Holydaze - the Origins of the Holiday Season Part 8

hol·i·day  /ˈhäləˌdā/

Origin: Old English hāligdæg ‘holy day'

What is in your heart?

Many Christians argue that the holidays they celebrate only mean to them what is in their hearts, and any other association does not apply to them. If they are celebrating the birth of Christ, then it’s a Christian celebration. They say, “It’s what is in your heart that matters.” Well, what is in your heart? The Bible tells us the heart of man is wicked and deceitful.

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it?
Jeremiah 17:9

We are our own worst enemy. The only way we can trust our hearts is if we have the heart of Christ. Did Christ put it in your heart to celebrate Christmas or Easter? If not, what or who did? Where did your desire to celebrate such holidays come from?

To speak for a moment in psychoanalytical terms, we all have an unconscious mind. I’m not a huge believer in psychoanalytics, but there are some good points to ponder within the field. We certainly do all have a place in our minds where we bury things, a place that we are not fully aware of which has some sort of influence over our thoughts and behavior. The heart and mind are the seat of the soul. It has been shown in science that the heart and the mind are more connected than previously assumed. It’s not a one-way street as was assumed for so long, that the brain exercises complete control over the rest of the body. The heart holds some sway over the brain too. So, in a sense, there is a literal aspect to the phrase “of the heart.”

What is the primary function of the heart? To control the flow of blood. Blood carries oxygen to the entire body. Oxygen is a symbol of the Spirit, the breath of life that is breathed into us by God. The blood-brain barrier is a fascinating mechanism. As part of God’s design, it tells us that we need to constantly be receiving of His Spirit in order to live and think. When the blood is compromised, our thoughts are compromised. Our flesh needs to be governed by the Spirit, not the soul.

For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.’ Leviticus 17:11

How does this effect our unconscious mind? Our flesh and blood send signals to our brains from the first trimester in the womb when our heart begins to beat. We are conceived and born under the influence of the flesh and therefore born into sin. As David says:

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts [innermost being], and in the hidden part [closed off part of the inward self, ie; the hardened part of your heart and the deepest recesses of your mind] You will make me to know wisdom. Psalm 51:5

In this writing I am encouraging you to look in the deepest places of your heart and mind to search out why you desire to celebrate holidays. May God give you the strength to confront yourself to see what you might have not been fully aware of before. May you see the things that motivate you and form your world view. May He expose your innermost places in the light so that you can discard the influence of worldly experiences to live in the glorious light and life of Christ.

In our internal search it is often good to look at what is outside of us in order to weigh it against Scripture, to exercise our senses and be trained in righteousness, and ultimately to be able to test everything by the Spirit. When we have learned the leading of the Spirit we can then know when we are being led by what is buried deep within us or if we are truly doing God’s will. Since the Spirit is truth our desire for truth is the catalyst for the working of the Spirit within us.

Recall that earlier, in our examination of Tertullian’s quote, I pointed out the word Brumae after “Winter Festivals.” Some have argued that Bruma or Brumalia has no connection to Saturnalia. They say there are no descriptions of this festival, that it simply means “wintertime.” Here is the Latin text behind Tertullian’s passage:

Nobis, quibus sabbata extranea sunt et numeniae et feriae a deo aliquando dilectae, Saturnalia et Ianuariae et Brumae et Matronales frequentantur, munera commeant et strenae, consonant lusus, conuiuia constrepunt.

Note that Tertullian gives a fairly detailed description of these events. If you need to, go back and read his statement again. Does the description sound familiar? He wasn’t chiding the churches for mimicking Roman temple prostitution, or literally bringing idols into the churches and bowing down to them. These people were merely having a good time. So why would Tertullian be rebuking them? There’s nothing wrong with feasting, giving gifts or playing games, right? Granted, but he was calling what they were doing idolatry and sin. Was he just a pesky legalist? Of course not. The problem is that the churches were adopting the parts of pagan holidays they deemed good and they were trying to use them as ways to attract pagans to the faith. This is the earliest evidence by a non-biblical source I’ve found of the church syncretizing with pagan customs for this very reason. Many Christians will try to tell you that there is no evidence of Christians doing this. Tertullian’s quote confirms that the churches were doing just that.

