"Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: Thus saith the LORD, learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.  For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not."
-- Jeremiah 10:1-4


I. CHRISTMAS IS NOT A BIBLICAL DOCTRINE

If our blessed Lord had wanted us to celebrate His birthday, He would have told us when to celebrate it and how to celebrate it. But Christ never told anyone to celebrate His birthday. Do you recall anywhere in the Word of God where Jesus reminds His disciples not for forget His birthday? We know from the Bible and from church history that the apostles and the early church never celebrated Christ's birthday. Why would such a great event be hidden from His New Testament churches?

The Bible is God's complete and final revelation to man, and it tells us everything we need to know for our spiritual lives, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." We don't have to and must not go outside the Bible for anything. God's Word tells us how we're to worship, how we're to give money for the support of the Lord's work, how to preach to the lost, how to observe the Lord's Supper, and everything else pertaining to the Christian in the Lord's local New Testament church. But not once in the Bible does God tell us to celebrate Christmas! We're told to remember the Lord's death but nowhere are we told to celebrate His birth. God's people are supposed to be Bible people. We're supposed to live by the teaching of God's holy Word. So the very fact that Christmas is never mentioned in the Bible is sufficient reason for us not to have anything to do with it.


II. CHRIST WAS NOT BORN ON DECEMBER 25TH

"Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night," Luke 2:8. The shepherds were in the fields taking care of their flocks on the night Jesus was born. As the shepherds were watching their sheep the message came to them of the birth of Jesus. It's a well-known fact that December falls in the middle of the rainy season in Palestine, and the sheep were kept in the fold at that time of the year. The shepherds always corralled their flocks from October to April. They brought their sheep from the mountainsides and the fields no later than October 15th to protect them from the cold rainy season that followed that date. So the birth of Christ could not have taken place at the end of December. Secondly, Luke 2:1-3 tells us that at the time of the birth of Jesus it was decreed that "all the world should be taxed, every one into his own city."

Luke 2:1-3, "And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city." This couldn't have taken place in the winter. Caesar Augustus, the ruler at Rome, would certainly not call for such a taxing in the depth of winter. Travel at this time of the year is extremely difficult; hence, it would be virtually impossible for everyone to comply with the decree if it had been given them. The Lord Himself testified to the rigors of traveling in winter for He told the people to pray that their flight at the end of this age would not be in winter, Matthew 24:20, "But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day."

No one knows the exact day when Jesus was born, but in all probability He was born sometime during the first part of October. We can be reasonably sure of this because His earthly ministry lasted 3½ years and He was crucified on the 14th day of the month of Nisan, which corresponds to our April, John 19:31, "The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day), besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away." Leviticus 23:5, "In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord's passover." If we go back 3½ years to the time when Jesus was 30 years old when He began His public ministry we come to the month of October. This was probably the month when our blessed Lord was born into the world.

However, let's remember that it's not the date of Jesus' birth that's important. The important thing is that He was born and that He died for our sins. We're not worshiping a helpless infant lying in a manger. We're worshiping a risen and exalted Christ who has all power in heaven and in earth, Matthew 28:18, "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth."


III. THE ORIGIN OF CHRISTMAS

Where do you suppose Christmas originated? Certainly not with God! Christmas started with the sun worshipers in the time of Nimrod, the man who supervised the building of the Tower of Babel. More than fifteen hundred years before Jesus was born the heathen in every country observed December 25th as the birthday of a god who was called the sun-god. Semiramis, the widow of Nimrod, was his mother. She claimed to be the queen of heaven. And she had a son who was supposed to have been born on December 25th. His name was Tammuz.

According to all the heathen religions of that time, Tammuz had a miraculous birth, and for centuries his birthday was celebrated with feasts, revelry and drunken orgies. The heathen celebrated Tammuz's birthday according to the very example he set for them. He was the world's greatest lover of women, strong drink, dirty jokes, and other sensual fun. It is said that he loved everybody and everybody loved him. And it was on December 25th that all the pagan religions celebrated the birthday of Tammuz, the sun-god. This is all clearly brought out in Alexander Hislop's great book, *" The Two Babylons" Any reputable encyclopedia will also verify these facts. It's plain to see, isn't it, that Christmas is a pagan holiday that came out of old pagan Babylon. As true Bible believers, let's have nothing to do with it.


