Short answer:
NO. Celebrating the date of one's birth is an ancient pagan custom. Christ
never did, and even the day of His birth is not plainly recorded in the Bible. The early Christians did not celebrate birthdays, either.
In the Bible, birthday celebrations are mentioned only three times
(the third is presumed), and each one was marked with death! The highest
of all holidays in the Satanic religion is one’s own birthday.
A birthday celebration
directs attention to oneself in a display of vanity, self-centered egotism, and
pride. Pride caused the downfall of Lucifer. When a person celebrates his
or her birthday, it is to honor oneself. Yet, the Scriptures say: “It is not good to eat too much honey, nor
is it honorable to seek one's own honor” (Proverb 25:27, NIV).
King Solomon said, “A good name is better than precious
ointment; and the day of death than
the day of one’s birth” (Ecclesiastes 7:1). The day of one’s birth
is not very important; it is just the beginning of life’s journey. What is far
more important is what we do with our lives. It is like going to
school. We do not celebrate after enrolling, we celebrate when we finish or
graduate. And in life we do not graduate until death or until the Second Coming
of Christ. Beginning life is nothing to be proud of. It is how we finish
that really matters.
Detailed explanation:
Ancient pagan custom. Celebrating the date of one's birth is an ancient pagan custom. The Bible makes no mention of Christians celebrating the event. Christ never did, and even the day of His birth is not plainly recorded in the Scriptures. Because of the link to paganism, the early Christians did not celebrate birthdays.
Marked
with death.
In the Bible, there
are only three mentions of birthday celebrations (the third is presumed), and
each one was marked with death! Let us see who the celebrants were.
Pharaoh: “And it came to pass the
third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast unto all his
servants: and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker
among his servants. And he restored the chief butler unto his butlership again;
and he gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand: but he hanged the chief baker: as
Joseph had interpreted to them” (Genesis 40:20-22). Pharaoh had the chief
baker executed to mark his birthday.
Herod: “But when Herod's birthday
was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased
Herod. Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would
ask. And she, being instructed of her mother, said, Give me here
John the Baptist's head in a charger. And the king was sorry: nevertheless for
the oath's sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be
given her. And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison” (Matthew
14:6-10). The beheading of John the Baptist became the highlight of King
Herod’s birthday celebration.
Job’s seven sons: “And his sons went and feasted in
their houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to
eat and to drink with them. And it was so, when the days of their feasting were
gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning,
and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said,
It may be that my sons have sinned… And
there came a messenger unto Job, and said… Thy sons and thy daughters were
eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house: And, behold, there
came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house,
and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone
to tell thee” (Job 1:4-5a,14,18-19).
During a feast in the house of Job’s eldest son (presumably a birthday
banquet), Satan killed all ten of Job’s children with what appears to be a
tornado.
Job cursed the day he was born. "May the day of my birth perish, and
the night it was said, `A boy is born!' That day – may it turn to darkness; may
God above not care about it; may no light shine upon it. May darkness and deep
shadow claim it once more; may a cloud settle over it; may blackness overwhelm
its light. That night-may thick darkness seize it; may it not be included among
the days of the year nor be entered in any of the months” (Job 3:3-6, NIV).
Shunned by godly people.
There is no historical record of godly people adopting the pagan
practice. The Jews did not celebrate
birthdays. Encyclopedia Judaica notes,
“The celebration of birthdays is unknown in traditional Jewish ritual” (vol. 4,
p. 1054).
It was considered to be against the law of God. Jewish historian
Flavius Josephus wrote: “Nay, indeed, the law does not permit us to make
festivals at the births of our children” (Against Apion, Book II,
section 26).
Early Christians
similarly shunned the pagan tradition. Origen of Alexandria wrote in a
dissertation on Leviticus (245 A.D.): “None of the saints can be found who ever
held a feast or a banquet upon his birthday, or rejoiced on the day when his
son or daughter was born. But sinners rejoice and make merry on such days.
For we find in the Old Testament that Pharaoh, king of Egypt, celebrated his
birthday with a feast, and that Herod, in the New Testament did the same.
But the saints not only neglect to mark the day of their birth with festivity,
but also, filled with the Holy Spirit, they curse this day, after the
example of Job and Jeremiah and David.”
Pagan origins of birthday celebrations.
