The symposium Shall We Dance? The first one is, "Dance is a component of divine worship. Praise him with timbrel and dance; praise him with strings and pipe' Ps , 4. The author continues: "A half hour with a good concordance leaves the lingering impression that there is more to a truly Biblical perspective on dance than has previously met our Adventist eyes.
Of some 27 references to dance dance, danced, dances, dancing in the Scriptures, only four occur in a clearly negative context, and even these references nowhere describe dancing as the object of God's displeasure. The chapter presents this surprising challenge to the Adventist church: "As challenging as it is to our notion of respectability and decorum, it seems evident that Adventists should give new thought and study to the inclusion of dance as part of the worship of God, at least in selected communities and on special occasions.
If dancing is a component of divine worship in the Bible, then why should it not also be accepted as a legitimate form of social entertainment?
After all, what is done in the church serves as a model for the Christian life in general. After spending not "a half hour" but several days examining the biblical data regarding dance, I find this conclusion unsubstantiated and its challenge unnecessary. For the sake of clarity, I wish to respond to the position that in the Bible "dance is a component of divine worship" and consequently an acceptable form of social entertainment outside the church, by submitting four major lines of evidence which discredit this position.
In the Bible there is no trace of dancing by men or women in the worship services of the Temple, the synagogue, or the early church. This absence can hardly be attributed to negligence, because the Bible gives clear instructions regarding the ministry of music in the Temple. The Levitical choir was to be accompanied only by stringed instruments, the harp and the lyre 2 Chron ; 1 Chron Percussion instruments like drums and tambourines, which were commonly used for making dance music, were clearly omitted.
What was true for the Temple was later also true for the synagogue and the early church. No dancing or entertainment music was ever allowed in God's house.
After his extensive analysis of "Dance in the Bible," Garen Wolf reached this conclusion: "First, dancing as part of the Temple worship is nowhere traceable in either the first or the second Temple.
Second, of the times these words [Hebrew words translated as "dance"] are used in the Bible, only four times could they be considered to refer to religious dance. Third, none of these references to religious dance were in conjunction with the regular established public worship of the Hebrews.
It is important to note that David, who is regarded by many as the primary example of religious dancing in the Bible, never instructed the Levites regarding when and how to dance in the Temple. Had David believed that dancing should be a component of divine worship, no doubt he would have given instructions regarding it to the Levite musicians he chose for the ministry of music at the Temple.
After all, David is the founder of the music ministry at the Temple. He gave clear instruction to the 4, Levite musicians regarding when to sing and what instruments to use to accompany their choir 1 Chron His omission of dancing in the divine worship can hardly be an oversight.
Rather, it tells us that David distinguished between the sacred music performed in God's house and the secular music played outside the Temple for entertainment. David's omission of dancing in the divine worship tells us that he distinguished between the sacred music performed in God's house and the secular music played outside the Temple for entertainment.
An important distinction must be made between religious music played for entertainment in a social setting and the sacred music performed for worship in the Temple. We must not forget that the whole life of the Israelites was religiously oriented. Entertainment was provided, not by concerts or plays at a theater or circus, but by the celebration of religious events or festivals, often through folk dancing by women, children, or men, each of them performing as a separate group.
There are four explicit references in the Bible to so-called "religious dancing" Ps ; ; 2 Sam Two of them consist of an invitation to praise the Lord "with dancing" Ps ; and two describe David's dance before the ark 2 Sam For many people these texts provide an all-sufficient biblical support for religious dancing in the church and social dancing outside the church.
In view of the importance attached to these texts, we take a closer look at them by examining first the invitation to praise the Lord "with dancing" Ps ; and then the episode of David's dancing before the ark.
It is important to note first of all that the invitation to praise the Lord with "dancing" is based on a disputed translation of the Hebrew term machowl, rendered as "dancing" in Psalm and as "dance" in Psalm Some scholars believe that machowl is derived from chuwl , which means "to make an opening"--a possible allusion to a "pipe" instrument.
In fact this is the marginal reading given by the King James Version. Psalm states: "Let them praise his name in the dance" [or "with the pipe," KJV margin]. The marginal reading of the KJV is supported by the context of both Psalm and , where the term machowl occurs in the context of a list of instruments to be used for praising the Lord. Besides machowl, in Psalm the list includes eight instruments: trumpet, psaltery, harp, timbrel, stringed instruments, organs, cymbals, clashing cymbals KJV.
Since the Psalmist is listing all the possible instruments to be used to praise the Lord, it is reasonable to assume that machowl also is a musical instrument, whatever its nature might be. Another important consideration is the figurative language of these two psalms, which hardly allows for a literal interpretation of dancing in God's house.
Psalm RSV encourages people to praise the Lord on the "couches. It is evident that the language is figurative because it is hard to believe that God would expect people to praise Him by standing or jumping on couches or while swinging two-edged swords. Similarly, Psalm speaks in a highly figurative way of praising God. The psalmist calls upon God's people to praise the Lord "for his mighty deeds" v. Included in the psalm are some specific places to praise the Lord, namely, "his sanctuary" where His people can go and "his mighty firmament" where they cannot go ; the reason to praise the Lord, namely, "for his mighty deeds.
