Holidays or Holy Days: Which do we honor?
"When God, your God, cuts off the nations whose land you are invading, shoves them out of your way so that
you displace them and settle in their land, be careful that you don't get curious about them after they've been destroyed
before you. Don't get fascinated with their gods, thinking, 'I wonder what it was like for them, worshiping their gods. I'd
like to try that myself.' Don't do this to God, your God. They commit every imaginable abomination with their gods.
God hates it all with a passion. Why, they even set their children on fire as offerings to their gods!
Diligently do everything I command you, the way I command you: don't add to it; don't subtract from it."
Deuteronomy 12:29-32 (The Message Translation)
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Holidays or God's Holy Days, which are we suppose to honor? Are God's Holy Days only for the Jews to obey? Is Christmas really a day that we should be celebrating? Should we honor the days of St. Valentine's, Halloween, St. Patrick's, or Easter?
Christian Holidays are ancient pagan feasts that were ushered in by the Roman Catholic Church during the rule of emperor Constantine. Constantine was a pagan sun-worshipper who had a "Christian experience" that wanted to unite his empire, both Christian and pagan together. He achieved this by re-writing history and re-naming pagan feasts with Christian names.
These are just some of the questions the Body of Christ has to answer for themselves. So what does the Bible say concerning this? The Scripture above comes from Deuteronomy 12:29-32 and is a warning to God's children (Israel) about following after strange gods and their customs/ traditions. God has also warned us about this in Ezekiel 23:37-39; Zephaniah 1:5; and Jeremiah 10:2-8. In Jeremiah 10:2, God warns His people against following the gentile (non-Israelites) practices of worshiping the heavenly bodies (like the sun on December 25) and against astrology in general. In the same chapter, verses 3-5, God describes some of their idolatrous customs. They cut a tree from the forest, shaped it with an ax and overlaid it with precious metals. Although this account is specifically referring to the making of an idol (verses 6-8), God's command, "Do not learn the way of the Gentiles," applies to all pagan customs/ traditions. Christmas trees, mistletoe and colorful lights that come from pagan winter-solstice celebrations, rabbits and Easter eggs as fertility symbols, and demonic concepts at Halloween, all fit this prohibition. Then in Ezekiel 23:37-39 it appears that Israel practiced one of the customs like those associated with the Saturnalia and worship of Saturn--the sacrificing of children--and then came to worship God on one of His Sabbaths! Through the prophet Zephaniah God decried "those who worship the host of heaven on the housetops; those who worship and swear oaths by the Lord, but who also swear by Milcom" (Zephaniah 1:5). God is not pleased when people are double-minded (James 1:8, 4:8) in their worship--accepting false religions, customs and traditions while professing to worship Him.
So let's once again take a walk through the Word of God and see what He says concerning these things-- Holidays or God's Holy Days! Whether such humanly designed inventions and alterations are acceptable worship to our Creator God.
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Over the last two millennia, traditional Christianity has systematically laid aside the "feast days of the Lord" and established its own holidays. Christmas was established to enable pagan converts to come into church fellowship without forsaking their heathen customs and practices. Easter is a replacement for the biblical Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread. Even the weekly Sabbath was abandoned in favor of Sunday, supposedly to commemorate Jesus' resurrection (which we will demonstrate later, did not take place on Sunday morning). Although we should immediately recognize that overruling God's instructions is dangerous behavior.
During their years in Egypt, the Israelites were exposed to Egyptian culture and worship. In the Unger's Bible Dictionary it talks concerning this culture of Egypt. "The Egyptian relifion was an utterly bewildering polytheistic coglomeration in which many deities of the earliest periods, when each town had its own deity, were retained... Every object beheld, every phenomenon of nature, was thought to be indwelt by a spirit which could choose its own form, occupying the body of a crocodile, a fish, a cow, a cat, etc. Hence the Egyptians had numerous holy animals, principally the bull, the cow, the cat, the baboon, the jackal, and the crocodile" (1966, p. 291, "Egypt"). Shortly after miraculously delivering the Israelites from their bondage in Egypt, God instructed them how He wanted to be worshiped. He gave them His commandments (Exodus 20), along with statutes and judgments detailing how to apply them (Exodus 21-22). God revealed His feast days (Leviticus 23) and gave directions regarding a priesthood, tabernacle and offerings (Exodus 25-31). God told Moses to climb Mount Sinai and gave him two tablets of stone engraved with the Ten Commandments (Exodus 24:12;31:18).
When Moses delayed coming down from Mount Sinai (Exodus 32:1), Aaron and the people decided to mix the Egyptian form of worship with the instructions they had just received from God. The practice of blending religious beliefs and practices is known as "syncretism." After creating a golden image of a calf, Aaron proclaimed the next day a holiday--"a feast to the Lord" (verses 4-5). They then "rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry" (verse 6). This celebration combined God's instruction with Egyptian religious practice and tradition. God was not pleased. He told Moses: "Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them" (verse 7-8). God shows from His Word He expects more from those who claim to follow Him. He wants people to worship Him "in spirit and in truth" (John 4:23-24)--not in corrupted, vile practices rooted in worship of other gods.
The Israelites were in no way justified in departing from the God-ordained instructions introduced in the wilderness. God was so angered by their actions that He was ready to destroy the nation (Exodus 32:10). Only because of Moses' pleading did God relent and spare them (verses 11-14). Ancient Israel's experiment with combining parts of God's instruction with pagan customs and elements was a disaster. In punishment for this sin, 3,000 men lost their lives (verses 27-28). The remaining people had to drink water polluted with the ground-up idol, pulverized into powder (verse 20). Being presumptuous--taking unauthorized liberty to do things such as altering God's instructions for worship--is sinful. The Bible describes the Israelites' actions as "a great sin" (verses 21,30,31). God's law is clear concerning presumptuous behavior (Numbers 15:30-31).
So on that note... let's look at these holiday's that man has set up to replace God's Holy Festivals! In honor of the season... let's start with Christmas.
The Real Truth About Christmas:
It's called the spirit of Christmas--the ringing of sleigh bells on a snowy night, Tiny Tim turning the heart of Scrooge in Charles Dickens' famous novel A Christmas Carol, Santa Claus and flying reindeer. For many, it seems, the birth of Jesus takes a backseat to mythology, packed shopping malls and greed. Every year, signs in front of neighborhood churches remind people to put Christ back into Christmas--or proclaim "Jesus is the reason for the season."
But is He really the reason?
Earl Count, a Episcopal priest, wrote a book entitled 4,000 Years of Christmas: A Gift From the Ages (1997). He enthusiastically relates historical connections between the exchanging of gifts on the 12 days of Christmas and customs originating in ancient, pagan Babylon. He shows that mistletoe was adopted from Druid mystery rituals and that December 25 has more to do with the ancient Roman Saturnalia celebration than with Jesus.
"You see nowhere in the New Testament do we see Jesus' disciples observing His birthday. A matter of fact, to the early Christians the idea of celebrating the birthday of a religious figure would have seemed at best peculiar, at worst blasphemous. Being born into this world was nothing to celebrate. What mattered was leaving this world and entering the next (the Kingdom of God) in a condition pleasing to God. When early Christians associated a feast day with a specific person, such as a bishop or martyr, it was usually the date of the person's death... If you wanted to search the New Testament world for peoples who attached significance to birthdays, your search would quickly narrow to pagans. The Romans celebrated the birthdays of the Caesars, and most unchristian Mediterranean religions attached importance to the natal feasts of a pantheon of supernatural figures. If Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, and his purpose in coming was anything like what is supposed, then in celebrating his birthday each year Christians do violence, not honor, to His memory. For in celebrating a birthday at all, we sustain exactly the kind of tradition His coming is thought to have been designed to cast down" (Tom Flynn, The Trouble With Christmas, 1993, p. 42).
