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CHAPTER 8
GOD’S WARNING TO HIS PEOPLE

Here we will examine the Scriptures and determine from a Biblical viewpoint if Christmas tradition and practices, born out of paganism, is endorsed by God in His Holy Word.  When God called the Israelites out of Egypt He instructed them on how He wanted to be worshipped.  After all, these were God’s special people and they were to be directed by His laws on how they should live their lives.  God’s Word gives us very important points today on how he commands us to live by the examples that are given through Israel’s history.  The Old Testament scriptures provide insight on how God felt about pagan practices.  Are we to apply these Old Testament examples of Israel’s history today in our modern Church era?  Allow the apostle Paul to answer:

“Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ [Jesus Christ is the God of the Old Testament].  But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.  Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.  Neither be ye idolaters [practicing pagan customs], as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.  Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.  Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.  Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.”  1Cor. 10:1-11

The Word of God makes it very clear that God left examples for modern believers today through the writings of the Old Testament.  Did God give Israel the green light to worship Him however they felt was appropriate?  Deuteronomy says: 

“Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.  Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you;”  Deu. 5:32-33

Most certainly God did not approve Israel to worship Him however they chose.  They were to avoid the false religious worship of the pagan gods of that time.  Do the Christmas traditions root themselves in the worship of false gods?  They most certainly do as we have covered from the various sources of the previous chapters in this book.  Of course this verse was spoken many years ago, however Jesus Christ reiterates this statement to Satan thousands of years later:

“And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”  Luke 4:8

Again, God speaks to the Israelites:

“…that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.”  Deu. 8:3

God tells His people to live according to His Word.  Again we must ask ourselves this question.  Did God command Christmas?  Of course this was spoken long before the birth of the Savior of the world, however, Jesus felt it was important enough to repeat in the Gospel of Luke even after His birth:

“And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”  Luke 4:4

  Now lets move on to others scriptures.  In Deuteronomy 12, God warns the children of Israel to avoid the pagan practices of the heathen nations that surrounded Palestine at that time.  Since Christmas roots itself in paganism, then would it be wrong to direct our worship to God using the pagan customs?  The New King James Version of the Bible gives us a very interesting point that clarifies it much better.  Lets read.

“Take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, “How did these nations serve their gods?  I also will do likewise.  You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way; for every abomination to the Lord which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.  Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; You shall not add to it nor take away from it.”  Deu. 12:30-32 (NKJ)

            This indeed is a very interesting verse of scripture.  For there is no denying that God was completely against the Israelites worship of false gods according to the pagan nations that surrounded Israel at that time. God describes His displeasure of paganism by saying “…he hates…” that kind of false worship.  But even more interesting is that God is not to be worshipped “…in that way…”   That would indicate that God is not to be worshipped using a pagan style of worship.  That is very sobering when examining the roots of Christmas.  Is God accepting our Christmas style of worship today?  

Time and again God continually warned Israel of pagan idolatry throughout much of the Old Testament.  And as man’s continual rebellion, they ignored God’s warnings until they were punished by the pagan nations that they enquired of.  Here are some examples of God’s warning to His people about pagan worship:

“And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.”  Exo. 23:13

“Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.”  Exo. 23:24

“Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.”  Exo. 23:32

“For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God: Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice; And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods.”  Exo. 34:14-16

“When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them: Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.  For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.  But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.  For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.”  Deu 7:1-6

“That ye come not among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them:”  Jos. 23:7

God’s warning in the Bible would seem to be very stern on pagan idolatry.  These are but a few examples throughout the Old Testament scriptures concerning pagan practices.  For further study read Num. 25:1-5, Deu. 5:7; 6:14; 7:16,25; 8:19; 11:16,28; 13:1-10; 29:14-18; 30:17-18. 

But has God changed His instructions on how we are to worship Him since the Israelites were taken captive never to be recognized by most of the world again?  After all, some calculations put the time of Israel’s removal around twenty-five hundred years ago.  Could God change His viewpoint on the pagan customs of the Christmas season over all these years?  Lets allow the Bible to answer that question:

“For I am the Lord, I change not:  therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.”  Mal. 3:6

“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” 

Heb. 13:8

            These verses clearly indicate that God is consistent throughout eternity.  For we must ask a question to ourselves, “Did God somehow relax his commands and is it perfectly fine to observe heathen customs even if we have His name attached to them”?  If God does not change then we can only conclude that pagan practices are still displeasing in His eyes.  It would be wise for the sincere Christian to prayerfully confront the Christmas issue instead of turning a blind eye to what history and the Bible reveals.

