CHRISTMAS? SATAN'S CLAUSE?
TOPICS TO COVER:
1. WHEN DOES THE BIBLE SHOW THAT CHRIST WAS ACTUALLY BORN? WHERE DO WE GET DEC 25TH FROM?
2. ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES CAN CHRIST BE HONORED BY THIS HOLIDAY?
3. WHAT ARE THE ROOTS OF THE MODERN DAY "MASS OF CHRIST"?
Where did Christmas originate? From the Bible or paganism? What is the real origin of Santa Claus—mistletoe—Christmas trees—holly wreaths—and the custom of exchanging gifts? Many are concerned about putting “Christ back into Christmas.” Was He ever there?
Christmas is thought by most to be a wonderful time, focusing the participants on giving, family togetherness, beautiful music and decorations, feasting on special foods and singing Christmas carols throughout the neighborhood (as my family did every year). All of this is supposedly centered around the worship of Christ. Surely the Bible instructs us to do all this—right?
Why do people think that Christmas is wonderful? It certainly felt wonderful to me. I trusted what my parents told me. I had no reason to doubt them. They were merely teaching me what their parents had taught them. I never questioned the true origin of Christmas!
Most never reflect on why they believe what they believe or do what they do. We live in a world filled with customs, but few ever seek to understand their origin. We generally accept them without question. Most people basically do what everyone else does—because it is easy and natural!
Let’s carefully examine the roots of Christmas. Let’s look at why people follow the customs associated with it. Why is it kept on December 25th? Did the early New Testament Church keep it? Let’s avoid all assumptions and only accept what can be proven!
In 1990, the Solon, Ohio (a Cleveland suburb) school board banned all nativity and other Christmas scenes on any school property because they felt it violated the separation of church and state. They were challenged in court when outraged parents opposed them, feeling that Christmas was being stolen from their children and the community. The board lost the case! The citizenry had contended that Christmas was a worldwide tradition that was not part of, and transcended, religion. It was deemed to be secular—a part of virtually all cultures worldwide.
The court decision affirmed that Christmas has no Christian roots! However, the court’s opinion also noted that Bible reading and prayer obviously are associated with Christianity—(i.e., could not be "in" the schools...where's the outrage, it's so ironic because people ask "where's the morality of our youth", but no one fights for the ways of God, yet His ways are the on way to live a moral-'righteous unto God' life). We give our children "everything" that this world has to offer but we do not fight to hard for their eternal salvation, to teach them of the ways of God and encourage such in our homes, schools, communities and workplace....yet God's word--and (belief) obedience thereof--is the only way to true happiness, peace, prosperity and love.
Nearly all aspects of Christmas observance have their roots in Roman custom and religion. Consider the following admission from a large American newspaper (The Buffalo News, Nov. 22, 1984): “The earliest reference to Christmas being marked on Dec. 25 comes from the second century after Jesus’ birth. It is considered likely the first Christmas celebrations were in reaction to the Roman Saturnalia, a harvest festival that marked the winter solstice—the return of the sun—and honored Saturn, the god of sowing. Saturnalia was a rowdy time, much opposed by the more austere leaders among the still-minority Christian sect. Christmas developed, one scholar says, as a means of replacing worship of the sun with worship of the Son. By 529 A.D., after Christianity had become the official state religion of the Roman Empire, Emperor Justinian made Christmas a civic holiday. The celebration of Christmas reached its peak—some would say its worst moments—in the medieval period when it became a time for conspicuous consumption and unequaled revelry.”
Consider these quotes from the Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911 edition, under “Christmas”: “Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church…The first evidence of the feast is from Egypt.” Further, “Pagan customs centring round the January calends gravitated to Christmas.” Under “Natal Day,” Origen, an early Catholic writer, admitted, “…In the Scriptures, no one is recorded to have kept a feast or held a great banquet on his birthday. It is only sinners (like Pharaoh and Herod) who make great rejoicings over the day on which they were born into this world” (emphasis mine).
The Encyclopedia Americana, 1956 edition, adds, “Christmas…was not observed in the first centuries of the Christian church, since the Christian usage in general was to celebrate the death of remarkable persons rather than their birth…a feast was established in memory of this event [Christ’s birth] in the 4th century. In the 5th century the Western church ordered the feast to be celebrated on the day of the Mithraic rites of the birth of the sun and at the close of the Saturnalia, as no certain knowledge of the day of Christ’s birth existed.”
There is no mistaking the origin of the modern Christmas celebration. Many additional sources could be cited and we will return to this later. Let’s begin to tie some other facts together.
It was 300 years after Christ before the Roman church kept Christmas, and not until the fifth century that it was mandated to be kept throughout the empire as an official festival honoring “Christ.”
