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals. 2 Sam 6:5

Sachaq (h7832) saw-khak'; a prim. root; to laugh (in pleasure or detraction); by impl. to play: - deride, have in derision, laugh, make merry, mock (-er), play, rejoice, (laugh to) scorn, be in (make) sport.

Shachaq (g7833) shaw-khak'; a prim. root; to comminate (by trituration or attrition): - beat, wear.

Then did I beat them as small as the dust of the earth, I did stamp them as the mire of the street, and did spread them abroad. 2 Sam 22:43

Melody is the Greek:

Psallo (g5567) psal'-lo; (to rub or touch the surface; comp. 5597); to twitch or twang, i.e. to play on a stringed instrument (celebrate the divine worship with music and accompanying odes): - make melody, sing (psalms)

This twitching was not "strumming" on a harp. Rather, like shooting an arrow, the "player" assaulted others by pulling the string as far as it would go and then letting it go in violence. This was the meaning of "shooting with the bow" or "plucking out a hair." None of these are spiritual exercises.

Melody, like "play" is derived from a word which defines it totally away as an external "act of spiritual worship."

Psocho (g5597) pso'-kho; prol. from the same base as 5567; TO TRITURATE, i.e. (by anal.) to rub out (kernels from husks with the fingers or hand): - rub

This word "sop" which Jesus hand fed to Judas whose "bag" was "for carrying the mouthpieces of wind instruments."

Psomion (g5596) pso-mee'-on; dim. from a der. of the base of 5597; a crumb or morsel (as if rubbed off), i.e. a mouthful: - sop.

Of course, singing and playing was often a way to insult the god or king. In this way, the women musicians used music to drive a wedge between Saul and David:

And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom? 2 Sam 18:8

And Saul eyed David from that day and forward. 2 Sam 18:9

Here is a way to pollute or drive an opening wedge:

Chalal (h2490) khaw-lal'; a prim. root [comp. 2470]; prop. to bore, i. e. (by impl.) to wound, to dissolve; fig. to profane (a person, place or thing), to break (one's word), to begin as if by an "opening wedge"; denom. (from 2485) to play (the flute): - begin (* men began), defile, * break, defile, * eat (as common things), * first, * gather the grape thereof, * take inheritance, pipe, player on instruments, pollute, (cast as) profane (self), prostitute, slay (slain), sorrow, stain, wound.

Hebrew Dictionary linked to Strong Numbers Chalal (h2490) an instructor/ of distance/space, start, commence; to redeem, to desecrate, make void, to create a cavity, vacuum, hollow, an empty space; a hollow/vacuum as a means to trap or bring together, nature; a vault, to make hollow: to wound, pierce, define, violate, make vulgar, wounded, slain, dead, the action of resisting: to break, disregard; violating instruction, to arrange/ an order of instruction; to assign, to pipe, play pipes

David was noted first as one who was a player on the harp:

Let our lord now command thy servants, which are before thee, to seek out a man, who is a cunning player on an harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well. 1 Sam 16:16

This is another word for "play" which helps define Sachaq (h7832) as including playing on musical instruments:

Nagan (h5059) naw-gan'; a prim. root; prop. to thrum, i. e. beat a tune with the fingers; espec. to play on a stringed instrument; hence (gen.) to make music: - player on instruments, sing to the stringed instruments, melody, ministrel, play (-er, -ing..

It is true, according to the classics, that music often included singing with instruments and dancing.

Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick (sumphonia) and dancing (choros, ring dance). Luke 15:25

Nagan is used often in a very negative sense:

Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered. Isa 23:16

Lucifer with the king/queen of Tyre is bisexual. Therefore, the king of Tyre used female musicians to seduce others, including the Jews, into a bad business deal or even into slavery. Therefore, He/She wanted to be "remembered" as a male.

Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the Lord. Ezek 33:30

And they come unto thee as the people cometh,

       and they sit before thee as my people,

and they hear thy words,

       but they will not do them:

for with their mouth they shew much love,

       but their heart goeth after their covetousness. Ezek 33:31

And, lo, thou art unto them

as a very lovely song (amorous) of one that hath a pleasant voice,

       and can play well on an instrument:

for they hear thy words,

       but they do them not. Eze. 33:32

But what is the connection between Chalal (h2490) playing on pipes and Nagan (h5059) playing on stringed instruments?

> As well the singers as the players (h2490) on instruments shall be there: all my springs are in thee. Ps.87:7

Players in Hebrew is again quoted for association with h5059:

> > Chalal (h2490) khaw-lal'; a prim. root [comp. 2470]; prop. to bore, i. e. (by impl.) to wound, to dissolve; fig. to profane (a person, place or thing), to break (one's word), to begin (as if by an "opening wedge"); denom. (from 2485) to play (the flute): - begin (* men began), defile, * break, defile, * eat (as common things), * first, * gather the grape thereof, * take inheritance, pipe, player on instruments, pollute, (cast as) profane (self), prostitute, slay (slain), sorrow, stain, wound.

If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; Ps.89:31

In a Parallel passage:

> The singers went before, the players (h5059 nagan) on instruments followed after; among them were the damsels playing with timbrels. Psalm 68:25

Players in Hebrew:

> > Nagan (h5059) naw-gan'; a prim. root; prop. to thrum, i. e. beat a tune with the fingers; espec. to play on a stringed instrument; hence (gen.) to make music: - player on instruments, sing to the stringed instruments, melody, ministrel, play (-er, -ing

Naga (h5060) naw-gah'; a prim. root; prop. to touch, i. e. lay the hand upon (for any purpose; euphem., to lie with a woman); by impl. to reach (fig. to arrive, acquire); violently, to strike (punish, defeat, destroy, etc.): - beat, (* be able to) bring (down), cast, come (nigh), draw near (nigh), get up, happen, join, near, plague, reach (up), smite, strike, touch.

