1 Peter 1
Jeremiah 31-32
Psalm 134
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Thoughts and Commentary on Today's Reading
Due to the season... I am going to deviate a bit from my normal commentary.
For the next couple of days, I am going to give a short series of blogs which I will call "Unwrapping Christmas". In this series, I will expose the paganism behind our current Christmas traditions. Often, I will be quoting from Jeremiah Films which created a documentary on this subject. In sharing this, I hope that you will be encouraged in your own journey out of Babylon's borders (Revelation 18) and that you will be armed with the needed information to aid someone else in that important journey as
well. So here goes...
This is the season when most people are consumed with preparations for Christmas. But, is Christmas something followers of Yahshua should participate in?
Christmas has been called the “day of days.” For many, our fondest childhood memories seem to center around the traditions of Christmas.
But have you ever wondered how all the traditions of Christmas got started? Why do people decorate the Christmas tree? Why is it a Christmas tradition to light the Yule log or hang mistletoe?
It is the time when many around the world
celebrate the birth of Christ. But, what
do these traditions have to do with
Yahshua’s birth?
Is December 25
really Yahshua’s birthday?
The tradition of gift giving is often thought to have come from the story of
the wise men bringing gifts to the Christ Child. But is that really why the tradition of
giving gifts is part of Christmas today?
Where do the Christmas traditions come from? Decorating Christmas trees certainly isn’t
a practice found in the story of Messiah’s birth.
Where did the
Christmas Yule Log tradition get started? And what does it mean?
How did Santa Claus get added into the
Christmas mix? To answer these questions we must look into the ancient practices
of paganism.
In the Northern hemisphere, during late December the days are at
their shortest lengths and the nights are at their longest. For those in the pagan world, this has
always been the greatest time of the year to celebrate and practice the works
of spiritual darkness. The pagan
calendar identifies the time at
the end of December as the winter solstice. And
our modern Christmas traditions, long before they came to be associated with
Christ’s birth in any way, were practiced by pagans dating back to ancient
times.
One
such group, who practiced the traditions now associated with Christmas as part
of their pagan rituals, was the ancient Norsemen of Scandinavia.
In order to honor their pagan, fertility god Yule, the Norsemen engaged
in a 12-day celebration in the month of December. During this celebration a
log, considered to be a phallic symbol, was lit. The ensuing bonfire
was to be kept lit for 12
days. During this time animal and human sacrifices were burned in this fire on
each of those 12 days.
Wild
parties accompanied these sacrifices involving drunken orgies, dancing and
attempting to contact and be possessed by the spirits of the season. It is
from this pagan practice that we get the 12 days of Christmas tradition.
1000 miles
away, in pre-Christian Rome, the same kinds of celebrations were going on –
honoring what appeared to be different gods, as they had different names than
the Norsemen’s deities. But,
interestingly enough, the way the pre-Christian Roman gods were honored at the
solstice is remarkably similar to the pagan fertility rites and rituals being
practiced in Scandinavia at this time of year.
Ancient witches recognized this time as
an important day when a pagan god was born.
He had different names, depending on the region, but his birthday was
the same – December 25.
Some
called him Dionysus, some called him Attis, others called him Tammuz. The apostle Paul would have known
him as Mithras. In Elijah’s day this pagan god with the
December 25 birthday, was called Baal. And the list of names went on and
on. But no matter what his moniker, his
birthday and the way it was celebrated remained the same.
Mithras was known as the god of the
unconquerable sun. His special Phrygian cap, which had always been associated
with Mithras from the ancient, pre-Christian times, is still worn today around
the time of his birthday. Notice the cap Mithras is wearing in the above stone carving of him.
During the December celebrations of Mithras's birthday in
Rome. courts were closed. Any crime was permitted and unpunishable by law. Homosexuality, cross-dressing
and unrestrained debauchery reigned supreme during this pagan celebration.
Roman
society lost all its order. Even children were encouraged to participate in the
lewd practices and drunken orgies.
By
270 A.D., the Roman emperor Aurelion had made it official, setting aside
seven days from December the 17 to December 24 and
culminating on December 25 to exchange gifts and celebrate the
birth of the son of the sun god.
As
more than one pagan deity was often honored in these celebrations - this Roman
celebration, became known as Saturnalia, in honor of the god Saturn - the god
of excess.
Perhaps
in your memory you can still hear the caroler crooning, “it’s the most
wonderful time of the year!”
This
belief was certainly held by the ancient pagans.
Imagine, all forms of sexual perversions could come be practiced without reprisal. Children and teens could
experiment with alcohol, drugs and immorality without parental prevention!
Husbands and wives could cheat on one another in broad daylight. Upstanding citizens could take the life of
that irritating neighbor without doing jail time.
Yes,
the time surrounding December 25 was nothing short of a demonic carte blanche.
And for those who enjoyed the devil’s delights, it was the most wonderful time
of the year.
The Saturnalia celebration, held for the month of
December, grew into a fevered frenzy between December 17 and
December 24. The demonic celebration reached its climax on
the birth day of the sun god – December 25.
Romans called this day:
Natali Invicti Solas
Natali Invicti Solas means the Birth day of the Invincible Sun.
Alexander Hisslop in
his book, the Tale of Two Babylons, explains:
“The
25 of December was observed at Rome as the
day when the victorious god re-appeared on the earth. The festival was called
the Natali-invicti-solas.”
The
word Natali Invicti Solas has
been shortened into Nativity. But the
birth it proclaims is not our dear Saviour’s – rather the Nativity is about
Yahshua’s arch enemy. For the sun god is none other
than Satan himself. He has
long desired to steal the worship that is due only to God. Could it be that in repackaging the pagan
Christmas, the devil has stolen worship from the most High God?
Let’s
look carefully at some of the other traditions associated with Christmas... tomorrow we'll look at the origins of the Christmas tree tradition...
In the Northern hemisphere, during late December the days are at
their shortest lengths and the nights are at their longest. For those in the pagan world, this has
always been the greatest time of the year to celebrate and practice the works
of spiritual darkness. The pagan
calendar identifies the time at
the end of December as the winter solstice. And
our modern Christmas traditions, long before they came to be associated with
Christ’s birth in any way, were practiced by pagans dating back to ancient
times. 
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