Can Christ be Honored by Christmas?
The most common justification that one will hear regarding Christmas is that people have replaced old pagan customs and intents by asserting that they are now “focusing on Christ.” I have heard many say that they are “honoring Christ” in their Christmas-keeping. The problem is that God does not say this is acceptable to Him! Actually, He plainly commands against it! Keeping Christmas dishonors Christ! He considers everything about it to be an abomination! We will soon see why.
Christ said, “But in vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matt. 15:9). Christmas is not a command of God—it is a tradition of men. Christ continued, “Full well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your own tradition” (Mark 7:9). Every year, throughout the world, on December 25th, hundreds of millions do just that!
We will see that God plainly commands, “Follow not the way of the heathen.” But most people do not fear God, and He allows them to make their own decisions. Human beings are free moral agents—free to obey (believe) or disobey (disbelieve) God! But woe to those who ignore the plain Word of God (the 'simplicity' of Jesus Christ, the Word of God)!
Was Christ Born on December 25th?
Christ was born in the fall of the year. Many have mistakenly believed He was born around the beginning of winter—December 25th! They are wrong! Notice the Adam Clarke Commentary, volume 5, page 370, New York edition: “It was custom among Jews to send out their sheep to the deserts about the Passover [early spring], and bring them home at the commencement of the first rain.” The first rains began in early-to-mid fall. Continuing with this same quote: “During the time they were out, the shepherds watched them night and day. As…the first rain began early in the month of March-esvan, which answers to part of our October and November [begins sometime in October], we find that the sheep were kept out in the open country during the whole summer. And as these shepherds had not yet brought home their flocks, it is a presumptive argument that October had not yet commenced, and that, consequently, our Lord was not born on the 25th of December, when no flocks were out in the fields; nor could He have been born later than September, as the flocks were still in the fields by night. On this very ground, the nativity in December should be given up. The feeding of the flocks by night in the fields is a chronological fact…See the quotations from the Talmudists in Lightfoot.”
Luke 2:8 explains that when Christ was born, “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.” Note that they were “abiding” in the field. This never happened in December. Both Ezra 10:9-13 and the Song of Solomon 2:11 show that winter was the rainy season and shepherds could not stay on cold, open fields at night.
Numerous encyclopedias plainly state that Christ was not born on December 25th! The Catholic Encyclopedia directly confirms this. In all likelihood, Christ was born in the fall! A lengthy technical explanation would prove this point.
Since we now know that December 25th was nowhere near Christ’s actual birthdate, where did the festival associated with this date come from?
Now read this quote under “Christmas”: “In the Roman world the Saturnalia (December 17) was a time of merrymaking and exchanging of gifts. December 25 was also regarded as the birth date of the Iranian mystery god Mithra, the Sun of Righteousness. On the Roman New Year (January 1), houses were decorated with greenery and lights, and gifts were given to children and the poor. To these observances were added the German and Celtic Yule rites when the Teutonic tribes penetrated into Gaul, Britain, and central Europe. Food and good fellowship, the Yule log and Yule cakes, greenery and fir trees, gifts and greetings all commemorated different aspects of this festive season. Fires and lights, symbols of warmth and lasting life, have always been associated with the winter festival, both pagan and Christian” (Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th Edit. Vol. II, p. 903).
A final quote about the selection of December 25th as the birthdate of Christ is necessary. Note an article in The Toronto Star, December 1984, by Alan Edmonds, entitled, “We owe a lot to Druids, Dutch”: “The Reformation cast a blight on Christmas. By then, of course, clever ecclesiastical politicians had adopted the Pagan mid-winter festival as the alleged birthdate of Jesus, of Nazareth, and thrown in a few other Pagan goodies to make their takeover more palatable.”
December 25th was not selected because it was the birth of Christ or because it was even near it. It was selected because it coincided with the idolatrous pagan festival Saturnalia—and this celebration must be carefully examined. In any event, we do not know the exact date of Christ’s birth. While God certainly could have made it known, He chose to hide it from the world’s eyes!
Who Was Saturn?
Previous quotes introduced the subject of the Saturnalia. Let’s carefully study just exactly who Saturn was. Consider the following quote from another large American newspaper, The Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, New York, December 1984: “The Roman festival of Saturnalia, Dec. 17-24, moved citizens to decorate their homes with greens and lights and give gifts to children and the poor. The Dec. 25 festival of natalis solis invicti, the birth of the unconquered sun, was decreed by the emperor Aurelian in A.D. 274 as a Winter Solstice celebration, and sometime (later)…was Christianized as a date to celebrate the birth of the Son of Light.”
