One popular argument regarding the use of musical instruments in worship runs like this: Worship in the church today is a foretaste of heaven. The book of Revelation shows the use of musical instruments in heaven. We therefore ought to use musical instruments in worship today. The argument seems plausible at first glance. But beware of the theology of the first glance.

See the accompanying diagram and consider the following. From the time of Adam until Moses, God accepted worship at various altars built by the patriarchs. When He commanded Moses to build the tabernacle, God instituted a radical change in worship. God directed that specific sacrifices be offered in specific ways at specific times on His altar. We can imagine the objections of the people. What happened to our ability to offer sacrifices on altars we build, in places we choose, at times we determine? God’s command was clear. God’s people were not privileged to revert to the standards of an earlier era and worship like those who preceded them.

Prior to the building of the temple, God commanded David to organize choirs to sing during the sacrifices. God also directed David to use harps and cymbals in connection with the sacrifices. We can again imagine the complaints of some of God’s people. Why is David introducing choirs and musical instruments to the worship of God ordained through Moses? We do not need these choirs and noisy cymbals and so many harps. Why can’t we worship in the simplicity of Moses without all these extras? But the people were not privileged to revert to the standards of an earlier age. It is our obligation to maintain God’s standards for worship for the age in which God places us.

In the Gospels and book of Acts we note the persecution of Christ and of Stephen. They were accused of denigrating the temple and of not following Moses. But Christ abolished the ceremonial law in order to establish His own sacrifice as that which, once for all, saves sinners. Here was another quite dramatic alteration of worship by God. In my previous articles, I’ve maintained that the abolition of the ceremonial law by Christ includes the elimination of musical instruments in worship. This is the historic covenantal position maintained by Calvin, and later by Spurgeon.

We cannot return to the standards of worship in the Old Testament. To do so is to blaspheme. We cannot—we dare not—introduce the standards of Moses or the standards of David into New Testament worship if God has in fact effected a change through Christ. We are obliged to maintain the standards of worship established by God for our times.

Now suppose God’s people in the time of Joshua knew, through the prophets, that God would, at some future date, introduce choirs and musical instruments and add them to the ceremonies established through Moses. They might have said, “There is no harm in adding choirs and instruments to God’s worship. Let’s do it now. After all, God is going to do it later anyway.” But such an addition had to await God’s command. The people living between Moses and David had an obligation to maintain the standards of worship for their era. Similarly, if there is worship in heaven with instruments (I do not think Revelation supports this conclusion, as I gave evidence for in last month’s column), this does not allow us to implement the standards of worship for the future in this present age. It is our obligation to maintain God’s standards for worship for the age in which He places us.