CHRISTMAS/CHRIST-MASS
Nov 16, 2017 21:17:02 GMT -6
Post by Ron on Nov 16, 2017 21:17:02 GMT -6
CHRISTMAS/CHRIST-MASS
Many people, when they are children, are taught to hang up stockings on Christmas eve. They are also taught to decorate a Christmas tree with shiny tinsel, traditionally silver or gold, and other decorations. While, in the middle of the night, their parents pile presents on the floor underneath and put things in their stockings. When they wake up the next morning, the stockings will be filled with small toys and sacks or little boxes of candy and nuts. The children are told Santa Claus had come down the chimney during the night and left all these things. Isn't it strange that no one ever questions these things? These children trust their parents. After all, why would their parents lie to them, right? Stop and THINK a moment! Very few have ever reflected on WHY they believe what they believe and WHY they follow the customs they follow or WHERE these customs came from. We were born into a world filled with customs. We grew up accepting them without question.
WHY? Sheep instinct? Well, not exactly, but, by nature, we DO tend to follow the crowd, whether right or wrong. Sheep follow others to the slaughter. Humans ought to check up where they are going.
HOW and WHEN did Christmas originate? Does Christmas really celebrate the birth of Christ? Was Jesus born on December 25? Did the original aposteles, who knew Jesus personally and were taught by Him, celebrate His birthday on December 25? Did they celebrate Jesus' birthday at all? If Christmas is the chief of the Christian holidays, WHY do so many non-Christians observe it? Do you know? WHY do people exchange presents with family members, friends, and relatives, at Christmas time? Is it because the wise men presented gifts to Jesus when He was a child? The answer may surprise you. Most people have "supposed" a lot of things about Christmas that are not true, but let's quit "supposing" and GET THE FACTS!
What Encyclopedia's Say
The word "Christmas" means "Mass of Christ," or, as it came to be shortened, "Christ-Mass." It came to non-Christians and Protestants from the Roman Catholic Church. Where did they get it? NOT from the New Testament, NOT from the Bible, and NOT from the original apostles who were personally instructed by Christ, but it gravitated IN THE FOURTH CENTURY into the Roman Church from PAGANISM.
Since the celebration of Christmas has come to the world from the Roman Catholic Church, and has no authority but that of the Roman Catholic Church, let us examine the Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911 edition, published by that church. Under the heading of "Christmas," you will find:
"Christmas was NOT among the earliest festivals of the church...the first evidence of the feast is from Egypt. Pagan customs centering around the January calends gravitated to Christmas."
Under the heading "Natal Day," we find that early Catholic father, Origen, acknowledged this truth.
Encyclopedia Britannica, 1946 edition, has this: "Christmas (i.e., the Mass of Christ)....Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the church...." It was not instituted by Christ or the apostles, or by Biblical authority. It was picked up afterward from paganism.
The Encyclopedia Americana, 1944 edition, says: "Christmas.... It was, according to many authorities, not celebrated in the first centuries of the Christian church, as the Christian usage in general was to celebrate the death of remarkable persons rather than their birth.... (The 'Communion,' which is instituted by New Testament Bible authority, is a memorial of the death of Christ.) ....a feast was established in the memory of Christ's birth in the fourth century. In the fifth century the Western Church ordered it to be celebrated forever on the day of the old Roman feast of the birth of Sol, as no certain knowledge of the day of Christ's birth existed." (On a personal note, if one studies the Jewish Torah, they can easily find the month Christ was born in from the Old and New Testaments.) Now notice! These recognized historical authorities show Christmas was not observed by Christians for the first two or three hundred years, a period longer than the entire history of the United States as a nation! It got into the Western, or Roman, Church by the fourth century A.D. It was not until the fifth century that the Roman Church ordered it to be celebrated as an official Christian festival!
Jesus NOT Born December 25th
Jesus was not even born in the winter season! When Jesus was born "there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night" (Luke 2:8). This never could have occurred in Israel in the month of December. The shepherds always brought their flocks from the mountainsides and fields and corralled them not later than October 15, to protect them from the cold, rainy season that followed that date. Notice that the Bible itself proves, in Song of Solomon 2:11 and Ezra 10:9, 13, that winter was a rainy season not permitting shepherds to abide in open fields at night.
"It was an ancient custom among Jews of those days to send out their sheep to the fields and deserts about the Passover (early spring), and bring them home at commencement of the first rain," says the Adam Clarke Commentary, volume 5, page 370, New York edition. Continuing, this authority states: "During the time they were out, the shepherds watched them night and day. As...the first rain began early in the month of Marchesvan, which answers to the part of our October and November (Marchesvan begins sometime in October), we find that the sheep were kept out in the open country during the whole summer. As these shepherds had not yet brought home their flocks, it is a presumptive argument that October had not yet commenced, and that, consequently, our Lord was not born on the 25th of December, when no flocks where out in the fields; nor could He have been born later than September, as the flocks were still in the fields by night. On this very ground, the nativity in December should be given up. The feeding of the flocks by night in the fields is a chronological fact...See the quotations from the Talmudists in Lightfoot."
Any encyclopedia, or any other authority, will tell you that Christ was not born on December 25. The Catholic Encyclopedia frankly states this fact.
Scripture tells us when Jesus was born, but many overlook this because they do not go back to the Torah. First, we need to look to the Meodim (See Deuteronomy 16:1-17; Leviticus 23; and Numbers 28-29).
"Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the Lord empty:" -- Deuteronomy 16:16
Here we see that God commanded the Jewish men to gather "in the place which He shall choose" three times a year on three different Moedim. At the time when Jesus walked the earth, this was Jerusalem at the temple. Josephus records that approximately 2.5 million Jews would be in Jerusalem on these three days. We know this from the 250,000 lambs that would be sacrificed on Passover. One lamb per ten people. This would definitely explain why Bethlehem was so crowded at the time of Jesus' birth. Bethlehem is only six miles from Jerusalem. To find out the time Jesus was born we need to first look at the birth of John the baptist.
"There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years. So it was, that while he was serving as priest before God in the order of his division, according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot fell to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord." -- Luke 1:5-9
Here we see that Zacharias, John the baptists father, was of the division of Abijah. This was "while he was serving as priest before God in the order of his division." 1 Chronicles 24:10 tells us that the course/division of Abijah was the eighth course. This is important because King David divided the priesthood into different courses, and they would each minister two weeks out of the year. During the three Meodim all the priests would minister together. The first course would be approximately the first week of April, the second course the second week, but the third week was Unleavened Bread so all the priests would minister. The third course would be the following week on the fourth week of April. The eight course would have been around the last week of May. The following week would be the feast of weeks or, what we know as Pentecost. This is why Luke 1:10-11 says,
"And the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of incense. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense."
They were all in Jerusalem for Pentecost. In Luke 1:23-24 we see that, after Zacharias' course was completed his wife, Elizabeth conceived... "So it was, as soon as the days of his service were completed, that he departed to his own house. Now after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived; and she hid herself five months," Elizabeth conceived sometime during the end of June and hid herself five months. This brings us to the end of November and Luke 1:26-27... "Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary." Here it says, "in the sixth month," so now that brings us to the end of December when Mary conceives. Add nine months to this and it brings us to the end of September/ beginning of October which is the time of the feast of Tabernacles. Although the exact day is not given, we can see that Jesus was definitely NOT born on December 25.
HOW This Pagan Custom Got Into the Church
Then how did this pagan custom creep into the Western Christian world? The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge explains it clearly, in its article on "Christmas": "How much the date of the festival depended upon the pagan Brumalia (December 25) following the Saturnalia (December 17-24), and celebrating the shortest day of the year and the 'new sun' ...cannot be accurately determined. The pagan Saturnalia and Brumalia were too deeply entrenched in popular custom to be set aside by Christian influence.... The pagan festival with its riot and merrymaking was so popular that Christians were glad of an excuse to continue its celebration with little change in spirit and in manner. Christian preachers of the West and Near East protested against the seemly frivolity with which Christ's birthday was celebrated, while Christians of Mesopotamia accused their Western brethren of idolatry and sun worship for adopting as Christian this pagan festival."
Remember, the Roman world had been pagan. Prior to the fourth century, Christians were few in number, though increasing, and were persecuted by the government and by pagans. With the advent of Constantine as emperor, who made his profession of Christianity in the fourth century, placing Christianity on equal footing with paganism, people of the Roman world began to accept the now-popular Christianity by the hundreds of thousands.
Remember, these people had grown up in pagan customs, chief of which was this idolatrous festival of December 25. It was a festival of merrymaking, with its special spirit. They enjoyed it! They didn't want to give it up! Now this same article in the New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge explains how the recognition by Constantine of pagan sun worship, and how the influence of the pagan Manichaeism, which identified the SON of God with the physical SUN, gave these pagans of the fourth century, now turning over wholesale to "Christianity," their excuse for calling their pagan-festival date of December 25 (birthday of the SUN-god), the birthday of the SON of God.
That is how "Christmas" became fastened on our western world! We may call it by another name, but it's the same old pagan sun-worshipping festival still! The only change is in what we call it! You can call a rabbit a "lion," but it's still a rabbit, just the same.
Again from the Encyclopedia Britannica: "Certain Latins, as early as 354, may have transferred the birthday from January 6 to December 25, which was then a Mithraic feast...or birthday of the unconquered SUN... The Syrians and Armenians, who clung to January 6, accused the Romans of sun worship and idolatry, contending...that the feast of December 25, had been invented by disciples of Cerinthus...."
The Real ORIGIN of Christmas
If we got Christmas from the Roman Catholics, and they got it from paganism, where did the pagans get it? Where, when, and what was its real origin?
It is a chief custom of the corrupt system denounced all through Bible prophecies and teachings under the name of Babylon. It started and originated in the original Babylon of ancient Nimrod! Yes, it stems from roots whose beginning was shortly this side of the Flood!
Nimrod, grandson of Ham, son of Noah, was the real founder of the Babylonian system that has gripped the world ever since ---the system of organized competition---of man-ruled governments and empires, based upon the competitive and profit-making economic system. Nimrod built the tower of Babel, the original Babylon, ancient Nineveh, and many other cities. He organized this world's first kingdom. The name Nimrod, in Hebrew, is derived from "Marad," meaning "he rebelled."
From many ancient writings, considerable is learned of this man, who started the great organized worldly apostacy from God that has dominated this world until now. Nimrod was so evil, it is said he married his own mother, whose name was Semiramis. After Nimrod's untimely death, his so-called mother-wife, Semiramis, propagated the evil doctrine of the survival of Nimrod as a spirit being. She claimed a full-grown evergreen tree sprang overnight from a dead tree stump, which symbolized the springing forth unto new life of the dead Nimrod. On each anniversary of his birth, she claimed, Nimrod would visit the evergreen tree and leave gifts upon it. December 25 was the birthday of Nimrod. This is the real origin of the Christmas tree.
