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Christmas
 
Mythologically Speaking
 
             
                 
                     
   
In order to get the emphasis of what this writing is meant to say, one must first put in the forefront of one’s mind the meaning of the word “myth.” Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary defines the word “myth” as
    1. a traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being or hero or event, with or without,         a determinable basis of fact or a natural explanation, esp. one that is concerned with deities or
        demigods and explains some practice, rite, or phenomenon of nature;
    2. stories or matter of this kind: realm of myth;
    3. any invented story, idea, or concept: His account of this event is pure myth;
    4. an imaginary or fictitious thing or person; and
    5. an unproved or false collective belief that is used to justify a social institution.
    Please keep this definition in the forefront of your mind as you continue to read. The object of this writing is to look at and compare scriptural and historical truths on Christmas with this definition.
 
   
Manger Scene
Retailers love this time of the year. They make the majority of their annual profits at this time. People purchase items to give as gifts, especially to children and to loved ones. People base this idea of gift giving on the scriptural account of the wise men bringing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh,
    And when they (wise men) were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh, Matt 2:11.
    “Arrival in Bethlehem brought worry and upset: there was no room for them to stay at the hotel. There was only space in the stable - the animal house for travelers’ donkeys and horses. [Yahshua] was born that night, and as they had no bed for him, they used an animal feeding box filled with the dry grass the animals ate.” (internet under Christmas)
    Today, the manger scene can be seen in front of church buildings, in store windows, and, in some case, on someone’s front lawn. The scene usually depicts a baby (our savior) lying in a manger with his parents (Mary and Joseph) beside him. Also shown are the three wise men kneeling and offering the three gifts to the baby, and sometimes shepherds are also shown. Did you ever wonder why there were always three wise men? Three different gifts? One will not find any Scripture saying there were three wise men; at least two, yes, since it says “men”, but not three anywhere.
    What is wrong with this scene? Matt 2:11 says that the gifts were given to the young child in a house. The Greek word translated house is oikia and means a residence or abode. The Greek word translated an inn in Luke 2:7 is kataluma. Neither of these two Greek words is ever translated as the other.
    So, the familiar scene seen at Christmas time does not totally match what Yahweh’s word says. What, then, really matches today’s celebration? All the information below in double quotes can be found on the internet where all pagan names are replaced with their Sacred Name equivalents in [ ]. Word to search for is listed at the end of each quote in parenthesis.
 
                         
Saturnalia
“In ancient Rome, the largest Solstice holiday was the Saturnalia, in honor of the harvest god Saturn. Not many people today have heard of Saturnalia, or know that most of our popular holiday customs are directly descended from the ancient holiday season. Saturnalia was a big holiday – businesses and courts closed for days. The halls were decked with holly branches and evergreen wreaths.
    “People visited family and attended lavish banquets and holiday parties. Gifts of silver, candles, figurines, and sweets were exchanged. Another popular custom at Saturnalia involved slaves and their owners swapping roles. The equality of all was emphasized by the wearing (even by the emperor) of the red felt pileus cap of the freed slave – headgear that has long gone out of fashion, except for the character of Father Christmas, aka Santa Claus (more on this character in an accompanying article).
    “So how did a raucous Pagan celebration become associated with Christianity? Very intentionally. At the time the date of [Yahshua’s] birth was officially assigned [the Messiah’s] birthday, Rome was pretty thoroughly Christianized, but the former pagans were more reluctant to give up the holiday than they were their gods. After brushing aside inconvenience facts, the names were changed – but the holiday remained the same.
    “Nativities were celebrated at Christmas-time, including that of Mithras, known throughout the empire as ‘the light of the world,’ and the nativity of Sol Invictus, the birthday of the sun.
    “John Chrysostom, a fourth century Bishop, wrote: ‘On this day also the Birthday of [the Messiah] was lately fixed at Rome in order that while the heathen were busy with their profane ceremonies, the Christians might perform their sacred rites undisturbed. They call this (December 25th), the Birthday of the Invincible One (Mithras).” (Saturnalia)
 
   
Mithras
“Saturnalia may have been responsible for the pageantry of our midwinter festival, but it’s Mithraism that seems to have inspired certain symbolic religious elements of Christmas. The comparison of Mithraists and Christians is not coincidental. December 25 was Mithras’ birthday before it was [Yahshua’s]. The actual choice of December 25 for Christmas was made under the Emperor Aurelian because this was the date of the Winter Solstice and was the day the devotees of Mithras celebrated the birthday of the invincible sun.” (Mithras)
 
