The year was 1983, Michael Jackson was on the rise as a music sensation, then Thriller was released in December of that year. Audiences were not ready for what they were about to see. It was more raw, gory and terrifying than anything you would have found in a music video at the time. It redefined what a music video was like and how it could be made. For nearly 14 minutes audiences were shocked, but captivated. In spite of the chill down their spines from the laughter of Vincent Price, they found themselves wanting more of what would become the most watched music video on the planet to this day. [9]
Despite being a music video, Thriller was also deemed on the order of a short film. Fast forward 30 years later to 2013 and Hollywood can’t let go of the same content. Rolling Stone is calling World War Z “smart, shifty and scary”. Apocalyptic scenarios put out by Hollywood have been constant over the past 3 decades. People are fascinated if not obsessed with how the world will end. And why not? The end of the world or at least life as we know it has a very large potential impact on society and each life. What will the future hold? [10]
It didn’t begin there and it doesn’t stop there either. Literature as far back as the Epic of Gilgamesh depicts a goddess reviving a dead person to come back and eat the living. Stories of this type and nature have been depicted in literature across Europe, Asia, North America, Africa, and the Middle East. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein depicts many of the same elements that are found in Zombie stories old and new. Many other Zombie titles are available for the reader including novels and comics. [13][14][16][19]
Modern gaming is rampant with content. Just check out a list from Wikipedia and see how recent the titles are and the many abundant platforms.[18]
The Zombie Apocalypse is basically the same scenario every time. Zombies are coming, they want to kill you, when you’re dead you become one of them. And you behave in a way that is void of thought, mindlessly carrying out a plan to kill. The scenario has become so popular in modern times that the CDC even has a comic book about Zombie preparedness to teach young readers the importance of preparing for an emergency. [11]
Along with Jackson’s Thriller came a disclaimer
“Due to my strong personal convictions, I wish to stress that this film in no way endorses a belief in the occult” – Michael Jackson[12]
Jackson was right on with his associations in Zombie’s being in the realm of the occult. It is important that we understand origins and meanings. Just what is a Zombie? Where does the idea come from? Taking a look across the globe you’ll find the idea of a Zombie arose from two places
1. Africa
2. Haiti
In West Africa a Zombie is an animated corpse that has been brought back to life by the means of witchcraft. A dead person could only be revived by a sorcerer.
From the Niger-Congo region the word “Zombi” is the name of a Voodoo snake, specifically lwa Damballah Wedo. An Iwa or loa is a being between heaven and earth. These spirits are known to be distinct beings with particular traits and characteristics and having specific likes and dislikes. Damballah Wedo is a loa known to be the father of all other loa. Also known as the sky god, this spirit is credited as being the creator of all life and has been syncretized with St. Patrick, Moses, and even Christ. It is believed he rules the mind, intellect, and cosmic equilibrium.[1][2][3][4][14][17][15]
Etymologically the word Zombie is Kikongo word that means fetish god. Fetish comes from the Latin facticius. Facticius is the root word for the Portuguese feitiço and Spanish hechizo, which are translated “charm, sorcery, magic, witchcraft”. Distilling that all down into one definition a Zombie is the god of all that is sorcery and magic. The god of witchcraft. [5][6][7]
The first modern Zombie film White Zombie (1932) largely followed this plotline. Now a public domain film, it has paved the way for the zombie films. Straying a bit from the origins of how Zombies are created director George Romero has created more Zombie films than anyone. He is known as the “Father of the Modern Zombie”. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead caused the boom in pop culture status that Zombie content sees today.[15]
But are these films, comics, and games more than just a social commentary on how the human race would react to a crisis?
The Bible tells us
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king. 1 Samuel 15:23.
Who is the chief rebel?
And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Revelation 12:7-9
The original rebel was Satan. The Bible reveals his plan in this way:
And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.
Contextually the passage is referring to the power in the last days that makes it’s great thrust to force all under it’s will and sway, it is the antichrist power. It is the plan of Satan to bring everyone under his influence.
It is the goal of Satan to have the mind and control a person so that they are simply an animated being bereft of conscious thought. He wants each person so empty of the Spirit of God that another spirit possesses which controls and exhibits behavior and thoughts opposite that of heaven.
It is not a goal that is easily given up. After the wicked dead a resurrected again, Satan rallies his troops for one last struggle. Here is a section from the Great Controversy describing the scene.
