Then the prophet Miriam, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand. All the women followed her playing tambourines and dancing.
—Exodus 15:20 (CEB)
“Lord of the Dance” is a hymn with words written by English songwriter Sydney Carter in 1963. It follows the idea of a traditional English carol, “Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day” which tells the gospel story in the first person voice of Jesus of Nazareth with the device of portraying Jesus’ life and mission as a dance.”
🎼I danced in the morning when the world was begun,
And I danced in the moon and the stars and the sun,
And I came down from heaven and I danced on the earth:
At Bethlehem I had my birth.
Dance, then, wherever you may be,
I am the Lord of the dance, said he,
And I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be,
And I’ll lead you all in the dance, said he.
I danced for the scribe and the Pharisee,
But they would not dance and they wouldn’t follow me;
I danced for the fishermen, for James and John;
They came with me and the dance went on:
Dance, then, wherever you may be,
I am the Lord of the dance, said he,
And I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be,
And I’ll lead you all in the dance, said he.
I danced on the Sabbath and I cured the lame:
The holy people said it was a shame.
They whipped and they stripped and they hung me on high,
And they left me there on a cross to die:
Dance, then, wherever you may be,
I am the Lord of the dance, said he,
And I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be,
And I’ll lead you all in the dance, said he.
I danced on a Friday when the sky turned black;
It’s hard to dance with the devil on your back.
They buried my body and they thought I’d gone;
But I am the dance, and I still go on:
Dance, then, wherever you may be,
I am the Lord of the dance, said he,
And I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be,
And I’ll lead you all in the dance, said he.
They cut me down and I leapt up high;
I am the life that’ll never, never die.
I’ll live in you if you’ll live in me:
I am the Lord of the dance, said he.
Dance, then, wherever you may be,
I am the Lord of the dance, said he,
And I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be,
And I’ll lead you all in the dance, said he.🎼
Do you feel so close to Jesus at times that you just have to dance?
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“All the women followed her playing tambourines and dancing.”
This and the words of the blog reminded me of the dance instructions from one of Sara’s retreat books, “The Dance of Healing, “The Ultra-Healing Spirit” comes from within.”
In order to join in this dance, we learned we have to bow to and follow our Leader, “Christ-in-us, our Hope of Glory”. This was Step 1.
“Do you feel so close to Jesus at times that you just have to dance?”
Sara’s book tells us that all the subsequent steps that have to be learned, in order to be able to dance, require us to “surrender to all the new steps you will teach us”.
The women from Exodus 15:20 could not have joined in the dance with Miriam unless they made the choice to “surrender their wills” and “followed her.”
“Dance, then, wherever you may be,
I am the Lord of the dance, said he,
And I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be,
And I’ll lead you all in the dance, said he.”
This looks like in order to dance, as instructed from this verse of the song, we need to follow the Lord’s lead. That sure takes some surrender and bowing, which is not easy for my “old man”. So, in order for me to “feel close to Jesus at times”, I have to surrender and follow his steps close. This is a learning process that I have failed at many times…it takes a lot of practice; and as Sara says on pg 7 of her book, “Some of us need lots of practice to perfect our dance.” But our “partner” is there to assist as we get up and choose to follow His steps.
Page 20 in “The Dance of Healing” refers to this hymn above and says, “I hope we have come to the place that we can see the Harvest that is in our soul. For He is the Lord of the Harvest. (Matt 9:38.) I’ll live in you, if you’ll live in me; I am the Lord of the Heart, said He…And I’ll lead you all wherever you may be, and I’ll lead you in the dance, said He.”
Jesus Testifies about John recorded Matthew 11:
…16) To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others: 17‘ We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ 18) For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’…
I read this thinking in a teaching which I thought might merit a way of thinking about the above scripture.
“Jesus mentioned that he had played both a happy tune and a sad song and they didn’t respond to either, there could be an additional message here. He could have been saying, you have rejected John the Baptist’s (sad or stern) message and you have rejected my offer of salvation. We have come at you from every angle, yet you are not responding (a stiff-necked generation).”
I often find myself fighting with a scripture rather than enjoying a dance with the Lord of the dance. Every so often I get a glimpse of “Dancing with the Stars” and I think a clumsy one like that will never dance. Hum, wrong am I when they join with the Star for lessons and practice and then take the spotlight on camera I jump with joy!
Debi has given us a little lesson above so we can join hands with our partner and take the spotlight and become a star. WOW just think on dancing with Jesus❤️🔥 my heart is aflame with love! How about you?
“A stiff-necked generation” should get everyone’s attention! Salvation is free to all that will accept Jesus! He paid the price for ALL mankind. 🙏🙏🙏✝️
It sounds from Sara’s teaching that she read above, ““Jesus mentioned that he had played both a happy tune and a sad song and they didn’t respond to either, “, etc…that God gave plenty of choices,… “We have come at you from every angle”.
I thought it timely that also on pg 20 of Sara’s book, chapter titled, “The Harvest – Listening to the Word”, was a picture of a skeleton dancing. Her words beside the picture said, “Choose your partner and prepare to Dance! Life or Death, Fruit or Poisons. What words are you speaking to yourself that poisons your soul? What words are you not speaking to yourself that keeps your fruit from yielding full growth? Oops! Remember, you are listening to the Word!”
I wanted to share the footnotes for Exodus 15:20. (NIV) “ Miriam was called a prophet not only because she received revelations from God (Micah 6:4) but also for her musical skill. Prophecy and music were often closely related in the Bible (1 Samuel 10:5; 1 Chronicles 25:1).”