BIRTHDAY: WHAT DOES GOD SAY ABOUT THIS PRACTICE?

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Birthday: birthday cake with lighted candles, happy birthday song, lots of gifts—every day, all over the globe, millions of people celebrate birthdays. Should I celebrate it? Is birthday-keeping biblical? Does God agree with this practice? What does God say about it? Is it stated in the Bible that one should not celebrate a birthday? What is wrong with celebrating one’s birthday and giving thanks to God for adding a year to one’s life?

The birthday questions are asked almost every day but so many people lack a deep understanding of the Scriptures concerning this subject.  In the short article, we will build precepts from different parts of the Bible, and at the end of this leaflet, you will have a solid understanding of what God desires of you concerning this subject.

While birthdays may look harmless and fun-filled on the surface: families and friends celebrating you (you the celebrant) and saying good prayers and wishes for you; lighting candles on a specially baked cake; before God in the spirit realm, they mean different things to Him. Now, on the surface this may look normal but deep in the spirit, these activities offer homage and worship to different gods—gods that oppose the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

The Bible instructs us not to be unwise but instead to be wise in understanding what the will of God is:

Ephesians 5:17 “Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.”

Further, I grew up in a church where a birthday celebration was discouraged because it was not holy; and I didn’t celebrate a birthday for a considerable period. However, with the advent of social media, the church that once stood against birthday celebrations descended into it. Because everyone is celebrating a birthday and displaying it on social media, the church that once stood on the sound principle of sanctification and holiness felt the pressure to allow people to go back to this vomit. If a birthday celebration was not holy before the advent of social media, what makes it holy with the advent of social media? The problem was, people never really understood what God says concerning this subject from the first principle, and were just obeying instructions from the church “blindly?”.  God is not the author of confusion and He is consistent when it comes to the standard He requires—the advent of social media does not change what the will of God is.

Furthermore, if someone gives you a symbol that represents Free Masonry, Brotherhood of the Red Cross, Church of Satan, Brahma, Brothers of the Black Cross, or any evil cult you could think of and asks you to use their symbols to worship Jesus or fasten it inside your church building, what would be your reaction? The answer is obvious: many Christians will outrightly reject such things and will have nothing to do with symbols/practices that offer worship to evil spirits. However, when it comes to birthdays the spiritual mental capacity of so many Christians and their leaders has been severely diluted—they cannot discern between left and right—between what God desires and what He doesn’t—between what pleases Him and what doesn’t please Him.

The Bible is our instruction manual and our conversation (our way of life) should be patterned according to what the Bible says. People are eager to come before God with tons of lists of things they want Him to do for them but are not interested in doing things He asks them to do. Whatever is written in the Bible, they are written for our learning.

The fact that birthdays are mentioned in the Bible does not mean we should jump on the wagon and start celebrating it; we need to understand the mind of God concerning this subject. Where is a birthday celebration mentioned in the Bible? Let us see:

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE

There are three occasions where a birthday was celebrated:

1. Genesis 40:1-23: Pharaoh, the Egyptian king, celebrated his birthday. On the day of his birthday, he executed his chief baker. Pharaoh used the occasion of his birthday to kill his baker—disastrous! According to scholars, Pharaoh’s birthday was much more of celebrating his birth as a god rather than his birth into this world.
2. The second account was in the New Testament when king Herod celebrated his birthday (Matthew 14:3-11). During Herod’s birthday celebration, he uttered a promise that eventually led to the death of John the Baptist. Herod was not an Israelite but an Edomite (a Roman) that was ruling Judaea at the time of Jesus Christ. He was a heathen and was practicing what the heathens were accustomed to.
3. The third account is concerning the sons of Job; when each one of them feasted on his/her day (Job 1:4). It was clear the celebrations were not centered on righteousness. Job was worried that his children might have committed sins and he went on to make a sacrifice on their behalf. If it was a righteous celebration Job would not have been worried about them (Job 1:5).  One of the tragedies that took the lives of Job’s children occurred during a birthday celebration. Job cursed the day he was born.

In all three accounts, things didn’t go well—something terrible happened. In the Bible, is there any example where good /positive things happened? There is none. From what we have learned so far, is there a verse that specifically mentioned: “Thou shall not celebrate a birthday?” No, there is none. Continue reading this article and in the end, you will see that this practice (birthday celebration) is garnished with things God hates.

Likewise, the Scriptures give no record of great patriarchs like Abraham, Moses, Sarah, Noah, Abel, Samuel, Job, Esther, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Peter, of when they were born talkless of their birthdays being celebrated. There is nowhere in the Scriptures where great saints of old indulge in a birthday celebration. Their focus was not on birthdays.

