The Backstory: DTA, Music, and Scripture
Have you ever gone to a concert and felt a kind of spiritual experience? Something that just couldn’t place but felt better because of it? There may be something to it.
This is the backstory of how secrecy and music tie to scripture and why it is important. Don’t trust anyone with your secret. It isn’t worth the risk.
Brief Background
This connection is part of how Jesus saves the fallen. Judah’s grandchildren were ‘wasted seed’ left on the ground because his eldest two sons were deemed evil by the Lord. Tamar remedied this, but it was messy. The line follows through to the Lion of Judah in Revelation 5:3-5. Jesus, through the Spirit and fire, baptized Judah’s line. The Apostle Paul said he wore the brand-marks of Christ, which is a kind of shield for him (Galatians 6:17). He also said he will never die (1 Thess 4:15). Just as Jesus said those who guard/keep/protect his word will not taste death (John 8:52). This is one facet of discipleship.
To be sure, this is not limited to just a few artists or to just musicians. I noticed this across various genres and countless artists of every level of popularity. The most interesting thing was to see the perspectives of each.
Backstory
It wasn’t long ago that I noticed the meaning of numbers in the Bible. Numbers are used in so many ways, but it turns out they apply to the world around us just as much as Bible verses.
Numbers
Each number matters as context and meaning throughout the Bible and the world. For example, the chapter and verse number 3:16 is very familiar from John 3:16, but the meaning remains consistent across each book of the Bible. It is an outpouring from one to many, which is depicted by John 3:16, Revelation 3:16, 2 Tim 3:16, and any other 3:16. 2 Peter 3:16 gives more insight as it acknowledges some things are hard to understand. Matthew 3:16 tells us Jesus comes to baptize by fire and Spirit as the Word of God misused as 2 Peter 3:16 suggests. These numbers, it turns out, are also consistent with music, which is the point of this series of blog posts.
Next, the Bible says angels minister to us. The psalmists were the sons of Korah but also King David. We know David danced naked, but that was to the horror of Michal (2 Samuel 6:16, 20). The cure was to put the ark in a pitched tent. David also played music for King Saul when the evil spirit came upon him. It all seems to tie to Korah, who was swallowed by the earth alive (Numbers 16:33) to sing riddles and play music (Psalm 49:4). Anyone awaiting God to testify for them must be on the right side (Psalm 43:1), which I explore here, here, and here. Lastly, consider the context of creation and why mankind is here in the first place to help shade the canvas of life.
Secrecy
Secrecy permeates the Bible for several reasons. First, there must be a division between the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge. Upon consuming the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, Adam (mankind) must die. This is because the memory of someone’s good and evil actions is held to account. This death occurs by realizing we are all both good and bad. That means there is ultimately no difference between man and angel (Revelation 21:17). It is, therefore, the death of an old perspective while death becomes life and awareness. That is like Ezekiel’s wife, whose death he is not to mourn. Her death illuminates the need to recognize the paradoxical nature of death and life in the Bible.
Division
The problem is the division between the trees of life and knowledge. These are family trees as the children of God and Man. The interaction between the two is not forbidden, but the rules need to be understood. That division requires one side to be silent because the oxen (which are men, according to 1 Cor 9:9) cannot be muzzled, touched, taught, or otherwise. The animal must stand first or before the other, according to Leviticus 18:23. This is the meaning of DTA, or don’t trust anyone with your testimony.
This happens as the outward expression of oneself controls the inward expression (John 21:18, Ezekiel 37:16). That inward expression can be let out, but it is against the rules for the inward expression to be dominant until the outward expression is awakened, defiled, adulterated, uncovered, or wicked out (wicked). There are many nuances and references to the idea of being exposed, but recognizing this is good enough for now.
Mourning and Evening, Each Day
Secrecy becomes important because Jesus leveled the valleys and mountains. Jesus required silence from his disciples just as he taught them parables or riddles. This is nothing new as riddles and division persist throughout scripture in places such as Isaiah 6:9-11, 28:10-13, 29:11-12, Jeremiah 8:8, 1 Corinthians 1:17, and more. It is also why the Apostle Paul did not baptize many people and would not boast. Being a preacher and apostle was so bizarre that he assured his audience that he was not lying. The point is to be visible but invisible simultaneously.
Cohabitation required the language to be shuffled. People could understand others similar to them through the use of tongues. Tongues are what angels use to communicate as they speak in the sense of words. So it’s really using everything but the word itself to share the message.
