Jesus said that they had
lost contact with the WORD because He was the personal VISION
of the invisible Spirit God. Therefore, to try to be Lifted Up
to catch a VISION OF GOD is rank paganism and proof that Jesus
has poked out the spiritual eyes and plugged the ears of the
Doctors of the Law:
Therefore speak I to
them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they
hear not, neither do they understand. Matthew 13: 13
And in them is
fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand;
and seeing
ye shall see, and shall not perceive: Matthew 13: 14
For this peoples heart is waxed gross, and
their ears are dull of hearing, and
their eyes they have closed; lest
at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear
with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and
should be converted, and I should heal them. Matthew
13: 15
Therefore, the
pre-post-modern Bible and Jesus said that the people in
Isaiah lost their vision of the Word which is the only LIGHT
they are going to get. If you focus on gathering a Multitude
you can be assured that they are not there to hear from
Christ Who gave you the Word, free of cost:
All these things spake
Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he
not unto them: Matthew 13:34
That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the
prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which
have been kept
secret
from the foundation
of the world. Matthew 13: 35
Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the
house: and his disciples came unto him, saying,
Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.
Matthew 13: 36
Terry Briley at
Lipscomb: The
book of Isaiah begins with an analysis of Israel's
worship.
<>Outwardly, there's nothing wrong.
But their hearts are not engaged and their lives are
disconnected
from their worship.
No, there was something
fundamentally wrong with their worship. Remember that when
Israel's elders fired God and demanded a king like the
nations it was so that they could WORSHIP LIKE THE NATIONS.
Thereafter, Israel was on the path to captivity and
destruction and God gave the kings to lead them there.
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.
This began at Mount
Sinai with musical idolatry:
Ephraim Syrus On Our Lord notes that Sinai was a test.
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
Because TRUTH HAS FAILED,
when conflict arises because the elders or preacher decides
to restore the Aaronic priesthood and the Levitical
musicians "to bring the worshipers into the presence of God"
the solution is to learn how TO RESOLVE THE CONFLICT I
CREATED. Those who object to, for instance, the restoration
of the Deaconess to help rule over the flock, anyone who
objects just has a problem that their hearts are not engaged and
their lives are disconnected from their worship.
However, Narrative
Theology picks proof texts and then switches their meaning
to fit the problem. It's ok if your hearts are engaged.
However, Isaiah begins
with a total repudiation of Israel's worship:
THE vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah,
Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Isaiah 1: 1
Hear, O heavens, and
give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have
nourished and brought up children,
and they have rebelled against me. Isaiah 1: 2
The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his masters
crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth
not consider. Isaiah 1: 3
Isn't there SOMETHING
OUTWARDLY WRONG?
According to the Book of
Enoch and similar documents, God will come with ten
thousands of His Saints to execute judgment. Enoch makes the
point that even dumb TREES and animals obey the LAWS of God.
However, Satan came into Genun (Jubal) in his youth and
taught him how to make musical instruments which, he
claimed, actually housed the devils. When you STRUCK or
WHACKED a string and really ground it into bits (psallo) the
demons spoke FROM WITHIN the instruments.
Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto
anger, they are gone away backward. Isaiah 1:4
And the daughter of Zion
is left as a cottage
in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. Isaiah 1:8
Except the Lord of
hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as
Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. Isaiah 1: 9
For they shall be
ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be
confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen. Isaiah
1: 29
Oh, I get it! There was nothing wrong in Sodom
and Gomorrah: But their hearts are not engaged and their lives are disconnected from their
worship!
In the vision in chapter
6, Isaiah identifies himself as typical of the people,Briley said.
No, Isaiah was a
prophet and prophets are not TYPICAL of the people.
Rather, the prophets always rise up to repudiate the forms
of worship as "religious festivals" as noted in Isaiah 5.
Isaiah really begins with THE vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
Only as a sinner did
Isaiah see himself as typical
Then said I, Woe is me for I am undone;
because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a
people of unclean lips:
........... for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of
hosts.
