|
THE X-MAS FILES By David Bar Yakov © 2006 David Ben Yakov / The Delusion Resistance
My Purpose: I've complied this paper after years of searching out the truth and after years of having that nagging feeling that the celebration of Christmas just isn't right in it's present form. To start off, let me say that I am not a Jehovah's Witness, nor was I ever one nor will I ever be. I became a Born Again Christian back in 1979 and I guess that if I were to ascribe to a denomination, it would be Pentecostal in nature. If I were a betting man I would place good money on the fact that I will probably anger some people with what I have written, but seeing that I am answerable only to God, that possibility of anger really doesn't concern me. If what is written below does anger you perhaps you should examine your relationship with Jesus and our wonderful Father. Jesus was never out to win a popularity contest and neither am I. And finally, for those who get mad because I use the phrase "x-mas" in the title please consider all of those little fish stickers on all of those Christian's cars that read IXOYE. The "X" in that sentence signifies the Greek for Christos, translated into English meaning Christ.
Theoretical Christmas: Lets start our by asking ourselves the question, "what is Christmas?" Well, supposedly it is a time when we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. It is a festive time, when that wonderful birth is remembered and honored. In the days of old, it was a time to refrain form the worries of life, and from labor, in order to pay homage to that little baby that came into the world some two thousand years ago. Celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior is a wonderful idea and one of honor, that is if it were done in the spirit of doing things in a scriptural manner. After all, we are celebrating the Lord of Scripture, aren't we? Questions arise like, "when was Jesus actually born?" We know it could not have been during the Winter because Shepherds don't tend their flocks in the fields during that time. This leave us with either Spring or Autumn. We give presents at Christmas and claim that we do so to celebrate God's gift to us. But what about the practicality of what we give. Jesus received myrrh, frankincense and gold. If you look into the meaning of those gifts you see that frankincense was given because it is burned by priests in the worship of God. The wise men knew that Jesus was God come in the flesh. Gold was given because that is what kings gave to other kings when they brought tribute. They knew Jesus was the King of Kings. Myrrh was brought because that is a spice that is used to prepare the dead for burial. They knew that Jesus was going to be a sacrifice for the people and that He would die. All of these were practical gifts. Their gifts were their proclamation of worship to Jesus. It really puts to shame the impractical and sometimes unholy gifts that Christians give to each other at Christmastime. Today things are given not for what the person needs, but what they want. These days the times are usually few where what a person needs is what a person gets.
Method of Corruption: The world and it's god, the prince of darkness have gone out of their way and spent many years and hatched many schemes to water down Christianity. They've learned a long time ago that they can't just come out and ban Christian celebrations and Holy Days because that always leads to a rebirth in religion. When you take something away from people they always want it back worse then they wanted it before. Just look at the Prohibition Act back in the early part of the twentieth century. When alcoholic beverages were outlawed everyone wanted them. Even people who normally didn't drink started to do because going to speakeasies was the popular thing to do. The outlawing of Marijuana is another example. When I was a teenager we smoked pot to be part of the crowd, to be cool and to thumb out noses at those who dared to tell us that we could not do something. Do you know that there is a practice that the makers and sellers of those substances did and sometimes still do? For alcohol the practice that I will refer to is called watering down. With marijuana and other illicit drugs it is called cutting. With alcohol, they take out some of the liquor and replace it with water. At first it is a little water so that the people can't recognize the difference. Then as the people get used to the taste they water it down a little more and so on and so forth. With the marijuana, they increase the seed content or add spices like parsley that look the same and such. Hence we have the phrase bum weed. The end result being that the substance looks the same and sort of tastes the same but is lacking in quality and purity. Those who have striven to destroy Christianity throughout the ages have done the same thing. In the case of Christmas, they didn't know exactly when Christ was born, so they decided to time it at the same time when the pagans were celebrating the Winter Solstice. Their thought bring the Christian religion to the pagans and sort of water down the pagan religion but not totally, and at the same time to intermingle pagan tradition with the birth of Christ. This was the first ecumenical move, proving that ecumenism is not new, but a millennia old perversion. The Catholic Church is guilty of this practice at almost every place that they have introduced themselves to pagans. Not only did they allow all of the icons and