Dr. William Gutsch, chairman of the American Museum of Natural History—Hayden Planetarium, further confirmed the original name of Christmas with this quote on December 18, 1989, in a Westchester, New York, newspaper, The Reporter Dispatch:
“The early Romans were not celebrating Christmas but rather a pagan feast called the Saturnalia. It occurred each year around the beginning of winter, or the winter solstice. This was the time when the sun had taken its lowest path across the sky and the days were beginning to lengthen, thus assuring another season of growth.
“If many of the trappings of the Saturnalia, however, seem to parallel what so many of us do today, we can see where we borrowed…our holiday traditions. And indeed, it has been suggested that while Christ was most likely not born in late December, the early Christians—then still an outlawed sect—moved Christmas to the time of the Saturnalia to draw as little attention as possible to themselves while they celebrated their own holiday.”
The Saturnalia, of course, celebrated Saturn—the fire god. Saturn was the god of sowing (planting) because heat from the sun was required to allow for planting and growth of crops. He was also worshipped in this dead-of-winter festival so that he would come back (he was the “sun”) and warm the earth again so that spring planting could occur. The planet Saturn was later named after him because, among all of the planets, with its rings and bright red color, it best represented the god of fire!
Virtually every civilization has a fire/sun god. The Egyptians (and sometimes Romans) called him Vulcan. The Greeks named him Kronos, as did the Phoenicians—but they also called him Saturn. The Babylonians called him Tammuz (as Nimrod, resurrected in the person of his son), Molech or Baal (as did the Druids). These were all simply the various names for Nimrod. Nimrod was considered the father of all the Babylonian gods.
Child Sacrifice
Notice this horrible practice associated with the worship of the fire god (Nimrod, Saturn, Kronos, Molech and Baal) in the following quote from The Two Babylons, Alexander Hislop, page 231:
“Now, this is in exact accordance with the character of the Great Head of the system of fire-worship. Nimrod, as the representative of the devouring fire to which human victims, and especially children, were offered in sacrifice, was regarded as the great child-devourer…he was, of course, the actual father of all the Babylonian gods; and, therefore, in that character he was afterwards universally regarded. As the Father of the gods, he was, as we have seen, called Kronos; and every one knows that the classical story of Kronos was just this, that, ‘he devoured his sons as soon as they were born.’ (Lempriere Classical Dictionary, ‘Saturn.’)…This legend has a further and deeper meaning; but, as applied to Nimrod, or ‘The Horned One,’ it just refers to the fact, that, as the representative of Moloch or Baal, infants were the most acceptable offerings at his altar. We have ample and melancholy evidence on this subject from the records of antiquity. ‘The Phoenicians,’ says Eusebius, ‘every year sacrificed their beloved and only-begotten children to Kronos or Saturn.’”
But why was human sacrifice such a key to the worship of this terrible god? What possible good could human beings think they saw in slaughtering their own children? Continuing: “…he who approached the fire would receive a light from divinity” and “through divine fire all the stains produced by generations could be purged away.” Therefore, “children were made to pass through the fire unto Molech” (Jer. 32:35).
As incredible as it seems, deceived human beings actually believed they were pleasing their “god” by sacrificing their own innocent little children to him. They believed fire purified them from original sin. The pagan doctrine of spending time in purgatory to purge the soul from all sin derives from this belief!
Who Was Nimrod?
We must now look more closely at who this biblical figure, Nimrod, was. We have already seen him as one of history’s original false gods, but what else can be learned?
Genesis 10:9 says of Nimrod, “He was a mighty hunter before [in place of] the Lord.” He actually tried to replace God.
The famous Jewish historian, Josephus, records in Josephus Antiquities important evidence of Nimrod’s role in the post-flood world. Notice: “He also gradually changed the government into tyranny…He [Nimrod] also said he would be revenged on God, if He should have a mind to drown the world again; for that he would build a tower too high for the waters to be able to reach…Now the multitude were very ready to follow the determination of Nimrod, and to esteem it a piece of cowardice to submit to God” (Bk. I, Ch. IV, sec. 2, 3).
Under many names, mankind’s earliest and perhaps greatest rebel has been worshipped throughout false religion. Ancient Israel kept falling into serving the many false gods that Nimrod represented.
Ezekiel 8:13-14 records a picture of the women of Israel “weeping for Tammuz.” This Tammuz (the god of fire) was considered to be Nimrod and the etymology of the word itself is fascinating. Tam means “to make perfect” and muz “fire.” The meaning is clear in light of what we have already learned. Incidentally, in the Iraqi-Kuwaiti Desert Storm War, Saddam Hussein even named one of his missiles the “Tammuz.” He certainly understood that its meaning included fire.
