VALENTINES DAY

By Hayley Boud

1. What is February the 14th?
Valentines Day

2. What do we do on that day?We send cards to people we love. Some people get married on this day.

3. Why is it called Valentines Day?
It is named after a Saint whose name was Valentine and who lived in the year 270 AD in Italy and was martyred for his faith on February the 14th. The story goes that this man was a priest in Rome when the city was ruled by “Claudius the Cruel”. This ruler had forbidden Christian conversion and Christian marriages but Valentine refused to surrender to Roman gods and carried on his religious duties in secret. He was imprisoned for disobedience, but even in prison he converted the convicts. While he was in prison, the jailer's daughter became his friend and was loyal to him through his ordeal. When Claudius came to know that imprisonment had not broken his enduring Christian spirit, the bishop was executed. However, on the day of his death Valentine wrote a note to his friend, 'the jailer's daughter' and signed it - 'From Your Valentine'. This great man who died for his beliefs, for his enduring love of the Christian God, was chosen as the patron Saint of lovers. 14th February has since been celebrated as Valentine's Day. Romantic souls all over the world have preferred to focus on the romantic twist of this tale, the story of the man who united lovers in the holy bond of marriage; a man who loved his jailer's daughter and started the tradition of writing love notes.

4. Should Christians celebrate it?Centuries before Christ, the pagan Romans celebrated February 15 and the evening of February 14 as an idolatrous and sensuous festival in honor of Lupercus, the "hunter of wolves"

The Romans called the festival the "Lupercalia" in honor of Lupercus - the deified hero-hunter of Rome. On this day, names of young women were put into a box and drawn out by men as chance directed." (Encyclopedia Americana, article, "St. Valentine's Day.") They were then to stay together for one year.

When Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire there was some talk in church circles of discarding this pagan free-for-all. But the Roman citizens wouldn't hear of it! So it was agreed that the holiday would continue as it was, except for the more grossly sensual observances.

It was not until the reign of Pope Gelasius that the holiday became a "Christian" custom. As far back as 496, Pope Gelasius changed Lupercalia on February 15 to St. Valentine's Day on February 14." (p. 172 of Customs and Holidays Around the World by Lavinia Dobler).

But why is it called Valentines Day? Why do we use hearts as a symbol of love? And why do we see cupids and associate angels with Valentines Day?

Who Was the Original "St. Valentine"?Valentine was a common Roman name. Roman parents often gave the name of their children in honor of the famous man who was first called Valentine in ancient Rome. That famous man was Lupercus, the hunter. Also referred to in the Bible as Nimrod the mighty hunter.

Genesis 10:8,9 and 1 Chronicles 1:10. At first Nimrod was a mighty hunter of wild animals and he became so famous and the people loved him so much that they made him a prince in their region. Nimrod means he rebelled and later when he became a powerful ruler, he became a mighty one on earth (Gen 10:8) meaning he was a cruel oppressor and tyrant. In verse 9 it says that he was a mighty hunter before the Lord meaning that he did not cease to commit cruelty even in God’s presence. In another historical book written at the time it says that “Nimrod began to be a mighty man in sin, a murderer of innocent men and a rebel before the Lord”. He was a hunter of men to persecute them. He was the ruler of the Babylonians and was ruler during the time of the tower of Babel. Babel means confusion and this is what Nimrod brought to the people by setting up a new religion by force.

The Greeks called Lupercus by the name of "Pan". The Semites called Pan "Baul," according to the Classical Dictionaries. Baal - mentioned so often in the Bible - was merely another name for Nimrod. Baal is the word used by the Babylonians to describe someone or something that is a god, and is worshipped by the people.

So the original Valentine was Nimrod, the mighty hunter of wolves. Yet another of Nimrod's names was "Sanctuc" or "Santa", meaning Saint. It was a common title of any hero-god. Which is why the Roman Lupercalia is called "St. Valentine's Day"!

But why do we associate HEARTS on a day in honor of Nimrod - the Baal of the Phoenicians and Semites?

The surprising answer is that the pagan Romans acquired the symbol of the heart from the Babylonians. In the Babylonian tongue the word for heart was "bal" (Strong's Concordance Number H1168). The heart - bal - was merely a symbol of Nimrod - the Baal! or Lord of the Babylonians!


Nimrod - the original St. Valentine - was also known as Saturn, the Roman-Babylonian god who hid from his pursuers in a secret place. The Latin word Saturn is derived from the Semiticspeaking Babylonians. It means "be hid," "hide self," "secret," "conceal." The original Semitic (Hebrew) word, from which the Latin Saturn is derived, is used 83 times in the Old Testament (see Young's Concordance under "Sathar," also "sether").

