God's Gift Of Song (The Scarlet Thread Of Song In Scripture)

Music And Song - A Gift Of AmazingLove To Mankind

This is a complete study sequel to the article: God's Gift Of Music (The Origin And Early History Of Music)

Many of the song references are used with permission from the Thompson Chain Reference Bible, Fourth Improved Edition, B.B. Kirkbride Bible Co. Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.A (1964)

Bible version used is NKJV (unless otherwise specified).

All [bracketed] words in Scripture verses are mine.

FINDING JESUS IN SONG

Old And New Testament Songs Promote Prophecies Of Messiah

The Role Of Music And Songs In Scripture

Every person alive is exposed to music and has music affecting them in some way. From the most advanced society on the globe to the most primitive of native peoples, music is part of life. Music is everywhere. It helps to sell products on the internet, in television ads and radio commercials. It enhances shopping trips and quiets the nerves on elevators.To an unborn baby in the womb, music can be tones of familiarity helping the baby develop tastes in music and perhaps even enhancing perception of music in the young child's life. Music tends to calm the new-born and there are studies being done on the effects classical music has on both unborn fetuses and newborn children. All signs point to music having a beneficial effect on both mom and baby. In many young people, music is how they feel connected to humanity (which for them is social acceptance from their peers). To others, music helps provide an escape into a 3D world of gaming imagination. To many seniors, music is a connection to their younger selves, to an age gone by and a happiness that can never return this side of heaven. Music takes them to a time where their strength and vitality helped them to view life with less pain and mortality. Some love music for its entertainment value alone, some because it infuses an energy to complete a task with enthusiasm. Even silent orders of monks in monasteries will hear sweet sounds of chimes or gongs. Some see music as art. Some see music as life itself. In fact, ask any person, anywhere in the world, what music and their favorite songs mean to them and you will get a different answer from each one of them because music is woven into their very souls and each person is a unique creation of God.

Yet in ages past, music had filled a greater role in forming of worlds, civilizations and of societies. God tells us that angels watched and sung praises at the marvels of God as He spoke the universe into existence, thus showing that music was intrinsically built into the living creations of God.There is a basic principle of music that literally ties all of the universe together. This principle of music and musical vibration unites the universe like the string of a musical instrument. The stars give off vibrations that equipment trained on the skies can hear. These sounds are musical in nature, single note vibrations from every star, unique to every star. "The heavens [stars] declare [sing] the glory of God... Their line [influence pull reach, lit. musical string] has gone out through the whole earth and their words to the end of the world [world(s), universe]. (Ps.19:1,4) And if it wasn't enough to know that the stars together give off unique notes of musical vibration and sing in a heavenly choir to God, we also learned the correlation of this musical principle working in the microscopic worlds of science as well, musical vibration being an active and necessary part of all life on the cellular levels, each cell vibrating to obtain nutrients with unique musical vibration. God's use of music is infinitely more involved than we ever realized. [more info]

Have you noticed that almost every prophecy of the Messiah in Scripture or of things surrounding the Messiah's birth and earthly circumstance was given by God in song lyric and sung? It is an interesting custom to consider for those of us in America.

Consider this mandate in Numbers 1:17-19 for each man's lineage to be recited and sung:

"Then Moses and Aaron took these men who had been mentioned by name, and they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month; and they recited their ancestry by families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, each one individually. As the Lord commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the Wilderness of Sinai."

In this study on music, we will explore in greater detail how musical lyric was used to pass on important history from generation to generation, songs and musical tunes being critical to generational oral history. Knowing these facts about musical vibration and tones is only part of the story because there also is lyric that goes with those sounds to make songs.

Music As Communication And News Source

How many songs do we know that were formed long ago in history and are still sung everyday on a regular basis? You'd be surprised! Nursery rhymes like "Ring-A-Ring-Roses" ("Ring Around The Rosie") was originally written in the 14th century, in the days of the Bubonic Plague or "The Black Death" that killed an estimated 25 million people. This song was a doctor's list of symptoms set to music so that the common folk would all know what to look for in a case of someone suddenly falling ill.