Now, some may argue about the birth of Christ and the wise men visit and the gifts they presented to Jesus. Was Christ’s birth mentioned in the Bible? Yes! Are we commanded to celebrate his birth? No, we are not commanded to celebrate His birthday. He commanded us to celebrate/remember his death through the Passover. People invented Christmas as a way of celebrating Christ’s birth, but it should be realised that Christmas is an old pagan tradition that was rebranded as Christian. Christmas—the supposed birthday of Christ, is a Christian-looking sticker on an existing pagan tradition. Read our article on Christmas—Thou Shall Not Do So unto the Lord Thy God. Christmas celebration makes God sick and Christians should stay clear away from this idolatrous pagan-derived holiday. The exact date of Christ’s birth was not mentioned, and none of the disciples celebrated Christ’s birthday or Christmas—none. However, the Scriptures tremendously mention the time of His death (Exodus 12; Leviticus 23:4-5; Numbers 9:1-5; Matthew 26:1-2; John 18:28; I Corinthians 5:7). It should be realised that Easter is not the death and resurrection of Christ; it is the Passover. Christ is our Passover and we should celebrate the Passover with Christ as our Passover Lamb. Easter is not of God—it offers worship and homage to the Babylonian spirits.

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT YOUR DATE OF BIRTH?

Most people, as I had in the past, think that one’s birthday should not go uncelebrated; people feel it is a special day and therefore one should be celebrated by family, friends, and well-wishers. The word of God was written for our instruction and we should take it wholeheartedly and follow the instructions written in it; the instructions written in the Bible are written for our learning.

When it comes to tithing, people are eager to dig deep into the Scriptures for whatever verse they can get to support the doctrine of paying tithe. The very people who tell us: the law is done away with say: when it comes to the tithing law, it is not done away with—you know why! They can quote the passage that talks about Abraham giving a tithe to Melchizedek and say: see, tithing was there even before the law was given; and therefore, members of their church should pay tithe.  Also, the fourth commandment has been there even before the law was given to Moses. This verse (Exodus 20:8-11) says: remember…. REMEMBER means the instruction was there before Moses received the law.

Similarly, if people can go any length to look for Bible verses concerning tithe (or whatever they want the Scriptures to support) to support it, why are people very reluctant and sluggish when it comes to the overwhelming examples of saints of old in the Scriptures—how they conducted themselves with regards to celebrating a birthday? Why are people not following the examples set by these great saints of old documented in the Bible? Are we playing games with the Most High? Is our obedience to the Most High God clicked into gear only when it is convenient? Let us see from the Bible:

Solomon, the wisest man during his time says:

Ecclesiastes 7:1 “A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.”

Why are we not emulating the wisdom of Solomon? Solomon was aware of what was happening in his time and was inspired to write this verse. This verse written by Solomon was not random but an inspiration from God. It was God that gave Solomon wisdom to write this. Why are people not keying into this great wisdom?

Job is on the same page as Solomon. The Spirit of wisdom that was working in Solomon was also working in Job; “After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.” Job 3:1.

Like Job, Jeremiah is saying the same thing:

Time and again, the great saints of old stated: the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth, why are people despising this wisdom? When it comes to tithing, people are quick and eager to embrace every verse that talks about tithe, why can’t we do so with other good examples that the servants of God demonstrated with regards to birthdays? God commended their righteous act. According to the Bible, a day of one’s birth is not a day for feasting, celebration, and bringing/collecting gifts.

ORIGIN OF BIRTHDAYS

Before people drink water from a downstream source, most people often consider the upstream source of that water—whether it is clean or not. People are very careful when it comes to the physical food they consume; people are keen to ensure they don’t eat something harmful. When it comes to spiritual food, why are people reluctant in investigating upstream sources of spiritual foods?

Have you ever wondered where birthday celebrations come from?  The answer to this question is, it originated from the pagan practice of astrology. In ancient times, through astrology (looking into the sky at night and charting stars), people invented calendars through this process. Through this, they calculated the birthdays of kings and rulers. Experts in astrology examined horoscopes because they were keen to know what lies ahead in the future, especially for kings, rulers, and the rich. In time past, people had largely put their faith in birthday horoscopes. Horoscopes, then, were powerful tools for looking into the future to know what lies ahead. Today, sadly, most people (including Christians) are still putting their faith in horoscopes rather than in the Most High God.

Birthday celebration has evolved with time; however, all evolutions related to this pagan practice focus on similar areas—all are deeply rooted in astrology and/or celebrating the birthday of pagan gods. The Egyptians celebrated birthdays with elaborate feasts—mostly focusing on the birthdays of their pagan gods. In ancient Greece, they had birthday clubs and celebrated birthdays with feasts. The Persians, the Romans—all celebrated birthdays with a wide range of elements including cakes, parades, circuses, gladiatorial combats, barbeques (see Figure 1 for some of the elements that have persisted to the present day). Most of these birthdays focused on the celebration of gods and famous people.

Most modern birthday celebrations—where a person receives gifts, a specially baked cake with candle ring—largely originated from Germany. Where did the Germans get this practice from? They copied it from ancient practices.

The Greeks believe everyone had a spirit/demon that protects him/her. This spirit attends one’s birth and watches over the person in Life. This spirit in turn is believed to be related to the god of the day the person was born. These practices were passed to the Romans, who believed everything. The Greeks started the tradition of lighting candles on cakes. The Greeks, as they celebrate the birth of their god Artemis (see Figure 2)—goddess of the moon, would light candles on cake/bread to illuminate it; this was done to represent the glow of the moon.  The rounded cake/bread represents the moon.