Is.6:5
We know that the "located
traveling salesmen" are not serious about wanting to see the
Lord because it would bring on confession and demand the
following response:
Also I heard the
voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who
will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. Isa 6:8
This was a REVELATION OR
ORACLE through a dream. That is, Isaiah was given this
vision directly by God because God had selected him as a
prophesying prophet. No. If you are having visions and
hearing voices then Jim Jones and David Koresh should warn
you.
In Amos, a father and
son went into the same temple prostitute but the word-stealers, the doctors of the Law
Jesus fired, insist on saying that THERE'S NOTHING WRONG, they just had a bad mental
attitude.
Stealing the people's money with
"pledges and collection plates and signing over widow's
property to the 'church'' to deprive her children of
support" was ok: THERE'S NOTHING WRONG, they just had a bad mental attitude.
Singing and improvising
on instruments which caused the people to hunger and thirst for the Word and
causing them to go into captivity and death was ok: THERE'S NOTHING WRONG, they just had a bad mental attitude.
Well, we have collected
about 55 pages of Bible and theological comments B.E.
(Before Me) which proves that the MANNER in which they
worshiped
was wrong: their manner was wrong BECAUSE they had a bad
mental attitude.
This was really the
worship to which God had abandoned Israel because of the
musical idolatry at Mount Sinai which earned them the Law
"because of transgression."
The leaders condemned by
Amos had turned righteousness and justice into religious
festivals of wine, women and song.
The result was that
the people hungered and thirsted because they COULD NOT
FIND the Word of God.
The leaders in Isaiah 5
had turned their attention to wine, women and song.
The result was that
the people hungered and thirsted for the Word but could
not find it.
"Among the scholars" of
Lipscomb we are going to try to sell the notion that the
failure induced by them is the result of failing to get a
PERSONAL REVELATION like Isaiah which we are told is just
TYPICAL of the people.
However, the failure
created by the "conflict resolvers" is the introduction
of new wineskins, women and musical worship teams and
instruments: "Holy Entertainment" if you can read it
without gaggint.
This with Bible 101aaa
and a bit of history know that the FORM of the worship
recorded by Amos and Isaiah was Canaanite Baalism which
depended on wine, women and music.
However, among the
scholars to whom Isaiah 6 is directed, claim that Outwardly, there's nothing
wrong.
And we ask with
Isaiah:
HO, every one that
thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no
money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and
milk without money and without price. Isa 55:1
Wherefore do ye
spend money for that which is not bread? and your
labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken
diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and
let your soul delight itself in fatness. Is.55:2
The FORM of Israel's
worship was OUTWARDLY wrong BECAUSE they had a bad mental
attitude. God would not accept these OUTWARD FORMS imposed
because of musical idolatry at Mount Sinai because they
were devoted to the worship of the STARRY HOST:
"This passage (Amos
5:23-24) shows us that Amos was opposed to the forms in which people acted out their
worship of God, and other passages strengthen this
impression.
Turning back to the Mosaic period, Amos asks the
rhetorical question: 'Did you bring to me sacrifices and
offerings the forty years in the wilderness, O house of
Israel?" (5:25). He is merciless in his attack on the shrines, especially the
royal shrine of Jeroboam II at Bethel (3:14; 7:7-9, 10-17;
9:1). It is very doubtful, however, that he intended a
wholesale abolition of the system of worship.
Rather, Amos was
probably demanding that the cult be purified, for it had become so contaminated by pagan
thought
and practice that the people had become
indifferent to the true worship of Yahweh and the demand of his torah... He demanded that everything be swept away that did not conform to
the proper worship of Yahweh." (Anderson, Bernard,
Understanding OT, p. 277).
Flash Back
Now, why won't the
"scholars" call a conference and answer Briley's contention
by backing up and grasping from chapter 5 that the religious
festivals are like those of Amos and describe the worship of
the planets and starry host all of whom represent Satan.
Isaiah chapter 6 where THERE'S NOTHING WRONG always has an Isaiah chapter 5
attached to it:
For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the
house of Israel, and the men of
Judah his pleasant plant:
and he looked for
judgment,
but behold oppression; f
or righteousness,
but behold
a cry.