We have noted very common connection is that playing music as worship and ignoring God's Word go hand in hand:

And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. Eze 33:31

And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play (h5059) well on an instrument:

for they hear thy words, but they do them not. Eze.33:32

Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody (h5059), sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered Is.23:16

Playing instruments to God is polluting because they were provided by the "gods" for their own glory. Isaiah 30 and other places implicate musical instruments when God is calling down His wrath upon a people:

And Elisha said, As the Lord of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor see thee. 2 Kings 3:14

But now bring me a minstrel (g5059). And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him. 2 Kings 3:15

Elisha then told him how to destroy the Moabites. In destroying the Moabites as Elisha commanded they destroyed all of the lambs, wells and the productivity of Moab which had been supporting the evil kings in Jerusalem.

Conclusion: 2490 is equivalent to 5059.

We showed above that 5059 and Sachaq (h7832) are used of playing musical instruments when Israel Rose up to Play.

Next, we need to repeat some of this to show that rising up to Play at Mount Sinai is identical to the "rising up to play" by David as he was moving the Ark of the Covenant into his new tent in Jerusalem to establish a national shrine which was "in addition" to the sacrifices at Gibeon. This was because God had established, at least in David's mind, angels bearing flaming swords at Gibeon and David was too fearful to ever return there to enquire of God. David was one of the kings being used by God to drive the Israelites into captivity.

MOUNT SINAI: Rising up to Play

God rescued Israel from Egypt by grace. However, they repeated the MUSICAL PLAY including dancing and sexual activities just as they had for 430 years in Egypt. Because of this musical idolatry, God TURNED THEM OVER TO WORSHIP THE STARRY HOST. Therefore, especially during the Monarchy period what we see is not Mosaic worship but a perverted form of JUBILATING PRAISE.

According to the word WRATH used by Paul before he restricted the "music" for the assembly or synagogue, the supernatural sign is that people are self-elevated and they become buffoons or clowns. When you reject the word (See the Core Gospel) God sends you strong delusions through strong deluders and "you love to have it so."

Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; Proverbs 1:24

But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: Proverbs 1:25
I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; Proverbs 1:26

Laugh is: Sachaq (h7832) saw-khak'; a prim. root; to laugh (in pleasure or detraction); by impl. to play: - deride, have in derision, laugh, make merry, mock (-er), play, rejoice, (laugh to) scorn, be in (make) sport.

"The triumphal hymn of Moses had unquestionably a religious character about it; but the employment of music in religious services, though idolatrous, is more distinctly marked in the festivities which attended the erection of the golden calf." (Smith's Bible Dictionary, Music, p. 589).

Mock is: Leag (h3932) law-ag'; a prim. root; to deride; by impl. (as if imitating a foreigner) to speak unintelligibly: - have in derision, laugh (to scorn), mock (on), stammering.

Bruner in The Holy Spirit says that "church music is low level glossolalia--just speaking in tongues.

"we recognize the same elements: the sacrifices and libation, the cultic feast in which the congregation gets a share of food and drink after it has been blessed by the king, and the merry-making, now in the form of instrumental and vocal music. But the central act of the ritual, which was performed by the king, is called literally 'drinking' the god (Gurney, O. R. Some Aspects of Hittite Religion, p. 33-34, Oxford University Press, 1977)

> Sporting or playing is defined as the "original sin" of musical celebration at Mount Sinai after Israel took their "marriage vow" with God and His Covenant.

And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. Exodus 32:6

> > To play is the Hebrew:

Cachaq (h6711) tsaw-khak'; a prim. root; to laugh outright (in merriment or scorn); by impl. to sport: - laugh, mock, play, make sport.

Ludo
A.To sport, play with any thing, to practise as a pastime, amuse one's self with any thing.-Esp., to play on an instrument of music, to make or compose music or song: B.To sport, dally, wanton (cf. "amorous play,

Professor Robert Briffault's introductory words to his article titled "Sex in Religion" published in the book "Sex in Civilization" (Garden City Publishing Co.).

"The elaborate mystic theology of Egypt was replete with sexual symbolism; hierodular [sacred] prostitution, ritual bestiality were among the observances of its cult. The religions of Babylonia, of Asia Minor, of the far-flung Semitic colonies, were notorious for the licentiousness of their rites: their priestesses were sacred prostitutes and prostitution was incumbent upon every woman.

'Nearly all peoples, except the Egyptians and the Greeks,' says Herodotus, 'have intercourse with women in the temples.'

But the exceptions which he mentions are not borne out even by his own testimony. The religion of Greece, though obscenity and license were attenuated in its later phases, presented the same rites and the same features as those of Babylon and Syria; brothels were attached to the temples; phallic emblems, ritual obscenity, the conventionalized celebration of the sexual union remained to the last as features of its most sacred ceremonies. Even the austere and simple religion of Rome was associated in its most venerated native rites with ithyphallic images [showing the genitalia] of the gods, Fescennine [obscene] ribaldry, and symbolic coitus" (pp.31,32). This appraisal by Prof. Briffault is most accurate.

To this common description of early religious beliefs, we have the incident of Aaron bringing out the bull for the Israelites to worship when Moses remained longer on Mount Sinai than the people thought. The people were getting edgy so Aaron made a festivity for them by fashioning the golden calf and told them to worship the calf in a sexual manner (Exodus 32:25-35). God was angry with Aaron and the people for this. But the people thought that by their sexual actions they were actually worshipping God in a proper way. Their worship was to "Baal-Peor" (Hebrew: "Lord of the Opening," that is, "Lord of the Vagina") (see Psalm 106:28,29 for this identification). The rebellious Israelites were making images (and setting up pillars) in honor of this pagan deity that demanded gross sexual actions as a part of the "nature rituals" by the worshippers. This was nothing strange to the Israelites because most Gentile religious activities involved a measure of sexual activity as a part of their liturgies and rituals.