God’s Word does not leave us pondering about some of the ancient heathen customs.  An alarming scripture describes a similar custom that is practiced throughout the entire western world and much of the world at large during the festive Christmas season.  This would be the Christmas tree tradition.  Lets read that scripture:

“Hear ye the word which the Lord speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: Thus saith the Lord, learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.  For the custom of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.  They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.”  Jer. 10:1-4

There is much controversy over this scripture amongst Christians.  Some feel it is talking about the Christmas tree and some scoff that it would indicate such a custom.  However, the verse is strikingly familiar to how we hold the Christmas tree tradition.  Of all the ancient pagan practices the heathens participated in why would God choose this one to be in His Word?  Whether this verse is indicating the Christmas tree custom or not, the forthright message is to not practice heathen traditions.  And as we read earlier in this study there is strong evidence that the Christmas tree is an ancient pagan custom.

There are strong warnings in the Bible about our man-made customs that all Christians should heed and take notice to understand.  Jesus had something to say to the Pharisees of his day about their man-made traditions.  We go to the gospel account for this intriguing insight:

“Howbeit in vain do they worship me teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.  For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.  And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.”   Mark 7:7-9

“Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your own tradition?”  Matt. 15:3

“But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”  Matt. 15:9

Jesus is telling us that it is very possible to worship God in vain.  This vain worship is accomplished by ignoring God’s commandments by our timeless traditions that we hold so dear.  Does the Christmas tradition that Christians observe each year ignore the command of God about “…learn not the way of the heathen” (Jer. 10:2)?  Or the first commandment of God, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exo.20:3)?  Does God see Christmas as an ancient pagan festival?  Does He see it as breaking the first commandment?  Is Christ against all traditions of man?  The Gospel tells us that Jesus recognized the tradition of Hanukkah:

“And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.  And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch.”  John 10:22-23

  Hanukkah is not commanded in the Word of God; however, it was not born out of pagan religions either.  Hanukkah celebrates the rededication of the temple after the Syrian king, Antiochus Epiphanes, defiled it.  This was a historical event for the Jewish people in their revolt against Syria and taking back their temple by Judas Maccabeus.  In America there are many traditional holidays as well.  The holiday of Thanksgiving is one of those.  This would not be a violation of God’s command to abstain from paganism because Thanksgiving is commemorating a historic event without any connection to pagan worship. 

Christmas as covered in this book has its roots connected to a pagan festival on the 25^th of December in honor to the pagan gods.  To take the historic event of the birth of Christ and apply it to all kinds of pagan practices would violate Jesus Christ own Words about ignoring God’s commandment against pagan practices in order to keep a man made tradition.  By taking the name of Jesus Christ and applying it to a pagan festival does not make Christmas holy in God’s eyes.  We have studied already that there is no Biblical authority to celebrate the birth of Christ.  But more startling is that there is much Biblical authority opposing pagan customs and traditions that are practiced during the Christmas season.  Is it possible that Christians could be worshiping God in vain during the Christmas season, being that so much of it, if not all of it, are pagan in origin and only man-made traditions?  No doubt Jesus had a birth as you can read about in Matt. 1:18-25; 2:1-12, Luke 2:7-21, but you can nowhere find a command or any indications in the Bible that anyone, including the early church, observed Christmas.  But then again, what harm is all the Christmas spirit this time of year?  The appropriate question to ask is “what does God think about Christmas?” 

In our small human intellects we tend to rationalize that God thinks and feels the same way we do.  This could not be any further from the truth.  God does not always see things the way we do.  Neither does He always feel the way we do.  The prophet Isaiah tells us, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.”   Isa. 55:8.  God’s scope of vision is much larger than mans.  Our microcosmic world of existence tells us to think for the “here and now”.  This is not God’s rationale of the ages.  He sees the panoramic view of His plan being worked out from the throne room of Heaven.  He is omnipresent and knows the “…end from the beginning…” (Isa 46:10).  He is currently active in our physical world by moving nations, hearts, and His hand to produce the overall good of His wonderful plan of redemption for all mankind.  Almighty God knows about Christmas.  He knows how it developed under the banner of earliest pagan religions. 

