Well, good morning. We're in Bible Institute and Bible Answers class. And today we're looking at the subject of Should a Christian Dance? And shall we pray? Heavenly Father, we thank you for the privilege of coming before you, looking into your word. I pray the Holy Spirit would lead and guide us now in Jesus name. Amen. You know, it seems like in our day and age, We don't know much about separation anymore. In fact, before we look at this passage in Exodus, let's look in Jeremiah 6. Jeremiah 6 and verse 16. The Bible says, Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for what? The old paths. Where is the good way? And walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said what? We will not walk therein. It's kind of sad to see in our day and age when people make a profession of faith, nothing seems to change in their lives. I can recall hearing the testimonies of my grandparents. And when they got saved, they got saved as adults, my grandparents on both sides. And they were living lives of the world. But you know what? When they got saved, they quit the drinking of alcohol, they quit the dancing, they quit the tobacco. But you know what? Today, we don't seem to see much change in people's lives. Do they really understand repentance? Do they really understand what salvation is? really means, what happens to a life when a person truly gets saved. In 2 Corinthians 5.17, the Bible says, A new creature, old things are what? Passed away. They're put to death. Behold, all things are what? Become new. It used to be when a person got saved, they'd quit the drinking, quit the dancing, quit the smoking, quit the chewing of tobacco, all of those things. Today, it seems almost like people get delight in continuing on in their same old way. Well, let's go back. This matter of dancing, it's in Exodus 15 and verse 19. So we're trying to discern whether a Christian should dance in the modern sense of dancing. So we'll try to see what the modern dance is. We'll try to see what the biblical position is to take on that. So Exodus 15 and verse 19, Exodus 15, 19. The Bible says, for the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots, just read it up here, and with his horsemen into the sea, and the Lord brought again the waters of the sea upon them. But the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea. Okay, doesn't want to move here with me. So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea and they went out into the wilderness of Shur and they went three days into the wilderness and found no water. And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the water. Okay, let me see here. I've got to back up. We got on the wrong verse here. Exodus 15, 19. Okay, here we go. For the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea. And the Lord brought again the waters of the sea upon them. But the children of Israel went on dry land. in the midst of the sea. And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with what? Dances. And Miriam answered them, saying, Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously, the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. Now you notice here some things. It was Miriam and the women. Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand and the women went out after with timbrels and with dances. So we don't see anything like the modern dance here in this situation. Modern dances are normally with men and women, unless you're talking about some sodomite type of dancing, but normally today, dances are done with men and women together, and boys and girls together. You have all your school dances, your proms. You know, your worldly proms in the public schools and your compromising so-called proms with Christian schools. So normally it's men dancing with women, boys dancing with girls, and the music is provided normally by a group other than the dancers. We're talking about a regular dance. I know with all of the the worldly things going on, the singers are often dancing, and here you go into the so-called spiritual realm. Instead of the song leader, instead of like the scriptural ASAPH, we have today what they call praise teams. And in praise team situations, a lot of times you'll have multiple singers up here. No one is really leading the song with with the proper beats. What they're doing is they are up on what should be called the platform, but they might as well call it a stage because that's what it is. They are performing. You'll have men and women, oftentimes, in the praise team. And they're up dancing around and before the whole crowd. And that's just worldly. It just arouses lust is all that does. This situation, people come to Miriam, the situation here, and they'll say, well, see, Miriam danced. See, the women danced. Yes, it was much unlike the modern dance. It was all women. There was no men involved with them dancing. They were singing, they were doing the dancing. So the summary of Exodus 15, 19 through 21, It was done by all women. They were playing the instruments. They were doing the singing. Okay? So that's not anything like the modern dance overall. Okay, let's go to another passage. Exodus 32, 17. Exodus 32, 17. Exodus 32, 17. Okay, now in this situation, it is more like the modern dance of today. So, let's read verses 17 and 18. war in the camp. And he said, it is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome, but the noise of them that sing, do I hear. Now I want you to notice here, and we're going to see it a few minutes, that these people were dancing. But first of all, this dancing was accompanied by confused