"STRETCHING THE LIMITS"
Larry Yarber
"Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing" (Luke 15:25).
The above verse is lifted from the context of the parable which is often referred to as "The Prodigal Son" (Luke 15:11-32). In this story, when the wayward son returned home from his sinful excursion, his father and family killed the fatted calf and rejoiced. As the two parables before this one illustrate, this celebration represents the joy in heaven when a wayward sinner comes back to God, "I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance" (Luke 15:7, 15:1-7, and 15:8-10). To assume that the music and dance in this passage authorizes the use of mechanical instruments of music in worship to God is to read into the text something that is not there. This text is not addressing a worship service in either heaven or earth, but illustrates Heaven's joy over the repentance of the sinner.
The mechanical instrument of music is often used throughout the New Testament in a symbolic, rather than literal manner. John the Revelator penned, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:" (Revelation 1:1). To signify means, "semaino (4591), "to give a sign, indicate" ... in ... Rev. 1:1, where perhaps the suggestion is that of expressing by signs" (VINE, 1985, pg. 575). Again, John penned, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet" (Revelation 1:10). And, one more time, "And I heard a voice from heaven as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and the voice which I heard was as the voice of harpers harping with their harps" (Revelation 14:2 - ASV). Through sign language, the book of Revelation uses the mechanical instrument of music to represent the melodious and loud voices found in heaven. There will be no man made objects found in heaven of any type: whether they are mechanical instruments of music, computers, televisions, McDonald's, etc. . The music of Luke chapter fifteen, is not an example of worship and the use of mechanical instruments of music in that worship, whether in heaven or on earth, but symbolizes the joy found in heaven when a sinner repents and comes back to God. To use it as anymore than this is to abuse the text and to misrepresent the true teachings of God's word.
Vine further tells us that the word music in this text literally means, "sumphonia (4858), lit., 'a sounding together' (Eng. 'symphony'), occurs in Luke 15:25 ..." (VINE, 1985, pg. 422). Thus, in and of itself, the word music in this verse does not demand the presence of a mechanical instrument of music. Neither does the word dancing, "choros (5525), (Eng., chorus), primarily denoted 'an enclosure for dancing'; hence, 'a company of dancers and singers. 'The supposition that the word is connected with orcheo by metathesis (i.e. change of place, of the letters ch and o) seems to be without foundation. The word is used in Luke 15:25" (VINE, 1985, pg. 144). To this Adam Clarke adds, "He heard music] ..., a number of sounds mingled together, as in a concert. ... Dancing] ..., But Le Clerc denies that the word means dancing at all, as it properly means a choir of singers. The symphony mentioned before may mean the musical instruments which accompanied the choirs of singers" (Clarke's Commentary, Adam Clarke, Vol. V, Matthew - Acts, Abingdon Press, New York - Nashville, pg. 458). From all of this one can conclude that a mechanical instrument of music may or may not have been present at this festivity. It may have been no more than a group of singers singing together. This argument is strengthened by the fact that the text states that the dancing was heard rather than seen (Luke 15:25). To take this one verse and from it to conclude that the mechanical instrument of music is authorized in New Testament worship is to stretch the limits of the text and it's teachings to the utmost degree. May we never be guilty of twisting the scripture to our own destruction (2nd Peter 3:15-16).