|
Why New Testament
Christians Reject the Use of Mechanical Instruments of Music?
There’s a
general attitude building among the Lord’s church about mechanical
instruments of music that tends to be a bit fuzzy. We are seeing a number
of large congregations that are making a switch to include instrumental
music services. They think it’s not that critical, that it’s not that big
of a deal. When this shift in attitude is characterized in one generation,
then the practice is sure to follow in the next. This is a subject that is
important.
We teach and
rightfully so that the commandment to sing is a specific command and not
general thus prohibiting the use of MIM. We teach and rightfully so that we
are not to go beyond, adding to or taking away from what is written and that
the use of MIM is not authorized. We teach and rightfully so that the first
century Christians rejected their use and continued to do so for about 700
years after Christ. And these reasons in and of themselves are enough to
reject their use in our worship to God.
What we don’t
often teach is the reason why they were rejected and forbidden. What is it
about them that makes them unsuitable? What is it about their use that
makes them so wrong? Why did our first century Brethren utterly reject
their use and continue to do so for so many centuries?
Many people say
they are authorized because they are used in the OT. Yes they were used in
the OT but so was animal sacrifice. We don’t see anybody slitting the
throats of lambs and splashing blood on an alter now do we? Or burning
incense in a brazier in front of the veil in the temple. We are going to
approach this topic from the historical use of them in OT worship and
examine why, where and for what they were used and then make some
applications to our worship today and we will see conclusively why it is so
very important their use is rejected from our worship today.
Please read the text from 2 Chronicles 29:20-31
20 Then Hezekiah the king rose early, and gathered
the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the LORD.
21 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. And he commanded the priests the sons of
Aaron to offer them on the altar of the LORD.
22 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.
23 And they brought forth the he goats for the sin
offering before the king and the congregation; and they laid their hands
upon them:
24 And the priests killed them, and they made
reconciliation with their blood upon the altar, to make an atonement for all
Israel: for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering
should be made for all Israel.
25 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 king's seer, and Nathan the prophet: for so was the
commandment of the LORD by his prophets.
26 And the Levites stood with the instruments of
David, and the priests with the trumpets.
27 And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering
upon the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the LORD
began also with the trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David
king of Israel.
28 And all the congregation worshipped, and the
singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded: and all this continued until the
burnt offering was finished.
29 And when they had made an end of offering, the
king and all that were present with him bowed themselves, and worshipped.
30 Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes
commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the LORD with the words of David,
and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed
their heads and worshipped.
31 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.
I think it’s important when we study this particular
subject and begin to put the historical context to it, that the New
Testament practice of worship in song is proof that the atonement for our
sins has been paid. Our singing and practice of worship without MIM has
everything to do with the cross of Jesus Christ. The popular argument, and
rightfully so, is the silence of the New Testament scriptures. But this
lesson will show that when we look at the Biblical, historical context of
MIM, it will come alive to you that it is an evident token of proof that the
atonement for our sins has been paid.
Let me point out that from the tabernacle to the
temple, we recall in Deuteronomy 12 that Moses prophesied that there was
going to be a permanent place where the Lord’s name would dwell. That was
going to take place in this tabernacle that he told them to build in Exodus
35 and chapters following.
Deuteronomy 12:5-7
5 But unto the place which the LORD your God shall
choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his
habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:
6 And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings,
and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and
your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and
of your flocks:
7 And there ye shall eat before the LORD your God,
and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your
households, wherein the LORD thy God hath blessed thee.
The tabernacle, that portable place of worship that
contained the ark of the covenant and the altar and the seven bowls, etc. as
Moses described, this was God’s dwelling. He manifested His presence to
them over the tabernacle in a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.
Their system of worship was the same from the tabernacle to the temple. It
was always a sacrificial system of worship. In the ancient world, sacrifice
was the universal language of worship. Everybody that worshiped God offered
animal sacrifices. That seems so foreign to us. We don’t have anything to
compare that with in today’s society. We don’t take animals as it says in 2
Chronicles 29, the blood of bulls and lambs and rams and goats, and
slaughter them as an offering to God. It’s difficult to comprehend all that
would be involved in that. Nevertheless, Moses prophesied of a place where
this worship was going to continue.
It’s clear from 1 Ch 28:11-12 that David gave plans
for the temple. While Moses prophesied, David, centuries later, gave plans
for the temple. It was going to fall into the hands of his son Solomon to
construct it. Please note 2 Chronicles chapters 5 and 6 for reference of
this.
Here Solomon had constructed the temple according to
the plans of David, and the prophesy of Moses. There was MIM and there was
singing at the dedication of the temple, signifying the filling of the
temple with God. Keep that in mind as we try to draw this together. MIM was
a command of the Lord for temple worship.
We don’t deny that MIM were used in temple worship in
the Old Testament. But let’s look at the context in which that command was
given. Keep in mind, that the Lord ordained priestly trumpets for tabernacle
worship.