The Apostle Paul took notice of the paganism that was interacting within the Church of God.  Particularly the Church at Corinth.  Corinth was a city notorious for its rampant immoral paganism.  It was there that a temple resided to a pagan goddess named Aphrodite.  Sexual immorality had a firm grip on many people in Corinth.  For it was a religious practice that lured many to the prostitutes at the temple of Aphrodite.  Many of the believers in Corinth had come out of paganism to embrace Christianity as indicated by Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians: 

“Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.”  1Cor. 12:2

But just like ancient Israel those early Christians found it hard to leave what they use to embrace.  Paul makes the point clear in his second letter to the Corinthians that many of them were still embracing their old pagan practices and were mingling them with the worship of God.  Lets read what Paul says to the Corinthians concerning this matter:

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?  And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel [heathens]?  And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols [paganism]? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”  2Cor. 6:14-18

These “idols” Paul is speaking of is the immoral pagan worship of false gods in the city of Corinth at that time.  It is very clear what Paul’s instructions are in this matter.  Paul instructs the Corinthians to leave behind their former pagan practices.  It is evident that the customs and traditions of Christmas originate in pagan religions and Christians continue to bond them to the worship of Jesus Christ during the Christmas season.  This is a clear violation of the instruction that Paul gives us through his letter to the Corinthian Church.   

Many years ago the apostle Paul saw what he called a “mystery of iniquity” that was creeping into the church.  Lets cover that verse:

“For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.” 

2Thes. 2:7

            Paul seems to be indicating something was at work called a “mystery” that was very sinful.  And if it is a mystery, then many people are probably unaware of it.  Revelation gives us a clue of what this “mystery” could be associated with:

“And upon her forehead was a name written, mystery, Babylon the GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”  Rev. 17:5

            Scholars understand that a woman represents a church, Israel, or a religious system in Bible prophecy.  This woman obviously has the title of “MYSTERY” tattooed on her forehead.  But who exactly is this woman?  Let’s see:

“And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.”  Rev. 17:18

            So this woman is a great religious city that has held sway over the nations (kings) of this earth.  This great city will exist in the last days, prior to Jesus Christ return.  Revelation continues to give us more insight about this woman:

“And here is the mind which hath wisdom.  The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.” 

Rev. 17:9

            Is it a coincidence that Rome, the most influential and religious city in the world, is called the “city of the seven hills”?  Is it a coincidence that all the paganism that has infected Christianity came by way of Rome and Roman Catholicism?  So if this woman is a great religious city that sits upon seven hills, then could it be a possible that this woman is really Vatican City?  Remember it was Roman Catholicism that introduced the pagan customs of Christmas into the Christian church.  Paul wrote to Timothy that Christians would soon turn away from the truth and would not endure sound doctrine of the Holy Scriptures:

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”  2Tim. 4:3-4

Again, as we have read, is there truth in Christmas?  Remember, what the Bible says truth is, “Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth.” (John 17:17).  Not only is Christmas not found anywhere in the Bible, but according to the worlds most intelligent scholars, Jesus Christ was never born on December 25^th or anywhere near that time.  Is Christmas mostly made of “fables”?  A fable is defined in Webster’s as, “a fictious story, a myth or legend, a story that is not true or a falsehood”.   Is Christmas a fable or is it truth?  That needs to be seriously considered by Christians.  We Christians need to listen to the word of God through Paul as he states to Timothy about Christians turning to “fables”.  Any rational thinking person understands that Santa Clause, flying reindeer, toy-making elves, and the Easter bunny are all fables.  Think about all the myths that are developed around the Christmas tree, mistletoes, Yule log, holiday decorations, gift exchange, and a host of other pagan religious beliefs that are generated by Christmas.  Is this not a strong warning about the Christianity being practiced in the last days according to Paul’s letter to Timothy?

The Bible is clear about a real devil, called Satan, that is currently deceiving this entire earth with all kinds of therapeutic religions, doctrines, and fanatical philosophies of this world.  The Bible says: 

“In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them”

2Cor:4:4
 

“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world…”  Rev. 12:9
 

The apostle Paul explains that Satan is “transformed into an angel of light” and has ministers that are pushing his religious propaganda on the Christian world.  Lets allow the Bible to explain that point:

“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.  Therefore it is not great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” 2Cor. 11:13-15
 

Could it be that Christmas is a deception to blind many from worshiping the true God of the Bible?  Make no mistake; the devil is a master of deception.  Therefore, we Christians most certainly need to challenge our faith.  It is very crucial indeed.  Paul explains it:

“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”  1Thes. 5:21

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 

2Tim. 2:15

What you are reading in this book is truth.  Truth that is “…shaper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow…” (Heb 4:12).  When the truth of God enters our mind it can deeply offend us in ways we can’t imagine.  However, truth is not obligated to make us feel better.  Depending on a person’s situation in life the truth can affect us in many different ways.  Jesus Christ declared himself to be “…the truth” (John 14:6) and offended many people of the day.  But the truth is not going to change for the human race because we enjoy the comforts of our current religious status.  Neither is God going to change His truth to convenience man in his religious lifestyle.  We must change to adhere to His will.  Truth is consistent throughout time and is set according to the Word of God.