Psa 106:28 They joined themselves also unto Baal-peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead.

empaizô

2. euphem. in mal. part., LXXJd. 19.25.

Jdg 19:25 But the men would not hearken to him: so the man took his concubine, and brought her forth unto them; and they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her go.

II. sport in or on, hôs nebros chloerais e. leimakos hêdonais E.Ba. 866 (lyr.); tois choroisin e. to sport in the dance, Ar.Th.975; tôi gumnasiôi Luc.Lex.5

Hêdonais 3. Pl., desires after pleasure, pleasant lusts, X.Mem.1.2.23, Ep.Tit.3.3, al.

PUT them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work, Titus 3:1

 

To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men. Titus 3:2

 

For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. Titus 3:3

Paul warned the Romans and Corinthians about this "rising up to play." This was singing with instrumental music and more:

"The triumphal hymn of Moses had unquestionably a religious character about it; but the employment of music in religious services, though idolatrous, is more distinctly marked in the festivities which attended the erection of the golden calf." (Smith's Bible Dictionary, Music, p. 589).

"And the people celebrated this feast with burnt-offerings and thank-offerings, with eating and drinking, i.e. with sacrificial meals and sports, or with loud rejoicing, shouting, antiphonal songs, and dances, in the same manner in which the Egyptians celebrated their feast of Apis (Herod. 2, 60, and 3, 27)." (Keil and Delitzsch, Vol. II, p. 222).

And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting (the play at Mount Sinai sport or entertain) themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you; 2 Pe.2:13

"They sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. They practiced rites in which they made themselves naked, perhaps similar to those which were carried out by naked Babylonian priests." (Woodward, p. 158).

"Not to be overlooked here is the accompaniment of music and dancing which, with the character of the ensuing phenomena, makes the diagnosis (of idolatry) certain." (Schaff-Herzog, Ecstasy, p. 71).

"Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, 'The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to dance (play)'" (1 Cor. 10:7).

Paul also condemned this in Romans 10 when he defined the Egyptian "sending across the sea" to get a better spokesman than God. Therefore, he warns us not to try to "ascend" or "descend" speaking of these "rising up to play" rituals.

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:

Ephraim Syrus On Our Lord.

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.

SAMSON

But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house. Judges 16:21

Now, when Samson "played" he did play a child's game and when he ground in the prison house he didn't make flour. Grind is:

Tachan (h2912) taw-khan'; a prim. root; to grind meal; hence to be a concubine (that being their employment): - grind (-er).

Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers. Is.47:2

This "play" is also the Hebrew:

> > Sachaq (h7832) saw-khak'; a prim. root; to laugh (in pleasure or detraction); by impl. to play: - deride, have in derision, laugh, make merry, mock (-er), play, rejoice, (laugh to) scorn, be in (make) sport.

> As Samson was ready to be sacrificed the pagans wanted him to dance in the same way the Jewish clergy would try to get Jesus to sing and dance. The word for "play" in Exodus and David's musical dance are interchangeable:

> > And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport (7832) . And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport (6711) : and they set him between the pillars. Judges 16:25

Therefore, the play at Mount Sinai and the Play of Samson and the Play of David were equivalent. Rising up to play is symbolic of literal or spiritual death. The movie pictures poor blind Samson "dancing" as he is pricked with swords sand spears, spat upon and slapped. This was a true prophetic picture of John the Baptist as a result of song and dance.

The Demand for A King

When Israel demanded a king like the nations it was to permit them to "worship like the nations." However, God warned them that the kings would lead them into captivity and death. Therefore, when He permitted the "idolatry of nationhood" and selected the kings, He picked those who carry out His sentence.

Ecclesiasticus 48:

1. Then the prophet Elijah arose like a fire, and his word burned like a torch.
2. He brought a famine upon them, and by his zeal he made them few in number.
3. By the word of the Lord he shut up the heavens, and also three times brought down fire.
4. How glorious you were, O Elijah, in your wondrous deeds! And who has the right to boast which you have?
5. You who raised a corpse from death and from Hades, by the word of the Most High;
6. who brought kings down to destruction, and famous men from their beds;
7. who heard rebuke at Sinai and judgments of vengeance at Horeb;
8. who anointed kings to inflict retribution,
              and prophets to succeed you.

Or as God said through Hosea:

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

DAVID

> David so sinned that he could never return to Gibeon to inquire of the Lord. He permitted David to set up an alternate "like the nation's" altar at Jerusalem which was a Jebusite High place. In tring to move the Ark of the Covenant the first time he tried to involve ALL of Israel. However, the new "worship center" was a shrine for a Temple-State and the common people were excluded except as occasional spectators. He failed in the ark movement and the second effort was purely that of a secular state as David separated the Ark from Gibeon.

"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
And David and all the house of Israel played before the Lord on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals. 2 Sam 6:5

Some of these instruments were not allowed in the Temple. Therefore, God warns about how we act even outside.

Stephen includes the Sinai event, the Amos story and the fact that God doesn't "really live in buildings." For this, the Jewish clergy had him murdered. Because David actually believed that God dwelled in the "box" he was not the "pattern" for "an act of worship.:

"The ritual dance was probably widespread in the ancient East. David's performance has Egyptian parallels. Seti I, the father of Rameses II, and three other Pharaohs are said to have danced before an deity (Budge, The Book of the Dead, I, xxxv), and Asiatic monuments attest the custom elsewhere." (Int. Std. Bible Ency., p. 1169-70).

"Probably the dancers in some cases joined hands and formed a ring, or part of a ring, as in some heathen representations. The description of David's dance: he 'danced before Jehovah with all his might... leaping and dancing before Jehovah' (2 S 6:14-16) suggests" (writer then compared to three forms of heathen dance). (Int. Std. Bible Ency., p. 1169-70).