In fact, as late as the third century the early Catholic theologian Origen declared that it was a sin to celebrate Christmas, viewing it as pagan. "As early as A.D. 245, the Church father Origen was proclaiming it heathenish to celebrate Christ's birthday as if He were merely a temporal ruler when His spiritual nature should be the main concern. This view was echoed throughout the centuries, but found strong, widespread advocacy only with the rise of Protestantism. To these serious-minded, sober clerics, the celebration of Christmas flew in the face of all they believed. Drunken revelry on Christmas! The day was not even known to be Christ's birthday. It was merely an excuse to continue the customs of pagan Saturnalia" (Gerard and Patricia Del Re, p. 20)."
"On June 3, 1647, Parliament established punishments for observing Christmas and certain other holidays. This policy was reaffirmed in 1652..." (Gerard and Patricia Del Re, p. 20).
Encyclopedia Britannica adds: "The Fathers of the 2nd and 3rd centuries, such as Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Epiphanius, contended that Christmas was a copy of a pagan celebration" (15th edition, Macropaedia, Vol. IV, p. 499, "Christianity"). The decision to celebrate Christ's birth on December 25 was far from universally accepted. "Christians of Armenia and Syria accused the Christians of Rom of sun worship for celebrating Christmas on December 25... Pope Leo the Great in the fifth century tried to remove certain practices at Christmas which he considered in no way different from sun worship" (Robert Myers, Celebrations: The Complete Book of American Holidays, 1972, p. 310).
Indeed, of all times of the year suggested as the birth of Christ, December 25 could not be the date (click here to see, "Why Jesus Christ Wasn't Born on December 25,.")
Even colonial America considered Christmas more of a raucous revelry than a religious occasion. "So tarnished, in fact, was its reputation in colonial America that celebrating Christmas was banned in Puritan New England, where the noted minister Cotton Mather described yuletide merrymaking as 'an affront unto the grace of God'" (Jeffery Sheler, U.S. News & World Report, "In Search of Christmas," December 23. 1996, p. 56).
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So what is Christmas really about? How did it come about to be? Who claimed it to be Jesus Christ birthday? Let's find out now the history of December 25!
History of December 25:
During the second century B.C., the Greeks practiced rites to honor their god Dionyses (also called Bacchus). The Latin name for this celebration was Bacchanalia. It spread from the Greeks to Rome, center of the Roman Empire. "It was on or about December 21st that the ancient Greeks celebrated what are known to us as the Bacchanalia or festivities in honor of Bacchus, the god of wine. In these festivities the people gave themselves up to songs, dances and other revels which frequently passed the limits of decency and order" (Walsh, p. 65). Because of the nocturnal orgies associated with this festival, the Roman senate suppressed its observance in 186 B.C. It took the senators several years to completely accomplish this goal because of the holiday's popularity. Suppressing a holiday was unusual for the Romans since they later became a melting pot of many types of gods and worship. Just as the Romans assimilated culture, art and customs from the peoples absorbed into their empire, they like wise adopted those peoples' religious practices and traditions.
In addition to the Bacchanalia, the Romans celebrated another holiday, the Saturnalia, held "in honor of Saturn, the god of time, [which] began on December 17th and continued for seven days. These also often ended in riot and disorder. Hence the words Bacchanalia and Saturnalia acquired an evil reputation in later times" (Walsh, p. 65). The reason for the Saturnalia's disrepute is revealing. In pagan mythology Saturn was an "ancient agricultural god-king who ate his own children presumably to avoid regicide[hi own murder while king]. And Saturn was parallel with a Carthaginian Baal, whose brazen horned effigy contained a furnace into which children were sacrificially fed" (Gerard and Patricia Del Re, The Christmas Almanac, 1979, p. 44).
Notice the customs surrounding the Saturnalia: "All businesses were closed except those that provided food or revelry. Slaves were made equal to masters or even set over them. Gambling, drinking, and feasting were encouraged. People exchanged gifts, called strenae, from the vegetation goddess Strenia, whom it was important to honor at midwinter...Men dressed as women or in the hides of animals [reindeer] and caroused in the streets. Candles and lamps were used to frighten the spirits of darkness, which were considered powerful at this time of year. At its most decadent and barbaric, Saturnalia may have been the excuse among Roman soldiers in the East for the human sacrifice of the king of the revels" (Gerard and Patricia Del Re, The Christmas Almanac, 1979, p. 16). Both of these ancient holidays were observed around the winter solstice--the day of the year with the shortest period of daylight. "From the Romans also came another Christmas fundamental: the date, December 25. When the Julian calendar was proclaimed in 46 C.E.[A.D.], it set into law a practice that was already common: dating the winter solstice as December 25..." (Tom Flynn, The Trouble With Christmas, 1993, p. 42).
Why was this date significant? "The time of the winter solstice has always been an important season i the mythology of all peoples. The sun, the giver of life, is at its lowest ebb. It is the shortest daylight of the year, the promise of spring is buried in cold and snow. It is the time when the forces of chaos that stand against the return of light and life must once again be defeated by the gods. At the low point of the solstice, the people must help the gods through imitative magic and religious ceremonies. The sun begins to return in triumph. The days lengthen and, though winter remains, spring is once again conceivable. For all people, it is a time of great festivity" (Gerard and Patrica Del Re, p. 15). During the days of the apostles in the first century, the early Christians had no knowledge of Christmas as we know it. But, as a part of the Roman Empire, they may have noted the Roman observance of the Saturnalia while they kept their customary "feasts of the Lord" listed in Leviticus 23. Over the following centuries, new, humanly devised observances such as Christmas and Easter were gradually introduced into traditional Christianity. History shows that these new days were forcibly promoted while the feast days of the apostolic times were systematically rejected. "Christmas, the purported festival of the birth of Jesus Christ, was established in connection with a fading of the expectation of Christ's imminent return" (Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th edition, Macropaedia, Vol. IV, p. 499, "Christianity"). The message of Jesus Christ and the apostles--"the gospel of the Kingdom of God" (Mark 1:14-15)--was soon lost. The Christmas celebration shifted Christianity's focus away from Christ's promised returned to His birth. But is this what the Bible asks Christians to do?
The explanation of December 25 becoming an official Roman celebration is given by Garard and Patricia Del Re: "Saturnalia and the kalends [new moon] were the celebrations most familiar to early Christians, December 17-24 and January 1-3, but the tradition of celebrating December 25 as Christ's birthday came to the Romans from Persia. Mithra, the Persian god of light and sacred contracts, was born out of a rock on December 25. Rome was famous for its flirtations with strange gods and cults, and i the third century [274 A.D.] the unchristian emperor Aurelian established the festival of Dies Invicti Solis, the Day of the Invincible Sun, on December 25. "Mithra was an embodiment of the sun, so this period of its rebirth was a major day in Mithraism, which had become Rome's latest official religion with the patronage of Aurelian. It is believed that the emperor Constantine adhered to Mithraism up to the time of his conversion to Christianity. He was instrumental in seeing that the major feast of his old religion was carried over to his new faith" (The Christmas Almanac 1979, p. 17). Christmas was not made a Roman holiday until 534 A.D. It took 300 years for the new name and symbols of Christmas to replace the old names and meaning of the midwinter festival, a pagan celebration that reaches back so many centuries. Its origins cannot be traced back to either the teachings or practices of the earliest Christians. The introduction of Christmas represented a significant departure from " the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 1:3).
