Feast Of Valentine, Is It OK To Celebrate?
Andre Widodo
© Talmid HaMashiach
Shalom,
Can TALMIDIM (DISCIPLES) celebrate a feast of Valentine on 14th February? Without knowing what the feast of Valentine exactly is, many TALMIDIM easily answer, "yes", why not? Without knowing its origin, many TALMIDIM celebrate this feast of Valentine.
Before we celebrate a feast, as TALMIDIM, we must firstly check :
Why should we know these 3 things first? Because our Lord, Yeshua teach us to observe all things, whatever Yeshua had commanded to us. This is His Great Commission before He ascended to Heaven.
Mat 28:20 KJV
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Are you willing to obey His Great Commission? I am sure you are.
Have Lord Yeshua ever observed the feast of Valentine? No! Never! If Lord Yeshua never observed the feast of Valentine, then why are observing the feast of Valentine now? Are we His disciples or not?
Have Lord Yeshua observed the feast of Passover? Yes!
Mat 26:18 KJV
And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples.
Have Lord Yeshua observed the feast of Unleavened Bread? Yes!
Mar 14:12 KJV
And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the passover, his disciples said unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the passover?
Have Lord Yeshua observed the feast of Tabernacle? Yes!
Joh 7:2 KJV
Now the Jews' feast of tabernacles was at hand.
Joh 7:10 KJV
But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.
If our Lord Yeshua observed Passover, Unleavened Bread, Tabernacle and other 4 Biblical feasts, aren't we suppose to observe the same thing like He did?
Then why today we celebrate feast of Valentine, a feast that never mentioned in the Bible? I don't know why, maybe because the influence of the world is so strong and it blinds the TALMIDIM to see what behind this feast of Valentine.
But, Hallelu-Yah! We have the Word of God as our guidance. The Word of God is like double edges sword. Even the Word of God is sharper than double edges sword.
Heb 4:12 KJV
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
The origin of feast of Valentine
The first representation of Saint Valentine appeared in the Nuremberg Chronicle.
At that time in the year 268 AD - 270 AD in the Roman Empire, the lives of young Roman boys and girls were generally very separate. On the eve of the festival of Lupercalia, however, the names of Roman girls were written on slips of paper and placed into jars. In a ritual lottery, each young man would draw a girl's name from the jar and the two would then become partners for the duration of the festival. Sometimes the pairing of the couples lasted an entire year, and often, they would fall in love and would later marry.
Under the rule of Emperor Claudius II, Rome was involved in many bloody and unpopular campaigns. Claudius the Cruel was having a difficult time getting soldiers to join his military leagues. He believed that the reason was that Roman men did not want to leave their loves or families. As a result, Claudius cancelled all marriages and engagements in Rome.
Somewhere around 270 AD, there was a priest in Rome called Valentine who aided the Christians and secretly married couples. He was eventually apprehended and dragged before the prefect of Rome and thrown into jail. There he was said to have fallen in love with, and cured the keeper's daughter, Julia, of blindness. When news of this miracle spread, Rome's leaders gave orders that Valentine should be beheaded. The morning of the execution, he was said to have sent Julia a farewell message signed, "From your Valentine." He suffered martyrdom on or near the 14th day of February, at the time of the festivals of Lupercalia.
The tradition of the Lupercalian festivals continued well after the reign of Claudius II. In 496 AD, Pope Gelasius outlawed the pagan festival. He ordered a slight change in the name drawing tradition and replaced the name of the local young women with the name of saints.
The pagan feast of Lupercalia on 14th February, was named as the feast of Valentine. Today, the festival we know as - Valentine's Day.
The 14th of February feast of Lupercalia or feast of Valentine or Valentine's Day was actually a holiday to honor "Lupus" or "Pan", the goddes of fertility, and a celebration of sensual pleasure, a time to meet and court a prospective mate.
What is the pagan feast of Lupercalia?
Pagan feast of Lupercalia
Lupercalia was a very ancient, pre-Roman festival, observed on February 14 to avert evil spirits and purify the city of Rome, releasing health and fertility.
Lupercalia subsumed Februa, a possibly earlier-origin spring cleansing ritual held on the same date, which gives the month of February its name.
The Lupercalia by name was believed in antiquity to have some connection with the Ancient Greek festival of the Arcadian Lykaia (from Ancient Greek : λύκος — lykos, "wolf", Latin "lupus") and the worship of "Lycaean Pan", the Greek equivalent to Faunus.
In Roman mythology, "Lupercus" is a god sometimes identified with the Roman god Faunus, who is the Roman equivalent of the Greek god "Pan". "Lupercus" is the god of shepherds. His festival, celebrated on the anniversary of the founding of his temple on February 15, was called the "Lupercalia". His priests wore goatskins.
The image of the Lycaean god, whom the Greeks call "Pan" and the Romans "Lupercus" is like this.
Today, every 14th of February, the world and some TALMIDIM also celebrate this feast of Lupercalia, with its new name feast of Valentine.
But the main figure is still the same, which is the god of "Pan". This is the god of "Pan" in 21st century.
Now, after we know of the origin of Valentine's Day, will you still celebrate it as TALMIDIM?
2Co 6:15 KJV
And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
2Co 6:16 KJV
And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Be holy, because our God is holy.
1Pe 1:16 KJV
Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
We cannot celebrate the pagan feast. Remember a little leaven will leaven the whole lump. A little sin will darken your holy temple (your body, soul and spirit).
Gal 5:9 KJV
A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.
Blessing in Yeshua's Name.
