It is common to hear especially in this month of December Christians say, “Jesus is the reason for the season,” but is this really true?
It is common to hear especially in this month of December Christians say, “Jesus is the reason for the season,” but is this really true?
It is common to hear especially in this month of December Christians say, “Jesus is the reason for the season,” but is this really true? Was Yahshua, the Jewish Messiah, really born on the 25th of December? Is there really a reason to be merry about this apparent date?
We need to understand that from the book of Genesis to Revelation, there is no such date given for the birth date of the savior. The 25th of December argument can only be based on extra-biblical sources from the Church of Rome. It is very interesting that the first believers to celebrate the feast celebrated it 300 years after the birth of Messiah. There is no evidence of any of the apostles having such a celebration.
We should take into account that it is not even a Jewish tradition to celebrate birthdays. The only instances in the bible we have of Birthday celebrations are two. The first instance is in the Old Testament where Pharaoh, a gentile and the Egyptian King celebrates his birthday by executing the chief baker (Gen 40:1-23). The second instance is in the New Testament where Herod, a gentile and a Roman Tetrarch reluctantly beheaded John the Baptist (Matthew 14:3-11).
It was King Solomon who said that the day of death is better than the day of birth and both Job and Jeremiah cursed the days of their birth. If some of the most faithful servants of the Most High portray birth dates as days which should not be regarded with any kind of specialty, how then can we today believe and do the contrary?
Ecclesiastes 7:1 - A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.
Jeremiah 20:14 - Cursed be the day in which I was born! Let the day not be blessed in which my mother bore me!
There is historical evidence of Christmas celebration among Pagan communities that celebrated the rebirth of their sun gods at the time of the Winter Solstice. They held special adoration to the feast because the sun was regaining its strength after the winter season and the days were beginning to become long. They used to light bone-fires to give the sun more strength and use evergreen trees to symbolize new life.
After Constantine the Great claimed to have had a vision of a cross, he converted into Christianity and made it to be the official religion in Rome. By so doing he joined state and religion together. He brought a unification of pagans and Christians. This merger brought about religious blending that resulted in Christianity borrowing pagan practices. Those religious rites became part of the religion to even to date.
The Romans managed to rename the feast of Saturnalia into Christmas. Saturnalia was a long feast in the month of December that was characterized by drunkenness, orgies and all types of revelry and licentiousness that celebrated the rebirth of the sun. The feast was dedicated to the god Saturn who was an old man with white beards who today morphed into the renown father Christmas also known as Santa. He used to receive children sacrifices. This is the reason Santa is always pictured with children sitting on his lap just as the god Saturn was.
Does God want His people to engage in such feasts? No, we are set apart to be holy, and therefore we should not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. We cannot mix the worship of God with that of pagans.
2 Corinthians 6:14 - Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?
1 Corinthians 10:21-22 - You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?
In history, a few groups have stood against the heathen tradition. The Puritans, who were pilgrims escaping from persecution from the Church of Rome did not participate in that feast. When they found a safe haven in the US, they had so much influence that they made the state of Boston in the year 1659 to ban Christmas because of its pagan nature. How rare is it today to find such a unique group of people that can stand with the unpopular but truthful stand against Christmas celebration.
King Solomon asked, “Consider the work of God: who can make straight what he has made crooked? (Eccl 7:13). Therefore, we cannot make what is unclean to be clean, unless we want to transgress by claiming to have the same authority as the Creator. Human beings cannot worship God on their own terms. We are therefore asked to love not the things of the world, for whoever loves the things of the world, the love of the father is not in him (1 John 2:15). We should try as much as we can to have nothing to do with this odious day known as Christmas Day, it is a feast from the deepest pits of HELL.
Deuteronomy 12:29-31 - When the Lord your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’ You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way; for every [i]abomination to the Lord which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.