♫"Ring-a-ring of roses, .(symptomatic marks of red that first appeared on the face)

A pocket full of poses, ..(the herbal medicine carried in pouches to "treat" the Plague)

Ah choo! Ah choo! ........(the final spasms to mark the immanent death of the patient)

We all fall down!"♫ .......(to remind the patient needed to be quarantined.. or else!)

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Nursery Rhymes Are Examples Of Songs That Were Used To Pass Current Events And News To The Common Folk

This powerful use of song to pass on vital information was used a lot during ancient times because music spread fast, brought news from abroad and committed to memory pieces of vital information that must not be forgotten. People of royalty or pedigree learned their heritages and genealogies by singing "their begats" (ie. ♫ Robert II of Willshire is the son of Thomas I, who is the son of John III, Lord of Greenwich, who is son of...♫ etc.)

Sometimes stories of how a ruler was defeated and who the new ruler would be was sung and told by traveling minstrels who relayed information throughout a realm that had no television, radio or internet.

Do you remember how Saul was angry because David was credited in song with killing ♫"tens of thousands"♫ and Saul on ♫"his thousands?"♫ (1 Sam. 18:8) We who read this account thought that Saul was petty and childish for becoming angry, and perhaps he was in part, but in hindsight you must realize that song was the way history would remember it. History would not be accurate to Saul about that event because the singing did not reflect what really happened.

Is it any wonder why music and words put to music has been used as a tool to effect entire civilizations of people in the Bible times and was used to teach countless generations of people, preparing them for the Messiah? In fact, if you have the "singing part" of the Bible committed to memory, you have the majority of the Old Testament and a significant part of the New Testament memorized!

New Testament Musically Sheds light on the Old Testament

In the New Testament you will find two types of song on its pages. You'll find quoted song, reminders of old songs and using song to point to Jesus' fulfillment of those prophecies. And you'll also find songs based on events of Jesus' ministry that were not songs previously in the Old Testament.

The Messianic Lineage was the first order of business in the beginning of the New Testament. The lineage of David and the kings of Judah was updated to include all the names up to Jesus to validate Jesus' claim to Messiahship in the minds of many doubters. They set the names to music and anyone could go and look up the genealogy to set his mind at ease about Jesus being rightful King and the promised Messiah.

Most songs contained in the New Testament are songs quoting prophetic songs sung about the coming Messiah and announcing "See Jesus fulfills that song that you have sung." But there are a few written in the era beginning with the birth of Christ until approximately 70 years after Jesus' resurrection, for example the sermon that Jesus preached that became known as "The Beatitudes" was set to music and sung in the manner of the Old Testament prophetic songs that had been sung since the creation of man (see Genesis ch.2,v.23).

Music and singing had always been incorporated in worship. Most of each meeting at Temple would be reading and singing Biblical history. Generational singing of these songs imbedded certain teachings (historical markers and such) that then began to be sung worldwide. Traders and travelers took such songs and spread them across the globe. (Hence, the wise men that noticed a Star and came from all over the globe to see the Messiah of fame sung about in songs and written about in Scripture). Now the whole world needed to be told of His advent. How would the New Testament church do this? How would they increase the effectiveness of the spread of the Gospel to the world now that Jesus had come and fulfilled all those prophetic Messiah songs sung throughout the ages?

They would use the same prophetic songs that had been sung during the Old Testament age (with a few more N.T. songs added) and send those songs abroad with the good news that Christ indeed had come!

So we will look generally at the songs of the Old Testament by using some examples quoted and sung in the New Testament and also looking at the book of Job which is the oldest book in the Bible. This still leaves many song prophecies of Messiah we won't have time to cite in the Old Testament and also a great many prophecies there that are not in song lyric. The Christ truly is "in the volume of the Book."

"But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He [Jesus] says:

♫"Awake, you who sleep,

Arise from the dead,

And Christ will give you light."♫

See then that you walk circumspectly not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine in which is dissipation [excess] ; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another [teaching with song] in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord."
(Ephesians 5:13-19 - Isaiah 60 - whole quoted song below)

♫"Arise, shine;

For your light has come!

And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.

For behold the darkness shall cover the earth,

And deep darkness the people;

But the LORD will arise over you,

And His glory will be seen upon you.

