“And all the people SAW the SOUND” (Exodus 20:18)
הַשֹּׁפָ֔ר ק֣וֹל רֹאִ֨ים הָעָם֩
When God delivered the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt, and the Hebrews came to Mt. Sinai, the LORD met them there.
Exodus 20:18 says, “And all the people SAW the SOUND.”
Typically, we say people HEAR SOUND. But the Hebrews SAW the SOUND.
A few verses later, in Exodus 20:19, the LORD says: “You have SEEN that I have talked with you.”
SEEING SOUND (CYMATICS)
Leonardo DaVinci, Galileo Galilei, and Robert Hooke (The Royal Academy of Science) all experimented with SEEING sound using light and water.
What they discovered in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries served as the foundation for what scientists in the 21st century are discovery about SEEING someone speak or sing.
Cymatics, a word coined in the 1970s, is the technical word for SEEING sound.
To understand CYMATICS better, watch this short video.
THE VISIBLE UNIVERSE AS A SONG
Modern science portrays the universe as vibrating strings that form different styles of (music) producing the symphony of the universe.
Humans see the sounds of God’s creative music in Creation.
Scientists describe matter as the substance produced by sub-atomic particles (e.g., quartz, electrons, etc…) that vibrate on tiny strings.
Theoretical physicists call this String Theory.
The universe exists as a symphony of vibrating strings.
Physics is the harmony of a vibrating string. Chemistry is the synthesis of vibrating strings.
String Theory has 26 dimensions of time and space. These unseen 26 dimensions are mathematical necessities to allow sub-atomic strings to vibrate for the matter we see to exist.
In short, the universe is Les Miserable in the unseen realm.
YHWH is the Conductor.
We SEE God speaking. We SEE God singing (Zephaniah 3:17).
The Temple of YHWH
Light and water are the two significant substances of the Temple of YHWH that are not intrinsic to the materials of gold, silver, bronze, copper, and wood used in its construction.
When the LORD met Moses on Sinai, He gave Moses a specific design for His dwelling place. The Hebrews called the ancient dwelling place of YHWH the Tabernacle (c. 1450 to 1000 BC). God’s people carefully folded and carried this tent as they traversed the Promised Land, and when they stopped, they set the Tabernacle up, offered the ritual worship prescribed, and camped around it.
Solomon built a Temple for YH in Jerusalem (971 BC), giving God’s dwelling place stability, utility, and beauty.
LIGHT in the TEMPLE
A MENORAH of light, a continuously burning ALTAR of fire, and the MOON and STARS in the open courtyard provided the LIGHT.
WATER in the TEMPLE:
A massive BRASS LAVER, full of water and called “the Molten Sea,” dominated the southeast corner of the Temple courtyard. Ten additional large BRASS WATER BASINS were strategically placed around the Temple.
The Temple of YHWH sat on Zion, the highest mountain in Jerusalem, and looked like a massive throne. Two tall, hollow brass pillars, Jachin and Boaz, sat at the entrance to the Temple.
The names Jachin and Boaz combine to mean:
The LORD strengthens within.
The Hebrews SAW the LORD speak at the Temple.
The Temple was His instrument.
YHWH and 26
The name of God is YHWH in the Hebrew language.
YHWH is pronounced like the sound you make when breathing. “Let everything that has breath, praise YHWH” (Psalm 150:6).
In Hebrew, individual LETTERS double as NUMBERS.
Adding the numbers corresponding to YHWH (10 plus 5 plus 6 plus 5), you get 26 as the number for YHWH.
There are 26 dimensions of space and time to account for the 26 subatomic strings of music in the Bosonic String Theory.
The Hebrew Scriptures devote over fifty chapters in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Kings, and Chronicles to the design and function of the Tabernacle and Temple.
Could it be that the Temple’s careful and intentional design is due to YHWH’s desire for His people to SEE Him SPEAK?
With its specific design and measurements, the TEMPLE OF YHWH could be the BRIDGE between the unseen realm of eternal purpose and the seen realm of matter and history.