   
Date
“The middle of winter has long been a time of celebration around the world. Centuries before the arrival of the man called [Yahshua], early Europeans celebrated light and birth in the darkest days of winter. Many people rejoiced during the winter solstice, when the worst of the winter was behind them and they could look forward to longer days and extended hours of sunlight.” (Christmas)
    The Christian world today celebrates the birth of our Savior, Yahshua, on December 25. But, does this date conflict with the events surrounding His birth? When the announcement of the birth of Yahshua was made to the shepherds, the shepherds were tending their flocks by night,
    And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of Yahweh came upon them, and the glory of Yahweh shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is the supreme Messiah, Luke 2:8-11.
    The shepherds were told where to go to find Him “wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger,” verse 12.
    December 25 is not the time of year conducive to the tending of flocks at nighttime at that latitude. After the shepherds witnessed the babe in Bethlehem, they spread the news.
    And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds, Luke 2:17-18
 
    “Another related Roman festival celebrated at the same time was dedicated to Sol Invictus (“the invincible sun”). Originally a Syrian deity, this cult was imported by Emperor Heliogabalus into Rome and Sol was made god of the state. With the spread of Christianity, Christmas celebration became the most important Christian festival. In the third century various dates, from December to April, were celebrated by Christians as Christmas. January 6 was the most favored day because it was thought to be [Yahshua’s] Baptismal day (in the Greek Orthodox Church this continues to be the day to celebrate Christmas). In the year 350, December 25 was adopted in Rome and gradually almost the entire Christian
 
 
church agreed to that date, which coincided, with the Winter solstice and the festivals, Sol Invicta and Saturnalia. Many of the rituals and traditions of the pagan festivals were incorporated into the Christmas celebration and are still observed today.
    “Probably the most celebrated holiday in the world, our modern Christmas is a product of hundreds of years of both secular and religious traditions from around the globe.” (Christmas)
 
   
The Yule Log
Alexander Hislop, in his book “The Two Babylons or The Papal Worship,” writes on page 97 that “The Christmas tree, now so common among us, was equally common in pagan Rome and in pagan Egypt. In Egypt it 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. The mother of Adonis, the Sun-God and great mediatorial divinity, was mystically said to have been changed into a tree, and when in that state to have brought forth her divine son. If the mother was a tree, the son must have been recognized as the ‘Man the branch.’ And this entirely accounts for the putting of the Yule Log into the fire on Christmas eve, and the appearance of the Christmas-tree the next morning.”
    On page 98 he continues by writing, “Therefore, the 25th of December, the day that was observed at Rome as the day when the victorious god reappeared on earth, was held at the Natalis invicti solois, ‘the birthday of the unconquered Sun.’ Now the Yule Log is the dead stock of Nimrod, deified as the sun-god, but cut down by his enemies; the Christmas-tree is Nimrod redivivus – the slain god come to life again.”
    Now, who really is Nimrod? Nimrod was the grandson of Ham, the son of Noah, Gen 10:1-8. The book mentioned above indicates that Nimrod founded Babylon and Nineveh. This book also reports that Nimrod’s wife was named Semiramis, and that both were deified. Reportedly, Semiramis is called the queen of the heavens under the name of Astarte (queen of the heavens – Astarte – Easter).
In the book, Babylon, Mystery Religion, page 164, we read,
    “In connection with the customs of the Christmas’ season, we will mention the Christmas tree. An old Babylonian fable went like this: Semiranus, the mother of Tammuz (Ezek 8:14)claimed that overnight an evergreen tree sprang up from a dead 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!”
    What this sounds like is that one is equating Semiranus to both the wife and mother of Nimrod (Tammuz).
    Again, on page 98 of The Two Babylons we read,
    “Now the Yule Log is the dead stock of Nimrod, deified as the sungod, but cut down by his enemies. If the mother was a tree, the sun (Nimrod) must have been recognized as the ‘Man the branch’. And this entirely accounts for the putting of the Yule Log into the fire on Christmas eve.
    “Nimrod was the divine child born at the winter solstice as a new incarnation of the great god (after that god had been cut in pieces), on the purpose to revenge his death upon his murderers. Now the great god, cut off in the midst of his power and glory, was symbolized as a huge tree, stripped of all its branches and cutdown almost to the ground. But the great serpent, the symbol of the life restoring Aesculapius, twists itself around the dead stock, and lo, at its side up sprouts a young tree – a tree of an entirely different kind, that is destined never to be cut down by hostile power – even the pal-tree, the well-known symbol of victory.”
    The word “Yule” is the Chaldee name for an “infant” or “little child.”
 