The Gentiles will come to your light,

And kings to the brightness of your rising...

...Then you shall see and become radiant,

And your heart shall swell with joy."♫ - Isaiah 60:1-3, 5

The Bible is a wonder to explore and study. It is a literary impossibility yet it exists for a testimony to the power of The Spirit of God. There were facts of Scripture that were a mystery to teachers and readers and singers of the Old Testament in their own day, but that now can be clearly seen with the eyes of hindsight, how God has masterfully created His written word. People throughout history sang songs with double meanings, with deeper significance than mere entertainment or review of history. Music was used as a way to prophesy what God was going to do and how His Son would come to earth. A lifeline was thrown to any who were looking to discover the truth of the Messiah to come.

This is what is referred to as the Scarlet Thread of Scripture, the role that prophecy set to song has played from the beginning of the Bible to the end, pointing people to Jesus Christ and Life. This Scarlet Thread binds all of Scripture together into one Book (instead of 66 separate books bound into one volume) and that one Book having one continuous theme:

- BELIEF AND FAITH IN THE MESSIAH IS SALVATION -

One Woman's Faith And Her Use Of A Scarlet Cord Becomes a Symbol of Salvation Remembered in Song and a Link To The Messiah

I"Then she [Rehab] let them [Joshua's spies] down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall; she dwelt on the wall. And she said to them, 'Get to the mountains, lest the pursuers meet you. Hide there three days, until the pursuers have returned. Afterward you may go your way.' So the men said to her, 'We will be blameless of this oath of yours which you have made us swear, unless, when we come into this land, you bind this line of scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you bring your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your family to your own home. So shall it be that whoever goes outside the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we will be guiltless. And whoever is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him...'"

"But Joshua had said to the two men who spied out the country, 'Go into the harlot's house, and from there bring out the woman and all that she has as you swore to her.'" (Joshua 2:15-19; 6:22)

"By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe [her faith in the coming Messiah saved her] when she had received the spies with grace."(Hebrews 11:31)

The spies' rope of escape became, in symbolism, the scarlet cord of salvation of Rahab who had faith in Christ, and also the Blood Covenant which signifies Christ's blood sacrifice and salvation for all. This same term "scarlet cord" or "scarlet thread" has used by Bible believers ever since to mean the salvation message of Jesus Christ that runs throughout the whole of Scripture.

"Then he sent young men of the children of Israel who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD. And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the alter. Then he took the Book of the Covenant [which spoke of and pointed to Messiah] and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, 'All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient.' And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, 'This is the Blood Of The Covenant [animal blood picturing Jesus' blood] which the LORD has made with you according to all these words.'" (Exodus 24:3-8)

So God made an oath that He would cover their sin if they would obey the law and believe in all the blood covenant stood for, an earnest belief in the Christ to come.

Notice this song that David wrote in Psalm that the writer quotes in Hebrews 10:5-7:

"Therefore, when He [Jesus] came into the world He said: [from Psalm 40:6-8]:

♫'Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,

But a body You have prepared for Me.

In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure.'

Then I said, 'Behold I have come-

In the volume of the Book

It is written of Me -

To do Your will, O God.'" ♫

And this passage that describes the "scarlet thread" a bit more:

"Philip found Nathaniel and said to him, 'We have found Him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote - Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.'" (John 1:45)

And this passage with even more detail about Jesus in the Old Testament:

"Then He [the resurrected Jesus] said to them, 'These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses [Pentateuch, the first 5 books of the O.T. and including the books of Joshua, Judges and Ruth... right up until the time of the setting up of the kings of Israel] and the prophets [the time of the kings of Israel until the end of the Old Testament Bible excluding Job, the Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Solomon, and Lamentations], and the Psalms [which do include Job, the Proverbs, the Song of Solomon, and Lamentations] concerning Me.' And He [Jesus] opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. Then He said to them, 'Thus it is written and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things." (Luke 24:44-48)

66 individual books, woven by God into one message of love to all mankind. Jesus is visible within all 66 books, either in direct prophetic words, or very noticeable themed purpose. It truly is amazing, a miracle only God could engineer. The fact that so much of this Book of books is written in song and meant to be sung is amazing!

