Lifting up the Name of the Lord

Looking up "Lift and Lord" we find:

(A Psalm of David.) UNTO thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul (animal life). Ps 25:1

O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me. Ps 25:2

Alac (h5970) aw-lats'; a prim. root; to jump for joy, i. e. exult: - be joyful, rejoice, triumph.

Psalms were often prophetic of Christ. Judas would not triumph over Jesus:

By this I know that thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me. Psa 41:11

This is the same triumphing over which was forbidden when the congregation is gathered in assembly:

Ruwa (h7321) roo-ah'; a prim. root; to mar (espec. by breaking); fig. to split the ears (with sound), i. e. shout (for alarm or joy): - blow an alarm, cry (alarm, aloud, out), destroy, make a joyful noise, smart, shout (for joy), sound an alarm, triumph.

The Psalmist knew that the way to be preserved from ridicule was to turn to the Word of God:

(A Psalm of David.) UNTO thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. Psa 25:1

O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me. Psa 25:2

Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause. Psa 25:3

Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths. Ps 25:4

Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day. Ps 25:5

The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way. Ps 25:9

The Psalmist knew that the path to God was not triumph because it was an affront to the psalmist. All of the paths are:

All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies. Ps 25:10

Our Rock, Lord Jesus Christ created and led Israel to be missionaries to the nations-not to "worship" in ceremonial legalism. However, the story of the Songs of Moses is the song of witness against a people who would turn from the commandments of God to the ritual worship of Babylonia, Egyp and Canaan. This always involved music:

'And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.' (1 Cor 10:4)

The Song of Moses for This Generation

The second song of judgment by Moses shows how we can lift up the Lord and how we should not try to lift such a heavy load. God told Moses:

Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee. Dt 31:26

For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against the Lord; and how much more after my death? Dt 31:27

Gather unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to record against them. Dt 31:28

For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days; because ye will do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands. Dt 31:29

And Moses spake in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song, until they were ended. Dt 31:30

See Deut 32:1 - Deut 32:43 (KJV)

The first three verses of this spoken song show that to lift up the name of the Lord is to proclaim what He has done. It doesn't work to praise "Lord, Lord" this will just cause Jesus to say: "Get lost, I don't know you"--

GIVE ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. Deut 32:1

My doctrine (mental instruction) shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass: Deut 32: 2

Because I will publish (preach, proclaim) the name of the Lord: ascribe ye greatness unto our God. Deut 32: 3

He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he. Deut 32: 4

And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. 1Co.10:4

They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation. Deut 32: 5

They Were Lifting up Their Own Hands

The song continues:

I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men: Deut 32: 26

Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should behave themselves strangely, and lest they should say, Our hand is high, and the Lord hath not done all this. Deut 32: 27

This is not the humble hand but the open hand:

Yad (h3027) yawd; a prim. word; a hand, the open one indicating power, means, direction, etc., armholes, creditor, custody, debt, dominion, power, presumptuously..

This lifting up open hands toward God was a presumptions act. This word is defined in two important instances. First, when the Word of God through Jeremiah was destroyed he was, like all those faithful to the Word, thrown into a cistern. The second instance is the women lifting hands as they delivered made-up songs and prophecies out of their own mind.

Lifting up open hands is intended to overpower and claim some form of authority even over God. This is contrasted to opening the hand in the form of a cup and bowing the face down to God. This is not a sign of superiority but of need for God's instruction and as a "bowl of incense" as prayers:

First example, look at the word as it describes Jeremiah:

When the priests speak smooth things the people love it. However, when the prophet speaks he is, like Jeremiah, cast into a cistern and his words are cut to shreds. In time, there was an urge to rescue Jeremiah and they used a term of drawing or lifting him up.

The little pillows of rotten rags drew along the truth of God by rescuing Jeremiah from the cistern:

So Ebed-melech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took thence old cast clouts and old rotten rags, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah. Je 38:11

And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah, Put now these old cast clouts and rotten rags under thine armholes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so. Je 38:12

So they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison. Je 38:13

Isaiah connects music to drawing along the multitudes (gathered crowds) as Jeremiah was drawn by cords. The music and wine are the "pillows" which allow the mass of people to be drawn into pagan worship and away from the Word of God:

Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them Is 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. Is 5:12

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. Is 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. Is 5:14

The multitude which Jesus repudiated was:

Hamown (h1995) haw-mone'; o Ezek. 5:7), haw-mone'; from 1993; a noise, tumult, crowd; also disquietude, wealth: - abundance, company, many, multitude, multiply, noise, riches, rumbling, sounding, store, tumult

Because Jesus came to preach to the lost rather than preach to the preachers, it was prophesied that He would not call such noisy assemblies:

BEHOLD my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. 42:1

He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. 42:2

The word "cry out" means that Messiah would not call assemblie. He left it to the Jewish clergy to try to force people into the Dionysus dance with music:

Caaq (h6817) tsaw-ak'; a prim. root; to shriek; (by impl.) to proclaim (an assembly): - * at all, call together, cry (out), gather (selves) (together).