THE TEMPLE OF YHWH AS A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT
Newton’s Drawing of the Temple of YHWH in his Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms
Isaac Newton (1642-1727) made the Temple of YHWH his life’s study.
Newton believed that the Temple contained the key or portal to an understanding of God’s purpose for the universe, God’s orderly design of Nature, and most importantly, God’s plans for mankind.
Newton believed the Temple contained The Mathematical Theory of Everything. He emphasized the geometric design and sacred cubit in Temple with proportions of Pi and 1.6666∞ throughout.
Understanding the Temple is to see life and this universe as instruments designed by the Creator to SEE His beauty when He speaks.
The universe is YHWH’S. The universal rules for the universe are His rules.
When YHWH spoke to His people in ancient times, they SAW HIM SPEAKING.
The fire on Sinai and the Temple, the water at the mountain’s base, and the Brass of Sea reflected the Creator’s eternal (time) purposes for His creation.
In other words, it could be the Temple of YHWH was designed as a cosmic musical instrument, similar to a stage, speakers, and Divine sound for the people of God to SEE the invisible God move.
YOUR LIFE AS THE TEMPLE OF YHWH
Both science and the Bible speak of your existence as a symphony of music.
God is the Conductor. We are to follow His lead.
In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, a young man demands his inheritance before his father dies.
The father consents, and the son leaves for “a far country” far from his father. The son wastes his inheritance in this far land through prodigious (e.g., excessive, wasteful) living.
Finding himself without support, the son feeds pigs for a living. One day, he “comes to his senses” and realizes he would do better as a servant in his father’s house than continuing in the pig stye.
So the son sets out to see his father.
When the prodigal son arrives home to his father, the servants in the fields begin to hear music playing. They heard a sumphonos (symphony) of music (see Luke 15:25)
Jesus is the Great Conductor of your life, the Father of Creation, and the one who leads the vast orchestra of vibrating strings that compose your existence.
When you surrender your life to Jesus Christ and submit to His words, you’ll SEE the beautiful music playing.
You’ll SEE the singing God at work.
Wade, this off the subject, but I wanted to tell you the Leader Newspaper will print what I wrote below:
I was named after my uncle Rex Ray, who was a missionary to China 30 years. Many times, he visited Japan. He wrote American officials several times that Japan was preparing to have war with the United States/ No one listened until Pearl Harbor.
They say history repeats itself. Few have listened to Wade Burleson, a retired pastor, say that Iran has promised to blow Israel into the sea with atomic bombs.
Wade,
I didn’t think the machine would let me comment, but IT DID!
Great to have you back, Rex!
Wade,
You said, “And all the people SAW the SOUND” (Exodus 20:18)
But the NLT states: “When the people heard the thunder and when they saw the flashes of lighting…”
Then in Exodus 20:19 you quote the Lord saying, “You have seen that I have talked with you.”
That verse in the NLT states: “And they said to Moses, “You speak to us and we will listen. But don’t let God speak directly to us, or we will die!”
Off the subject: Bad news. The Leader Newspaper just called and said they would print what my uncle said about Japan but would not print your warning.
Rex,
Exodus 20:19 in HEBREW (the original language) – “All the people SAW the SOUND.” I double checked with my friend – Hebrew scholar Dr. David Darnell, PhD (Duke). He agreed. They “saw the sound” is what it says.
Crazy about the newspaper. Absolutely insane.
Our Dad, Dave Ray, told us many stories of Big Foot Wallace who was an Indian fighter. One time Wallace came over a hill and saw many Indians and they saw him. He knew they’d kill him because their horses were faster. Instead of running, he charged while yelling, “Come on men; get them!” The Indians took off.
During the war Dad asked directions from a MP to a town. He didn’t know the guy was drunk, and his directions put him in “no man’s land” which was the distance between Germans and Americans.
It was night, and he drove with blackout lights which barely let him see the road. He stopped because he knew he’d missed the town. The road was so narrow, he couldn’t turn around because of the trailer he was pulling. The night was light enough for him to see three Germans walking on the road toward him. He heard the click as they took their guns off ‘safety’. (Being a chaplain, he never had a gun.) He laid in a ditch. He wanted to surrender, but he was afraid they’d shoot him. So, like Wallace, he yelled in a voice that would wake the dead, “HEY THERE!” The Germans ran, he took the trailer off, and the MP got the worst bawling out in his life.