Through her scheming and designing, Semiramis became the Babylonian "Queen of Heaven," and Nimrod, under various names, became the "divine son of heaven." Through the generations, in this idolatrous worship, Nimrod also became the false Babylonian system, the "Mother and Child" (Semiramis, and Nimrod reborn) became chief objects of worship. This worship of "Mother and Child' spread over the world. THe names varied in different countries and languages. In Egypt it was Isis and Osiris. In Asia, Cybele and Deoius. In pagan Rome, Fortuna and Jupiterpuer. Even in Greece, China, Japan, Tibet is to be found counterpart of the Madonna, long before the birth of Christ!
Thus, during the fourth and fifth centuries, when the pagans of the Roman world were "accepting" the new popular "Christianity" by the hundreds of thousands, carrying their old pagan customs and beliefs along with them, merely cloaking them with Christian-sounding names, the Madonna and "Mother and Child" idea also became popularized, especially at Christmas time. Every Christmas season you'll hear sung and chanted dozens of times the hymn "Silent Night, Holy Night," with its familiar "Mother and Child" theme. We, who have been born in such a Babylonian world, reared and steeped in these things all our lives, have been taught to revere these things as holy and sacred. We never questioned to see where they came from---whether they came from the BIble, or from pagan idolatry!
We are shocked to learn the truth---some, unfortunately, take offense, but God commands His faithful ministers, "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgressions!" Shocking as these facts are, they are plain facts of history and the Bible!
The real origin of Christmas goes back to ancient Babylon. It is bound in the organized apostasy which has gripped a deceived world these many centuries! In Egypt, it was always believed that the son of Isis (Egyptian name for "Queen of Heaven") was born on December 25. Paganism celebrated this famous birthday over most of the known world for centuries before the birth of Christ. The ancient idolatrous "Chaldean Mysteries," founded by this wife of Nimrod, have been handed down through the pagan religions under new Christian-sounding names.
Origin of Holly Wreath, Mistletoe, and the Yule Log
Now where did we get this mistletoe custom? Among the ancient pagans the mistletoe was used at this festival of the winter solstice because it was considered sacred to the sun, because of its supposed miraculous healing power. The pagan custom of kissing under the mistletoe was an early step in the night of revelry and drunken debauchery---celebrating the death of the "old sun" and the birth of the new at the winter solstice. Mistletoe, sacred in pagan festivals, is a parasite!
Holly berries were also considered sacred to the sun-god. The yule log is in reality the "sun log." "Yule" means "wheel," a pagan symbol of the sun. Yet today professing Christians speak of the "sacred yuletide season!" Even the lighting of fires and candles as a Christian ceremony is merely a continuation of the pagan custom, encouraging the waning sun-god as he reached the lowest place in the southern skies!
The Encyclopedia Americana says: "The holly, the mistletoe, the yule log...are relics of pre-Christian times." Of paganism!
The book, Answers to Questions, complied by Frederick J. Haskins, found in public libraries, says: "The use of Christmas wreaths is believed by authorities to be traceable to the pagan customs of decorating buildings and places of worship at the feast which took place at the same time as Christmas. The Christmas tree is from Egypt, and its origin dates from a period long anterior to the Christmas Era."
Yule logs and holly wreaths, items of "traditional Christmas," were both associated with winter solstice celebrations more than 2,000 years before Christ's birth.
Yes, and Even SANTA CLAUS!
Surely dear old Santa Claus is not a creature of pagan birth? He is, and his real character is not so benevolent and holy as many suppose!
The name "Santa Claus" is a corruption of the name "St. Nicholas," a Roman Catholic bishop who lived in the 5th century. Look in the Encyclopedia Britannica, volume 19, pages 648-649, 11th edition, where you'll read: "St. Nicholas, bishop of Myra, a saint honored by the Greeks and Latins on the 6th of December....A legend of his surreptitious bestowal of dowries on the three daughters of an impoverished citizen...is said to have originated the old custom of giving presents in secret on the Eve of St. Nicholas (December 6), subsequently transferred to Christmas day. Hence the association of Christmas with Santa Claus...."
Is it Christian to teach myths and falsehoods? God says, "Thou shalt not bear false witness!" It may seem right, and be justified by human reason, but God says, "There is a way that seemeth right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death!" "Old Nick" also is a term for the devil! Is there a connection? Satan appears as an "angel of light," to deceive! (2 Corinthians 11:14; Revelation 12:9)
So when we examine the facts, we are astonished to learn that the practice of observing Christmas is not, after all, a true Christian practice, but a pagan custom---one of the ways of Babylon our people have fallen into!
What the BIble Says About the Christmas Tree!
If the BIble is silent about telling us to observe Christmas, or recording any such observance by the apostles or early true Church, it does have something to say about the Christmas tree!
This will come as a real surprise to many, but here it is: Jeremiah 10:2-6: "Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen....For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. The deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not."
There is a perfect description of the Christmas tree, termed by ADONAI as "the way of the heathen---the custom of the people." We are commanded not to learn that way or follow it! It is also viewed in this passage as idolatry. The fifth verse shows that these trees cannot speak---cannot walk---must be carried. "Be not afraid of them; for they (the trees) cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good." They are not gods to be feared. Some people mis-read this to make it say there is no harm in having a Christmas tree, but that is NOT what it says.
Isn't Exchanging Gifts Scriptural?
When it comes to the most important part of all in this Christmas observance---the Christmas shopping season---the buying and exchanging of gifts---many will exclaim triumphantly, "Well, at least the Bible tells us to do that! Didn't the wisemen give gifts when Christ was born?"
Again, we are due for some SURPRISES, WHEN WE LEARN THE PLAIN TRUTH! First, let's look at the historic origin of trading gifts back and forth, then see exactly what the Bible does say about it.
From the Bibliotheca Sacra, volume 12, pages 153-155, we quote: "The interchange of presents between friends is alike characteristic of Christmas and the Saturnalia, and must have been adopted by Christians from the Pagans, as the admonition of Tertullian plainly shows."
