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. 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 moveth not.
Jeremiah 10:1-4
The headline in my King James Bible for this chapter reads "The True God and Idolatry". Now what do you think of that? I did not write that, neither is it just a figment of my imagination, neither is the Bible I read published by some off the wall company that would misrepresent these scriptures. It doesn't take a smart person to read these verses and realize that there is only one thing that Jeremiah could be talking about here.
Years ago, when we first started reading behind a Christian by the name of Jack Chick who has a ministry promoting soul winning cartoon tracts and a lot of information concerning the Catholic Church and their pagan practices, we came across these same verses that he used to expose the pagan tradition of "the Christmas tree". At that time I was totally surprised that the information he gave concerning this practice all led to idolatry. He also tied this in to Baal worship. Then, a little later my family and I started reading behind Dr. Peter S. Ruckman who had the same views. After finally going to Pensacola and getting involved with the church and work at Bible Baptist Church, the preachers there enforced these very same views on what they esteemed as an idolatrous practice. It was at this time that we realized that this is indeed a pagan practice.
Ever wonder why almost everyone puts up a Christmas tree even though they aren't even Christians and why it usually involves Santa Claus? It is all tied together! And what about all the unchristian songs out there, such as "Rocking Around the Christmas Tree" and "I Saw Mama Kissing Santa Claus" which includes the tree. There are many oohs and ahhs when people talk about this decked out tree. The biggest warning of all should be that just about everyone, no matter what religion, has a Christmas tree. To tell someone you don't have a tree is to be looked upon as an outcast. Christians have even come up with a reason to have this tree and have written poems, etc. about what the Christmas tree represents trying to tie it in to Christianity.
I know how hard it is to not have this tradition. There was a time when I truly enjoyed getting a live tree (Oh it smells so good) and we brought it into our house, put it in a "tree stand" if we had one and then commenced to put decorations on it. When I first learned about this being pagan, I started to quit putting gold and silver on it and thought maybe this would be okay, but after a while we realized this would not do. It had to go! So, the question is....Who will you serve, God or Mammon? It's really bad when the children become the guiding force in our homes as to whether or not we will practice a true "heathen practice". The sad truth in these last days is that even though a Christian realizes the implications of these scriptures and also knows the truth, they really don't care whether God said not to do this or not, they just want to enjoy their holiday and supposedly not "cheat" their children out of having a "happy" childhood.
Psalm 37:3-5
3) Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
4) Delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
5) Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
Psalm 91:14-15
14) Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.
15) He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
II Timothy 2:4
No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
I John 5:21
Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment