Until 2007, Christmas used to be my favorite holiday and the most cherished time of the year. I loved decorating
our Christmas tree, making sure it looks perfect in the slightest detail. That year I decided to change its look and
I proceeded to make a two hours trip to Orlando in order to purchase all new decorations. I decided to go with the
very large globes 6" in diameter, in red, silver and pearl, and I was now shopping for an up to the ceiling fiber
optical tree. I could already see myself sitting at night by the Christmas tree while everybody else was asleep,
meditating and listening to carols with a plate of cookies next to me.
About two weeks later I was getting ready to write Christmas cards, planning to include a few Scripture quotes. I
typed the word Christmas in the Bible Gateway's search by word box, but to my amazement it resulted in "No
results found for 'Christmas' in the Bible"! I was sure I misspelled it but my second attempt gave me the same
result. I was confused, how could that be???
I quickly typed the word Christmas in the Google search bar. The first article I read in shock and disbelief but the
more articles I read, the more I realized that Christmas was exactly the opposite of what I always thought it was!
The next day I was staring at the new decorations with disappointment and sadness. Thoughts were racing
through my mind; memories, excuses..... my dear Father and what I just read. I understood how much the plot
behind Christmas was hurting Him, how his worst enemy uses it to throw mockery at his rival. At my Savior
and the One who defeated him.
I quickly began tossing box after box in the garbage can and I still had enough decorations left to fill an extra
large, plastic garbage bag. That moment I chose cold to never look back.
During Christmas I felt like not even peeking at the spectacularly themed decorated homes. Why please my eyes
with something I knew it was designed by Satan to hurt my Father and to mislead His children in the same
fashion he makes every sin appealing to man, by "dressing" it so attractively!
Two years later, in 2009, I committed to present a program for a small church in Jenning Lakes, FL. During our
phone conversation I was asked if I could also commit for a spot in the last quarter. The Christmas observance
subject immediately came to mind, realizing it could be a great opportunity to share with the church what I
learned about its background.
This "holiday" has been a burden on my heart ever since I learned who its designer is, and especially because it is
being promoted so widely by Christianity. I remember watching on TV one sermon in particular. The preacher
invited his doctor - an Orthodox Jew - to attend his program in which he was proving from the Old Testament
prophecies, that Jesus was indeed the Son of God.
The sermon was captivating and so well put together, but I was aching because the church was decorated with a
Christmas tree, Mistletoe flower bouquets... even the singers were dressed in red and black! I could not
understand how could a person witness to a Jew in this manner. Jews know and understand idolatry better than
any other nation! Even the Satanists over the Internet complain that Christianity stole their holiday. What a
well grounded mockery! Every time I see professed Christian leaders promoting Christmas observance I can't
help not to wonder; Do they really believe in their hearts their worship is pleasing to God? Don't they realize
Satan is laughing out loud and mocking them? Or, are they ignorant?
Below is a copy of the sermon about Christmas and birthday celebrations, the way I presented it to the church in
Jenning Lakes. About 40% of it is a compiled study from notes I took from dozens of articles I read over the
Internet after looking up the information in Encyclopedias, Wikipedia, Bible, Historians... May God bless every
author for putting the effort to share the information. Their efforts have been a blessing to me, I pray the chain
will keep going.
After giving the message to the church in Jenning Lakes, some of the church members came to me and told me it
took courage to stand up and speak but they needed to hear it. I hope and pray this study will be a blessing to you
as well.
At Christmas people celebrate the birth of our Savior, but did you know the origins of birthdays celebrations come
from Babylonian Astrology, and not from the guidelines of Scripture?
Wikipedia: "Astrology is a group of systems, traditions, and beliefs which hold that the position of celestial bodies
can provide information about personality and human affairs."
Horoscopes are usually calculated at the moment of a person's birth, or at the beginning of an event. It is believed
the alignments of celestial bodies at that specific moment will determine that individual's destiny or the course of
that specific event.
However, God is warning us that consulting astrologers, mediums, horoscopes or fortune tellers is inquiring from
the devil, and by doing so we are getting defiled. In other words giving more territory over our lives to the devil,
whose only goal is our destruction. Leviticus 19:31 "Give no regards to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek
after them, to be defiled by them."
Saul for example, ran all the witches out of Israel because he knew the witchcraft is of the devil. Yet when he
inquired from a witch because he did not hear from God, he gave enough ground to the devil to take his life.
God does not hold against men what they don't know, but Saul did not act naively, he knew exactly to whom he
inquired of, and by doing so he sealed his own fate.
Whoever, God promises that ultimately everyone associated with the evil will pay for their deceiving deeds.
Isaiah 47:13-14 "Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, and the monthly prognosticators stand up and save you
from what shall come upon you. Behold, they shall be as stubble, the fire shall burn them; They shall not deliver
themselves from the power of the flame."
Trusting in horoscopes or fortune tellers is fooling and harming yourself. God alone can be trusted and Him alone
is concerned with our happiness and well being. Every matter should be taken to God in prayer, asking HIM for
guidance, then wait in faith and cleanness of heart. God promises if we trust in Him wholeheartedly, He WILL
direct our paths. Proverbs 3:5-6 "TRUST in the LORD with all your heart, with all your mind and with all your
soul, and He shall direct your paths."
BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS
Did you know there are only two birthday celebrations mentioned in the Scriptures? One in the Old Testament
and one in the New Testament. Both times they are in reference to customs being observed by pagans. The first
mention is of the Egyptian king Pharaoh in Genesis 40 when Pharaoh restored the chief butler and he hanged the
chief baker, according to Joseph's interpretation of their dreams. The other reference is of the wicked king Herod,
in Matthew 14, when on his birthday, Herod gave to Herodias's daughter, John the baptist's head on the platter.
We also learn from history that birthday celebrations are strictly a pagan custom. We read in Encyclopedia Judaica
(vol.4, p.1054):
“The celebration of birthdays is unknown in traditional Jewish ritual.”
Even the Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911 edition Volume X, p. 709, under 'Natal Day' reads: "In the scriptures, no one
is recorded to have kept a feast or held a great banquet on his birthday. It is only sinners who make great
rejoicings over the day in which they were born into this world."
Flavius Josephus in Against Apion, Book II, section 26, writes: "The Jews in Christ's day knew God's attitude toward
birthday celebrations, 'Nay, indeed, the law does not permit us to make festivals at the births of our children.'"
The historian Augustus Neander in The History of the Christian Religion and Church, During the First Three Centuries,
translated by Henry John Rose, New York 1848, p. 190 writes: "The notion of a birthday festival was far from the
ideas of the Christians of this period."
Herbert W. Armstrong, in The Plain Truth About Christmas (1974), pp. 8-9, 15 writes: "The apostles and early true
Church never celebrated Christ's birthday at any time. There is no command or instruction to celebrate it in the
Bible – rather, the celebrating of birthdays is pagan, not a Christian custom."
The M'Clintock & Strong's Cyclopedia (Vol. I, p. 817) says: "The Jews and early Christians - regarded birthday
celebrations as part of idolatrous worship."
Isn't it clever the way Satan worked throughout the centuries until nowadays almost every person celebrate their
birthday without even realizing they are celebrating a custom instated by Satan and not by God?
THE BIRTHDAY CAKE
Did you ever wonder why is the traditional birthday cake round and why people place candles on it?
The World Book - Childcraft International says: "The idea of putting candles on birthday cakes goes back to ancient
Greece. The Greeks worshipped many gods and goddesses. Among them was a god called Artemis. Artemis was
the goddess of the moon. The Greeks celebrated her birthday once each month by bringing special cakes to her
temple. The cakes were round like a full moon. And, because the moon glows with light, the cakes were decorated
with lighted candles."
Ralph and Adelin Linton in The Lore of Birthdays (New York, 1952), pg 8, 18-20 writes: "The custom of lighted
candles on the cakes started with the Greeks... Honey cakes round as the moon and lit with tapers were placed on
the temple altars of the pagan goddess - Artemis. Birthday candles, in folk belief, are endowed with special magic
for granting wishes... Lighted tapers have had a special mystic significance ever since man first set up altars to his
gods."
How about the birthday greetings and wishes for happiness? Did you ever wondered why people give birthday
wishes?
We read in The World Book - Childcraft International: "Originally the idea was rooted in magic. The working of
spells for good and evil is the chief usage of witchcraft. They believe that one is especially susceptible to such
spells on his birthday, as one's personal spirits are about at the time... Birthday greetings have power for good or
ill because one is closer to the spirit world on this day."
Horst Fuhrmann, professor of medieval history at the University of Regensburg made this statement: "The
birthday celebration was in honor of one's guardian angel or god, whose altar was decorated with flowers and
wreaths; sacrifices were offered to the god of festival, friends offered congratulations and brought gifts."
The Funk & Wagnalls Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend, Vol. One, p. 144 says: "Certain primitive
societies view birthdays as danger periods when one is susceptible to attack by evil spirits. Hence, parties and
good wishes of friends, bring gifts to appease the evil spirits, and offering sacrifices to "their protective spirits" are
all part of the birthday celebration."
Schwäbische Zeitung- magazine Zeit und Welt of April 3/4, 1981 on page 4: "The various customs with which people
today celebrate their birthdays have a long history. Their origins lie in the realm of magic and religion. The
customs of offering congratulations, presenting gifts and celebrating - complete with lighted candles - in ancient
times were meant to protect the birthday celebrant from the demons and to ensure his security for the coming
year... Down to the fourth century Christianity rejected the birthday celebration as a pagan custom."
And now a very interesting quote from The Satanic Bible. Please pay attention to their statement:
The Satanic Bible by Anton Szandor LaVey, Book of Lucifer - The Enlightenment, Avon Books, 1969, Ch XI, Religious
Holidays, p. 96 "Why not really be honest. If you are going to create a god in your image, why not create that
god as yourself? EVERY MAN IS A GOD IF HE CHOOSES TO RECOGNIZE HIMSELF AS ONE. So, the Satanist
celebrates his own birthday as the most important holiday of the year."
When I read the quote above, I immediately saw the resemblance between celebrating our own birthdays (friends
and family bringing us gifts and exalting us) and Christ's birth (magi bringing him gifts and worshiping Him).
By giving man idea and convincing him to celebrate his birthday in the same manner the magi honored the Son
of God for coming to give Himself for us, isn't Satan actually mocking God? Aren't we making a god of ourselves
on our birthday? According to the Satanic Bible, we do!
