The decorative art objects,
most of them not mentioned in the short Bible excerpt above, were expensively
decorated and many of the were not only beautiful but also useful . Although some Bible historians claim that the
Israelites never made any sculptures because of the fact that they were
forbidden to do so by the statement in Exodus 20:4 “Thou shalt not make unto
thee any graven image (pecel 6459) …”
(Also see Lev. 26:1; De. 4:16, 4:23,
25,5:8.) However, they often forget
that Exodus 20:25 clears up the matter when it explains, “Thou shalt not bow
down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous
God…” So, God did not forbid ancient
Israel to carve decorative art objects but rather YHVH elohiym only forbad
them to worship these art objects. So,
when II Chronicles uses the word *tsa’tsua
(6816), which means that the cherubims were carved or graven images, it is
not a violation of the “no graven idols” commandment. Therefore, I find absolutely no prohibition
in the Bible of anyone elaborately decorating a Church.
How does all this discussion connect
to music? As I said earlier, music is often allied to the decorative arts by
the fact that these objects beautify the place where we music such as:
sanctuaries, classrooms, and concert halls.
It is the obligation of every music educator to beautify the physical
surroundings of all the places we music or study about music. Also, making our music students aware of fine
decorative art objects can be a source of educational inspiration to them. For instance, bringing a beautiful hand
painted glazed Rookwood vase or a Nileoak glazed pitcher to the rehearsal room
can be a philosophical comparison of a fine pottery work to a fine musical
performance.
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