The Pagan Roots of Christmas

Today we hear the vehement cry to "Keep Christ in Christmas!", but what if He was never in it to begin with?

If we look closely we can see that every tradition of Christmas has it's beginnings in the ancient winter solstice festivals of old. From the christmas tree to santa claus, from the gift giving to the "spirit of christmas". Even the downright silly clothing has it's origins in the solstice.

Let's start with the date - December 25th. Was Christ born on this day? If you ask your pastor he'll say "No." and he's right. Christ was not born on December 25th nor even in that month. Unfortunately most pastors will then proceed to tell you that it's okay to celebrate Jesus' birth on that day, though, because we have liberty in His grace to do such things. Really? Hmmm....I wonder, then, why does God say not to worship Him with such things in Deuteronomy 12:4? "Such things" being pagan, idolatrous images, places, and names. So what is December 25th and what do others say about this date?

December 25th was the date chosen and designated by the Roman Catholic church as the day to celebrate the birth of Christ.  This was done in 350 A.D. by pope Julius I in an attempt to establish a time in which Christians could celebrate the birth all on the same day.  However, the 25th of December had always been the winter solstice*, when the dark days of winter began to be longer, leading many to believe the sun was being “reborn”.  Consequently this made the date of December 25th the “birth day” of nearly every single sun god in most pagan cultures throughout the world.

  In Mesopotamia, the festival was called Sacaea, or Zagmuk, during which slaves and servants would trade places with their masters.  It lasted 12 days overlapping the winter solstice, or vernal  equinox, in its center peak.  It was a festival held in observation of the sun god, Marduk and his battle over darkness.  The Babylonians held both land and river parades as well.  Sacaea, as Berossus* referred to it, had festivals characterized by the aforementioned subversion of order leading up to the new year.  Masters and slaves interchanged, a mock king was crowned and masquerades filled the streets. This has been a suggested precursor to the Festival of Kronos, Saturnalia and possibly the modern version of Purim.

In Egypt, they celebrated the feast of Osiris for 12 days by decorating their homes with palms and other outdoor greenery.  They kept it for 12 days because that number was in accordance with their calendar system and the palm was used because it was believed there was a correlation between it and the twelve months in a year.

  In Rome, the festival of Saturnalia was celebrated during this time, which honored the god Saturn.  The festival was kept to usher in the Golden Age of Saturn.  Following this celebration, the Romans commemorated the god Mithra, the sun god, who was known as the Grand Deliverer.  In Egypt he was known as Horus and in Babylon - Tammuz.
   During Saturnalia, the people gave themselves up to wild joy: they feasted, they gave gifts, and they decorated their homes with greenery.  The usual order of the year was suspended: grudges and quarrels forgotten; wars interrupted or postponed.  Businesses, courts, schools closed.  Rich and poor were equal, slaves were served by masters, and children headed the family (this is a forerunner to the transition in America where the focus became more on the children during the holiday season, and this grew evermore popular in the 1830‘s and 40‘s).  This all leads us in seeing the general “Spirit of Christmas” or the “Spirit of the Season” with which people become much friendlier and more giving.
   Cross-dressing and masquerades, merriment of all kinds also prevailed.  A mock king -- the Lord of Misrule -- was crowned.  Candles and lamps chased away the spirits of darkness.

Seneca the younger writes about Rome during Saturnalia around 50 A.D: “It is now the month of December, when the greatest part of the city is in a bustle.  Loose reins are given to public dissipation; everywhere you may hear the sound of great preparations, as if there were some real difference between the days devoted to Saturn and those for transacting business....Were you here, I would willingly confer with you as to the plan of our conduct; whether we should eve in our usual way, or, to avoid singularity, both take a better supper and throw off the toga.” --From the Epistolae

In northern Europe the festival of Yule was kept, in which the people would celebrate by decorating fir or pine trees, burning the Yule log, giving gifts, drinking, and decorating their homes with the evergreen boughs and holly.  Our modern Christmas holiday is the most closely related to the celebration of Yule.

In choosing the 25th of December, the Roman Catholic church was trying to make the statement that Jesus is the only true God who was born, not the false sun gods of pagan cultures.  But mixing truth with paganism and idolatry is an abomination to the Lord and as a result the church began celebrating a holiday that was pagan from the beginning, only now Jesus was thrown into the middle.  What we see is that a door was opened to celebrating the birth of Jesus with pagan traditions and a holiday that has actually very little to do with Christ and more to do with greed and heathen customs.

