Hope of Israel Ministries (Ecclesia of YEHOVAH):

by HOIM Staff

Why does the whole world, virtually, celebrate Christmas? Yeshua the Messiah spoke of his true followers as a "little flock" (Luke 12:32), and yet hundreds of millions of people, supposed Christian and non-Christian alike, celebrate the holiday of Christmas!

In the book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible, we find that YEHOVAH God refers to Satan as "that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which DECEIVETH THE WHOLE WORLD" (Rev.12:9). If the whole world is deceived, and the whole world observes the festival called Christmas, doesn't it seem peculiar, to say the least, if Christmas is truly a Christian holiday?

Just where did Christmas originate, anyway?

Admits the Worldbook Encyclopedia, "The exact date of Christ's birth is not known. The early Christians did NOT celebrate His birth, because they considered the celebration of anyone's birth to be a pagan custom. The first mention of the observance of Chrisjt's birthday appears about A.D. 200. For many years, several dates were used. December 25 was first mentioned in 336" (article "Christmas").

This common reference work acknowledges, "For many years, people observed Christmas as a religious festival only. But they GRADUALLY ADOPTED MORE AND MORE CUSTOMS UNRELATED TO THE CHURCH. Most of the customs originated in cultures that existed before Christianity. . . . In 1643, the Puritans, who regarded such celebrations as pagan, outlawed the observance of Christmas in England." Colonists in New England followed the English laws and also outlawed Christmas. But immigrants to the New World brought Christmas customs from many lands and the old festivities where soon restored.

All of the popular customs and traditions surrounding Christmas actually were celebrated at pagan mid-winter festivals thousands of years before the Messiah was born. Admits this same encyclopedia, "The custom of burning the Yule log began with the ancient Scandinavians, who once a year burned a huge log in honor of their god Thor. After the Scandinavians became Christians [sic], they made the Yule log an important part of their Christmas ceremonies."

One of the most pervasive customs of Christmas, today, is the bringing home and decorating of a "Christmas tree." Where did this custom come from?

Coffin in The Book of Christmas Folklore tells us:

"Most people have heard that the Christmas tree originates in the tannenbaum and is some sort of vestige of Teutonic vegetation worship. THIS IS PARTIALLY TRUE. However, the custom of using pine and other evergreens ceremonially was well established at the ROMAN SATURNALIA, even earlier in Egypt" (p. 209).

What about the Christmas tree? The Worldbook declares, "The custom of decorating homes and churches with evergreens began in ancient times." Writes Alexander Hislop in The Two Babylons,

"The Christmas tree, now so common among us, was equally common in Pagan Rome and Pagan Egypt. In Egypt that tree was the palm tree; in Rome it was the fir; the palm tree denoting the Pagan Messiah, as Baal-Tamar, the fir referring to him as Baal-Berith" (page 97).

Ralph Woodrow in Babylon Mystery Religion points out that:

"An old Babylonian fable went like this: Semiramis, the mother of Tammuz, claimed that overnight an evergreen tree sprang up from a dead tree stump. The dead stump supposedly symbolized her dead husband Nimrod; the new evergreen tree was the symbol that Nimrod had come to life again in the person of Tammuz!

"This idea spread and developed so that the various nations all have had their legends about sacred trees! Among the Druids, the oak was sacred; among the Egyptians, it was the palm; and in Rome, it was the fir, which was decorated with red berries during the Saturnalia! Among the Scandi- navians, the fir tree was sacred to their god Odin" (p. 165).

Tree worship was very common among the ancients. Wrote James Frazer in The Golden Bough,

"Sacred groves were common among the ancient Germans, and tree-worship is hardly extinct amongst their descend- ants at the present day. At Upsala, the old religious capital of Sweden, there was a sacred grove in which every tree was regarded as divine" (p. 58).