Other pagan festivals that greatly influenced the Christmas traditions practiced today was the Teutonic feast of the Twelve Nights [songs like a familiar Christmas song], celebrated from December 25 to Jan 6. This festival was based on the supposed mythological warfare between the forces of nature--specifically winter (called the ice giant) which signified death, vs. the sun god, representing life. The winter solstice marked the turning point: Up until then the ice giant was at his zenith of power; after that the sun god began to prevail. "As Christianity spread to northern Europe, it met with the observance of another pagan festival held in December in honor of the sun. This time it was the Yule-feast of the Norsemen, which lasted twelve days [there's that song again]. During this time log-fires were burnt to assist the revival of the sun. Shrines and other sacred places were decorated with such greenery as holly, ivy, and bay, and it was an occasion for feasting and drinking.
"Equally old was the practice of the Druids, the caste of priests among the Celts of ancient France, Britain and Ireland, to decorate their temples with mistletoe, the fruit of the oak-tree which they considered sacred. Among the German tribes the oak-tree was sacred to Odin, their god of war, and they sacrificed to it until St Boniface, in the eighth century, persuaded them to exchange it for the Christmas tree, a young fir-tree adorned in honor of the Christ child...It was the German immigrants who took the custom to America" (L.W. Cowie and John Selwyn Gummer, The Christian Calendar, 1974, p. 22). Instead of worshiping the sun god, converts were told to worship the Son of God. The focus of the holiday subtly changed, but the traditional pagan customs and practices remained fundamentally unchanged. Old religious customs involving holly, ivy, mistletoe and evergreen trees were merely dressed up in Christian attire. Jesus Christ warns us to beware of things that masquerade as something they are not (Matthew 7:15). Christmas is a diverse collection of pagan forms of worship overlaid with a veneer of Christianity.
"This was no mere accident. It was a necessary measure at a time when the new religion Christianity was forcing itself upon a deeply superstitious people. In order to reconcile fresh converts to the new faith, and to make the breaking of old ties as painless as possible, these relics of paganism were retained under modified forms... Thus we find that when Pope Gregory [540-604 A.D.] sent Saint Augustine as a missionary to convert Anglo-Saxon England he directed that so far as possible the saint should accommodate the new and strange Christian rites to the heathen ones with which the natives had been familiar from their births. For example, he advised Saint Augustine to allow his converts on certain festivals to eat and kill a great number of oxen to the glory of God the Father, as formerly they had done this in honor of their gods... On the very Christmas after his arrival in England Saint Augustine baptized many thousands of converts and permitted their usual December 25 celebration under the new name and with the new meaning" (William Walsh, p. 61). Gregory permitted such importation of pagan religious practices on the grounds that when dealing with "obdurate minds it is impossible to cut off everything at once" (William Sansom, A Book of Christmas, p. 30).
So you see that the ancient festivals, although, went by many names in various cultures. In Rome it was called the Saturnalia, in honor of Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture. The observance was adopted by early Roman church leaders and given the name of Christ ("Christ Mass," or Christmas) to conciliate the heathen and swell the number of the nominal adherents of Christianity. The tendency on the part of third-century Catholic leadership was to meet paganism halfway-a practice made clear in a bitter lament by the Carthaginian philosopher Tertullian. In 230 A.D. he wrote of the inconsistency of professing Christians. He contrasted their lax and political practices with the strict fidelity of the pagans to their own beliefs:
"By us who are strangers to Sabbaths, and new moons, and festivals [the biblical festivals
spelled out in Leviticus 23], once acceptable to God, the Saturnalia, the feasts of January,
the Brumalia, and Matronalia, are now frequented; gifts are carried to and fro, new year's
day presents are made with din, and sports and banquets are celebrated with uproar;
oh, how much more faithful are the heathen to their religion, who take special care to
adopt no solemnity from the Christians" (Hislop, p. 93).
Failing to make much headway in converting the pagans, the religious leaders of the Roman church began compromising by dressing the heathen customs in Christian-looking garb. But, rather than converting them to the church's beliefs, the church became largely converted to non-Christian customs in its own religious practices. Although at first the early Catholic Church censured this celebration, "The festival was far too strongly entrenched in popular favor to be abolished, and the Church finally granted the necessary recognition, believing that if Christmas could not be suppressed, it should be preserved in honor of the Christian God. Once given a Christian basis the festival became fully established in Europe with many of its pagan elements undisturbed" (Man, Myth & Magic: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Mythology, Religion, and the Unknown, Richard Cavendish, editor, 1983, Vol 2, p;l. 480, "Christmas").
Where did Christmas Symbols Originate:
Evergreens- symbolize immortality and the continuity of life... The Romans docorated their homes and public places with evergreens near the time of the winter solstice. Among the forerunners of today's holiday gifts were strenae, tree branches presented to political and military leaders as tokens of loyalty.
Mistletoe- associated with both magic and fertility. Sprigs of mistletoe were once fastened over the conjugal bed on the wedding night. Our modern use of mistletoe as a social aphrodisiac is clearly related.
Christmas Trees- Ancient Egyptians viewed the evergreen tree as a fertility symbol. During the winter solstice they decorated their homes with palm fronds, using them as Romans would later use boughs of fir.
Gift Giving-Christian legend assumes that the tradition began when the Magi presented gifts to the baby Jesus [Although the Magi presenting gifts to Jesus has nothing to do with Christmas or His birth. It was a custom to always show up with a gift when you went before a King/ Prophet. It was a way of showing honor and respect.]...To believe that you have to pitch centuries of history out behind the manger. Long before New Testament times, the Romans were exchanging gifts" (Tom Flynn, The Trouble With Christmas, 1993, pp. 19, 37-40, emphasis in original).
Santa Klaus- The trappings associated with his fur-trimmed wardrobe, sleigh and reindeer-reveal his origin from the cold climates of the far North. Some sources trace him to the ancient Northern European gods Woden and Thor, from which the days of the week Wednesday (Wooden's day) and Thursday (Thor's day) get their designations (Earl and Alice Count, pp. 56-64). Others trace him even farther back in time to the Roman god Saturn and the Greek god Silenus (William Walsh, The Story of Santa Klaus, pp. 70-71). He is a pagan mockery of Christ!
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New Age authors repeatedly state that the supreme head of the Planetary Logos -- their supreme leader -- is named Sanat Kumara. Master D.K., speaking through Alice Bailey, defines Sanat Kumara as the "life and informing intelligence upon and within our planet." [ The Externalisation of the Hierarchy, Alice A. Bailey, Page 676]. Later, Sanat Kumara is identified by another title: The Lord of the World [Page 735]. Of course, this is synonymous to one of the Biblical titles for Satan. In John 12:31, 14:30, and 16:11, Jesus called Satan the "Prince of the World". Thus, there can be no doubt that the Sanat, the New Age supreme head, whom they call, the "Lord of the World" is none other than Satan, whom Jesus called "Prince of the World". Sanat is simply and only a translocation of the word, Satan. Sanat equals Satan. There is no doubt, especially when you realize that the Plan to produce the New World Order of Sanat is identical to the Biblical prophecy of how Satan is going to act in the End of the Age.
