Valentine’s Day, like many other holidays, falls on the same date, each year, February 14th. The origin of Valentine’s Day continues to be in dispute, with three or four possible suggestions of who or what the tradition might stem from, however, they all surround ancient Roman traditions connected to the Catholic church. There were three possible Saint Valentines, all eventually martyred. One was a priest serving Emperor Claudius II, who continued to marry young couples in love, although Claudius had banned soldiers from marrying. Another one was a bishop who helped Christians escape the harsh Roman prisons, another while imprisoned, fell in love with a young girl, and was said to have sent the first ‘Valentine’ greeting before his death, giving the salutation, “From your Valentine.”
Others say it was an effort to make the pagan celebration of ‘Lupercalia,’ a fertility festival held on February 15th, which was surrounded with heinous acts, which included a matchmaking tradition, into a Christianized holiday. Lupercalia was eventually declared ‘un-Christian’ and stopped by Pope Gelasius, and February 14th was declared the official St. Valentine’s Day. It eventually became associated with all things related to ‘love’ as we know it now. The commercialization of the day can be anywhere from cards, flowers, chocolates, perfumes and more, all bearing hearts, x’s, and o’s, and little angelic, baby like, rosy cheeked, cherubs with bows and arrows in hand.
Valentine cherubs though fashioned after the idea of angels, are said to be “celestial winged beings with human, animal, or birdlike characteristics who serve as throne bearers of the Deity, taken from Middle Eastern mythology and iconography and have important liturgical and intercessory function in the hierarchy of angels. They are depicted in art as beautiful, fat, naked children with small wings.” In scripture cherubim were spoken of with some of these features and were carved out of precious gold for the mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant, and in King Solomon’s temple, they were symbolic creatures that depicted the presence of God, yet there is nothing stated to indicate that they were indeed angels. A Seraph or many Seraphim is the word used in the Hebrew language in Numbers 21:4-9, Deuteronomy 8:15, Isaiah 6:1-7, 14:29, and 30:6, which means ‘fiery flying serpent’, but only in Isaiah 6 is it not translated into the English as such, but transliterated as Seraphin; therefore, there is no support in scripture that seraphim are angels either.
Though an angelic hierarchy or ranking of authority of the heavenly hosts have been made, it comes only from human thought and is not biblically based, apart from angels’ vs archangels. Most theories we hear about angels these days, including our loved ones turning into one, are man-made and not based on the Word of God. We must beware of things that though they are meant to bring hope cannot be substantiated in truth. The word ‘Lupercalia’ from the Roman festival was in honor of Lupercus, a god, a ‘protective divinity of shepherds,’ is derived from the Latin word “lupus” meaning “wolf.” The thought was that wolves raised their founding fathers. Jesus said in Matthew 7:15, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” They are hypocrites, saying things to make you think they are good. And in Matthew 16:6 he said, “…Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.” They speak half-truths to deceive you. Luke 12:15, “And Jesus said unto them, take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consists not in the abundance of the things which he possesses.” And Luke 20:46Jesus said, “Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts.”
Paul said in Philippians 3:2, “Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.” And in Colossians 2:8 he said, “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” In2 Corinthians 11:10-15 he says, “As the truth of Christ is in me, no man shall stop me of this boasting in the regions of Achaia. Wherefore? because I love you not? God knows. But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” We must always stay aware and beware lest we are tripped up and deceived. Disguises come in many shapes, forms, and sizes, including Satan himself.
There is a story found in 2 Chronicles 32 about a man, King of Assyria, named Sennacherib. He was a proverbial ‘angel of light’ to the people in Jerusalem. The origin of the name Senna is from the Arabic, meaning “Brightness.” It is also the name used for a bright yellow flower found in tropical regions, which has been recognized in ‘herbal medicine as the active ingredient in so-called “dieter’s teas,” which primarily function as a laxative.’ The name denotes ‘a sunbeam captured in a name’ that radiates light and charm. The name Cherib is said to come from the Akkadian word “karabu,” meaning, “to bless.” One would think that King Sennacherib, was a delightful, bright, and cheerful man, with only good things and blessings for those around him; however, this could not be farther from the truth. His name only served as a disguise or a mask to hide his true, nasty, dark, and deceitful character. This is seen when you investigate the meaning in the Hebrew language, where Sennacherib means, “the moon, has replaced his brothers.” He was not the firstborn, yet he was chosen as king by his father Sargon and was very evil in the sight of God and tried to overthrow every nation that he could.