We see in Numbers 10:1-2
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece
shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the
assembly, and for the journeying of the camps.
God had already given instruction for MIM. Now look
at v.10
10 Also in the day of your gladness, and in your
solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the
trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace
offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the
LORD your God.
So here MIM was to be used over the sacrifices. The
trumpets were to be played.
All these things we read about was a part of God’s
house. Now in 1 Chronicles chapters 23-26 there is more instruction.
Notice 1 Chronicles 23:3-5
3 Now the Levites were numbered from the age of
thirty years and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was
thirty and eight thousand.
4 Of which, twenty and four thousand were to set
forward the work of the house of the LORD; and six thousand were officers
and judges:
5 Moreover four thousand were porters; and four
thousand praised the LORD with the instruments which I made, said David, to
praise therewith.
1 Chronicles 25:5-7
5 All these were the sons of Heman the king's seer
in the words of God, to lift up the horn. And God gave to Heman fourteen
sons and three daughters.
6 All these were under the hands of their father for
song in the house of the LORD, with cymbals, psalteries, and harps, for the
service of the house of God, according to the king's order to Asaph,
Jeduthun, and Heman.
7 So the number of them, with their brethren that
were instructed in the songs of the LORD, even all that were cunning, was
two hundred fourscore and eight.
These were Levites and they were to use the harps and
cymbals, etc.
1 Chr. 28:19
All this, said David, the LORD made me understand
in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern.
MIM was a part of God’s pattern for temple worship.
But these were priestly functions. All of the priests came from the tribe of
Levi, from Aaron’s line. MIM accompanied the atoning sacrifices of the
priests of the tribe of Levi. Please read 1 Chronicles 15:2-16. David had to
learn the hard way that there were specific duties that only the priests
could carry out. Uzzah had to die in order for David to get this through
his head. It is clear from the text that only the Levitical priests could
do certain things.
It is clear that MIM began and ended with the atoning
sacrifice.
Look again at 2 Chronicles 29:25-28
25 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 king's seer, and Nathan the prophet: for so was the
commandment of the LORD by his prophets.
26 And the Levites stood with the instruments of
David, and the priests with the trumpets.
27 And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering
upon the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the LORD
began also with the trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David
king of Israel.
28 And all the congregation worshipped, and the
singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded: and all this continued until the
burnt offering was finished.
All this continued until the burnt offering was
finished. It is suggested in some historical writings that the reason for
this was to cover the moaning and groaning of the animals while they were
being slaughtered. Also to recognize that as they were hearing this, they
were reminded, “this should have been me.” So MIM accompanied the atoning
sacrifice.
The Jews saw an intimate connection between MIM and
animal sacrifices. According to the Talmud, sacrifices could not be offered
without MIM. The Encyclopedia Judaica states that the accompanying MIM was
such an integral part of the sacrifices, that a lack of it invalidated the
sacrifice. They understood that without MIM there couldn’t be any animal
sacrifice.
Singing and thank offerings followed the atoning
sacrifices. Back in our text at v.29.....the sin offering was to make
reconciliation. The burnt offering was for the purpose of making atonement
of sin for all of Israel. So we see from our text that after all this was
done, we have singing and thank offerings.
2 Chronicles 29:31
31 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.
The thank offering was the only offering that Israel
offered that was not for sin. There was gladness...
2 Chronicles 29:30
30 Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes
commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the LORD with the words of David,
and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed
their heads and worshipped.
Because of that great animal sacrifice that had been
made, and seeing the sprinkling of the blood on the altar, they knew, “that
should have been me.” So after that was concluded they brought the thank
offering that God had made the atonement and that they had made
reconciliation through the blood sacrifices. Of course as we recognize from
the New Testament, these animal sacrifices were not capable of taking away
sin. But they anticipated the coming Christ who would take away the sins of
the whole world.
Hebrews 9:15
15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the
new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the
transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called
might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
The whole sacrificial system looked to Jesus Christ.
The system of MIM is CONNECTED TO THE SACRIFICE. Consider this, the blood
offering made reconciliation, the burnt offering made atonement, and after
this was complete, the Levites gave thank offerings using the Psalmists
words, that is, they sang with gladness of heart. MIM were inextricably
bound to the sacrificial system of worship. That has a bearing. It can not
be emphasized enough, that our singing in the New Testament today is the
thank offering for Christ’s atoning sacrifice.
Christians today have come to a heavenly Jerusalem.
Remember what Jesus said to the woman at the well in John 4:20-24
20 Our fathers worshipped
in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought
to worship.
21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour
cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem,
worship the Father.
22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we
worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true
worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father
seeketh such to worship him.
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must
worship him in spirit and in truth.
