Music has always been central to worship. Bible research by Henry Harrison has turned up at least 15 instruments used by the Israelites to praise God.

 

When the Israelites successfully crossed the Red Sea, the tribes paused to thank the Lord in song and dance. Miriam, Aaron’s sister, is recorded in the Bible as taking a tambourine and dancing as she and the women she led sang, “Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.” Exodus 15:21

 

The mention of the tambourine was noted by Harrison, a member of Jackson, TN’s First United Methodist Church and a long time Sunday school teacher. His study of the Bible also led him to verses that recorded the use of the shofar, lute, tabret, sistrum, castanet, timbrel (tambourine), finger cymbal, cymbals, bells, trigon (triangle), lyre (played by David), silver herald trumpets, pipes, double pipes and gongs.

 

Harrison, who majored in Bible and Speech at Ouachita Baptist University, was impressed by the diversity of the instruments. He decided to collect as many of them as he could and make them available for display and tours.

 

“I fear there has been a loss of interest in biblical research and teaching of the Bible,” Harrison said, explaining why he was undertaking the difficult task. “I felt this collection could possibly rekindle interest in research and study.”

 

He also hoped the collection would inspire both clergy and laity to elevated heights of moral, ethical and biblical excellence.

 

“For example,” he said, “the silver trumpets were sounded to create excitement and let people know it was time to go to church. The Israelites sounded two silver trumpets as the call to Tabernacle.”

 

Harrison’s research confirmed that the only instrument still in use in modern day synagogues is the Shofar–a ram’s horn that’s sounded on Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah.

 

“But the Jews used to employ a whole orchestra until the Temple was destroyed in the First Century BC,” he said.

 

Searching for the instruments led Harrison far afield. He ordered his Sistrum from a church in Ethiopia, his Lyre from Israel. The Shofar was donated to Harrison’s wife Margaret, and the gong is on loan from Lambuth University.

 

“We’ve had several tours of the collection here at the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in Jackson,” Harrison said. “But I’m moving it to Jackson First Church right away.” He plans to continue the tours there.

 

Dr. Lee Weimer, Associate Professor of Music at Lambuth University, has agreed to lead some of the tours. “I do some talks on the history of Bible instruments,” Weimer said, “from ancient Greece to the 17th century.” He said most of his tours to date have been for home-schooled kids and their parents.

 

“Music is mentioned in the Bible 150 times,” he continued, “with the trumpet being the big winner at 75 times!”

 

Interestingly, Weimer said the groupings of instruments in the ancient world were quite different from the way they’re grouped today. “They were grouped by the amount of noise they made,” he said. “Loud were used outside, soft, like the lyre, inside.”

 

For more information about biblical instruments and the way they were used, call Jackson First and arrange a tour: 731-422-4002.