IV. CHRISTMAS: A CATHOLIC HOLIDAY

Christmas is a Catholic holiday. Why should I steal Christmas from the Catholics? They got it from pagans, and I'm happy to let them keep it. Notice what the Encyclopedia Americana has to say about Christmas and Catholicism:

"Christmas — It was according to many authorities not celebrated in the first centuries of the Christian church as Christian usage in general was to celebrate the death of remarkable persons rather than their birth. A feast was established in memory of the birth of the Saviour in the Fourth Century."

"In the Fifth century the Western Church (Roman Catholic) ordered it to be celebrated forever on the day of the old Roman feast of the birth of **Sol. The holly, the mistletoe, the yule log and the wassail bowl are of pre-Christian times. The Christmas tree has been traced back to the Romans. It went from Germany to Great Britain." "Christmas (i.e. the Mass of Christ) was not among the earliest festivals of the Church."

After Constantine became the Emperor of Rome, he forced all the pagans of his empire to be baptized into the Christian Church. Thus baptized pagans far outnumbered the true Christians. Since the church worshiped the Lord Jesus as the Son of God when the 25th of December rolled around and the pagans wanted to worship Tammuz, their sun-god, Constantine knew that he would have to do something. So he had the church combine the worship of Tammuz with the birthday of Christ, and a special mass was declared to keep everyone happy. Thus pagan worship was brought unto the Christian Church and called "Christ-Mass." Every time we say "Merry Christmas," we're actually mixing the precious and holy name of Christ with paganism. This is not right. God says in Ezekiel 20:39, "Pollute ye My holy name no more."

Ezekiel 20:39, "As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord GOD; Go ye, serve ye every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me: but pollute ye my holy name no more with your gifts, and with your idols."


V. THE WORLD AND CHRISTMAS

Christmas is of the world and we're commanded, "Love not the world neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him", 1John 2:15. The very fact that the world which hates Christ and His blood atonement for sin makes more fuss about Christmas than any other holiday proves to me that Christmas is not of God. If December 25th were truly the birthday of the blessed Son of God, the world would have nothing to do with it!

You don't have to be a Christian to celebrate Christmas. Even in non-Christian countries like Japan, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Russia the people celebrate Christmas. People throughout the world, who for the most part have no awareness of the Bible or Jesus Christ, eat up the Christmas celebration. To take Christmas from the world would be harder than taking candy from a child.

Let's fact it, the world is married to the idol of Christmas. In fact, more people get drunk at Christmas than at any other time of the year. There are more big parties and more selfish spending than at any other season. Doesn't that prove that it's not of God? The world loves Christmas, but hates Christ! But the Bible says: "And He said to them, 'You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God,'" Luke 16:15.


VI. UNSCRIPTURAL TRADITIONS OF MEN

Christmas is filled with unscriptural traditions. The exchanging of gifts, the Christmas tree, the singing of carols, and Santa Claus are all of pagan origin. These all crept into the church after the fourth century. There are many unscriptural traditions that have cluttered up the story of the birth of our wonderful Savior. For instance, many people believe that the wise man of the east and the shepherds were together in Bethlehem at the time our Lord was born. The shepherds came from Bethlehem to see Jesus at His birth, whereas the wise men came to see Jesus when He was almost two years old. Matthew 2:16, "Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men."

Furthermore, the Bible says nothing about three wise men, nor does it say that they were kings. The fact is, the Bible does not give their number at all, but merely states that they were wise men. Perhaps the worst part of the Christmas celebration is that hundreds of millions of parents will teach their children the falsehood of Santa Claus. Children are taught that Santa Claus makes his home at the North Pole, and once each year he fills his sled with toys for the boys and girls who have been good throughout the year. If they are good he brings them toys on Christmas Eve, and if they are bad he passes them by. However, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning," James 1:17.

Santa Claus is put in the place of God as the giver of every good gift instead of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit. This is among the most obvious, most widespread, and blatant lies of modern idolatry. Is it any wonder that many times when children grow up and learn the truth they question whether Christ is also a myth? The Bible says in Colossians 3:9, "Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds." We are commanded in Ephesians 4:25 to "put away lying" and "speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another." Now I know that some of you are saying 'Don't you think we should give the children a good time? They don't understand all the paganism behind Christmas?' Let me ask you a question, is it necessary to drag the holy name of our blessed Lord down to the low level of fleshly gratification and drunkenness to show the kiddies a good time? A thousand times, No! Let's teach our children truth about Christmas. God's Word tells us how to bring our children up.  Ephesians 6:4, "And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." Why should we dishonor the name of Christ in such a manner under the pretense of showing the children a good time? There are 364 more days in the year during which we can give gifts to our children.