The early “church father”, Tertullian, wrote in 230 A.D.,  “By us who are strangers to Sabbaths, and new moons, and festivals, once acceptable to God, the Saturnalia, the feasts of January, the Brumalia, and Matronalia, are now frequented;  gifts are carried to and fro, new year’s day presents are made with din, and sports and banquets are celebrated with uproar; oh, how much more faithful are the heathen to their religion, who take special care to adopt no solemnity from the Christians.”

  Are you willing to look further? Or would you rather pretend that it wasn't true? Do you say to yourself, "Well that's not how I look at Christmas." But doesn't it matter how GOD SEES IT? It does. If you're willing to follow Him then at least ask Him to reveal the truth to you no matter what that might be and He will. And those who trust in Him will never be put to shame.

*Berossus - a Babylonian writer and astronomer from                    the early 3rd century B.C.

Valentine's Day

I figured now that the festival of Valentine's Day is past, people might be a little more interested to see just where this celebration really stems from. Find out more about this and other major holidays and how the LORD sees them.

http://www.ezekielthree.com/valentine.html

The Season of the Solstice

Well, it's been a while since my last post, but it's been quite busy for me over the last month....not because of the pagan holidays, but because life just gets that way sometimes.

We've made it through another season of the winter solstice celebration, disguising itself as Christmas and New Year's but I find myself wishing it was still upon us so that I had more time to share the truth with those around me. I hate to say it, but it went by too fast. Not that I long for confrontation and strife, but that others might see those things which the LORD wants to expose. Those works of darkness that only His light (His Word) can reveal and show them for what they are.

Christmas and the whole festival, for those of you who may not know, is simply a renewed celebration of the winter solstice festivals of old. Nearly every single tradition of Christmas and New Year's is pagan in origin and all the church has done is thrown Christ into the middle of it and called it good.

However, the LORD does not take much of a liking to worshiping Him with pagan things (Deuteronomy 12:1-4) and the golden calf incident, in Exodus 32, is a perfect example of that. After Aaron built the idol, he then proclaimed a feast to Yahweh on the very next day! Trying to involve the LORD in idolatrous practices does not and CAN NOT sanctify the idol or the paganism.

Instead of me writing a bunch of things here I'm simply going to give you a link to the Ezekielthree website page on Christmas where you can read for yourself all about the traditions and practices and find out for yourself their origin. You then have to ask yourself, "What does God think about all of this?"

Here's the link - http://ezekielthree.com/christmas.html

Be sure when you visit the page to click the icons on the left which will take through all kinds of information.

Blessings as you seek His truth.

Halloween

It's interesting to me how people can so easily deny something when it's smacking them in the face.

There are seemingly endless arguments out there that contribute the thought that Halloween is harmless fun for the kids and any connection what-so-ever to ancient pagan rites or the occult are merely amusing at best.

I find this disturbing....at best.

The LORD clearly states in His Word that He wants us to be separate from activities and traditions that are heathen in origin (Jeremiah 10:1-5; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18). But why? Because He knows that what's behind these practices are demonic and each step we take toward such influences is another step away from Him. Heathen, or pagan, traditions like the Druidic divination practices in observance of Samhain (pronounce sow-een) which means "summer's end", are of the very sort that God warns to stay away from. The time of year during the end of fall when they believed the "line" between the living and the dead became blurred and spirits would often come back to visit the land of the living.

It would appear that every tradition in Halloween comes from these practices of the ancient Celtic people and have carried over into present times, almost unbroken.

What's more frightening is that people often deny the relationship between Halloween and the occult. Many people who have had serious involvment with the occult know full well that there is more to it than just urban legends.

Not to mention the sheer darkness that envelopes this festival is clearly not of God. In accordance with His Word it's safe to say that He is not pleased with the observation of this festival of the dead, which by the way, the Catholic church tried to "christianize" which is also condemned by the LORD. Melding pagan practices with true worship of Him (Deuteronomy 12:1-4).

All in all I'd say we had better start being serious about listening to what God is saying, not man.

For further study on this un-holy day here's a couple of links:

http://ezekielthree.com/halloween.html

http://www.believersweb.org/view.cfm?ID=614

May the LORD bless you as you seek His truth.

Light in the Darkness

As The Feast of Tabernacles is already upon us I've been thinking about a few things given the time of year.