Amos was told by God to go to Israel and try to call off the noise (hamown). He said:

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

It was estimated that Jubilee 98 would squander 1/4 of a million dollars and consume untold man-months of time of the underemployed. This was, in reality, a called assembly with noise and music and lifting up of self as it was swallowing up the needy. People were dying from the heat while Jubilee jubilated. People came looking for the simple Word and could not find much of it. One e-mail shows that one visitor came looking for "meat" and was devistated by the attempt to "light the firs" by the lifting up and laying on of hands:

And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the Lord unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more. Am 8:2

And the songs of the temple (with asherah poles) shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord God: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence. Am 8:3

Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, Am 8:4

Saying, When will the new moon (Jubilee) be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? Am 8:5 (Or books or make it to the next show and tell?)

The "basket" was empty of the Word but it still carries signs of judgment:

K^elumb (h3619) kel-oob'; from the same as 3611; a bird-trap (as furnished with a clap-stick or treadle to spring it); hence a basket (as resembling a wicker cage): - basket, cage.

Keleb (h3611) keh'leb; from an unused root mean. to yelp, or else to attack; a dog; hence (by euphemism) a male prostitute: - dog.

For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. Ps.22:16

Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter. Is.56:11

And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the Lord: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy. Je.15:3

The empty baskets of Amos were like the traps of the false prophets used to catch men:

For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men. Je 5:26

As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich. Je 5:27

They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge. Je 5:28

The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love (ahab includes sexually) to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof? Je 5:31

One of the Jubileers promotes a book by saying that if you find yourself buying it don't think that you had any thing to do with it. God, Himself, performed a direct operation upon your brain cells and forced you to the bookstore or the booth (at the festival of booths). He even claims for his book what the Spirit of God claims for the Bible! Boy, isn't that making the ephah small and the shekel great? Isn't that putting the old thumb on the meat scales?

While people were lifting up the Lord it was strange butwe often cannot see the Lord through all of the arm waving and noise. Observers noted that Jubilee 98, especially the keynotes, were amazingly dry of the Word of God and the water of the Word. This is the sign that people are lost beyond redemption because God will not pass this way again:

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: Am 8:11

And they shall wander (stagger) from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it. Am 8:12

I received an e-mail from a new believer being told that he would "get meat" at Jubilee 98. After the first lifting up and laying on of hands ritual he went looking for a church.

But that doesn't matter, does it? You really came to worship people whose greatness lies in the fact that they can pick gnats out of our eyes--and we have plenty. I remember a company where the lowest person on the corporate totem pole could always tell you what was wrong with a new invention.

Isaiah continues to speak of those who can lift up the paying audience or drag them along with the cords of musical ecstasy where we try to hurry God up or get the wine fermenting again:

How to permit the Lord to Lift up His own Name:

But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness. Is.5:16

Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat. Is 5:17

How to lift up yourself while trying to find the lost gods:

Woe unto them that draw (Mashak or sound), iniquity with cords of vanity (If its useless worship, it's idolatry), and sin as it were with a cart rope: Is 5:18

That say, Let him make speed, and hasten (be eager with excitement) his work (by implication make a poem), that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it Is 5:19

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter Is 5:20

A musical worship facilitator is to "help lead the worshipers into the presence of God." Isaiah knew about that but God didn't like it a bit.

Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight Is 5:21

Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine (wineskins images work about as well), and men of strength to mingle strong drink: Isa 5:22 (This is commingling truth with false teaching)

Which justify (declare clean, holy) the wicked for reward (donation or bribe), and take away the righteousness (moderation or rightness or prosperity) of the righteous from him Isa 5:23

Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. Isa 5:24

Again, Isaiah knows that only God can lift up His own Holy name. You had better be a HEAVE LIFTER if you plan to lift up the Lord:

The Lord is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness. Is 33:5

And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the Lord is his treasure. Is 33:6

Now will I rise, saith the Lord; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself. Isa 33:10