Burned to Molech
Let’s see how God’s people, Israel, worshipped Baal/Molech once they had departed from the true God: “And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into My mind, that they should do this abomination…” (Jer. 32:35).
Notice that God Himself says that such horrible abominations never even entered His mind: “They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spoke it, neither came it into My mind: Therefore, behold, the days come, says the Lord, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter” (Jer. 19:5). Verse 6 ties the valley of Tophet or Hinnom to this practice. Jeremiah 7:31 connects Tophet and Hinnom to child sacrifice. Tophet means “the drum.” Drums were played to drown the screams of victims in the flames.
Notice this quote from Paradise Lost, by John Milton, about the terrible god Molech: “First Moloch, horrid king besmear’d with blood Of human sacrifice, and parents tears, Though, for the noyse of Drums and Timbrels loud Their children’s cries unheard, that passed through fire To his grim Idol.” Of course, everyone will say that they do not sacrifice their children to Molech today, but read on.
In the New Testament, the martyr Stephen was stoned to death, at least partly, because he indicted his listeners for the worship of this evil idol (Acts 7:43).
When righteous King Josiah came to the throne, as king of Judah, he destroyed the altars in the Valley of Tophet (or Hinnom—the very same valley Christ likened to “gehenna” fire in Mark 9:43-49) soon after coming to power. He realized the great evil of the practices taking place there.
The Druids and Human Sacrifice
Many people have heard of the Druids. Few know who and what they were. We will refer to them later and tie them to other well-known Christmas practices. We must first establish their historic role in human sacrifice.
Julius Caesar is the best-known source of information about the Druids. This comes from the Encyclopedia Britannica. This quote, under “Druids,” clearly explains who they were: “Druids, the learned class among the ancient Celts, whose name means Knowing (or Finding) the Oak Tree. They seem to have frequented Oak forests and acted as priests, teachers and judges. The earliest known records of the Druids come from the 3rd century [B.C.]…Druids took charge of public and private sacrifices, and many young men went to them for instruction. They judged all public and private quarrels and decreed the penalty…The Druids principle doctrine was that the soul was immortal…(they) offered human victims for those who were gravely sick or in danger of death in battle. Huge wickerwork images were filled with living men and then burned; although the Druids chose criminals by preference, they sacrificed innocent victims if necessary.”
The Old Testament is filled with God’s condemnation of Israel for practicing the customs of the nations around them—and we are gathering important facts revealing a shocking picture.
The Role of Cannibalism
Another truth about the origin of Christmas springs from the modern word cannibal. This practice has its roots in a prime function of all priests of Baal. Keep in mind that the Hebrew word for priest is Cahn.
Consider the following quote from The Two Babylons, by Alexander Hislop, page 232: “And it was a principle of the Mosaic law, a principle no doubt derived from the patriarchal faith, that the priest must partake of whatever was offered as a sin-offering (Numbers xviii. 9, 10). Hence, the priests of Nimrod or Baal were necessarily required to eat of the human sacrifices; and thus it has come to pass that ‘Cahna-Bal,’ the ‘Priest of Baal,’ is the established word in our own tongue for a devourer of human flesh.”
The reality of this can be lost on no one! It is also true that most civilizations have a tradition that has involved cannibalism. Notice this statement from The New York Times, “What Is the Meaning of Cannibalism?” by Erik Eckholm: “Cannibalism has once fascinated and repelled virtually every known society, including those said to have practiced it.”
This same article went on to show that most civilizations also attached divine significance to its practice.
What About the Santa Myth?
Have you considered that you could also be burning, even sacrificing, your children today (though in a different way) in your practice of Christmas, while you may be trying to sincerely “focus on Christ”?
Parents reason that they owe the whole Christmas myth to their children! Christmas traditions are focused primarily on kids, and they are certainly the center of most of what happens. I know because I kept seventeen Christmases. My older sister and younger brother and I were the recipients of much and the givers of very little on that day—and it all started with the Santa Claus lie.
Some years ago, a priest in New Jersey told his Sunday school class that Santa was a myth. The outrage from parents and his supervisors was swift. He had “killed Santa!” He had “destroyed family tradition!” He had “usurped family authority,” the article continued. He was officially censored by his superiors for being “overzealous and insensitive.”
His crime? He told the truth!
According to Langer’s Encyclopedia of World History, (article “Santa”), “Santa” was a common name for Nimrod throughout Asia Minor. This was also the same fire god who came down the chimneys of the ancient pagans and the same fire god to whom infants were burned and eaten in human sacrifice among those who were once God’s people.
