There is a fascinating aspect of music in respect to God.

In 2 Timothy 3:16–17 it says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” This means that from the beginning it was God-breathed; that includes Genesis 1:1. An interesting theme that runs through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation is the number seven. It’s the number of perfection, and the Bible indicates that the number seven is God’s number. This theme that runs through is God’s signature.

• In Genesis we have Creation which was seven days – six days of creating and on the seventh day God rested.
• There is Enoch who was taken to God – he was the seventh generation from Adam.
• Noah was given the rainbow as a sign from God – it has seven colours.
• Pharaoh’s dream, as recorded in Genesis, consisted of seven fat cows and seven thin cows.
• In Exodus, God called Moses on Mount Sinai on the seventh day.
• The Sabbath, the seventh day, was instituted and made holy to the Lord.
• The ordination of Aaron, as recorded in Leviticus, took seven days.
• They sprinkled oil seven times in the anointing of the tabernacle.
• The seventh year became the Sabbatical year, a rest to the Lord.
• The Jubilee year was made up of seven Sabbaths of years, then the Jubilee year.
• In Deuteronomy it is recorded that debts were cancelled every seventh year.
• In Joshua, they marched around the walls of Jericho for six days. On the seventh day, seven priests had trumpet horns and they marched seven times around the city.
• In Kings, Elijah prayed for rain, and the seventh time he prayed a cloud appeared.
• Elisha raised a dead boy and the boy sneezed seven times.
• Naaman had leprosy and was told to go and wash seven times. At the seventh washing he was healed.
• In the book of Job, God’s command for a sacrifice was seven bulls and seven rams.
• In the book of Daniel, God in judgement consigned Nebuchadnezzar to living like a beast of the field for seven years.
• Gabriel’s prophecy to Daniel constituted seventy sevens.
• In the book of Matthew, Jesus declared seven woes.
• John’s gospel strongly emphasises Jesus’ deity and points to Jesus in the number seven:
  • seven signs or works done,
  • seven “I AM” statements made and
  • seven witnesses calling Jesus the Son of God.
• And in Revelation, there are seven churches, seven seals, seven trumpets, seven plagues and the period of tribulation and great trouble is seven years.

There are a myriad more instances in which the number seven comes up within Scripture, but these are some of the more commonly known ones that sketch an outline of the pattern that runs throughout.

Who, then, created music?

Interestingly, music is no different. Music has seven notes, and all scales are divided into seven, with the major scales of the same letter equalling seven sharps or flats together. For example, the key signature of C major has no flats and no sharps, but the key signature of C-flat major has seven flats. The key signature of E major has four sharps, while the key signature of E-flat major has three flats, thus always equalling seven in total.

Key signature (sharps plus flats always equal 7)

• C major – 0 sharps
• Cb major – 7 flats

 

• G major – 1 sharp
• Gb major – 6 flats

 

• D major – 2 sharps
• Db major – 5 flats

 

• A major – 3 sharps
• Ab major – 4 flats

 

• E major – 4 sharps
• Eb major – 3 flats

 

• B major – 5 sharps
• Bb major – 2 flats

 

• F# major – 6 sharps
• F major – 1 flat

 

• C# major – 7 sharps

 

 

If you did not know the above already, I hope it has been insightful for you. What it means is that no matter who creates music pieces or who plays the music pieces, they are always created or played within a structure or form that has been created by God Himself. It makes no difference if the person acknowledges God or not, is intending to honour God or not, praises God or blasphemes Him with their works, they still have to use a structure that points back to His sovereignty as Creator and God. God is a God of order, and creation operates in great order. If anything happens outside of this order it creates chaos. Music within its structure is also in great order and harmonious. Play outside of it and you create chaos and it sounds terrible. It is easily recognisable – you cannot defy or deny God’s created structure. The spiritual side of things is no different!

Judson McCawl