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The Stories Behind the Songs on Our Eighth Single
Fri., Jun. 4. 2021 7:53pm EDT
J. Jackson, lead singer and lyricist for ApologetiX here again.
Here are the stories behind the songs on our eighth single:
GREAT WHITE LIE
Let me just start out by saying that if I were in a vampire parody band, I would have written this parody as a lament: "Stake My Bride."
As I mentioned in our clues last week, it's puzzling why man of great faith like Abraham didn't tell the truth about Sarah to Pharaoh in Egypt (Genesis 12) and King Abimelech in Gerar (20). Yes, she was his sister (same father, different mother), but she was also his wife.
His son, Isaac, later did the same thing to King Abimelech with his wife, Rebekah (Genesis 26). In case you're wondering how Abimelech could get fooled twice, there's good reason to believe it was a different guy.
The New Geneva Study Bible says the name Abimelech means "my father is king" or "father of a king" and may have been a royal title. After all, there were multiple rulers of Egypt named Pharaoh, too. It also says the Abimelech whom Abraham dealt with was probably the father or grandfather of the Abimelech whom Isaac dealt with.
I can see why they'd say that: Abraham met Abimelech before Isaac was born, Isaac didn't marry Rebekah until he was 40, and she didn't have their kids until he was 60, but the account of Isaac deceiving Abimelech doesn't happen until after Esau is old enough to sell Jacob his birthright. Isaac.
Anyway, Isaac wasn't even stretching the truth; Rebekah was his second cousin, not his sister. While writing this parody, it hit me how neither patriarch was willing to suffer for the sake of his bride, but their descendant, Jesus, was willing to suffer for the sake of His bride, the church.
SPOKEN THINGS
This prayerful parody for parents is a companion piece to "Train Them Up Before They Grow-Grow," although I never saw that coming when I set out to spoof "Broken Wings."
I got the title for "Spoken Things" a week or two before anything else, but when the words finally started coming, they arrived almost all at once. Ironically, that was on May 7, 2021, on a morning when I was driving to visit my mom for Mother's Day weekend.
As soon as I got the line, "Babies don't understand," I thought, "Oh, man, I never expected to go in that direction." But, as a father of five, I can assure you the lyrics are absolutely heartfelt. I wrote most of them that day and had everything finished by early the next afternoon.
In this song, "spoken things" has two meanings: the things I've spoken to God in prayer and the things I've spoken to my kids about Him. In both cases, I'm asking God to take those words and cause them to bear good fruit in my children.
As I've told them at various times, my deepest desire is that they will love and serve the Lord. As long as they do that, I'll be happy, and I know they'll be happy, too (Matthew 6:33).
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