CHRISTMAS By Sidney Davis megsinet.net/~sidney/xmas.html That Christmas was originally a pagan festival is beyond all doubt. The time of the year and the traditional ceremonies connected with its celebration prove its origin. Far and wide, in the realms of Paganism was this festival observed. In the pagan religions of the Persians, Arabians and the Oriental East was celebrated the birthday of the Lord Moon on the 24th of December[1] His name was known as MENI. That he was revered as a masculine deity is where we get the idea the man of the moon from. This celebration was connected to Mithraism which was the official pagan religion of the Roman Empire under Constantine. The two Mithraic sacred days were Sunday called the venerable day of the sun as Constantine called it in his edict of 321, and also December 25, dies natalis solis or the birthday of the sun. [2] Thus the two celebrated deities of Mithra (December 25) and Menai (December 24) were celebrated on the very days that Christians called Xmas eve and Xmas day. Mithras was worshipped as guardian of arms, and patron of soldiers and armies. It may be of interest for you to know that the handshake was developed by those who worshipped him as a token of friendship and as a gesture to show that you were unarmed. When Mithras later became the Roman god of contracts, the handshake gesture was imported throughout the Mediterranean and Europe by Roman soldiers. [3] In fact, if truth be known, the holiday of Christmas has always been more Pagan than Christian, with its associations of Nordic divination, Celtic fertility rites, and Roman Mithraism. That is why both Martin Luther and John Calvin abhorred it, why the Puritans of New England refused to acknowledge it, much less celebrate it (to them, no day of the year could be more holy than the Sabbath), and why it was een made ILLEGAL in Boston! The holiday was already too closely associated with the birth of older Pagan gods and heroes. And many of them (like Oedipus, Theseus, Hercules, Perseus, Jason, Dionysus, Apollo, Mithra, Horus and even Arthur) possessed a narrative of birth, death, and resurrection that was uncomfortably close to that of Jesus. And to make matters worse, many of them pre-dated the Christian Savior. What would you do if you knew that Yahuvah directly and specifically forbad the celebration of what we call today Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Scripture? Isayah 65:2-11-- 2 I have spread out My hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way which is not right, after their own thoughts; devices; 3 A people who provoke me to anger continually to My face; who sacrifice in gardens, and burn incense on altars of brick; 4 Who assemble and spend the night keeping memorials for the dead, who eat swines flesh, and the broth of abominable things; unclean foods, is in their vessels, 5 Who say; Stand by yourself! Do not come near me, for I am holier than you! These are a smoke in My nostrils, a fire that burns all the day. 6 Behold, it is written before Me; I will not keep silence, but will recompense, even recompense into their bosom. 7 Your iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers together, says Yahuvah: who have burned incense upon the mountains,and blasphemed me upon the hills. Therefore I will measure their former work into their bosom. 8 This is what Yahuvah says: As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one says; Do not destroy it, for a blessing is in it; so will I do for My servants sake, that I may not destroy them all. 9 And I will bring forth a seed out of Yaaqob, and out of Yahudah an inheritor of My mountains; and My elect will inherit it, and My servants will live there. 10 Sharon will be a fold of flocks, and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down, for My people who have sought Me. 11 But YOU ARE THOSE WHO FORSAKE YAHUVAH, WHO FORGET MY HOLY MOUNTAIN, WHO PREPARE A TABLE FOR THAT TROOP AND WHO FURNISH A DRINK OFFERING FOR THAT NUMBER. The word Troop is translated from the Hebrew word Gad, Ungers Bible Dictionary, on page 415, shows us: Gad, a Canaanite deity improperly rendered troop (Isa. 65:11), was the god of good fortune, supposed to be the deified planet Jupiter. This star is called by the Arabs the greater luck as the star of good fortune. The word Gad is word #1408 a variable of word #1409 which comes from word #1464 in Strongs Hebrew Dictionary and means: 01408 Gad {gad} a variation of 01409; TWOT - 313e; n pr m AV - non translated variant 1; 1 Gad = god of fortune 1) a Babylonian deity 01409 gad {gawd} from 01464 (in the sense of distributing); TWOT - 313d; n m AV - troop 2; 2 1) fortune, good fortune 01464 guwd {goode} a primitive root [akin to 01413]; TWOT - 325; v AV - overcome 2, invade with troops 1; 3 1) to invade, attack 1a) (Qal) to attack One will find from cursory research that this deity was one easily associated with the pagan military and found its pagan expression in the Roman pantheon in the worship of Mithras - the god of Constantine the Great. The word Number in the text comes from the Hebrew word Meni. Ungers Bible Dictionary, page 416, tells us: Meni (meni; Heb. meni, destiny or fate ). Name of the god of destiny or fortune worshiped by the ancient Hebrews in time of apostasy (Isa. 65:11): ``But you who forsook the Lord, who forget my holy mountain, who set a table for Fortune and fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny R. S. V. Fortune is ``Gad (q. v.) and Destiny is ``Meni. M. F. U. Strongs Hebrew Dictionary gives us this definition of the word Meni, 04507 Maniy {men-ee} from 04487;; n pr m AV - number 1; 1 Meni = fate or fortune 1) god of fate who the Jews worshipped in Babylonia The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop, 1959, notes on page 94, In the authorised version Gad is rendered that troop, and Meni, that number; but the most learned admit that