Santa equals Satan.
Now, please allow me to introduce to you another translation of the word, Satan.
Santa. As in Santa Claus.
Before you react too quickly, please take the time to read this comparison between the Biblical teachings about Jesus Christ and the mythical teachings of Santa Claus. Many, many Christian pastors have lamented the fact that Santa Claus has replaced Jesus Christ in the hearts and minds of too many children and adults in America today. When you read this comparison, you will understand that this replacement in the hearts and minds of Americans is not by accident. You will be able to see Satan, the Master Marionette, pulling the strings above the world, leading adults and children alike away from Jesus Christ and toward Santa Claus, who is the epitome' of the love of the world and everything that is in it.
COMPARISON BETWEEN
JESUS CHRIST AND SANTA CLAUS
JESUS CHRIST: OUR LORD AND SAVIOR ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE
SANTA CLAUS: THE COUNTERFEIT ACCORDING TO MYTH OF MEN
1. Has white hair like wool (Rev 1:14)
1. Has white hair like wool
2. Has a beard (Isaiah 50:6)
2. Has a beard
3. Comes in red apparel Isaiah (63:1-2)
3. Comes in red apparel
4. Hour of His coming is a mystery
(Luke 12:40; Mark 13:33)
4. Hour of his coming is a mystery
5. Comes from the North where He lives (Ezekiel 1:4; Psalm 48:2)
5. Comes from the North where he lives: North Pole
6. Is a carpenter (Mark 6:3)
6. Is a toy carpenter
7. Comes as a thief in the night
(Matthew 24:43-44)
7. Comes as a thief in the night. Even gains entrance to homes as a thief.
8. Omnipotent -- all powerful (Rev 19:6)
8. Omnipotent -- can deliver all the toys of the world in one night
9. Omniscient -- knows all (Hebrews 4:13; 1 John 3:20)
9. Omniscient -- knows if you have been good or bad, for the entire year
10. Omnipresent (Psalm 139:7-10; Ephesians 4:6; John 3:13)
10. Omnipresent -- sees when you wake or sleep. Has to be everywhere at once to be able to deliver all the toys in one short night.
11. Ageless, eternal (Rev 1:8; 21:6)
11. Lives forever
12. Lives in men (1 Cor 3:16; 2 Cor 6:16-17)
12. Lives in the hearts of children
13. Giver of Gifts (Ephesians 4:8)
13. Giver of Gifts
14. Absolute Truth (John 14:6)
14. Absolute Fable - (1 Tim 1:4; 4:7;
2 Tim 4:4)
15. Sits on a throne (Rev 5:1; Heb 1:8)
15. Sits on a throne
16. We are told to boldly go to the throne of Grace for our needs (Heb 4:16)
16. Children are bidden to approach his throne to ask for anything they want
17. Commands children to obey parents
17. Tells children to obey parents
18. Wants little children to come to Him (Mark 10:14)
18. Bids children to come unto him
19. Judges (Rom 14:10; Rev 20:2)
19. Judges whether you were good or bad
20. Everlasting Father (Isa 9:6; Heb 12:2)
20. Father Christmas
21. Christ Child (Matt 1:23; Luke 2:11-12)
21. Kris Kringle (means christ child)
22. Worthy of Prayers and Worship (Rev 5:14 Hebrews 1:6)
22. Prayers and worship to "St. Nick" by children
23. Lord of Hosts (Mal 3:5; Isa 8:13; Psalms 24:10)
23. Lord over a host of elves - (In Druidic religion, elves are demons or tree spirits
24. God says, "Ho, ho ... (Zechariah 2:6)
24. Santa says, "Ho, ho, ho ..."
25. Prince of Peace, the Image of God (Isa 9:6;
Hebrews 1:3)
25. Symbol of World Peace, the image of the Christmas Season
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So what do you think? Does man have the authority of the Bible to innovate and adopt other days of worship? Notice what Jesus Christ told His disciples when He gave them the great commission: "'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age'" (Matthew 28:18-20). Christ never even hinted that His followers would have the authority to establish new days of worship. He told the apostles to teach His followers "to observe all things" He had commanded them. Throughout His earthly ministry He had diligently kept God's Sabbath and Holy Days, which now were filled with new meaning. The early Church continued in their observance, following Christ's own example.
So you see Christ was never the reason for the season--He was just put in it to cover up the heathen/ pagan tradition of the season! And we can't put Christ Back in Christmas--because He never was apart of Christmas in the first place! Let's elaborate on that for a moment.
The facts are:
* Jesus wasn't born on December 25.
* Christ's apostles rejected pagan ceremonies and rituals in their worship and told other Christians to likewise avoid them.
* The early church didn't observe Jesus' birthday.
* The selection of December 25 as Christ's supposed date of birth was based on the dates of the Roman Saturnalia and Brumalia--a time for worshiping their god Saturn.
* Most Christmas customs--decorating the evergreen tree, use of mistletoe, exchanging of gifts, Santa [Satan, notice the resembles] Clause--come not from the Bible but from ancient pagan religions.
* For centuries Christianity tried unsuccessfully to rid itself of the paganism of Christmas.
* Throughout its history Christmas has inspired drunken parties, and
* The modern holiday is more about convincing children to harass their parents to buy toys than worshiping Christ.
Some say, "But we can't take Christmas away from the children." Others: "As long as it brings people to Jesus, what does it matter?" Well Paul's instructions to Christians in pagan Corinth in II Corinthians 6:14-18; 7:1:
"For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?
... Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols?...
"Therefore 'Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean,
and I will receive you...' Therefore...let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit,
perfecting holiness in the fear of God"
II Corinthians 6:14-18; 7:1 (New International Version)
Paul's point is very pertinent to Christmas. How can we claim to be honoring God with pagan customs and traditions that He forbids in His Word?
Since Christmas is not authorized by God nor by the Bible, it can never be holy. Jesus Christ Himself said that "true worshipers...must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:23-24). Christmas celebration is not sanctioned by the Scriptures. Such idolatrous practices are at best futile, foolish and worthless (Jeremiah 10:1-8). At worst, since such practices break the First and Second Commandments, they are sin. When God said: "You shall have no other gods before Me" (Exodus 20:3), He condemns forms of worship that celebrated the supposed birth the sun or false gods. When God states: "You shall not make yourself an idol...You shall not bow down to them or worship them..." (Exodus 20:4, N.I.V.), He also condemns inventing religious feasts and celebrations to replace those God ordained.
Paul's warnings to Timothy about what would happen in the church should also be a warning to us:
"I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His
appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort,
with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but
according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;
and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables."
II Timothy 4:1-4 (New International Version)
Christmas is one of those fables.
Also see: Jeremiah 10:2; Proverbs 6:16-19; John 8:44 [parents lying-santa klaus]; Acts 17:30; Mark 7:6-7
For more info see: https://www.newlife8.org/Holidays_or_Holy_Days.php
you displace them and settle in their land, be careful that you don't get curious about them after they've been destroyed
before you. Don't get fascinated with their gods, thinking, 'I wonder what it was like for them, worshiping their gods. I'd
like to try that myself.' Don't do this to God, your God. They commit every imaginable abomination with their gods.
