Nadab and Abihu sinned knowingly against God by offering strange fire before the Lord and were fiercely judged by Him because He was not sanctified in them when they came near Him and because He was not glorified before all the people:
Leviticus 10:1 And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not. 2 And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD. 3 Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the LORD spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace.
We know with certainty that what they offered was not what God had commanded to be offered to Him. This account plainly reveals to us that human sinfulness extends to what sinful humans have chosen to do in the worship of the true God that was in actuality worship that was not acceptable to Him because what was done was against what He had commanded to be done.
Many Christians deny that these truths apply to what kinds of instrumental music humans offer in worship. Rather, they hold that all kinds of instrumental music are acceptable to God for use in worship and that human sinfulness does not extend to the kinds of instrumental music that people offer to God.
Discussion
NewWhat can be offered
I think most here (and in believing Christianity in general) would not ever say that human sinfulness does not affect everything touched by humans. Still, we know that potters can, for example, make vessels for honor. Much of what was made by Solomon for the temple did not, as far as we can see in scripture, have an exact pattern given for it.
The incense to be offered was a specific recipe, listed in Exodus, that was to be used for offering to God, and further, was not to be used by the people privately, or for any other purpose.
If we saw musical formulas like this in scripture, then I could agree with calling music that didn’t meet that standard “strange fire,” or perhaps more appropriately, “strange sound.” Without that, applying the “strange fire” argument to music is a stretch. Even the music used in the most conservative Christian circles today would be “strange” to the ears of people living during any of the centuries recorded in scripture, and would not be what they would have used.
What would make us then think, that if the “strange fire” argument applied, we could compose anything that God would approve of in worship, particularly when we are not given the exact recipe for this music? Any composition would be at risk of God’s wrath.
Dave Barnhart
NewYou could just as well …
You could just as well connect the sins of Onan and Er to the kinds of instrumental music not acceptable to God in instrumental music
Newdcbii wrote: Much of what…
This is not correct. Consider what this passage reveals:
1 Chronicles 28:11 Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper chambers thereof, and of the inner parlours thereof, and of the place of the mercy seat, 12 And the pattern of all that he had by the spirit, of the courts of the house of the LORD, and of all the chambers round about, of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries of the dedicated things: 13 Also for the courses of the priests and the Levites, and for all the work of the service of the house of the LORD, and for all the vessels of service in the house of the LORD. 14 He gave of gold by weight for things of gold, for all instruments of all manner of service; silver also for all instruments of silver by weight, for all instruments of every kind of service: 15 Even the weight for the candlesticks of gold, and for their lamps of gold, by weight for every candlestick, and for the lamps thereof: and for the candlesticks of silver by weight, both for the candlestick, and also for the lamps thereof, according to the use of every candlestick. 16 And by weight he gave gold for the tables of shewbread, for every table; and likewise silver for the tables of silver: 17 Also pure gold for the fleshhooks, and the bowls, and the cups: and for the golden basons he gave gold by weight for every bason; and likewise silver by weight for every bason of silver: 18 And for the altar of incense refined gold by weight; and gold for the pattern of the chariot of the cherubims, that spread out their wings, and covered the ark of the covenant of the LORD. 19 All this, said David, the LORD made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern.
Everything about the Temple was revealed to David through the Lord's making him understand in writing by His hand upon Him. David then conveyed all that information to Solomon.
In addition, many true prophets of God who had supernatural access to God were involved in all the facets of the workings of the Temple, including especially the music of the Temple (see point 5 in my post, On the Excellence of Solomon’s Temple, Its Musicians, and Their Music).
Newdcbii wrote: The incense to…
Yes, the incense was very precisely specified in many respects to God's people. Millions of people throughout nearly all of world history, however, who have never known anything about what was revealed in Scripture about the only incense formulation that God has ever accepted have formulated numerous kinds of their own unacceptable incense and unacceptably offered them in their unacceptable worship of their ungodly objects of worship.
What we see therefore is that human sinfulness has extended very widely all over the world in this respect of worship in people who never knowingly disregarded what was revealed in Scripture because they never ever received or knew anything about what was revealed in Scripture about the only kind of incense that God has ever accepted in worship.
NewRajeshG wrote: Yes, the…
So in regards to music, is there an "precisely specified" formulation of musical elements that has been revealed in scripture to be the only acceptable formulation for use in Christian worship? If an analogy is being made to incense, and precisely specified formulations were revealed for that incense, wouldn't the analogy require that the same precision be revealed for musical elements?
NewKevin Miller wrote: So in…
I do not think that is necessary because the issue was/is going against something that God had/has commanded---whether God has revealed to us in Scripture the precise specifications or not. So, where God has revealed precise specifications in Scripture (as in the case of incense), disregarding them makes everything else unacceptable.
Where God has not revealed precise specifications but has revealed broader specifications, disobedience of those broader specifications still entails that what is done or made is unacceptable.