I see a pattern in Satan's successful plans to counterfeit God's worship by deceiving men into either worshiping
each other or worshiping him by celebrating his holidays or following his customs.
From ancient Babylon, also called the Mother of false religion, how easily Satan convinced man to seek worship
him or to seek worship for himself. Knowingly or unknowingly! Satan receives worship from every person who
celebrates his established holidays: birthdays, Christmas, Easter, Halloween…. Just keep reading. You will be
amazed how this brilliant creature planned everything so meticulously and how he achieved his goals on such a
large scale.
Before moving forward I would like to focus for a moment on the other extreme. Why is God asking us to strictly
worship Him? Is God self centered or is He demanding worship because He is the Creator?
The sharp reality is, God gives each person free will to follow and worship what they desire! He would not put
up with sin otherwise, He would have cut it off from it's beginning. But God wants to be loved, He wants your
heart, not your forced worship! In His LOVE for us He warns us that aside from Him we will reap our own
destruction. 1 Peter 5:8 "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion,
seeking whom he may devour." Satan deceives us and causes us to fall into temptation, then he accuses us before
God: Revelation 12:10 "… the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night...."
Through His Son, God has made known to us His character which is actually HUMBLE, by no means self
seeking. He is a gentle Creator. Matthew 11:29 "Come to Me... for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will
find rest for your souls."
Christ, who is the express image of the FATHER, even bowed down and washed our feet to set an example how we
should love and serve each other and NOT be self seeking!!!
John 13:3-5 "Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands.... rose from supper and laid aside
His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the
disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded."
What a sharp contrast between God and Satan who dragged a third of the angels and the whole earth into sin
because he wanted to be worshiped and have his throne above the throne of God!
BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS - Why there is no reason to celebrate our birthdays?
In Ecclesiastes 7:1 we read: "A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of
one’s birth." God is deeply saddened for our condition and overall, for the deteriorated condition of our sinful
world. A world which He created perfect. The apostle Paul compares this life to a race whose prize is received in
the end. 1 Corinthians 9:24 "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize?
Run in such a way that you may obtain it." David wrote in Psalms 34:19 "Many are the afflictions of the
righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all."
This life is a life filled with trials, troubles and tests. There is nothing to celebrate about our birth on this present
earth. Paul declares in Acts 14:22 “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.”
In 2 Corinthians 4:8-11 he tells us: "We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not
in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.....For we who live are always delivered
to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh."
We must, through many tribulations, enter the kingdom of God because Satan is testing our hearts and our
faithfulness to God, trying desperately to prove that we prefer his ways of life to God's ways of life. By willingly
following his ways, he gains more and more control over our lives having one purpose; To gain enough ground to
rightfully destroy us.
A sincere Christian does not value this mortal life. We have nothing to celebrate for being born into the "vail of
tears". We will celebrate our new birth in immortal bodies, change which will take place at Christ's second
coming. That is our hope and that will be our celebration! We look forward to the future, to the kingdom of God,
and not to our somber past! As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
"Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed
day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal
weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.
For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal."
This present, physical life, is nothing more than a proving ground. It's beginning is nothing to boast about or to
celebrate. Where we end, that is what really counts! Somebody put it so well in an article I read online; This life
can be compared with going to school. Nobody celebrates when they start going to school. They celebrate when
they graduate and get their diploma!
Likewise, we will graduate and celebrate at the coming of our Lord! As Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:1-4 "For we
know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with
hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is
from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan,
being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up
by life."
CHRISTMAS
What is Christmas? Christmas is a festival borrowed from the religion of Babylon while the word CHRISTMAS
has a whole different meaning. It comes from CHRIST'S-MASS. Christ's-Mass is a Catholic term, part Greek,
part Latin. CHRIST is Greek for anointed, and MASS is Latin for depart. The word Christmas has nothing to do
with the birth of Christ or the birth of any pagan God for that matter. It is actually an act of sacrifice.
The Mass is performed in the Catholic Church. The Catholics teach that it is the same sacrifice of Calvary offered
in an unbloody manner. The ceremony of Mass - or the sacrificing of Jesus - is performed in the Catholic Church
every week. Yes, the Catholic church sacrifices Christ over and over, ignoring the Scriptures which clearly say
that "Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many."
Hebrews 9:24-28 "For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but
into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; not that He should offer Himself often, as the high
priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another— He then would have had to suffer often since
the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice
of Himself. And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to
bear the sins of many."
In Doctrina de ss. Missae sacrificio, c. 2, quoted in Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1367, the Catholic church,
ignoring the Scripture, describes:
"The victim is one and the same: the same now offers through the ministry of priests, who then offered himself on
the cross; only the manner of offering is different. And since in this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the
Mass, the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and
offered in an unbloody manner".
That is the definition of the term Christmas or Christ's-Mass.
The Roman "MASS" is actually an inherited satanic practice from the worship of Mithras - the son god. The
celebration of Christmas is a festival borrowed from the religions of Babylon. Christmas as the observance of the
Savior’s birth did not come into existence immediately. Christmas as a pagan holiday traces back thousands of
years to Nimrod the son of Kush, from the clan of Ham. He was the founder of ancient pagan Babylon.
Genesis 10 tells us that the beginning of his reign was Babel, Erek, Akkad, and Kalneh in the land of Shinar.