Andre Widodo
© Talmid HaMashiach
Shalom,
Can TALMIDIM (DISCIPLES) celebrate a feast of Valentine on 14th February? Without knowing what the feast of Valentine exactly is, many TALMIDIM easily answer, "yes", why not? Without knowing its origin, many TALMIDIM celebrate this feast of Valentine.
Before we celebrate a feast, as TALMIDIM, we must firstly check :
- Is the feast of Valentine part of Biblical feast or not?
- What did the feast of Valentine come from?
- Was it from pagan feast or not?
Why should we know these 3 things first? Because our Lord, Yeshua teach us to observe all things, whatever Yeshua had commanded to us. This is His Great Commission before He ascended to Heaven.
Mat 28:20 KJV
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Are you willing to obey His Great Commission? I am sure you are.
Have Lord Yeshua ever observed the feast of Valentine? No! Never! If Lord Yeshua never observed the feast of Valentine, then why are observing the feast of Valentine now? Are we His disciples or not?
Have Lord Yeshua observed the feast of Passover? Yes!
Mat 26:18 KJV
And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples.
Have Lord Yeshua observed the feast of Unleavened Bread? Yes!
Mar 14:12 KJV
And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the passover, his disciples said unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the passover?
Have Lord Yeshua observed the feast of Tabernacle? Yes!
Joh 7:2 KJV
Now the Jews' feast of tabernacles was at hand.
Joh 7:10 KJV
But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.
If our Lord Yeshua observed Passover, Unleavened Bread, Tabernacle and other 4 Biblical feasts, aren't we suppose to observe the same thing like He did?
Then why today we celebrate feast of Valentine, a feast that never mentioned in the Bible? I don't know why, maybe because the influence of the world is so strong and it blinds the TALMIDIM to see what behind this feast of Valentine.
But, Hallelu-Yah! We have the Word of God as our guidance. The Word of God is like double edges sword. Even the Word of God is sharper than double edges sword.
Heb 4:12 KJV
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
The origin of feast of Valentine
The first representation of Saint Valentine appeared in the Nuremberg Chronicle.
At that time in the year 268 AD - 270 AD in the Roman Empire, the lives of young Roman boys and girls were generally very separate. On the eve of the festival of Lupercalia, however, the names of Roman girls were written on slips of paper and placed into jars. In a ritual lottery, each young man would draw a girl's name from the jar and the two would then become partners for the duration of the festival. Sometimes the pairing of the couples lasted an entire year, and often, they would fall in love and would later marry.
Under the rule of Emperor Claudius II, Rome was involved in many bloody and unpopular campaigns. Claudius the Cruel was having a difficult time getting soldiers to join his military leagues. He believed that the reason was that Roman men did not want to leave their loves or families. As a result, Claudius cancelled all marriages and engagements in Rome.
Somewhere around 270 AD, there was a priest in Rome called Valentine who aided the Christians and secretly married couples. He was eventually apprehended and dragged before the prefect of Rome and thrown into jail. There he was said to have fallen in love with, and cured the keeper's daughter, Julia, of blindness. When news of this miracle spread, Rome's leaders gave orders that Valentine should be beheaded. The morning of the execution, he was said to have sent Julia a farewell message signed, "From your Valentine." He suffered martyrdom on or near the 14th day of February, at the time of the festivals of Lupercalia.
The tradition of the Lupercalian festivals continued well after the reign of Claudius II. In 496 AD, Pope Gelasius outlawed the pagan festival. He ordered a slight change in the name drawing tradition and replaced the name of the local young women with the name of saints.
The pagan feast of Lupercalia on 14th February, was named as the feast of Valentine. Today, the festival we know as - Valentine's Day.
The 14th of February feast of Lupercalia or feast of Valentine or Valentine's Day was actually a holiday to honor "Lupus" or "Pan", the goddes of fertility, and a celebration of sensual pleasure, a time to meet and court a prospective mate.
What is the pagan feast of Lupercalia?
Pagan feast of Lupercalia
Lupercalia was a very ancient, pre-Roman festival, observed on February 14 to avert evil spirits and purify the city of Rome, releasing health and fertility.
Lupercalia subsumed Februa, a possibly earlier-origin spring cleansing ritual held on the same date, which gives the month of February its name.
The Lupercalia by name was believed in antiquity to have some connection with the Ancient Greek festival of the Arcadian Lykaia (from Ancient Greek : λύκος — lykos, "wolf", Latin "lupus") and the worship of "Lycaean Pan", the Greek equivalent to Faunus.
In Roman mythology, "Lupercus" is a god sometimes identified with the Roman god Faunus, who is the Roman equivalent of the Greek god "Pan". "Lupercus" is the god of shepherds. His festival, celebrated on the anniversary of the founding of his temple on February 15, was called the "Lupercalia". His priests wore goatskins.
The image of the Lycaean god, whom the Greeks call "Pan" and the Romans "Lupercus" is like this.
Today, every 14th of February, the world and some TALMIDIM also celebrate this feast of Lupercalia, with its new name feast of Valentine.
But the main figure is still the same, which is the god of "Pan". This is the god of "Pan" in 21st century.
Now, after we know of the origin of Valentine's Day, will you still celebrate it as TALMIDIM?
2Co 6:15 KJV
And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
2Co 6:16 KJV
And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Be holy, because our God is holy.
1Pe 1:16 KJV
Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
We cannot celebrate the pagan feast. Remember a little leaven will leaven the whole lump. A little sin will darken your holy temple (your body, soul and spirit).
Gal 5:9 KJV
A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.
Blessing in Yeshua's Name.
