Jesus Messiah Fellowship
Light To The Nations
Christmas Is Pagan Part 11
Copyright 1987 All
Rights Reserved
By Cohen G. Reckart, Pastor
1.) Worship
Of The Grove Tree
2.)
Zoganes The Red-Robed Lord Of Misrule
3.) The Feast
Of Fools
4.)
Christmas What Do The Books Say
In the book THE TWO BABYLONS, page 98, Hislop reports:
"The Christmas tree, as has been stated, was generally at Rome a different tree, even the fir; but the very same idea as was implied in the palm-tree was implied in the Christmas fir. . . .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" (reincarnated).
The worship of the grove or sacred tree of Baal-Nimrod in Israel is rebuked numerous places in the Scriptures:
2KI 23:6 And he brought out the idol (Baalmas tree) from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people (BJV).
2KI 23:7 And he brake down the houses of the homosexuals and lesbians, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the idol (Baalmas tree).
At the winter solstice, the sacred tree was cut down in remembrance of Nimrod's death and decorated, as a king would adorn himself. So, the tree represents Nimrod and decorating it is a symbol of adoring the pagan god with the beauty fit for a king. When the tree died (the needles fell and it was naked), all fires in the village were extinguished, ...put out. The worshipers would gather and the Baalmas tree was set on fire. A "holy meal" was cooked upon the flames. Sacred fire from this sacrifice was taken back home to re-fire the hearth, as a reminder of Nimrod's rebirth (reincarnation) and sovereignty over the home. This is the meaning of the Yule log fire. The pagans would take the residue of the burned tree and carve an idol out of it. Part of this practice is even mentioned in the Scriptures:
ISA 44:16 He burneth part of the idol in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth his meat, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the god-fire:
ISA 44:17 And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even a graven image of him: he falleth down before it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Save me; for thou art my god (BJV).
Although the heathen reported that anyone who did not venerate or worship the Nimrod Bush was in danger of disease or death, the Prophets calmed the fears of God's people by predicting that avoiding these Baal idols would bring them no curse or harm. Because there is no danger of idols bringing upon God's people disease and death, some modern liberals are now teaching it is permissible to have these Nimrod Bushes (groves), in the home and in the house of God. They are teaching that since no curse of the tree can harm us (we being protected by the Spirit of God), it is acceptable to decorate the Nimrod Baalmas Bush with gold and silver like the pagans, exactly what Jeremiah warned the Jews NOT TO MIMIC OR FOLLOW. Read carefully what the Prophet Jeremiah wrote concerning the ancient practice of decorating the Baalmas tree. Remember it was not called the Christmas tree until the Catholic Church gave it that name:
JER 10:1 Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O people of Israel:
JER 10:2 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the Gentiles, and be not afraid of the signs of the zodiac; for the Gentiles are afraid of them.
JER 10:3 For the customs of the Gentiles are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
JER 10:4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it not fall down.
JER 10:5 These idols are upright as the palm tree, but can not speak: they must be carried, because they cannot walk. Be not afraid of them; for these idols can do no evil against you, neither also is it in them to do any you good (BJV).
The above verses identify the ancient practice of the Baalmas bush worshipers. This practice is exactly reproduced with the Christmas tree today. If the Christmas tree was not at the birth of Messiah and was not used by the Apostles and the first Christians, how did this pagan practice of having or commemorating a false god come into the Churches? It came via the Catholic Church and everyone knows this. This idolatry is far worse than the trinity doctrine, yet it receives little or no attention from alleged scholars and writers of Church doctrine. Why?
It is claimed that Martin Luther was first to bring the Baalmas tree celebration out of paganism of the German people and bring it into the Protestant Church. This cannot be proven and is indeed false. The Baalmas tree was used in Catholic celebrations centuries before Martin Luther. The first traces of using the evergreen tree among the Catholics is when they adopted the feast of Saturnalia of the ancient Latin pagans. The word * Saturnalia* comes from the planet Saturn for which our day *Saturday* was named. Saturn was also Nimrod according to Alexander Hislop in his book on pages 31 and 32. Saturday is Nimrod's day. While the first day of the week is Messiah's Day! Saturnalia, the Latin feast of Nimrod, was celebrated at the winter solstice. It lasted five days and included December the 25, the great Baalmas day.