The facts is, this custom fastened upon people of exchanging gifts with friends and relatives at the Christmas season has not a single trace of Christianity about it, strange though that may seem! This does not celebrate Christ's birthday nor honor it or Him! Suppose someone you love has a birthday. You want to honor that person on his or her birthday. Would you lavishly buy gifts for everyone else, trading gifts back and forth with all your other friends?
Yet this is exactly what people the world over are doing! They honor a day that is not Christ's birthday by spending every dime they can s---e together in buying presents to trade back and forth among friends and relatives. When the month of December rolls around, nearly all professing Christians forget to give gifts to Christ and His cause almost altogether! December is often the most difficult month to keep Christ's work from dying! People are too busy trading gifts back and forth among themselves to think of Christ and His work. Then, in January, and even into February it seems they have to catch up from what they spent for Christmas, so they seldom get back to normal in supporting Christ and His work before March, if ever!
Now consider what the Bible says about the wise men giving gifts when Christ was born. It is in Matthew 2:1-11: "Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is He that is born King of the Jews?...And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary His mother, and fell down, and worshipped Him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto HIM gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh."
WHY Were Gifts Presented to Christ?
Notice, they inquired for the child Jesus, who was born KING of the Jews! Now why did they present gifts to Him? Because it was His birthday? Not at all, because they came several days or weeks after the date of His birth! Was it to set an example for us, today, to trade gifts back and forth among ourselves? No, notice carefully! They did NOT exchange gifts among themselves, but "they presented unto HIM gifts." They gave THEIR gifts to CHRIST, NOT to their friends, relatives, or one another!
Why? According to the Adam Clarke Commentary, volume 5, page 46: "Verse 11. (They presented unto Him gifts). The people of the east never approach the presence of kings and great personages, without a present in their hands. The custom is often noticed in the Old Testament, and still prevails in the east, and in some of the newly discovered South Sea Islands."
There it is! They were not instituting a new Christian custom of exchanging gifts with friends to honor Christ's birthday. They were following an old and ancient eastern custom of presenting gifts to a king when they came into His presence. They were approaching Him, born KING of the Jews, in person. Therefore custom required they present gifts---even as the Queen of Sheba brought gifts to Solomon---even as many people today take a gift along when they visit the White House for an appointment with the President.
No, the custom of trading gifts back and forth does not stem from history above, it is the continuance of an ancient pagan custom. Instead of honoring Christ, it invariably hinders His work, often sets it back, at the Christmas season every year!
Many still reason, "even so---even though Christmas was a PAGAN custom, honoring the false SUN-GOD, we don't observe it to honor the false god, we observe it to honor CHRIST."
How does God answer in His word? "Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them...(the pagans in their customs) that thou enquire not after their gods saying, How did these nations serve their gods? Even so will I do likewise. THOU SHALT NOT DO SO UNTO THE LORD THY GOD: for every abomination to the ETERNAL, which He hateth, have they done unto their gods" (Deuteronomy 12:30-31).
God says plainly in His Instruction Book to us, that He will not accept that king of worship, even though intended in His honor. To Him, He says, it is taking what is ABOMINABLE to Him, and therefore it honors, not Him, but false pagan gods. GOD says we must not worship Him according to the dictates of our own conscience---a term we often hear. Jesus said plainly, "God is a spirit: they that worship Him MUST worship Him in spirit and in TRUTH" (John 4:24) What is truth? God's word---the Holy BIble---said Jesus, is truth (John 17:17); and the BIble says God will not accept worship when people take a pagan custom or manner of worship and try to honor Christ with it.
Christmas observance is a tradition of men, and the commandments of God, as quoted, forbid it. Jesus said, further, "full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition."
That is precisely what the millions are doing today. They ignore the commandment of God. He commands, regarding taking the customs of the pagans and using them to honor or worship God, "THOU SHALT NOT DO SO UNTO THE LORD THY GOD." Still, most people today take that command of God lightly, or as having no validity whatsoever, and FOLLOW THE TRADITION OF MEN IN OBSERVING CHRISTMAS.
Make no mistake! God will ALLOW you to defy and disobey Him. He will ALLOW you to follow the crowd and the traditions of men. He will ALLOW you to sin. HE ALSO SAYS THERE IS A DAY OF RECKONING COMING. As you SOW, SO SHALL YOU REAP! Jesus is the living Word of God in Person, and the BIble is the written Word of God. We shall be JUDGED, for eternity BY THESE WORDS! They should not be taken lightly or ignored.
We're IN BAYLON, and Haven't KNOWN IT!
Christmas has become a commercial season. It's sponsored, kept alive, by the heaviest retail advertising campaigns of the year. You see a masqueraded "Santa Claus" in many stores. Ads keep us deluded and deceived about the "beautiful Christmas spirit." The newspapers, who sell the ads, print flowery editorials exalting and eulogizing the pagan season, and it's "spirit." Television, internet, and social media are no different. A gullible people has become so innoculated, many take offense when told the truth! The "Christmas spirit" is created each year, NOT to honor Christ, but to sell merchandise! Like all satan's delusions, it appears as an "angel of light," is made to appear good. Billions of dollars are spent in this merchandising spree every year, while the cause of Christ must suffer! It's part of the economic system of BABYLON! We have professed to be a Christian nation, but we're in BABYLON, as Bible prophecy foretold, and we don't know it! "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues"---now soon to fall---is the warning of Revelation 18:4. This year, instead of gift-trading, why not put that money into God's Work?!