Today Santa Claus comes from “Saint Nicholas.” Washington Irving, in 1809, is responsible for remaking the original old, stern bishop of this same name into the new “jolly St. Nick” in his Knickerbocker History of New York. (Most of the rest of America’s Christmas traditions are even more recent than this.) “Old Nick” has long been recognized as a term for the devil.
In Revelation 2:6 and 15, we read about a “doctrine of the Nicolaitanes,” which Christ twice tells His Church “[He] hates.” Let’s analyze the word Nicolaitane. It means “follower of Nicholas.” Nikos means “conqueror, destroyer.” Laos means, “people.” Nicolaitanes, then, are people who follow the conqueror or destroyer—Nimrod. If you have believed that following Christmas is an innocent Christian custom, let this truth sink in!
Is It Scriptural to Exchange Gifts?
Merchants regularly report that over 60% of their annual retail sales occur during the Christmas shopping season. This represents a tremendous amount of gift buying. Most today believe that gift-giving comes from the Bible example of the “three wise men” (the Bible gives no number) presenting gifts to Christ. Is this true? Where did exchanging gifts come from, and what does God’s Word say about it?
The Bibliotheca Sacra states, “The interchange of presents between friends is a like characteristic of Christmas and the Saturnalia, and must have been adopted by Christians from the pagans, as the admonition of Tertullian plainly shows” (Vol. 12, pp. 153-155).
Like every other aspect of Christmas, the shocking truth is that even this supposed Christian custom does not come from the Bible. It is an irony that people love to believe they are following the custom of the wise men giving to Christ, when actually they are giving almost exclusively to each other! What hypocrisy! Christ is completely forgotten.
The Bible actually teaches that Christians should not keep birthdays. Numerous scriptures make this principle clear. However, what if you went to a birthday party that had been prepared for you and everybody gave gifts to each other and you were left out? The idea is ridiculous! If this happened, you would say that people were being selfish and forgetting you. In fact, most people give to others on Christmas merely because they expect to receive gifts themselves!
Let’s briefly return to the “wise men” who gave gifts to Christ. The scripture describing this is Matthew 2:1-11: “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is He that is born King of the Jews?…And when they were come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down, and worshipped Him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto Him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.”
It is commonly supposed that these were birthday presents for “baby Jesus.” But is this what the Bible actually says? Absolutely not! First, it is important to note that they did give the gifts to Jesus. They did not stand in His presence and exchange gifts among themselves or give them to others. The gifts were “presented unto Him.” Also, they arrived well after His “birthday.” This is another reason these could not have been “birthday presents.”
A long-standing, ancient custom of the East was to present gifts when coming before a king. These men understood they were in the presence of the “King of the Jews.” The Bible carries many examples of people sending gifts to kings or presenting them upon arrival into their presence. This custom is common today when ambassadors or others come into the presence of a world leader.
Finally, notice what the Adam Clarke Commentary, volume 5, page 46, states about what really happened on this occasion: “Verse 11. They presented unto him gifts. The people of the east never approach the presence of kings and great personages, without a present in their hands. This custom is often noticed in the Old Testament, and still prevails in the east, and in some of the newly discovered South Seas Islands.” Gifts were customarily presented to kings.
What could be more plain?
The Origin of the Christmas Tree
No booklet about Christmas is complete without some explanation of the “Christmas tree.” We have touched on it without directly focusing on it. The modern Christmas tree originated in Germany. But the Germans got it from the Romans, who got it from the Babylonians and the Egyptians.
The following demonstrates what the Babylonians believe about the origin of the Christmas tree: “An old Babylonish fable told of an evergreen tree which sprang out of a dead tree stump. The old stump symbolized the dead Nimrod, the new evergreen tree symbolized that Nimrod had come to life again in Tammuz! Among the Druids the oak was sacred, among the Egyptians it was the palm, and in Rome it was the fir, which was decorated with red berries during the Saturnalia!” (Walsh, Curiosities of Popular Customs, p. 242).
Frederick J. Haskin’s Answers to Questions states, “The Christmas tree is from Egypt, and its origin dates from a period long anterior to the Christian Era.” Did you know this—that the Christmas tree long preceded Christianity?
Most aspects of Christmas are not referred to in the Bible. Of course, the reason is that they are not from God—they are not part of the way He wants people to worship Him. The Christmas tree, however, is directly mentioned in the Bible! Turn to Jeremiah 10:2-5, “Thus says the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen…For the customs of the people are vain: for one cuts 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. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.”