"For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His Majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the excellent glory: 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines into into a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in our hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." (2 Peter 1:16-21)

In The Beginning... God Made A Way For Sinners To Know Christ...

Immediately after Adam and Eve sinned God revealed (in what would become a song) that there will be a Messiah and that He would resolve the problem of sin. No one knows when this verse became a song but I believe it was put to music very early during the lives of Adam and Eve, to help preserve the accuracy and to promote anticipation of this coming event. No one was to forget this song!:

♫ "And I [God] will put enmity,

Between you [Satan] and the woman [Israel; line of Abraham, Jacob, David],

And between your seed and her Seed [Jesus];

He shall bruise your head [Jesus puts Satan in hell destroying him for eternity]

And you shall bruise His heel.♫ [Satan's followers will crucify Jesus] (Gen. 3:15)

But action did God take about the sins committed right there in the Garden? God atoned for them, He covered them with a blood sacrifice. "Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of [animal] skin and clothed them." (Gen. 3:21) An innocent animal had to die to cover the sin and the "nakedness" of sin before God. That was the first animal to die for sin, instituting blood sacrifice that would point to "the Lamb of God that would take away the sin of the world" by shedding His blood. (Jn.1:29) It's evident- God had made it perfectly clear- atonement for sin had to be paid for with blood. Someone had to have told Adam and Eve's children that they must offer a blood sacrifice for their sin. Remember, at this point no human ate meat. That didn't happen until after the flood when God put a fear of man in animals. But an innocent animal had to die all the same for its blood to be poured out, a symbolic temporary atonement for sin, a reminder that a Redeemer would come to take away sin permanently. There was a set time to do this similar to the set times that Moses would institute and be told by God to write into the law.

"In the process of time [lit: "when it came time for" the sacrifice] it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD. And Abel brought of the firstborn of his flock, and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering." (Genesis 4:3-4)

Adam and Eve's firstborn Cain offered a sacrifice made by his best effort growing crops in a ground that was cursed. It was the best he could do with what he had. However, that sacrifice was not good enough to cover his sin in the eyes of God. His offering was not accepted because there was no life's blood in the sacrifice (to signify the Messiah to come and the life's blood He would give). Good works will never cover sin. No one knows how many sacrifices Cain refused to make before God came to him and encouraged him to make an appropriate sacrifice that could be accepted. I'm convinced it was more than one time that Cain refused to comply. He was aware of what was required. Instead of repenting, he killed his brother and spilled his brother's blood on the ground, a human sacrifice. God called this murder.

Since the time of this first blood sacrifice that God did on the behalf of Adam and Eve, each generation God has included more positive reminders into the good tradition pointing to the Savior. By the time Moses penned the official documents of the Law many traditions, symbols,and rituals were already in place among believers in the coming Messiah, and there would be many more, making the Messiah that much more recognizable when He came. For example is the traditional meaning behind how Matzo bread was/is baked. There is no leaven (yeast) in it, symbolizing sin. The dark char marks on the bread depict the "stripes" Jesus would take for us. The tiny piercings on the bread indicate the One who would be "pierced" for our iniquities. A tradition in certain ceremonies of the bread being broken and hidden under a napkin and then recovered from under the napkin was to foreshadow the Son of Man's death, burial and resurrection. Many of these traditions are based in prophecies surrounding the Messiah, and most of those were in prophetic song.

This blood covenant using animal blood remained in place until Christ came and fulfilled the prophecies by dying on the cross and shedding His divine blood for sin once for all time. Christ's blood atonement stands forever as a lifeline for sinners to have their sins forgiven.

"But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of bulls and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of an heifer, sprinkling the unclean sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works, to serve the living God? And for this reason, He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of His death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance." (Hebrews 9:11-15)

So "peeking out" from the pages throughout the Old Testament are songs that describe the Messiah, how He would be born, where, when, and the circumstances of his life, how He would die and many, many other things, many of which were put to song and sung as a way to prepare the world for the arrival of the Lamb of God that would take away the sin of the world.

Prophecies Of Salvation In Song Throughout The Writings of Moses And O.T.

Moses was a very learned man, raised in Egypt, and having been taught science, mathematics, the arts and music. His writings contain musical prophecy adding to that of those in the Book of Job, (that predated Genesis and that also had verses of song pointing to the Christ to come).