God doesn't want to be "lifted up" because such presumption fails to recognize that He is lifted up. What He wants us to do is to lift Him up in wisdom, knowledge, stability with the power to bring others to salvation in His Name. Here are the seven spirits which would rest upon Jesus:

AND there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: Isa 11:1

And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; Isa 11: 2

And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: Isa 11: 3

But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. Isa 11: 4

But he knows that the false prophets will lift up their own name:

Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath, as fire, shall devour you. Is.33:11

And the people shall be as the burnings of lime: as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire. Is 33:12

Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might. Isa 33:13

Doesn't God lift up His own name with hilarious fun-making of the lifters? I love that: they throw away the wheat and get pregnant by the combine. They get pregnant by running around absorbing the patterns and paradigms of others:-just the stubble with no fruit. Not even enough straw to make a good bed:

How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart; Je 23:26

Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams, which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal. Je 23:27

The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and

he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully.

What is the chaff

to the wheat? saith the Lord. Je 23:28

Some of these prophets believe that they are apostles. Others believe that God has given the power to read minds. Others have the power to write a book, which God says for you to buy, which for a fee can do what God's free word can do (Isa 55:1f). Still others can perform magic by "laying on of hands."

Instead of burning themselves up with their own songs and sermons and just abrade the people, God's word is the true fire:

Is not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? Je 23:29

Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that steal my words every one from his neighbour. Je 23:30

Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that use their tongues, and say, He saith. Je 23:31

Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the Lord, and do tell them,

and cause my people to err by their lies,

and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the Lord. Je 23:32

Jesus identified His Jewish enemies as "sons of Satan" and a "den of vipers" and called them liars because "they speak on their own."

The pattern of Jesus was that a SON listens to and speaks the Words He hears from the FATHER. Therefore, those who are just lifting up themselves in "the idolatry of talent" ARE NOT CHILDREN OF GOD.

Oh, don't these "puffer billies" love to talk about themselves? How I cured that person or read that person's mind or wrote this here book better than Scripture? As they speak about and steal sermons outlines from other false prophets and stomp and joke while pretending to speak the holy Word of God don't they have to make everything a joke: Lightness is:

Pachazuwth (h6350) pakh-az-ooth'; from 6348; frivolity: - lightness.

Pachaz (h6348) paw-khaz'; a prim. root; to bubble up or froth (as boiling water), i. e. (fig.) to be unimportant: - light.

Her prophets are light and treacherous (Pharisees) persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law. Zeph 3:4

Polluted includes:

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), (from 2485) to play the flute: - begin (* men began), defile, * break, defile, take inheritance, pipe, player on instruments, pollute, (cast as) profane (self), prostitute, slay (slain), sorrow, stain, wound.

Why is it that pollution always seems to be definable by a word which defines "music"?

See how they treaded Jesus in the same way.

Oh, you have to praise the Lord and get the people excited to bring them into the presence of the god of wine.

Remember the women's lying song about David being ten times greater as a warrior than Saul? Didn't it divide the nation? When David was running from Saul he had to drum upon the door and "slaver" spit all over the place to make the king think that he was a prophet - a mad man. Why did he do that? It was because his enemies chanted that little ditty and David knew that it was not true. If true, the enemy would be running rather than making fun of him.

Achish was the king of Gath which was the place of the wine vats and the women playing on musical instruments as all were naked bringing fertility:

Gath (h1660) gath; prob. from 5059 (in the sense of treading out grapes); a wine-press (or vat for holding the grapes in pressing them): - (wine-) press (fat).

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, player.

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.

Psalm 68:25 and Psalm 87:7 show that Nagan and Chalal or halal can mean the same thing: to play on musical instruments.

And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad (halal) in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard. 1Sam 21:13

However, susceptible the Hebrews were to magical, charismatic music, the king of Gath knew that the "spirit" came out of the vats:

Have I (Achish) need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play (rave like) the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house? 1Sam 21:15

If David's halal praise would not admit him into the company of Achish do you think it could "bring the worshipers into the presence of God?"

Nevertheless, the people who hire them think that the froth from gone-wild, charismatic speaking is the holy spirit oozing out. Again,

Pachazuwth (h6350) pakh-az-ooth'; from 6348; frivolity: - lightness.

Pachaz (h6349) pakh'-az; from 6348; ebullition, i. e. froth (fig. lust): - unstable

Pachaz (h6348) paw-khaz'; a prim. root; to bubble up or froth (as boiling water), i. e. (fig.) to be unimportant: - light.

These are exactly the terms used in Ephesians 4 and 5 before he warned against the buffons and demanded that the Spirit come from the Words of Christ and be the only source of teaching.

