EPOCH TIMES – ‘Valentine’s Day, A Time to Celebrate Love’

“Valentine’s Day is by far the oldest of our American holidays. We can trace its history all the way back to the early times of Ancient Rome and the feast of Lupercalia. Celebrated in mid-February, the fertility rites of Lupercalia featured certain priests of the city dashing about the streets carrying strips of goat hide dipped in the sacrificial blood of the goat and a dog, and lightly striking willing female spectators who hoped to bear a child that year. According to legend, many other young women put their names into an urn during that festival, bachelors would pick out the cards, and for a year, the pair would spend time together.”

“Weird yes, but there it is.”

“Later, the Catholic Church appropriated this event, although not its practices, and declared it Saint Valentine’s Day after a Christian martyr. More time passed, and for a variety of reasons, this saint’s feast day became associated with romantic love. In the Middle Ages, there began the practice of exchanging letters and other tokens of affection. When shoppers purchase items for this day they are carrying forward one of our culture’s oldest traditions.”

On February 12, 2022 I was with my friend who wanted to send me a Valentine’s card and I told her that it was one of those pagan things and I would prefer she keep her money. Both of us realized it was now a tradition that showed our love and she wanted to send her appreciation for me driving her to Sabbath every week.

Our first grandson got married on February 14, 2019. He did NOT give it recognition as he also knew it was a pagan tradition. I write this because I have some thoughts on where some of this tradition came from.

First, let’s review what I wrote on Sabbath 02.12.2022. There are only eleven places the word, ‘tradition’ is found in the entire bible. You may want to read the entire article at yhebrew.com.

Mat_15:2  Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.

Mat_15:3  But he answered and said unto them, why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by yourtradition?

Mat_15:6  And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.

Mar_7:3  For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders.

Here we see that if you didn’t wash your hands often you broke the elder’s (rabbi) traditions. Washing your hands before eating is not written in the instructions of Mosche known as The Written Word of God…The Torah. They are asking Yeshua Jesus these things to ‘entrap’ to declare himself was God.

Let us remember that Yeshua Jesus never came to set up his own instructions, but to confirm what was already spoken place by The Father.

Yeshua is called The Living Word because He endorses The Torah called The Word of God. Yeshua could go along with their hand washing because it made sense to have clean hands before you eat, but these traditions now took precedence of taking care of your parents and other instructions from The Father.

Thus, Yeshua was putting down their ‘traditions’ to set forth The Torah as God’s authority to live successfully on the earth. Yeshua Jesus would not obey the earth’s fathers (many sects of leaders) if he found their ways contrary and lead people to making even these oral rules new ‘gods’ to them.

Mar_7:5 KJV   Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?

Mar_7:8  For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.

Mar_7:9  And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.

Mar_7:13  Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.

Col_2:8  Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after thetradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

2Th_3:6  Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.

1Pe_1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers.

Is it wrong to wash hands? No.

Is it wrong to tithe to the temple? No!

It is wrong to clean the sanctuary pots. No!

Now let’s catch this… in 2 Thessalonians 3:6 Yeshua Jesus is telling them that these things are disorderly and not received from The Father.

In Colossians 2:8 we learn these things are vain deceit which follow after the rudiments of the world…and not our Messiah.

In my youth I was raised up Catholic. I know their ‘traditions’. We heard mass in Latin and then finally in English. But it was still these churches ‘traditions’ and not The Bible alone.

I always like to ask, ‘Why’.

EPOCH TIMES, “According to legend, many other young women put their names into an urn during that festival, bachelors would pick out the cards, and for a year, the pair would spend time together.”

Why would we try to line up a male and female to possibly marry by ‘luck of the draw’?

The only example that I can remember in Scripture is where the tribe of Benjamin was beaten up so terribly by his brothers that only a few men survived that had hidden themselves in the trees of the forest. All the tribes agreed that their brother should not be totally annihilated from the earth since he was a son of Ya’cov, too.

The Tribe of Judah volunteered to give to the Tribe of Binyamin females that were willing to marry them. These young women were virgins knowing no other man. Only those that agreed to this offered themselves that one night by dancing before the fire. These women are likened to Chanoah (Eve) who agreed with God, “Yes” I will redeem myself by having children…multiplying the human on the earth. These wonderful virgins did build back The Tribe of Binyamin. And

It was not a trick to kill the Benjamine’s off that night, but to offer them life.

