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Musical Instruments in the bible, Part 8 – Percussion Instruments [Meziltayim – Cymbals]

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Musical Instruments in the bible, Part 8 – Percussion Instruments [Meziltayim – Cymbals]

[Study Aired November 9, 2023]

This week we will be looking at the second percussion instruments mentioned in the bible, [Meziltayim – Cymbals, Paamon – Bells, Toph – Timbrel/Tabret, Tselatsal (possibly Zelzelim) – Cymbals]:

There is a common denominator in how each percussion instrument is used to praise God as we press toward Him (Php 3:14). Psalm 95 captures this point perfectly (Psa 95:1-11), and reminds us that our sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise to God is connected to hearts and minds that have been worked with as God’s workmanship of being dragged to Christ (Eph 2:10, Joh 6:44).

Psa 95:1  O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. 
Psa 95:2  Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. 
Psa 95:3  For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
Psa 95:4  In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.
Psa 95:5  The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
Psa 95:6  O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. 
Psa 95:7  For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,
Psa 95:8  Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: 
Psa 95:9  When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. 
Psa 95:10  Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: (Mat 24:34) [we are going to naturally be that generation who grieves God unless we are granted to experience His chastening and scourging in our lives (Heb 12:6)]
Psa 95:11  Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest. 

“This generation” undergoing the dragging is then able to offer praise and thanks to God for the wonderful works He has done unto the children of men (Psa 107:1-28). Those wonderful works are primarily about how God changes our hearts and softens them through the storms of this life, the much tribulation that we must go through in order to inherit the kingdom of God (Act 14:22).

Psa 107:1  O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. 
Psa 107:2  Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; 
Psa 107:3  And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south. [the land is our bodies that the Lord delivers us from and it’s all the land that is deceitful and desperately wicked, the east, the west, the north, and the south.]
Psa 107:4  They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in [Heb 11:13-14].
Psa 107:5  Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. 
Psa 107:6  Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses. 
Psa 107:7  And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation [Gal 4:26].
Psa 107:8  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and foru his wonderful works to the children of men!
Psa 107:9  For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. 
Psa 107:10  Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron; 
Psa 107:11  Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High: 
Psa 107:12  Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help. 
Psa 107:13  Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. 
Psa 107:14  He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder. 
Psa 107:15  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Psa 107:16  For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder. 
Psa 107:17  Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted [Php 3:9].
Psa 107:18  Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death. 
Psa 107:19  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses. 
Psa 107:20  He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. 
Psa 107:21  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Psa 107:22  And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing. 
Psa 107:23  They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; 
Psa 107:24  These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep [Joh 17:13-15] 
Psa 107:25  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. 
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end. 
Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. 
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. 
Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven [1Pe 4:1-2].
Psa 107:31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

The LORD’S goodness is shown in His favor toward His children, and that favor or grace is considered as such because of the life-changing work God does on our hearts and minds as we are led to repentance, which shows His goodness toward His children (Rom 2:4). Not despising His goodness that leads us to repentance is what happens when God grants us that we “Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness” of Psalm 95:8.

Rom 2:4  Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

Psa 95:8  Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:

The first mention of the “Meziltayim” or ‘Cymbal’H4700 is found in 1 Chronicles 13:8 where David and all Israel played before God “with all their might, and with singing, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with cymbals, and with trumpets.” Again, as we saw in last week’s study, it is at the threshingfloor of Chidon that “Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled” mentioned in the next verse (1Ch 13:9). It is when our old man, symbolized by the death of Uzza, is taken out of the way [our old man whom God swares will not enter into His rest (Psa 95:11)] that we can be zealous toward God (2Co 7:10-11) in our service and sacrifice of praise toward him, symbolized by king David and Israel who “with all their might, and with singing, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with cymbalsH4700, and with trumpets” praised God.

2Co 7:10  For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. 
2Co 7:11  For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.

