Music, Prophecy and the Holy Women of Israel
Music, Prophecy, and the Holy Women of Israel
“Many daughters have done well, with the strength of character that is steadfast in goodness, but you excel them all… A woman who reverently and worshipfully fears the Lord in wonder and awe, she shall be honored and praised!” (Proverbs 31:29-31, Amplified Version).
Did you know that the Talmud, the official rabbinic source for Judaism, includes a “Hall of Fame” that includes seven women? These are the prophetesses, the “Holy Women of Israel,” who hold places of honor and are of central importance in biblical history. These women are: Sarah (Genesis 11-23); Miriam (Exodus 2,15); Deborah (Judges 4-5); Hannah (1 Samuel 1-2); Abigail (1 Samuel 25); Huldah (2 Kings 22); and Esther. It is instructive that three of these prophetesses are chiefly remembered in Scripture through their songs: Miriam, Deborah and Hannah.
The Proclaimers. “The Lord Yahweh gives the Word, and the women who proclaim it are a mighty throng.” (Psalm 68:11). If anyone is surprised by the participation and influence of all these inspired women in the Hebrew Bible, and the fact that they were empowered by God to offer the Word of the Lord to others, perhaps this reference to a psalm of David would open our eyes to the gifts that faithful women have brought to the world and the church. Other translations of this verse amplify the prophetic gifts of inspired women in the service of God: “… a great company of women brought the good news;” “… the women who announce the good news are a great host;” “… and great was the company of women who bore the tidings;” “… the women who bear and publish the news are a great host;” “… there are very many women ready to tell the good news;” “… the women with the good news are a mighty army;” “… great is the number of women who make it public;” “… the female proclaimers are a numerous host.” Then there is this version from The Passion Translation… “God Almighty declares the word of the good news with power, and the warring women of Zion deliver its message.” When the Lord wants to deliver a message to the people, it is not unusual for Him to empower faithful women to deliver that message. And there is inevitably a huge throng of women ready to receive God’s call to make His word public. Both men and women who are prophets can fulfill what Rabbi Heschel claims is the whole point of prophecy, “The prophet’s essential task is to declare the word of God to the here and now.”
Music and Prophecy
“As soon as you come to the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and a lyre before them, and they will be prophesying. And then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you mightily, and you shall prophesy with them…” (1 Samuel 10:5-6).
Music’s Prophetic Voice. Music is in the very soul of God. Music is in the eternal repertoire of God’s self-expression. The Trinity undoubtedly have spent eternity singing divine love songs to each other. If music is somehow a part of God’s essence, then we humans, being made in the image of God, also have music built into our nature. It makes sense then, that if God wants to communicate a revelation to humans, He will often prefer to communicate musically, through a prophet. That’s why music and prophecy are spiritually joined at the hip throughout Scripture. God talks through music with people, and prophets often speak musically to the people. The two are intrinsically and dynamically fused. The Holy Spirit seems to inspire us, and open our hearts that much more effectively, through the prophetic use of music. St. Benedict summed up their eternal connection when he said, “Worship in song is a higher form of proclamation.” We know of course that the “Prayer Book of the Bible,” the beloved book of Psalms, consists of 150 songs. Here are two more examples of musical prophecy in the Hebrew Bible:
(1) “And Elisha said, ‘Now bring me a musician.’ And it came about when the musician played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him, and he said, ‘Thus says the Lord….” (2 Kings 3:15-16).
(2) “Moreover, David and the commanders of the army set apart for the service some of the sons of Asaph and Hemar and Jeduthun, who were to prophesy with lyres, harps, and cymbals.” (1 Chronicles 25:1).
All of Creation Sings! ”For you shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break into singing before you, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands…” (Isaiah 55:12).
A Fact of Nature. Atoms, the building blocks of all created matter on the earth, are all comprised of impossibly small particles that have synchronized movement. They have an innate knowledge that enables them to cooperate in a natural “dance.” God created them with the ability to move together faster than the speed of light. Electrons move so fast that an electron could race around the earth in eighteen seconds. Scientists have discovered that each atom is “extremely turbulent,” that these particles in the atom “move and interact endlessly.” Surprisingly, these particles all seem to “vibrate coherently.” This discovery of coordinated movement in the atoms suggests that there may be a mysterious intuitive consciousness even at the cellular level in all of creation. Evidently, even inanimate objects have movement and are animate at that basic level.
The great Christian novelist Flannery O’Connor once suggested that we need to discover “a way of reading nature which includes the most possibilities.” Might any of these statements be among those “possibilities”?
