Dirty Dancing in the Bible: Take 5

And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.” 

 But he said: 

“It is not the noise of the shout of victory, 

Nor the noise of the cry of defeat, 

But the sound of singing I hear.” 

So it was, as soon as he came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing. So Moses’ anger became hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. (Exodus 32:17-19)

Scene from "Dirty Dancing". Source: IMDb.com

We continue with our Music in the Bible series with a scene from Exodus filled with passion, lust and anger--all the stuff that makes the Old Testament a dicey read but very realistic as it portrays God's people being unfaithful repeatedly despite all He has done for them.

The Israelites have just been delivered from slavery in Egypt and Yahweh miraculously led them through the Red Sea to escape Pharoah's pursuing army. When the troops tried to follow, the waters closed in on them and they all perished. In a response of overwhelming joy and gratitude, Moses the Maestro led them in a song of joy, backed up by Miriam's tambourine band with added vocals and chorus. Soon after, they made their way to Mt. Sinai where the Lord gave Moses the Ten Commandments and the people were treated to an awesome display of God's power complete with an angel horn section that shook the foundations of the earth. Yet despite all of this, the fickle crowd lost patience and started their own tailgate party and made a golden calf to worship and began to dance to their own music instead of God's. 

If I remember correctly, the poetess Emily Dickinson once said that "it is more fun to play with each other than with God" or something to that effect, explaining why humans are constantly turning their attention away from the Creator and focusing more on the creature. The Apostle Paul also bemoans this in the Epistle to the Romans, chapter one, when he writes: 

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Claiming to be wise, they became fools,  and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,  because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

So in summary, we will see many examples of dancing in the Bible that glorifies God, so moving your booty to music is not automatically sinful but the motive behind doing so just might be!

Chris Tomlin and God's Great Dance Floor