When you take Jerusalem out of the equation, you are
taking the sacrificial system out of worship. You are doing away with MIM
that were bound to the sacrificial system. Jesus was telling us in John 4
that there was a new way coming! The Hebrews writer tells us in chapter 12
that we have come to a new Jerusalem. A spiritual Jerusalem. Christ’s
sacrifice evokes the fruit of our lips.
Let’s look at Hebrews 13:9-15
9 Be not carried about with divers and strange
doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace;
not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied
therein.
10 We have an altar, whereof they have no right to
eat which serve the tabernacle.
11 For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is
brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without
the camp.
12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the
people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the
camp, bearing his reproach.
14 For here have we no continuing city, but we seek
one to come.
15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of
praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to
his name.
What he’s saying is that our sacrifice has ended.
Christ became the sacrifice one time for all time.
Hebrews 9:26-28
26 For then must he often have suffered since the
foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he
appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but
after this the judgment:
28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of
many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time
without sin unto salvation.
Jesus paid the sacrifice for us. There are no more
sacrifices. The sacrifice is over. When the sacrifice was over in the old
system, they put down the MIM, came forward and gave thank offerings with
singing in gladness of heart. In New Testament worship today, in not using
MIM, we are setting forth the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the atonement
for our sins. His sacrifice evokes the fruit of our lips.
The fruit of our lips means that we pray and we sing
in God’s temple. We now are the temple of God.
1 Corinthians 3:16
16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and
that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
Why is it that it was said in Hebrews 2:12
12 Saying, I will declare thy name unto my
brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.
Jesus tasted of death for every man. Therefore we
will sing praise in the congregation. Singing is the acknowledgment that the
atonement for our sins has been made.
When you want to argue that MIM are allowed in
worship, you need to bring back the sacrifices, you need to bring back the
temple, and you need to be in Jerusalem with a company of Levitical priests
to do it before MIM could be authorized or accepted.
Jesus said to that Samaritan woman in John 4 that we
would worship neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
We sing in God’s temple because God inhabits it.
Ephesians 2:22
22 In whom ye also are builded together for an
habitation of God through the Spirit.
That’s what the church is today. We are a habitation
for God. Just as God filled the temple with His glory, so today He fills us
with the spirit.
Ephesians 5:18-20
18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess;
but be filled with the Spirit;
19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and
the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ
It’s a thank offering that we bring in our singing to
show that the atoning work has been accomplished in Jesus Christ. When it’s
all said and done, those that use MIM in worship are nullifying Jesus’
sacrifice. They don’t understand that, but that is the consequence of their
practice.
Our congregational singing is the thank offering that
the atoning work of Jesus Christ has been accomplished.
Hebrews 10:12
12 But this man, after he had offered one
sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
Hebrews 13:15
15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice
of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving
thanks to his name.
MIM was commanded, but it was in connection with the
sacrifice. The question remains, are we going to appeal to David, or Moses?
Or are we going to appeal to Jesus Christ for the things that we do? To whom
did the apostles appeal? Appealing to the old system of the Mosaic law is
the same thing as rejecting Christ as our savior. It’s the same thing as
saying Christ’s sacrifice wasn’t good enough.
We do not find
MIM in the NT for a very good reason. The sacrificial system has died. It is
used no longer. It has been taken out of the way. Paul said if we want to
try to keep one point of the law, we must keep the whole law. We can’t just
pick and choose. But he also tells us that if we live by the law, we have
fallen from grace.
Galatians 5:1-5
1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith
Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of
bondage.
2 Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be
circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
3 For I testify again to every man that is
circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever
of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of
righteousness by faith.
Our singing is an expression from the heart that our
sins have been paid. That’s what we ought to be thinking in our minds. When
we are singing, we don’t use MIM because Jesus died for our sins.
Paul said 1
Corinthians 14:15
15 What is it then? I will pray with the spirit,
and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit,
and I will sing with the understanding also.
When we are singing we need to realize
that our singing under NT worship is a spiritual sacrifice that has an OT
parallel with the thank offering sacrifices of the Jews under the old
system. The first century Christians rejected their use because the atoning
work of Jesus blood took away everything that MIM was connected with.
Please turn in the KJ Bible at Acts 17:24-25, God that made the world and
all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not
in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as
though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and
all things;
No longer does God dwell in a temple made with
hands. He dwells in our hearts. No longer is God worshipped in a
temple made with hands. He is now worshipped within the temple of His
building, the church, within our hearts. No longer do we need to offer
any atoning sacrifices before we can sing praises of thanksgiving to God.
Jesus Christ accomplished that once and for all. No longer is God
worshipped with men’s hands as though He needs anything. The time came
2000 years ago when Christians worshiped God in Spirit, meaning from their
hearts, and in truth, meaning according to His will. Today, in 2010,
if we want to worship God in Spirit and in Truth, just like they did then,
we must do so like they did, singing praise to God from our hearts.
|