Going to Ashshur he built Neneweh, Rehoboth Ir, and Kelah. Genesis 10:8-12 "Cush begot Nimrod; he began to
be a mighty one on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; therefore it is said, 'Like Nimrod the
mighty hunter before the LORD.' And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the
land of Shinar. From that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, and Resen between
Nineveh and Calah (that is the principal city). "
Genesis chapters 10 and 11 describe the origins of all the powerful influences we see on Earth today -
governmental, economic, and religious. Like Cain, Nimrod invented his own method of worship, rebelling
against God. He began a counterfeit religion in the Book of Genesis that was to compete with the true faith of the
Bible in every conceivable way, throughout the centuries. The Bible refers to it as the religion of Mystery
Babylon. It is the mother of false religion.
The name Nimrod can be interpreted as "rebel". The following quote is taken from Wikipedia under Nimrod: "It is
often assumed that Nimrod's reign included war and terror, and that he was a hunter not only of animals, but also
a person who used aggression against other humans. The Hebrew translated "before" in the phrase "Mighty
hunter before the LORD" is commonly analyzed as meaning literally "in the face of", in this interpretation, to
suggest a certain rebelliousness in the establishment of a human government."
The Jewish Encyclopedia states that Nimrod was slain by Esau, with whom jealousy existed because they were
both hunters. (Targ. pseudo-Jonathan to Gen. xxv. 27; "Sefer ha-Yashar," section "Toledot," p. 40b; Pirḳe R. El. l.c.;
comp. Gen. R. lxv. 12). Nimrod was associated with greenery, and was worshipped as the sun idol after he was
slain.
The Madonna and child theme, which is universal and evident in hundreds of religions down through the
centuries, also had its origin in Babylon. One theory says that Nimrod’s wife was Semiramis. She was the first
deified queen of Babylon. Many articles over the Internet claim that Nimrod married his mother, thus Semiramis
was not only his wife but also his mother. I am currently studying this claim and I will add to the article once I
will find a valid source.
Semiramis's son was Tammuz. Other surrounding cultures have differing names for Tammuz. He is Attis to the
Phoenicians, Artemis to the Ephesians, Adonis to the Greeks, etc. He was the supposedly reincarnated Nimrod.
They believed that he came back to life when the dead yule log was cast into the fire and the Christmas tree
appeared as the slain king-deity was reborn at the winter solstice.
Trees represented Nimrod for the ancient sun-worshippers. Trees have been decorated from ancient times, as
described by the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah 10:2-4 "Thus says the LORD: 'DO NOT LEARN THE WAY OF THE
GENTILES ; Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, For the Gentiles are dismayed at them. For the customs of
the peoples are futile; For one cuts a tree from the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. They
decorate it with silver and gold; They fasten it with nails and hammers so that it will not topple."
In ancient Babylon, gifts were placed on trees of the grove as offerings to Nimrod/Tamuz on the winter solstice.
A corollary to the Tammuz tree was the rite in which the women cried for the dead god.
Before moving forward I would like to share a personal testimony. When my dearest pet (Spirit) was crushed by
a car, my world turned upside down. I fasted for 10 days (I didn't touch any food) and pleaded with God to let me
have him back. I did not doubt He could not do it; it was a matter of Him seeing appropriate to do so.
In one of the days a thought was poured into my mind and just now I understand it's planned target! I was
suggested to plant an evergreen tree on top of the spot where I buried Spirit. That by doing so, the tree would
nurture from Spirit's body and Spirit would live through the tree, then I could go and spend time with Spirit as
much as I would desire.
I chased the thought away, little I knew about tree worship but I am a person who wants the real thing or
nothing, so I didnot fall for it. However, in this very moment I realize how I was personally tempted into tree
worshiping. Satan doesn't change, does he?
Shortly after Jeremiah's time, we find that idolatry penetrated the Jewish temple where we see Sun worship and
"women weeping for Tammuz", the sun deity and the first counterfeit savior. Ezekiel 8:14-18 condemns ancient
Israel for adopting worship of Tammuz. "So He brought me to the door of the north gate of the LORD’s house; and
to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz. Then He said to me, “Have you seen this, O son
of man? Turn again, you will see greater abominations than these.” So He brought me into the inner court of the
LORD’s house; and there, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about
twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east, and they were
worshiping the sun toward the east.
And He said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it a trivial thing to the house of Judah to commit the
abominations which they commit here? For they have filled the land with violence; then they have returned to
provoke Me to anger. Indeed they put the branch to their nose. Therefore I also will act in fury. My eye will not
spare nor will I have pity; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them."
The sun worship is closely related to the end of the Winter Solstice.
SOL-STICE means SUN-STOP. In the northern hemisphere, where all people lived at first after the flood, the sun
rises on the eastern horizon at its most northern point at the Summer Solstice. At the Winter Solstice, it is at its
lowest point south, and was believed to be dying. For roughly 4,000 years, people have celebrated the
"re-birth" of the SUN at the winter solstice. Satan is the designer of the original astrological religious pattern, and
deceived mankind to cause them to worship the sun.
Behind all Pagan deity worship stands Satan himself. He's been infiltrating his ideas of worship in all cultures.
The similarities with Biblical elements found among pagan religions is not simply coincidence. It is rather
evidence of his designs to sidetrack people into false worship. He accepts honor in whatever name we wish to call
him; Baal, Moloch, Marduk, Diana, Nimrod, Venus, Odin, Krishna, Aphrodite, Ishtar, Zeus, Amon-Ra, Mithras,
Ahura-Mazda, Dagon…male or female, to him it makes no difference.
