While music is a huge industry, very few singers and musicians take the time to learn about sound, the prerequisite to music.  While the term “sounds of heaven” is often quoted in Churches, most Christians are clueless as to the true meaning of that phrase.

If music ministers don’t understand God’s purpose for sound, they will not be adequately prepared for the battle. As the Apostle Paul wrote in a letter to the church at Corinth, when discussing the gifts of the Holy Spirit:

“Even things without life, whether flute or harp, when they make a sound, unless they make a distinction in the sounds, how will it be known what is piped or played? For if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare himself for battle?”(I Cor. 14:7-8)

Sound and Light Vibrations

In the beginning God spoke (sound) and said, “Let there be light and there was light” (Genesis 1:3). This sound and light was the release of the Creator’s Glory since it was another three days before He created the sun and the moon.

Sound travels by vibrations which are transported from molecule to molecule and are often referred to as sound waves.  Light also travels by vibrations and these are called electromagnetic waves.  Although sound and light are on different frequencies they are the same type of vibrations. Within sound is music  and within light are colors and within them both is the Glory of the LORD.

With the fall of Adam and Eve, the sinful state of man lost understanding of those scientific truths.  But in these days as we rapidly move to the culmination of the ages, the mysteries of science are rapidly unfolding.

We are discovering the spiritual laws of things unseen and the natural laws of the physical things we see, are more intertwined than originally thought. These mysteries which have been from the foundation of the earth are now being revealed to the Body in Christ, specifically to those who walk with a humble and contrite heart.

Eye has not Seen nor Ear Heard

In 1974, shortly after my conversion to Jesus Christ, I was baptized by water immersion. Having Scandinavian grandparent immigrants who strongly believed that infant baptism was the way to salvation, this was a huge statement.  For me, it was an act of obedience with the conviction that to leave my old way of life in Egypt — it was a Jordan River that needed to be crossed.

When I came out of the water the Spirit of Prophecy came upon the Pastor who quoted Isaiah 64:4.

“Since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that wait for him”

In I Corinthians 2:9, the Apostle Paul also made reference to Isaiah’s prophecy.

As a babe in Christ I thought the prophecy had more to do with material and spiritual blessings as a reward for obedience.  Now I consider the prophecy a ‘rhema’ word which spoke directly to my gifts and callings.  I now believe that scripture has more to do with the natural limitations of our ears and eyes when it comes to spiritual understanding of light and sound. The Lord promises those who love and wait on Him, that colors (light) and music (sound) will be directly prepared by His hand.

What an awesome promise of new creativity for musicians and artists committed to Christ.

Getting in Tune

The Piano is the granddaddy of all instruments consisting of 88 keys covering 7+ octaves which must all be tuned to each other to produce a clear sound.  In a regular piano, the low Bass notes consist of one string per key for about an octave, which changes to two strings per key for another octave or so, and three strings per key for the remaining octaves. The work of a Piano Tuner is to tune the strings within a note to be of the same pitch. A tuner must also tune each note to the same notes of the higher and lower octaves.

Over my career I have tuned countless pianos so my ear is trained to know when a key is out of tune. It amazes me when Music Companies spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce and market their international star’s latest record but fail to recognize that the piano used for that recording was out of tune.

It reminds of many Christian settings where individuals are out of tune with their fellow brothers and sisters and are more concerned with the “product” they are trying to market than the sound which is coming forth.

It is disturbing to be in a Christian setting where the people (notes) should be in tune within themselves and with one another but tension are being released so that one can actually feel the “vibes” being emanated.  Have you ever come out of a meeting and felt like a monkey has climbed onto your back? It’s quite  possible that you have been in the midst of individuals sowing discord among the brethren.

Instruction in Sound

The LORD gave Joshua specific instructions on how the Israelites were to capture the city of Jericho and all his direct orders involved the use of sound in battle (Joshua 6: 1-21).

Seven Priests blew Shofars, as thousands of human feet marched once around the city, without a word being spoken. This happened for six days while the people of Jericho watched and wondered. On the seventh day, they marched around the city seven times, all the while the seven trumpets were blowing. At the seventh time Joshua gave the order, “Shout, for the LORD has given you the city”.

Even though skeptics have questioned the accuracy of this account, if we recognize the power of Sound, we shouldn’t be surprised that Jericho’s wall fell down flat.  The marching sound of thousands of people alone would affect the ground and could loosen the wall’s stability.

Since low frequencies cause a physical response in your circulatory system and can literally stop your heart, the blowing Shofar and the marching would literally bring fear to the hearts of the inhabitants of Jericho.  Top it off with human voices expressing “Ruah”, the Hebrew word for shout which means “to split the ears with sound, as in blowing an alarm or crying out”, and God’s power is released.

In his book, “The Sound of Heaven, Symphony of Earth” musician Ray Hughes confirms this theory is a probability when he wrote:”

“A pair of 30 inch speakers connected to a tone generator can generate a note low enough to literally physically move a building off its foundation.”

He also states, “Scientists have experimented and found that by harnessing the energy of an oil well in New Mexico, that they could create an amplifier powerful enough to be heard in Italy”.

To achieve victory the tribes of Israel understood they needed to wait on the LORD and hear His voice before they went into battle.  When the Prophet Elijah heard the sound of rain, he knew the promise of God was coming.