The tradition of lighting candles on cakes, and saying one’s wish (or prayer), and blowing it out, is something that is deeply rooted in paganism, idol worship, and horoscope. People may have believed that the smoke from the candles carried their wishes and prayers to gods who lived in the skies.

Also, in ancient Europe, a Winter period can be harsh and may lead to death; not all survive Winter. People celebrate their birthdays with a round cake with a candle ring representing the number of times (years) one survived the Winter—this offers worship to other gods and spirits. In those days, people often said: “Nature (Winter) in the form of cold came to kill us, but we survived it.”  Cake with a lighted candle ring offers worship and gratitude to idols and the gods.

CENTRAL THEME OF BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

From the Egyptians to the Greeks to the Romans to the Germans, birthdays focus on: celebrating the birth of gods, horoscopes, focusing on one’s self, and looking into the future. People celebrated their birthdays by saying wishes for the future and blowing out lighted candles on a cake—all centred around things that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob detest.

WHAT DID GOD SAY ABOUT BIRTHDAYS?

The question that many ask: in the Bible, where is it stated that we should not celebrate birthdays? After all, what’s wrong with celebrating and sharing gifts with your loved ones?  As we have seen from the history of these practices, birthday celebrations in the past were garnished with things that offer worship to other gods—not the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Birthdays were deeply rooted in horoscopes, focusing on one’s self, celebrating the birth of heathen gods, and the desire to know what lies ahead in the future. These are the ways of the heathen. Now, the question that should come to your mind is, WHAT DOES GOD SAY CONCERNING THE WAYS OF THE HEATHEN?

Let us see:

Jeremiah 10:2-4 “Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.”

God says: do not learn these ways. How clear is this! It can’t be clearer than this! The heathens invented all these as a way of celebrating their gods, and also to look into their horoscopes; they say their wishes and prayers to their gods and blow out candles lighted on cakes (see Figure 3).

Today, the birthday that people celebrate, how different is it from the birthdays that developed from ancient times? It is not different! Don’t we bake a cake and put lighted candles on it? Yes, we still do. Don’t we say prayers and wishes and blow out candles lighted on cakes? Yes, we do—we say prayers and wishes and blow out lighted candles on a cake. With the advent of social media, what are the symbols representing birthdays—whether on Facebook, WhatsApp, or other social App? The same symbols they were using in the time past are the same thing we are using today—picture/icon of rounded cake with candles on it. We are not doing something new.

This is what God instructed Israel to do:

The way they celebrated their god Artemis, people (including Christians) have copied the same pattern and are using it; why are people disregarding the command of God? The way they prayed to pagan spirits, gods, and guardian spirits, people copied the same pattern and did the same thing. God says: don’t copy these ways and present them to me.

Now get this right, there is nothing wrong in giving thanks to the Most High God, but the question is, how should one do it? One should give thanks to God the way He asks us to; we should not set up altars and symbols that offer worship to other gods in the name of “birthdays”. People often feel pressured to do all these things because others are doing it. With the advent of social media, the pressure gets nuclear. In most cases, the practice of “birthdays” is garnished with things that the Most High God hates. Give thanks to God but do it in the way He asks you to—no strange fires—no practices of the heathens.

Do you think the Most High God is happy when people display symbols, objects and inscriptions representing and offering worship to other gods? Let us find out from the Bible.

Notice verse 10, can you see that the Most High God is furious with all the idolatrous objects portrayed on the wall? The Most High God is jealous and does not tolerate things that offer worship to other spirits even by the tiniest amount. People often feel that their life would be less by not lighting a candle on a cake. Not doing these things will not make your life less or more—don’t feel pressured.

WHAT DID CHRISTIANS DO?

Today, Christians have done the opposite; each year, Christians come before God with tons of payer requests and expect God to honour His promises and answer their prayers, but are not willing to stop learning the ways of the heathen. Many Christians are aware that the practice of birthday celebration is deeply rooted in paganism, idol worship, horoscopes—all are practices that God hates, but think they can make “lighting candles on cakes” acceptable before God.  Most Christians think that by just taking the name of Jesus and pasting it over these practices as a sticker, God will accept it—this is ignorance! The commandment of God is clear: do not learn the ways of the heathen. But, as we have seen, the practice of birthday celebration originated from heathenish practices, and they have retained their forms till this date. So God said:  DO NOT LEARN THEIR WAYS.

SUMMARY

Birthday celebrations are ways of the heathens (the Gentiles). Why are they the ways of the heathens? This practice originated from the heathens—their horoscopes, praying to gods, focusing on themselves, and seeking to know the future. Today, the birthday that people celebrate, people have copied exactly how the heathens did it in the past. What people are doing today is not different from the past. God said: do not learn the ways of heathen. No one can bring a clean thing out of the unclean (Job 14:4). Pasting the name of Jesus/God on something that God hates does not make it clean. God took the pain of instructing His people through Jeremiah, and He is serious concerning what He said through Jeremiah—DO NOT LEARN THE WAYS OF THE HEATHEN.