Zoganes The Red-Robed Lord Of Misrule
During these five days of Paganalia, drunkenness of both males and females was normal. It was the only time of the year a wife or husband could commit adultery with a neighbor, a stranger, any in-law, and even incest, and not be considered to have violated their marriage vows. All this to the worship of the Baalmas spirit in the Baalmas celebration. Slaves were set at liberty and the Lords or Masters became servants to the slaves during this apostate celebration.
One of these slaves was dressed in a red or purple garment and was called the "lord-of-misrule." This robed rouge was called Zoganes (code for devil). The devil is pictured most in a similar red suit. The rioters exchanged gifts and a sprig of evergreen, as a symbol of wishing the other a happy and good reincarnation. The wassailing bowl, now called among us, the Christmas "punch bowl," was filled with spiced liquors. The drunken revelry of Saturnalia and Christmas is nothing but Mystery Babylon adopted by Catholics and Protestants, using the birth of Messiah to camouflage and cover up hidden mysticism.
Because Tammuz was killed by a wild boar, the hog was sacrificed in retaliation to that species. The boar's head and ham were eaten with great triumph. Not eating pork in the Old Torah was God's way of precluding the Israelites from ever celebrating the Baalmas event. Pork was not evil of itself, the evil was that it was a heathen sacrifice and to eat that sacrificed to idols was forbidden. The pig was the central sacrifice of the Baalmas celebration. To defile a Jewish Temple with the sacrifice of a pig was then to turn it into a Baal Temple.
The murderer of Tammuz (the pig), is re-killed (sacrificed) each Christmas as many fix ham for the family dinner, and the ham is eaten in celebration to the Baalmas holiday. They may not know how eating ham became associated with Christmas dinner, but the Truth is there for anyone to discover if they will take a look. Start with Alexander Hislop's book on page 99. A Christmas tree is said to have sprung out of the grave of Tammuz. The Babylonian pagans believed Nimrod as Tammuz was reincarnated. It is customary during Christmas time for pagans to knock on wood if they do not want something to come to pass said in the presence of the Baalmas tree (Nimrod Bush). Now, we are not saying that it is sin to eat ham, pork chops, or bacon, because the Law against such sunset the day Jesus was nailed to the Cross. What we are saying is that the pagan practice of sacrificing and eating pig meat was a central aspect of the Baalmas festivities and continues down to us today and this was the purpose of the Law prohibiting eating pork.
The birth of Messiah was brought over into pagan customs to camouflage and give them approval by the Catholic Church. Remove the birth of Messiah from Christmas and the paganism can not be mistaken. Depart from the Baalmas and defeat the Catholic papacy in its corruptions. The cry to keep Messiah in Christmas is the sad begging of Catholic sympathizers who still want a cover up and an excuse to celebrate the "feast of fools."
The Christmas tree then symbolizes the pagan doctrine of reincarnation and an indwelling god. The tree is a symbol of a false doctrine and the presence of a false god. It stands contrary to the Truth, in that the presence of the Christmas tree teaches it is not appointed once for a man to die and then the judgment. Joining the Christmas tree with the birth of Jesus in a manger or even associating it with the birth of Messiah is wrong. The Christmas tree is symbolic of reincarnation as the way to eternal life. Messiah is the only WAY!
The birth of Jesus Messiah represents the Truth that mankind is lost and that our only hope is in the Acts 2:38 plan of salvation. The Christmas tree is then a lie. Its presence speaks of a lie. It is the devil's message that Jesus Messiah is not the Way, the Truth, and the Life. That there is another way, another truth, another life, brough from Mystery Babylon, and through reincarnation everyone can obtain eternal life without Messiah. The Nimrod-Jews call this reincarnation *gilgul*. The Christmas tree does not belong in the home of Christians.