In the Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop we read: "This son, thus worshiped in his mother’s arms, was looked
upon as invested with all the attributes, and called by almost all the names of the promised Messiah .... Under the
name of Mithras, he was worshiped as the ‘Mediator.’ As Mediator and head of the covenant of grace, he was
styled Baal-berith, Lord of the Covenant.”
There is no scriptural or secular evidence that early Christians in the first century commemorated the birth of
Jesus Christ. In keeping with early Jewish law and tradition, as we mentioned at the beginning of this study,
birthdays were not commemorated at all. According to The World Book Encyclopedia, (Vol. 3, page 416): "early
Christians considered the celebration of anyone's birth to be a pagan custom."
The only command Jesus gave concerning a commemoration of his life on earth, had to do only with his death:
Luke 22:19 "And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, 'This is My body which is
given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.'”
In A.D. 350, Pope Julius authorized December 25th to be celebrated as the birthday of Jesus Christ even though
from the biblical description, some historians believe that Christ's birth most likely occurred in September,
approximately six months after Passover.
Regardless, it is very unlikely that Christ was born in December since the Bible records shepherds tending their
sheep in the fields on that night. This could not have taken place during a cold Judean winter. So why do we
celebrate Christ’s birthday at Christmas, on December the 25th?
The holiday was previously named Saturnalia.
The author Lawrence Kelemen writes: "Roman pagans first introduced the holiday of Saturnalia, a week long
period of lawlessness celebrated between December 17-25. During this period, Roman courts were closed, and
Roman law dictated that no one could be punished for damaging property or injuring people during the week
long celebration. The festival began when Roman authorities chose 'an enemy of the Roman people' to represent
the 'Lord of Misrule.' Each Roman community selected a victim whom they forced to indulge in food and other
physical pleasures throughout the week. At the festival’s conclusion, December 25, Roman authorities believed
they were destroying the forces of darkness by brutally murdering this innocent man or woman. "
"The ancient Greek writer poet and historian Lucian (in his dialogue entitled Saturnalia) describes the
festival’s observance in his time. In addition to human sacrifice, he mentions these customs: widespread
intoxication; going from house to house while singing naked; rape and other sexual license; and consuming
human-shaped biscuits (still produced in today's society during the Christmas season)."
"In the 4th century CE, Catholicism imported the Saturnalia festival hoping to take the pagan masses in, with it.
Their leaders succeeded in converting to Christianity large numbers of pagans by promising them that they could
continue to celebrate the Saturnalia as Christians. The problem was that there was nothing Christian about
Saturnalia. To remedy this, the leaders named Saturnalia’s concluding day, December 25th, to be Jesus’ birthday.
The first mention of a Nativity feast appears in the Philocalian calendar which is a Roman document from 354 CE,
listing December 25th as the day of Jesus’ birth."
ASHERAH (tree worship) is known in Scripture as the "Queen of Heaven", which is called "Artemis" by the
Ephesians in the book of Acts 19. The word "Asherah" refers to a wooden object used in worship of a consort of
BAAL.
The image of Asherah was a tree - originally a Date palm - used by the Pagan Canaanites and Phoenicians. One
of these Pagan Phoenicians was Jezebel, who married Ahab, the king of Israel. When northern Israel was
dispersed into the nations by the Assyrians in 722 BCE, they carried the tree custom with them. The lost tribes of
dispersed Israel have preserved one of their most cherished Pagan customs among them, and what today is the
Christmas tree.
Jezebel is also referred to in Revelation 2, about misleading with her teachings. The Greeks gave the
"Phoenicians" their name, Phoenicia, which means "Date palm". Their trees were called ASHERIM, and Izebel
taught this practice to northern Israel through her marriage to Ahab.
The word ASHER is a Hebrew term meaning HAPPY. Asher was the father of the tribe Asher. The term has
been modified and became the word ASHERAH. Asherah was the name used by pagans for the female consort of
Baal (Celtic Bel). Baal/Asherah worship was seen in the Bible during the time of the prophet Elijah
(1 Kings 18) when the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah gathered at Mount Carmel, and Elijah
challenged them to decide whether the Lord is God or Baal.
Asherah is also the Queen of Heaven mentioned in Jeremiah 7 and 44.
Stumps of trees were also used as altars of Ashera, and on them humans and animals were ritually sacrificed! The
adversary misled mankind to perform various fertility rites, and he receives worship through these rites. We
know generally from Scripture that pagans performed their rituals in forests or groves. God tells us with
indignation how the Israelites brought Asherim and put them even near His Temple! Yet today, we see the same
behavior inherited as the Christmas Tree! What is God telling us about these practices? His Word is plain:
Deuteronomy 16:21-22 “You shall not plant for yourself any tree, as a wooden image, near the altar which you
build for yourself to the LORD your God. You shall not set up a sacred pillar, which the LORD your God hates."
In 2008 I was invited by a church member for lunch around Christmas time. Her home was neatly decorated with
Christmas lights, Christmas tree and all other Christmas ornaments. When I told her that Christmas has nothing
to do with the birth of our Savior, she told me she doesn't decorate her house to honor Christ. She was doing it
because she likes it and because it looks beautifully.
