What do you expect when you add Yeshua’s- Jesus’s birth on a pagan day, a witches sabbath on the 25th of December.

Isn’t it easy for mankind to justify why they are taking a certain political stand, cursing and drinking with the co-workers at the workplace, violating GOD’s laws for a job in the artsy community of movies, art, comedy, television, or music, or going along with a congregation or the financial backers of a ministry?  Isn’t it easy to pretend that the reason is for the “advancement” of GOD’s kingdom or to win over the lost or some other noble cause? We love to live pragmatically instead of by faith.

Throughout the world, we see Christians and pagans alike who understand that the Mass of Christ is really a refurbished witch sabbath.  The laws of England and America banned the practice when Protestants were in power. Only in recent years have Protestants turned back to the theological practices of Rome like a dog returned to its vomit.  As the author of this Rense.com article states:

In the midst of this manic merriment and joy to the world, the more contemplative ponder “What is the reason for this season?” Is it the birth of Jesus the Christ, who was born in a manger in Bethlehem on December 25th? How did Christmas devolve into little more than a mandatory ritual of gift exchanging done under the guise of family togetherness and pleasing the kiddies?

Nowhere in the Bible is there any mention of the disciples singing “Happy Birthday Dear Jesus.” Nowhere in the Bible is there a command to honor this day. The Bible is strangely silent. And yet, The American Book of Days, George W. Douglas, p. 658, speaks loudly on the topic. “The observance of birthdays was condemned as a heathen custom repugnant to Christians,”

Some well placed googling reveals that the origins of this holiday date back over 4000 years, centuries before the Christ child was born. The twelve days of celebrating, the Yule log, the giving of gifts and carolers going from house to house can be traced back to the early Mesopotamians.

The Mesopotamians were polytheistic. Their chief god was Marduk. Each year, as winter arrived, it was believed that Marduk would do battle with the monsters of chaos. (I cannot help but wonder if Marduk frequented the Palisades Mall in West Nyack) To assist Marduk in his struggle, the Mesopotamians held a festival for the New Year which lasted 12 days.

The ancient Persians and the Babylonians also had a similar celebration which they called Sacaea.

As daylight grew short and the Winter Solstice approached, the early Europeans feared that the sun would not return. Rituals were held to lure back the “Prodigal Sun.” In Scandinavia, the return of that warm hearted orb was celebrated with a festival called Yuletide. A feast would be served around a fire burning with a Yule log.

According to some legends, “Christmas” was invented to compete with the pagan celebrations in December. The 25th of December was a sacred day for both the Romans and the Persians, whose religion was Mithraism, one of Christianity’s main rivals. The Church adopted many of the Pagan rituals in their attempt to make the religion more attractive to converts.

Google as one may, there is no record of the date of Christ’s birth. However, the computer of logic reveals that it is improbable if not impossible that it would have been on December 25th. Since the Biblical account states that the child was born when shepherds were “abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night” ( Luke 2:8 ), it is unlikely that shepherds in Israel would have been sleeping outside with their flocks during the month of December.

It was not until 350 AD that the Bishop of Rome, Julius 1, chose December 25th as the observance of Christmas. This was obviously influenced by the ancient Romans year end festivities to honor Saturn, their harvest god and Mithras, the god of light. The Roman feast of Saturnalia was a seven-day festival in honor of the deity Saturn. It began on December 17. Saturnalia was considered a fun and festive time for the Romans. As Christianity spread, the Church became alarmed by the continuing practice among its flock of indulging in customs such as this Saturnalian feast. If you can’t beat ’em …join ’em. Slowly but surely, the pagan ritual of using greenery to decorate homes, moved from being prohibited as idolatry to becoming an accepted custom of the festivities. Another tradition at the Saturnalia, involved exchanging candles, clay dolls, and other small gifts.

Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. ² So fire went out from the Lordand devoured them, and they died before the Lord. ³ And Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord spoke, saying:

So Aaron held his peace.

⁴ Then Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, “Come near, carry your brethren from before the sanctuary out of the camp.” ⁵ So they went near and carried them by their tunics out of the camp, as Moses had said.

⁶ And Moses said to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons, “Do not uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, lest you die, and wrath come upon all the people. But let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the Lord has kindled. ⁷ You shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die, for the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you.” And they did according to the word of Moses. 

Conduct Prescribed for Priests

⁸ Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying: ⁹ “Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, you, nor your sons with you, when you go into the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, ¹⁰ that you may distinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean, ¹¹ and that you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them by the hand of Moses.”  (Leviticus 10:1-11 New King James Version (NKJV) Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.)

 Her priests have violated My law and profaned My holy things; they have not distinguished between the holy and unholy, nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. (Ezekiel 22:26 New King James Version (NKJV) Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.)

Those Admitted to the Temple

Also He brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple; so I looked, and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord; and I fell on my face. ⁵ And the Lord said to me, “Son of man, mark well, see with your eyes and hear with your ears, all that I say to you concerning all the ordinances of the house of the Lord and all its laws. Mark well who may enter the house and all who go out from the sanctuary.