Isaiah 5:7
The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is
the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the garden
of his delight. And he looked for justice, but saw
bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of
distress. Isaiah 5:7NIV
A Cry is:
Caaq (h6817) tsaw-ak'; a prim.
root; to shriek; (by impl.) to proclaim (an assembly): - * at all, call
together, cry (out), gather (selves) (together).
Jesus promised to be
in the MIDST of the twos and threes who are ELECTED by
the INVITATION to "come learn of me."
People who build mega
churches when the growth ideal is about 150 members (re
Mormons) are adding house to house and oppressing the widows
and working people. By the collection plate, which Paul said
was not a commandment, and restoring the legalistic Tithe,
modern members are oppressed more and more.
Music creates "spiritual
anxiety through religious rituals." Therefore, those who add
praise teams are deliberately dissociating the members to
force them into conformity. The result is that they sing
their own improvised songs just like David and starve the
people for the Word of Christ.
However, what we see
happening is that God is taking the houses away from God's
people and giving them to the pagan musical legalists.
Remember that in this song where when God sings you had
better watch out, the vineyard represents the people of
Israel. Therefore, it was the national worship which had
Solomon spending more on shrines or "church houses" for his
pagan wives than on the temple which was looted within five
years of his death.
Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field,
till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in
the midst of the earth Isaiah 5:8
In mine ears said the Lord of hosts, Of
a truth many
houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant. Isaiah 5:9
Yea, ten acres of
vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an
homer shall yield an ephah. Isaiah 5:10
Woe unto them that rise up early
in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that
continue until night, till wine inflame them Isaiah 5:11
And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the
work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of
his hands. Isa 5:12
Festivals were
always worship but the Jews had turned the yearly
festivals to daily festivals and took up just as many
offerings:
I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I
cannot
stand
your assemblies. Isa 5:21
Must ye always
rejoice,
and go into my holy places
continually, as they that keep a feast? and must ye go with a pipe, as those that rejoice
into the mountain of the Lord, to the God of Israel
Isaiah 30:29 LXX
Therefore my people
are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men
are famished, and their multitude dried up with
thirst.
Isa 5:13
Therefore hell hath enlarged herself,
and opened
her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.
Isa 5:14
Thy pomp is
brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread
under thee, and the worms cover thee. Is.14:11
There is always a
Divine "but."
But the Lord of hosts
shall be exalted
in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in
righteousness. Isaiah 5:16
When you produce
conflict and sow discord over "worship styles" remember
that Jesus said that the Father only accepts worship which
is in spirit (in the mind) and in truth (according to His
Word). God knows only how we live a righteous life and
practice social justice: He is not listening to the
"children piping" trying to make Jesus do the Dionysus
song and dance routine.
Furthermore, music and
wine was introduced specificially to dull the senses and
allow them to forget God's purpose for their assemblies.
Albert Barnes noted that&emdash;
"they introduced them
(instruments) to their feasts of revelry, and thus made
them the occasion of forgetting God. Forgetfulness of
God in, connection with music and dancing, is
beautifully described by Job." (Barnes, Isaiah, p. 128)
Adam Clark wrote what any student of Bible 101aaa knows
about the nature of the "worship" defined by both Amos and
Isaiah. These were both about RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS which had
been transformed from infrequent trips of the mature males
to the temple and the frequent study of the word to FREQUENT
religious rituals just to oppress the people with bizziness:
Verse 11. Wo unto them that rise up
early] There is a likeness between this and the following
passage of the prophet Amos, chap. vi. 3-6, who probably wrote before Isaiah. If the latter be the
copier, he seems hardly to have equalled the elegance of
the original:- "Ye that put far away the evil day And affect the seat of violence; Who lie upon beds of ivory,
And stretch yourselves upon your couches; And eat the
lambs from the flock, And calves from the midst of the
stall; Who chant
to the sound of the viol, And like David invent for yourselves instruments of music; Who quaff wine in large
bowls, And are anointed with the choicest ointments:
But are not grieved
for the affliction of Joseph."