VII. MERRYMAKING AND EXCHANGING GIFTS

Without question, the most important part of Christmas for most people is buying and exchanging gifts, exchanging gifts has nothing to do with Christ's birthday. Perhaps some of you are asking, 'Didn't the wise men give gifts to Jesus?' They certainly did, but they didn't give them to one another and their gifts were not birthday gifts because the wise men did not come to visit Jesus until He was nearly two years old. Matthew 2:16, "Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men." The shepherds came to visit Jesus at his birth but the wise men came to see Him nearly two years later. Did you know that giving gifts to a king was a common custom in the Far East; that's the reason why the wise men brought gifts to Jesus — because He was born to be king of the Jews. But they were not birthday gifts. So there is no connection between Christmas and the birthday of Jesus in this respect.

One final word before leaving the matter of exchanging gifts. Let me point out that even this is a part of Satan's Antichrist program. The greatest Christmas celebration yet to come will be during the awful days of the great tribulation. During the Anti-christ's reign all hell will be let loose. The two witnesses whom God shall send to the people of the earth will be killed. Who will kill them? The Antichrist will put them to death. Listen to God's Word: "And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascended out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them and shall overcome them, and kill them.", Rev 11:7. It is under Antichrist's reign that the last and greatest Christmas celebration shall take place. As a result of the death of these prophets of God the world will be so delighted and thrilled that they will exchange gifts with one another. Here is what the Bible says: "And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and a half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in the graves. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them and make merry and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth," Rev 11:9-10. What further proof do we need that the Christmas celebration is not of God?

Truly the Lord's people should not celebrate Christmas. It is anti-God, anti-Christ, Satanic, and unscriptural! The call of God is, "Come out from among them, and be ye separate...and touch not the unclean thing," 2Corinthians 6:17. In revelation 18:4, "And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." God's call to His people is, "Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them," Ephesians 5:11.


VIII. SHOULD GOD'S PEOPLE CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS?

The pagan history of Christmas has been well known throughout history. In fact, at one time a law in England forbade the celebration of this pagan custom. In 1644 Parliament declared Christmas to be unlawful and consequently, it was abolished. The English puritans looked upon the celebration of Christmas as the work of Satan. At one time in early American history the observance of Christmas was illegal. A law was adopted in the general court of Massachusetts about 1650, which required that those who celebrated Christmas were to be punished. The statute read, "Whosoever shall be found observing any such day as Christmas, or in any other way...shall be subject to a fine of 5 shillings." The law's preamble explained its purpose was "for preventing disorders...(by) observing such festivals as were superstitiously kept in other countries to the great dishonor of God and the offense of others."

After the Mayflower pilgrims landed in 1620 the first December 25th was spent laboring "in order to avoid any frivolity on the day sometimes called Christmas." The Puritans knew the truth about Christmas and regarded it as a pagan holiday. It would be good if all believers followed their example.


IX. WHAT ABOUT THE CHRISTMAS TREE?

Jeremiah 10:2-4."Learn not the way of the heathen...For the customs of the people are vain; for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold. They fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not..." Then in Jeremiah 10:8, "But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities."

Here you have a perfect description of the Christmas tree, called by God "the way of the heathen." We are commanded not to learn that way or follow it! The Christmas tree is also viewed in this passage as idolatry. Idols must be care for, they get dusty or dirty and must be maintained. The fifth verse says that these trees cannot speak, cannot walk, and must be carried. Some people misread this to make it say that there is no harm in having a Christmas tree, but that is not what it says at all. Rather, the prophet Jeremiah tells us that it is vanity and foolishness and says, "Learn not the way of the heathen."

Some people will stay up all night to work on an old dead tree. They'll trim it all up and stand off a little way and admire their handiwork. Then many of them will sit up all night and look at that Christmas tree. Did you know that the green tree is mentioned 14 times in the Bible and every instance it is linked with idolatry? There isn't one place in the Bible where God commends the use of the ***"green tree" in connection with true worship.