Still want to celebrate christmas? Read this article about the evergreen tree. You open up your home to all kinds of demonic entities when you celebrate pagan holidays.
The Darker Side of Evergreeens
Many people, when they are children, are taught to hang up stockings on Christmas eve. They are also taught to decorate a Christmas tree with shiny tinsel, traditionally silver or gold, and other decorations. While, in the middle of the night, their parents pile presents on the floor underneath and put things in their stockings. When they wake up the next morning, the stockings will be filled with small toys and sacks or little boxes of candy and nuts. The children are told Santa Claus had come down the chimney during the night and left all these things. Isn't it strange that no one ever questions these things? These children trust their parents. After all, why would their parents lie to them, right? Stop and THINK a moment! Very few have ever reflected on WHY they believe what they believe and WHY they follow the customs they follow or WHERE these customs came from. We were born into a world filled with customs. We grew up accepting them without question.
WHY? Sheep instinct? Well, not exactly, but, by nature, we DO tend to follow the crowd, whether right or wrong. Sheep follow others to the slaughter. Humans ought to check up where they are going.
HOW and WHEN did Christmas originate? Does Christmas really celebrate the birth of Christ? Was Jesus born on December 25? Did the original aposteles, who knew Jesus personally and were taught by Him, celebrate His birthday on December 25? Did they celebrate Jesus' birthday at all? If Christmas is the chief of the Christian holidays, WHY do so many non-Christians observe it? Do you know? WHY do people exchange presents with family members, friends, and relatives, at Christmas time? Is it because the wise men presented gifts to Jesus when He was a child? The answer may surprise you. Most people have "supposed" a lot of things about Christmas that are not true, but let's quit "supposing" and GET THE FACTS!
What Encyclopedia's Say
The word "Christmas" means "Mass of Christ," or, as it came to be shortened, "Christ-Mass." It came to non-Christians and Protestants from the Roman Catholic Church. Where did they get it? NOT from the New Testament, NOT from the Bible, and NOT from the original apostles who were personally instructed by Christ, but it gravitated IN THE FOURTH CENTURY into the Roman Church from PAGANISM.
Since the celebration of Christmas has come to the world from the Roman Catholic Church, and has no authority but that of the Roman Catholic Church, let us examine the Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911 edition, published by that church. Under the heading of "Christmas," you will find:
"Christmas was NOT among the earliest festivals of the church...the first evidence of the feast is from Egypt. Pagan customs centering around the January calends gravitated to Christmas."
Under the heading "Natal Day," we find that early Catholic father, Origen, acknowledged this truth.
Encyclopedia Britannica, 1946 edition, has this: "Christmas (i.e., the Mass of Christ)....Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the church...." It was not instituted by Christ or the apostles, or by Biblical authority. It was picked up afterward from paganism.
The Encyclopedia Americana, 1944 edition, says: "Christmas.... It was, according to many authorities, not celebrated in the first centuries of the Christian church, as the Christian usage in general was to celebrate the death of remarkable persons rather than their birth.... (The 'Communion,' which is instituted by New Testament Bible authority, is a memorial of the death of Christ.) ....a feast was established in the memory of Christ's birth in the fourth century. In the fifth century the Western Church ordered it to be celebrated forever on the day of the old Roman feast of the birth of Sol, as no certain knowledge of the day of Christ's birth existed." (On a personal note, if one studies the Jewish Torah, they can easily find the month Christ was born in from the Old and New Testaments.) Now notice! These recognized historical authorities show Christmas was not observed by Christians for the first two or three hundred years, a period longer than the entire history of the United States as a nation! It got into the Western, or Roman, Church by the fourth century A.D. It was not until the fifth century that the Roman Church ordered it to be celebrated as an official Christian festival!
Jesus NOT Born December 25th
Jesus was not even born in the winter season! When Jesus was born "there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night" (Luke 2:8). This never could have occurred in Israel in the month of December. The shepherds always brought their flocks from the mountainsides and fields and corralled them not later than October 15, to protect them from the cold, rainy season that followed that date. Notice that the Bible itself proves, in Song of Solomon 2:11 and Ezra 10:9, 13, that winter was a rainy season not permitting shepherds to abide in open fields at night.
"It was an ancient custom among Jews of those days to send out their sheep to the fields and deserts about the Passover (early spring), and bring them home at commencement of the first rain," says the Adam Clarke Commentary, volume 5, page 370, New York edition. Continuing, this authority states: "During the time they were out, the shepherds watched them night and day. As...the first rain began early in the month of Marchesvan, which answers to the part of our October and November (Marchesvan begins sometime in October), we find that the sheep were kept out in the open country during the whole summer. As these shepherds had not yet brought home their flocks, it is a presumptive argument that October had not yet commenced, and that, consequently, our Lord was not born on the 25th of December, when no flocks where out in the fields; nor could He have been born later than September, as the flocks were still in the fields by night. On this very ground, the nativity in December should be given up. The feeding of the flocks by night in the fields is a chronological fact...See the quotations from the Talmudists in Lightfoot."
Any encyclopedia, or any other authority, will tell you that Christ was not born on December 25. The Catholic Encyclopedia frankly states this fact.
Scripture tells us when Jesus was born, but many overlook this because they do not go back to the Torah. First, we need to look to the Meodim (See Deuteronomy 16:1-17; Leviticus 23; and Numbers 28-29).
"Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the Lord empty:" -- Deuteronomy 16:16
Here we see that God commanded the Jewish men to gather "in the place which He shall choose" three times a year on three different Moedim. At the time when Jesus walked the earth, this was Jerusalem at the temple. Josephus records that approximately 2.5 million Jews would be in Jerusalem on these three days. We know this from the 250,000 lambs that would be sacrificed on Passover. One lamb per ten people. This would definitely explain why Bethlehem was so crowded at the time of Jesus' birth. Bethlehem is only six miles from Jerusalem. To find out the time Jesus was born we need to first look at the birth of John the baptist.