God hates it all with a passion. Why, they even set their children on fire as offerings to their gods!
Diligently do everything I command you, the way I command you: don't add to it; don't subtract from it."
Deuteronomy 12:29-32 (The Message Translation)
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Holidays or God's Holy Days, which are we suppose to honor? Are God's Holy Days only for the Jews to obey? Is Christmas really a day that we should be celebrating? Should we honor the days of St. Valentine's, Halloween, St. Patrick's, or Easter?
Christian Holidays are ancient pagan feasts that were ushered in by the Roman Catholic Church during the rule of emperor Constantine. Constantine was a pagan sun-worshipper who had a "Christian experience" that wanted to unite his empire, both Christian and pagan together. He achieved this by re-writing history and re-naming pagan feasts with Christian names.
These are just some of the questions the Body of Christ has to answer for themselves. So what does the Bible say concerning this? The Scripture above comes from Deuteronomy 12:29-32 and is a warning to God's children (Israel) about following after strange gods and their customs/ traditions. God has also warned us about this in Ezekiel 23:37-39; Zephaniah 1:5; and Jeremiah 10:2-8. In Jeremiah 10:2, God warns His people against following the gentile (non-Israelites) practices of worshiping the heavenly bodies (like the sun on December 25) and against astrology in general. In the same chapter, verses 3-5, God describes some of their idolatrous customs. They cut a tree from the forest, shaped it with an ax and overlaid it with precious metals. Although this account is specifically referring to the making of an idol (verses 6-8), God's command, "Do not learn the way of the Gentiles," applies to all pagan customs/ traditions. Christmas trees, mistletoe and colorful lights that come from pagan winter-solstice celebrations, rabbits and Easter eggs as fertility symbols, and demonic concepts at Halloween, all fit this prohibition. Then in Ezekiel 23:37-39 it appears that Israel practiced one of the customs like those associated with the Saturnalia and worship of Saturn--the sacrificing of children--and then came to worship God on one of His Sabbaths! Through the prophet Zephaniah God decried "those who worship the host of heaven on the housetops; those who worship and swear oaths by the Lord, but who also swear by Milcom" (Zephaniah 1:5). God is not pleased when people are double-minded (James 1:8, 4:8) in their worship--accepting false religions, customs and traditions while professing to worship Him.
So let's once again take a walk through the Word of God and see what He says concerning these things-- Holidays or God's Holy Days! Whether such humanly designed inventions and alterations are acceptable worship to our Creator God.
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Over the last two millennia, traditional Christianity has systematically laid aside the "feast days of the Lord" and established its own holidays. Christmas was established to enable pagan converts to come into church fellowship without forsaking their heathen customs and practices. Easter is a replacement for the biblical Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread. Even the weekly Sabbath was abandoned in favor of Sunday, supposedly to commemorate Jesus' resurrection (which we will demonstrate later, did not take place on Sunday morning). Although we should immediately recognize that overruling God's instructions is dangerous behavior.
During their years in Egypt, the Israelites were exposed to Egyptian culture and worship. In the Unger's Bible Dictionary it talks concerning this culture of Egypt. "The Egyptian relifion was an utterly bewildering polytheistic coglomeration in which many deities of the earliest periods, when each town had its own deity, were retained... Every object beheld, every phenomenon of nature, was thought to be indwelt by a spirit which could choose its own form, occupying the body of a crocodile, a fish, a cow, a cat, etc. Hence the Egyptians had numerous holy animals, principally the bull, the cow, the cat, the baboon, the jackal, and the crocodile" (1966, p. 291, "Egypt"). Shortly after miraculously delivering the Israelites from their bondage in Egypt, God instructed them how He wanted to be worshiped. He gave them His commandments (Exodus 20), along with statutes and judgments detailing how to apply them (Exodus 21-22). God revealed His feast days (Leviticus 23) and gave directions regarding a priesthood, tabernacle and offerings (Exodus 25-31). God told Moses to climb Mount Sinai and gave him two tablets of stone engraved with the Ten Commandments (Exodus 24:12;31:18).
When Moses delayed coming down from Mount Sinai (Exodus 32:1), Aaron and the people decided to mix the Egyptian form of worship with the instructions they had just received from God. The practice of blending religious beliefs and practices is known as "syncretism." After creating a golden image of a calf, Aaron proclaimed the next day a holiday--"a feast to the Lord" (verses 4-5). They then "rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry" (verse 6). This celebration combined God's instruction with Egyptian religious practice and tradition. God was not pleased. He told Moses: "Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them" (verse 7-8). God shows from His Word He expects more from those who claim to follow Him. He wants people to worship Him "in spirit and in truth" (John 4:23-24)--not in corrupted, vile practices rooted in worship of other gods.
The Israelites were in no way justified in departing from the God-ordained instructions introduced in the wilderness. God was so angered by their actions that He was ready to destroy the nation (Exodus 32:10). Only because of Moses' pleading did God relent and spare them (verses 11-14). Ancient Israel's experiment with combining parts of God's instruction with pagan customs and elements was a disaster. In punishment for this sin, 3,000 men lost their lives (verses 27-28). The remaining people had to drink water polluted with the ground-up idol, pulverized into powder (verse 20). Being presumptuous--taking unauthorized liberty to do things such as altering God's instructions for worship--is sinful. The Bible describes the Israelites' actions as "a great sin" (verses 21,30,31). God's law is clear concerning presumptuous behavior (Numbers 15:30-31).
So on that note... let's look at these holiday's that man has set up to replace God's Holy Festivals! In honor of the season... let's start with Christmas.
The Real Truth About Christmas:
It's called the spirit of Christmas--the ringing of sleigh bells on a snowy night, Tiny Tim turning the heart of Scrooge in Charles Dickens' famous novel A Christmas Carol, Santa Claus and flying reindeer. For many, it seems, the birth of Jesus takes a backseat to mythology, packed shopping malls and greed. Every year, signs in front of neighborhood churches remind people to put Christ back into Christmas--or proclaim "Jesus is the reason for the season."
But is He really the reason?
Earl Count, a Episcopal priest, wrote a book entitled 4,000 Years of Christmas: A Gift From the Ages (1997). He enthusiastically relates historical connections between the exchanging of gifts on the 12 days of Christmas and customs originating in ancient, pagan Babylon. He shows that mistletoe was adopted from Druid mystery rituals and that December 25 has more to do with the ancient Roman Saturnalia celebration than with Jesus.
"You see nowhere in the New Testament do we see Jesus' disciples observing His birthday. A matter of fact, to the early Christians the idea of celebrating the birthday of a religious figure would have seemed at best peculiar, at worst blasphemous. Being born into this world was nothing to celebrate. What mattered was leaving this world and entering the next (the Kingdom of God) in a condition pleasing to God. When early Christians associated a feast day with a specific person, such as a bishop or martyr, it was usually the date of the person's death... If you wanted to search the New Testament world for peoples who attached significance to birthdays, your search would quickly narrow to pagans. The Romans celebrated the birthdays of the Caesars, and most unchristian Mediterranean religions attached importance to the natal feasts of a pantheon of supernatural figures. If Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, and his purpose in coming was anything like what is supposed, then in celebrating his birthday each year Christians do violence, not honor, to His memory. For in celebrating a birthday at all, we sustain exactly the kind of tradition His coming is thought to have been designed to cast down" (Tom Flynn, The Trouble With Christmas, 1993, p. 42).
