The Scriptural Essentials: How should God’s Elects commemorate their dead loved ones? Reposted: Taken from my November 4, 2011 post. “ As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more. He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him anymore”. ( Job 7:9-10) “ For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten’ ( Ecclesiastes 9:5) One of the very common practices among the heathens ( especially in the Philippines) is the so called “ all souls or all saints” day, that is celebrated starting October 31st, until November 1. It is taught among their members that this celebration is a way to commemorate and a chance to make prayers for their departed loved ones, to be able to move them out from Hell, to a much better place called “purgatory”, a doctrine which is very foreign to the BIBLE. Is this GODLY practice? What does BIBLE has to say about this? Halloween’s Pre-history Let’s begin with the ancient Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago, in what is now Ireland, Great Britain and Northern France. The Celts were pagan nature worshippers who had many gods, including the sun, which they believed commanded their work and rest times. They believed the sun maintained the earth and kept it beautiful, and caused their crops to grow. “The Celts observed their new year on November 1 ( take note of this History), which marked the end of the harvest and summer (“the season of the sun”), as well as the beginning of the cold, dark winter ahead (“the season of darkness and cold”) From October 31 to November 2, the Celts celebrated a 48-hour festival, the Vigil of Samhain (pronounced “sow-in”). They believed that Samhain, the PAGAN LORD of the dead, assembled the souls of those who had died during the previous year and decided what form they would take for the next year. The souls would either pass on to human bodies or would be condemned to live within animals (the most evil of the bad souls or spirits would take the form of cats). Hoping to coax Samhain into giving lighter sentences, the Celtic worshippers tried to bribe him with gifts and prayers. The Encyclopedia Britannica says the following: “Samhain (Celtic: ‘End of Summer’), one of the most important and sinister calendar festivals of the Celtic year. At Samhain, held on November 1, the world of the gods was believed to be made visible to mankind, that and the gods played many tricks on their mortal worshippers; it was a time fraught with danger, charged with fear, and full of supernatural episodes. Sacrifices and propitiations of every kind were thought to be vital, for without them the Celts believed they could not prevail over the perils of the season or counteract the activities of the deities. Samhain was an important precursor to Halloween.” On the night of October 31, the eve of the new year, the Celts, after harvesting their crops and storing them for the coming winter, began their festival. First, they extinguished the cooking fires in their homes. Then the Druids (Celtic priests) met on hilltops in the dark oak forests (they viewed oak trees as sacred), and built huge sacred bonfires to frighten away evil spirits and to honor the sun god. Next, the people would burn crop and animal sacrifices to their gods, dancing around the fires as the “season of the sun” passed and the “season of darkness” began. The Celts wore costumes of animal heads and skins, and told each other their fortunes. The next morning, they re-lit their cooking fires from the sacred bonfires, in order to free them from evil spirits—as well as to help protect them during the coming winter season. “In ancient Britain and Ireland, the Celtic festival of Samhain eve was observed on October 31, at the end of summer. (It) was the occasion for one of the ancient fire festivals when huge bonfires were set on hilltops to frighten away evil spirits…The souls of the dead were thought to revisit their homes on this day, ( isnt it that this is what we were taught on these days of Halloween) and the autumnal festival acquired sinister significance, with ghosts, witches, hobgoblins, black cats, fairies, and demons of all kinds said to be roaming about. In addition, Halloween was thought to be the most favorable time for divinations concerning marriage, luck, health, and death” (Encyclopedia Britannica). With this reference based from Encyclopedia Britannica, IT IS VERY CLEAR THAT THIS PRACTICE IS VERY HEATHENISH IN ORIGIN AND IT WAS PERPETUATED AND ADOPTED BY THE BIGGEST RELIGION IN THE WORLD, the ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. Elects of God should not have anything to do with it! It is commanded that we need to “come out of her” and not be partaker of her sins, including her practices (which includes all their paganistic practices such as Xmass, Easter, Valentines, ) Rev. 18: 4. What about our dead lovedones? As our text says, “ as the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away; so HE that GOETH to the grave shall come up no more. He shall return NO MORE to his house, neither shall his place shall know him any more”. All of us when we’ve gone to our respective graves , that closes our earthly journey and its final! Another important point, this text also refutes the GHOST STORY( stories) that our departed loved ones can still come back and visit us ( who are then those whom people see visit them? Evil Spirits trying to mimic the departed loved ones? YES! “ he shall come up no more” our text says. Do I sin if I visit my departed loved ones? That depends on what your motives are! If it’s a show of respect to them, so be it, but still the DEAD don’t know nothing, anything, anymore! No matter how many prayers( as ignorantly done by many of our Filipino Brothers) , flowers or candle a person will give their DEAD, Ecclesiastes says, “ the DEAD know not anything” ( Ecc.9:5) When should we give respect, care, and value to our loved ones? It is now that they are still with us alive and kicking. “ render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due , custom to whom custom is due, fear to whom fear,, honour to whom honour. ( Romans 13:7). “ honor thy father and thy mother” ( Exo.20:12) Two Major Events that is recorded in the Scriptures that remembered the DEAD. Joseph , Jacob’s youngest son, who had his bones carried out of Egypt ( Gen. 50:25, Exo.13:19, Joshua 24:32) and Jesus Christ, whom we remember via Lord’s Supper ( 1 Cor. 11:24). Why Joseph? He was a type of Christ, the Saviour of Israel. Why Christ? He deserves all respect of His elects. God have mercy upon us!
Posted on: Tue, 22 Oct 2013 05:30:10 +0000