This plain description of the modern Christmas tree is clear. God directly refers to it as “the way of the heathen.” Just as directly, He commands His people to “learn not the way of the heathen,” calling these customs “vain.” Verse 23 adds a remarkable and powerful statement: “O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walks to direct his [own] steps.” God must teach people how to live. Man simply cannot figure out God’s ways for himself.
There is no room in Jeremiah 10 to believe, as some have tried to suggest, that because these trees are powerless of themselves, it is not really forbidden to have a Christmas tree. God condemns the putting up of pagan (Christmas) trees with this plain Bible command!
The Source of Holly Wreaths, Yule Logs and Mistletoe
The Encyclopedia Americana states, “The holly, the mistletoe, the Yule log…are relics of pre-Christian times.” In other words, paganism! The Yule log was commonly used in a rite of Teutonic nature worship.
Frederick Haskin further states, “The use of the Christmas wreath is believed by authorities to be traceable to the pagan custom of decorating buildings and places of worship at the feast which took place at the same time as our Christmas.”
The Encyclopedia Britannica, under “Celastrales,” exposes the origin of the holly wreath: “European pagans brought holly sprays into their homes, offering them to the fairy people of the forests as refuges from the harsh winter weather. During the Saturnalia, the Roman winter festival, branches of holly were exchanged as tokens of friendship. The earliest Roman Christians apparently used holly as a decoration at the Christmas season.”
There are dozens of different types of holly. Virtually all of them come in male and female varieties—such as “Blue Prince and Blue Princess” or “Blue Boy and Blue Girl” or “China Boy and China Girl.” Female holly plants cannot have berries unless a nearby male plant pollinates them. It is easy to see why the holly wreath found its way into pagan rituals as a token of friendship and fertility!
Christmas is incomplete to many unless it involves “kissing under the mistletoe.” This pagan custom was natural on a night that involved much revelry done in the spirit of drunken orgies. Just like today, this “kissing” usually occurred at the beginning of the Saturnalia/Christmas celebration. I will never forget having to always kiss my friends’ mothers upon entering each of their houses every Christmas. It was the first thing that we did. I hated it—but it was something I “had to do”! Mistletoe was considered to have special powers of healing for those who “reveled” under it.
The Encyclopedia Britannica, under “Santalales,” states, “The European mistletoe is thought to have had special ritual significance in Druidical ceremonies and lives in folklore today, its special status as the Christmas mistletoe having come from Anglo-Saxon times.” Mistletoe is a parasite that lives on oak trees. (Recall that the Druids worshipped in oak tree groves.) The ancient Celtics (associated with the Druids) used to give mistletoe as an herbal remedy to barren animals to make them fertile. It is still referred to as “all healer” in Celtic.
Like mistletoe, holly berries were also thought to be sacred to the sun god. The original “sun log” came to be called the yule log. “Yule” simply means “wheel,” which has long been a pagan representation of the sun. No wonder people today commonly speak of the “sacred yule-tide season.”
Worship of the True God Mixed with False Practices
The modern term for merging false pagan customs with the worship of the true God is called syncretism. Anyone who did this in ancient Israel was put to death (Lev. 18:21, 29)! It was that serious!
A fascinating look into how Israel thought and believed, in their own minds, that they were worshipping God as an entire nation, comes from II Kings 17:33: “They feared the Lord, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from there.”
Did you grasp this? Yes, they feared the true God while serving other gods. No wonder the very next verse (34) states that they really “fear NOT the Lord” according to the way God commanded. This is how God views what people are doing today—no matter what these people copying ancient pagan practices might think of their own actions!
Verse 30 says that all this had been learned from contact with “the men of Babylon” (among others), whose chief god, we will recall, was Nimrod (Baal or Molech)—who we now know were one and the same.
Notice how specific was God’s warning to Israel in Deuteronomy 12:29-31, and why He warned them! “When the Lord your God shall cut off the nations from before you…and you succeed them, and dwell in their land; Take heed to yourself that you be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before you; and that you enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? Even so will I do likewise. You shall not do so unto the Lord your God: for every abomination to the Lord, which He hates, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters have they burnt in the fire to their gods.”
Many verses, similar to Deuteronomy 12, should be carefully studied. (See Exodus 34:10-17; 23:23-33; Leviticus 20:22-26; Deuteronomy 20:13-18, etc.) The true God knew that serving other gods always led to sacrificing children to them!
Deuteronomy 12:32 made clear that God does not want us to mix His ways with any false ways: “What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: you shall not add thereto, nor diminish from it.”
These are God’s plain words to all who say that they can mix the horrible customs of outright paganism with a supposed “focus on Christ.”
Ancient Israel’s Pagan Practices in Modern Customs
Deuteronomy 12:2-4 establishes an important context. God plainly says, “You shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which you shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree: And you shall overthrow their altars…and burn their groves with fire…you shall not do so unto the Lord your God.”
