Amos 5:23

"Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols."

There are two things God condemned in this verse: (1) the noise of the songs of their worship, and (2) the mechanical instruments used in their worship. Commentators generally have (1) either skipped the questions raised by this verse as did McKeating;[53] (2) dismissed the verse on the grounds that the only thing God had against anything at Bethel was the worshipper's violation of the rights of the poor; (3) suggested that instruments of music were a part of the regularly established Hebrew worship; or (4) affirmed that, "There is no hint that the ritual was irregular."[54] (5) Barnes thought that the thing God condemned here was the fact that, "Their melody, like much church-music was for itself and ended in itself."[55] Thorogood summed up the generally accepted opinions on this verse as, "What God really desired was that the Israelites should show justice and righteousness in their personal and national lives."[56] Of course, such an opinion regarding justice and righteousness being desired by God is correct, the Lord having thundered that message very clearly a half dozen times already in the scope of this prophecy; but it is something else which God condemns here. Regarding that specific problem of what is condemned in this passage, note this:

<SIZE=2>God Here Condemned:

Their feast days (Amos 5:21), not the great festivals which God Himself instituted, but the idolatry, drunkenness, immorality, etc. which they had added. Their solemn assemblies; the sweet smell (KJV) induced by the burning of leavened bread (condemned in Amos 4:5) had rendered even their assemblies unholy. Their burnt-offerings and meal offerings (Amos 5:22), rendered absolutely unacceptable to God by the drunkenness, immorality, the omission of any sin-offering, and the adoration of the gold image of a calf installed by Jeroboam I.

Their peace-offerings of fat beasts, pretending that peace with the Lord had been established without a sin-offering, and with no regard at all for their sins. Their noise of what were supposed to be songs! This word noise removes all thought of anything holy or spiritual. The singing had likely degenerated into that same kind of screaming cacophany one hears today.

Their instruments of music.

Now, the undeniable fact is that the Lord was condemning and crying out, through his prophet, against all of the things here mentioned; and there is no way to remove the instruments of music from that condemnation; for, unlike the case of the songs, it was not their melody which was lacking; it was not their noise which was condemned; and the only thing visible that could have been condemned here was the use of such unauthorized devices in God's worship.

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC

This subject is still a current and pertinent one to those who really wish to serve and honor God. Many religious communions, Jewish, Protestant, and Catholic reject instruments of music in God's worship, including: The Orthodox Hebrew, the Armenian Catholic, the minor sects of both Baptist and Methodist communions, and churches of Christ all over the world. The reasons for this rejection are weighty, impressive and convincing:

I. The New Testament has no record of mechanical instruments of music being used in Christian worship, the mention of harps in Revelation being absolutely figurative. The significance of this truth is enhanced by the fact of their being instruments of music all over the pagan Roman empire during the period when Christianity began.

II. This ban against mechanical instruments, and there was a ban, was continued for centuries afterward in the early Christian communion, as any.good encyclopaedia of religious knowledge will show. Their use in Christian worship came centuries too late to identify them with genuine Christianity. Our Puritan ancestors in Plymouth Colony received the gift of an organ from England, but conscientiously rejected it and left it uninstalled for two generations. It was later put in.

III. Many of the great reformers cried out against their use, including John Wesley, Alexander Campbell, and many others. Some of the great scholars of the 19th century adamantly opposed them, including the great Methodist scholar Adam Clarke. The arguments such men offered in support of their rejection were accurate, convincing, and clearly evident.

IV. All New Testament references to music in the New Testament churches carry the words, singing, sing, or songs, with no mention of mechanical instruments. In context, such passages mean "don't play." Colossians 3:16; Ephesians 5:19, etc.

V. Even the communions which introduced them were usually far from being whole-hearted in their departure, either restricting the kinds of instruments that could be used, or, as in the case of the Catholic church, forbidding them altogether in such services as the High Mass.

VI. Mechanical instruments are not spiritual. The only musical instrument that God ever made is the human voice; and nothing that man ever invented is worthy of comparison with it.

VII. Their use in Christian-related communions has been and is widely noted for developments which follow, such as the building of relatively small choirs of paid singers and musicians, and the greater and greater de-emphasis upon the singing which God commanded. Any big city pastor knows that the most unspiritual part of his church is the choir!

VIII. Arguments which are skillfully advocated as justification for this historical departure from New Testament Christianity are false; and we shall note some of these a moment later.

IX. When instruments of music are introduced into the worship of God through Christ, such an action constitutes the entering point of a wedge leading to further and further departures from God's Word, the reason for this being that the same arguments that will justify instruments of music in Christian worship will also justify the use of holy water, the burning of sacred incense, the lighting of religious lamps and blessed candles, the sign of the cross, the rosary of the Virgin Mary, or any one or all of many other innovations which have perverted Christianity, such as changes in the action that constitutes New Testament baptism, etc.

