MOTTO.
“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”
I. Thess. v. 21.
This means to test or try all things, consider their claim, and determine which are good. Hold that fast.
Exod. xv. 20, we find an account of dancing: “And Miriam the prophetess, and the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.” Several things are to be noticed in this dancing. 1. It was in daylight. 2. The women alone danced. 3. It was a religious exercise, in rejoicing over their wonderful deliverance from Egyptian bondage and the pursuit of their enemies, and to the praise and honor of God. They were religious people, praising and honoring God.
Exod. xxxii. 19, we have an account of dancing: “And it came to pass as soon as he” (Moses) “came nigh to the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing, and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.” We are not informed who danced in this instance, but the whole procedure was idolatrous. The shouting and dancing were in devotion to the molten calf.
Judges xi. 34: “And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came to meet him, with timbrels and with dances, and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter.” 1. This dancing was in daylight. 2. One female danced alone. 3. She simply danced in joy to meet her father, and her dance was soon followed with a terrible calamity.
Judges xxi. 19–21: “Then they said, Behold, there is a feast of the Lord in Shiloh, yearly, in a place which is on the north side of Beth-el, on the east side of the highway, that goeth up from Beth-el to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah. Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards; and see, and behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances, then come you out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.” This dancing was in daylight. The females alone danced. We are not told what the object of the dancing was.
I. Sam. xviii. 6: “And it came to pass, as they came, when David was returning from the slaughter of the Philistines, that the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of music.” 1. This dancing was in daylight. 2. The women alone danced. 3. It was rejoicing in view of a special favor of God.
I. Sam. xxx. 16: “And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating, and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah. And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day; and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, who rode upon camels, and fled.” In this case the dancing was with eating and drinking, and for amusement. It was revelling. They were not religious people, but the wicked, and the calamity soon came upon them.