WHEN IS SILENCE PROHIBITIVE?

BEN F. VICK, JR.

 One of the Restoration slogans is "We speak where the Bible speaks and are silent where the Bible is silent."  We do not have any problem understanding that when the Lord speaks through his word, we know we have authorization for a particular teaching or practice. However, the issue is that some have a problem in respecting the silence of the Scripture. The question is raised:  When is the silence of the Scripture prohibitive, and when is it permissive?

When the Lord has given a specific command, authorization is given to carry out that command.  One cannot go beyond that command and be right with God. 

The Lord commanded Noah to make an ark of gopher wood (Gen. 6:14).  If Noah had used any other kind of wood or used another type of wood in conjunction with the gopher wood, he would not have been obeying God. But God did not say:  Do not use pine, oak, elm, ash, cedar, etc. Because God said what to use that eliminated all others. In this case, the silence was prohibitive.

Leviticus 10:1-2 reads:  “And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.” Why were Nadab and Abihu slain by God? They "offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not." God had instructed them as to the exact location of the fire they were to use.  They disobeyed. They learned that in that case silence was prohibitive. 

God had instructed Israel that the Levites were to carry the tabernacle and all that pertained to it.  In particular, the Kohathites were charged with carrying the tabernacle's furniture (Num. 3:31). They were prohibited from even touching “any holy thing, lest they die.” (Num. 4:15).  Fast forward four hundred years or so.  David was king of Israel.  He wanted the ark of the covenant moved out of the house of Abinadab.  So, it was loaded on a cart drawn by oxen.  First mistake.  When the oxen stumbled at Nachon’s threshing floor, Uzzah, one of the sons of Abinadab, reached out to steady the ark with his hand.  Second mistake.  The Lord's anger was kindled when he touched it, and Uzzah fell dead (1 Sam. 6:1-11). I do not know if Abinadab was a Kohathite or not, but the ark was not to be touched.  Someone might say:  Well, under the circumstances, God did not specifically tell Uzzah not to touch it. No, He did not, but he said how it was to be carried and that the Kohathites were not to touch it.  Uzzah learned the hard way that, in some cases, silence is prohibitive.

When God has not spoken, it is presumptuous for man to speak or act.  David desired to build the temple.  Nathan, the prophet, told him to go and do all that was in his heart.  However, God sent Nathan back to David to say to him:  “Thus saith the Lord, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in? Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle. In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar?” (2 Sam. 7:5-7.)   Up to this point, God had not authorized anyone to build him a house of cedar.  God's silence was prohibitive.

  In arguing that Jesus is our high priest after the order of Melchizedek, not after the old Levitical system, the writer of Hebrews says, “For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law. For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.” (Heb. 7:12–14.) In, this case, the silence of the Scripture is prohibitive. 

Azariah/Uzziah, King of Judah, learned the hard way when he got “too big for his britches” and attempted to enter the temple to burn incense upon the altar of incense. Azariah, the priest along with eighty other priests, withstood him, saying, “It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the Lord, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for thine honour from the Lord God.” (2 Chron. 26:18.) God struck him with leprosy and remained a leper till the day of his death.

In the New Testament, the Lord said, "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;” (Eph. 5:18–19.) The parallel passage reads, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” (Col. 3:16.) These verses authorize singing.  This singing is reciprocal and mutual. It is absurd to say this is not congregational.  Though not limited to congregational singing, it certainly includes it.  Paul was writing to the churches of Ephesus and Colosse. How would those churches carry these commands out? 

The fact that God said "sing" in worship to Him excludes playing on a mechanical instrument, clapping, or humming. A mechanical instrument cannot teach; it may soothe one's ears, but it does not teach nor admonish.  Neither does humming or clapping.  There is just as much authority for humming and clapping in worshiping God as playing a piano, organ, guitar, etc.