Perhaps you're wondering why people have a Christmas tree during the Christmas celebration. You can search the Bible through and through, but you won't find a reason for it there. The first decorating of an evergreen tree began with the heathen Greeks and their worship of their god ****Adonis, who allegedly was brought back to life by the serpent *****Aesculapius after having been slain. And each Christmas multitudes of people will secure an evergreen tree and dress it up with bright glittering lights and tinsel, not realizing that they are following in the tradition of a pagan festival in honor of a false god! No doubt there are many sincere saved people who think they are honoring Christ by having their Christmas tree when, in reality, they are dishonoring Him by having anything to do with a heathen festival that God hates.

Some people say, "I have my Christmas tree but I don't worship it and consequently I see nothing wrong with it." Let me remind you, however, that you don't determine what is right and what is wrong. God determines what's right and wrong. If the Christmas tree is not an idol to you, why are you so reluctant to give it up? What are you doing down on your knees when you place your gifts under it?


X. OBSERVING DAYS IS FORBIDDEN

Finally, God's Word forbids the observance of any holy days in this dispensation of grace. Listen: "ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain," Galatians 4:10-11. This tells us that the observance of days is a sign of weakness, childishness, and lack of development. There are no special holy days for members of the body of Christ. The Lord wants us to worship Him the same 365 days a year.

We're not worshiping a dead Christ or a helpless infant lying in a manger, but we're worshiping a real and living Christ who lives all year round. Sometimes well-meaning people will make the statement, "Let's put Christ back into Christmas," This sounds very good on the surface...but beloved, how can you put Christ back into something when He was never there?

******Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the famous English preacher of the last century said, "We have no superstitious regard for times and seasons. Certainly we do not believe in the present ecclesiastical arrangement called Christmas...we find no scriptural word whatever for observing any day as the birthday of the Saviour; and consequently, its observance is a superstition because (it's) not of divine authority...probably the fact is that the "holy days" (were) arranged to fit in with the heathen festivals. How absurd to think we could do it in the spirit of the world, with a Jack Frost Clown, a deceptive worldly Santa Claus, and a mixed program of sacred truth with fun, deception, and fiction."

While the world celebrates Christmas with its gift swapping and parties, what should be our attitude? God's Word makes it plain that we should have nothing to do with this pagan holiday. Let's not associate the birth of the holy Son of God with the pagan traditions of men. Remember what 2Corintians 6:17 and Revelation 18:4 has told us: 2 Corintians 6:17; "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you," Revelation 18:4, "And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, 'Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.'"


Let us heed God's command, "Be ye separate, O My people,"



Notes

Christmas or [Christ's Mass], in the Christian calendar, feast of the nativity of Jesus Christ, celebrated in Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches on Dec. 25. In liturgical importance it ranks after Easter, Pentecost, and ^Epiphany (Jan. 6). The observance probably does not date earlier than A.D. 200 and did not become widespread until the 4th cent. The date was undoubtedly chosen for its nearness to Epiphany, which, in the East, originally included a commemoration of the nativity. The date of Christmas coincides closely with the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, a time of rejoicing among many ancient cultures. Christmas, as the great popular festival of Western Europe, dates from the Middle Ages. In England after the Reformation the observance became a point of contention between Anglicans and other Protestants, and the celebration of Christmas was suppressed in Scotland and in much of New England until the 19th cent. The Yule Log [Yule, from O.E.,=Christmas], the boar's head, the goose (in America the turkey), decoration with holly, hawthorn, wreaths, mistletoe, and the singing of carols by waifs (Christmas serenaders) are all typically English (see carol). Gifts at Christmas are also English; elsewhere they are given at other times, as at Epiphany in Spain. In the mid 19th cent. Christmas began to acquire its associations with an increasingly secularized holiday of gift-giving and good cheer, a view that was popularized in works such as Clement Clarke Moore's poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" (1823) and Charles Dickens's story A Christmas Carol (1843). Christmas cards first appeared c.1846. The current concept of a jolly Santa Claus was first made popular in New York in the 19th cent. (see Nicholas, Saint). The Christmas tree was a tradition from the Middle Ages in Germany. The crib (crèche) with the scene at Bethlehem was popularized by the Franciscans. A familiar religious observance is the midnight service in Roman Catholic and some Protestant churches. See Advent and Twelfth Night. For an account of medieval and modern Yuletide customs, see Miles Hadfield and John Hadfield, The Twelve Days of Christmas (1961). The Columbia Encyclopedia, Fifth Edition.