To quote Tertullian again, he was saying that Christians were “assailing the Name with wicked suffrages… for fear the Name be blasphemed.” In other words, they were doing evil not realizing it was evil while thinking they would be evil if they didn’t do it. The worst part is they didn’t know they were doing anything wrong! This is the same type of mistake the Israelites made when making the golden calf, weeping for Tammuz, baking cakes for the Queen of Heaven and all sort of other pagan traditions that justified in their worship of Yahweh. Generation after generation bits and pieces of paganism crept in and became normalized. Over time, these traditions became automatic and no one questioned why they were doing them in the first place. The book of the Law was even hidden for a long time before being discovered again. Christians are doing the same thing today because the early church thought that they were required to Christianize everything. They were actually called to separate themselves in holiness. Christians call it “Christianization,” but God calls it “syncretization.”

Throughout history there have been many scribes and writers who have exposed the practice of syncretization. The church calls it “Christianization,” yet how is it possible to put Christ into something He was never in to begin with? It is not our charge to Christianize pagans but to make disciples of Christ. There is an obvious difference between a true disciple and a mere follower. A pagan is not converted into a disciple by appealing to his pagan, secular traditions. God has told us not to worship as the heathen do, to be a people set apart for Him, and that we are a peculiar people. Surely, if you decide not to celebrate Christmas or to participate in the spirit of the Holiday Season, you will look peculiar to the world. This appears to be the motivation Tertullian called out. Remember, he criticized them because they were not apprehensive to look like pagans when pagans were apprehensive to look like Christians.

When you decide to start examining yourself to see if you are in the faith, you will start to think more critically about yourself and the world around you. It is inevitable. When we look to Scripture, we can see things that we can’t get in the world, parables that God has sent to us to ponder. Consider that Yahweh gave the Israelites holy days for a specific reason, as shadows of things to come, as Paul said in Colossians 2:17 and Hebrews 10:1. In other words, they were prophetic. The Sabbaths, New Moons and Feast Days were given for them to ruminate over what God has done for them, and also what God has in store, namely that Christ must come to be the spotless sacrifice for their sins. Only a small remnant of people in the Old Testament seemed to have understood these parables. In the Law it was said that the Israelites were not to eat any animal that did not “chew the cud.” Chewing the cud is literally “rumination,” but also a metaphor for thinking about something until you have gotten the very last bit of wisdom and understanding from it. Most of the Jews did not chew the cud enough to gain spiritual understanding, even when God sent prophet after prophet to tell them. In fact, the prophets were persecuted by their own people because they were labeled evil.

The God-appointed times and feasts given to the Jews were a parabolic reflection of God’s plan of the ages. This is why man-made traditions are not only inferior to, but profane God-given holy traditions. Our Gospel “Good News” is the promise made to those who enter Sabbath rest by Yahshua's example and instruction, to receive the Holy Spirit who will lead us into all truth. This is a daily practice. A daily celebration. We do not need yearly celebrations like the pagans do. Our command is "do this in remembrance of Me" (speaking of communion). Remember the Scriptures, "Give us this day our DAILY bread" for He is the bread of life, and so "whoever has entered His rest has ceased from his works as God did from His" (Hebrews 4:10). All else is the works of our own hands which is filthy rags to Him - idolatry. "Whatever is not from faith is sin" (Romans 14:23). We were warned not to follow the traditions of men. Yahshua only did the will of the Father. He did none of His own works. This example He passed on to His disciples. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” Christ imitated His Father by observing Him.

Then Yahshua answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.

For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
John 5:19–23

Can you honestly say that you saw the Father, or even the Son for that matter, celebrating Christmas? How about His apostles? We have nothing to imitate in that regard. The only thing we have to imitate is what came centuries later, and those things were imitations of paganism combined with Christianity.

Still, people will stubbornly say that Christians had the holiday first or that it only matters what it means to you in your heart, but it doesn’t really matter who had the celebration first. It’s not a battle of who can win the reason for the season. It’s not about Christianizing everything in the world either. God has prophesied that all things of this world will perish, that there will be a New Heaven and New Earth. That is not only symbolic of our internal struggle, but a literal statement about re-creation.