In verses one to eight of chapter thirty-two, we see King of Assyria, Sennacherib encroaching upon Jerusalem, so King Hezekiah being proactive, with the help of his men, stopped the waters that flowed outside of the city and began to strengthen their walls and their arsenal. He also gathered his men and told them, “Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him: With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.” If this were the end, this would be a beautiful story, however, things were just heating up, because of the wickedness of King Sennacherib. Have you ever noticed that true narcissists are just cowards that have learned how to manipulate others?
We see what follows in verses nine through nineteen. Sennacherib sent his servants to the people of Judah that were in Jerusalem to try to ‘brainwash’ them if you will, or plant doubt in their hearts and minds to turn them against King Hezekiah, and more importantly against God. “…saying, thus saith Sennacherib king of Assyria, whereon do ye trust, that ye abide in the siege in Jerusalem? Doth not Hezekiah persuade you to give over yourselves to die by famine and by thirst, saying, The Lord our God shall deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall worship before one altar, and burn incense upon it? Know ye not what I and my fathers have done unto all the people of other lands? were the gods of the nations of those lands any ways able to deliver their lands out of my hand? Who was there among all the gods of those nations that my fathers destroyed, that could deliver his people out of mine hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of my hand?”
“Now therefore let not Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade you on this manner, neither yet believe him: for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of mine hand, and out of the hand of my fathers: how much less shall your God deliver you out of my hand? And his servants spoke yet more against the Lord God, and against his servant Hezekiah. He wrote also letters to rail on the Lord God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, As the gods of the nations of other lands have not delivered their people out of mine hand, so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver his people out of my hand. Then they cried with a loud voice in the Jews’ speech unto the people of Jerusalem that were on the wall, to affright them, and to trouble them; that they might take the city. And they spoke against the God of Jerusalem, as against the gods of the people of the earth, which were the work of the hands of man.” Wow, what a ‘snake in the grass’! Doesn’t this sound like another story we know about in Genesis 3 where the greasy serpent said to the woman, “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”
As we read in 2 Corinthians 11, we should not be surprised or marvel when we see Satan presenting himself as an angel of light. 2 Corinthians 2 states we should forgive, “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” If you give him an inch he will take a mile, and that is just what King Sennacherib was hoping, that he could cause an insurrection in Jerusalem. By knowing truth and studying the word of God, we can guard against the deception of the enemy when he tries to come against us. Though we do not realize it, which is also the point, Humanism is a tactic of Satan. He does not necessarily care if we worship him and go into full witchcraft mode, but he just does not want us to serve God. You do not have to rub Buddha’s belly, recite prayers with rosary beads, or burn incense to strange beings daily, just do not acknowledge Jesus is Lord of your life and that is good enough for him. If he can get our focus upon ourselves instead of God, he has won the battle. We will in essence become gods unto ourselves, serving self and not God.
If he can get you to follow your heart as everyone is advising these days, he can feel good about his chances of you going astray. Jeremiah 13:10 states, “This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing.” Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” and Jeremiah 18:12 tells us, “And they said, there is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will everyone do the imagination of his evil heart.” We need to turn to the Lord and have the regeneration of the Holy Ghost to transform our hearts and minds to be like Jesus. The Bible does not tell us to follow our hearts! We must know the word, so we will not be led astray.
Just as Sennacherib was, Satan is very skillful in boasting. He seeks the ‘limelight,’ but he has no light within himself. The beauty that he had in heaven before he was lifted in his own mind and thrown out, came from the light that shone from the throne of God and illuminated him. We see in scripture that all Glory should go to God; therefore, we know, when we see a proud, haughty, or arrogant spirit, it is not of God. Those who preach what has been dubbed ‘the prosperity doctrine,’ boasting of their riches and fame and promising others the same thing, are Humanists, promoting their own agenda and are not of God. Satan and those he has deceived, blind others with their ‘pseudo light’ to make themselves look good. He is the biggest ‘Schroeden fraud’ there is around. Taking advantage of the misfortune of others as 2 Corinthians 4:5 states, “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.” God’s way, and true ministry is what we find in James 4:10 which says, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.”
