“And when they had sung a hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives.” Matthew 26:30
AS WE READ the passage at the top of this page, we might wonder what Yeshua’s talmidim (disciples) were singing. While I can’t tell you exactly what the hymn was, I can assure you that it wasn’t “The Old Rugged Cross.”
There were, however, certain Psalms, called the Psalms of Ascent, that were sung as Jews went up to Jerusalem during Passover and the other Pilgrimage Festivals mentioned in Deuteronomy 16:16: “Three times a year shall all your males appear before YHWH thy God in the place which He shall choose; in the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Pesach, or Passover), and in the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot, or Pentecost) and in the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot). And they shall not appear before YHWH empty.”
These three times of holy convocation were the major holidays on the Jewish calendar during Temple times, even more important than Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, which were not Pilgrimage Festivals. In modern “post-Temple” Judaism, the situation is just the opposite, with Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur having taken on more importance, filling the synagogues more than any other days of the year.
When traveling up to Jerusalem during the Pilgrimage Festivals (“Aliyah L’Regelim”), there was a liturgy of sorts, called in most of your Bibles the Psalms of Ascents. This would include Psalm 118, as well as Psalms 120 to 134. These Psalms were not merely spoken, but were sung. Although we can’t be certain of the exact music, the musical notations for these Psalms (or “Tehilim”) have been preserved in most Jewish Bibles. These musical notations are called “trops,” and, like the “nikidot” (vowels) appear above and below each line of Hebrew text. A trained cantor can read these trops, and can provide a close approximation of what it sounded like when the Psalms were sung thousands of years ago.
In addition to singing a Psalm of Ascent, it is important to note that the talmidim were singing at the end of a meal. In this case, of course, it happened to be a Passover Seder meal. However, at the end of every evening meal it has been a Jewish tradition to sing zimrot-songs of praise, for thousands of years. Also, in keeping with the V’Ahavtah (Deuteronomy 6:5-9), it was traditional to discuss Torah. “And you shall teach them (the words of Torah) diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up.” The evening meal was a time to discuss God’s word, to mutually instruct and edify each other, and in particular to teach the children. This is as it should be, and this is how it still is in Orthodox Jewish homes.
Music was (and is) very important. God “invented” music. At the Creation of the earth, we read that “the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.”
Music is also very much a part of the worship in Heaven. We read that the 24 elders in Heaven sang “a new song.” Also, the 144,000, who are 12,000 male virgins out of each of the twelve tribes of Israel, will also “sing a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders. And no man could learn that song but the 144,000, which were redeemed from the earth.” Those who think that Moses is a relic of the past might want to reconsider. The Scriptures look forward prophetically to the time when the angels will “sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, ‘Great and marvelous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are Thy ways, thou King of the nations. Who will not fear, O YHWH, and glorify Thy name? For Thou alone art holy. For all the nations will come and worship before Thee, for Thy righteous acts have been revealed.'” It is very appropriate that they were singing a song of Moses, because right after that, “I looked, and the Temple of the Tabernacle of Testimony in Heaven was opened.” The earthly Tabernacle and Temple were but copies of the heavenly Tabernacle and Temple. If you don’t like music, you probably won’t like Heaven.
Ulysses and the Sea Nymphs
One of the most popular works of ancient literature (other than the Bible, of course) is the epic poem, Odyssey by Homer, written in the 700’s B.C.E. Ulysses was the king of Ithaca in Greece. However, much legend and mythology is wrapped up around Ulysses, which is repeated by Homer.
In one of the adventures of Ulysses, we find Ulysses fascinated by the power of the Sirens, which were sea nymphs who used their sensual music and voices to seduce sailors to crash their ships into the rocks on the shore of the island in which they dwelled. The sailors would hear their voices, and be irresistibly drawn to them, throwing away all common sense. After crashing into the island, the sailors would continue to be enthralled by the sea nymphs, forgetting about home and friends and even food. They would eventually starve to death.
Ulysses wanted to hear the songs of the Sirens. He ordered that the men on his ship have their ears plugged with wax so that they could not hear, and he had also ordered that he himself would be roped securely to the mast of the ship. He told his men not to pay any attention to him as they sailed the ship near the island of the Sirens.
As the ship neared the Sirens, Ulysses heard the sensuously beautiful songs of the Sirens. He frantically tried to loose himself, and shouted to his men to untie the ropes. However, as previously instructed, they ignored his requests. He screamed for his men to sail onto the island of the Sirens, but again the men could not hear either him or the Sirens, and continued sailing past the island. When the ship had gone a long distance from the island, the sailors untied Ulysses and removed the wax from their ears. The journey continued on in safety.
This is merely a story, perhaps an excellent fable. However, it shows the seductive power of music. Music is part of the liturgy of every religion, whether it be for good or evil. This is because music is universally recognized to be a gateway to the soul. As such, we need to be careful about what kind of music we listen to. This is particularly true of children. As adults, we set a poor example if we listen to music that has the potential to bring damnation to our souls.