In fact, as late as the third century the early Catholic theologian Origen declared that it was a sin to celebrate Christmas, viewing it as pagan. "As early as A.D. 245, the Church father Origen was proclaiming it heathenish to celebrate Christ's birthday as if He were merely a temporal ruler when His spiritual nature should be the main concern. This view was echoed throughout the centuries, but found strong, widespread advocacy only with the rise of Protestantism. To these serious-minded, sober clerics, the celebration of Christmas flew in the face of all they believed. Drunken revelry on Christmas! The day was not even known to be Christ's birthday. It was merely an excuse to continue the customs of pagan Saturnalia" (Gerard and Patricia Del Re, p. 20)."
"On June 3, 1647, Parliament established punishments for observing Christmas and certain other holidays. This policy was reaffirmed in 1652..." (Gerard and Patricia Del Re, p. 20).
Encyclopedia Britannica adds: "The Fathers of the 2nd and 3rd centuries, such as Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Epiphanius, contended that Christmas was a copy of a pagan celebration" (15th edition, Macropaedia, Vol. IV, p. 499, "Christianity"). The decision to celebrate Christ's birth on December 25 was far from universally accepted. "Christians of Armenia and Syria accused the Christians of Rom of sun worship for celebrating Christmas on December 25... Pope Leo the Great in the fifth century tried to remove certain practices at Christmas which he considered in no way different from sun worship" (Robert Myers, Celebrations: The Complete Book of American Holidays, 1972, p. 310).
Indeed, of all times of the year suggested as the birth of Christ, December 25 could not be the date (click here to see, "Why Jesus Christ Wasn't Born on December 25,.")
Even colonial America considered Christmas more of a raucous revelry than a religious occasion. "So tarnished, in fact, was its reputation in colonial America that celebrating Christmas was banned in Puritan New England, where the noted minister Cotton Mather described yuletide merrymaking as 'an affront unto the grace of God'" (Jeffery Sheler, U.S. News & World Report, "In Search of Christmas," December 23. 1996, p. 56).
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So what is Christmas really about? How did it come about to be? Who claimed it to be Jesus Christ birthday? Let's find out now the history of December 25!
History of December 25:
During the second century B.C., the Greeks practiced rites to honor their god Dionyses (also called Bacchus). The Latin name for this celebration was Bacchanalia. It spread from the Greeks to Rome, center of the Roman Empire. "It was on or about December 21st that the ancient Greeks celebrated what are known to us as the Bacchanalia or festivities in honor of Bacchus, the god of wine. In these festivities the people gave themselves up to songs, dances and other revels which frequently passed the limits of decency and order" (Walsh, p. 65). Because of the nocturnal orgies associated with this festival, the Roman senate suppressed its observance in 186 B.C. It took the senators several years to completely accomplish this goal because of the holiday's popularity. Suppressing a holiday was unusual for the Romans since they later became a melting pot of many types of gods and worship. Just as the Romans assimilated culture, art and customs from the peoples absorbed into their empire, they like wise adopted those peoples' religious practices and traditions.
In addition to the Bacchanalia, the Romans celebrated another holiday, the Saturnalia, held "in honor of Saturn, the god of time, [which] began on December 17th and continued for seven days. These also often ended in riot and disorder. Hence the words Bacchanalia and Saturnalia acquired an evil reputation in later times" (Walsh, p. 65). The reason for the Saturnalia's disrepute is revealing. In pagan mythology Saturn was an "ancient agricultural god-king who ate his own children presumably to avoid regicide[hi own murder while king]. And Saturn was parallel with a Carthaginian Baal, whose brazen horned effigy contained a furnace into which children were sacrificially fed" (Gerard and Patricia Del Re, The Christmas Almanac, 1979, p. 44).
Notice the customs surrounding the Saturnalia: "All businesses were closed except those that provided food or revelry. Slaves were made equal to masters or even set over them. Gambling, drinking, and feasting were encouraged. People exchanged gifts, called strenae, from the vegetation goddess Strenia, whom it was important to honor at midwinter...Men dressed as women or in the hides of animals [reindeer] and caroused in the streets. Candles and lamps were used to frighten the spirits of darkness, which were considered powerful at this time of year. At its most decadent and barbaric, Saturnalia may have been the excuse among Roman soldiers in the East for the human sacrifice of the king of the revels" (Gerard and Patricia Del Re, The Christmas Almanac, 1979, p. 16). Both of these ancient holidays were observed around the winter solstice--the day of the year with the shortest period of daylight. "From the Romans also came another Christmas fundamental: the date, December 25. When the Julian calendar was proclaimed in 46 C.E.[A.D.], it set into law a practice that was already common: dating the winter solstice as December 25..." (Tom Flynn, The Trouble With Christmas, 1993, p. 42).
Why was this date significant? "The time of the winter solstice has always been an important season i the mythology of all peoples. The sun, the giver of life, is at its lowest ebb. It is the shortest daylight of the year, the promise of spring is buried in cold and snow. It is the time when the forces of chaos that stand against the return of light and life must once again be defeated by the gods. At the low point of the solstice, the people must help the gods through imitative magic and religious ceremonies. The sun begins to return in triumph. The days lengthen and, though winter remains, spring is once again conceivable. For all people, it is a time of great festivity" (Gerard and Patrica Del Re, p. 15). During the days of the apostles in the first century, the early Christians had no knowledge of Christmas as we know it. But, as a part of the Roman Empire, they may have noted the Roman observance of the Saturnalia while they kept their customary "feasts of the Lord" listed in Leviticus 23. Over the following centuries, new, humanly devised observances such as Christmas and Easter were gradually introduced into traditional Christianity. History shows that these new days were forcibly promoted while the feast days of the apostolic times were systematically rejected. "Christmas, the purported festival of the birth of Jesus Christ, was established in connection with a fading of the expectation of Christ's imminent return" (Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th edition, Macropaedia, Vol. IV, p. 499, "Christianity"). The message of Jesus Christ and the apostles--"the gospel of the Kingdom of God" (Mark 1:14-15)--was soon lost. The Christmas celebration shifted Christianity's focus away from Christ's promised returned to His birth. But is this what the Bible asks Christians to do?
The explanation of December 25 becoming an official Roman celebration is given by Garard and Patricia Del Re: "Saturnalia and the kalends [new moon] were the celebrations most familiar to early Christians, December 17-24 and January 1-3, but the tradition of celebrating December 25 as Christ's birthday came to the Romans from Persia. Mithra, the Persian god of light and sacred contracts, was born out of a rock on December 25. Rome was famous for its flirtations with strange gods and cults, and i the third century [274 A.D.] the unchristian emperor Aurelian established the festival of Dies Invicti Solis, the Day of the Invincible Sun, on December 25. "Mithra was an embodiment of the sun, so this period of its rebirth was a major day in Mithraism, which had become Rome's latest official religion with the patronage of Aurelian. It is believed that the emperor Constantine adhered to Mithraism up to the time of his conversion to Christianity. He was instrumental in seeing that the major feast of his old religion was carried over to his new faith" (The Christmas Almanac 1979, p. 17). Christmas was not made a Roman holiday until 534 A.D. It took 300 years for the new name and symbols of Christmas to replace the old names and meaning of the midwinter festival, a pagan celebration that reaches back so many centuries. Its origins cannot be traced back to either the teachings or practices of the earliest Christians. The introduction of Christmas represented a significant departure from " the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 1:3).
Other pagan festivals that greatly influenced the Christmas traditions practiced today was the Teutonic feast of the Twelve Nights [songs like a familiar Christmas song], celebrated from December 25 to Jan 6. This festival was based on the supposed mythological warfare between the forces of nature--specifically winter (called the ice giant) which signified death, vs. the sun god, representing life. The winter solstice marked the turning point: Up until then the ice giant was at his zenith of power; after that the sun god began to prevail. "As Christianity spread to northern Europe, it met with the observance of another pagan festival held in December in honor of the sun. This time it was the Yule-feast of the Norsemen, which lasted twelve days [there's that song again]. During this time log-fires were burnt to assist the revival of the sun. Shrines and other sacred places were decorated with such greenery as holly, ivy, and bay, and it was an occasion for feasting and drinking.
"Equally old was the practice of the Druids, the caste of priests among the Celts of ancient France, Britain and Ireland, to decorate their temples with mistletoe, the fruit of the oak-tree which they considered sacred. Among the German tribes the oak-tree was sacred to Odin, their god of war, and they sacrificed to it until St Boniface, in the eighth century, persuaded them to exchange it for the Christmas tree, a young fir-tree adorned in honor of the Christ child...It was the German immigrants who took the custom to America" (L.W. Cowie and John Selwyn Gummer, The Christian Calendar, 1974, p. 22). Instead of worshiping the sun god, converts were told to worship the Son of God. The focus of the holiday subtly changed, but the traditional pagan customs and practices remained fundamentally unchanged. Old religious customs involving holly, ivy, mistletoe and evergreen trees were merely dressed up in Christian attire. Jesus Christ warns us to beware of things that masquerade as something they are not (Matthew 7:15). Christmas is a diverse collection of pagan forms of worship overlaid with a veneer of Christianity.
"This was no mere accident. It was a necessary measure at a time when the new religion Christianity was forcing itself upon a deeply superstitious people. In order to reconcile fresh converts to the new faith, and to make the breaking of old ties as painless as possible, these relics of paganism were retained under modified forms... Thus we find that when Pope Gregory [540-604 A.D.] sent Saint Augustine as a missionary to convert Anglo-Saxon England he directed that so far as possible the saint should accommodate the new and strange Christian rites to the heathen ones with which the natives had been familiar from their births. For example, he advised Saint Augustine to allow his converts on certain festivals to eat and kill a great number of oxen to the glory of God the Father, as formerly they had done this in honor of their gods... On the very Christmas after his arrival in England Saint Augustine baptized many thousands of converts and permitted their usual December 25 celebration under the new name and with the new meaning" (William Walsh, p. 61). Gregory permitted such importation of pagan religious practices on the grounds that when dealing with "obdurate minds it is impossible to cut off everything at once" (William Sansom, A Book of Christmas, p. 30).
So you see that the ancient festivals, although, went by many names in various cultures. In Rome it was called the Saturnalia, in honor of Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture. The observance was adopted by early Roman church leaders and given the name of Christ ("Christ Mass," or Christmas) to conciliate the heathen and swell the number of the nominal adherents of Christianity. The tendency on the part of third-century Catholic leadership was to meet paganism halfway-a practice made clear in a bitter lament by the Carthaginian philosopher Tertullian. In 230 A.D. he wrote of the inconsistency of professing Christians. He contrasted their lax and political practices with the strict fidelity of the pagans to their own beliefs:
"By us who are strangers to Sabbaths, and new moons, and festivals [the biblical festivals
spelled out in Leviticus 23], once acceptable to God, the Saturnalia, the feasts of January,
the Brumalia, and Matronalia, are now frequented; gifts are carried to and fro, new year's
day presents are made with din, and sports and banquets are celebrated with uproar;
oh, how much more faithful are the heathen to their religion, who take special care to
adopt no solemnity from the Christians" (Hislop, p. 93).
Failing to make much headway in converting the pagans, the religious leaders of the Roman church began compromising by dressing the heathen customs in Christian-looking garb. But, rather than converting them to the church's beliefs, the church became largely converted to non-Christian customs in its own religious practices. Although at first the early Catholic Church censured this celebration, "The festival was far too strongly entrenched in popular favor to be abolished, and the Church finally granted the necessary recognition, believing that if Christmas could not be suppressed, it should be preserved in honor of the Christian God. Once given a Christian basis the festival became fully established in Europe with many of its pagan elements undisturbed" (Man, Myth & Magic: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Mythology, Religion, and the Unknown, Richard Cavendish, editor, 1983, Vol 2, p;l. 480, "Christmas").
Where did Christmas Symbols Originate:
Evergreens- symbolize immortality and the continuity of life... The Romans docorated their homes and public places with evergreens near the time of the winter solstice. Among the forerunners of today's holiday gifts were strenae, tree branches presented to political and military leaders as tokens of loyalty.
Mistletoe- associated with both magic and fertility. Sprigs of mistletoe were once fastened over the conjugal bed on the wedding night. Our modern use of mistletoe as a social aphrodisiac is clearly related.
Christmas Trees- Ancient Egyptians viewed the evergreen tree as a fertility symbol. During the winter solstice they decorated their homes with palm fronds, using them as Romans would later use boughs of fir.
Gift Giving-Christian legend assumes that the tradition began when the Magi presented gifts to the baby Jesus [Although the Magi presenting gifts to Jesus has nothing to do with Christmas or His birth. It was a custom to always show up with a gift when you went before a King/ Prophet. It was a way of showing honor and respect.]...To believe that you have to pitch centuries of history out behind the manger. Long before New Testament times, the Romans were exchanging gifts" (Tom Flynn, The Trouble With Christmas, 1993, pp. 19, 37-40, emphasis in original).
Santa Klaus- The trappings associated with his fur-trimmed wardrobe, sleigh and reindeer-reveal his origin from the cold climates of the far North. Some sources trace him to the ancient Northern European gods Woden and Thor, from which the days of the week Wednesday (Wooden's day) and Thursday (Thor's day) get their designations (Earl and Alice Count, pp. 56-64). Others trace him even farther back in time to the Roman god Saturn and the Greek god Silenus (William Walsh, The Story of Santa Klaus, pp. 70-71). He is a pagan mockery of Christ!
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New Age authors repeatedly state that the supreme head of the Planetary Logos -- their supreme leader -- is named Sanat Kumara. Master D.K., speaking through Alice Bailey, defines Sanat Kumara as the "life and informing intelligence upon and within our planet." [ The Externalisation of the Hierarchy, Alice A. Bailey, Page 676]. Later, Sanat Kumara is identified by another title: The Lord of the World [Page 735]. Of course, this is synonymous to one of the Biblical titles for Satan. In John 12:31, 14:30, and 16:11, Jesus called Satan the "Prince of the World". Thus, there can be no doubt that the Sanat, the New Age supreme head, whom they call, the "Lord of the World" is none other than Satan, whom Jesus called "Prince of the World". Sanat is simply and only a translocation of the word, Satan. Sanat equals Satan. There is no doubt, especially when you realize that the Plan to produce the New World Order of Sanat is identical to the Biblical prophecy of how Satan is going to act in the End of the Age.
Santa equals Satan.
Now, please allow me to introduce to you another translation of the word, Satan.
Santa. As in Santa Claus.