(1.) The movement at the cellular level is a form of creaturely self-expression; this “self” is foreign to human experience or knowledge;
(2.) The synchronized movement of the electrons and protons are their form of dancing, of rejoicing, of being expressive according to the way God created them;
(3.) Each cellular particle of every part of creation is vibrating with joy in praise of their Creator, rejoicing in its own existence, and dancing to God’s rhythm;
(4.) All of creation has been blessed to have its own relationship with God; each creature has its own unique way of communicating with God, even at the level of the atom’s inner particles; nature has its own “language” that God can understand;
(5.) Since all of creation is able to “groan” (Romans 8:19-22) under the fall’s curse, creation is thus able to rejoice, now and with the future restoration;
(6.) God’s creation is mysterious to humans to the point that it contains elements that are at the same time fact and symbol, reality and imagination, flights of natural fancy that are so elegant and “perfect” that they must be true;
(7.) Trees are clapping their hands at the subatomic level, expressing joy in their own way, unbeknownst to humans; trees clapping and hills singing are a “living reality” according to Christian poet and scientist Virginia Stem Owens;
More than a Metaphor. The following may be literally true, and not a mere metaphor, or picturesque language, or poetic license:
“Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; and let them say among the nations, ‘The Lord reigns!’ Let the sea roar and all its fullness; let the field rejoice, and all that is in it. Then the trees of the woods shall rejoice before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth.” (1 Chronicles 16:31-33).
“You crown the year with your goodness, and your paths drip with abundance. They drip on the pastures of the wilderness, and the little hills rejoice on every side. The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered with grain; they shout for joy, and they also sing.” (Psalm 65:11-13).
“Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it! Shout for joy, you lower parts of the earth; break forth into singing, you mountains, O forest, and every tree in it! For the Lord has redeemed Israel and glorified Himself in Zion!” (Isaiah 44:23).
“Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills be joyful together before the Lord!” (Psalm 98:8).
“The beast of the field will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:20).
“Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens! Praise Him from the skies! Praise Him, all the armies of heaven! Praise Him, sun and moon! Praise him, all you twinkling stars! Praise him, skies above! Praise Him, vapors high above the clouds! Let every created thing give praise to the Lord, for he issued His command, and they came into being. He set them in place forever and ever. His decree will never be revoked… (Psalm 148:1-6);
Praise the Lord from the earth, you creatures of the ocean depths, fire and hail, snow and clouds, wind and weather that obey Him, mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all livestock, small scurrying animals and birds, kings of the earth and all people, rulers and judges of the earth, young men and young women, old men and children… (Ps. 148:7-12);
“Let them all praise the name of the Lord. For His name is very great; His glory towers over the earth and heaven!” (Psalm 148:13).
Universal Worship. The Scripture seems to take seriously the idea that all creation is able to rejoice, to praise God and worship Him, from the smallest creature to the kings of the earth. As author and writing professor Laurel Lee once wrote, “Some things have to be believed to be seen.”
Creation, Sung into Existence. Music refuses definition. Music can be described, it can be lived, it cannot be defined. Music goes too deep for that. Deeper than we can imagine and deeper than we can possibly know until heaven, where music seems to be the common language. This makes us wonder if, at creation, God didn’t merely speak the words that brought everything into existence. No, perhaps God sung those words. God filled the new universe with the new song of creation. God didn’t merely shout “Let there be light!” No, God sung those words that brought light to life. God’s first creative act, a song. Is it any wonder that at creation “the morning stars sung together and all the angels shouted for joy.” (Job 38:7). Music has been part of the creative process, in both God’s and ours, since literally Day One.
DESCRIPTIONS OF MUSIC:
“Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the spaces between the notes and curl my back to the loneliness.” Maya Angelou.
” Jesus Christ is the chief musician of all eternity who sings in the midst of His people.” Brian Simmons.
“The end of all music should be the glory of God and the refreshment of the human spirit.” J. S. Bach.
“Music takes us out of the actual and whispers to us dim secrets that startle our wonder as to who we are, and for what, whence, and whereto.” Ralph Waldo Emerson.
“If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music.” Albert Einstein.
“Music is the silence between the notes.” Claude Debussey.
“All I’ve got is my red guitar, three chords, and the truth.” Bono.
“It is cruel, you know, that music should be so beautiful. It has the beauty of loneliness and of pain, of strength and freedom. The beauty of disappointment and never-satisfied love. The cruel beauty of nature.” Benjamin Britten.