Says Festivals, Holy Days, and Saints' Days,

"The Christmas tree . . . recapitulates the idea of tree worship . . . gilded nuts and balls symbolizing the sun . . . all the fest- tivities of the [heathen]winter solstice have been absorbed into Christmas Day . . . the use of holly and mistletoe to the Druidic ceremonies; the Christmas tree to the honours paid to Odin's sacred fir . . ." (p. 236).

Writes Collins in Christmas Folklore:

"This idea of decorating homes on holidays is both worldwide and age-old. . . So the Saturnalian laurel, the Teutonic holly, the Celtic mistletoe, and the Mexican poinsettia have all attached themselves to this polyglot ceremony . . .

"Many of the plants used at Christmas are SYMBOLS OF FERTILITY. Certainly any evergreen (fir, yew, laurel) with its ability to return verdure in the barrens months is appropriate, but by far the most interesting are the holly, the ivy, and the mistletoe. Holly, with its pricking leaves, white flowers, and red berries symbolizes the male repro- ductive urge. In fact, in the English carols . . . the holly is the male and the ivy is the female. This use of the plants was most likely BORROWED by the Christians along with other customs of the ROMAN SATURNALIA" (p. 22-23).

Ivy, holly's mate, in ancient Grecian rites took its name from the girl who danced with such abandon and joy before Dionysius that she fell dead at his feet. The pagan god, moved by her dance, turned her into the ivy that she might entwine whatever is near. Dionysius, of course, was the Greek version of the god of wine and revelry, another form of Bacchus, Tammuz, or Nimrod!

Mistletoe, since the earliest of times, has been regarded as mysterious and sacred, the symbol of the sun, bestower of life, an aphrodisiac, and protector against disease and poison. The plant was especially sacred to the Celtic Druids who offered it in prayer to the gods. The mistletoe was referred to by pagans as the "golden bough." The two great holidays when the pagans gathered mistletoe were Midsummer Day, the summer solstice, and December 25, the winter solstice. It was supposed to posses the power of revealing treasures in the earth, and was formed into a "divining rod." It was also looked upon as the "seat of life" of the sacred oak, and as an emanation of the sun's fire. Kissing under it is probably a survival of Saturnalian sexual license.

Even Santa Claus has a not-so-benign origin! This fat and jolly elf can be traced back to another ancient pagan Norse legend! Admits the Worldbook Encyclopedia,

"Some of Santa Claus's characteristics date back many centuries. For example, the belief that Santa enters the house through the chimney developed from an old Norse legend. The Norse believed that the goddess Hertha appeared in the fireplace and brought good luck to the home."

Although most people assume that the original "Santa Claus" was a bishop by the name of St. Nicholas of Asia Minor of the fourth century, this is not really true. Although some of this bishop's deeds later came to be associated with "St. Nick," the original "Nicholas" was once again Nimrod, the "mighty one against the Lord." The word "Nicholas" means "mighty one, powerful." Traditions of a "god" who gave gifts under an evergreen tree antecede the Asian Minor bishop by thousands of years! Among the Scandinavians it was the god Odin or Woden who left special gifts during the Yuletide season under the evergreen tree, his sacred tree!

Who was this Odin, or Woden? He was the chief god of Norse mythology, a fierce fighter who carried a spear as his special weapon. He was reknown as a mighty hunter, like Nimrod, and for his magical powers. Odin was another name for Nimrod. Says Alexander Hislop, "The Wodan or Odin of Scandinavia can be proved to be the Adon of Babylon" (The Two Babylons, p. 133-134). Nimrod, Adon, or Adonis, of Babylon was the great "war-god." Odin was the same. Nimrod, in the character of Bacchus, was the god of wine. Odin was said to partake of no other food but wine. The name of one of Odin's sons, Balder, indicates the meaning of Odin's own name. Balder is a form of the Chaldee Baal-zer, "The seed of Baal." The Hebrew "z" in the later Chaldee frequently became a "d." Baal and Adon both signify "Lord." Since Balder is the "son of Baal," as well as the "son of Adon," or "Odin," then Baal, Adon, and Odin must be the same person -- representative of Nimrod, the first human to be deified and proclaimed by the pagans as a "god" after the Deluge!