The Christmas tree has a direct connection to the groves planted on the high places around the altar of Baal. Pastor Reckart reports that: "The pagan worshipers planted the groves to reconstruct a symbolic Garden of Eden, where in the mysteries the serpent committed adultery with Eve and this adultery is re-enacted in the Baalmas ritual." This is exactly practiced in witchcraft covens today.
The pagans would gather within a large circle drawn around the idol(s). They would hold hands, dance and strip naked while singing and chanting runes of sex, life, death, and reincarnation. At a point in the ritual after a child is sacrificed over the naked body of a woman (their altar), the priest and his priestess would open the mystical circle and the worshipers poured forth divided into pairs for the sexual immorality to follow among the grove (Christmas trees). How much adultery and sexual perversion is associated with the Baalmas celebration today is unknown, but we do know that adultery, fornication, and sexual apostasy runs rampant as the "spirit of the Baalmas" holiday sweeps them away into gross stupidity destroying homes, marriages, families, and self esteem.
An image of a mystical tree of life was set up in the groves. Fruit on this tree symbolized the first "gift-fruit" under the tree that Eve gave to Adam and now represents promiscuity (daringness) and eternal life through sexual reincarnation. Secret doctrine about the tree was Judaized in the Sefiroth of the Cabbalah. This mysticism attempts to replace Jesus Messiah the true tree of life represented in the Menorah, the seven-branch candlesticks of the tabernacle. The original pagan Christmas was for the children alright, as thousands throughout the centuries died, sacrificed at Christmas fires to ole Nick (Nick means devil check your dictionary).
Santa Claus Is he just make believe, a funny looking old man who comes down the chimney or through the key hole in the door? Is he the "father," originator, of the pagan holiday? Does the evidence prove he has no connection with Christianity or the birth of Messiah?
According to most books, ole Nick is a fancy creation. He takes his role from that of an alleged Catholic priest named Nicholas. It is claimed that this Nicholas would visit little children during the Paganalia and give them gifts. Supposedly, this practice caught on and the Catholic Church and Catholic families began to adopt the gift-giving spirit of the feast of Saturnalia. When the Protestants revolted against the papacy, they are said to have also rejected the celebration of Christmas and the folklore of ole Saint Nicholas.
In fact, the Puritans who came to America strictly forbid anyone from celebrating Christmas. According to the book "Man, Myth, & Magic," volume 4, page 480": "The Puritans came to power in the 17th century. Christmas was attacked as the old heathens' feasting day of Saturn their god."
These are the same Puritans who started the first Thanksgiving. It was not until 1836, in Alabama, that Christmas was declared a legal holiday in America. Since that time, nearly all Protestant Churches have gone back to the Catholic traditions of Christmas borrowed from the pagan Roman Saturnalia and the "feast of fools."
Santa Claus however, has more history then the folklore that he was derived from an unproven priest named Nicholas. According to the previous source, on the same page, it is said of Christmas:
"Even then on the continent the festival continued to show many features inherited from the Saturnalia. In particular, the Feast of Fools was a wild debauch reminiscent of the pagan past. The Normans when they invaded England in 1066, introduced a Master of Ceremonies into the English Christmas. Known as the Lord of Misrule, his counterpart in Scotland was called the Abbot (saint) of Unreason. A mock king, he ensured that Christmas was conducted along traditionally pagan lines."
This "lord of misrule" dressed in a red or purple robe and led the village in singing, dancing, drinking, and sexual orgies. As the make believe king, he would reward the people with gifts. Husbands and fathers would also dress up and follow this Santa (saint) of unreason, in a grand parade through the town streets. At evening, some would dress up in costumes and a grand time of filthy and lewd conduct was enjoyed by all. Because adultery was allowed at this festival, everyone was disorderly. Today the same Christmas "spirit" invades the land and there is more adultery at this time of the year than at all others. The question here is why Churches and Christians would want such a symbol to be associated with the birth of Messiah? This test of love for Truth is not new. The Jews were faced with the same decisions in the Old Testament. The festivals and feasts of Baal were almost an exact copy of our modern Christmas. God strictly forbid the Jews from having anything to do with these pagan and heathen customs (Jer. 10:1-5), and mixing them with holy days of the Law. The Jews were not to learn the ways of the heathen and turn from their salvation and join the pagans on their holidays. Christians should take this as a lesson that God will reject the same paganism being brought into the Church in the disguise of commemorating the birth of Messiah.
