Worship in Heaven
You say in some of your teachings about satan seducing away all the angelic musicians that currently all the angels just say “Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God Almighty” and that there is no worship amongst the Angels, So what has happened to all the people that have already gone to heaven (many of whom were worshippers/musicians) surely there must be massive worship concerts in heaven all the time?
Let’s just straighten out the question first: The suggestion is that at present, there is no ANGELIC MUSICAL worship in the presence of God. There certainly is worship from angels to God – it goes on day and night without ceasing.
I’ve put below the scriptural sources from which this deduction may be made. Please don’t think I’m being dogmatic about this – I would be happy to be corrected from scripture, but I can’t find any other contradictory information, (except in “Folk-religion” – which unfortunately includes many carols.)
How about people? Do all the musicians now in the presence of God sing?
Ask yourself where the noise (er – I mean- the BEAUTIFUL SOUND!) comes from when you sing?
I’ll give you a clue – although you may (and you SHOULD) be singing in your heart, the physical noise comes from your vocal chords in your voice box in your throat! (Just in case you didn’t know!)
And after you’re dead, which bit of you will you NOT have (till the Resurrection)? Your body.
So, while there may be SPIRITUAL “music” from your soul, when you are dead, there won’t be physical music – yet!
Here’s the background for the suggestion that music in Heaven is temporarily “out-of-order”.
This comes from several Scriptural sources: Rev 4 shows us the “current continuous state” of Heaven, BEFORE the “Last Days”. Rev 4 8 tells us that praise to God never stops, day and night, from the angels who surround him. Yet it also uses the word “SAY” for the sound the angels make. (And other scriptures which we often take to suggest singing also actually say “saying” –see below.)
In the next chapter, Rev 5, the Last Days start to whirr into motion. The turning point is when the Lamb takes the Scroll of the End-Times events, in order to open it. Rev 5 7 Suddenly the angels get harps, and we are told they SING a NEW song. Rev 5 8 Astonishingly, this is the first record in Scripture of angels singing since Job 38 7 which records musical praise to God from the angels BEFORE the fall, “while the morning stars sang together and all the angels (Heb – sons of God) shouted for joy”.
From the Fall until this point in the End Times, no angel is recorded as SINGING praise to God. The word used is always “saying”.
Job 38 7 records musical praise to God from the angels BEFORE the fall, “while the morning stars sang together and all the angels (Heb – sons of God) shouted for joy”.
Satan’s fall changed all that.
We need to note some things about satan – these are faint clues in Scripture, but I think they hold together: Isaiah, in his prophesy against the King of Babylon, links instrumental music with Satan. Is 14 11 All your pomp has been brought down to the grave, along with the noise of your harps; 12 How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!
Ezekiel also suggests that Satan, before his rebellion, was a producer of music. Two of the words used to describe him can be rendered drums and pipes. In other words percussion and blown instruments.
Ezek 28 13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and beryl. Your settings (Heb Toph – Drums – tambourines) and mountings (Heb Neqeb – pipes) were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared.
The likelihood is that satan was the chief musician in heaven But now he has gone.
Can we deduce more? We know that one third of angels rebelled with him. (Rev 12 4) We also have the names of only three angelic beings in the whole of the Bible – Michael, Gabriel and Lucifer (who is now satan). Is it possible that they were each in authority over one third of the angels? Could this be why one third fell with satan – because he had direct command over them?
And if he was in charge of the musical worship in heaven, what else could all those in his command be, but the music support team? Their job was musical worship.
And when satan went, they all went, all the musicians. And now there is no record in the whole bible of any music in heaven; praise is said, not sung.
You say – but the shepherds saw the angels singing at the birth of Jesus. That is the common picture – but as so often, we have layered folk tale misunderstandings on top of what the Bible actually says: Luke 2 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and SAYING, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests.”
And back in Rev 4, right at the end of this age, they are still SAYING praises to God.
UNTIL.. The Lamb takes the scroll, and at last, the world moves into the End Times Then suddenly, the music restarts: Rev 5 8 And when he had taken it, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song…
There are musical instruments: A “harp” translates kithara. Linguistically this equates to a cittern/guitar/sitar, though the instruments John was familiar with would not have a fingerboard, just strings stretched over a sounding box.
There is a new song. (There will soon be trumpets.)
And only then do we get a record of the rest of us joining in: Rev 5 13 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 honour and glory and power, for ever and ever!”
IMPORTANT BIT FOR NOW! So what does God do for musical praise right now? Who is responsible for musical worship to God? Ps 68 24 Your procession has come into view, O God, the procession of my God and King into the sanctuary. 25 In front are the singers, after them the musicians; with them are the maidens playing tambourines. 26 Praise God in the great congregation; praise the LORD in the assembly of Israel. 32 Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth, sing praise to the Lord,
Currently musical praise is the responsibility of those ON EARTH. Us!
Humans have taken over the role of one of the most powerful angelic beings. We now are appointed to do what one-third of angels used to do.
What a responsibility! What an honour!
So – as an integral part of a worshipping community, you are one of God’s Most Important People!
But we already knew that.
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