The cymbalsH4700 are really symbols of our gratefulness for God not letting go of us as He works in our hearts and minds as a new creation that understands why we must be judged (2Co 5:17, 1Pe 4:17).

2Co 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new [through judgment (1Pe 4:17)].

Mar 10:6  But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female [types of the new creature].

Mar 13:19  For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation [the judgment that is needed to form the new creature] which God created unto this time, neither shall be.

Rom 1:20  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: [“God made them male and female” to typify for us how “his eternal power and Godhead” is being fashioned in the new creature at that day (Joh 14:20)].

Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now [the whole creation groans for the elect’s sake who groan within ourselves as well, “waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” as a new creature – “And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body (Rom 8:23)“; this groaning without of the world represents the groaning within ourselves of the manchild who is being formed by God”]

2Pe 3:4  And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. [The world is blinded to the new creature being formed within the body of Christ, and everything just seems to be status quo with no recognition of “his coming” (Mat 24:38, 1Jn 4:2-6)]

Rev 3:14  And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; [Christ has preeminence in all things (Col 1:18) as the first created Son of God, and new creature formed in Adamic flesh (Joh 3:18, Heb 6:20)]

The new creation is now able to worship God in spirit and in truth [Joh 4:24, Joh 14:17, Rom 8:9], rejoicing always in the Lord and again I say rejoice [Php 4:4]. The “double tinklers” is a witness to that joy we now have in the Lord, even in the midst of our trials and much tribulation [Col 1:24].

Here are a few other verses with the word “Mezilayim” in it, to help us see a little more of what it symbolizes for us today.

1Ch 15:16  And David spake to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers with instruments of musick, psalteries and harps and cymbalsH4700, sounding, by lifting up the voice with joy.

1Ch 15:19  So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were appointed to sound with cymbalsH4700 of brass; 

1Ch 15:28  Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, and with sound of the cornet, and with trumpets, and with cymbalsH4700, making a noise with psalteries and harps.

1Ch 16:5  Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, Jeiel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and Obededom: and Jeiel with psalteries and with harps; but Asaph made a sound with cymbalsH4700;

It was AsaphH623 who sang and made a sound with the cymbals. His name means “collector” and is taken from the root number H622 which means “to gather for any purpose.” The gathering or assembling or collecting of peoples who come together in these assemblies of the church in the wilderness typifies our coming together often in the body of Christ, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together (Heb 10:25-28). These musicians did not just decide of their own accord that they would pick up an instrument and start praising God, but serve to show us that there is order in God’s kingdom right down to the finest detail, including how musicians were anointed and appointed for that joy-filled task (1Co 14:40, 1Ch 15:16, 1Ch 16:5).

Heb 10:28  He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:  [type and shadow event that tells us that those who despise the law of Christ (Gal_6:2) will eventually be judged by the church who are represented by the two witnesses in chapter eleven of the book of revelation.]

The singers “Heman, Asaph, and Ethan” were appointed to sound with the cymbalsH4700 of brass (1Ch 15:19) and these three men symbolize that process of judgment we discussed earlier that makes us zealous and filled with the sacrifice of praise on our lips to our God as we come out of Babylon (Heb 13:15). As they were doing this, we also read in 1 Chronicles 15:28, “Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, and with sound of the cornet, and with trumpets, and with cymbalsH4700, making a noise with psalteries and harps.” This event is showing us that we can’t “come out of her my people” unless we are going with the ark, representing the life of Christ in us (Rom 8:9, 1Co 3:16).

These events in Israel represent the body of Christ being judged and learning to praise God as we get comfortable in the fiery trials that those judgments bring, and so the next thing we read that transpires after these symbolic events makes perfect sense in the spirit and is a shadow of how the world or the churches of the world will hate the elect (1Ch 15:29): Michal the daughter of Saul despised David for the joy he had in his heart as he served the Lord, all typifying for us how we will be hated by all men for His name’s sake (Mat 10:22).