Does Satan or God tolerate this type of justification? Let's see what God has to say. He distinctly warned Israel
into not bringing a "detestable thing" into their houses. Please pay attention to His words:
Deuteronomy 7:26 "Nor shall you bring an abomination into your house, lest you be doomed to destruction like it.
You shall utterly detest it and utterly abhor it, for it is an accursed thing."
THE ROUND WREATH was for pagans a symbol for the sun and at the same time it symbolized the womb. They
were both symbols of fertility. They believed the sun was male, but his symbol was of a female. For them the
vertical tree represented the phallus as the male reproductive member. The tree was then decorated with male
symbols of fertility. The little balls stood for testicles and the tinsel represented the semen of the deity being
worshiped. Then, as whole, it was the image of the female connecting the heavens with the Earth.
During the late middle ages, the little balls were interpreted by some Christians to be witch balls (belief
borrowed from witchcraft) in order to attract and capture evil spirits. Bonfires and fires were lit to provide more
strength to the waning power of light, in order to help light triumph over the darkness. This practice emerged
over time in what today we see as Christmas lights around the houses.
The consort of Baal, ( or Artemis, Nimrod, Astarte, Athena, Diana, Ishtar, Astoreth, Venus...) which is the tree
worship named in the Hebrew Scripture Asherah, is still worshipped today by Wiccans, and other Earth Mother
cults. They believe that Vernal Equinox (which is the point at which the ecliptic intersects the celestial equator)
points to the impregnation of the Earth Mother, while the Winter Solstice points to the birth of the Sun (Baal,
Nimrod... ) this cycle pointing to the nine months human gestation cycle. Everything evolves around fertility
and sex. Even the custom of throwing rice at the newlyweds is a fertility driven act inherited from pagans, the
rice representing the semen.
Over the years, Christians went deeper and deeper into apostasy, as they adopted customs from the pagans around
them. Another example is the custom of decorating the homes at Christmas with trappings - green ivy and holly.
Many believers adopted this custom because everybody around them was observing Saturnalia.
By doing so, they tried to appear to conform to their culture in order to suffer less persecution. The use of the
green ivy and holly trace back to ancient Romans at the Winter Solstice. Along with other symbols, they
associated the green ivy and holly with their Sun god, Saturn.
The planet Saturn is red and is said to be one of the inspirations for Santa Claus' red outfit. Santa Claus is also
associated with Odin, a major god amongst the Germanic peoples prior to their Christianization. According to The
Encyclopedia Americana (1920) page 307, Odin was recorded at the native Germanic holiday of Yule .
But the primary inspiration for the Christian figure of Santa Claus is Saint Nicholas of Myra. According to the
Catholic Encyclopedia (St Nicholas of Myra) he was a 4th-century Greek Christian bishop of Myra, a province of
the Byzantine Anatolia, now in Turkey. He lived between 270-346. Nicholas was famous for his generous gifts to
the poor and is remembered and revered among Catholics and Orthodox Christians as Saint Nicholas. He was
brought to the United States through the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam prior to the British seizure in the 17th
century.
The Reverend Increase Mather of Boston observed in 1687 that “the early Christians who first observed the
Nativity on December 25 did not do so thinking that Christ was born in that month, but because the Heathens’
Saturnalia was at that time kept in Rome, and they were willing to have those Pagan Holidays changed into
Christian ones.”
Stephen Nissenbaum, history professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, writes, “In return for ensuring
massive observance of the anniversary of the Savior’s birth by assigning it to this resonant date, the Church for
its part tacitly agreed to allow the holiday to be celebrated more or less the way it had always been.” The earliest
Christmas holidays were celebrated by drinking, sexual indulgence, singing naked in the streets - a precursor of
modern caroling.
David I. Kertzer, The Popes Against the Jews: The Vatican’s Role in the Rise of Modern Anti-Semitism, p. 74. writes:
"Some of the most depraved customs of the Saturnalia carnival were intentionally revived by the Catholic Church
in 1466 when Pope Paul II, for the amusement of his Roman citizens, forced Jews to race naked through the streets
of the city. An eyewitness account reports, 'Before they were to run, the Jews were richly fed, so as to make the
race more difficult for them and at the same time more amusing for spectators. They ran… amid Rome’s taunting
shrieks and peals of laughter, while the Holy Father stood upon a richly ornamented balcony and laughed
heartily."
Kertzer, p. 33, 74-5 "As part of the Saturnalia carnival throughout the 18th and 19th centuries CE, rabbis of the
ghetto in Rome were forced to wear clownish outfits and march through the city streets to the jeers of the crowd,
pelted by a variety of missiles. When the Jewish community of Rome sent a petition in 1836 to Pope Gregory XVI
begging him to stop the annual Saturnalia abuse of the Jewish community, he responded: 'It is not opportune to
make any innovation.'”
"On December 25, 1881, Christian leaders whipped the Polish masses into Antisemitic frenzies that led to riots
across the country. In Warsaw 12 Jews were brutally murdered, huge numbers maimed, and many Jewish women
were raped. Two million rubles worth of property was destroyed."
After gathering and putting together all the material above, the Holy Spirit awakened me in the middle of the
night and in a matter of moments He portrayed these facts before my eyes, impressing what He is remembering
about this time of the year in which nowadays Christians claim to celebrate "the birth" of His Son! It was a
solemn moment.