I look at this story as an example of God’s mercy and love. It also shows our Creators redemptive plan for our earth. Most of the kings that rise are from the Tribe of Binjamin. Binyamin two names follow him throughout his life. He was named, “Son of Suffering’ by his mother Rachel who died after his birth. He was renamed by the Eighth day (my thinking) by Ya’cov when he returned from a trip helping his parents. Ya’cov renames his son, “Son of my Strength.”

In these stories we see God provincial plan told through people’s lives. Like Job, we don’t have to ask why…we just have to hold fast and understand your story of how you respond is what God is looking for. Job never let go of God’s love for him. Job knew he could disappoint God, but God could do whatever to him and he would be okay. The Tribe of Binyamin must have wondered too why so many times they suffered. God moved them to fight to their last person so God should show resurrection of Yeshua Jesus of whom also would suffer first, die and resurrect and now return as King of Kings.

So, if Valentine’s is the oldest American holiday, I reject it. You can say it’s about God’s love, but it is NOT. It is about human’s loving each other…which they should already be doing when obeying God’s instructions, the Torah.

We are to love GOD alone….with nothing above or below, setting no land or sea creature or human, or the sun or moon above our adoration for God alone. Many religions never even wear jewelry as they want to stay humble before God. I know of a black man who never would let me take his picture saying I don’t show up well in pictures anyway…when actually he was saying this…Don’t look at me as anyone’s savior…we must look to God alone and adore him.

As I’m still searching for the Scripture to confirm the story of Binjamin I found these Scriptures that I pray will warm your heart…so we turn our love completely to our King that is coming to bring our world back to The Torah.

This is heavy….. Jeremiah did not take a wife, nor have sons or daughters there. He spent three years in prison trying to convince that king to ‘move to Babylon’.

Famine, Sword, and Death

Jer 16:1  The word of the LORD came also unto me, saying, 

Jer 16:2  Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place. 

Jer 16:3  For thus saith the LORD concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare them, and concerning their fathers that begat them in this land; 

Jer 16:4  They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcass shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth. 

Jer 16:5  For thus saith the LORD, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the LORD, even loving kindness and mercies. 

Jer 16:6  Both the great and the small shall die in this land: they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them: 

Jer 16:7  Neither shall men tear themselves for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother. 

Jer 16:8  Thou shalt not also go into the house of feasting, to sit with them to eat and to drink. 

Jer 16:9  For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place in your eyes, and in your days, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride. 

Jer 16:10  And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt shew this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee, Wherefore hath the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God? 

Jer 16:11  Then shalt thou say unto them, because your fathers have forsaken me, saith the LORD, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshiped them, and have and have not kept my law; 

They forsook The Torah…the Oral Word of God. At Babylon it is written down…and then called The Written Word of God…. Yeshua Jesus is called, the Living Word of God.

Then it got worse—and in our day…oh my…we don’t even know when the Lord’s Feasts are. But we know Halloween and Estar.

Jer 16:12  And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk everyone after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me: 

Jer 16:13  Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night; where I will not shew you favor. 

Our world is Babylon…where we see and operate in man-made traditions of Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s, Halloween, Marten Luther (who killed The Torah).

Jer 23:22  But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings. 

Jer 23:36  And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more: for every man’s word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God.

We can NOT make our words, the Living God’s words (burden of the LORD).

Today, we know Israel is in a different situation where she is back in her land. The lesson is that there are no other things we should have in our lives. God’s festivals which are according to His instructions.

The Deceivers have not only changed the Lord’s feasts, but they REMOVED them making people busy with their church schedules…like Mass every day of the week and making Holy Days to observe and now St. Valentine’s Day was picked up by The Universal Church as their own. The Deception is high, and we must come away from what even might look like, LOVE!

Dan 7:25  And he shall speak great words against the most High and shall wear out the saints of the Highest 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. 

Dan 7:26  But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. 

Dan 7:27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Highest, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

God’s children win, but not without a fight for the TORAH. God’s instructions have always been. Moses orally spoke it to them. The Great Assembly of 120 men wrote it down, calling it The Written Torah. The Living Torah came in the flesh confirming it.

Paul was against the pharisees, Sadducees ORAL laws and told them to only observe the original words spoken by Moses and Yeshua Jesus. The oldest synagogue in the world was found by an Indiana professor recently. On its lentil inscribed into it was a menorah and the sign of Zeus. This area has mixed and mingled their religions and Paul was quite upset. He spent 68 years talking about Yeshua Jesus resurrection and not to MIX other gods into The Torah.