⁶ “Now say to the rebellious, to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “O house of Israel, let Us have no more of all your abominations. ⁷ When you brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to defile it—My house—and when you offered My food, the fat and the blood, then they broke My covenant because of all your abominations. ⁸ And you have not kept charge of My holy things, but you have set others to keep charge of My sanctuary for you.” ⁹ Thus says the Lord God: “No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart or uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter My sanctuary, including any foreigner who is among the children of Israel.

Laws Governing Priests

¹⁰ “And the Levites who went far from Me, when Israel went astray, who strayed away from Me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity. ¹¹ Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, as gatekeepers of the house and ministers of the house; they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them. ¹² Because they ministered to them before their idols and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity, therefore I have raised My hand in an oath against them,” says the Lord God, “that they shall bear their iniquity. ¹³ And they shall not come near Me to minister to Me as priest, nor come near any of My holy things, nor into the Most Holy Place; but they shall bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed. ¹⁴ Nevertheless I will make them keep charge of the temple, for all its work, and for all that has to be done in it.

¹⁵ “But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who kept charge of My sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near Me to minister to Me; and they shall stand before Me to offer to Me the fat and the blood,” says the Lord God. ¹⁶ “They shall enter My sanctuary, and they shall come near My table to minister to Me, and they shall keep My charge. ¹⁷ And it shall be, whenever they enter the gates of the inner court, that they shall put on linen garments; no wool shall come upon them while they minister within the gates of the inner court or within the house. ¹⁸ They shall have linen turbans on their heads and linen trousers on their bodies; they shall not clothe themselves with anything that causes sweat. ¹⁹ When they go out to the outer court, to the outer court to the people, they shall take off their garments in which they have ministered, leave them in the holy chambers, and put on other garments; and in their holy garments they shall not sanctify the people.

²⁰ “They shall neither shave their heads nor let their hair grow long, but they shall keep their hair well trimmed. ²¹ No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court. ²² They shall not take as wife a widow or a divorced woman, but take virgins of the descendants of the house of Israel, or widows of priests.

²³ “And they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the unholy, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. ²⁴ In controversy they shall stand as judges, and judge it according to My judgments. They shall keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed meetings, and they shall hallow My Sabbaths. (Ezekiel 44:4-24 New King James Version (NKJV) Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.)

This Chapter of Ezekiel pertains to the Millennial temple in Jerusalem where Yeshua-Jesus will reign from. Do you think Christmas will be celebrated during Messiah’s Reign? Definitely Not!

Americans see more jingle, less Jesus in Christmas celebrations

WASHINGTON (RNS) — If there ever was a “war on Christmas” in America, Santa may have won.

Nine in 10 U.S. adults celebrate the holiday, according to the Pew Research Center. However, that celebration is shifting in a secular direction. And a growing number of Christians discount key elements of the biblical Nativity story.

Just three years ago, 51% of U.S. adults said Christmas for them is more a religious holiday than a cultural one. But that has slipped to 46% in the new Pew survey, released Tuesday. Neither does this trend trouble most people. Only 32% say it “bothers” them even somewhat.

President Trump’s demand that Americans all say “Merry Christmas,” which drew cheers at his rallies, now draws shrugs from most U.S. adults: 52% say it doesn’t matter how they are greeted in stores and businesses, and 32% say they prefer to hear “Merry Christmas.”

The survey also finds a “striking shift” in the overall share of people — down from 65% in 2014 to 57% today — who believe four key elements of the biblical Nativity story.

• Jesus was born to a virgin: From 73% to 66%.

• Baby Jesus was laid in a manger: From 81% to 75%.

• Wise men, guided by a star, brought Jesus gifts: From 75% to 68%.

• An angel announced the birth of Jesus to shepherds: From 74% to 67%.

There’s slippage among both Protestants and Catholics. The Pew report notes the share of white mainline Protestants who believe in the virgin birth, for instance, has dropped from 83% to 71%. And the share of Catholics who believe the birth of Jesus was announced by an angel of the Lord now stands at 82%, down from 90%.

And the narrative doesn’t fly with most “nones” – people who claim no religious identification: 53% reject all four elements, up from 42% in 2014.

Christian culture-watchers say they’ve seen these trends gathering strength for years. Rather than despair, however, they see openings to evangelize about the Incarnation — God sending his son to be a savior.

“It’s not surprising, that as the culture grows more secular, fewer people find the Nativity story authentic, or even meaningful,” said the Rev. James Martin, editor at large of the Jesuit magazine America.

“But for the Christian, however, it is essential. The Incarnation is one of the key beliefs of Christianity. Many people find it hard to believe: God becoming human, after all, is hard to fathom. But we have a God who is, at heart, mystery, and therefore unfathomable,” the priest said.

The survey captures how “too many people think Christmas is about a mall and not a manger,” said Ed Stetzer, executive director of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College.

“On the upside, and Christians always look at the upside, as fewer people celebrate Christmas without knowing the story of Christ, we have the opportunity to tell them why Jesus came, why he lived and died, and ultimately that he rose again — changing everything for Christians, not just one day,” said Stetzer.

The Pew survey of 1,503 U.S. adults, conducted by phone Nov. 29 to Dec. 4, has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points overall. (Click to Source)