"Santa Claus," then, is not so innocent and cherubic a figure after all!

It is indeed strange that a day never mentioned or sanctioned in the Bible should become the chief so-called "Christian" holiday of the entire year -- a day never celebrated by Yeshua the Messiah, or his apostles, or the early New Testament Church of YEHOVAH God!

What is the actual origin of the celebration of December 25? Ralph Woodrow points out, "A look at the word 'Christmas' indicates that it is a mixture. Though it includes the name of Christ, it also mentions the 'mass.' Now the mass -- with its rituals, elaborate ceremony, pagan prayers for the dead, transubstantiation rites, etc. -- is most assuredly a continuation of paganism. . . . Considering then that the name of these pagan rites, the Mass, is connected with the name of Christ in the word 'Christ-mas,' we immediately see an attempt to merge two conflicting systems together! Actually, to attach the name of Christ with the word 'Mass,' a pagan and heathenistic ritual, is but to pollute the Holy name of our God! And God says, 'Pollute ye my holy name no more'! (Ezek. 20:39)" (p. 160).

Furthermore, Christmas most definitely was NOT the correct day for the birth of the Messiah! The gospel of Luke plainly says, "And there were shepherds LIVING OUT IN THE FIELDS nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night" (Luke 2:8, NIV), at the time the Messiah was born. Anybody familiar with the weather patterns in the Holy Land knows that shepherds NEVER kept watch over their flocks at night in the fields around Jerusalem past mid-October, before the onset of winter! The winter months in Palestine are cold, rainy, and intemperate, and the flocks were always brought in from the fields before winter. Therefore, since shepherds were still abiding in the fields at the birth of Yeshua, his birth must have been BEFORE WINTER!

However, it is also a fact that December 25 was celebrated for thousands of years before the birth of the Messiah as the birth day of an ancient pagan god -- THE SUN GOD! Alexander Hislop points out that

"Indeed, it is admitted by the most learned and candid writers of all parties that the day of our Lord's birth cannot be determined, and that within the Christian Church no such festival as Christmas was ever heard of till the third century, and that not till the fourth century was far advanced did it gain much observance. How, then, did the Romish Church fix on December the 25th as Christmas-day? Why, thus: Long before the fourth century, and long before the Christian era itself, a festival was celebrated among the heathen, at that precise time of the year, in honour of the birth of the son of the Babylonian queen of heaven; and it may fairly be pre- sumed that, in order to conciliate the heathen, and to swell the number of the nominal adherents of Christianity, the SAME FESTIVAL WAS ADOPTED by the Roman Church, giving it only the name of Christ. This tendency on the part of Christians to MEET PAGANISM HALF-WAY was very early developed. . . . Upright men strove to stem tide, but in spite of all their efforts, the apostacy went on, till the Church, with the exception of a small remnant, was submerged under Pagan superstition" (p. 93).

Hislop goes on, "That Christmas was originally a Pagan festival, is beyond all doubt. The time of the year, and the ceremonies with which it is still celebrated, prove its origin. In Egypt, the son of Isis, the Egyptian title for the queen of heaven, was born at this very time, 'about the time of the winter solstice.' The very name by which Christmas is popularly known among ourselves -- Yule-day -- proves at once its Pagan and Babylonian origin. 'Yule' is the Chaldee name for an 'infant' or 'little child;' and as the 25th of December was called by our Pagan Anglo-Saxon ancestors, 'Yule-day,' or the "Child's day,' and the night that preceded it, 'Mother-night,' long BEFORE they came in contact with Christianity, that sufficiently proves its real character" (pp. 93-94).