Most of us as christians do not, or have not, given much thought to areas of Scripture like we should. Like the birth of Jesus, for example. Now, while much of the story we hear is true, there are elements of it that have come from either being misinformed or from false teaching.

The main element that has been falsified is the date of the Messiah's birth. Jesus was NOT born on December 25th. In fact, just a brief study through the Scriptures reveal this plainly.

"And there were, in the same country, shepherds abiding in the fields, watching their flocks by night" - Luke 2:8

Simply put, shepherds would not be camping in the fields of Israel, near Jerusalem, at night watching their sheep. Why? Because it's cold. Very cold.
Israel is very similar in climate to Indiana and other areas of the mid-west. Winters there are very cold, even producing snow. This time of year would be well past the time when shepherds would be in the fields with their sheep.

This one little fact of climate and location quite easily shows us that Christ was not born in December. But we also know by looking at Luke and 2nd Chronicles 24 that there is further evidence that the Lord was not born in December, but actually in the fall of the year. Most pastors and biblical teachers know this fact, but fail to teach it. Why?

Because of tradition.

In fact, they also know that the Catholic church is the one that mandated the date of December 25th to be the "official" birth date of Jesus, and yet they fail to teach that. Again I ask....why?

And again I answer....tradition.

In fact, the date of Dec. 25th is historically known as the winter solstice and the birth date of every single pagan sun god in countless cultures across the world. They knew this day was the beginning of the end of the long cold winters. The days began to grow longer and thus gave the inclination that the sun was being "reborn" or "birthed anew".

The Catholic church, in it's attempts to meld paganism and christianity once again disobeyed God's commands. Numerous times throughout Scripture He reminds His people not to learn the ways of the heathens (Jeremiah 10 for example). Yet the "church" saw no reason to heed the voice of the Lord and instead felt that they knew best how to convert pagans to their belief. Well in a sense they did convert pagans to their belief, but not to the true religion of Yahweh.

For more information about the true origins of Christmas follow the link: http://www.ezekielthree.com/christmas.html

So when was Jesus actually born? At this time of year during the LORD's Feast of Tabernacles! Think of it! The word tabernacle means "to dwell with, or a dwelling place". What was the name given to Jesus - Emmanuel which means "God with us"

Look at Revelation...."and the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them" Revelation 21:3

The whole concept of the Tabernacle that we built was to be a meeting place between God and His people.

The idea of the word tabernacle and even the Feast of Tabernacles points truly to God dwelling with His people.

This is when Christ was born.

For a much more indepth look into this subject and the entire Feast of Tabernacles follow the link: http://www.ezekielthree.com/tabernacles.html

And because of all this I can't help but think of this time of year when Messiah was born into the world, taking on the likeness of sinful man. During this time for thousands of years, cultures have looked at the fall of the year as a time of darkness, heading into winter. The fall equinox looks at not only the harvest, but the oncoming shadow of death which winter brings. This is a time of spiritual darkness where the enemy of our souls seems to relish in people's love affair with evil. Halloween is coming soon and it is the culmination, in some ways, of the pagan rites and rituals of heathens that have existed for many centuries.

And it is into this ageless time of darkness when the Light of the world was born.

"And this is the condemnation, that the Light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
For everyone who does evil hates the light, neither coming to the light lest his deeds be exposed." -- John 3:19-20

What an amazing picture the Lord has given us by His Feast of Tabernacles, when He chose to be born among us, where He then lived, walked and talked, and healed many. Where He then took up His cross and died for our sins, laid dead in the tomb for three days and three nights, and then rose from the grave to shine His light on this world. What a fulfilled promise that He would, did, and will tabernacle, or dwell, among us!

Easter Bunny

The bunny, or hare, has always been a sign of fertility in many ancient cultures. This would explain the association with a fertility goddess and why hares were used in many pagan rituals.
The hare (Easter Bunny), from ancient times was a symbol of the moon, it being a nocturnal animal. The hare is the only animal born with its eyes open. The Egyptian word for hare is "un," meaning "to open." Thus, the hare was associated with the opening of a new season, spring, in April, at the vernal equinox.
The hare and eggs were mutually symbolic in Egypt of the opening of their new year, at which time eggs were ceremoniously broken.

Because of its fertility (one doe can produce up to 42 young a year), the hare is an emblem of fertility, abundance, sexuality, lust, rampant growth and excess.
It became the emblem of gods and goddesses in many different cultures. Philostratus said the most suitable sacrifice to Aphrodite was the hare as 'it possesses her gift of fertility in a superlative degree'.