Notice God’s references to “every green tree” and “their groves.” There are at least ten similar verses throughout the Old Testament referring to “green trees” and their association with idolatry. Historians hold that the reference to the term “green” refers to green year-round—evergreen trees!
Once again, let’s more closely examine the actual history and origins of some of the Saturnalia customs still practiced today. Notice the following chilling quote from the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, “Oscilla” 3rd edition, volume II: “…all ranks devoted themselves to feasting and mirth, presents were exchanged among friends, and crowds thronged the streets, shouting ‘Lo Saturnalia.’ An offering was made beneath a decorated evergreen tree, according to the pagan poet, Virgil. Figurines and masks—called ‘oscilla’—were hung on the tree, as are Christmas decorations today. History admits…there can be no doubt that we have in these ‘oscilla’ a relic of human sacrifice…”
Doesn’t all of this sound familiar? Presents, singing in the streets, evergreen trees, decorations, offerings under the tree, merrymaking, feasting? They may sound wonderful, but they represent things that are truly abominable.
Modern oscilla look like chubby little “angels” when hanging on a tree. I placed these little “angel babies” on our tree, myself, as a small child. At least I thought they were angel babies. How wrong I was! Do you think any of your friends realize what they really represent? Of course not—but that does not make it any less serious or less wrong in God’s eyes!
Outright Paganism Blended into the Church
One additional source demonstrates how this all came to be a heritage practiced so “innocently” by millions—yet far from innocent in God’s sight. Now read the following quote from Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th edition, volume 10, pages 1062-3: “Christianity…by a complex and gradual process…became the official religion of the [Roman] empire.
“For a time, coins and other monuments continued to link Christian doctrines with worship of the sun, to which Constantine had been addicted previously. But even when this phase came to an end, Roman paganism continued to exert other, permanent influences, great and small…The ecclesiastical calendar retains numerous remnants of pre-Christian festivals, notably Christmas, which blends elements including both the feast of the Saturnalia and the birthday of Mithra. But, most of all, the mainstream of Western Christianity owed ancient Rome the firm discipline that gave it stability and shape.”
An authority as reputable as the Encyclopedia Britannica actually acknowledges, for any willing to see, that the Saturnalia and ancient Rome are what defined the “discipline…stability and shape” of Western Christianity!
This is a truly stunning admission!
The next powerful quote reveals how this idolatrous, pagan festival slipped into the “Christian” world. It is from the New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, under “Christmas”:
“How much the date of the festival depended upon the pagan Brumalia (December 25) following the Saturnalia (Dec. 17-24), and celebrating the shortest day of the year and the ‘new sun’…cannot be accurately determined. The pagan Saturnalia and Brumalia were too deeply entrenched in popular custom to be set aside by Christian influence…The pagan festival with its riot and merry-making was so popular that Christians were glad of an excuse to continue its celebration with little change in spirit and in manner. Christian preachers of the West and the Near East protested against the unseemly frivolity with which Christ’s birthday was celebrated, while Christians of Mesopotamia accused their Western brethren of idolatry and sun worship for adopting as Christian this pagan festival.”
One additional source reveals how the Roman church absorbed Christmas into an official celebration. The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1946 edition, states, “Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the church…Certain Latins, as early as 354, may have transferred the birthday from January 6th to December 25, which was then a Mithraic feast…or birthday of the unconquered SUN…The Syrians and Armenians, who clung to January 6th, accused the Romans of sun worship and idolatry, contending…that the feast of December 25th, had been invented by disciples of Cerinthus…”
Thus, a pagan festival, celebrated long before Christ’s birth, found its way into recognized Christianity.
Did you know that even the seventeenth century Puritans of New England understood how wrong Christmas was? They actually banned its observance by law, in 1659, throughout the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Fines and imprisonment could result from being found keeping it. It was almost 200 years (1856) before people stopped working on Christmas in Boston. The Puritans knew its roots and labeled it “heathen, papist idolatry.”
Those Who “Change Times and Laws”
The prophet Daniel (7:8) speaks of a “little horn,” which (7:25) “shall speak great words against the Most High…and think to change times and laws.” This little horn is a great religious authority that attempts to superimpose its own view of dates and celebrations, on an unsuspecting world, in place of God’s plain instruction.
The Hebrew word translated “change” means to “transform, alter or set.” The word translated “times” means “appointed occasions, seasons or times.” The Hebrew word translated “laws” means “decrees or laws of God.” When put together, this phrase refers to an authority that attempts to “transform appointed occasions and seasons within the Law of God.” Certainly, Christmas is a great example of how this has been done. God’s instructions have been replaced with religious traditions of men.
