Amos 5:21, “I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.”
“Honey, if you could see the color of my winter underwear you’d backslide.” Stuart Hamblin speaking to a woman during one of his concerts who declared that his red tie had caused her to miss a blessing.
Stuart Hamblin was a famous Hollywood cowboy in the who wrote many of the songs for the Singing Cowboys such as Roy Rogers and Gene Autry during the forties and fifties. He was accepted Jesus as his Savior during a Billy Graham crusade and began writing sacred music, but because of his ties with Hollywood many of his sacred songs such as It is No Secret, This Old House, and Until Then crossed over into the pop charts and were made famous by such secular artist as Jo Stafford, Jim Reeves and even Elvis Presley. Stuart Hamblin was considered a real radical by many Christians in that day for bringing secular sounding music into the church. Because he was a cowboy he did not wear the traditional suit and tie to church which resulted in much criticism from the brethren. Some Christians found they were unable to worship in church when Stuart Hamblin would walk in with his cowboy boots and red cowboy tie. Such outfits were not conducive to good worship, it was a distraction to many.
We look upon such things today as absolute foolishness, such notions that we must wear our best dress up clothes, and sing only slow boring hymns belong to an unenlightened time in our Church culture. Yet, even though we go to church dressed casually today and worship God to music which would rival any rock concert, we are still just as smug as the Christians over half a century ago. Some will still sit back and declare that the pastor wearing blue jeans during worship has caused them to miss a blessing or that they cannot worship God with the loud music or with the music not being loud enough. We so closely tie music into our worship that we actually believe that without music, particularly worshipful music, we cannot worship God. Everyday thousands of dollars are spent in the purchase downloading music all with the promise that such anointed music will usher in the presence of God.
We are so careful to protect the anointing. You know, “Dog gone it Charlie, did ya’ have to sing so loud and off key, you just totally destroy the anointing.” Yes, we are very careful to create the proper atmosphere for worship. We dim the lights, play the proper music (loud or soft, fast or slow) to get the Spirit going. It is almost like we have to prime the pump and pump the Spirit up like a basketball. If we do not feel the Spirit of God, we blame the music, we blame the way people dress, we blame the bright lights, we blame the terrible atmosphere, we blame everyone and everything but ourselves as the cause for not experiencing the presence of God. But in the words of Shakespeare in his play Julius Caesar, Act I, Scene 2, “The fault dear Brutus is not in our stars but in ourselves.’
Israel would periodically call a solemn assembly. A solemn assembly would be called when there was a need to hear very clearly from God. In the Hebrew this is called an ‘atsarah or a day of holding back. Much care was taken into the preparation for this assembly. This assembly would be preceded by a fast (I don’t mean fast music, but a refraining from eating), people would dress appropriately, they would come together and pray, there would be worshipful music from the temple choir and musical instruments, it would take place in beautiful surroundings. It would not be unlike many of our worship services today except for one other thing that I have not found done in any Protestant churches during worship and that would be the burning of oils or inscense. I have found this done in some Catholic masses where in the middle of the service I could smell a sweet aroma.
The burning of essential oils or inscense, often a blend of oils into frankincense and myrrh, would be diffused or burnt during the ‘atsarah or solemn assemblies. This is why God says that I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Scientist have shown that the fragrance of frankincense and myrrh produces a tranquil effect on people, it has a peaceful calming effect. The burning of oils or inscense was just as important to worship for the ancient Hebrews as music is to our modern worship. We hire full time music directors who spend their time rehearsing and preparing music for worship. The ancient Hebrew has Levitical priest who spent full time distilling and blending oils to be burned or diffused for worship.
Of course today, we do not burn oils or create fragrances because that just strikes too much of paganism and/or New Age which uses the burning of incense to put them into a meditative mood. But do we not as Evangelical Christians use music for the same purpose, to put us in a meditative and/or worshipful mood? Actually, just as we use music to create a meditative or worshipful mood, the Hebrew used their fragrances to create the same thing. This is why God says he will not smell in your solemn assemblies.
Most out modern translations render the word ‘aricha (smell) as a pungent or disgusting odor. Yet ‘aricha comes from the root word ruch which is the same word used for the Holy Spirit. Ruch is often rendered as wind, spirit or a pleasant fragrance. In proper context it would appear that God is referring to the corner stone of Hebrew worship, the burning of fragrances. He is saying that he will not smell their fragrances because of their insincerity in worship. To put it into proper understanding of our modern worship with music as the cornerstone of our worship, God would be saying, “I will not listen to your music because of your insincerity.” Just as music creates that euphoric, joyful feeling that we interpret as the presence of God, the fragrances created much the same feeling in the ancient Hebrews during worship and they interpreted that as the presence of God. They felt that burning the fragrances would summon the presence of God just as many feel good, worship music is thought summon the presence of God. Come on, is God some bird of prey that we try to capture with our music as He flies over. Does he say: “Oh golly, what pretty music and look at everyone with lifted hands, why I must descend and bless them.” Amos is making it very clear that it is not the fragrances or the music in our case that summons the presence of God it is the attitude of the heart. The fragrances as the music only helps to alleviate the pressures of the day, the cares of the world, to relax the physical body, relieve the troubled mind so you can enter into true worship.
The message of Amos is that true worship comes from a heart filled with repentance and expression of love toward God, that is what brings the presence of God. Music or fragrances do not summon God, God is already there, living inside of us. The music and fragrances are for us to prepare us to meet God and prepare us for worship. Worship does not begin with the first beat of the drum or the lighting of the first candle, it begins after much time of personal preparation and cleansing.
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