Pliny the Elder prescribed its meat as a cure for female sterility and reported that if you ate a hare your body would be sexually attractive for nine days. Hare's genitals were carried to prevent barrenness.

Through the centuries stories of the hare abound in relation to the moon and the springtime. If Eostre/Easter was the goddess of spring and the dawn, representing a rebirth of life on the earth, then it would make sense that the highly reproductive hare was associated with her. The sun was always closely connected with the moon as seen in many different cultures around the world.

According to myth, Eostre had a hare that was a large bird which she one day magically changed into a hare. Because this hare was still a bird at heart, it continued to build a straw nest in which to lay its eggs. From this, and countless other stories, we get the idea of an 'egg laying easter bunny'.

Hares are different from rabbits, however, they are not as common as their cousins which lead to the eventual use of the rabbit as the easter bunny, rather than the hare.

Around the 1500's written traditions surfaced in Germany which told of the Oshcter Haws (Osterhaas), a hare that brought colored eggs to children and placed them in the baskets they had made. German immigrants brought the Osterhaas legend to the Americas where it quickly spread throughout families.
As noted above, the rabbit soon replaced the hare due to it being more common.

Hare's build their nests in a flattened nest of grass, compared to the rabbit which lives underground in burrows. This could be where the idea of the 'grass-filled' easter basket comes from, along with the idea of new grass growth in the spring time.

As most myths go, the Easter bunny has been engrained in our culture with the likes of Santa Clause and Cupid. What makes these symbols even more disturbing is that people insist they hold a place in celebrations of our Lord and Savior! Jesus did not die on a cross and rise from the dead in order that we might have liberty to worship Him with abominable things.

"You shall not worship the LORD your God with such things." Deuteronomy 12:4

If God doesn't care whether or not we worship Him using these types of symbols, then that is a far more frightening thought than if He does care (and He does).

Easter Eggs

The “Easter egg” has been a staple of the festivities as long as we know. Eggs were also a symbol of fertility and were often used in various ceremonies and pagan practices. Again, this would explain the connection between the fertility goddess easter and eggs.

How the tradition of coloring the eggs got started is not completely understood, though some historians trace the practice back to ancient Greece and Persia. There are many legends as to how this practice may have begun, but regardless, we know that they are all related to any number of pagan cultures and their practices revolving around the spring equinox.

The egg has been a symbol of fertility and rebirth for thousands of years. Virtually every pagan culture around the world has employed the use of the egg in their fertility rituals.

The ENCARTA ENCYCLOPEDIA;
"The Easter egg is associated with beliefs of particularly ancient origin. The egg was an important symbol in the mythologies of many early civilizations, including those of India and Egypt. It was commonly believed that the universe developed from a great egg and that the halves of its shell corresponded to Heaven and Earth. The egg was also connected with the springtime fertility rituals of many pre-Christian and Indo-European peoples, and both the Egyptians and the Persians made a practice of coloring eggs in the spring. In Christianity the egg is a symbol of resurrection, representing the emergence of Christ from his tomb to everlasting life."

The ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA p. 859, Art., "EASTER" says,
"The egg as a symbol of fertility and of renewed life goes back to the ancient Egyptians and Persians, who had also the custom of coloring and eating eggs during their spring festival."

The ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGION, 1987, p. 37, "Egg":
"In traditional folk religion the egg is a powerful symbol of fertility, purity and rebirth. It is used in magical rituals to promote fertility and restore virility; to look into the future; to bring good weather; to encourage the growth of crops and protect both cattle and children against misfortune, especially the dreaded evil eye. All over the world it represents life and creation, fertility and resurrection ... Later [customs concerning eggs] were linked with Easter. The church did not oppose this, though many egg customs were pre-Christian in origin, because the egg provided a fresh and powerful symbol of the Resurrection and the transformation of death into life"

The giving of eggs during the spring equinox is also a very ancient custom.

The World Encyclopedia, 2005:
"The exchange of Easter eggs is a pre-Christian rite."

So how could a symbol of pagan fertility rites become entrenched in the church's celebration of Easter?

The Catholic Church enticed pagans to convert to Christianity by disguising the celebrations with Christian themes and allowing the people to keep some of their pagan traditions.