Is Briley correct? Can we put far awy the
evil day, act violently, lie upon beds of ivory (idols),
stretch on couches (a pagan ritual), eat veal while the
people starve AS LONG AS WE HAVE A GOOD MENTAL ATTITUDE? Really, was THERE NOTHING WRONG?
Psalm
41 predicts that Judas will attempt to triumph over Jesus
where triumph means "play loud instruments and make a
joyful noise before the Lord." This was the warrior's
chant to panic the enemy.
The Judas Bag attached
to the spotted flute case is identified in the classics
and the Bible as derived from "speaking in tongues" and
"of the world."
Therefore, lying on
couches and making music is not just a bad mental
attitude. The oxgoad on the left helps keep the
'worshipers' upright as they sing, play instruments and
dance to drunkeness: often "without wine."
Quasten notes that the
"Religious Festivals" in Isaiah 5 and Amos 5 was the marzeah
which was a feast with and for dead ancestors.
"It was the same with
regard to music at the meal of the dead. When at the end of the meal
the funeral guests
would resort to their
own pleasures,
to playing
and dancing,
it was because music was originally supposed to have offered comfort to the
dead."
They joined themselves also unto
Baal-peor,
and ate the sacrifices of the dead. Psalm 106: 28 (The Marzeah Amos 5, 6)
<>Thus
they provoked
him to anger with their inventions: and the plague brake in
upon them. Psalm 106: 29
Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment: and so the
plague was stayed. Psalm 106: 30
And that was counted unto him for righteousness unto all
generations for evermore. Psalm 106: 31
The festival with and
for the dead condemned by Amos and Isaiah:
"The marzeah had an extremely long history
extending at least from the 14th century B.C. through the
Roman period. In the 14th century B.C., it was prominently
associated with the ancient Canaanite city of Ugarit (modern Ras Shamra), on the
coast of Syria... The marzeah was a pagan ritual that took the form of a
social and religious association... Some scholars regard the
funerary marzeah as a feast for--and with--deceased ancestors (or Rephaim, a proper name in the Bible
for the inhabitants of Sheol)." (King, Biblical
Archaeological Review, Aug, 1988, p. 35, 35)
"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)
"Doubtless they sounded harmoniously in their own
ears; but it reached no further. Their melody, like much Church-music, was for itself, and ended in
itself. 'Let Christian chanters learn hence, not to set the
whole devotion of Psalmody in a good voice, subtelty of
modulation and rapid intonation, quavering like birds, to tickle the ears of the curious,
take them off to
themselves and away from prayer, lest they hear from
God." (Barnes, Albert, Amos, p. 300)
"The Holy Spirit,
uttering His voice by Amos, pronounces the rich to be
wretched on account of their luxury: 'Those that drink
strained wine, and recline on an ivory couch,' he says;
and what
else similar he adds by way of reproach. Especial regard is to be
paid to decency (as the myth represents Athene, whoever
she was, out of regard to it, giving up the pleasure of
the flute
because of the unseemliness of the sight). (Clement of
Alexandria, p. 245).
"...these same people were
punctilious in
their religious observances. Never did such abundant
sacrifices smoke to Yahweh from the altars at Dan and Bethel
and other sanctuaries in Israel; and the note of praise rose regularly and loudly from tongue and harp.
Was not this the
worship in which Yahweh delighted? So they thought, but
the voice of yahweh through His prophet told a different
story."
(F.F. Bruce, Israel, p. 58).
There was no congregational singing with
instrumental accompaniment among the "people's"
congregation. There was no
praise service in the Synagogue.
"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&emdash;Baal, Melkart, Astarte, Chemosh, Moloch,
etc&emdash;were particularly attractive to Jerusalem, while the old Sem 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 Ki. 17:16; 21:3-7; 23:4, 12; Jer.
19:13; Ezek. 8:16; Amos 5:26)" (Int Std Bible Ency.,
Idolatry, p. 1448).