this is incorrect, and that the words are proper names. What were these condemned people doing when Isayahu prophesied against them? They were celebrating the days of what we call Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! The Two Babylons, pages 94-96: On the 24th of the 10th month that is December, according to our reckoning, `the Arabians celebrated the BIRTHDAY OF THE LORD--that is the Moon...that Lord Moon, according to them was born on the 24th of December...The name of the Lord Moon in the East seems to have been Meni...Gad refers to the sun god...Meni, or Manai, signifies The Numberer,...The name of the Man of the Moon, or the god who presided over the luminaries among the Saxons, was Mane... this `Lord Moon in the East...Babylonians, Chaldeans and among the Canaanites... was Meni--the numberer. According to Hislop, Gad refers to the Sun--God, and Meni the Moon--God. The people were offering to these Gods in Isa 65:11. Isa 65 is regarded by many Bible students as a prophecy pertaining especially to the LAST DAYS. Mene was the god of Babylon whose worshipped was being celebrated by King Belshazzar at his infamous drunken feast who dared to mixed the holy with the profane by using the holy vessels of the Temple with His pagan worship as recorded in the Book of Daniel.[see note 6] Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them. Daniel 5:3 Upon Belshazar and his festival gathering God pronounced, Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharisin which means literally, The numberer is numbered. Belshazzar died on the very night of the feast of Mene, what the Gentile Christians call Christmas Eve. The attachment of the Mass to Christ is the same as the attachment of the profane with the Holy. This principle is forbidden in the word of God and the Testimony of His Spirit. Eze 22:26 - Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. Eze 44:23 - And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. Our only safety is in being joined to the Lord Jesus Christ. We can afford to lose the friendship of worldly men. Those who join themselves to worldly men, that they may carry out their unsanctified purposes, make a fearful mistake; for they forfeit the favor and blessing of God. I am to urge upon the attention of our people that the Lord Himself has placed a wall of separation between the world and that which He has established on the earth. Gods people are to serve Him, for Christ has called them out of the world, and sanctified and refined them, that they may do His service. . . . There is no such thing as maintaining concord between the profane and the holy. There can be no concord between Christ and Belial. But the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself (Ps. 4:3). And this consecration to the Lord, this separation from the world, is plainly declared and positively enjoined in both the Old and the New Testaments. --Letter 329, Dec. 11, 1905, to J. A. Burden, manager of the Loma Linda Sanitarium. (also This Day with God, page 354) Gods people are called out from the world in order to teach the world to not blaspheme God in the mixing of the profane and holy in their sanctity of Sunday. But we continue to sanction the celebration of a pagan holy day by saying Lets keep Christ in Christmas![4] What we say in defending the celebration by Christians of Christmas can be said of the Christian celebration of Sunday as the Sabbath. Yet those who seek to bring these things to the attention of the church are looked upon like Elijah [Eliyahu] as he that troubleth Israel. Those who seek to guard the commandments statutes and commandments as jealously as the ark was guarded by ancient Israel[5] are instead seen as more concerned with winning theological arguments than with simply spreading the good news..[see note 4] But the Spirit saith: The truth and the glory of God are inseparable; it is impossible for us, with the Bible within our reach, to honor God by erroneous opinions. The Great Controversy, page 597 What does the Holy Ghost say to those who pay homage to this new modeled pagan festival of Isa 65:11 we call Christmas - the so-called memorial of the birth of Christ and the Roman celebration of His Mass? He says in Isa 65:12 12 Therefore will I NUMBER YOU TO THE SWORD, and ye shall all BOW DOWN TO THE SLAUGHTER: because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not. 13 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry: behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed: 14 Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit. 15 And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen: for the Lord GOD SHALL SLAY THEE, and call his servants by another name: 16 That he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the GOD OF TRUTH; and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from mine eyes. Has anyone read the ninth chapter of Ezekiel lately? Brethren the Angel with the writers inkhorn will not place His seal upon anyone worshipping the Beast or his Image. Christmas is not just Christmas, it is BEASTMAS! The charge and the punishment made against those who sanctify the birthday of the sun Christmas is the same charge and punishment against those who sanctify the venerable day of the sun Sunday. Now brethren, this is what I just cannot understand, we will rationalize and cavil our way into giving homage to false worship in the name of Yahushua HaMashiach (Jesus Christ) justifying it by various means and stop short of giving it the same honor that the rest of Gentile Christianity gives it and on the other hand we stop short and halt and stumble over the sanctity and relevancy of the Holy Days in Scripture. HOW LONG HALT YE BETWEEN TWO OPINIONS? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. Season Greetings, Sidney Davis
Posted on: Thu, 24 Oct 2013 15:27:59 +0000
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