According to ancient tradition, Saturn (Nimrod) fled from his pursuers to Italy. The Apenine mountains of Italy were anciently named the mountains of Nembrod or Nimrod. Nimrod briefly hid out at the site where Rome was later built. The ancient name of Rome, before it was rebuilt in 753 B.C. was Saturnia - the site of Saturn's (Nimrod's) hiding. There he was found and slain for his crimes. Later, professing Christians in Constantine's day made Nimrod - the St. Valentine of the heathen- a Saint of the Church and continued to honor him under the name of a Christian martyr.

Why February 14?But why should the Romans have chosen February 15 and the evening of February 14 to honor Lupercus - the Nimrod of the Bible? (Remember that day in ancient times began at sunset the evening before.)

Nimrod - Baal or sun god of the ancient pagans - was said to have been born at the winter solstice. In ancient time the solstice occurred on January 6 and his birthday therefore was celebrated on December 25 and now called Christmas. It was the custom of antiquity (ancient Rome) for, the mother of a male child to present herself for purification on the fortieth day after January 6 - Nimrod's original birthdate - takes us to February 15, the celebration of which began on the evening of February 14 - the Lupercalia or St. Valentine's Day.

On this day in February, Semiramis, the mother of Nimrod, was said to have been purified and to have appeared for the first time in public with her son as the original "mother and child." Not all of you know “mother and child” but it’s a picture that is seen in Catholic homes and churches and it’s supposed to be Mary and Jesus. Catholics worship Mary and so this picture reflects for them the deity of Mary and her son. But this picture was before the birth of Christ (more than 2000 years before) with Semaramis and Nimrod.

The Roman month February, in fact, derives its name from the februa which the Roman priests used in the rites celebrated on St. Valentine's Day. The febru were thongs from the skins of sacrificial animals used in rites of purification on the evening of February 14.

Another name for the child Nimrod was "Cupid" - meaning "desire" (Encyclopedia Britannica, article "Cupid"). It is said that when Nimrod's mother saw him, she lusted after him - she desired him. Nimrod became her Cupid - her desired one - and later her Valentine! So evil was Nimrod's mother that it is said she married her own son! Inscribed on the monuments of ancient Egypt are inscriptions that Nimrod (the Egyptians called him Osiris) was "the husband of his mother."

As Nimrod grew up, he became the child-hero of many women who desired him. He was their Cupid! In the Book of Daniel he is called the "desire of women" ( Dan. 11:37). Moffatt translates the word as Tammuz - a babylonian name of Nimrod. He provoked so many women to jealousy that an idol of him was often called the "image of jealousy" ( Ezekiel 8:5). Nimrod, the hunter, was also their Valentine - their strong or mighty hero! No wonder the pagans commemorated their hero-hunter Nimrod, or Baal, by sending heartshaped love tokens to one another on the evening of February 14 as a symbol of him.

Nimrod, the mulatto son of Cush the Ethiopian, was later a source of embarrassment to the pagans of Europe. They didn't want an African to worship. Consequently, they substituted a supposed son of Nimrod, a white child named Horus, born after the death of Nimrod. This white child then became a "fair Cupid" of European tradition.

5. What does this all mean for us?

Exodus 20:3, “You shall have no other gods before Me” Exodus 32:27,28, (3000 men died). It is important to remember that God is a jealous God and He wants us to worship Him and only Him. When the Israelites made a gold calf, God was so angry that 3,000 men died in one day. So lets be careful. If you want to send someone a love letter or card, there is nothing wrong with that but don’t say "you are my valentine" or you will be calling that person Baal (god).

We also don’t need to use hearts to show someone our love or to send pictures of cupids. If we do, we are declaring to God that we honor Nimrod the mighty hunter. Mathew 15:3, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of tradition?”

This message is also a way of making us think about things that are around us and asking ourselves why is it like that. As God has taught us through our messages on Friday, “You are supposed to know why you do something”. We should never do something without knowing why. Hosea 4:6, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge”

For example Easter - I challenge you to ask yourself some questions and try to answer them. Why do we celebrate with eggs? Why do we give each other chocolate? Why does a bunnie bring eggs to children while they sleep? Why does the date change every year if it is to celebrate the death of Christ which happened at a specific date? Why is it a public holiday? Why is it that in some cultures we hide the eggs? Why do we eat hot cross buns? Why can’t we buy easter eggs in December? Why is it called Easter?