Before The Cross All Scripture Pointed To The Promised Coming Messiah And The Cross

After The Cross, All Scripture Writings Have Pointed BACK To The Messiah's Blood Sacrifice Fulfilling the Law

Let's Look For The Scarlet Thread

The Book Of Job Came First

We will highlight some of the Old Testament using the eyes of the writers of the New Testament, with their hindsight, and time of reference, Jesus being "recently" departed from them. But before we do that I believe a special consideration should be given to the Book of Job.

Although the Book of Job was not put first in our modern volume of Scripture it was written before Moses wrote Genesis and stood alone as the scroll to which people of the time would point and say "That is Scripture." So we will begin to look for verses of song in Job that foretells and points to the coming Messiah.

The Book of Job is a story of a man whose righteousness is tested by Satan. With God's permission, Satan poses the premise to God that if circumstances were different and God withdrew His hand of blessing, making Job lose all of the cherished things in his life (his health, family, friends, wealth, etc.), Job would curse God to His very face. Of course Job's faith was real and he did not sin in the way that Satan said he would. But this event gave Job the chance to voice much prophecy that was then set to music and sung. Job began to bewail his situation, and in the process of describing himself, was given prophetic utterances regarding the Son of God. Note here the beginning of the Scarlet Thread of penned Scripture showing Jesus in song...

The Messiah would be marked by God to be counted as guilty, and even though He was righteous, That He could not lift up His head and was in disgrace:

♫"Even if I am righteous,

I cannot lift up My head.

I am full of disgrace;

See My misery! ♫ (Job 10:13-15)

He would be beaten and reproached by the ungodly:

♫"They gape at Me with their mouth,

They strike Me reproachfully on the cheek,

They gather together against Me.

God has delivered Me to the ungodly,

And turned Me over to the hands of the wicked."♫ (Job 16:10-11)

He would be spat upon:

♫"But He has made me a byword of the people,

And I have become one in whose face men spit."♫ (Job 17:6)

He came in the form of sinful man:

♫"He has stripped Me of my glory,

And taken the crown from My head."♫ (Job 19:9)

♫"He has also kindled His wrath against Me,

And He counts Me as one of His enemies [Christ became sin]."♫ (19:11)

His friends would abandon Him and Judas would betray Him.

♫"All My close friends abhor me,

And those whom I love have turned against me."♫ (19:19)

Job also told of his saving faith and of his own bodily resurrection someday and of his anxiousness to see God.

♫"And after my skin is destroyed,

This I know, That in my flesh I shall see God,

Whom I shall see for myself,

And my eyes shall behold, and not another.

How my heart yearns within me!"♫ (19:26-27)

Nearly all of the Book of Job was set to music. I believe that was because the book of Job was the only canonical Scripture in existence until Genesis. It is plain that the songs of Job put people in the attitude of needing redemption and of looking for the Savior's arrival.

Highlights Of Old Testament Prophecy Set To Music From New Testament Books

The New Testament uses the songs of the Old Testament in vital doctrinal proofs, little snapshots of truth of which all of the Jews at that time were familiar and many of the Gentiles were too. The complete list of all prophecy would be too voluminous to include in an article on Hubpages and is against the policy of using one source for most of a written work, so I give here a few examples of song in the New Testament to reflect the pattern of the Old Testament so that its use of song can be understood.

PROPHECY IN SONG FROM THE BOOK OF MATTHEW

King to come from Bethlehem of Judah.

"And when he [Herod] had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was going to be born. So they said to him, 'In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:

♫'But you Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;

For out of you shall come a Ruler

Who will shepherd My people Israel.'"♫ (2:4-6: - Micah 5:20)

A PROPHECY IN SONG FROM THE BOOK OF MARK

John the Baptizer will come first.

"As it is written in the Prophets:

♫'Behold I send My messenger before Your face,

Who will prepare Your way before You.'♫

A PROPHECY IN SONG FROM THE BOOK OF LUKE

Jesus makes Himself known to those in the synagogue.

"And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:

♫'The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,

Because He has anointed Me

To preach the gospel to the poor;