practices of pagans to infiltrate the Christian faith, but have also let all cultures corrupt the true faith in Jesus Christ. In Mexico for instance, the church is a participant in the Day of The Dead celebration which is in direct violation of everything scriptural. They have embraced Mariology, which is the worship of Mary, the mother of Jesus. They elevate her to such a high level that they now even claim that she is a co-redeemer with Jesus Himself. Mariology is only another name for goddess worship that most pagan societies have practiced from time immemorial. The Reformation came along and many things that were offensive to real believers were abolished, but it was not a complete reformation. The roots of deception were entangled with the reformed faith and the celebration of Christmas in it's perverted form came along for the ride. Perhaps the leaders of the Reformation didn't want to change things so much that they would lose believers back to Catholicism, or perhaps they just didn't make the correlation between paganism and Christmas, so the practices remain, even to this day. You know that it is really sad how watered down the holiday has become. There are many children, especially those who live with non-believing parents, who don't know the true meaning of Christmas. To them it is a time to visit with Santa and get toys. There are even many adults who have forgotten or have never learned the true meaning of the event. These people put the day of event on the same pedestal with Halloween and some even find Halloween to be more enjoyable. What a perversion of the truth we have become in the Last Days. Many find the holiday as a time of financial dread. Those of us who work for a living and have to make every dollar count find the holiday hard. When reminded that Christmas is approaching, many adults get a look of horror, wondering where they're going to get the money for all the gifts that they feel they need to buy. Most go into debt for the celebration and it's gifts. Does anyone with a right mind think that the Father or Jesus really appreciate what this one day has become. It must really grieve them to see so many miserable in what is supposed to be a birthday celebration of God's Son.
THE INVESTIGATION: So now the time has come to investigate the pagan practices and where they have originated from. I think that after you read about the pagan origins of many Christmas practices you will wonder how you've allowed yourself to be sucked into this mire of deception. Let's move on and look at a few things. Basically, I have given a lot of thought and prayed a lot about this subject, and have discovered some ways that the enemy has corrupted what was once meant by many to be a wonderful and Holy celebration.
Origins: Pre-Christian Celebrating: The truth is that all of the customs of Christmas pre-date the birth of Jesus Christ, and a study of this would reveal that Christmas in our day is a collection of traditions and practices taken from many cultures and nations. The date of December 25th comes from Rome and was a celebration of the Italic god, Saturn, and the rebirth of the sun god. It was noted by the pre-Christian Romans and other pagans, that daylight began to increase after December 22nd, when they assumed that the sun god died. These ancients believed that the sun god rose from the dead three days later as the new-born and venerable sun. Thus, they figured that to be the reason for increasing daylight. This was a cause for much wild excitement and celebration. Gift giving and merriment filled the temples of ancient Rome, as sacred priests of Saturn, called dendrophori, carried wreaths of evergreen boughs in procession. Many similar celebrations were held on or near the Winter solstice by those in other lands, such as the Nords in the Scandinavian nations, the pagan Germanic tribes and the Druids in England and Ireland. As you will see below, These tribal customs along with the Roman customs are responsible for most of the pagan celebratory themes of modern Christmas. We'll look at those themes below.
WORLDLY ICONS: Some of you are probably wondering what I am referring to when I say "worldly icons" have entered a Holy Day. In essence, it is anything that is used to celebrate the holiday that really doesn't have anything to do with celebrating the birth of a baby in a manger in Bethlehem two thousand years ago. These are listed below:
Mistletoe and Holly: Have you ever stopped to wonder what mistletoe has to do with Christmas? If you have wondered that, you are not alone. This poisonous parasitic plant originally got it's fame in the worship of a goddess who was the goddess of love. In that worship the couple who kissed under the plant were supposedly granted great erotic escapades. Both holly and mistletoe were hung in doorways of temples and homes to invoke powers of fertility in those who stood beneath and kissed, causing the spirits of the god and goddess to enter them. The white berries of mistletoe were believed by pagans to represent droplets of the semen of the sun god. It seems pretty stupid to use this plant during the birthday celebration of the Son of God, who considers such eroticism a great sin. The holly wood was used by witches to make wands. Witches and other pagans regarded the red holly as a symbol of the menstrual blood of the queen of heaven, also known as Diana. Isn't it interesting that the Catholics also use the title of "Queen of Heaven," to refer to Mary. It's more than mere coincidence.