1Ch 15:28  Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, and with sound of the cornet, and with trumpets, and with cymbalsH4700, making a noise with psalteries and harps.
1Ch 15:29  And it came to pass, as the ark of the covenant of the LORD came to the city of David, that Michal the daughter  of Saul [churches of Babylon operating in the flesh] looking out at a window saw king David dancing and playing: and she despised him in her heart.

Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

It’s instructive to note, with these last few verses below, how there were people appointed and separated for this service of facilitating worship of God (1Ch 25:1, 1Ch 25:6, 2Ch 5:12-13, 2Ch 29:25, Ezr 3:10, Neh 12:27), and it does symbolize how we are a many-membered, diverse body of Christ, with different parts, different functions, or different instruments, but all with the same spirit (1Co 12:12-13):

1Ch 25:1  Moreover David and the captains of the host separated to the service of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbalsH4700: and the number of the workmen according to their service was:

1Ch 25:6  All these were under the hands of their father for song in the house of the LORD, with cymbalsH4700, psalteries, and harps, for the service of the house of God, according to the king’s order to Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman.

2Ch 5:12  Also the Levites which were the singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, being arrayed in white linen, having cymbalsH4700 and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets:) 
2Ch 5:13  It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbalsH4700 and instruments of musick, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD;

2Ch 29:25 And he set the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbalsH4700, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king’s seer, and Nathan the prophet: for so was the commandment of the LORD by his prophets.

Now let’s look at the effect this order had on the church in the wilderness, which symbolizes the Christian churches of Babylon today out of which the body of Christ comes (1Ch 16:41-43):

1Ch 16:41  And with them Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest that were chosen,[Mat 22:14] who were expressed by name, to give thanks to the LORD, because his mercy endureth for ever; 
1Ch 16:42  And with them Heman and Jeduthun with trumpets and cymbalsH4700 for those that should make a sound, and with musical instruments of God. And the sons of Jeduthun were porters.
1Ch 16:43  And all the people departed every man to his house: and David returned to bless his house.

If we underline the various roles of all the different people who prophesied in these old covenant stories, it brings to our attention the continual need for true prophecy within the body of Christ today, which is what all those ancients were doing for our sakes, in a type and shadow manner (1Co 10:11, 1Co 14:4), starting with 1 Chronicles 25:1-6.

1Ch 25:1  Moreover David and the captains of the host separated to the service of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbalsH4700: and the number of the workmen according to their service was:
1Ch 25:2  Of the sons of Asaph; Zaccur, and Joseph, and Nethaniah, and Asarelah, the sons of Asaph under the hands of Asaph, which prophesied according to the order of the king [typifying Christ who is our head who directs the body in all things (Rom 8:28)].
1Ch 25:3  Of Jeduthun: the sons of Jeduthun; Gedaliah, and Zeri, and Jeshaiah, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, six, under the hands of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied with a harp, to give thanks and to praise the LORD [1Ch 16:8, 2Sa 22:48-51, Psa 30:4].
1Ch 25:4  Of Heman: the sons of Heman; Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, and Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, and Romamtiezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, and Mahazioth: 
1Ch 25:5  All these were the sons of Heman the king’s seer in the words of God, to lift up the horn. And God gave to Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.
1Ch 25:6  All these were under the hands of their father for song in the house of the LORD, with cymbalsH4700, psalteries, and harps, for the service of the house of God, according to the king’s order to Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman.

1Ch 16:8  Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people. 

2Sa 22:48  It is God that avengeth me, and that bringeth down the people under me, 
2Sa 22:49  And that bringeth me forth from mine enemies: thou also hast lifted me up on high above them that rose up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man. [our old man who does violence against the word of God when we are yet carnal and shamefully not able to rightly divide the truth (2Ti 2:15)]
2Sa 22:50  Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name.
2Sa 22:51  He is the tower of salvation for his king: and sheweth mercy to his anointed, unto David, and to his seed for evermore.[type of this seed the seed of Christ (Gal 3:16)]

Psa 30:4  Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

Seventeen of many other verses that say give thanks unto the Lord:

Psa 92:1  A Psalm or Song for the sabbath day. It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: 

Psa 97:12  Rejoice in the LORD, ye righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. 