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 Testamant,
Eerdmans, p. 895).
Therefore, it was because THERE'S
SOMETHING WRONG WITH THEIR WORSHIP that Isaiah continued to
show that God punishes people with that which they "lust
after." They lusted after wine, women and music which made
them deaf to the Word of God, so God sent them strong
delusions that they believe their own lies and be damned.
Make the heart of this
people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their
eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their
heart, and convert, and be healed. Isaiah 6:10
Then said I, Lord, how
long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, Isaiah 6:11
While those who charged you to sow
discord and run your members off "for a price" they are
now quite ready to RESOLVE THE CONFLICT (for a price).
However, the members are heeding the warning to flee the
unholy City (Jerusalem=Sodom). The people are not fleeing
for their life because the can't CATCH A VISION OF THE
GLORY OF GOD but because the musical and rhetorical
performers are "standing in the holy place" of church
architecture claiming that they can, in Rubel Shelly's
words, "Lead you into the presence of God."
And that is the way it has always been
prophesied so rather than try to resolve the conflict you
are stuck with locusts from under the earth and you just
need to get out:
And the Lord have
removed men far
away, and
there be a great
forsaking
in the midst of the land. Isaiah 6:12
But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a
teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them,
when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be
the substance thereof. Isaiah 6:13
Isaiah's image of the
remnant is something like "a tiny drop of juice from a
mostly rotten grape from a bare cluster from a dead vine
form a vineyard whose walls God has broken down so that the
BEAST PEOPLE can come in and eat up your inheritance.
Therefore, if your
mega-church built by human pride goes from 4,000 to 400
be glad and rejoice that you have seen God taking His
people out of the pagan worship temples, one from the
grinders, one from the vineyard, one from the church
houses stolen from widows who will need them no longer.
Yes, THERE'S SOMETHING
WRONG in Ezekiel and in Nashville: the musical soothsayers
peep and mutter trying to restore the Marzeah which is a
musical festival with and for dead ancestors hoping to get a
VISION OF THE INVISIBLE. The familiar spirit was an old
wineskin and had the same meaning as the nebel (harp) and
the sounding brass of 1 Cor. 13:
The LORD spoke to me
with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow
the way of this people. Isa 8:11
He said: "Do not call
conspiracy everything that these people call conspiracy;
do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it. The
LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he
is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to
dread, and he will be a sanctuary; Isa
8:12-14a
<>but
for both
houses
of Israel he will
be a stone
that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.
And for the people
of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare. Many of them will
stumble;
they will fall and be broken, they will be snared and
captured." -- Isa 8:14b-15
Bind up the testimony
and seal up the law among my disciples. Isa 8:16
I will wait for the
LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob. I
will put my trust in him. Here am I, and the children
the LORD has given me. We are signs and symbols in
Israel from the LORD Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion.
Isa 8:17-18
And when they shall
say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the
dead? Is.8:19
<>>
To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word,
> it is because there is no light in them. Isaiah 8:20
Distressed and
hungry, they will roam through the land; when
they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king
and their God. Isaiah 8:21
"From ancient times dance and theatre have played a vital role in
China , Korea , and Japan . Many performances of plays and dances were closely tied to
religious beliefs and customs. In China, records from
about 1000 BC describe magnificently costumed
male and female shamans who sang and danced to
musical accompaniment, drawing the heavenly spirits down to earth through their
performance.
Impersonation of other
characters through makeup and costume was occurring at
least by the 4th century Bc. Many masked dances in Korea
have a religious function.
Rubel Shelly etal have
FACILITATED the insertion of pagan musical worship teams
with the clear claim that "they can lead you into the
presence of God." That seems to usurp the role of Lord
Jesus Christ.
"Throughout East Asia
the descendants of magico-religious performances can be seen in
a variety of guises. Whether designed to pray for
longevity or for a rich harvest or to ward off disease and evil,
the rituals of impersonation of supernatural beings through masks and costumes
<>and
the repetition
of rhythmic music and patterns of movement
perform the function of linking man to the spiritual world beyond.