The Christmas Tree: Long before there was a Christmas, Egyptians brought green palm branches into their homes on the shortest day of the year in December as a symbol of life's triumph over death. Romans adorned their homes with evergreens during Saturnalia, a winter festival in honor of Saturnus, their god of agriculture. Druid priests decorated oak trees with golden apples for their winter solstice festivities. In the middle ages, the Paradise tree, an evergreen hung with red apples, was the symbol of the feast of Adam and Eve held on December 24th. In Germany, the evergreen tree was used in worship and celebration of the yule god, also in observance of the resurrected sun god. The evergreen tree was a symbol of the essence of life and was regarded as a phallic symbol in fertility worship. All of the events mentioned above have nothing to do with Christmas, and certainly none of them does anything to glorify Christ Jesus! Some well meaning Christians have argued that a Christmas tree is a symbol of life. I ask you, how can a dying tree be a symbol of life? Actually, what individual Christians do at the holidays I cannot judge because what they do is between them and God. I can only present the folly and hope that God will use the presentation to open eyes. A person who is in tune with the Holy Spirit will find out sooner or later that the practice is not the best thing in the world to do. I can however judge when a Christmas tree is placed on the altar of a Church. To me, there is no difference between that and when Israelites sacrificed to foreign gods in the Holy Temple. Remember too what price they paid for doing that. Believe it or not, the Bible mentions the practice of setting up trees and adorning them with decorations. The scripture reads thusly:
Santa Claus: There is a lot that I have to say about this Anti-Christian character. Please click here to go to that page. On that page you will find a table where Santa Claus mimic's and tries to replace the life and ministry of Jesus.
The Yule Log: While most people have heard of the Yule Log, few people realize that its tradition can be traced back to the days of the pagan Norsemen, or Vikings. To celebrate their belief in the powers of the gods, the Norsemen held festivals. The father of the Gods was Odin or Thor, commonly called the Yule Father (Yule referred to the sun). The original Yule Log Ceremony was a festival celebrating the sun during the winter solstice, which occurs close to the time we celebrate Christmas today. Originally, the Yule Log was burned in
honor of the gods and to bring good luck in the coming year. The log was
usually from one of the largest trees that could be found. It was so massive
that to haul it a team of horses or oxen were needed. After the Norman
invasion of England in 1066, the Yule Log tradition was passed on to the
British and evolved to the tradition that it is today. Commercialization of the holiday: As mentioned much earlier, Christmas has evolved into a commercial holiday. It seems that every year toy ads are out earlier than the year before. The day after Christmas is always referred to the start of the Christmas shopping season. When you go to the malls during this time you see basically two things; kids with a ravenous look in their eyes and parents who look like they are being unwillingly led on a date with debt. As I mentioned at the start of this article, there was a time when kids didn't expect much and didn't get too much either. In modern times, kids expect the world and the parents capitulate. In my workplace I get to see the toll that the commercial holiday brings to parents these days. I conduct a little experiment every year and in that experiment I try to open the eyes of people without coming right out to tell them that they are being foolish and not celebrating Christmas correctly. Right around Thanksgiving, I start to count off the days until Christmas. The women at work will sigh every day, like they are in some sort of bondage or slavery. They tell me that they haven't gotten the shopping done yet, or will tell me that they hate to shop. Some will tell me that they don't have the money to buy everything that they need to buy for their kids or spouses. The real foolish ones tell me that they will charge most of the items and pay them off during the following year. Friends, do you think that Jesus ever intended for his birthday to be a day of financial bondage. Do you think that he expects you to go into hock to give presents to your loved ones. Do you really think that He would want you to be depressed over the whole idea? Don't you think that Jesus would like gifts for His birthday? Inviting widows and orphans to dinner would be nice. Feeding the poor would be a wonderful gift to Jesus. Leading people to salvation in Jesus Name would be an honorable gift for our King. Forgiving someone who has wronged you would please him so much. Repenting from bad habits and practices would make him leap for joy. These are gifts that Jesus would accept, and when you help someone in need, you are giving Him wonderful gifts. And it is good to remember that we can give Him these gifts all year round. These gifts to Jesus will be remembered forever and ascribed to you as righteousness.