Psa 105:1  O give thanks unto the LORD; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people. 

Psa 106:1  Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Psa 106:47  Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks unto thy holy name, and to triumph in thy praise.

Psa 107:1  O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Psa 118:1  O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever.

Psa 118:29  O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Psa 119:62  At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments. 

Psa 122:4  Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the LORD.

Psa 136:1  O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psa 136:2  O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psa 136:3  O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Psa 136:26  O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Psa 140:13  Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name: the upright shall dwell in thy presence.

Rom 16:4  Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.

Eph 1:16  Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; 

Col 1:3  We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,

1Th 1:2  We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;

1Th 5:18  In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

2Th 2:13  But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: [Tit 2:14, 1Pe 2:9] 

Tit 2:14  Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

1Pe 2:9  But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

2Ch 5:12  Also the Levites which were the singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, being
arrayed in white linen, having cymbalsH4700 and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets🙂 

Christ and his Christ is represented by the hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets, which represent judgment that has a process starting in the east and ending in the west (Mat 24:27).

Mat 24:27  For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

2Ch 5:13  It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbalsH4700 and instruments of musick, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD;

When we lift our voices together in unity, in singleness of mind, with the one mind of Christ thanking God for his mercy toward us, the house will be “filled with a cloud (Heb 12:1), even the house of the LORD”.

2Ch 29:22  So they killed the bullocks, and the priests received the blood, and sprinkled it on the altar: likewise, when they had killed the rams, they sprinkled the blood upon the altar: they killed also the lambs, and they sprinkled the blood upon the altar. 
2Ch 29:23  And they brought forth the he goats for the sin offering before the king and the congregation; and they laid their hands upon them: 
2Ch 29:24  And the priests killed them, and they made reconciliation with their blood upon the altar, to make an atonement for all Israel: for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel [1Co 15:22].
2Ch 29:25  And he set the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbalsH4700, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king’s seer, and Nathan the prophet: for so was the commandment of the LORD by his prophets.

It is after the priest, representing the elect, “received the blood”, meaning the word of God that is sprinkled on the altar which is the cross, the place where we lay our lives down for each other, that we then see the introduction of “the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbalsH4700, with psalteries, and with harps”. Likewise we’re told that what preceded this worship was “when they had killed the rams, they sprinkled the blood upon the altar: they killed also the lambs, and they sprinkled the blood upon the altar. And they brought forth the he goats for the sin offering before the king and the congregation; and they laid their hands upon them.” This all tells us that the death of our old man, the putting off of our flesh, as the first to die to sin and be alive in Christ, is all correlated with these old covenant sacrifices that, when they are accomplished, can then cover the altar or the cross to which every man in his appointed time will be drawn.

We will end off our study with these last two verses that point to the truth that it is after laying down the foundation of the temple, representing foundation of the apostles and the prophets that God says we build on today (Eph 2:20-22), the priests are then “in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbalsH4700“, to praise the LORD, after the ordinance of David king of Israel.” The same message is being repeated in Nehemiah 12:27 where a dedication was being made for the wall of Jerusalem resulting in the same “thanksgivings, and with singing, with cymbalsH4700, psalteries, and with harps.”

Ezr 3:10  And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbalsH4700, to praise the LORD, after the ordinance of David king of Israel. 

Neh 12:27  And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, to keep the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings, and with singing, with cymbalsH4700, psalteries, and with harps. 

Eph 2:20  And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
Eph 2:21  In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: 
Eph 2:22  In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. 

Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

Next week, Lord willing, we will look at the last two percussion instruments, the Paamon or Bell and the Toph which is a Timbrel/Tabret:

Tiny bells and pomegranates were attached to the lower hem of the High Priest’s ephod. Although not loud, the bells signaled his location in the temple’s sanctuary.

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