Hearing the prophetic sound transmits

If a short-wave radio can receive communication from across the ocean, is it possible for a human to pick up that same information?   The prophet Isaiah spoke of supernatural hearing when he wrote;

“He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear To hear as the learned. The Lord God has opened My ear; and I was not rebellious, Nor did I turn away” (Is. 50:4b-5).

On July 6, 2004, while playing my piano and worshiping the LORD, I heard the cries of young children.  I discerned during my worship that this was coming from Australia.

I began to pace my living room and cry out, “Why are the children crying?” After some time the answer came, “Because they have no one to show them the Father’s Love”.

That answer disturbed me as I know there are some very good Australian Bible teachers.  Over the next few days, I prayed for those children and made contact with people in the Australian Christian community.  Since I didn’t have a teaching ministry to children, I wondered if the burden was for all Australian children or for a specific group.

A week later, my burden was uncovered with a news report that three children had spent six days on a remote island in the Torres Strait, north of Australia. Their parents and a younger sibling were presumed drowned at sea. Their father was a Badu Island Pastor.

When I had heard the children crying the week previous,  considering the time difference,  it occurred during the first few hours of being lost at sea.  No doubt they were crying and with the loss of their natural father, they had “no one to show them the Father’s love”.

Below are some excerpts of the full story that you can read here:  http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2004/s1153242.htm.

“13 July , 2004 –  Mark Colvin: In a remarkable tale of survival, three children have spent six days on a remote island after their family was swept away when their boat sank in Torres Strait.

The children have told rescuers that they swam quietly to avoid sharks and then opened coconuts with their teeth to stay alive.

Three other members of the family are still missing and a search is underway across the Torres Strait for the couple and their infant son.

Ian Townsend reports.

Ian Townsend: The six members of the family were on their way to Thursday Island for a birthday party. They’d taken their boat from Badu Island, where Naseli Nona was a local pastor. Aboard was his wife Lisa and their four children, two boys, 3 and 11 years old, and two girls, 10 and 15.

The boat developed engine problems, and as it was being fixed, it capsized. That was a week ago.

The parents and the baby boy are still missing, but the three eldest children are now recovering on Badu Island at the home of their aunt, Vicki Tamwoy.

Vicki Tamwoy: The three children that we have with us, Ellis, Bulla and Norita, were sort of told by their mum, swim for that rocky place over there so at least someone will survive. And Lisa, Haley, and Clarence remained together, sharing, you know, one life vest, and the children then remained on that rocky outcrop from Tuesday night ’til Friday morning.

Now they had no food, no water during that period of time. Bulla’s indicated that they might have had an oyster or two, but nothing else, certainly no water. On the Friday morning he said to the two girls we need to swim to this other island we can see, otherwise we will die.

So the three of them then took on something like a three kilometer swim to get to the island of Matu and there they remained from Friday until they were rescued by their uncle Frank Nona.”

This experience demonstrates that we only see and hear in part and that the prophetic is not always as it appears to be.

Initially I thought the message meant there was a lack of ministers to teach Biblical truths of the love of God. Instead it involved a very real situation about children who lost their natural father who was also their godly Pastor.  It demonstrated God’s great love for His children by allowing a person on the other side of the world to hear their cries coming from Australian waters.

Last Days Prophecy concerning the Arts

Although written more than 150 years ago, F. W. Kummacher (1796- 1868) in his book “Elijah The Tishbite” gave prophetic understanding of how in the last days, the beauty and glory of the LORD will permeate the world demonstrated through science and the arts.

“I refer you to that prophecy of Zechariah, which shall assuredly come to pass. ‘In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, Holiness unto the LORD: and the pots in the Lord’s house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah  shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts; and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein; and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts’ (Zechariah 14:20-21).

What a glorious prospect is here presented to us of the future condition of the church and of the world! The beauty and lustre of holiness shall then be spread over all we possess, and over all that surrounds us.  The Spirit of the Lord shall be universally diffused, and every object will partake of a Divine consecration.  The sciences will then be the handmaidens of religion, and their alpha and omega will be the glory of God in Christ.  The arts will return to their primary destination, and be again devoted to the service of the living God. ‘I the Lord, will hasten it, in its time.'”

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Read Myrna’s recent book:

Captivating Creative Craftsmen & Study Guide, is filled with inspirational stories behind Biblical artisans and is the latest book from our Open the Word contributor, Myrna Petersen. With references to the Bible, it begins with story telling and gives prophetic understanding of how in the last days, the beauty and glory of the LORD will permeate the world, demonstrated through science and the arts.

As we draw closer to the Creator of the universe, we’ll be inspired to create new works. Creativity, part of our inheritance, from the cave dwelling era to modern society is revealed through various artistic means. It is not just the job of a few artistic types but the expectant hope of every man, woman, and child in the universe.

As Vincent Van Gogh said, “If you hear a voice within you say, ‘You cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silent.”

For a sneak preview and/or place an order of paperback copies @ $10.00 CDN plus taxes & delivery, from our distributor.

Download E-pub for various e-book formats @ $3.99 US.

Myrna Petersen is a writer and musician based in Regina, Canada and owner of Ideation Entertainment. She loves to uncover obscure historical gems and present these stories in the language of the common man. Myrna is the author of five non-fiction books, a stage musical and several film scripts. Check here for some of her other writings.