Before you react too quickly, please take the time to read this comparison between the Biblical teachings about Jesus Christ and the mythical teachings of Santa Claus. Many, many Christian pastors have lamented the fact that Santa Claus has replaced Jesus Christ in the hearts and minds of too many children and adults in America today. When you read this comparison, you will understand that this replacement in the hearts and minds of Americans is not by accident. You will be able to see Satan, the Master Marionette, pulling the strings above the world, leading adults and children alike away from Jesus Christ and toward Santa Claus, who is the epitome' of the love of the world and everything that is in it.
COMPARISON BETWEEN
JESUS CHRIST AND SANTA CLAUS
JESUS CHRIST: OUR LORD AND SAVIOR ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE
SANTA CLAUS: THE COUNTERFEIT ACCORDING TO MYTH OF MEN
1. Has white hair like wool (Rev 1:14)
1. Has white hair like wool
2. Has a beard (Isaiah 50:6)
2. Has a beard
3. Comes in red apparel Isaiah (63:1-2)
3. Comes in red apparel
4. Hour of His coming is a mystery
(Luke 12:40; Mark 13:33)
4. Hour of his coming is a mystery
5. Comes from the North where He lives (Ezekiel 1:4; Psalm 48:2)
5. Comes from the North where he lives: North Pole
6. Is a carpenter (Mark 6:3)
6. Is a toy carpenter
7. Comes as a thief in the night
(Matthew 24:43-44)
7. Comes as a thief in the night. Even gains entrance to homes as a thief.
8. Omnipotent -- all powerful (Rev 19:6)
8. Omnipotent -- can deliver all the toys of the world in one night
9. Omniscient -- knows all (Hebrews 4:13; 1 John 3:20)
9. Omniscient -- knows if you have been good or bad, for the entire year
10. Omnipresent (Psalm 139:7-10; Ephesians 4:6; John 3:13)
10. Omnipresent -- sees when you wake or sleep. Has to be everywhere at once to be able to deliver all the toys in one short night.
11. Ageless, eternal (Rev 1:8; 21:6)
11. Lives forever
12. Lives in men (1 Cor 3:16; 2 Cor 6:16-17)
12. Lives in the hearts of children
13. Giver of Gifts (Ephesians 4:8)
13. Giver of Gifts
14. Absolute Truth (John 14:6)
14. Absolute Fable - (1 Tim 1:4; 4:7;
2 Tim 4:4)
15. Sits on a throne (Rev 5:1; Heb 1:8)
15. Sits on a throne
16. We are told to boldly go to the throne of Grace for our needs (Heb 4:16)
16. Children are bidden to approach his throne to ask for anything they want
17. Commands children to obey parents
17. Tells children to obey parents
18. Wants little children to come to Him (Mark 10:14)
18. Bids children to come unto him
19. Judges (Rom 14:10; Rev 20:2)
19. Judges whether you were good or bad
20. Everlasting Father (Isa 9:6; Heb 12:2)
20. Father Christmas
21. Christ Child (Matt 1:23; Luke 2:11-12)
21. Kris Kringle (means christ child)
22. Worthy of Prayers and Worship (Rev 5:14 Hebrews 1:6)
22. Prayers and worship to "St. Nick" by children
23. Lord of Hosts (Mal 3:5; Isa 8:13; Psalms 24:10)
23. Lord over a host of elves - (In Druidic religion, elves are demons or tree spirits
24. God says, "Ho, ho ... (Zechariah 2:6)
24. Santa says, "Ho, ho, ho ..."
25. Prince of Peace, the Image of God (Isa 9:6;
Hebrews 1:3)
25. Symbol of World Peace, the image of the Christmas Season
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So what do you think? Does man have the authority of the Bible to innovate and adopt other days of worship? Notice what Jesus Christ told His disciples when He gave them the great commission: "'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age'" (Matthew 28:18-20). Christ never even hinted that His followers would have the authority to establish new days of worship. He told the apostles to teach His followers "to observe all things" He had commanded them. Throughout His earthly ministry He had diligently kept God's Sabbath and Holy Days, which now were filled with new meaning. The early Church continued in their observance, following Christ's own example.
So you see Christ was never the reason for the season--He was just put in it to cover up the heathen/ pagan tradition of the season! And we can't put Christ Back in Christmas--because He never was apart of Christmas in the first place! Let's elaborate on that for a moment.
The facts are:
* Jesus wasn't born on December 25.
* Christ's apostles rejected pagan ceremonies and rituals in their worship and told other Christians to likewise avoid them.
* The early church didn't observe Jesus' birthday.
* The selection of December 25 as Christ's supposed date of birth was based on the dates of the Roman Saturnalia and Brumalia--a time for worshiping their god Saturn.
* Most Christmas customs--decorating the evergreen tree, use of mistletoe, exchanging of gifts, Santa [Satan, notice the resembles] Clause--come not from the Bible but from ancient pagan religions.
* For centuries Christianity tried unsuccessfully to rid itself of the paganism of Christmas.
* Throughout its history Christmas has inspired drunken parties, and
* The modern holiday is more about convincing children to harass their parents to buy toys than worshiping Christ.
Some say, "But we can't take Christmas away from the children." Others: "As long as it brings people to Jesus, what does it matter?" Well Paul's instructions to Christians in pagan Corinth in II Corinthians 6:14-18; 7:1:
"For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?
... Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols?...
"Therefore 'Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean,
and I will receive you...' Therefore...let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit,
perfecting holiness in the fear of God"
II Corinthians 6:14-18; 7:1 (New International Version)
Paul's point is very pertinent to Christmas. How can we claim to be honoring God with pagan customs and traditions that He forbids in His Word?
Since Christmas is not authorized by God nor by the Bible, it can never be holy. Jesus Christ Himself said that "true worshipers...must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:23-24). Christmas celebration is not sanctioned by the Scriptures. Such idolatrous practices are at best futile, foolish and worthless (Jeremiah 10:1-8). At worst, since such practices break the First and Second Commandments, they are sin. When God said: "You shall have no other gods before Me" (Exodus 20:3), He condemns forms of worship that celebrated the supposed birth the sun or false gods. When God states: "You shall not make yourself an idol...You shall not bow down to them or worship them..." (Exodus 20:4, N.I.V.), He also condemns inventing religious feasts and celebrations to replace those God ordained.
Paul's warnings to Timothy about what would happen in the church should also be a warning to us:
"I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His
appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort,
with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but
according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;
and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables."
II Timothy 4:1-4 (New International Version)
Christmas is one of those fables.
Also see: Jeremiah 10:2; Proverbs 6:16-19; John 8:44 [parents lying-santa klaus]; Acts 17:30; Mark 7:6-7
For more info see: https://www.newlife8.org/Holidays_or_Holy_Days.php
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Evangelist Altha Fugett on
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I do believe that ones are being distracted by the enemy with these holidays, and that while fingers are being pointed at so called images of idolatry, the sublimal worship of these days is more dangerous.
However in saying that, the heart can exclude that which is pagan from these holidays, and worship in truth our Lord. That is an individual strength, some can and some can't.
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Permalink Reply by Joy Barnes on
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I THANK GOD FOR THIS!! I just asked myself this question yesterday, and it was a real concern too me. I will walk in the truth and this word as truly set me free. We must be careful because since Satan doesn't have a place in God's Kingdom he will try anything to trick us. The Word of God says that His people perish for lack of knowledge. Brother thank you for letting God use you brother. In Jesus Name keep it coming!!!
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