“It is the stretched soul that makes music, and souls are stretched by the pull of opposites – opposite bents, tastes, yearnings, loyalties. Where there is no polarity – where energies flow smoothly in one direction – there will be much doing but no music.” Eric Hoffer.
“The two universal languages on earth are music and silence. They are also the two primary languages of heaven.” Peter Kreeft.
“When I open my eyes, I can only sigh, for what I see is contrary to my creed; and I must despise the world for not perceiving that music is a higher revelation than any wisdom or philosophy.” Beethoven.
“Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: ‘To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!’” Revelation 5:13.
“You don’t have a thing if it ain’t got no swing.” Duke Ellington.
“Music begins to atrophy when it departs too far from the dance.” Ezra Pound.
“They can’t kill music. God knows, they’ve tried. But music always wins. As long as there are kids coming up that have a passion. All the bean counters in the world can’t kill that.” John Hiatt.
“Then Miriam the prophetess took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her, with tambourines and dancing. Miriam sang to them, ‘Sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted…’” Exodus 15:20-21.
“Great music is that which penetrates the ear with facility and leaves the memory with difficulty. Magical music never leaves the memory.” Thomas Beechum.
“Let me write the songs of a nation, and I care not who writes the laws.” Plato.
“Suddenly, God’s angel stood among the shepherds and God’s glory blazed around them. At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God’s praises, ‘Glory to God in the heavenly heights!’” Luke 2:13.
“For every thought that strung a knot in my mind, I might go insane if it couldn’t be unstrung. But it’s not to stand naked under unknowing eyes, it’s for myself and my friends my stories are sung.” Bob Dylan.
“David told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their brothers as singers to sing joyful songs, accompanied by musical instruments: lyres, harps and cymbals… Four thousand musicians are to praise the Lord with the instruments I have provided for that purpose.” I Chron. 15, 22.
“After theology, I accord to music the highest place and greatest honor.” Martin Luther.
“He who sings, prays twice.” St. Augustine.
“Worship in song is a higher form of proclamation.” Benedict of Rome.
“A verbal art like poetry is reflective; it stops to think. Music is immediate, it goes on to become.” W. H. Auden.
“After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.” Nick Hornby.
“My beloved spoke and said to me, Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away with Me. For lo, the winter is past and the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time for singing is come.” (Song of Songs 2:10-12).
Tell Me the Old, Old Story. For wherever there is self-expression, there is bound to be a song. Rabbis say that the oldest texts in the Hebrew Bible are poems/songs. Because they were sung, they were remembered more precisely through the oral tradition, and they were probably less tampered with or paraphrased down through history. So it appears that the most authentic pieces of Scripture are the songs that were sung. They were memorized more easily, preserved more accurately, and handed down with more authority.
The New Song. In heaven, worship is what they do, and music is how they do it. Worship is heaven’s team sport, and music is the common language. Music fills the air of heaven, because there is unending worship of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
In Revelation, St. John’s book of the unveiling of Jesus Christ, there is reportedly worship and music 24/7, even though heaven exists outside of time. Surely when we get to heaven there will be work to do, relationships to deepen, fun to be had. For we all have a hand in joyfully maintaining Kingdom operations. But, according to Revelation, around every corner will be a song to sing, at a moment’s notice there will be worship to enjoy.
Our earthly ears have not come close to approaching the unlimited number and quality of notes to sing, the heavenly harmonies, the exquisite melodies. John meagerly attempts to describe the indescribable in Revelation 14: “I saw a heavenly door open before me, and the same trumpet-voice I heard speaking with me at the beginning broke the silence… A tremendous sound coming out of heaven, like the roar of a waterfall and like the ear-splitting sound of a thunderclap. The sound of music that I heard was like the sound of many harpists playing their harps. And they sung a new song…” (TPT). This “new” song implies that it is the most perfect song ever played, totally unique, on instruments invented for heavenly worship. This new song, creating a whole new musical category, is better than perfect, sung in a heavenly key.
The original creation was sung into existence by God. In Revelation, it appears the new creation is sung into existence as well, by the occupants of heaven. We see a lot of different beings and creatures doing the singing. Because Revelation is full of symbolism and metaphor and analogy, these heavenly singers can be difficult to pin down. As we continue looking at Revelation, this isn’t the last time we’ll see the 24 elders and the four living creatures. John first gazed upon them as they sang:
“Each of these living creatures had six wings, and their wings were covered all over with eyes, inside and out. Day after day and night after night they keep on chanting:
‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty –
The One who always was, who is, and who is still to come.’
Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to the One sitting on the throne (the One who lives forever and ever), the 24 elders fall down and worship the One sitting on the throne (the One who lives forever and ever). And they lay their crowns before the throne and chant,
‘You are worthy, O Lord our God,
to receive glory and honor and power.
For you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.’ (Rev. 4:8-11).
O, how that must be music to God’s ears.
“Then I looked again, and I heard the voices of thousands and millions of angels around the throne and of the living creatures and the elders. And they sang in a mighty chorus:
‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered –
to receive power and riches
and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and blessing.’
“And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. They sang:
‘Blessing and honor and glory and power
belong to the one sitting on the throne
and to the Lamb forever and ever.’
And the four living creatures said, ‘Amen!’ and the 24 elders fell down and worshiped the Lamb.” (Rev. 5:11-14).
Can anyone truly imagine this scene? Millions of angels around the throne, singing in full voice. And then you can add the four living creatures and 24 elders. Only Christ is worthy to set in motion the last days, to spell out the final days of earthly history. Only the pure and bloodied Lamb is worthy, only the Lamb Jesus holds the future. Evil Satan is defeated and unworthy to wield this power. Satan is not in control, Jesus the Righteous One is in power, and all the heavenly beings rejoice in triumph and gratitude.
The high praise begins at the throne, but then it ripples outwardly to every being in heaven and more outwardly still to all the creatures on earth. The Kingdom of God on earth, humans and animals alike, loudly singing their praises to the Lamb and to the one who sits on the throne, Yahweh. Once the joyous song is sung, one can only sing “Amen!” and fall down in worship before the Lamb. This suitable act of adoration at the end of the song affirms that the glorified Lamb deserves the highest of praise for ever and ever.
“And when the Lamb took the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the people. And they sang a new song with these words:
‘You are worthy to take the scroll, and break its seals and open it.
For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God,
from every tribe and language and people and nation.
And you have caused them to become a kingdom of priests for our God.
And they will reign on the earth.’ (Rev. 5:8-10).
Here we are in the heavenly throne room, and we hear music, we see worship in another sphere. There is a new song being sung, a song that has never been sung, a heavenly original. This new song also signifies that a new era has begun. The Father on the throne is holding the scroll which contains His final plans for the world. The scroll reveals what God has in store for the end of days. And only the Lamb of God, the sacrificial lamb, is worthy to open the scroll. Only this one Lamb that was slain to atone for the sins of the world. (John 1:29).
The 24 elders each had a harp in one hand and a golden bowl of incense in the other. What a great picture of worship… musical praise and holy prayers. It’s interesting that heavenly worship evidently includes the prayers of believers here on earth. As we think about the smoke of the burning incense wafting upward toward heaven, a beautiful picture of prayer emerges. If you’ve ever wondered why so many churches love to use incense, remember this passage. Incense symbolizes the prayers of believers that make their way to heaven’s throne room. It’s comforting to know that our prayers have a sweet fragrance to the King, like the finest incense.
The Lamb being celebrated in the song has been slaughtered. It’s clear to the worshipers that this Lamb had been slain, slaughtered, because the scars and wounds are still noticeable. It’s obvious to those around the Lamb that He was bloodied, grievously wounded in the Passion of the Lord. This Lamb indeed had shed the blood of ransom for the people of God. The people ransomed include every language, every people group, every nation. There is no race or ethnic group that has a monopoly on the Truth of Jesus. The Christian Faith is an equal opportunity operation, it does not tilt in favor of a particular people. Jesus’ salvation is universal, His body covers the earth, and He has gathered His believers into a Kingdom.
The Supper of the Lamb. So strike up the band. Put on your wedding garments. Cue the dancers. Let the singers warm up their voices. Pour the best wine for everybody. Slice the meat. Garnish the salads. Open the doors for the guests. A toast for the bride and Groom. The Marriage Supper of the Lamb can now begin. This party will reflect the fullness of joy for life everlasting.
Worship on earth is literally participating with worship in heaven. The Christian church is primarily a worshiping community, during which we join with the angels around the throne. All other church activities are inspired and empowered by worship. “Any approach to salvation that does not eventually become worship reduces salvation to a concept or a program or a technique that we can master and therefore control. Song has always been basic to the act of worship… Salvation is the source of our song. Without the experience of God’s saving grace in our day-to-day lives, we are left with little to sing about.” (Eugene Peterson).
Music in the Key of Faith. “My life goes on in endless song above earth’s lamentations. I hear the real, though far-off hymn that hails a new creation. Through all the tumult and the strife, I hear its music ringing. It sounds an echo in my soul. How can I keep from singing?” (Traditional Irish Lyric).