Job defines violence as:

He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his flower as the olive. Jb.15:33

For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery (donations) Jb 15:34

They conceive mischief (chaff), and bring forth vanity (stubble), and their belly (womb) prepareth deceit. Jb 15:35

When Solomon's "music grove" was turned into topheth because the tabret and other musical instruments were played there as the children were burned in the red-hot arms of Molech, God's violence would make the temples again look like gardens:

And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were of a garden; he hath destroyed his places of the assembly: the Lord hath caused the solemn feasts and sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion, and hath despised in the indignation of his anger the king and the priest. Lam 2:6

The Lord hath cast off his altar (candlestick), he hath abhorred his sanctuary, he hath given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; they have made a noise in the house of the Lord, as in the day of a solemn feast. Lam 2:7

This noise was the same frivolity:

Qowl (h6963) kole; o a voice or sound: - / aloud, bleating, crackling, cry (/ out), fame, lightness, lowing, noise, / hold peace, [pro-] claim, proclamation, / sing, sound, / spark, thunder (-ing), voice, / yell

And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely (sexual) song 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

Because the people warned by Amos couldn't tell the difference between good and naughty summer fruit, they would go into captivity. In a modern sense, they will be scattered back into an ancient Babylonian form of worship or scattered among denominations. But, mark it down, when they have broken down the walls it will not be they who will rule but the wild beasts will come in and eat their grapes and their flocks.

Second example: Lifting up By False Women Prophesiers

The other use of the word armholes connected with lifting one up is in Ezekiel where he warns against the women who prophesy by the use of enchantments and always music as part of the summer basket or bird trap to capture souls:

Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, which prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy thou against them Eze 13:17

And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature (various lengths) to hunt souls Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you? Eze 13:18

And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear your lies? Eze 13:19

Wherefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt to make them fly. Eze 13:20

These lifted up arms were the open hands lifting up and waving around. This was an affront to God because it was a display of the power of the prophetess:

Z^erowa (h2220) zer-o'-ah; or (short.) zer-o-aw'; from 2232; the arm as stretched out, or (of animals) the foreleg; fig. force: - arm, / help, mighty, power, shoulder, strength

And "she" tried to get the whole "congregation" to flap their hands and fly with her the word was:

Parach (h6524) paw-rakh'; a prim. root; to break forth as a bud, i. e. bloom; gen. to spread; spec.

to fly (as extending the wings); fig. to flourish: - * abroad, * abundantly, blossom, break forth (out), bud, flourish, make fly, grow, spread, spring (up).

They would flap their little hands and fly into her traps. In time God would release them to allow them to "fly free" of ceremonial legalism. See how it is women prophetesses (meaning musical sellers of false doctrine) make souls take wing and fly.

As I have watched the hands waving like a helicopter I have wondered if the man was actually going to fly, to take off. In time, God would free the "birds" so that they might fly free of the burden of ceremonial legalism

"Ezekiel in describing the necromantic ritual of the witches, says they fastened 'magic bands' (kesatot) on their wrists and with them 'trapped souls like birds' (Ezekiel 13:20). This rare word is related to the Sumerian KI-ShU, meaning some kind of magical imprisonment, but we have to look to Greek for its precise significance. In the form kiste, Latin cista, it appears as a container used in certain mystery rituals of the Dionysiac cult, supposedly for the carrying of secret implements. In fact, wherever the cista is graphically represented it is shown as a basket from which a snake is emerging. Thus on sarcophagi inscribed with Bacchic scenes, the cista is shown being kicked open by Pan and the snake raising itself from the half-opened lid. The snake is an important feature of the Dionysiac cult and imagery. The Maenads (mad women) of Euripides' Bacchae have serpents entwined in their hair and round their limbs, and the snake was the particular emblem of the Phyrigian Sabazios (Sabadius) with whom Dionysos is identified." - John M. Allegro, The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross

In Ezekiel chapter eight the women were lamenting for Tammuz whic of course included resurrection rituals with instrumental music:

Anath (Ishtar-like) came upon her divine brother Baal (Tammuz)
unawares when he was beating his timbrel and perhaps singing.
The goddess ate her brother's flesh 'without a knife and drank his blood without a cup'.
The timbrel also was the sacred musical instrument peculiar to the bacchic festivals."