The truth is, December 25th was observed far and wide among the ancient world. This day was "The birth-day of the unconquered Sun." The Yule log represented the dead stock of the slain Nimrod, arch-apostate rebel against the Lord after the flood (see Genesis 10:8-10), and the Christmas-tree was supposedly Nimrod reborn -- the slain god come to life again!

In Europe, the Saxons offered a boar in sacrifice to the sun, to propitiate the queen of heaven on Christmas day. The boar, in pagan mythology, was supposed to have slain the false pagan Messiah. The boar was also a major article of the feast of Saturn at Rome. The boar's head is still a standing dish in England at Christmas dinner. Says Hislop: "There can be no doubt, then, that the Pagan festival at the winter solstice -- in other words, Christmas -- was held in honor of the birth of the Babylonian Messiah" (p. 102).

The largest pagan religious cult which fostered sun worship in the Greek and Roman worlds on December 25 was the cult of Mithraism. They called it "the Nativity of the Sun." Mithra, the sun-god, was supposed to have been born at this time, but so were Osiris, Horus, Tammuz, Hercules, Bacchus, Adonis, Jupiter -- all the pagan Messiahs! This fact alone would seem to indicate that all these pagan sun-gods and deities trace their roots back to the original sun-god of ancient Babylon -- Nimrod!

"In Babylon, the birthday of Tammuz was celebrated at the time of the winter solstice with great feasts, revelry, and drunkenness -- the same way many celebrate it today!" (Woodrow, p. 163).

This popular winter festival became such an established custom that in pagan Rome and Greece, Egypt, and throughout Europe, the period of the winter solstice was a time of great revelry and festivity. In Rome it became known as the "Saturnalia," in honor of the god Saturn, "the hidden one." Saturn was another name for Nimrod, who late in his apostasy went into hiding from Shem, the son of Noah. Says Woodrow:

"This feast was the most vile, immoral feast that ever disgraced pagan Rome. It was a season of license, drunkenness, and debauchery when all restraints of law were laid aside" (p. 164).

The "feast of Saturn," Hislop adds, "lasted five days; loose reins were given to drunkenness and revelry, slaves had a temporary emancipation, and used all manner of freedoms with their masters. This was precisely the way in which, according to Berosus, the drunken festival of the month Thebeth, answering to our December, in other words,s the festival of Bacchus, was celebrated in Babylon" (p. 96-97).

Clearly, the pagan customs of Christmas had nothing remotely to offer to the Church of YEHOVAH God, one would think, as they were the very antithesis of true Christianity! Yet, somehow, this ancient pagan festival wormed its way into the established "Christian" Church and became its most prominent holiday of the year! What a mystery! How did this ever come about?

In The Book of Christmas Folklore, Tristram P. Coffin writes,

"The celebration of Christmas really began 'circa 320 A.D.' when the Catholic fathers in Rome decided to convert the Mithraic 'Birthday of the Unconquered Sun' into a birthday more suited to their aims" (p. 3).

The Catholic Church took the excitement which surrounded the Roman Saturnalia, with its excesses, delights, debauchery, and wantonness, and called them the celebration of the birth of the Son of God, Yeshua. Most people today still think of December 25 as the birth day of Yeshua, even though this is definitely not the case.

Writes T. G. Crippen in Christmas and Christmas Lore,

"Now in December and the beginning of January there were several festivals which were intimately associated with the daily life of the Roman people. First, from the 17th to the 21st December, was the Saturnalia, the great Roman holiday . . . One might call it the Feast of Topsy- turveydom; when slaves were allowed for a few days to enjoy the semblance of freedom, were waited upon by their masters, and chose from amongst themselves a mock king to preside over their revels. Next, on the 22nd, came Sigillaria, the Feast of Dolls, when a fair was held, and dolls and other toys, mostly of earthenware, were given to children. Then, on 25th, came Brumalia, other- wise Dies Natalis Invicti Solis, The Birthday of the Uncon- quered Sun, when the days began to lengthen after the solstice. . . . It is believed to have been instituted . . . by the emperior Aurelian, in honour of Mithras, the Persian sun-god . . ." (p. 8-9).