^Epiphany a prime Christian feast, celebrated Jan. 6, called also Twelfth Day or Little Christmas. Its eve is Twelfth Night. It commemorates three events—the baptism of Jesus (Mark 1), the visit of the Wise Men to Bethlehem (Mat. 2), and the miracle at Cana (John 2). In his baptism Jesus' sonship to God was manifested to the world; in the visit of the Wise Men he was manifested as king to the Gentiles; and at the marriage feast at Cana his power to perform miracles (a divine prerogative) was shown. In popular celebration the feast is far more ancient than Christmas. Technically it is more important than Christmas, ranking after Easter and Pentecost. It is a day of gifts in many countries. In the Eastern Church the waters are blessed on this day. The word epiphany means a manifestation, usually of divine power. Thus the actual appearance of God (as in the burning bush) or a moment of divine revelation may be called an epiphany.The Columbia Encyclopedia, Fifth Edition

*The Two Babylons, Alexander Hislop's book is online.

**Sol was a sun god in Roman religion. An ancient god of Mesopotamian origin, he was introduced (c.220) into Roman religion as Sol Invictus by emperor Heliogabalus. His worship remained an important cult of Rome until the rise of Christianity.The Columbia Encyclopedia, Fifth Edition.
Should God's People Celebrate Christmas?
Steve Cahill
Landmark Missionary Baptist Church
Makaha, Hawaii
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*** The Green Tree

Deuteronomy 12:2; 1 Kings 14:23; 2 Kings 16:4; 2 Kings 17:10; 2 Chronicles 28:4; Isaiah 57:5; Jeremiah 2:20; Jeremiah 3:6; Jeremiah 3:13; Ezekiel 6:13; Ezekiel 17:24; Ezekiel 20:47; Luke 23:31
Researched by Quick Verse (KJV)

****Adonis is Greek mythology, beautiful youth beloved by Aphrodite and Persephone. He was born of the incestuous union of Myrrha (or Smyrna) and Cinyras, king of Cyprus. Aphrodite left Adonis in the care of Persephone, who raised him and made him her lover. Aphrodite later demanded the youth for herself, but Persephone was unwilling to relinquish him. When Adonis was gored to death by a boar, both Persephone and Aphrodite claimed him. Zeus settled the dispute by arranging for Adonis to spend half the year (the summer months) above the ground with Aphrodite and the other half in the underworld with Persephone. Adonis' death and resurrection, symbolic of the yearly cycle of vegetation, were widely celebrated in ancient Greece in the midsummer festival Adonia. The worship of Adonis corresponds to the cults of the Phrygian Attis and the Babylonian Tammuz. Bibliography: See Sir J. G. Frazer, Adonis, Attis, Osiris (1907, new ed. 1961).The Columbia Encyclopedia, Fifth Edition.

*****Aesculapius the legendary Greek physician; son of Apollo and Coronis. His first teacher was the wise centaur Chiron. When he became so skillful in healing that he could revive the dead, Zeus killed him. Apollo persuaded Zeus to make Asclepius the god of medicine. The worship of Asclepius is believed to have originated in Thessaly. Temples were built to him at Epidaurus, Cos, Pergamum, and later Rome, where his worship spread after a plague in 293 B.C. Treatments, including massage and baths, were given to the sick. The serpent and the cock were sacred to Asclepius. People who claimed descent from him and those who followed his teachings were known as Asclepiads.Bibliography: See E. J. Edelstein, Asclepius (1945, repr. 1988); S. B. Aleshire, The Athenian Asklepieion (1989). The Columbia Encyclopedia, Fifth Edition.

****** Spurgeon, Charles Haddon 1834–92, English Baptist preacher. He joined the Baptist communion in 1850. In 1852, at age 18, he took charge of a small congregation at Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire, and, at 20, went to London as pastor of the New Park St. Chapel. His immediate popularity made necessary larger buildings for his audiences, until the huge Metropolitan Tabernacle, erected for his use, was opened in 1861. Around this developed a pastors' college, an orphanage, and missions. Spurgeon's sermons, published weekly from 1854, were collected in 50 volumes. A strict Calvinist, he opposed the doctrine of baptismal regeneration, which caused his withdrawal in 1864 from the Evangelical Alliance. He separated (1887) from the Baptist Union because he believed that modern biblical criticism was threatening orthodoxy. Among his numerous publications are John Ploughman's Talks (1869) and The Treasury of David (7 vol., 1870–85). His autobiography (4 vol., 1897–1900), compiled by his wife from his diary and letters, was edited and condensed (1946) by D. O. Fuller. Bibliography: See biography by E. W. Bacon (1968). The Columbia Encyclopedia, Fifth Edition