   
The Christmas Tree
“Germany is credited with starting the Christmas tree tradition as we now know it in the 16th century when devout Christians brought decorated trees into their homes. Some built Christmas pyramids of wood and decorated them with evergreens and candles if wood were scarce. It is a widely held belief that Martin Luther, the 16th-century Protestant reformer, first added lighted candles to a tree. Walking toward his home one winter evening, composing a sermon, he was awed by of stars twinkling amidst evergreens. To recapture the scene for his family, he erected a tree in the main room and wired its branches with lighted candles.
    “Most 19th-century Americans found Christmas trees an oddity. The first record of one being on display was in the 1830s by the German settlers of Pennsylvania, although trees had been a tradition in many German homes much earlier. The
   
Pennsylvania German settlements had community trees as earlyas 1747. But, as late as the 1840s, Christmas trees were seen the brilliance as pagan symbols and not accepted by most Americans.
    “It is not surprising that, like many other festive Christmas customs, the tree was adopted so late in America. To the New England Puritans, Christmas was sacred. The pilgrim’s second governor, William Bradford, wrote that he tried hard to stamp out ‘pagan mockery’ of the observance, penalizing any frivolity. The influential Oliver Cromwell preached against ‘the heathen traditions’ of Christmas carols, decorated trees, and any joyful expression that desecrated ‘that sacred event.’ In 1659, the General Court of Massachusetts enacted a law making any observance of December 25 (other than a church service) a penal offense; people were fined for hanging decorations. That stern solemnity continued until the 19th century, when the influx of German and Irish immigrants undermined the Puritan legacy.” (Christmas)
    Today, lit candles on the Christmas tree have been replaced with colored electric bulbs.
 
   
Mistletoe, Holly and Wreaths
 
“The use of the mistletoe bough has its origin in Druidic, Norse and English traditions and superstition. Kissing under the mistletoe is of English origin. It was derived from Babylonian Mysteries dealing with ‘the man - the branch,’ Nimrod. Holly is a plant that is used to make Christmas wreaths.” (Mistletoe and Holly)
 
   
The Christmas Story
The facts listed above indicate the origin of the story told in Christian churches every December 25 comes from traditions based on pagan rites. Centuries ago the Catholic Church, in order to gain members, allowed the rites and celebrations of these pagan peoples to be adopted. Setting December 25 as the date of our Savior’s birth was set (declared) by the Council of Nicea. The national Roman Catholic monthly magazine, U. S. Catholic, has from time to time pointed out that Christmas is indeed a pagan holiday and admits that it is a “grotesque counterfeit.” Even the editor-priest of this magazine, some time ago, stated, “The Christmas season has been perverted so grossly that it has become a threat to mental and emotional well-being. It is time to come out of the land of Babylon, which the hucksters or wares and materialism have taken over…and leave December 25 to the pagans.”
    Probably the most celebrated holiday in the world, our modern Christmas is a product of hundreds of years of both secular and religious traditions from around the globe.
    In the Dec. 16, 1967 issue of the Saturday Evening Post, the following appeared under the title, “Why So Serious About Christmas?”:
    “Christmas, to begin with, is scarcely a Christian holiday at all. There is certainly no evidence that [Messiah] was born that day, nor was the day celebrated as such for some three hundred years after His death. Instead, there were various festivals commemorating the winter solstice on December 21, and December 25 was officially decreed to be the birthday of the ‘unconquered sun,’ climaxing the orgiastic week of Saturnalia. Teutonic and Celtic tribes added the rites of the Yule log, and the Christmas tree apparently dates from a fir tree planted by St. Boniface to replace the sacred oak of odin in eighth-century Germany. Added to all this, from various places in various times, came Santa Claus, Good King Wenceslaus, and the office Christmas party.”
 
   
Who Do You Believe?
The Bible, in Jeremiah 10:2-4, clearly tells us not to mix pagan worship or customs with Yahweh’s truths:
    Thus saith Yahweh, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
    Do these verses refer to the evergreen tree that is cut and brought into the house prior to December 25 and decorated? There are over 12,000 cut-your-own Christmas tree farms in the United States and over one million acres of land devoted to producing some 34 to 36 million Christmas trees each year.
    The truth of the Christmas story is staring you right in your eyes. If you celebrate December 25 as the date when the Messiah was born, you are in fact showing your allegiance to an idol. Instead of celebrating Christmas, New Years and Easter, start now by turning your back on them and keeping the Feast days that will be kept in the Kingdom. Plan to keep and celebrate now those annual feast days which Yahweh has commanded us to keep. You will have everything to gain by doing so.
 
   
                 
               
-Elder Roger G. Meyer
                   

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