"There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years. So it was, that while he was serving as priest before God in the order of his division, according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot fell to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord." -- Luke 1:5-9
Here we see that Zacharias, John the baptists father, was of the division of Abijah. This was "while he was serving as priest before God in the order of his division." 1 Chronicles 24:10 tells us that the course/division of Abijah was the eighth course. This is important because King David divided the priesthood into different courses, and they would each minister two weeks out of the year. During the three Meodim all the priests would minister together. The first course would be approximately the first week of April, the second course the second week, but the third week was Unleavened Bread so all the priests would minister. The third course would be the following week on the fourth week of April. The eight course would have been around the last week of May. The following week would be the feast of weeks or, what we know as Pentecost. This is why Luke 1:10-11 says,
"And the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of incense. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense."
They were all in Jerusalem for Pentecost. In Luke 1:23-24 we see that, after Zacharias' course was completed his wife, Elizabeth conceived... "So it was, as soon as the days of his service were completed, that he departed to his own house. Now after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived; and she hid herself five months," Elizabeth conceived sometime during the end of June and hid herself five months. This brings us to the end of November and Luke 1:26-27... "Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary." Here it says, "in the sixth month," so now that brings us to the end of December when Mary conceives. Add nine months to this and it brings us to the end of September/ beginning of October which is the time of the feast of Tabernacles. Although the exact day is not given, we can see that Jesus was definitely NOT born on December 25.
HOW This Pagan Custom Got Into the Church
Then how did this pagan custom creep into the Western Christian world? The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge explains it clearly, in its article on "Christmas": "How much the date of the festival depended upon the pagan Brumalia (December 25) following the Saturnalia (December 17-24), and celebrating the shortest day of the year and the 'new sun' ...cannot be accurately determined. The pagan Saturnalia and Brumalia were too deeply entrenched in popular custom to be set aside by Christian influence.... The pagan festival with its riot and merrymaking was so popular that Christians were glad of an excuse to continue its celebration with little change in spirit and in manner. Christian preachers of the West and Near East protested against the seemly frivolity with which Christ's birthday was celebrated, while Christians of Mesopotamia accused their Western brethren of idolatry and sun worship for adopting as Christian this pagan festival."
Remember, the Roman world had been pagan. Prior to the fourth century, Christians were few in number, though increasing, and were persecuted by the government and by pagans. With the advent of Constantine as emperor, who made his profession of Christianity in the fourth century, placing Christianity on equal footing with paganism, people of the Roman world began to accept the now-popular Christianity by the hundreds of thousands.
Remember, these people had grown up in pagan customs, chief of which was this idolatrous festival of December 25. It was a festival of merrymaking, with its special spirit. They enjoyed it! They didn't want to give it up! Now this same article in the New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge explains how the recognition by Constantine of pagan sun worship, and how the influence of the pagan Manichaeism, which identified the SON of God with the physical SUN, gave these pagans of the fourth century, now turning over wholesale to "Christianity," their excuse for calling their pagan-festival date of December 25 (birthday of the SUN-god), the birthday of the SON of God.
That is how "Christmas" became fastened on our western world! We may call it by another name, but it's the same old pagan sun-worshipping festival still! The only change is in what we call it! You can call a rabbit a "lion," but it's still a rabbit, just the same.
Again from the Encyclopedia Britannica: "Certain Latins, as early as 354, may have transferred the birthday from January 6 to December 25, which was then a Mithraic feast...or birthday of the unconquered SUN... The Syrians and Armenians, who clung to January 6, accused the Romans of sun worship and idolatry, contending...that the feast of December 25, had been invented by disciples of Cerinthus...."
The Real ORIGIN of Christmas
If we got Christmas from the Roman Catholics, and they got it from paganism, where did the pagans get it? Where, when, and what was its real origin?
It is a chief custom of the corrupt system denounced all through Bible prophecies and teachings under the name of Babylon. It started and originated in the original Babylon of ancient Nimrod! Yes, it stems from roots whose beginning was shortly this side of the Flood!
Nimrod, grandson of Ham, son of Noah, was the real founder of the Babylonian system that has gripped the world ever since ---the system of organized competition---of man-ruled governments and empires, based upon the competitive and profit-making economic system. Nimrod built the tower of Babel, the original Babylon, ancient Nineveh, and many other cities. He organized this world's first kingdom. The name Nimrod, in Hebrew, is derived from "Marad," meaning "he rebelled."
From many ancient writings, considerable is learned of this man, who started the great organized worldly apostacy from God that has dominated this world until now. Nimrod was so evil, it is said he married his own mother, whose name was Semiramis. After Nimrod's untimely death, his so-called mother-wife, Semiramis, propagated the evil doctrine of the survival of Nimrod as a spirit being. She claimed a full-grown evergreen tree sprang overnight from a dead tree stump, which symbolized the springing forth unto new life of the dead Nimrod. On each anniversary of his birth, she claimed, Nimrod would visit the evergreen tree and leave gifts upon it. December 25 was the birthday of Nimrod. This is the real origin of the Christmas tree.
Through her scheming and designing, Semiramis became the Babylonian "Queen of Heaven," and Nimrod, under various names, became the "divine son of heaven." Through the generations, in this idolatrous worship, Nimrod also became the false Babylonian system, the "Mother and Child" (Semiramis, and Nimrod reborn) became chief objects of worship. This worship of "Mother and Child' spread over the world. THe names varied in different countries and languages. In Egypt it was Isis and Osiris. In Asia, Cybele and Deoius. In pagan Rome, Fortuna and Jupiterpuer. Even in Greece, China, Japan, Tibet is to be found counterpart of the Madonna, long before the birth of Christ!