sounding singing. If you notice back in Exodus 15-21, Exodus 15-21, notice the difference here. It says, and Miriam answered him, sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously, and the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. Notice you can tell the words. You were given the words. So you can hear the words distinctly. But in this passage here, Joshua describes it as noise. You know, sometimes people, maybe especially older people or people who have hearing problems, they will say, I didn't hear you. You'll say something and they'll say, I didn't hear you. Well, they heard you, but what they heard was noise. Joshua heard the noise of the people. In other words, people hear the noise of what you're saying, but they cannot tell distinctly what you are saying. That was the situation here with Joshua. He heard the noise, and he said it's the noise of war. So that tells you their music was wild music, and that describes rock music. Many times you cannot understand the words to a song like that, though the music is wild. I can recall my grandfather When I was just a boy, he called rock music, jungle music. Jungle music. I was just confused. He couldn't understand. I couldn't understand a lot of the words in rock music. It was more just the tunes. I could not understand the words. And so Moses has to enlighten him. He said, it's not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome, but the noise of them that sing, do I hear? Moses could discern. He could not hear blood-curdling cries of those that were being slain. So it was not the victor whooping and hollering just before he killed someone. It was not the deathly screams of someone just being mortally wounded. He says, no, this war-like sound that you're hearing, it's music. That's what it is. And so then we drop down to verse 19. And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh into the camp, that he saw the calf, so here this is idolatry associated with it, and what? The dancing. And Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hand and broke them beneath the mount." You know, in today's contemporary scene, they would walk into church and see the dancing, and you know what they would think? Wow, here's a liberated group. Here's a group of Christians that really knows what it is to have Christian liberty. Look at them dancing to the Lord. But you know what? Moses wasn't happy. And I'm talking about, you know, they would come into a church and here's the praise team dancing around, the people are dancing around to the music, swaying back and forth. And they would think, wow, this is it. These Christians are spirit-filled. Yeah, Moses didn't see it that way at all. He saw the calf and the dancing, and his anger waxed hot. And he broke those tables. He threw down the Ten Commandments and broke them. And that's exactly what people are doing today with this dancing in God's house. They are breaking the law of God, the spirit of the law. So as we continue reading on here, verse 20, You know, this association with idolatry and music and dancing. You know, all these contemporary singers, maybe I shouldn't say all of them, but a lot of them have pictures of themselves they sell, Professing Christian young people are no different than the world. They buy these pictures, posters of their favorite Christian rock group, and they have big posters, and they put them up in their bedrooms. What are they doing? They're worshiping those people. They're idols to them. You know, years ago, when George Beverly Shea sang in Billy Graham's Crusades, you know, if you just go online and look for some video clips of George Beverly Shea singing, I want you to notice at the end of when he would sing. I noticed this when they did a special tribute to him some years ago. When he would get through singing, George Beverly Shea would bow his head and back up from the pulpit and exit. George Beverly Shea exited from his song in a humble manner. But you know what the Christian rock groups do. You know, how do they end their song? Well, they've all got to have their microphone. George Beverly Shea, he didn't have to hold a microphone. He sang. He sang with a full voice. Maybe some of these people need voice lessons. They can't seem to sing without a microphone almost touching their lips. George Beverly Shea showed his humility. He would bow and leave. What do they do today? They got their microphone. How do they end their song? What are they doing? And what do they do at the end? They applaud. They're no different than the world. It's like, see me, hear me now. It's all about self. So there's a lot of idolatry with today's contemporary music. Why? Because it's not of God. It's not done in humility. It's done for self, self-glory. So, verse 21, Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? The singing here in verse 21 and in verse 22. Set on mischief. For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us. For as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we want not what has become of him." So this dancing was done by mischievous people. These were not spiritual people, they were not godly people. This dancing was done by mischievous people. Aaron said to Moses, you know the people, they're set on mischief. Oh, so what did you do, Aaron? And that brings us to verse 24. And I, Aaron, said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me, then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf. Weak leadership. What type of leadership allows this dancing, the wild music brought into the church, the dancing brought into the church, doing away with the song leader, and playing all these same instruments they use in the rock bands. Why does that come into the church? Well, like people like priests, but it's weak leadership. Is it any different than politics? Just in that position to please people, It must be hard to sleep at night and be someone that does things only for the praise of man. Well, that was Aaron. That was definitely Aaron. So what else does this type of dancing encourage? When Moses saw that the people were what? Naked. For Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies. Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, who is on the Lord's side? Let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. Would you, would you do that today? If Moses, if the Lord came into the congregation, excuse me, and saw that the dancing and the nakedness Would they be pleased? What did Jesus do in the temple? When he saw they were making merchandise out of his house instead of a house of prayer, he drove them out, tipped over their tables, got a whip and drove them and the animals all out of his house. No doubt he would do the same thing if he came into a church, seeing all this dancing and nakedness. There is a contemporary church There are many contemporary churches everywhere, but there's an acquaintance that I know. And from one of my neighbors, my neighbor asked him, he said, hey, how's things going at your church? It was a contemporary church and was growing. They're adding on. And so my neighbor asked him, hey, how's it going at church? He said, oh, great. And then he said, Come on, I mean, how's it really going at church? Because my neighbor knew this man. He knew that he really did love the Lord, wanted to serve him. And when he said to him, come on, tell me, how's it really going? I'm not just talking about the big crowds you're getting. I'm not talking about adding on your building. I mean, tell me, you're a spiritual man. You tell me honestly, how's it going at your church? And then he began to be honest and said, I see way too much cleavage. What's he talking about? Well, it's what we just saw here. Moses saw that the people were naked. That goes right hand in hand, the dancing in the nakedness, lustful clothing. It goes hand in hand. You know, are you going to get someone up here on your praise team with a calf length or longer dress or skirt, nice and full, not form-fitting, with a modest top, with a neckline, not a chestline, a neckline? What is a neckline? A neckline is where your neck is showing, not a chest line. So all the clothing with the deep Vs or the unbuttoned buttons, are you going to get a praise team with, like I said, calf length or longer dresses and skirts, with modest tops, that are not revealing, that are not form-fitting, and are not showing parts of a woman's anatomy that only her husband should see? I don't think you're gonna find that, ever. And if you ever find such a thing, it's truly a rare thing. But no, the praise teams are gonna be wearing form-fitting clothes, deep Vs, Things to attract attention, that's what they do. Because that's the whole thing around, that's why they're dancing up in front, to gain attraction. So this type of dancing encourages nakedness. So these people who say, we're dancing to the Lord. Yeah, sure you are, just like what Aaron said. Let's see here, I'm going to back up here just a little bit. And Aaron said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let him break it off. So they gave it me. Then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf. Came out this calf. Yeah, Aaron, it just happened to come out this calf. Notice back earlier in this chapter, in verse 1, And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Make us gods, which shall go before us. For as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we want not what is become of him. So they come to Aaron. Moses has been up in the mountain 40 days. And they said, you know what? We don't know what happened to Moses. It's been 40 days. So listen, up make us gods which shall go before us. Well, do you realize they were breaking here the very first commandment that God had given them? And the Son of God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have what? No other gods before me. And what had they said? Up, make us gods. And then in the next verse, Thou shalt not make unto thee any what? Graven image. Graven image. So, those were the first two commands of God. And then if you go back to Exodus 32, And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mouth, the people gathered themselves together under Aaron and said to him, up, make us gods. They were breaking the very first commandment. You know, when God spoke to them and gave them the Ten Commandments, they said, let not God speak to us anymore. Aaron, or Moses, you let God speak to you and you speak to us. But we're afraid. The mountain was on fire. the thunder, the lightning, the darkness up there, the ground shaking. They were terrified. They said, from now on, Moses, you just talk to God and talk to us for him. So God had said, don't make any gods. That's the first thing they asked. I'll make us gods. And so what does Aaron do? What does Aaron do? Does he say, wait a minute people, did you forget what you heard? You heard the words of God. The first thing he said was, thou shalt not make any gods. So what does he do? And Aaron said to them, break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. And the people break off the golden earrings which were in their ears and brought them unto Aaron. And he received them at