We can know we are being tricked, because Satan instills fear, trepidation, and condemnation in our hearts, but God brings conviction, forgiveness, and peace. God does not leave it a mystery as to who he is when he speaks to us, he speaks peace. We see when the angel appeared to Gideon, in Judges 6:12 we read, “And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor.” In Luke 1:13 we read, “But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias:” And Luke 1:30 says, “And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God.” In Genesis 17:1 we read, “And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me and be thou perfect.” These are just a very few examples of many. Though Satan tries to counterfeit things and act like he is God, he cannot replicate peace which is the very nature of God. He is only a created being as we are and is limited by God as to how he can even tempt and try us. Though we have the chance of regeneration by the Spirit of God, he can never be saved.
Back to our 2 Chronicles story, God did not take lightly to the mocking and boasting of King Sennacherib against Him or his people. We see how God and King Hezekiah responded to his shenanigans in verses twenty through twenty-two. “And for this cause Hezekiah the king, and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz, prayed and cried to heaven. And the Lord sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valor, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So, he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he had come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword. Thus, the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all others, and guided them on every side.” 2 Kings 19:36-37 clarifies, “So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.”
Hezekiah called upon the Lord. We are God’s children, and he loves us to ask him for help. He will respond, and he then in turn will receive the Glory for the victory. I heard a clip recently that stated that as we go through life, our brains form pathways in our memory and psyches. Wrongs that were done to us, or things that were said that hurt us, guide how we think about things and how we make choices thereafter. However, science has proven that we can form new pathways in our brains that can eventually eradicate the old ones. We can literally change our outlook on things, from a negative spin to a positive one, and develop characters and attitudes that we lacked before, that will dictate to how we respond to life going forward. We do not have to accept defeat, or what some may call our fate, but we can cry unto the Lord for help. We do not have to allow Satan to come in with his massive excavator and form trenches of hopelessness and negativity into our minds that are not conducive to love and peace. One example of how we can fall for Satan’s lies is, people who are forty years old or more, finding themselves on a psychiatric couch, bringing up everything from the past that did or did not happen, trying to free themselves from anxiety and fear that they are facing now. Or another way is, trying to take physical medications for spiritual and emotional issues. James 4:7 tells us plain and simple, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
Hezekiah was not perfect, but God blessed and exalted him because he humbled himself and trusted in God to deliver the people of Jerusalem. 2 Chronicles 32:23 says, “And many brought gifts unto the Lord to Jerusalem, and presents to Hezekiah king of Judah: so that he was magnified in the sight of all nations from thenceforth.” When he died, he was honored and buried as a king with the sons of David. King David himself was another example of one who was not perfect, but when he had sinned and realized his wrongdoings, he always humbled himself before God in repentance. Because of this, God promised that the throne of the tribe of Judah would continue in his lineage forever. We know this happened because the Messiah, Jesus, God come in the flesh, was born from the linage of David. Though they had moments where they fell into sin because of the deceit of the false or counterfeit light, the Sennacherib’s of their time, they humbled themselves and called upon the Lord.
Though the scripture admonishes us to be perfect and holy even as God is holy, we often find it difficult, but we can accomplish this, if we walk with Him, and mature daily into what He wants us to be. We are also told in 1 John 2:1-3, “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments.” Therefore, it is not of our own goodness, righteousness, or works that we can be perfect, holy, or live without sin, but through the blood that Jesus shed for us. Ephesians 2:8-9 makes this clear, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
We must beware of the ‘angel of light’ who comes to deceive us. Yet when we think we are facing certain defeat, we can humble ourselves and cry unto the Lord who will deliver us and exalt us in due season. John 1:1-4 says of Jesus, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” Always beware of the light and test the source and go by what you know from the word of God and not by what you think. James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” Remember, Jesus will not keep you guessing, he will identify himself as he did in John 8:12 which says, “Then spoke Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” With His light comes hope, peace and life.