The epod was a short vest and began as a feminine overgarment as all of the music was stolen from young girls and women. It was open on the sides.

"Wearing a linen ephod, David once performed an ecstatic (charismatic) dance before the ark of the Lord.

From the fact that his wife Michal chided him for having uncovered himself before his servant's handmaidens (2 Sam. 6:20),

it seems likely that the king's exhibition was vulgar and revealing. Apparently as a retaliation for her scolding, David fathered no children by Michal (2 Sam. 6:23)" (Garrison, Web, Strange Facts About the Bible, Abingdon, Nashville., p. 31-32).

No. This failure was not a "godly act of masculine superiority" but expressed the growing fear that Saul's house would rise again.

We know that this "play" means "play upon instruments." It usually includes dancing as a form of physical abuse such as "bowing the knee to Baal" in the Elijah story. This is not unusual because much of Israel's history is their "moving away from God" and adopting idolatry. Solomon is the best example.

We cannot "play" like David without imitating this dance of death. This "play" is:

Sachaq (1 Chron. 13:8). = "to laugh, by implication to play: deride, have in derision, laugh" (Strong). This is often the naturalistic activity of animals (Psa. 104:26). In describing the musical dance of David, Beecher says:

"The Hebrew verb (sachaq) means to dance to music, vocal and instrumental. See Judges 19:2, 1 Chron. 13:8)" (Cook). "This was playing before the ark, as it slowly made progress; that is, there were evolutions and marching figures and religious dances" (Beecher, quoted by Peloubet's Selects Notes, 1903, p. 270).

And, of course, every short distance they had to stop and make an animal sacrifice to guarantee that God would permit them to really take away the Ark of the Covenant.

The picture is complete: music or play and animal sacrifices are so intimately connected that when the Jews lost the temple and Jerusalem they knew that they could not make sacrifices and therefore to play mechanical instruments was not lawful. So, Jewish instruments ceased until A.D. 1815 in a liberal synagogue. This, too, produced "sowing of discord," lawsuits and congregational division.

Charismatic prophesying involved nakedness just as it did at Mount Sinai:

And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house:

and David played with his hand, as at other times:

and there was a javelin in Sauls hand. 1 Sam 18:10

And he stripped off his clothes also, and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets? 1 Sam 19:24

Arowm (h6174) aw-rome'; or arom aw-rome'; from 6191 (in its orig. sense); nude, either partially or totally: - naked

Remember that when Saul got involved with the charismatic music, he became another man. This means that he was perverted. Various versions of what David did prove that he stripped naked. Even the ephod would be like a vest and the whirling dance would have exposed him in violation of the law. But, remember that this was a sign and music is quite proper in the signs that Israel is lost beyond redemption.

When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, "How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!" 2 Sam 6:20NIV

But when David returned to bless his household, Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, "How the king of Israel distinguished himself today! He uncovered himself today in the eyes of his servants' maids as one of the foolish ones shamelessly uncovers himself!" 2 Sam 6:20NAS

Vain is the Hebrew:

Reyq (h7386) rake; or (shorter) req rake; from 7324; empty; fig. worthless: - emptied (-ty), vain (fellow, man)

And there are gathered unto him vain men, the children of Belial, and have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tenderhearted, and could not withstand them. 2Chr.13:7

And your strength shall be spent in vain (h7385): for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits. Le.26:20

Shameless is:

Galah (h1540) gaw-law'; a prim. root; to denude (espec. in a disgraceful sense); by impl. to exile (captives being usually stripped); fig. to reveal: - / advertise, appear, bewray, bring, (carry, lead, go) captive (into captivity), depart, disclose, discover, exile, be gone, open, * plainly, publish, remove, reveal, * shamelessly, shew, * surely, tell, uncover.

Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive, and the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed. Am.6:7

David returned to bless his family. But Michal came out to meet him and exclaimed in disgust, "How glorious the king of Israel looked today!

He exposed himself to the girls along the street like a common pervert!" 2 Sam 6:20LIV

The Ark of the covenant had become an idol: David believed that when he danced naked before the ark he was dancing before God.

And David said unto Michal, It was before the Lord, which chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel: therefore will I play before the Lord. 2 Chron 6:21

"It was probably usual to welcome a king or general with music and dancing...The distinctly religious dance is more frequently mentioned. The clear instances of it in the Bible are the dance of the women of Israel at the Red Sea, headed by Miriam with her tambourine (Ex 15:20); the dance of the Israelites round the golden calf (32:19); the dance of the maidens of Shiloah at the annual feast (Jgs 21:19 ff); the leaping or limping of the prophets of Baal round their altar on Carmel (1 K 18:26); and the dancing of David in front of the ark (2 S 6:14-16) (Int. Std. Bible Ency., p. 1169-70).

"The ritual dance was probably widespread in the ancient East. David's performance has Egyptian parallels. Seti I, the father of Rameses II, and three other Pharaohs are said to have danced before an deity (Budge, The Book of the Dead, I, xxxv), and Asiatic monuments attest the custom elsewhere." (Int. Std. Bible Ency., p. 1169-70).

"Probably the dancers in some cases joined hands and formed a ring, or part of a ring, as in some heathen representations. The description of David's dance: he 'danced before Jehovah with all his might... leaping and dancing before Jehovah' (2 S 6:14-16) suggests" (writer then compared to three forms of heathen dance). (Int. Std. Bible Ency., p. 1169-70).

