was the Devil the "Angel of Music"?

Big words relating to interpreting the Bible and the study of *how* we determine what God wants us to do.

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was the Devil the "Angel of Music"?

Post by email » Tue Jul 01, 2008 2:45 pm

Was the Devil the Angel of Music? I've heard this theology from several people. I was told it is in Ezekiel, but I can't really pin point it. Thank you.
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m273p15c
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Music

Post by m273p15c » Tue Jul 01, 2008 10:42 pm

I also have heard this, especially as an argument against "Christian rock" music. The argument being that music came from the Devil, so it is inherently wrong to mix popular music style with spiritual worship. I also would be opposed to Christian rock, but for other reasons, primarily because it violates God's command to worship Him using acapella music (Ephesians 5:18-19; Colossians 3:16-17).

There is no Bible evidence that the Devil was the "Angel of Music". Since we are commanded to worship God through singing, does it not seem strange that God would command us to use a tool of the corrupt Devil as a means of praise to the holy God?

The original idea is based on an allegorical interpretation of this passage, provided here in its context:
The word of the LORD came to me again, saying,

"Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Because your heart is lifted up, And you say, 'I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods, In the midst of the seas,' Yet you are a man, and not a god, Though you set your heart as the heart of a god (Behold, you are wiser than Daniel! There is no secret that can be hidden from you! With your wisdom and your understanding You have gained riches for yourself, And gathered gold and silver into your treasuries; By your great wisdom in trade you have increased your riches, And your heart is lifted up because of your riches)," 'Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "Because you have set your heart as the heart of a god, Behold, therefore, I will bring strangers against you, The most terrible of the nations; And they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom, And defile your splendor. They shall throw you down into the Pit, And you shall die the death of the slain In the midst of the seas. "Will you still say before him who slays you, 'I am a god'? But you shall be a man, and not a god, In the hand of him who slays you. You shall die the death of the uncircumcised By the hand of aliens; For I have spoken," says the Lord GOD.' "

Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

"Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "You were the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes Was prepared for you on the day you were created. You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you. By the abundance of your trading You became filled with violence within, And you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing Out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones. Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, That they might gaze at you. You defiled your sanctuaries By the multitude of your iniquities, By the iniquity of your trading; Therefore I brought fire from your midst; It devoured you, And I turned you to ashes upon the earth In the sight of all who saw you. All who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you; You have become a horror, And shall be no more forever." ' "
Please notice that there is no mention of the Devil anywhere in this passage. The verse was originally written about the king of Tyre. Through Ezekiel, God was prophesying the destruction of several kings and their kingdoms, even though they thought they were invincible. Admittedly, the language is figurative, exaggerating their history, beauty, greatness and arrogance. But, the language is clearly addressed to the king Tyre and his kingdom, warning of their pending doom - not that of the Devil. In fact, the book of Ezekiel contains several chapters devoted to this kingdom (Ezekiel 26:1-28:19), while other surrounding chapters use similar, figurative language to warn other nations of that day (Babylon, Sidon, Egypt, etc.). If you read a few chapters on either side of this one, you will realize that this has been taken out of context, since there are several elaborate, figurative descriptions of other great kingdoms, who would also be destroyed by Alexander the Great, as foretold in Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Zechariah.

Allegorical interpretation is the process of assigning an abstract parallel to historical events. However, justification for such an interpretation demands some reason for the parallel. The writer has to leave a necessary connection, or in some other passage, he must explain the parallel. See Galatians 4:21-31 as an inspired example. Without guidance, the allegorical interpretation process is entirely subjective, and we become free to assign any fanciful interpretation that pleases us. Obviously, this is unwarranted, dangerous, and wrong. Unless we have some basis for assigning a parallel, we should not assume that a passage demands an allegorical interpretation. We should just let the text stand at "face value".

You can read more about the Devil and his origin here:

http://www.insearchoftruth.org/articles ... rigin.html

I pray this helps.

May God help us to have a sincere love of the truth,

m273p15c
May God help us to love truth sincerely and supremely (II Thessalonians 2:11-12)

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