Did you know the early America did not stand for Christmas? Because of their faith in Messiah, the first 13
American Colonies had laws against the satanic observance of Christmas. They knew this practice was one of
popery's strongest promotions and it's satanic (pagan) origin. Back then people were fined and/or imprisoned for
observing Christmas.
The first day of the successful battle of Colonies under George Washington against the Catholic British who were
encamped across the Delaware, was actually on Christmas day! The Anglicans had been celebrating all night!
They were all in stupor and the attack caught them off guard.
Nowadays, by re-naming Saturnalia “Christ’s Mass”, most consider Paganism purged, and they apply the
formerly Pagan-founded ritual to the observance of the birth of Messiah. But is the idolatry really cleansed?
What is God telling us? We read in Jeremiah 10:2-4: "Thus says the LORD: 'DO NOT LEARN THE WAY OF THE
GENTILES; Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, For the Gentiles are dismayed at them. For the customs of
the peoples are futile; For one cuts a tree from the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. They
decorate it with silver and gold; They fasten it with nails and hammers so that it will not topple."
The Word of God couldn't be plainer! IT STAYS WRITTEN: "Thus says the LORD: 'DO NOT LEARN THE WAY
OF THE GENTILES"!
The Scripture refers to this kind of devious and misleading behavior as “masquerading”, inheriting lies, strong
delusion, washing a pig, or a dog returning to his vomit. If we take the viewpoint of human tradition and don't
question what we have inherited, we will never see things through God's eyes. 2 Peter 2:22 "The dog is turned to
his own vomit again; and the pig that was washed to her wallowing in the mire" clearly warns us to avoid
returning to the former Paganism we were delivered from, which Peter likens to a “dog returning to its vomit”.
If we clean up a pig (a Pagan festival), it is still a pig/Pagan festival, in God’s eyes.
We can interpret history differently, but Scripture is what we must use to correct, rebuke, and train. Revelation
12:9 warns us about that "serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan who deceives the whole world"! By revising
things to appear Scriptural, Satan combined or mixed elements of Christianity with paganism to make them
appealing to everyone and to conceal what he is up to. Revisionism, modifying religious teachings to fit into a
new scheme, is Satan's best method to deceive mankind. His goal was always to make our conscience feel clean
while giving us a tempting reason to compromise, just like he did with the first woman.
He is whispering the same lies to us from the "Christmas tree" and many leaders of Christianity are promoting
them to the public because they are enjoyable treats. But according to the Bible excusing them is not what we are
supposed to do. We are to EXPOSE them for what they really are: Ephesians 5:11 "And have no fellowship with
the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them."
Deuteronomy 12:30-31 tells us clearly that we are not to learn the ways of the Pagans. God FORBIDS us to
worship Him after pagan patterns! "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 abomination to
the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods."
Idolatry is likened to harlotry in God’s eyes. When the Gentiles began engrafting into Israel they were taught to
refrain from idolatry. They were not excused from the rules. Acts 15:19-20 "Therefore I judge that we should not
trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, but we write to them to abstain from things
polluted by idols."
We are not permitted to MIX Paganism with our faith. The Bible refers to this type of behaviour as getting drunk
or fornicating/compromissing with uncleanness. Revelation 18:3 "For all the nations have drunk of the wine of
the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her."
Nowadays the devil uses the children as the most effective excuse to celebrate Christmas, Easter, Halloween...
Most parents fall pray to his reasoning: "Oh, but we only do it for the children! They wold feel frustrated
otherwise, all of their friends have so much fun, there's fun on TV, in the stores, at every corner!"
I think parents should make their children aware about the struggle between good and evil from a tender age, as
much as they can understand as the years pass by, and not treat them as dummies. I think they should be
explained idolatry and be taught to detest it, but to love the sinners.
God did not treat Samuel as "just a child" when He called him for the first time. The message He gave Samuel for
Eli most parents would not dare even talk about in their children's presence, but God obviously doesn't have our
mentality. On the contrary, God is warning: "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he
will not depart from it." (Proverbs 22:6).
Most importantly, people need to understand that compromising with Satan's devices and scheme makes them
obedient to him, and ultimately that will result into their destruction if we they do not repent and choose to serve
God wholeheartedly! Romans 6:16 "Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves servants for
obedience, you are servant of the one whom you OBEY, whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness?"
Since the wicked apostate Church committed fornication spiritually with the pagan religions of the world
adopting the date of December 25th as the birth day of the Messiah, many people are celebrating Christmas or
Easter being unaware of who is behind their design. They are not aware that Christmas is not mentioned not
even once in the Scripture, or that birthdays were not celebrated by Christianity (interestingly, even the Catholic
Encyclopedia states that: "Sinners alone, not saints, celebrate their birthdays." )
But God promises that a day will come when the whole Earth will learn the truth! And then it will be woe to
him that knowingly will still walk in Satan's paths, promoting idolatry to his children or neighbors, causing
them to also walk into disobedience. Habakkuk 2:14-15 "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the
glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbor, pressing him to
your bottle, even to make him drunk."
God warns us in Revelation 12:9 about Satan being "that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who LEADS
THE WHOLE WORLD ASTRAY" for a good reason! He is and is been trying to deceive the whole earth into
following his ways, his traditions or his religious practices!