"We have evidence of ritual dances in the context of other Syrian cults. One of the Ras Shamra poems, in a passage...mentions mrqdm 'dancers' apparently in connection with a sacrifice. Herodian depicts Heliogabalus at a sacrifice to his god of Emesa, 'dancing round the altars to the sound of every kind of musical instrument; with him certain women of his country performed a sprightly round, with cymbals and tambourines in their hands. At Dair ee-Qala'a, near Beirut, there was a sanctuary dedicated to Baal-Marqod, 'Baal of the Dance' whose cult evidently involved dancing. An inscription relating to the sanctuary mentions a deuterostates, a technical word for one who stands in the back row of the choir." (de Vaux, p. 241).

"There is David the fugitive chief of outcasts who insists that he and his men are worthy to devour consecrated bread. There is another David who dances before the Ark, enraptured by an exuberant piety that breaks all limits. And there is the man of power and no scruple who acts instantly to liquidate Uriah the Hittite when that loyal soldier stands in the way of his monarch's illicit lust." (Bloom, p. 43).

David didn't care about Michal as long as the servant girls honored him:

And I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight: and of the maidservants which thou hast spoken of, of them shall I be had in honour. 2 Chron 6:22

This is quite identical to David's "praise" which meant to make a fool out of himself. David had no children by Michal and saw to it that her children as the descendants of Saul were offered up as a "human sacrifice" so the end of Saul was complete. Was this the will of God? Perhaps. But it is not a pattern for "Christian worship." Music was almost always a prelude to some destructive event.

Before David only young girls or prostitutes engaged in such rituals. Among them it might be "excuseable"

John Chrysostom Homily XII

[11.] But, if thou wilt, dismissing these things which clearly and confessedly are abominable, but seemed (oux edocen. perhaps "were not decreed.") not [so] to the heathen legislators, let us proceed to their grave precepts; and thou shalt see these too corrupted through the opinion of the multitude. Thus marriage is accounted an honorable thing (Hebrews chapter 13, verse 4) both by us and by those without: and it is honorable.

But when marriages are solemnized, such ridiculous things take place as ye shall hear of immediately: because the most part, possessed and beguiled by custom, are not even aware of their absurdity, but need others to teach them.

For dancing, and cymbals, and flutes, and shameful words, and songs, and drunkenness, and revellings, and all the Devil's great heap (poluj o tou diabolou forutoj) of garbage is then introduced.

[12.] "But they are not noble nor decent women," you will say, "who do these things." Why then laugh me to scorn for this remonstrance, having been thyself aware of this law, before I said any thing. I say, if the proceedings are right, allow those well-born women also to enact them. For what if these others live in poverty? Are not they also virgins? ought not they also to be careful of chastity? But now here is a virgin dancing in a public theatre of licentious youths; and, I ask, seems she not unto thee more dishonored than a harlot?

But if you say, "Female servants do these things;" neither so do I acquit thee of my charge: for neither to these ought such things to have been permitted. For hence all these evils have their origin, that of our household we make no account. But it is enough in the way of contempt to say, "He is a slave," and, "They are handmaids." Arid yet, day after day we hear, (Galatians chapter 3, verse 28)" In Christ Jesus there is neither bond nor free."

Here is what David did:

Galah (h1540) gaw-law'; a prim. root; to denude (especially in a disgraceful sense);

by implication to exile (captives being usually stripped); fig. to reveal: - / advertise, appear, bewray, bring, (carry, lead, go captive (into captivity), depart, disclose, discover, exile, be gone, open, plainly, publish, remove, reveal, shamelessly, shew, * surely, tell, uncover.

Here is how the word is used:

Galah and Sexually:

And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: Gen 9:20
And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. Ge.9:21
And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. Gen 9:22

Ervah (h6172) er-vaw'; from 6168; nudity, lit. (espec. the pudenda) or fig. (disgrace, blemish): - nakedness, shame, unclean (- ness).

Seeing the nakedness means more than seeing:

Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon. Ex.20:26
None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the Lord. Le.18:6

And if a man shall lie with his uncles wife, he hath uncovered his uncles nakedness: they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. Le.20:20

So she discovered her whoredoms, and discovered her nakedness: then my mind was alienated from her, like as my mind was alienated from her sister. Eze.23:18

And they shall deal with thee hatefully, and shall take away all thy labour, and shall leave thee naked and bare: and the nakedness of thy whoredoms shall be discovered, both thy lewdness and thy whoredoms. Eze.23:29

And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their fathers nakedness. Gen 9:23

And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. Gen 9:24

And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. Gen 9:25

Galah Prophetic of CAPTIVITY:

When David "danced before the Lord" he was absolutely sure that God lived in the little box. Therefore, David was leading God captive to his own Jebusite High place in fulfilment of God's prophecy.

Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. Am 5:23

But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream. Am 5:24

Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? Am 5:25

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

Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus (i.e. Babylon), saith the Lord, whose name is The God of hosts. Am.5:27

Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive, and the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed. Am.6:7

For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land. Am.7:11

And Huzzab shall be led away captive, she shall be brought up, and her maids shall lead her as with the voice of doves, tabering upon their breasts. Na.2:7

Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts; and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame. Na.3:5

Here is the Understanding of the Church Fathers About Rising up to Play

When David "danced naked" he was expressing his great FEAR of God with whom he could no longer communicate.

His worship was "like the nations" because that is what God TURNED THEM OVER TO.

People, then and now, have the feeling that GOD CANNOT PUNISH THE INSANE.

Therefore, here is the meaning of the PRAISE David often performed hoping that God would not take His spirit away. This meant that he feared that God would kill him.

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], feign self mad, give in marriage, [sing, be worthy of] praise, rage, renowned, shine.

The worship of the starry host at Sinai was that of the sun and Saturn. This god was named Remphan, Chiun, Molech and other names.

He was the same LUCIFER or VENUS personified as the serpent or Musical Enchanter in the garden of Eden.

Heylel (h1966) hay-lale'; from 1984 (in the sense of brightness); the morning-star: - lucifer.