M. P. Blavatsky, Isis Unveiled

Only God has the authority to lift such holy hands in judgment against mankind:

As I live, saith the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you: Eze.20:33

Zechariah warned against those who use the instruments of a foolish shepherd to attack the fat crowd while ignoring those who are settled and upright. As he plays the harp of the idle shepherd he really has his sword behind his back just hoping to "have the fat lambs for lunch."

And the Lord said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd. Zec 11:15

For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still:

but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws (hoofs) in pieces. Zec 11:16

Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock the sword (chereb not a musical instrument) shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened. Zec.11:17

The prophets at times took up the instrument and "sang" God's song of judgment against people. The sword is not the instrument of the foolish shepherd. Musical instruments would be concdmned they divert him from his task and prevent him from hearing either the snarls of the wolf or the bleating of the slain sheep:

K^eliy (h3627) kel-ee'; from 3615 (to consume); something prepared, i. e. any apparatus (as an implement, utensil, dress, vessel or weapon): - armour ([-bearee]), artillery, bag, carriage, / furnish, furniture, instrument, jewel, that is made of, * one from another, that which pertaineth, pot, / psaltery, sack, stuff, thing, tool, vessel, ware, weapon, / whatsoever.

This word is often translated as a musical instrument:

Praise the Lord with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings. Ps.33:2

And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song 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

Woe to them: That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of musick, like David; Am 6:5

Paul condemned and refused to use mechanical instruments as his weapons of spiritual warfare. By analogy, if our warfare is spiritual how in the name of sanity can singing, playing, dancing, clapping or whatever mechanical or lifeless have any effect against invisible, spiritual demons?

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 2Cor 10:3

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal (animal or unregenerate), but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds (agruments); 2Cor 10:4

Musical instruments were originally WEAPONS of Warfare. They still make war and steal from the poor.

This word mistranslated as a weapon is almost identical to the musical instrument of false spiritual warfare in Amos:

Hoplon (g3696) hop'-lon; prob. from a prim. heipo , (to be busy about); an implement or utensil or tool (lit. or fig., espec. offensive for war): - armour, instrument, weapon

"the watchmen, who patrolled the streets for the repression of common crime, were charged with the additional duty of exorcizing the dreaded powers of the air and of darkness, which went about like roaring lions seeking what they might devour.

To accomplish this object the night watchman wielded spiritual weapons of two different sorts but of equal power; he range a bell, and he chanted a blessing." (Frazer, James George, Folk-Lore in the Old Testament, Macmillian, p. 423, 1923)

Paul said about the same thing in his first letter which apparently had little effect on Corinth's worship which did more harm than good:

If even lifeless instruments, such as the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will any one know what is played? 1Cor 14:7RSV

Lifeless is much like "carnal" but includes mechanical instruments of music:

Apsuchos (g895) ap'-soo-khos; from 1 (as a neg. particle) and 5590; lifeless, i.e. inanimate (mechanical): - without life.

Afro-America

West Africans reconstructed their native drums in the New World, preponderantly as cult instruments. Small sets of two or, more often, three drums of graded sizes form an integral part of Afro-American rituals and, in the Caribbean, also of voodoo dances.

Only the skins of sacrificial animals may be used for membranes among Afro-Bahians in Brazil, who baptize their new drums, preferably with "holy" water obtained from a Roman Catholic church.

Drums in Haiti are sacred objects and may even represent the deity itself: as such they receive libations. One type of bongo drum--there exist at least four of these--has been adopted by Western rhythm bands, as has the conga.

To lift up hands against God is an affront because the open, upraised hand is a claim of power and personal authority:

See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand. Deut 32:39

For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever. Deut 32:40

Moses Spoke His Songs

Have you ever noticed that Moses was not a musical prophet. Neither was Jesus. In fact, it was music which caused the original sentence against Israel at Mount Sinai as they worshiped Apis, the bull. It was music which led Israel into captivity as they rejected God and His word and demanded a might king like the nations to lift up his own hands. It was music which the Jewish clergy used to lift up their haughty hands against Jesus to force Him into the Dionysus, choral dance. It will be music finally put down only when Babylon as the commercial prostitute is finally put down. I doubt that Babylon is exclusively in Rome.

And Moses came and spake all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he, and Hoshea the son of Nun. Deut 32:44

And Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel: Deut 32:45

And he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law. Deut 32:46

This song of Judgment-was first of all against Moses:

Because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel. Deut 32:51

While modern charismatic movements claim to "lift up the name of the Lord" I am afraid that the watching world can see only the waving, dancing musical preaching or musical singing - violating the law to recite: "Speak to yourselves in Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs" - all the revealed Word of God.

Kenneth Sublett

Musical worship index

Home Page