Christmas is a pagan celebration, pagan to the core, with pagan connotations, significances and hidden meanings,
in every aspect and yet most Christians are embracing it! Its celebration is one more example of what the
historian Will Durant meant when he wrote in The Story of Civilization: Caesar and Christ, vol.3, p. 595:
"Christianity did not destroy paganism; it adopted it."
Traditions come and go but God's Word never changes. Malachi 3:6 "For I am the Lord, I do not change." God tells
us plainly in His Word that He does not accept idolatrous worship even if it is intended in His honor. To Him, He
says, it is offering what is ABOMINABLE, and therefore it honors NOT him, but PAGAN GODS!
Deuteronomy 12:30-31 "Take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them (the pagans in their
customs)…. 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"! Could God have said it plainer than that?
The Bible leaves room for NO excuse to practice idolatry, except for times of ignorance: Acts 17:30 "Truly, these
times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent".
God warns us even against prophets whose prophecies came to pass. If one of their teachings lead us in idolatry
we should strongly reject it. Deuteronomy 13:1-4 "If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams,
and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying,
‘Let us go after other gods’—which you have not known—‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the
words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love
the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the LORD your God and
fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him."
The Holy Spirit also brought to my mind the story of the man of God whom He sent to prophecy against
Jeroboam, prophet who lost his LIFE because he listened to the voice of another prophet when God clearly
instructed him otherwise.
In 1 Kings 13:8-10, we read that, after the man of God prayed for Jeroboam and God restored his hand, Jeroboam
invited the man of God to refresh in his home but the man of God refused him: "'If you were to give me half your
house, I would not go in with you; nor would I eat bread nor drink water in this place. For so it was commanded
me by the word of the LORD, saying, ‘You shall not eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the same way you
came.’ So he went another way and did not return by the way he came to Bethel."
Now please pay attention to the paragraph bellow. Here we have another prophet who caused the man of God to
disobey God and pay with his life. (1 Kings 13:11-24):
"Now an old prophet dwelt in Bethel, and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done
.... and went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak. Then he said to him, 'Are you the man of
God who came from Judah?'
And he said, 'I am.'
Then he said to him, 'Come home with me and eat bread.'
And he said, 'I cannot return with you nor go in with you; neither can I eat bread nor drink water with you in
this place. For I have been told by the word of the LORD, ‘You shall not eat bread nor drink water there, nor
return by going the way you came.’
He said to him, 'I too am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD, saying, ‘Bring
him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’ (He was lying to him.)
So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water.
Now it happened, as they sat at the table, that the word of the LORD came to the prophet who had brought him
back; and he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, 'Thus says the LORD: ‘Because you have
disobeyed the word of the LORD, and have not kept the commandment which the LORD your God commanded
you, but you came back, ate bread, and drank water in the place of which the LORD said to you, “Eat no bread and
drink no water,” your corpse shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.’
........When he was gone, a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his corpse was thrown on the road, and
the donkey stood by it. The lion also stood by the corpse. And there, men passed by and saw the corpse thrown on
the road, and the lion standing by the corpse."
The story of the man of God is a clear lesson that we cannot step to the left or to the right from what it is written
in the Bible. We have no excuse to follow different teachings regardless how subtle or innocent the suggestion to
disobey might be promoted, and regardless from whom the teaching might be coming from; whether from a pastor
or a prophet or even from angel from heaven! The ONLY source we can trust 100% is the Bible and the Bible
only! God is not a God of confusion and He will NEVER contradict Himself! 1 Corinthians 14:33 "For God is not
the author of confusion". Malachi 3:6 "For I am the Lord, I do not change."
We are to use God's Word for guidance in EVERY matter! We cannot show more faithfulness to a prophet if among
their teachings they lead us into disobedience or idolatry. When Paul shared the word with the Jews in Berea,
they searched the Scriptures daily to test his teachings: Acts 17:11 " they received the word with all readiness,
and searched the Scriptures daily to find out weather these things were so."
In conclusion, it is plainly obvious that Christmas observance and birthday celebrations are TRADITION OF
MEN. Their observance do not come from the Bible and the commandments of God clearly forbids man to worship
Him in pagan patterns! Deuteronomy 12:31 "You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way!"
Matthew 15:9 : "And in VAIN they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men."
Mark 7:9 "He said to them, 'All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.'"
Emphasizing how important full obedience is, God is warning His people: Deuteronomy 4:2 "You shall not add to
the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God
which I command you."
In His love, patience and endurance, God still allows every person to disobey Him or even to defy Him if that is
their desire. But He also warns about a day of reckoning coming. As each one sows, so each one will reap.
Galations 6:8 "The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap DESTRUCTION; the one
who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap ETERNAL LIFE."
If we truly love God, we cannot step outside of His Word. Genuine love leaves no room for compromises.
Compromises in God's reflection are detestable. Besides, compromising is lukewarm and Satan knows God will
not take a chance to compromise His kingdom with lukewarm. Revelation 3:15-18 “I know your works, that you
are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold
nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth."
A whole world is dragged into sin and suffers consequences because one creature sinned. God promises that will
not happen the second time. Revelation 21:27 "But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles."
Nahum 1:9 "Affliction will not raise the second time."
In closing I will let God speak for Himself: “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love
the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God AND mammon."
(Matthew 6:24 )