Thus, during the fourth and fifth centuries, when the pagans of the Roman world were "accepting" the new popular "Christianity" by the hundreds of thousands, carrying their old pagan customs and beliefs along with them, merely cloaking them with Christian-sounding names, the Madonna and "Mother and Child" idea also became popularized, especially at Christmas time. Every Christmas season you'll hear sung and chanted dozens of times the hymn "Silent Night, Holy Night," with its familiar "Mother and Child" theme. We, who have been born in such a Babylonian world, reared and steeped in these things all our lives, have been taught to revere these things as holy and sacred. We never questioned to see where they came from---whether they came from the BIble, or from pagan idolatry!
We are shocked to learn the truth---some, unfortunately, take offense, but God commands His faithful ministers, "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgressions!" Shocking as these facts are, they are plain facts of history and the Bible!
The real origin of Christmas goes back to ancient Babylon. It is bound in the organized apostasy which has gripped a deceived world these many centuries! In Egypt, it was always believed that the son of Isis (Egyptian name for "Queen of Heaven") was born on December 25. Paganism celebrated this famous birthday over most of the known world for centuries before the birth of Christ. The ancient idolatrous "Chaldean Mysteries," founded by this wife of Nimrod, have been handed down through the pagan religions under new Christian-sounding names.
Origin of Holly Wreath, Mistletoe, and the Yule Log
Now where did we get this mistletoe custom? Among the ancient pagans the mistletoe was used at this festival of the winter solstice because it was considered sacred to the sun, because of its supposed miraculous healing power. The pagan custom of kissing under the mistletoe was an early step in the night of revelry and drunken debauchery---celebrating the death of the "old sun" and the birth of the new at the winter solstice. Mistletoe, sacred in pagan festivals, is a parasite!
Holly berries were also considered sacred to the sun-god. The yule log is in reality the "sun log." "Yule" means "wheel," a pagan symbol of the sun. Yet today professing Christians speak of the "sacred yuletide season!" Even the lighting of fires and candles as a Christian ceremony is merely a continuation of the pagan custom, encouraging the waning sun-god as he reached the lowest place in the southern skies!
The Encyclopedia Americana says: "The holly, the mistletoe, the yule log...are relics of pre-Christian times." Of paganism!
The book, Answers to Questions, complied by Frederick J. Haskins, found in public libraries, says: "The use of Christmas wreaths is believed by authorities to be traceable to the pagan customs of decorating buildings and places of worship at the feast which took place at the same time as Christmas. The Christmas tree is from Egypt, and its origin dates from a period long anterior to the Christmas Era."
Yule logs and holly wreaths, items of "traditional Christmas," were both associated with winter solstice celebrations more than 2,000 years before Christ's birth.
Yes, and Even SANTA CLAUS!
Surely dear old Santa Claus is not a creature of pagan birth? He is, and his real character is not so benevolent and holy as many suppose!
The name "Santa Claus" is a corruption of the name "St. Nicholas," a Roman Catholic bishop who lived in the 5th century. Look in the Encyclopedia Britannica, volume 19, pages 648-649, 11th edition, where you'll read: "St. Nicholas, bishop of Myra, a saint honored by the Greeks and Latins on the 6th of December....A legend of his surreptitious bestowal of dowries on the three daughters of an impoverished citizen...is said to have originated the old custom of giving presents in secret on the Eve of St. Nicholas (December 6), subsequently transferred to Christmas day. Hence the association of Christmas with Santa Claus...."
Is it Christian to teach myths and falsehoods? God says, "Thou shalt not bear false witness!" It may seem right, and be justified by human reason, but God says, "There is a way that seemeth right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death!" "Old Nick" also is a term for the devil! Is there a connection? Satan appears as an "angel of light," to deceive! (2 Corinthians 11:14; Revelation 12:9)
So when we examine the facts, we are astonished to learn that the practice of observing Christmas is not, after all, a true Christian practice, but a pagan custom---one of the ways of Babylon our people have fallen into!
What the BIble Says About the Christmas Tree!
If the BIble is silent about telling us to observe Christmas, or recording any such observance by the apostles or early true Church, it does have something to say about the Christmas tree!
This will come as a real surprise to many, but here it is: Jeremiah 10:2-6: "Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen....For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. The deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not."
There is a perfect description of the Christmas tree, termed by ADONAI as "the way of the heathen---the custom of the people." We are commanded not to learn that way or follow it! It is also viewed in this passage as idolatry. The fifth verse shows that these trees cannot speak---cannot walk---must be carried. "Be not afraid of them; for they (the trees) cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good." They are not gods to be feared. Some people mis-read this to make it say there is no harm in having a Christmas tree, but that is NOT what it says.
Isn't Exchanging Gifts Scriptural?
When it comes to the most important part of all in this Christmas observance---the Christmas shopping season---the buying and exchanging of gifts---many will exclaim triumphantly, "Well, at least the Bible tells us to do that! Didn't the wisemen give gifts when Christ was born?"
Again, we are due for some SURPRISES, WHEN WE LEARN THE PLAIN TRUTH! First, let's look at the historic origin of trading gifts back and forth, then see exactly what the Bible does say about it.
From the Bibliotheca Sacra, volume 12, pages 153-155, we quote: "The interchange of presents between friends is alike characteristic of Christmas and the Saturnalia, and must have been adopted by Christians from the Pagans, as the admonition of Tertullian plainly shows."