X. Those who are committed to abiding "in the doctrine of Christ" (2 John 1:1:9) will inevitably behold in any such thing as the introduction of mechanical instruments a "going onward" and a failure to respect that apostolic admonition.

XI. There are only two ways to worship God: (1) after the manner of Christ and the apostles of the New Testament, or (2) after the manner of men who are doing what pleases them, instead of what the New Testament commanded and sanctions. Of course, the latter is false worship.

XII. The introduction of mechanical instruments into the worship of God, even in the Old Testament, was unauthorized and condemned as in the very passage we are studying.

XIII. From time immemorial, even for long centuries prior to Christianity, instruments of music were notoriously and invariably associated with pagan worship, as, for example, in Daniel 3:4,5. That pagan association alone is enough to make instruments of music inappropriate in the worship of the Son of God.

XIV. Even if it could be proved, which is unlikely enough, that mechanical instruments of music were authorized by the Lord in the worship of the Hebrews (in the Old Testament), that would in no way open up approval for their use by Christians, as there were many of the legitimate actions of Jewish worship which are inappropriate and sinful in the worship of Christ.

OBJECTION REFUTED

Despite the facts cited above, many learned, skillful, and, it may be presumed, sincere men have labored diligently to prove the acceptability of mechanical instruments in the worship of Christ, usually by proving a point that has no connection with it, namely, that God authorized them under the old covenant. What if he did? That would not authorize them in the worship of Christ. But a fair sample of such arguments is the following from the great scholar C. F. Kiel:

"Singing and playing on harps formed part of the temple worship of God" (1 Chronicles 16:40; 23:5; and 25).[57]

Keil did not proceed from this with any kind of argument, except by leaving off any condemnation of the practice as observed in Christianity. The passages cited do indeed indicate that David placed instruments of music in the temple worship, which is undeniable; but what is inferred is that this was authorized by the Lord. David was guilty of many gross sins, not merely in the moral sector, as in the case of the wife of Uriah, but also in the very conception that led to the erection of the Jewish temple, a thing that God never authorized, and which was manifestly contrary to the will of God from the very moment when David dreamed up the idea. See 2 Samuel 7:1-17, where David's error in proposing a temple is clearly set forth. It is a great mistake to suppose that whatever David did was the will of God.

In addition to this, there is genuine doubt of whether or not God authorized David's introduction of instruments even into the Jewish temple. The principal passage supposed to teach this is 1 Chronicles 16:40, concerning which Adam Clarke noted that:

"The Syriac version of this place has this: `These were upright men who did not sing unto God with instruments of music, nor with drums, nor with listra, nor with straight nor crooked pipes, nor with cymbals; but they sang before the Lord Almighty with a joyous mouth, and with a pure and holy prayer, and with innocence and integrity.'"[58]

Clarke went on to mention the Vulgate, the Septuagint, and the Arabic, affirming that, none of the versions implied that the instruments of music were "of God," but that they were used to worship him.[59] Their sanction was clearly upon the authority of David, and not of the Lord. (We shall note this question further in the notes on Amos 6:5, below.)

In his discussion of 1 Chronicles 16:40, Clarke propounded the following series of questions, each of which requires a negative answer:

"Did God ever ordain instruments of music to be used in his worship?

Can they be used in Christian assembles according to the spirit of Christianity?

Has Jesus Christ, or his apostles, ever commanded or sanctioned the use of them?

Were they ever used anywhere in the apostolic church?

Does the use of them at present ever increase the spirit of devotion?

Does it ever appear that bands of musicians, either in their collective or individual capacity, are more spiritual, or as spiritual, as the other parts of the Church of Christ?

Is it ever remarked or known that musicians in the house of God have attained to any depth of piety, or superior soundness of understanding, in the things of God?

Is it ever found that Christian societies which use them are more holy, or as holy, as those societies which do not use them? Is it ever found that the ministers who recommend their use are the most spiritual?

Can mere sounds, no matter how melodious, where no word or sentiment is or can be uttered, be considered as giving praise to God?

Is it possible that pipes or strings of any kind can give God praise?

Can God be pleased with sound emitted by no sentient being, and can have no meaning?"

It is our humble opinion that the instruments of music at Bethel were in exactly the same category as the golden calf, the drunken priests, the immoral worshippers, the burning of the leavened bread, and all the other things here condemned by Amos in the name of Almighty God. To conclude the observations on this verse, "Arguments for instruments of music from their use in the Jewish church is futile in the extreme when applied to Christianity."[60]