PASTOR’S PERSPECTIVE: “Hark the Herald Angels Sing?”
By: Ron Woodrum
Singing is a vital part of the Christmas celebration. Who has not joined a Church group to go from house to house singing carols to all who will listen and join in the festive occasion? Many Churches celebrate the season with a choral Christmas Cantata. Brother David and Caleb blessed us recently with a concert of some of the most beautiful Christmas music, accompanied with beautiful song, lifted up to bring glory to our Virgin Born Savior! Some Churches even have singing Christmas tree choirs! This is just humanity joining the angelic tradition of celebrating the Savior’s birth with song, as they did the first Christmas night, Or did they? The Christmas hymns seem to say they did. We sing, in O Come All Ye Faithful-“Sing choirs of angels, sing in exultation!” In Hark the Herald Angels Sing-“Hark the herald angels sing, glory to the new born king!” It Came Upon a Midnight Clear-“It came upon a midnight clear, that glorious song of old. From angels bending near the earth, to touch their harps of gold!” Angels from the Realms of Glory-“Angels from the realms of glory, wing your flight to earth; ye who sing creation’s story, now proclaim the Messiah’s birth!” That settles it, doesn’t it?
But…recently I heard David Jeremiah tells a story of Pastor Andrew J. Banstra studying for a Christmas sermon called The First Christmas Carol tell of a startling discovery he made. As he prepared his message he discovered, from the original language of the New Testament, that it never says that “angels sing”! In Luke 2:13 it says they were “praising God” (aineo). But it says they did their praising, “saying” (lego), not singing, (Gk. humnos, psaltos, ados”). Dr. Jeremiah did his own study, and concluded with a quote from the great Southern Baptist Pastor/Scholar, Dr. W.A. Criswell, to resolve the question. The quote follows:
“Another thing which is astonishing to me is that angels never sing. Never! When I stumbled into that fact, it was an amazing discovery! I had already made up my mind, before I say these things, that I am going to keep referring to angels singing, even though it is not true. To do so is traditional. After all, did they not sing when Jesus was born? Always people have spoken about the angels singing when Jesus was born. ‘Glory to God in the highest and on earth…’you know the angels song. So I turned to Luke 2:13 and read, ‘ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host SAYING Glory to God in the highest’. So it was in the book of Revelation too. ‘And there was a great host of angels SAYING with a loud voice’. Never in the Bible do angels sing. Never! They always SAY. They are in a doxology, in a chorus, they are in a recitative, they are all together, SAYING, but never in the Bible do the angels sing!
That was an astonishing discovery to me. So I began reading, studying, probing and trying to find out why angels do not sing, and this is the best reason that I can find. Always the redeemed sing. God’s blood-washed sing. God’s children sing. But angels do not sing. Here is my conclusion: Music is made up of major and minor chords. The minor chords speak of wretchedness, death and sorrow of this fallen creation. Most of nature moans and groans in a plaintive minor key. The sound of the wind through the forest, the sound of the storm, the sound of the wind around the house, is always in a minor key. It wails…Even the nightingales’ song, the sweetest song of the birds, is the saddest. All this reflects the wretchedness, the despair, the hurt, the agony, the travail of this fallen creation. But an angel knows nothing of this. The major key and major chords are chords of triumph and victory. Surely God has taken us out of the miry clay. He has taken us out of the horrible pit. He has set our feet on the solid rock and put a new song in our souls and new praises on our lips. The angels know nothing of this! An angel has never been redeemed. An angel has never been saved…they see it, they watch it, but they know nothing about it (experientially)…it takes a saved soul to sing!” (Expository Sermons on Revelation Volume III, p. 82-83)
I do not know if that is totally true, that angels do not sing at all. I usually agree with most everything that Dr. Criswell avows! Theologians will debate this question for a long time. It may not really matter. If kind of smacks of the great debate during the Middle Ages, when theologians argued over “how many angels could dance on the head of a pin!” But I do know that they do not sing the song of redemption that flows from a redeemed and forgiven heart. The Epistle of I Peter, our Book for January Bible Study, 2018, tells of how Angels long to look into our experience of Salvation. They rejoice when one soul repents and has their name written forever in the Lamb’s Book of Life. They celebrate God’s Great Grace that comes to unworthy sinners as a freed gift. They are filled with wonder over such Grace. But they do not know what that is like-to be forgiven sinner, saved by grace. We can sign about being saved fully, finally, and forever! They hear our song, but cannot sing along, for they would be trafficking in inexperienced truth! Only you and I can do that. What better time to do it than during the season that celebrates the inauguration of the entire saving life of Christ? Anyone for caroling? Let the Savior and all the heavenly host hear voices of gratitude for the precious gift of Christmas. Paul says in I Corinthians 9:6 “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable Gift!” Wow! That’s reason enough to SING! Sorry Angels!