The facts is, this custom fastened upon people of exchanging gifts with friends and relatives at the Christmas season has not a single trace of Christianity about it, strange though that may seem! This does not celebrate Christ's birthday nor honor it or Him! Suppose someone you love has a birthday. You want to honor that person on his or her birthday. Would you lavishly buy gifts for everyone else, trading gifts back and forth with all your other friends?
Yet this is exactly what people the world over are doing! They honor a day that is not Christ's birthday by spending every dime they can s---e together in buying presents to trade back and forth among friends and relatives. When the month of December rolls around, nearly all professing Christians forget to give gifts to Christ and His cause almost altogether! December is often the most difficult month to keep Christ's work from dying! People are too busy trading gifts back and forth among themselves to think of Christ and His work. Then, in January, and even into February it seems they have to catch up from what they spent for Christmas, so they seldom get back to normal in supporting Christ and His work before March, if ever!
Now consider what the Bible says about the wise men giving gifts when Christ was born. It is in Matthew 2:1-11: "Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is He that is born King of the Jews?...And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary His mother, and fell down, and worshipped Him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto HIM gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh."
WHY Were Gifts Presented to Christ?
Notice, they inquired for the child Jesus, who was born KING of the Jews! Now why did they present gifts to Him? Because it was His birthday? Not at all, because they came several days or weeks after the date of His birth! Was it to set an example for us, today, to trade gifts back and forth among ourselves? No, notice carefully! They did NOT exchange gifts among themselves, but "they presented unto HIM gifts." They gave THEIR gifts to CHRIST, NOT to their friends, relatives, or one another!
Why? According to the Adam Clarke Commentary, volume 5, page 46: "Verse 11. (They presented unto Him gifts). The people of the east never approach the presence of kings and great personages, without a present in their hands. The custom is often noticed in the Old Testament, and still prevails in the east, and in some of the newly discovered South Sea Islands."
There it is! They were not instituting a new Christian custom of exchanging gifts with friends to honor Christ's birthday. They were following an old and ancient eastern custom of presenting gifts to a king when they came into His presence. They were approaching Him, born KING of the Jews, in person. Therefore custom required they present gifts---even as the Queen of Sheba brought gifts to Solomon---even as many people today take a gift along when they visit the White House for an appointment with the President.
No, the custom of trading gifts back and forth does not stem from history above, it is the continuance of an ancient pagan custom. Instead of honoring Christ, it invariably hinders His work, often sets it back, at the Christmas season every year!
Many still reason, "even so---even though Christmas was a PAGAN custom, honoring the false SUN-GOD, we don't observe it to honor the false god, we observe it to honor CHRIST."
How does God answer in His word? "Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them...(the pagans in their customs) that thou enquire not after their gods saying, How did these nations serve their gods? Even so will I do likewise. THOU SHALT NOT DO SO UNTO THE LORD THY GOD: for every abomination to the ETERNAL, which He hateth, have they done unto their gods" (Deuteronomy 12:30-31).
God says plainly in His Instruction Book to us, that He will not accept that king of worship, even though intended in His honor. To Him, He says, it is taking what is ABOMINABLE to Him, and therefore it honors, not Him, but false pagan gods. GOD says we must not worship Him according to the dictates of our own conscience---a term we often hear. Jesus said plainly, "God is a spirit: they that worship Him MUST worship Him in spirit and in TRUTH" (John 4:24) What is truth? God's word---the Holy BIble---said Jesus, is truth (John 17:17); and the BIble says God will not accept worship when people take a pagan custom or manner of worship and try to honor Christ with it.
Christmas observance is a tradition of men, and the commandments of God, as quoted, forbid it. Jesus said, further, "full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition."
That is precisely what the millions are doing today. They ignore the commandment of God. He commands, regarding taking the customs of the pagans and using them to honor or worship God, "THOU SHALT NOT DO SO UNTO THE LORD THY GOD." Still, most people today take that command of God lightly, or as having no validity whatsoever, and FOLLOW THE TRADITION OF MEN IN OBSERVING CHRISTMAS.
Make no mistake! God will ALLOW you to defy and disobey Him. He will ALLOW you to follow the crowd and the traditions of men. He will ALLOW you to sin. HE ALSO SAYS THERE IS A DAY OF RECKONING COMING. As you SOW, SO SHALL YOU REAP! Jesus is the living Word of God in Person, and the BIble is the written Word of God. We shall be JUDGED, for eternity BY THESE WORDS! They should not be taken lightly or ignored.
We're IN BAYLON, and Haven't KNOWN IT!
Christmas has become a commercial season. It's sponsored, kept alive, by the heaviest retail advertising campaigns of the year. You see a masqueraded "Santa Claus" in many stores. Ads keep us deluded and deceived about the "beautiful Christmas spirit." The newspapers, who sell the ads, print flowery editorials exalting and eulogizing the pagan season, and it's "spirit." Television, internet, and social media are no different. A gullible people has become so innoculated, many take offense when told the truth! The "Christmas spirit" is created each year, NOT to honor Christ, but to sell merchandise! Like all satan's delusions, it appears as an "angel of light," is made to appear good. Billions of dollars are spent in this merchandising spree every year, while the cause of Christ must suffer! It's part of the economic system of BABYLON! We have professed to be a Christian nation, but we're in BABYLON, as Bible prophecy foretold, and we don't know it! "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues"---now soon to fall---is the warning of Revelation 18:4. This year, instead of gift-trading, why not put that money into God's Work?!
Still want to celebrate christmas? Read this article about the evergreen tree. You open up your home to all kinds of demonic entities when you celebrate pagan holidays.
The Darker Side of Evergreeens