The common worship flowed out of Africa and was quite identical in Canaan, Babylonia and in Greece. This means that the Rising up to Play was the most common form of idolatry with dancing, sexuality and perverted sexuality.

Plato On Laws

Athenian I am glad to hear that you agree with me; for, indeed, the discipline of pleasure and pain which, when rightly ordered, is a principle of education, has been often relaxed and corrupted in human life.
       And the gods, pitying the toils which our race is born to undergo,
       have appointed holy festivals, wherein men alternate rest with labour;
       and have given them the Muses and Apollo, the leader of the Muses, and Dionysus, to be companions in their revels,
       that they may improve their education by taking part in the festivals of the gods, and with their help.

I should like to know whether a common saying is in our opinion true to nature or not.

For men say that the young of all creatures cannot be quiet in their bodies or in their voices;
they are always wanting to move and cry out; some leaping and skipping,
and overflowing with sportiveness and delight at something, others uttering all sorts of cries. But, whereas the animals have no perception of order or disorder in their movements, that is, of rhythm or harmony, as they are called, to us,

The gods, who, as we say, have been appointed to be our companions in the dance,
have given the pleasurable sense of harmony and rhythm; and so they stir us into life,

and we follow them, joining hands together in dances and songs; and these they call choruses, which is a term naturally expressive of cheerfulness. Shall we begin, then, with the acknowledgment that education is first given through Apollo and the Muses? What do you say?

Arnobius, against Heresies, book VII

32. But let there be, as you wish, honour in wine and in incense , let the anger and displeasure of the deities be appeased by the immolation and slaughter of victims:

are the gods moved by garlands also, wreaths and flowers, by the jingling of brass also, and the shaking of cymbals , by timbrels also, and also by symphonious pipes? 153

Note: 153 Symphoniae. Evidently musical instruments; but while Isidore speaks of them as a kind of drum, other writers call them trumpets and pipes

What effect has the clattering of castanets , that when the deities have heard them,
they think that honour has been shown to them, and lay aside their fiery spirit of resentment in forgetfulness?

Or, as little boys are frightened into giving over their silly wailings by hearing the sound of rattles , are the almighty deities also soothed in the same way by the whistling of pipes?

and do they become mild, is their indignation softened, at the musical sound of cymbals?
What is the meaning of those calls 154 which you sing in the morning, joining your voices to the music of the pipe?

This defines the Egyptian form of worship which doomed Israel at Mount Sinai and the Monarchy when the elders "fired" God and demanded a king like the nations so that they could worship like the nations:

Note: 154 At daybreak on opening, and at night on closing the temple, the priests of Isis sang hymns in praise of the goddess (cf. Jos. Scaliger, Castigationes ad Cat. , etc., p. 132); and to these Arnobius refers sarcastically, as though they had been calls to awake, and lullabies to sing her asleep.

[Uncovering the image of Isis was part of the rising up to play in Egypt]

Do the gods of heaven fall asleep, so that they should return to their posts? What is the meaning of those slumbers to which you commend them with auspicious salutations that they may be in good health?

Are they awakened from sleep; and that they may be able to be overcome by it, must soothing lullabies be heard? The purification, says my opponent , of the mother of the gods is to-day.

Do the gods, then, become dirty ; and to get rid of the filth, do those who wash them need water, and even some cinders to rub them with? The feast of Jupiter is to-morrow. Jupiter, I suppose, dines, and must be satiated with great banquets, and long filled with eager cravings for food by fasting, and hungry after the usual [anniverssary] interval. The vintage festival of Aesculapius is being celebrated.

The gods, then, cultivate vineyards, and, having collected gatherers, press the wine for their own uses. The lectisternium of Ceres 160 will be on the next Ides, for the gods have couches ; and that they may be able to lie on softer cushions, the pillows are shaken up when they have been pressed down. It is the birthday of Tellus; 162 for the gods are born, and have festal days on which it has been settled that they began to breathe.

160 i.e., feast at which the image of Ceres was placed on a couch, probably the Cerealia , celebrated in April. This passage flatly contradicts Prof. Ramsay's assertion ( Ant. , p. 345) that lectisternium is not applied to a banquet offered to a goddess; while it corroborates his statement that such feasts were ordinary events, not extraordinary solemnities, as Mr. Yates says (Smith's Ant. , s. v.)

162 Thus the 25th of January is marked as the birthday of the Graces, the 1st of February as that of Hercules, the 1st of March as that of Mars, in the calendar already mentioned.

33. But the games which you celebrate, called Floralia and Megalensia, and all the rest which you wish to be sacred, and to be considered religious duties, what reason have they, what cause, that it was necessary that they should be instituted and founded and designated by the names of deities?

The gods are honoured by these, says thy opponent;

and if they have any recollection of offences committed by men, they lay it aside, get rid of it, and show themselves gracious to us again, their friendship being renewed.

And what is the cause, again, that they are made quite calm and gentle,

if absurd things are done, and idle fellows sport before the eyes of the multitude?

Does Jupiter lay aside his resentment if the Amphitryon of Plautus is acted and declaimed? or if Europa, Leda, Ganymede, or Danae is represented by dancing does he restrain his passionate impulses? Is the Great Mother rendered more calm, more gentle, if she beholds the old story of Attis furbished up by the players?

Will Venus forget her displeasure if she sees mimics act the part of Adonis also in a ballet? [in dancing motions] Does the anger of Aleides die away if the tragedy of Sophocles named Trachinioe, or the Hercules of Euripides, is acted?

or does Flora think that honour is shown to her if at her games she sees that shameful actions are done, and the stews abandoned for the theatres?

Is not this, then, to lessen the dignity of the gods, to dedicate and consecrate to them the basest things which a rigidly virtuous mind will turn from with disgust, the performers of which your law has decided to be dishonoured and to be considered infamous?