their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool after he had made it, what? A molten calf. So the people say, up make us gods. We want not what has happened to Moses. And so instead of rebuking them and teaching them, Aaron proceeds to make them a graven image. He breaks the second commandment not to make a graven image. So this is the whole scene of this dancing. You have these mischievous people. They break the first commandment, up make us gods. The leader breaks the second commandment, makes them a graven image. So, the dancing, the nakedness, back in Exodus 32, 25. Exodus 32, 25. When Moses saw that the people were naked, for Aaron had made them naked under their shame among their enemies. And then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, who is on the Lord's side? Let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. Would you do that today? Would you stop this idolatry? this worshiping of people singing this contemporary music. Would you take a stand for modesty? You know, in the ministry, so much rests on, you know, in our township here. It's just kind of fitting what happened in our country in the last week or two. We just had an election. And I don't know how it's going to go yet. But in our township, we just fought a battle against alcohol. Our township, well, actually two different business owners, or wannabe business owners. petitioned our township some months ago about being able to serve alcohol. And so we as a church stood against it. Some of us men went there and spoke to them about the word of God and about safety factors. And after listening to it all, one of the council members proceeded to make a motion to approve the alcohol. What was sad is that there were some Christians in the audience that spoke up in favor of the business with the alcohol. There were some professing Christians on the board, the township board, that voted yes. And then some other Christians thankfully voted no, but they were outvoted, and so it was approved. So our township Christians, professing Christians failed, failed in the audience, failed on the township board. And so now there'll be two more businesses that serve liquor. And then, so what do we have in our country? We have a president who is solidly against abortion, has stopped all U.S. funding of abortions across the world. Now we have a man who could possibly be our president, and he says the very first day of his presidency, he would reverse the Mexico City policy. In other words, he would start immediately, the very first day, spending U.S. money on abortions across the world. What happened on election day? Professing Christians failed is what happened, just like here in Exodus 32. They failed. You know, what does our country need? Well, we know that politics isn't the answer. We should vote for godly people, 2 Chronicles 7.14, if who? If my people, which are called by my name, shall what? Humble themselves and pray. Remember what we saw about contemporary music? There's not humility shown in those singers. There's pride. Humble themselves and pray and seek my face on what? Turn from their wicked ways. Do you know why so many professing Christians are voting now? to approve alcohol. Some of those same Christians I stood with probably about 20 years ago in a different township and they stood with me against alcohol and it was successful. That township said no to an establishment who wanted to serve liquor. Now fast forward 20 years. Now, those same professing Christians voice their approval of a business selling alcohol, serving alcohol, and it gets approved in the township. What's happening? I'll tell you what's happening. There's a lot of these people who are dabbling in alcohol themselves. In 20 years' time, they now think it's okay to drink alcohol. My people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways. That's Christians. Turn from their wicked ways. Then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. As I said, I don't know how this election's going to go in the end. It's being disputed at this point. But I'll tell you something, if the wicked and the vile gain the presidency, The blood of those innocent babies are going to be on the hands of those professing Christians who voted for such a wicked man. The blood is going to be on their hands. And they knew, they knew before they ever voted for that man that he was in favor of abortion. How sad. How sad to see the direction of the church. Very sad. The alcohol, you know, there are some churches now that have men's meetings where they actually make craft beer. It used to be that there'd be men's prayer meetings, or men would get together and do some other things that men and boys liked to do that were wholesome. Now they make craft beer. It just shows the downward spiral of America is on the hands of professing Christians who now love the world more than God. So, we're going to look at many more passages about this matter of dancing, but do not be deceived. Dancing does not free you. It's not liberating. I'll tell you what dancing will do, though, for you. And we're talking about this modern dancing here. John 8, 34, Jesus answered them, verily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever commit a sin is what? The servant of sin. Yeah, you go ahead and get involved in this dancing. You know what? Don't come crying when your husband or wife runs off with somebody else. Because that is a huge thing we're gonna see about dancing is the lust factor in it. Okay, well, we'll close this class for now. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your Word.