Wade,
Google states:
“The New Living Translation (NLT) is a translation of the Bible in contemporary English. Published in 1996 by Tyndale House Foundation. The NLT was created “by 90 leading Bible scholars.” The NLT relies on recently published critical editions of the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts.”
Wade,
You’re right about the Leader newspaper being crazy on you’re warning of a possible World War III. They act as if their publishing it would contribute to starting the war.
Judy has been taking several ladies to their doctor’s appointments. Some are 50 miles away. At present she’s mowing the yard with a riding lawnmower. I think she would be upsent with me if I did it.
CHRISTIANE,
Are you OK? You usually make a comment on stories I tell about my Dad.
Good stories, REX RAY !
Yes, I’m ‘OK’ and was trying to sort out the meaning of the blog which is interesting and was wondering how in the world to apply it to something I’m already familiar with . . . .
How are you doing?
I liked the story of how Judy is helping take some ladies to their medical appointments . . . . that reminds me of my sister-in-law who drives all the way from Charlottesville to the coast to visit her child-hood friend who is now widowed and ill. My sister-in-law cleans her friend’s home and sees to it that she has good food in stock and tries to encourage her friend’s two daughters to do more to help their mother.
Some people are worth their weight in gold. Sounds like your dear Judy is one of the best.
Wade,
Today we had action trying to fix our dock. Judy fell in the lake, and I earned the Purple Heart. smile
CHRISTIANE,
Here is a story for you. When we were 16, our parents got jobs to teach school in Germany to children of American soldiers. Our father went first and my twin brother and two sisters came with mother. It was a small ship that took 17 days to cross. My brother and I were bored until we hit a small storm. A spray of water made the deck slick.
The sides of the ship rolled up and down. No one knew we were having fun taking turns sliding about 50 feet from one side to the other. After an hour, the ship rolled on an extra big wave. I pushed off and hit the other railing going so fast I flipped over. I was bent at my waist gripping the bottom railing. My knees and feet were the only part that didn’t go over. Those were the longest seconds of my life. When the ship rolled the other way, I was able to stand. That ended the fun, and we never told anyone.
REX RAY,
of course you were saved . . . . I tell you that there is something VERY special about those RAY guardian angels !
The way you tell this story, I can ‘see’ it all happening! That’s good story-telling. 🙂
All,
I’ve been in Houston – without Internet – 🙂 – speaking at a Men’s Retreat!
Back now!
Thanks for all the comments (and stories!)
Wade
Wade,
Good to have you back. You’ve heard “Take your troubles to the Lord and leave them there” but tonight I’m bringing them to you. Smile
Our old song leader has moved somewhere else, and last Sunday night our church had a meeting to vote if we wanted to hire a new song leader that has been here about a month. He had listed about ten other churches he’d been the song leader.
A lady who has been in our church about a month conducted the meeting. Everyone was given a paper to write yes or no. But for the first time in the history of our church the lady told us to write our names on our paper. In about ten minutes, the lady said there were five that voted No.
One of them was me because I didn’t like the songs he sang, and I’d asked him if he thought our song books were a decoration, and he wouldn’t answer.
REX RAY,
for Christian people who are getting on in years who remember the hymnals, it is hard to sing ‘a new song’ when the heart wants so desperately to sing the old songs of Zion.
I’m wondering if the new song leader might know of the ‘shape-note’ singing used by the mountain people who came to this country from Ireland and Scotland? Maybe that might be something everyone of all ages could share?
I loved the old hymns of my Baptist grandmother of blessed memory. I’m sorry if your Church gives up those old beloved hymns. It would be a great loss indeed.
REX RAY,
here is an example of ‘shape-note’ singing:
https://youtu.be/FyrUhdBHOg8
Jerusalem Temple Painting by Alex Levin: https://artlevin.com/product/temple-the-soul-of-jerusalem-painting/