This pagan "bash" was transformed by the Catholic Church into the festivities of Christmas, in honor of the Madonna and Child. Thus the pagan Semiramis and Tammuz were changed into Mary and Yeshua, and the paganism of the past centuries became "Christian" in name and belief.

For almost 300 years after the time of Yeshua, the Church showed no concern for the date of the Messiah's birth. The apostles and leaders of the New Testament Church never bothered to find out when Yeshua was born, as the date was not important to them. They did, however, observe the day of Yeshua's death -- the PASSOVER festival, in commemoration of his giving his life for our sins!

It was not until the fourth century that Christmas began to be observed by the Roman Catholic Church. Says the Encyclopedia Americana:

"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. A feast was established in memory of the birth of the Saviour 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."

That is how an ancient PAGAN CUSTOM became engrafted upon the unsuspected Christian world! But should true followers of Yeshua, the Messiah, participate in ANCIENT PAGAN CUSTOMS? Should true Christians celebrate "Christmas"?

The Puritans of the Middle Ages did not think so.

This "baptism" of pagan rites and festivals by the Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches was totally rejected by the Puritans. One of them, William Prynne, during the time of king Charles I, wrote:

"Our Christmas lords of Misrule, together with dancing, masques, mummeries, stage-players, and such other Christmas disorders, now in use with Christians, were derived from these Roman Saturnalia and Bacchanalian festivals; which should cause all pious Christians eternally to abominate them" (The Book of Christmas Folklore, p. 8).

Because of his atitude toward Christmas and pagan rituals still observed by the professing Christian Church, William Prynne was placed in a pillory and his ears were cut off.

Should Christians today celebrate this ancient festival? Many think it is all right, but the opinions of men are not our standard or authority. What does the Word of YEHOVAH God itself say about this matter? It is a very serious question.

Is it all right in the sight of YEHOVAH God for men to take pagan customs and traditions, and to observe them, calling them "Christian"? Is it all right to merge and combine PAGAN practices with the truth of YEHOVAH God?

According to the prophet Malachi, YEHOVAH does not change (Mal.3:8). His laws and commandments are eternal (Psa. 111:7-8). Does YEHOVAH say it is all right to observe the traditions and customs of the pagans?

YEHOVAH commanded ancient Israel, "I am sthe Lord your God. You must NOT DO AS THEY DO IN EGYPT, where you used to live, and you must NOT DO AS THEY DO IN THE LAND OF CANAAN, where I am bringing you. DO NOT FOLLOW THEIR PRACTICES. You must obey my laws, and be careful to follow my decrees" (Lev. 18:2-4).

YEHOVAH God hates idolatry! He detests it with vehement passion. He tells us, ". . . Be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, 'How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same.' YOU must NOT WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD IN THEIR WAY, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of DETESTABLE THINGS the Lore HATES" (Deut. 12:29-31).

Because of pagan idolatrous practices, YEHOVAH God cast the Canaanites out of the Promised Land. They were worshippers of Baal, or Nimrod, Tammuz, the sun god, the pagan Messiah, the god of wine and revelry. They worshipped the evergreen tree, and used it as a symbol of their god. They observed December 25, in worship of the waning sun, and their sun-god divinity. This whole religious system stemmed from ancient Babylon, the fount of all heresy and apostasy.

Their sensuality and gross lasciviousness was particularly displayed during the mid-winter festival, called the Saturnalia in Rome, with gift-giving, drunkenness, and sexual licentiousness. YEHOVAH says of such Bacchanalial rites,

"Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled. Even the land was defiled, so I punished it for its sin, and the land VOMITED out its inhabitants. . . Anyone who does any of these DETESTABLE THINGS -- such persons must be cut off from their people. Keep my requirements and do NOT follow ANY OF THE DETESTABLE CUSTOMS that were practiced before you came and do not defile yourselves with them. I am the Lord your God" (Lev. 18:24-30).