Hence, from the
earliest times in East Asia, dance, music, and dramatic mimesis have been naturally fused through their religious
function. Britannica Members
Rubel Shelly and John
York also NARRATE the Exodus into a pattern for Christian
worship and community. However, it was because of the
musical idolatry at Mount Sinai that God ABANDONED the
nation to worship the astrial deities because THAT WAS
THEIR PRAYER. There are numerous statements of this FALL.
Click to
read Augustines notes of Psalm 106.
"An interesting
reference to idolatry
and Moloch worship and their connection with demonism is found in Psalm 106:36,
37. The Hebrews are said to have 'mingled themselves with the nations... learned their works and
served their idols... ye they sacrificed their sons and
daughters unto
demons...
In fact, Manasseh's idolatries were the result of a
gigantic outburst of demon-energized occultism. He is said to
have practed augury, and used enchantment, and dealt with
them that had familiar spirits (divining demons) and with wizards (those possessed of occult knowledge because under the control of
a divining
demon )
(II Kings 21:6; II Chron. 33:6)." (Unger, Merrill,
Archaeology and the Old Testament, Zondervan, P. 279)
I believe that it is
error to teach that OUTWARDLY NOTHING IS WRONG!
But, Again Terry
Briley at Lipscomb: The book of Isaiah begins with an analysis of
Israel's worship. Outwardly, there's nothing wrong. But their hearts are not engaged and their lives are
disconnected
from their worship.
Jesus warned you that the
Doctors of the Law "take away the key to knowledge."
Therefore, the doctors primarily speak to themselves trying
to pretend that once-Christian colleges are the
manufacturing plants for DITTO-HEADS who just embarrass
themselves by their ignorance of and proof-texting of the
Book of Isaiah and the rest of the word.
However, the prophets
understood what God planned as well as Israel's failure to
either "enter the kingdom" or to permit others to enter.
They understood that true "singing" was a symbol for telling
the nations about the mighty deeds of God. Because Paul knew
the failed history of Israel he knew that Isaiah defined
true singing which was not the paganistic musical
entertainment which signalled the end of the Israelite
nation. In chapter five Isaiah "sang" about Israel's failure
through false music, prophesied the coming of Messiah in
chapter eleven and in chapter twelve defined true
"singing"&emdash;
In that day you will
say:
I will praise you, O
LORD. Although you were angry with me, your anger has
turned away and you have comforted me. Isa 12:1
<>Surely God is my
salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the
LORD, is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation." With joy you will draw water
from the wells of salvation. Isa 12:2-3
"Give thanks (sing)
to the LORD, call on his name; (sing to God)
<>make
known among the nations what he has done, and (teach the
Gentiles)
proclaim that his name is exalted. Isa 12:4
Sing to the LORD,
for he has done glorious things; (sing to God)
let this be known
to all the world. Isa 12:5 (teach the Gentiles)
As Rubel Shelly claims
that the Bible Writers sieved their "scripture" from
philosophy and their own personal agenda, it is interesting
what Lucian of Samosata said about the Seeker-Centers of his
day:
Alexander, on the other hand,
preferred his native place, urging very truly that an
enterprise like theirs required congenial soil to give it a start,
in the shape of 'fat-heads' and simpletons; that was a fair
description, he said, of the Paphlagonians beyond
Abonutichus;
they were mostly superstitious and well-to-do; one had only to go there
with someone to play the flute, the tambourine, or the cymbals, set the proverbial mantic (prophetic) sieve a-spinning, and there they
would all be gaping as if he were a god from heaven.
You cannot make it with
blind eyes and deaf ears but you can certainly lead the
blind into a ditch and Jesus says "that's ok." The
affirmation of Amos and the claim that God introduced
musical instruments is the FATAL FLAW which opens the gates
to the modern, pagan forms of ritual.
Now, that Lipscomb has
joined him in the new VISION QUEST for the lost church we
can assure you that there will always be a few fat-heads and
simpletons to pay the bill.
Musical
Worship Index
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