This psalm makes sense only if we take the language to be highly figurative. For example, though God's people can praise Him in His sanctuary, there is no way for them personally to praise the Lord "in his mighty firmament," because they live on earth and not in heaven.
What is it with Adventism? But we go to SUCH extremes. Absolutely no dance at all? That is WAY more of a cause to celebrate than just being delivered from an army!
All an army can do is kill you once. You will rise again. Sin has the ability to cause Second Death, meaning you are forever lost. I tell you what: go back and read the Song of Songs straight through several times. The Shulammite dances for Solomon and he describes how gorgeous her curves are pretty overtly!
Le gasp!!! My husband would agree for he says I was born with two left feet. When a husband would kiss his wife in the film, the powers that be would put their hand over the lense, as if we never saw our parents hugging each other. Some do a neat 2-step! Check out OshKosh in a few weeks. If the marches were any faster, it would look like a square dance! Our music, therefore, must mirror the time in which we live. We shall, therefore, go back in time and investigate worship in the sanctuary.
This is an account about the dedication of the temple that was built by King Solomon. In summary:. For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning , that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Romans The question, therefore, is how did the Levites Manage to sing songs that were acceptable to God? After the Ark of the Covenant had stayed in the house of Obed Edom for some time, David felt that it should be taken to his city.
On that occasion, the happy procession ended in sadness when Uzzah died after touching the Ark of the Covenant in a bid to rescue it from falling. And said unto them, Ye [are] the chief of the fathers of the Levites: sanctify yourselves , [both] ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel unto [the place that] I have prepared for it. For because ye [did it] not at the first, the LORD our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order.
These are important points that should be applied in our music today. Go through each of them, and ask yourself whether you have fallen shot in some area. Concerning the percussion instruments, we can see that only the cymbals were part of sanctuary worship. They used for intros and interludes but during the singing it is only the stringed and the wind instruments that were used. The stringed instruments were played skillfully.
This is an important thing that people must consider. We can only play skillfully if we are trained. The choir master was also skillful. But how many groups and choirs take time to develop their capacity in terms of skills? This is something that must be done by every church and ministry.
Schools should be established to train people on sacred music. Another question which evokes emotive reactions is the issue of dancing. Many people cite the dancing of David as precedence to their dancing. Here is how the bible gives the account. And it came to pass, [as] the ark of the covenant of the LORD came to the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul looking out at a window saw king David dancing and playing : and she despised him in her heart.
Yes, David danced. But how did he dance? Can it be a justification to how people dance in the sanctuary of the Lord today? In our day dancing is associated with folly and midnight reveling.
Health and morals are sacrificed to pleasure. By the frequenters of the ballroom God is not an object of thought and reverence; prayer or the song of praise would be felt to be out of place in their assemblies.
This test should be decisive. Amusements that have a tendency to weaken the love for sacred things and lessen our joy in the service of God are not to be sought by Christians. The music and dancing in joyful praise to God at the removal of the ark had not the faintest resemblance to the dissipation of modern dancing.
The one tended to the remembrance of God and exalted His holy name. The other is a device of Satan to cause men to forget God and to dishonor Him. And that, knowing the time , that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
And of the children of Issachar, [which were men] that had understanding of the times , to know what Israel ought to do. The simple answer is, we do things for a reason and at the proper season. We must ask ourselves whether this is the time to engage in the war fare or to be in a celebratory move. The bible says that anyone who thinks he stands must watch lest he fall.
We are living in a solemn moment that requires from us something greater than dancing. Jesus the high priest is interceding for our sins. By faith we follow him into the most holy place. What is our duty? Also on the tenth [day] of this seventh month [there shall be] a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
Leviticus And [this] shall be a statute forever unto you: [that] in the seventh month, on the tenth [day] of the month, ye shall afflict your souls ……. For on that day shall [the priest] make an atonement for you, to cleanse you , [that] ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD. Leviticus 29, Afflicting of souls has to do with self-examination, soul searching and repenting of all our sins.
This is our duty as we follow the work of our High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary. Many people measure the goodness of their singing by the amount of amen they receive after the singing.
In simple terms, the more people get excited by your singing, the better the singing is. However, this could be a false measure. The songs that we sing in the day of atonement must be able to lead people to better things, more than just a mere excitement.
If the music that you do has not had the same effects then you need to ask yourself whether you are really serving the Lord or the Devil. We should endeavor in our songs of praise to approach as nearly as possible to the harmony of the heavenly choirs. There is confusion also, concerning the genres of music which we should have as a people.
There is a mingling of the world with the church. Gospel Rock, Gospel Reggae, Lingala ya Yesu are all genres where people amalgamate worldly tunes and rhythms with spiritual words.
Ellen White. Bible Study. Valentines Day. Bible Quiz. Baby Dedication. Baby Blessing.
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