| (Copyright 2005) by Wayne Schatzle (West Chester, Ohio) |
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| Increasingly each year there is a call to put Christ back in Christmas. With the continual push to remove God from our nation, Christmas almost is a last refuge for Christians. Seemingly they have circled the wagons to defend this most holy day. Like it or not Christmas has become a world holiday, and not just for Christians, but has become important to all nations of all religions, not just for celebration but is a boon to their economies by manufacturing cheap goods for Christians to buy. It should come to no surprise to everyone that the celebration at the end of December that is so popular, long preceded the birth of Christ. With the advent of the Internet, it is easy to find proof of the pagan roots. Mithra or sun worship can be traced to the beginning of recorded history. Commonly known as saturnalia and burmalia was a weeklong celebration commencing on December 25th as the sun returned in strength to provide its blessings. This was Mithra’s birthday and celebrated with wild parties as it spread easily throughout the world. This holiday proved impossible for the early church to overcome so it was decided to “christianize” it and put a Christian spin on it and say Jesus was born then as well. Most cultures have added their own traditions to the day so you will find bits of ancient Greece, Rome, Persia and even Germany in it. Even the druids that worship nature have the quaint custom of cutting a tree and bringing it into the home and decorating it. Even to this day millions follow that tradition even in the face of God’s clear prohibition of it {Jeremiah 10}. It is a losing battle for sincere Christians to restore this holiday to a pure celebration to our Savior, as there are just too many pagan traditions associated with it. Most try to have some sort of worship in spite of the abominations. A very important thing to remember is Deuteronomy 12:29-32, which is a dire warning for His people not to worship Him with the devices of the nations around them. Aaron’s calf is a good case in point. Him making the idol wasn’t meant to ignore God but to make a representation of the True God that brought them out of slavery using ways they had learned in Egypt {Exodus 32:4}. That error in judgment cost the lives of many and taught them a lesson not soon forgotten. Ironically there is an easy answer for Christian purists. As Christmas has been observed as an eight-day festival- oddly enough there is a BIBLICAL eight-day festival in God’s law that just happens to fall within the time period of Jesus’ actual birth in the fall! It is called the Feast of Tabernacles {Leviticus 23:34}. Many thousands of Christians now celebrate this feast, and many are coming to see the symbolism of Christ’s birth and Him dwelling among men. Many now actually sing the familiar songs we hear in December of the wonderful birth of Jesus the Savior {devoid of the meaningless songs}! It seems a bit awkward initially but soon you can see the blessing of pure celebration with Biblical feast days without the baggage of pagan traditions that God so hates. For those with the courage to make changes in their lives and honor Christ at a biblical feast, do an Internet search of the “Feast of Tabernacles” and find out where you can attend with a group near you this coming fall. —————————————————————————————————————————- See Wayne Schatzle’s other articles at: Schatzle, Wayne – The “New” Church of God Messenger (church-of-god-bismarck.org) —————————————————————————————————————————- |
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