The gods, forsooth, delight in mimics; and that surpassing excellence which has not been comprehended by any bureau faculty, opens [adapts] its ears most willingly to hear these plays, with most of which they know they are mixed up to be turned to derision; they are delighted, as it is, with the shaved heads of the fools, by the sound of flaps, and by the noise of applause, by shameful actions and words, by huge red fascina.

But further, if they see men weakening themselves to the effeminacy of women, some vociferating uselessly, others running about without cause, others, while their friendship is unbroken, bruising and maiming each with the bloody cestus, these contending in speaking without drawing breath,

swelling out their cheeks with wind, and shouting out noisily empty vows, do they lift up their hands to heaven in their admiration, start up moved by such wonders, burst into exclamations, again become gracious to men?

If these things cause the gods to forget their resentment, if they derive the highest pleasure from comedies, Atellane farces, and pantomimes, why do you delay, why do you hesitate, to say that the gods themselves also play, act lasciviously, dance, compose obscene songs, and undulate with trembling haunches? For what difference is there, or what does it matter, whether they do these things themselves, or are pleased and delighted to see them done by others?

So! Believe it or not.

Some may see this as spiritual worship but David has just said that he was making himself vile. And remember that David could not go to Gibeon to enquire of God anymore!

If David made himself vile or like a pervert, this does not mean that we can get by with it. Nor does this mean that this was a Jewish "act of worship." Nor does it have anything to do with Christian worship "in spirit" or in the mind. Like speaking in tongues, it was a supernatural sign.

SUMMARY

Using various Hebrew words which mean much the same thing,

> The play of David separating the Ark of the Covenant from God's place to David's new tent

> Is what the Dagon Worshipers forced Samson to do just before He crashed down the temple upon their heads,

> Is what Israel did at Mount Sinai to repudiate God's "covenant of grace." For this sin, the Levites stood as "flaming cherubim" to keep the common "congregation" away from the tabernacle. God then gave them The Book of The Law "because of transgression." He did not give it as a "pattern for worship" and David clearly changed the Mosaic system to develop a "like the nation's" system of "praise" which meant to make self vile perhaps to endure the horrors of bleating cattle, the profusion of blood like a river, the stench of manure and the knowledge that all of this had been "added because of their transgression."

If you repeat it, God is sending you a sign that you are probably beyond redemption.

> > Therefore, the Monarchy period is that of a people living like the nations and worshiping like the nations as punishment and to finish God's pouring out of His wrath upon them. The problem was that they were never satisfied with the Word of God.

Here is the picture of "rising up to play" with all kinds of instruments. The Judas Bag is the little box on the spotted calf flute case on the right.

The Dead Sea Scrolls translation of Psalm 41 reads in part:

Thy members of my Covenant have rebelled

and have murmured round about me;

They have gone as talebearers

       before the children of mischief

       concerning the mystery which Thou hast hidden in me...

 

9

They have overtaken me in a narrow pass (gap) without escape
       And there is no rest for me in my trial.

They sound my censure upon a harp

       and their murmuring and storming upon a zither." Ps.41:11

Nevertheless, In Victory: 18 

I will groan with the zither of lamentation

       in all grief-stricken mourning and bitter complaint

until iniquity and wickedness are consumed

       and the disease-bringing scourge is no more.

The Community Rule (1QS) reads in part:

And at the beginning of their weeks (This would be the first day or eighth day)

       for the season of Jubilee.

All my life the engraved Precept shall be on my tongue

       as the fruit of praise

       and the portion of my lips.

 

I will sing with knowledge and all my music

       shall be for the glory of God.

(My) lyre (and) my harp shall sound

       for His holy order

and I will tune the pipe of my lips

       to His right measure.

---

PLAYING ON INSTRUMENTS, POLLUTING, PROSTITUTING

A PARALLEL PASSAGE ON REVELING OR PLAYING

His name is Apollo (Abaddon, Apollyon):

"As the god of youth, manly beauty, music, and song, he represents the Greek mind at its best. He was the god of prophecy, with his oracle at Delphi, the protector of flocks and herds."

Jude issued a warning much like John in the book of Revelation. In order to understand we must look where both point. Jude pointed to the book of Enoch and endorsed at least the parts which were widely understood among the Jews and the Mesopotamian area out of which came the record of Satan beginning his attack in the garden of Eden.

The views expressed by Jude and Enoch and dozens of ancient documents stare any honest student of the Bible in the face. However, because these views and the book of Enoch are very explicit, if we had Satan's job the book of Enoch would be the one key book we would suppress. Jude warned the visible professionals "crashing" the love feasts of Christians:

These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; Jude 12

And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot (break up or effeminate) in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting (reveling) themselves with their own deceivings (delusions) while they feast with you; 2 Pe.2:13

See how this connects with the original sin of music from Satan.

For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: 1 Peter 4:3

We quoted Smith to show that the music was idolatry because it was for their own pleasure. Paul to the Corinthians equates it to "demon" worship and this makes the musical connection certain.

Reveling or sporting (play at Mount Sinai and by David when moving the Ark by Samson) in Greek is:

Komos (g2970) ko'-mos; from 2749; a carousal (as if a letting loose): - revelling, rioting.

Fittingly, this is the theme of "Breaking Down the Walls"

Komopolis (g2969) ko-mop'-ol-is; from 2968 and 4172; an unwalled city: - town.

The Dionysiac revel was the one the clergy tried to force Jesus into.

Perseus Notes: Two figures walk toward the right, a bearded man playing a double flute (aulos) and a youth holding a drinking cup and a gnarled stick.

Wine-drinking and music are a normal part of the komos or revel scenes frequently depicted on red-figure vases. The theme may be derived ultimately from the Dionysiac revels of satyrs and maenads, but probably most are merely human activities; part of the trend toward scenes of daily life and away from the mythological emphasis of the black-figure style. Certainly the subject is appropriate for wine cups and pitchers. However, the komos scenes almost always show much more exuberant figures than this rather sedate pair.