Our hope is in the promise that was given to those who overcome this present world, this present age, called in Greek, “aion.” In this life, we overcome the world by taking dominion over our own bodies, which were formed from the dust of the earth, but we also look forward to the literal redemption of our bodies in the resurrection where we will receive glorified bodies. We receive a new creation now in ourselves, that is a new spirit (our inheritance of the Holy Spirit) by which we put on the mind of Christ and bring this flesh under subjection. We also look forward to a New Creation later, when all things will be reconciled to God. This is a huge part of the Gospel good news. As strangers and pilgrims on earth we don’t need to get caught up in worldly affairs, even the pursuit of “peace and safety” for all people, which if derived from worldly motivations is godless (For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. 1 Thessalonians 5:3). More people have been killed for the “greater good” throughout history in the name of peace and safety than for the overt spite of tyranny and oppression. If we have no need to get involved in such man-made matters how much less should we need to be involved with man-made holidays?

If you celebrate the birth of Christ in December you are in fact declaring that it doesn’t matter when He was born, because He was certainly not born in December. The fact that you would choose to celebrate it on this date is dictated to you purely by tradition. Those traditions are in alignment with pagan midwinter festivals and the nativity of the unconquerable sun (Sol) rather than the birth of Christ. To ignore this fact and continue celebrating the holiday season anyway is a blatant disregard for discernment and truth. It could even be construed as pure rebellion against the truth. You are in essence doing what Christians have been trying to do for millennia, force your beliefs onto pagan practices so they change into something you can accept.

It is easy to fool ourselves, to justify our desires and actions with false Christian messages like Dominionism, which teaches Christians need to take over the world, the Prosperity Doctrine, which teaches God wants you to live a happy, prosperous life now and forever, The Power of Positive Thinking, a book that teaches people to ignore whatever they think is “negative,” and The Purpose Driven Life, which teaches people to seek a purpose rather than the Spirit. All these teachings have the shiny appearance of being biblical on the surface, and these ideas certainly fit in with the mainstream narrative, but underneath they are born of darkness in opposition to  the Gospel truth. They rely on a partial, lazy understanding of Scriptures fueled by deep-seeded desires that have not been confronted by Christ. If Christians knew the book they claim so fervently to cling to perhaps the apostate doctrines and celebrations in our cultures wouldn’t be so prevalent. Perhaps if their deepest desires were for Christ rather than the world, we wouldn’t need to be having this conversation.

Probably the most important concept in the Bible is that of the Sabbath, the state of spiritual rest in God’s will. Its nemesis in the Bible is the beast of Revelation, a symbol of a humanist, world-wide system of government which aims to deceive the whole world into following Satan. This beast is described as having two horns like a lamb but speaks like a dragon. This means he looks like Christ, the Lamb of God, but speaks like Satan, who comes disguised as an angel of light. Both the servants of God, who are marked on their foreheads (Revelation 7:3), and the servants of the beast, who receive the mark of the beast (Revelation 13:16), have made a choice who they will serve. These marks are a sign on your forehead and right hand, symbols of what you think and do. If those who take the mark of the beast are deceived by a worldly system that poses in a Christ-like fashion, then they are unwittingly going to believe they are taking the mark of salvation. We MUST heed the repeated warnings in the Bible exclaimed to all Christians, “Do not be deceived!” Let us look at a few Scriptures to examine these. 

Sabbath rest

There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.

Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. Hebrews 4:9–13

God’s servants sealed

Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” Revelation 7:2–3

The beast’s servants sealed

“Those great beasts, which are four, are four kings which arise out of the earth.” Daniel 7:17

“Thus he said: ‘The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all other kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, trample it and break it in pieces.’” Daniel 7:23

And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” Revelation 13:3–4

It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Revelation 13:7–8

Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. And he… causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast… He performs great signs… And he deceives those who dwell on the earth—by those signs… He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666. Revelation 13:11–18

Ask yourself the most important question of your life: "Am I at Sabbath rest?" If the answer to that question is “no” then have you been deceived into taking the mark of the beast? Have you received the spirit of the world instead of the Spirit of God and His good works?

Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. James 4:4

(Continued...)

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