Thursday, December 17, 2009

Twilight

Twilight: the time of day where there is enough light to see, but not enough to see clearly.

First of all, I’d like to start off by saying that, unlike some others who have criticized the Twilight books, I have read the books. I would also like to say that this is NOT an attack on the author or anyone who reads/ enjoys the books. In all honesty, this is not really about the books at all, but I hope to make that clear by the end.

Like I said, I read the books. I didn’t when I first heard about them, because I avoided vampire stories in general. Then, I noticed that more and more people were reading them, including some people whose opinions I trust. So, after seeing the movie, I was really curious. I was interested in the ways that the author seemed to avoid some of the “standard vampire” stuff and how she seemed to give a more “science-based” explanation for things than the mystical/ demonic theme. I read the first book and really enjoyed it. A lot. And I wanted to read the second one. A lot. It took a few days to get a copy of the other books, so by the time I did I REALLY wanted to know what happened next. ( those who have read the books and enjoyed them can relate). I had a free day (some how. . .still can’t figure out how that happened) and read the second book in about eight hours. . . and started the third one the same day. By this time, I was driven to know. In all, I finished all four books in six days—four days of actual reading. This should have been my first warning. I missed it.

I found myself restarting the series because I wanted more.

Then, I heard some of my Wednesday night students talking about the books and I noticed that a lot of people were really getting wrapped up in the stories too.

About this time, our church celebrated its 40th anniversary and our pastor’s 70th birthday. God opened up a flood of revelation about the church and a host of other things. . . including these books I’d been reading.

I was really looking forward to the next movie to come out. I spent a lot of time thinking about the series—particularly where my students were concerned. They range in age from 10 to 12/ 13. I have been trying to teach them about the importance of reading and KNOWING their Bibles.

At this point, I need to give a brief overview of the story for those who have not read them.

The story is about Bella, an ordinary girl, who falls in love with a vampire, Edward. Edward is part of a “family” of vampires. These vampires, the Cullens, don’t kill people; they hunt animals instead.

It was on that note that God inspired me to ask myself, “What difference does that make?” That is when it hit me. The danger for kids to be reading these lay in that question. I knew that if I asked my students , “what makes the Cullens good and other vampires bad?” they would answer because the Cullens don’t eat people. My father is a Bible scholar, so I was raised with reading the Bible cover to cover. So I was aware of a scripture (one I had made myself forget/ ignore to read these books) that is very important to all of this.

Leviticus 19:26 Do not eat any meat with the blood still in it. Do not practice divination or sorcery.

Anyone else find it interesting that God associates consumption of blood to communing with spirits?

Leviticus 7:

26 And wherever you live, you must not eat the blood of any bird or animal. 27 If anyone eats blood, that person must be cut off from his people.' "

Leviticus 17:10 (New International Version)

1 The LORD said to Moses,. . . . (check it out)

10 " 'Any Israelite or any alien living among them who eats any blood—I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from his people.

Deuteronomy 12

16 But you must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water.

23 But be sure you do not eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat. 24 You must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water. 25 Do not eat it, so that it may go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is right in the eyes of the LORD.

Leviticus 7:26 was particularly interesting to me. It says specifically not birds or animals, which is exactly what the Cullens did. But people will always say that that is what makes them “good.” Here is the problem: the books set up a standard for good and evil that is contrary to Scripture, and we accept it without even realizing that we are doing it.

Once that settled in, the door was open for God to reveal many more things.

There are numerous distorted parallels to Scriptures. For instance: Dr. Cullen is the “father” of the Cullen family. He is the one who “turned” most of the family into vampires. So, look at this. This “father” chose out individuals who were doomed and already dying. He transforms them into a new creation and adopts them into a family. ( the transformation takes about three days, by the way) This new creation can live forever. The books do not describe this so bluntly, but it IS what happens. I want to point out again that I read these books and enjoyed them, so, remember that none of these things I am describing are obvious until you look for them. This is NOT what the story is about. I don’t think that the author was trying to do these things. In fact, if you have heard an interview with her, (available on youtube.com ) she got the premise for these books from a dream that she couldn’t let go of. She was as obsessed with the story as much as her readers are. She had never even written a story before. She openly says that the biggest amazement to her was not the dream, but how when she went to write it down, the words just flowed for her. I submit for the readers’ consideration that the dream had a spiritual source and that the spirit was NOT God.