In view of the disparity in age, the vase might allude to the homosexual fondness of mature Greek men for young boys, yet the scene scarcely looks like a seduction. Connection with the komos seems more likely, the quietness perhaps a reflection of the Berlin Painter's disinclination to portray highly dynamic scenes.

The "barbaton" is the harp in the image from Perseus:

 

The Barbiton was played by the "barbarians" to Triumph-Over and enemy. This is one such image of a Komos. Click for more.

Britannica Online notes: The first time theatre truly freed itself from religious ritual to become an art form was in Greece in the 6th century BC when the dithyramb was developed.

This was a form of choral song chanted at festivals in honour of Dionysus, the god of wine, fruitfulness, and vegetation.

They rose up to play to get Jesus as prophesied by Psalm 41.

David performed the naked, circling dance which imitated a cow trying to eject a calf as she spins around. This violated the law of God but it didn't matter because this was a prophetic sign as all musical events in Israel were prologue to each fall.

David was a secular king "like the nations" to be God's agent to preserve the nation until the "cup of His wrath" was filled up and Israel (imitating the play at Mount Sinai) and then Judah went into captivity.

Whatever one might conclude about Israel's or David's naked dance with instruments, this was not an Old Testament act of worship. Because of the "play" at Mount Sinai the common people were "strangers" and never permitted into the area with animal sacrifices and instrumental music. These were civil-state rituals because Israel was allowed to become a state "like the nations" and therefore "worshiped like the nations" but God said that they would not get by with it.

The people were "outside the camp" or gates during this period where worship was falling on your face, praying to God and God heard from heaven.

The synagogue always existed "outside the camp" for the non-civil and non-clergy. The synagogue had no praise service.

"Philo of Alexandria had already emphasized the ethical qualities of music,
        spurning the 'effeminate' art of his Gentile surroundings. [like the nations]
Similarly, early synagogue song intentionally foregoes artistic perfection,
        renounces the playing of instruments,
        and attaches itself entirely to 'the word'--the TEXT of the Bible" (Encyclopedia Judaica, 1971 ed., "Music")

All of the kings of the Monarchy Period were given to keep the surrounding nations from destroying Israel and therefore destroying the line which would produce Messiah.

David was a type of a king like the burning of animals was a type of Jesus. Therefore, we cannot conclude that David is our example for music without believing that burning animals must buy our redemption rather than depending upon the finished work of Jesus Christ.

As the secular "type" David played instruments and stripped off naked which was integrated into sacrificing animals to appease God. Remember when God granted Saul as "His, God's, replacement," God gave the sign of the musical prophesiers from the Philistine high place to force Saul to "turn into another man" or be perverted. His "prophesying" brought contempt from the military men. Furthermore, God would send a storm to destroy their wheat crop.

Therefore, this musical prophesying was the "feigning self mad" as a result of the musical instruments and the spinning dance. This was a supernatural sign that Israel was lost and most of them beyond redemption.

The Jewish clergy sincerely hoped that Jesus was not their new Messiah King Who was shutting down the collection plates and selling sick lambs. They murdered Stephen for denouncing the temple as the "house of God" and this would eleminate the income of the money changers, silversmiths and theatrical performers which was a way to "take away widows mites and houses."

Therefore, the Jewish clergy tried to force Jesus into this same, ancient singing and dancing while the cergy are said to have "piped." Of course, "mocking" Jesus would have included the same play with flutes, drums and harps.

This would have disqualified Him as the Messiah Who was clearly revealed in Scripture as a Prince of Peace and King of Righteousness.

This was quite identical to "rising up to play" at Mount Sinai looking for a better "teacher" and like David's play as he needed a better tent for the Ark of the Covenant and a "house of cedar" for God certainly just as good as that of David, the king.

Jesus was therefore the spiritual anti-type to David's secular type or model.

The musical triumph attempt over Jesus also signalled that Jerusalem and its religious institution (it was almost totally in Jerusalem) was beyond redemption. About a million Jews died in the last destruction of the temple.

Conclusion about David: David was God's select agent to be the "type" of a musical sacrificial system "just like the nations." However, David was not a spiritual example.

If David is our example for the Mount Sinai "rising up to play" then he is our example for continuing animal sacrifices which was God's punishment for the musical idolatry at Mount Sinai.

Jesus was the anti-type or spiritual David and He refused to get driven mad by the Jewish musicians as they literally "drummed Him almost to death." However, the "sacrifice" which always attended the religious music would be God offering Himself to end all animal sacrifices and silence the music. While He was dying, the Jewish system was "rising up to play" but the dance would be the dance of death.

The apostles and the church understood the picture and therefore Paul outlawed this rising up to play in 1 Cor. 10 and Romans 10. The historical church understood this until the charismatic 20th century among the unlearned hill people who readily adopted folk music and the beat and sentiment of Voodoo.

He outlawed the equivalent Dionysus form by demanding that we be filled with the Spirit (Word) and then "teach" or "preach" to one another with inspired Biblical material.

Instrumental music and secular "praise songs" which are often erotic is "rising up to play" and Revelation 18 prophesies that this will be the end-time worship of all but a tiny remnant. If perhaps 5,000 people escapted Jerusalem and 1,000,000 died while eating the flesh of their own children then the remnant is exceedingly small.

Part of the new legalism promoted by Jubilee includes the theme of "dancing with God." This is a common, erotic urge to "know God personally." The Gnostics and not Jesus began this movement. Click here to see how the Gnostics (modern charismatics) try to picture Jesus.

See Plato describing Sporting or Play or Revelry and the Egypt Connection.

Kenneth Sublett

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