The Removal of "Christ" from Christmas: We have seen above that the holiday has evolved from its original content into something that is quite foreign. It has gone from a birthday celebration for Jesus to a commercial free-for-all where presents are given, and for many, especially non-Christians, that is all it is. We have seen that the Christian world has not escaped being tainted by the world concept of celebration, even to the point of embracing idolic pagan customs in the celebration, in which God must give a grieving sigh. Over the years there has been a push to remove Jesus from the celebration of Christmas. A lot of this can be attributed (especially in The United States) to a liberal push for "political correctness." Christianity has borne the brunt of a lot of this political bovine scatology. There are those, in government, in social circles and in the liberal media who are striving to make Christmas a secular holiday. They feel that Jesus is a threat to them and will do everything in their power to make a gradual change in things. I guess it all started in the 1960's when prayer was removed from public schools in the guise that it was discriminatory to atheists and others who are afraid of God. I mean, after all, if there is no God, or if a person believes in another god, what harm could a prayer to Almighty God pose? This is akin to a child's fear of the mythical boogie man. However, prayer to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob scares atheists, agnostics and people of other religions because it reminds them that their belief systems are wrong, and that they are sinners and that they need a redeemer. Christianity is the only religion that provides a redeemer from sin and a tie with God Almighty. So, in the 60's step one was implemented and with success. Step two would then take place in the written media. A news media article was printed stating, "God Is Dead," and listed things in the world that were wrong. So, in essence, the press was saying, "there can't be a God if misery, war, famine and strife are allowed to go on around the world." Now, most people looked at the article and probably dismissed it as garbage, but it planted an idea in the back of their minds. You see, most people believe that the government and the press are out for their best interests, but that is far from the truth. The press exists in order to tell you what powerful people want you to hear. That is why there is such an uproar about "talk radio" these days. The people in power see that Americans are starting to wake up and question what they are being told and that bugs the press and government to no end. The press and the media have gone to great means to brainwash the people of the world, and especially in America. They have gone out of their way to see to it that they print or broadcast every find that evolutionist scientists come up with. Although evolution is still a theory, because it can never be established as a fact, they still pass it off as an established fact. They print all of that garbage because if they can get you and I to believe it, it further makes God look like an alien idea rather than the Creator and Sustainer of The Universe. So, step two has been implemented over the years, to destroy God and any of His credibility. The next step is to change or obliterate religious holidays. I have been watching things and have found it interesting that Christian holidays are attacked and others have been pretty well left alone. Take the local paper for instance. On the beginning of Hanukkah there was a big banner at the top of the paper stating "Happy Hanukkah." On New Years day, the banner read, "Happy New Year." On Chinese New Year there were a lot of articles talking about the holiday, its celebration and its meaning. Yet, on Christmas day the banner read, "Happy Holidays." The word Christmas was deliberately left out of the banner. The paper talked about places to go and see light displays around town, the lighting of the Christmas tree, how to decorate you tree at home and there was even an article about mistletoe, but little mention went to Church services, nativity scenes or anything else that showed the true reason for the holiday, specifically Jesus! As another part of my experiment, I jumped around to all of the televised news broadcasts to see what they would say. They too showed lights in neighborhoods and such, but no services were told of and when each news broadcast signed off, they ended with "happy holidays." Now, I don't expect anyone to believe what I have said just on my own merit. You have never met me and don't know what I am like. For that reason, I challenge the reader to do a couple of things. First, if you are a Christian, I ask you to pray to God for wisdom and then study these things as I have. Those of you who are younger might not be able to relate to the history of what Christmas was like 30 or more years ago. Ask older people what their Christmas was like and compare it with what I have said. In essence, what I am trying to say is you should look, listen and reason for yourselves. Don't believe what I have said unless it is substantiated by others and where spiritual things are concerned, if anything that I or anyone else says doesn't correlate with the Bible, disregard it. So I close now with an appeal to all who read this. Please remember that Christmas is supposed to be a Christian Holy Day. Please remember that it is a day to celebrate the birth of Jesus the Messiah. Please don't get burned out by trying to make it into a gift giving extravaganza. And please remember, it is a day of rest, relaxation and peace, to celebrate the Prince of Peace and to thank The Father for that Prince.
David Ben Yakov
|