Valentines Defilement

Some things to consider before you celebrate, or are propelled into the habit of, or fall for the peer-pressure, or undergo the commercialized assault upon mankind to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

Has anyone ever stopped to consider how this man-made celebration of the life of a mere human being looks and feels to YHVH, the God and creator of the universe? Valentine would have been a priest performing a function within the roles of job description. He was not even an immortal, angel or heavenly messenger.

Valentine’s Day, also known as Saint Valentine’s Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, which began as a Catholic liturgical celebration. This also is an official feast day in the Anglican Communion of a saint named Valentinus. Several martyrdom stories were invented for Saint Valentine of Rome; who was reported to be imprisoned for performing weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry and for ministering to Christians, who were persecuted under the Roman Empire.

The calendar of ‘saints’ is a traditional Catholic method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more ‘saints’ and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said ‘saint’. The word “feast” in this context does not mean “a large meal, typically a celebratory one”, but instead “an annual religious celebration, a day dedicated to a particular saint”. Feast days are ranked in accordance with their importance.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia “The ranking of feast days of saints and of Catholic mysteries such as the Ascension of the Lord, which had grown from an original division between doubles and simples developed into a more complicated hierarchy of Simple, Semi Double, and Double, with feast days of the Double Rite further divided into Double of the I Class, Double of the II Class, Greater Double or Major Double, and Double, in order of descending rank. On ferias and many feast days of simple rank, the celebrant was permitted to substitute a Mass of his own choice such as a votive Mass, or a Mass for the dead. On a day to which no obligatory celebration is assigned, the Mass may be of any saint mentioned in the Roman Martyrology for that day.”

Am I the only one completely confused? And what the blue blazes is ‘martyrology’?

“The ‘Roman Martyrology’ (Latin: Martyrologium Romanum) is the official martyrology of the Catholic Church. Its use is obligatory in matters regarding the Roman Rite liturgy, but dioceses, countries and religious institutes may add to it duly approved appendices. It provides an extensive but not exhaustive list of the saints recognized by the Church.” ~ Martyrologium Romanum, Praenotanda, 27–29

In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII decreed a revision of the Julian calendar, creating a new system, now called, after him, the Gregorian calendar. The Roman Martyrology was first published in 1583. A second edition was published in the same year. The third edition, in 1584, was made obligatory wherever the Roman Rite was in use.

The book of Daniel Chapter 7 verse 25 is part of the description of the Anti-Christ: “And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.”

What did God tell us to celebrate? The times and seasons of which YHVH provided grace and mercy to the people of his creation.

The Appointed Festivals – Leviticus 23

The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed festivals, the appointed festivals of the Lord, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.

The Sabbath

“‘There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of Sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the Lord.

The Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread

“‘These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times: The Lord’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. On the fifteenth day of that month the Lord’s Festival of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast. On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. For seven days present a food offering to the Lord. And on the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.’”

Offering the Firstfruits

The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb a year old without defect, together with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oil—a food offering presented to the Lord, a pleasing aroma—and its drink offering of a quarter of a hin of wine. You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain, until the very day you bring this offering to your God. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.

The Festival of Weeks

“‘From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord. From wherever you live, bring two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of firstfruits to the Lord. Present with this bread seven male lambs, each a year old and without defect, one young bull and two rams. They will be a burnt offering to the Lord, together with their grain offerings and drink offerings—a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. Then sacrifice one male goat for a sin offering and two lambs, each a year old, for a fellowship offering. The priest is to wave the two lambs before the Lord as a wave offering, together with the bread of the firstfruits. They are a sacred offering to the Lord for the priest. On that same day you are to proclaim a sacred assembly and do no regular work. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.

“‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the Lord your God.’”

The Festival of Trumpets

The Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of Sabbath rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts. Do no regular work, but present a food offering to the Lord.’”

The Day of Atonement

The Lord said to Moses, “The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present a food offering to the Lord. Do not do any work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the Lord your God. Those who do not deny themselves on that day must be cut off from their people. I will destroy from among their people anyone who does any work on that day. You shall do no work at all. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live. It is a day of Sabbath rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your Sabbath.”

The Festival of Tabernacles

The Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Lord’s Festival of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days. The first day is a sacred assembly; do no regular work. For seven days present food offerings to the Lord, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and present a food offering to the Lord. It is the closing special assembly; do no regular work.

“These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies for bringing food offerings to the Lord—the burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings required for each day. These offerings are in addition to those for the Lord’s Sabbaths and in addition to your gifts and whatever you have vowed and all the freewill offerings you give to the Lord.”

“‘So beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival to the Lord for seven days; the first day is a day of Sabbath rest, and the eighth day also is a day of Sabbath rest. On the first day you are to take branches from luxuriant trees—from palms, willows and other leafy trees—and rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. Celebrate this as a festival to the Lord for seven days each year. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come; celebrate it in the seventh month. Live in temporary shelters for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in such shelters so your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in temporary shelters when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’”

So Moses announced to the Israelites the appointed festivals of the Lord.

Nowhere in the Bible does it speak to the celebration of the accomplishments of men to be held. In fact God warns us in several places to avoid these temptation at all costs as it takes the focus off of His mercy and grace. Deuteronomy 18:9 “When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there.” Yet this is exactly what the early believers did despite the warnings of God. As the Judean converts dispersed throughout the known world when the temple was destroyed in 70A.D., they did not hold themselves to the teachings of God.

In the ancient Athenian calendar the period between mid-January and mid-February was the month of Gamelan, dedicated to the sacred marriage of Zeus and Hera likewise in Ancient Rome, Lupercalia, observed February 13–15, was an archaic rite connected to fertility. Lupercalia was a festival local to the city of Rome.

The assimilation to these cultures and to their customs are a combination of habit, peer-pressure and commercialized assault upon mankind to be “of the world” when God tells us specifically to NOT be of the world! As the Roman Church gained power and influence over the world and the governing of mankind these habits became ingrained into the societal and religious calendars.

The unfortunate part is that people today are oblivious to the fact they are deeply involved in necromancy. Necromancy is the practice of talking to, praying to, or showing honor towards the spirits of dead people. Likewise the conjuration of the spirits of the dead for purposes of magically revealing the future or influencing the course of events. What does God say about this practice?

Deuteronomy 18:10-13 “Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the Lord your God.”

If you claim the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as your sovereign Lord and Savior would it not make more sense to turn away from the world and its practices? The word repent means: “to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one’s life, to change one’s mind.”

Displaying love to your spouse, friends, or to God Almighty is not something to be purchased with cards or candy once a year, it is a daily sacrifice of attention, care and concern. We need a daily relationship with God through his Holy Word to know Him better; similarly, an interactive relationship with our loved ones here on earth, grows our understanding and connectivity to those people.