There is more and also self test questions to see how well you have learned. Click the button on the right.
Santa Claus is a false king, and in Scotland, the "saint" of unreason. He is the "lord of misrule," the leader in the "feast of fools," and has no place in the birth of Messiah. Any Minister, or believer who celebrates the "feast of fools" has brought an open shame to the Gospel of Messiah. We can not eat from both the devil's feast table and the Lord's feast table:
1CO 10:21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.
Those who partake of the Lord's table at Communion are making a pledge not to partake of the devil's table. Anyone who partakes of a pagan feast, after receiving the Lord's Supper, has lied. They have not discerned the Lord's body and blood. Because of this, some noteworthy men and women have died and God will judge them. The table of the Lord was not good enough for them! They considered the devil's table a delight they would not abstain from during Baalmas celebrations. For the twenty one days of Christmas, these have set at naught the Biblical injunction not to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. They consider it silly or retarded for Prophets to declare that there is no agreement between the temple of God (our bodies), and Christmas idols. Those who celebrate Christmas are teaching there is an agreement for twenty one days, as each catches the spirit of ole Nick, exchange gifts, and decorate the halls with boughs of holly.
Because children were usually molested, raped, and their sexual organs severed from their bodies during Baal sacrifices (they still do this in black witchcraft today), is it any wonder that during Christmas, child molestation and abuse escalates dramatically. There were hundreds of cases of sexual abuse of children reported to child protective agencies in 1994-95. Do Christians contribute to this evil when they "catch the spirit" and contribute to the lust accompanying this pagan holiday?
Christmas by any description is a fraud. Santa is just as evil as any other salesman who might come to the door trying to dupe unsuspecting buyers. Children should be taught the Truth about Santa Claus and the history of his coming into the story of the birth of Messiah. Is the Truth all of a sudden evil?
Christmas What Do The Books Say
The books will tell us that the Bible contains no Christmas story with Christmas trees, Santa Claus, drunken parties, adultery, fornication, homosexuality, child abuse, or gift giving. Pagan celebrations that pre-existed Christmas as later practiced and called Christmas is condemned in the Bible. We can start with the simple prohibition against idolatry (Gal 5:20). From this we can move to drunkenness which is also condemned (Gal 5:21). All sexual immorality is condemned (Gal 5:19). Child abuse and sacrifices are condemned (Deu 18:10). Gift giving associated with pagan worship of idols and celebration of pagan holidays is condemned (Ezek 20:39). Setting up a Baalmas tree is condemned (Jer 10:1-5). Therefore, anyone who uses the Bible will see that this Holy book of all, condemns Christmas in every form and fashion.
The Dictionary: Christmas, ME Christemasse, OE Cristis masse, lit, Christ's Mass. Christmas is two words: "Messiah and mass." The first word describes Jesus. The second, the *mass,* describes a Latin pagan ritual in the Catholic Church, in which the Eucharist is celebrated. The mass is a special ritual in which the bread and wine are said to be miraculously converted into the actual flesh and blood of the Lord. The mass goes one step more and is actually said to be the re-crucifixion of Messiah in symbolic form. The priest re-crucifies Messiah each mass so that there is fresh blood and flesh for the communicants. The word "Christmas" then is an oxymoron, ...it means both the birth and death of Messiah.
The mass itself is a pagan ritual not found anywhere in the Bible. It was borrowed from heathen temples. The crucifix with a halo around the top is put in the place of the winged *hex*sun-disk (sometimes called the blazing star), that shadowed the idol head of Nimrod (seen behind the heads of saints in Catholic paintings and pictures). The halo is nothing but a symbol of the sun and also Nimrod with the power of lucifer upon him as his anointing. Christians should never use a halo for any purpose.