Discipleship
There is something we generally miss about discipleship. It requires someone to hate their family members and self. Only then can someone pick up their cross and follow Jesus (Luke 14:26-27). Jesus also required silence from his disciples, which takes quite a lot of space to unpack. This is the curse of the cross (1 Corinthians 1:17). I’m not trying to convince anyone of the curse of silence because this message is for those living by the curse. If you know, you know. If not, you don’t. I’ll fill in many gaps on both sides but not in this post.
Discipleship also spreads over time, like the leaven in the bread. This is taught in the Loaves and Fishes story. It only takes a few to feed everyone with plenty left over to do it all again.
The Cross
We think of the cross as two wooden beams in Roman culture, but it is more closely tied to Ezekiel’s temple entrances and exits, cleansing of the white-washed tombs according to Ezekiel 4, and grafting into the family lines of Ezekiel 37:16. The cross is a human body as a new representation of life through blended bloodlines. This is the temple. Being nailed to the cross is the hiddenness of remaining in the DNA of that bloodline, awaiting the generation that is able to unlock it. Believe it or not, this may be as scientific as it is biblical.
The cross is the cure for being cast off or circumcised. If a family member rejects you, you may recover through the cross of Christ (cut off the right hand, foot, and eye). But do not miss this important point: don’t let the left hand know what the right hand is doing because it is in hell. This is the importance of recovering Judah’s rejected grandchildren and why his line unlocks the seals in the end. The other half is like Mephibosheth recovering from his two lame feet (2 Samuel 9:13) while regularly dining with David, which brings the lines of Judah and Benjamin together through Joseph (Ezekiel 37:16). Importantly, Jesus taught us that some people do not taste death until the second coming, which aligns with John 21:21-22.
Jesus Baptized By Fire and Spirit
Importantly, however, Jesus came to level things. That means a lot of people are not happy with him. Remember, demons shudder at the idea of Christ. They don’t like him because of their plight. What they don’t know is the whole story. Nobody does. What Christians don’t know is this is scary. We need to all find humility and recognize more facets to this gem must be noticed for a better understanding of the whole.
Baptizing by fire and Spirit means hell. Don’t miss this. The Holy Spirit is recognition of what you are missing, and that brings fire. It is how things work. Christ is salvation for many and hell for many. We must recognize not all people are living an equal experience in this life.
Hell
Hell is made worse because those carrying his own cross, as disciples of Christ (Luke 14:27), have another key feature of existence. That is the Holy Spirit. That means they are more aware and connected spiritually but unable to reveal themselves to those who need it most. Think of this as punishment for Judah who did not have the courage to enter the fray despite being the owner of the ruler’s scepter (Genesis 49:8-12). Simply, Judah did not answer the call so the ruler, as Judah, was brought low, like the mountains.
If the ruler of the earth would not respond when his offspring called but instead opted for abandonment, would it not be just that Jesus causes Judah to live life hearing the cries for his presence while disallowing it? Hanging on the tree of life in this condition of separation but awareness would be sheer agony.
Perhaps Judah’s time is up, and he can be let down from the cross or Tree of Life. Judas exploded in Acts 1:18. This is the idea of the whitewashed tomb being cleaned from the inside out. The proverbial intestines are cleaned.
Timing of Music
I did not realize until very recently how musicians time their music, graphics, actions, tone, location, people, and any other sense to the same cadence used by authors of the Bible. That cadence matches chapter and verse numbers in the Bible. This is done with stunning precision, despite chapter and verse numbers being added only about 500 years ago, but it is perfect.
I am candidly floored by the work of God and his code in modern music. But, I’m even more awed by the faithfulness of God’s army, whether servant, slave, or free.
God’s Code
The Bible uses a series of patterns evident in family lines, redemption, and crossing of the birth rights from generation to generation as a structure from which to build. I call it God’s code. It also uses things like the creation account to outline the broader picture as further nuance is layered on throughout the Bible. This code includes every aspect of the story to convey very complicated messages in a time when society could not understand the idea. DNA is one example, but sub-atomic particles are also examples.
God used this code in the creation of everything. That includes the periodic table, physics, biology, and other sciences; it is staggering. It is like God’s fingerprint. In upcoming books, I get pretty deep into this pattern as it relates to science, art, and history, but this post isn’t about books. It’s about people and loving our neighbors as ourselves because somehow it is (Hebrews 4:12). I hope this can give hope to someone trying desperately to be heard. I would want to know I’ve been heard if I were on that side.
Now that we have the basics of the backstory, we can return to Angels Sing or Bieber and Mendez’s song Monster.