G-I-G-O
Of course, most of us do like music. People are inherently “musical.” A person might have no musical abilities, but can still enjoy music. It is very important to be cautious about what kind of music you are putting into your souls and minds. We humans are like computers. The computer expression is G-I-G-O, or “Garbage in, Garbage out.” When you input bad information into a computer, the information you get out of it is also bad.
God has chosen music as a way of strengthening our spirits. There is a children’s song which goes like this: “Sing it, you’ll never forget it (2X), If you’ve something to remember, put it in a melody. Who could think of any way to learn more naturally? Sing it, you’ll never forget it if you sing it.” This simple children’s ditty contains a lot of truth. This is one of the reasons why God’s word was originally designed to be sung. The musical notations called “trops” are throughout the Tanakh (O.T.). When you sing it, you don’t forget it. This is one of the reasons why I am such a fan of the various “Scripture” songs that are popular today. These songs often use contemporary melodies, in which various Scripture verses are sung. This is often very worshipful, and in the process the Word gets deep into our kishkas (“inner guts”).
Next to the rabbi, the most esteemed person in the synagogue is usually the cantor. He is trained to chant and sing the prayers, meditations, and scriptures-and to lead the congregation in worship. Worship and music are closely interwoven.
We normally associate music with sound, but we have noticed our deaf friends. They “sing” with their hands during worship. We all, both deaf and hearing, have a certain God-given sense of rhythm that needs to be expressed. It was given to us primarily for worship. When I am feeling “down,” I sing a song, and suddenly my spirit is lifted. Dance is another way of expressing this God-given sense of rhythm, and dance is very much a part of Davidic worship. Again, dance-like music can be used for good or evil. Because music is basically spiritual, it is important to be careful about what kind of music we are feeding to our spirits. I am especially careful about this on Shabbat. The only kind of music I listen to on Shabbat is music with good spiritual content. This is no huge sacrifice, for me or for anyone else, because today there is good spiritual music for nearly every musical taste.
I am not opposed to secular music on the other six days of the week, and I do listen to secular music. There is nothing wrong with good romantic songs. Even the Song of Solomon is a romance song, and it is included in the Bible. There are also many other songs which are spiritually “neutral,” neither good nor bad. However, because music is a gateway to the soul, some caution should be exercised regarding the types of music that one listens to. Much of the music today is spiritually harmful, with lyrics promoting sexual immorality, suicide, murder, drugs, and drunkenness. When you subject your spirit to this kind of garbage, it does effect you spiritually. Remember G-I-GO? This is particularly true of music.
Children and teenagers are particularly vulnerable to the influence of music. However, all of us, regardless of age, are influenced by music. This is one of the reasons that most products advertised on TV and radio have some kind of a musical jingo to attract buyers.
All too often, Bible believers offer a blanket condemnation of a type of music, rather than the message of that music, which is where the blame really belongs. Two of the most destructive songs that I know of were not “rock-and-roll” songs, but were accompanied by nice, soft, really high-quality music. One was the song, “Imagine,” by John Lennon. The listener is told to imagine a world with no God, no heaven above us, and no hell below. It is a world of peace and harmony with everyone “living for themselves,” an oxymoron of a statement if I ever heard one. The other song was sung by Frank Sinatra, “I Did It My Way.” In this song, Frankie does everything his way. It’s the old ’60’s mentality: “If it feels good, do it.” Both songs rose to the top of the pops charts, popular with both young and old, and both were tremendously destructive.
Meanwhile, “rock-and-roll” and other forms of music are merely neutral mediums. The message is what is important. People like Larry Norman and other Bible-believing musicians can take “worldly” music like rock-and-roll and deeply infect listeners with deeply spiritual, life changing truths. Martin Luther took barroom music of his era, and gave it fairly good spiritual content. Today, Christians think nothing of singing this bar-room music from Martin Luther.
I like to listen to country-and-western music, but am appalled at some of the lyrics, with husbands and wives cheating on each other and the inevitable songs about getting drunk. Alcohol abuse is drug abuse, except that the alcohol is legal. This doesn’t mean that country-and-western is inherently evil. There are also some good country-and western Gospel songs, very uplifting to the soul. There is nothing inherently “evil” about the type of music.
t 1. Usually translated as “Law,” but in actuality meaning “Teaching.” The Torah is the first five books of the Tanakh (O.T.).
2. Deuteronomy 6:7
3. Job 38:7.
4. Revelation 5:8.
5. Rev. 14:3.
6. Rev. 15:3-4.
7. Rev. 15:5.
8. Hebrews 9:11, 8:1-2.
9. “Before the Common Era,” equivalent to “B.C.”
10. Sir Oliver’s Song, by Candle, Birdwing Records.
By Dr. Rick Aharon Chaimberlin, D. Litt. / Music – A Gateway to the Soul (petahtikvah.com)
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