Prayers to idols were altered with the name of the false gods removed and the name of Messiah inserted. In some cases where the word lord was substituted for Baal to hide that a pagan idol was being prayed or sang to (remember the Beatles *My Sweet Lord* sang to the Hindu god Krishna, and Christians thought it was to Jesus and went around singing it in Churches as specials? The Catholic Church changed the chants and prayers so one would think by hearing them that Jesus was being addressed, when in fact he is not. For a more complete review of the sacrifice of the mass see Alexander Hislop's book THE TWO BABYLONS pages 156-165. The very use of the word Christmas to signify something holy, is profane conduct.
The Pilgrims, founders of Thanksgiving: In the book Saints and Strangers, by George Willison, page 104, he reports the words of John Robinson in his "A Just and Necessarie Apologie (1619) against the Dutch Reformed Church; "And the Dutch could not possibly be true Christians so long as they went on benightedly celebrating Easter and Christmas, for which there was no warrant in Scripture."
On page 160 he reports: "Work began in earnest on Monday December 25th, which was Christmas, of course, but that made no difference to the Pilgrims or at least not to the Saints, for they scorned Christmas as a "human invention," another Roman "corruption," a survival from heathen days, as indeed it was."
On page 377 Mr. Willison reports: And to keep the Anglicans in their place, it was now a crime previously it had been only a social error through serous enough to celebrate Christmas by forbearing of labour, feasting, or in any other way."
The Encyclopedia of the Occult by Lewis Spence, page 67: There is no Scriptural warrant for the celebration of the birth of Jesus on 25 December, nor is there any precise indication of the day in the birth narratives in the Gospels of Luke and Matthew."
"The mention in the West of a festival on the now traditional date is in an almanac of 354 AD, which Furius Dionysius Philocalus, a calligrapher, illuminated for the use of Christians in Rome."
"This was also the date in the Julian calendar of the winter solstice, the day on which the sun is reborn, also celebrated by adherents of the oriental cult of the sun-god Mithras."
From the Dictionary of Mysticism by Nevill Drury: Celebration of Christmas on December 25 dates from A.D. 336, when the pagan festival of natalis solis invicti (birthday of the invincible sun) established by the emperor Aurelian in the third century A.D. was converted to a Christian holy day, referring to "the Sun of righteousness," as Messiah. The Two Babylons, by Alexander Hislop:
Page 93; "That Christmas was originally a Pagan festival is beyond doubt. The time of the year, and the ceremonies with which it is still celebrated, prove its origin."
Page 93: "Upright men strove to stem the tide, but in spite of all their efforts, the apostasy went on, till the Church, with an exception of a small remnant, was submerged under pagan superstition."
Page 97: "The Christmas tree, now so common among us, was equally common in Pagan Rome and Pagan Egypt."
Page 98: "The Christmas tree is Nimrod redivivus the slain god come to life again" (reincarnated).
Page 102: "There can be no doubt, then, that the pagan festival at the winter solstice in other words, Christmas was held in honour of the birth of the Babylonian messiah."
That Santa Claus is directly related to Nimrod has already been shown. Santa Claus is then a false messiah. As a false messiah he offers no plan of salvation. He is not against sin or evil. He never points to Messiah as the true God who came in the flesh to save sinners. Santa Claus is never pictured as a Saint or holy person. He never admits to any doctrine in the New Testament. He is the symbol of drunkenness, the doctrine of reincarnation, a false god, a false king, a fool, and a peddler for all ungodly and unwholesome products.
But I love my Christmas tree! The Christmas tree is also seen for the idol that it is. Some have said they do not worship it, therefore having the idol is not a sin. What husband would sanction another man in the house his wife loved as long as she did not sleep with him? Likewise, the first Commandment makes no mention of worship, although to have an idol is a form of worship. It simply says NOT TO HAVE another god before God. Is God a jealous God? Why then bring another god into the sanctuary of the home? Make that as much the Kingdom of God as you do your heart. Because home is where the HEART is.
EXO 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Anyone who has a Christmas tree or any other god in any form or fashion is an idolater. Paul said such would not inherit the Kingdom of God. Idolatry is the spiritual equivalent of adultery. For this reason, any Messiahian who practices or celebrates Christmas is saying by doing so, that adultery is perfectly legal and uncondemned.
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