Even such idolatrous items as the "Christmas tree" are condemned in the Word of YEHOVAH God! Jeremiah the prophet wrote,

"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 [such as the waning sun at the winter solstice!]. For the CUSTOMS of the people are VAIN [empty, useless, worthless]: for one CUTTETH A TREE out of the FOREST, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax.

"They DECK IT WITH SILVER AND WITH GOLD; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good" (Jer. 10:1-5).

Clearly, as we have shown in this article, the Christmas tree stems from pagan origins and the worship of evergreen trees! It is a PAGAN RELIC from ancient times!

YEHOVAH God says He condemns the worship involving such pagan practices. We cannot worship Him in that manner. If we insist on doing so, He will cast us out of His land, and punish us severely. Those who insist on worshipping Him by combining pagan practices with the truth, He says, must be CUT OFF from among His people!

Truly, the whole world has been deceived by Satan the devil and his clever masquerades and machinations (Rev. 12:9). Are you also deceived? Will you choose to obey the Word of the living GOD? Or will you continue to disobey His plain and serious admonition?

YEHOVAH God Almighty thunders:

"But as for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord GOD: Go ye, serve ye every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me: but POLLUTE YE MY HOLY NAME NO MORE with your gifts, and with your idols" (Ezek. 20:39).

The very name "Christmas," combining the holy name of Christ with the pagan mass, POLLUTES and PROFANES YEHOVAH's holy name! The celebration of these ancient pagan festivals, calling them "Christian," is an abomination in the sight of YEHOVAH God! YEHOVAH will not accept such pagan, superstitious worship! Rather, He says to those who insist on combining pagan and heathen practice with the truth, as the ancient Samaritans did:

"You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet the time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth" (John 4:21-24).

Christmas is pagan to the core. There is no doubt about it. Its whole bearing, meaning, and total involvement is a carry-over from ancient pagan customs and practices, in honor of the arch-apostate Nimrod, Semiramis, and Tammuz. The very day of December 25 is the birth-day of the pagan sun-god, not the birth of the Messiah. Why do supposedly sincere Christians, then, insist on celebrating this day? Why can't they see the truth? The have been brainwashed for so long, by a cunning and masterful deceiver, the Devil, that they cannot see clearly or reason logically. They are swept over by emotions and overcome by personal feelings, the sound of carols and music, and the beauty of decorations, and lights, that they forget the real force behind Christmas is not the Messiah at all, but the world's false Messiah -- that sneaking old serpent, Satan the devil!

The apostle Paul exhorts us all:

"For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial [Satan]? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? . . . . Therefore COME OUT from them and be SEPARATE, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you" (II Cor. 6:14-17, NIV).

What about you? Will you continue in this pagan worship? Or will you willingly come OUT of modern Babylon, with its syncretism of idolatry and paganism, and stop worshiping the FALSE CHRIST of Christmas?

These are not merely questions of personal preference. You cannot have your cake and eat it too. You cannot worship YEHOVAH God and demons, Christ and the Devil, Yeshua the Messiah and Satan, the true author of the spiritual hoax called "Christmas."

There is no longer any excuse for being "deceived." The plain truth is clearly evident for all who have eyes to see and ears to hear and a mind to understand. Yeshua the Messiah said to his disciples, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will KNOW THE TRUTH, and the truth will set you FREE" -- free from the shackles of error, superstition, mythology, and pagan deception! (John 8:32, NIV).

Now you KNOW Christmas is pagan. What are you going to do about it?

May YEHOVAH God help you to make the right decision, so you can inherit eternal life, and reign with the saints forever (Rev. 2:26-27; 5:10; 20:4).

Hope of Israel Ministries -- Preparing the Way for the Return of YEHOVAH God and His Messiah!

Hope of Israel Ministries P.O. Box 853 Azusa, CA 91702, U.S.A. www.hope-of-israel.org

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