Red Protection

Late last week, while I was walking along the river, I noticed a red shirt suspended from someone's fence on a hanger.



A few days later, a neighbor of ours hung a red shirt up on the fence by the gate to their property.



Then we noticed all over our village that red shirts were on display.







 


 







And, apparently, if you have no red shirt, you can use a piece of fabric.



What's going on here?  Did we miss a memo?

Turns out there is a local belief in the Isaan region regarding the Widow Spirit, known as Phee Mae My.  When an seemingly fit individual dies unexpectedly in their sleep, the Widow Spirit is suspected.  Two weeks ago, in a nearby province, it was reported in the news that in one village, 3 healthy men, aged 47, 23 and 60, all died within a week's time.  When this happened, two local men recalled strange things that happened just prior to that.  One reported seeing an unusual light in the sky at night.  Another reported having a scary vision of a tall dark-skinned person.  In other reports I've read, people have reported seeing this spirit as a beautiful young woman dressed in white.

The local name for these nocturnal deaths Lai Tai, an Isaan term which roughly translates unconscious sleep death. Technically it is considered a version of Sudden Unexplained Nocturnal Death Syndrome (SUNDS).

At any rate, there are several precautions that households will take to keep the men of the house from suffering the fate of Lai Tai.  The most common and obvious thing is to hang red shirts at doorways or gates to yards.  Some will put up signs saying, "there are no men here".  Villages or individuals may put up red-painted phallic objects.  People will restrict evening activities outside of the house so the widow spirit will have less opportunity to encounter men while they are out and about.

We've heard that there have been three or four people who have died in our village that has caused people of our village to be concerned about the Widow Spirit.  The red shirts we've seen in this area have been confined to a single village.  We've not seen the use of phallic objects or signs declaring that there are no men around.

The Bible also records an instance of things being painted red to avoid death at night.  The night that Israel escaped captivity to Egypt, the people painted their doorposts with blood so they would not suffer loss when God killed the firstborn of all people and animals in Egypt. We read in Exodus 12:7 and 13:

Then they shall take some of the blood (of the passover lamb) and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it...
The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt. 

Red is still able to keep us from death.  The cross was stained red by the blood of Jesus.  He was the Passover Lamb that was sacrificed for us, as we read in 1 Corinthians 5:7, "For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed."

Because Jesus has been sacrificed for us,  we need not fear death. By his resurrection from the dead, Jesus has conquered death.

⁵¹But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! ⁵²It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. ⁵³For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.
⁵⁴Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.
⁵⁵O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?"
     1 Corinthians 15:51-55 (NLT)

We who know Jesus also do not need fear the Widow Spirit or any other spirit.  For to those who believe in Jesus, He gives His spirit, which is greater than all others.

² This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God.  ³ But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here. 
⁴ But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. 
     1 John 4:2-4 (NLT)

We have authority over the spirits.  We do not need to be afraid of them.  We do not need red shirts to scare them away. We can go out at night without being afraid that we might inadvertently lead some demon back to our house.

¹⁹Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you.  ²⁰But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven.
     Luke 10:19-20 (NLT)

Praise be to God, because Jesus is enough...
     ...enough to free us from the power of death
     ...enough so that we need not fear the spirits.