Now Satan prepares for a last mighty struggle for the supremacy. While deprived of his power and cut off from his work of deception, the prince of evil was miserable and dejected; but as the wicked dead are raised and he sees the vast multitudes upon his side, his hopes revive, and he determines not to yield the great controversy. He will marshal all the armies of the lost under his banner and through them endeavor to execute his plans. The wicked are Satan’s captives. In rejecting Christ they have accepted the rule of the rebel leader. They are ready to receive his suggestions and to do his bidding. Yet, true to his early cunning, he does not acknowledge himself to be Satan. He claims to be the prince who is the rightful owner of the world and whose inheritance has been unlawfully wrested from him. He represents himself to his deluded subjects as a redeemer, assuring them that his power has brought them forth from their graves and that he is about to rescue them from the most cruel tyranny. The presence of Christ having been removed, Satan works wonders to support his claims. He makes the weak strong and inspires all with his own spirit and energy. He proposes to lead them against the camp of the saints and to take possession of the City of God. With fiendish exultation he points to the unnumbered millions who have been raised from the dead and declares that as their leader he is well able to overthrow the city and regain his throne and his kingdom.In that vast throng are multitudes of the long-lived race that existed before the Flood; men of lofty stature and giant intellect, who, yielding to the control of fallen angels, devoted all their skill and knowledge to the exaltation of themselves; men whose wonderful works of art led the world to idolize their genius, but whose cruelty and evil inventions, defiling the earth and defacing the image of God, caused Him to blot them from the face of His creation. There are kings and generals who conquered nations, valiant men who never lost a battle, proud, ambitious warriors whose approach made kingdoms tremble. In death these experienced no change. As they come up from the grave, they resume the current of their thoughts just where it ceased. They are actuated by the same desire to conquer that ruled them when they fell.Satan consults with his angels, and then with these kings and conquerors and mighty men. They look upon the strength and numbers on their side, and declare that the army within the city is small in comparison with theirs, and that it can be overcome. They lay their plans to take possession of the riches and glory of the New Jerusalem. All immediately begin to prepare for battle. Skillful artisans construct implements of war. Military leaders, famed for their success, marshal the throngs of warlike men into companies and divisions.At last the order to advance is given, and the countless host moves on–an army such as was never summoned by earthly conquerors, such as the combined forces of all ages since war began on earth could never equal. Satan, the mightiest of warriors, leads the van, and his angels unite their forces for this final struggle. Kings and warriors are in his train, and the multitudes follow in vast companies, each under its appointed leader. With military precision the serried ranks advance over the earth’s broken and uneven surface to the City of God. By command of Jesus, the gates of the New Jerusalem are closed, and the armies of Satan surround the city and make ready for the onset. [20] emphasis supplied
The origins are too similar to the biblical account, the parallels from fiction all seem to point to an ideology that we are to be brought under the power of another. The Bible describes his end goal this way.
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10
God does not ask for mindless service.
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Isaiah 1:18
His people are to be distinct in a broken dying world. We are to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light; 1 Peter 2:9
Forgiveness is a thoughtful act offered by a thoughtful God. As we near the end of time the Zombie mentality will be more prevalent. Many will be united in themes that are not for the people of God. The old adage holds true. Just because everyone else is doing something doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. Let us hold fast our profession. And remember that whatever we do in this world, do it as unto the Lord for His honor and glory.
And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. 1 John 2:17
Don’t be a Zombie.
Read.
Think.
Seek.
Live!
References
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zombie
[2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokor
[3]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loa
[4]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damballa
[5]http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=fetish&allowed_in_frame=0
[6]http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=factitious&allowed_in_frame=0
[7]http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=zombie&allowed_in_frame=0
[8]http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/apocalypse
[9]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Jackson’s_Thriller
[10]http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/world-war-z-20130620
[11]http://emergency.cdc.gov/socialmedia/zombies.asp
[12]http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/michael-jackson/5650626/Michael-Jacksons-Thriller-interview-with-director-John-Landis.html
[13]Brown, Nathan Robert. 2010. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Zombies. New York, NY: Penguin
[14]Hamilton, Sue L. 2007. Zombies (The World of Horror). Edino, MN: ABDO Publishing Company.
[15]Krensky, Stephen. 2008. Zombies (Monster Chronicles). Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publications Company.
[16]Pipe, Jim. 2007. Zombies (Tales of Horror). New York NY: Bearport Publishing.
[17]Schuh, Mari C. and Aaron Sautter. 2007. Zombies (Blazers–Monsters). Mankato, MN: Capstone Press.
[18]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_zombie_video_games
[19]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_zombie_novels
[20]White, Ellen G. 1911 The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan The Conflict of the Ages in the Christian Dispensation Mountainview, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association