Read the quote from Pope Pius below.
Pope Pius V approved this blessing to be used for the eggs: "Bless, O Lord, we beseech Thee, this Thy creature of eggs, that it may become a wholesome sustenance to Thy faithful servants, eaten in thankfulness to Thee, on account of the Resurrection of Our Lord."

In ancient Babylon it was believed that the goddess Astarte hatched from a giant egg that had landed in the Euphrates River.

The idea of a mystic egg spread throughout the world originating in Babylon. James G. Frazer, The Golden Bough, Vol. 12, 3rd Edition (1907-15, reissued 1935-36 and 1955); Maria Leach, editor, Funk and Wagnall's Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend, Vol. 1 (1949).

As previously stated, eggs have been used in various cultures and religions to represent the different aspects of fertility and new life. The philosophical or cosmic egg is another nearly universal symbol. Alchemically, the egg is a symbol of the cosmos, as it is in a multitude of folk legends. In Hindu cosmology, it is the source of the universe. The egg as a container of the universe is found in many ancient religions. The egg symbolizes birth and potential. It contains within a miniature sun, and it features prominently in solar mythology. The gods Vishnu, Phanes, and Mithras, are all "egg born" solar deities. Another solar entity, the rooster, is also born of an egg. - from an article found at: www.altreligion.about.com

Wiccans (witches) color eggs still to this day in honor of Ostara (Easter).
"Ostara is a time of fertility and rebirth, and few things symbolize this as well as the egg. By coloring them with bright pinks, blues and yellows, we're welcoming the colors of spring back into our lives, and saying farewell to winter."
- Pattie Wigington from 'Your Guide to Paganism/Wicca'.

Easter

Easter

All over the world people celebrate Easter by coloring eggs, hiding baskets, and waiting for the Easter bunny. And of course the professing church remembers the Resurrection of Christ on this day.

But is there anything wrong with this holiday?

Let's begin by asking a simple question - What does the name “Easter” mean?

The name “Easter” is actually derived from the name of a pagan goddess of Teutonic (German or Northern European), or possibly Anglo-Saxon, origin.
She was known as Eostre, Eastre, Ostern, and many other names, and was believed to be the Great Mother goddess of fertility and sunrise.
Her festival was celebrated at the time of the spring equinox. While some may argue that no such goddess existed, their claims have no support. The Venerable Bede, a highly notable historian, as well as others, including Jacob Grimm (of the Brothers Grimm fame) attested to her certainty. People did worship this goddess and various cults and festivals sprung up in her name.

There have been many goddesses of spring throughout time. Here are just a few examples.

Ashtoreth of ancient Israel Ishtar of Assyria Isis from Egypt and beyond Astarte of ancient Greece Kali from India Ostara from the Norse Aphrodite from Cyprus as well as many others.

If you mention any of this to Christians, most will tell you that it’s not wrong if we use the name of a goddess or symbols of fertility in celebrating Jesus’ resurrection. Most will say something like this: “Well I don’t worship easter, I think about Jesus on that day.” While that may be true to many people, we have to realize that it’s not what‘s right in our eyes, but what’s right in the Lord‘s eyes. He does know our hearts, but He also has a standard that He wants us to walk in - His Word. I do believe that He is merciful to us when we don’t always realize the truth, but most of the time we are without excuse and simply want to follow our own flesh rather than the Spirit of the Lord. If we’re honest with ourselves, we can see how absurd it is to say that "God doesn’t care whether or not I use pagan things to worship Him because I love Him and that’s all that matters". If we truly love Him, then we will obey His commandments and abstain from traditions and practices that are contrary to the Scriptures.

"For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome." 1 John 5:3

Let’s see what the Lord says in His Word.

“And in all that I have said to you, be circumspect and make no mention of the name of other gods, nor let it be heard from your mouth.” Exodus 23:13

“And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place. You shall not worship the LORD your God with such things.” Deuteronomy 12:3-4

“For I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals, and they shall be remembered by their name no more.” Hosea 2:17

“’It shall be in that day’, says the LORD of hosts, ‘that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they shall no longer be remembered. I will also cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to depart from the land.’” Zechariah 13:2

*Notice that the Lord identifies the names of idols with the [false] prophets and the unclean spirit.

It would seem that God doesn’t want the names of pagan idols to even be mentioned from our mouths in accordance with worship of Him. It's a very serious thing to God and He specifically does not want us to worship Him using those kinds of things!