In the books, the vampires say that twilight is their favorite time of day because it is the time where they can be out in the light without being seen for what they are. John 3: 19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. 20 All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. 21 But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”

The reason given in the book was that when vampires come into sunlight, their skin sparkles like diamonds in their skin. 2 Corinthians 11: 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.

Dr. Cullen was the son of a preacher. When he was attacked and changed, he hated what he had become and eventually decided to hunt animals instead of people. (Humans are, by far, the preferred . . . prey… for vampires, so this is a huge struggle prominent in the stories.) Dr. Cullen holds on to the hope that there is still a chance for their redemption ( a chance for heaven) even though they are “evil creatures.” Edward, the boyfriend vampire, disagrees. Arguing this concept takes up quite a bit of conversation throughout the books. All of this sets up the background for Edward to point at a large wooden cross hanging in the Cullen home (it was from Dr. Cullen’s father’s church) and refer to it as the “family joke.” I think that this is a “signature” of the demonic influence inspiring the writing.

All of these things were going on in my mind to try and explain why it wasn’t a good idea for kids to read these stories. The whole time, though, I was carefully phrasing my arguments for the kids specifically. Then I heard God say, “What are you working so hard to justify?” That’s when I realized that I was still trying to work all of this out in my head so that it would be okay for me to go see the next movie. “It’s just not good for the kids. Right. That’s when I saw that I was showing signs of addiction. Denial, obsessive behavior, needing more (a fix). . . . why else was I re-reading the series again after less than a week. There is something really not right with these stories. They shouldn’t stay with a person like they do. I would probably have dismissed this revelation as nothing but my own problem, but then I noticed that other people talked about the books the same way, not that they were addicted, but that they LOVED reading them, and that they were their FAVORITE books and so on. Have you ever noticed how MANY people are crazy about these books? Watch interviews on youtube.com http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv2Jxu7VS2c http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJKeLtHsixU&feature=related

Again, I do not think that the author meant anything but a story in all this, But I DO think that there is a very real and dangerous spiritual influence behind it that is following these books. Which leads me to my biggest point: If I hadn’t known those scriptures already and hadn’t already been seeking God and His voice, I would have missed this.

Please read 2 Thessalonians 2.

2 Thessalonians 2

Events prior to the Lord’s Second Coming

1 Now, dear brothers and sisters, let us clarify some things about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we will be gathered to meet him. 2 Don’t be so easily shaken or alarmed by those who say that the day of the Lord has already begun. Don’t believe them, even if they claim to have had a spiritual vision, a revelation, or a letter supposedly from us. 3 Don’t be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed—the one who brings destruction. 4 He will exalt himself and defy everything that people call god and every object of worship. He will even sit in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God.

5 Don’t you remember that I told you about all this when I was with you? 6 And you know what is holding him back, for he can be revealed only when his time comes. 7 For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way. 8 Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed, but the Lord Jesus will kill him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by the splendor of his coming.

9 This man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. 10 He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. 11 So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies. 12 Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth.

The devil HATES us and is and has been working to use any and every method he can to undermine God’s influence in our lives.

I am not judging anyone, or telling anyone what to do. But if I see a lion in the streets, I’m not going to stay quiet. I’m going to say “LOOK OUT!”

May God bless any who read these words and have them take what He would from them. God is Good.

I would like to point out that I do not intend to teach on any of this in my Wed. night class. I'll talk to parents who are interested, but I'm not going to get into something like this without specific parental consent.