Necessary for horoscopes.). There is a direct connection between the pagan practice of
birthday celebrations and astrology (horoscopes), as well as fortune-telling in
general. We read in the The Lore of Birthdays by Ralph and Adelin
Linton: "Mesopotamia and Egypt, the cradles of civilization, were also the
first lands in which men remembered and honoured their birthdays. The keeping of birthday records was important
in ancient times principally because a birth date was essential for the casting
of a horoscope."
Encyclopedia Americana (1991) states:
"The ancient world of Egypt, Greece, Rome, and Persia celebrated the
birthdays of gods, kings, and nobles."
Protective spirits or daemons. Author Linda Rannells Lewis (Birthdays)
noted: “In the fifth century before Christ, the Greek historian Herodotus,
describing the festivals of the Persians,
wrote: ‘It is their custom to honor their birthday above all other days: and on
this day they furnish their table in a more plentiful manner than at other
times.’ The Greeks believed that everyone had a protective
spirit or daemon who attended his birth and watched
over him in life.”
The Romans had the same idea. According to
their belief, if a male infant was born, Janus, the god of beginnings, came. If
it was a female child, then Juno, the goddess of birth, women and marriage,
arrived. This notion has been carried down in popular belief and
is today reflected in the persons of the guardian angel, the fairy godmother,
and the patron saint.
Cakes for the moon goddess. The custom of having birthday cakes
started in ancient Greece, where many gods and goddesses were worshipped.
Among them was Artemis, the goddess of the moon. The Greeks celebrated her
birthday once each month by placing round cakes like the full moon on her
temple altars. And, because the moon glows with light, the cakes were decorated
with lighted candles. Birthday candles, in folk belief,
had a special magic for granting wishes.
The Germans started
the children’s birthday party tradition in the 1700s. It was first called kinderfeste (“children’s feast”). They
put candles, one for each year of life, on tortes (rich cakes made with beaten egg whites, nuts, and fruit).
Highest holiday in the Satanic Bible.
The “Black Pope,” Anton Szandor LaVey, founder of the Church of
Satan, taught: "The highest of all
holidays in the Satanic religion is the date of one’s own birthday… if
you are going to create a god in your image, why not create that god as
yourself. Every man is a god if he chooses to recognize himself as one. So, the Satanist celebrates his own birthday
as the most important holiday of the year… treat yourself like the king
(or god) that you are, and generally celebrate your birthday with as much pomp
and ceremony as possible" (The
Satanic Bible, Book of Lucifer – The Enlightenment, Ch. XI, p.
96).
Honoring oneself. A birthday celebration directs attention to oneself in a display
of vanity, self-centered egotism, and pride. The Holy Book cautions: “Pride goeth before destruction, and an
haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverb 16:18). Pride caused the downfall of
Lucifer. “Your heart became proud on
account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor.
So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings” (Ezekiel
28:17).
When a person
celebrates his or her birthday, it is to honor oneself. Yet, the Scriptures
say: “It is not good to eat too much
honey, nor is it honorable to seek one's own honor” (Proverb 25:27, NIV).
Death
more significant than birth.
King Solomon sagely
said, “A good name is better than
precious ointment; and the day of
death than the day of one’s birth” (Ecclesiastes 7:1).
A pastor preached that
the day of one’s birth is not very important; it is just the beginning of
life’s journey. What is far more important is what we do with our lives. It is
like going to school. We do not celebrate after enrolling, we celebrate
when we finish our schooling or graduate. And in life we do not graduate until
death or, at the end-time, until the Second Coming of Christ. Beginning life is
nothing to be proud of. It is how we finish that really matters.
Pagan practices forbidden.
"Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the sky, though the nations are terrified by them. For the customs of the peoples are worthless…” (Jeremiah 10:2-3a, NIV). Following any of the various superstitious practices of people who do things against the will of God is just a waste of time.
God’s law only for Israel? Some may argue that God’s commandments
are only for Israel. The Scriptures explain: “One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for
the stranger that sojourneth with you, an ordinance for ever in your
generations: as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the LORD” (Numbers
15:15).
To paraphrase, if a
foreigner lives with or joins the Israelites in the worship of the one true God
(“YHWH”), he or she is duty-bound to observe the same commandments God has
given to His chosen people – the Hebrew nation or Israel.
Do you celebrate birthdays?
Excerpted from the booklet Unholy
Holidays by M.M. Tauson. Printed copies available at Amazon.com – For free
pdf copies of our e-booklets, click the Booklets and/or Google Drive tabs on
the menu bar.
Bible quotations are from the King James Version (KJV) unless
otherwise indicated.