The following quote reveals how this has happened. It also comes from the Encyclopedia Britannica, under “Christianity”: “Thus, the Easter liturgy has been developed more highly in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Christmas liturgy more highly in the Roman Catholic Church…The Christian calendar is the most widely disseminated Christian institution. The seven-day week and the rhythm of the Christian festivals have been accepted even by most of the non-Christian countries. Despite energetic attempts at the introduction of a sliding work week, the seven-day week with work-free Sunday could not be eliminated even in Communist states with an Atheist world view. Even in Atheistic circles and organizations throughout the world, Christian holidays enjoy an undisputed popularity as work-free days…especially Christmas.”
Truly, it has been the “ecclesiastical politicians,” referred to earlier, who have sought to impose the modern “Christian” calendar on an unknowing world. It is these leaders who have “thought to change times and laws.”
The Dangerous Power of Lies
One of Satan’s names is Destroyer (Rev. 9:11). Nimrod/Saturn/Molech/Baal, like Satan, is the fire god who destroys and devours little children.
The real Jesus Christ was never in and never will be in Christmas! He cannot be put back into where He has never been. But the “god of this world,” Satan (II Cor. 4:4), has always been in Christmas. He is its author!
The true God commands that we “must worship Him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24). This does not mesh with the great Christmas and Santa Claus lies that all children so willingly believe.
I Timothy 4:2 warns of those “speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.” Parents can “burn” their own children, to the point of searing them, with the Christmas deception and lie!
There is no “safety in numbers” in this world for those who keep Christmas, because Satan, who is called “the father of lies” and “a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44), has “deceived the whole world” (Rev. 12:9)! Turn to this verse and read it. Then recognize that Christmas is certainly a testimony to that great deception.
But Christ refers to His Church as a “little flock” (Luke 12:32). Many other verses show this. This Church does not have the large numbers of the respected, established brands of the Christianity of this world.
“Another Jesus”
There is another problem with the idea of “putting Christ back in Christmas”—and it is big! The “Jesus” that is the focus of this season is not the true Jesus Christ of the Bible!
Most have been taught that there is only one Jesus Christ. But God’s Word speaks of a counterfeit, and this substitute Christ is identifiable in history. The proof? The apostle Paul warned of “another Jesus.”
Grasp what is at stake here!
First, consider Paul’s entire introduction as he sets the stage for the warning that follows: “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent [Satan] beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (II Cor. 11:3).
Now for the actual warning in the next verse: “For if he that comes preaches another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if you receive another spirit, which you have not received, or another gospel, which you have not accepted, you might well bear with him” (II Cor. 11:4). The Corinthians seemed to “bear with this” without much resistance.
Paul, under inspiration of the true Jesus Christ of the Bible, was moved to record the peril of unwittingly following “another Jesus.” Consider. Most have probably never remotely considered the idea of a false Jesus for even a moment—that there is such a thing as a wrong, different and “false Christ” (Matt. 24:23-24)— called “another Jesus.” In the past, this “Jesus” has even corrupted the thinking of true Christians. This much is plain. But the “subtilty” of how this can happen, and how it has occurred in history, is so deceptive— so seductive— that even true Christians can unknowingly slip into worshipping this so- called Jesus. This is what was happening to the Corinthians.
People can worship in ways that represent things that are far different than what they sincerely believe or intend. Bible “believers” today can think that they are worshipping the true Savior when they are really worshipping a false savior—another Jesus! The entirety of traditional Christianity is actually worshipping Nimrod/Saturn/Molech/Baal. The modern mother/child “Mary/Jesus” emphasis, including the worshipful adoration of Mary by millions, is a parallel with Nimrod and his mother, Semiramis, that cannot be missed.
Here is the point of what is being explained. Many speak of “putting Christ back into Christmas.” This is heard every year from thousands of pulpits and elsewhere. But the true Christ was never there! Just as a person cannot go back into a room that he had never entered, Jesus Christ cannot be “put back” into an event that He has never been in, and that He in fact hates! (Again, see Mark 7:7.) The Jesus that these preachers and religionists have in mind is another Christ, one with another gospel, another spirit—the Christmas spirit!—bringing totally different doctrines and teachings.
Can you see the connection?
What Should You Do?
Finally, let’s examine what God told His people they should do and the way they ought to teach their children.
Recall Jeremiah 7:31, where God condemned Israel for burning their children in the Valley of Tophet. Eight verses earlier (vs. 23-24), God had made plain what He requires: “But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people: and walk you in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you. But they hearkened not…but walked…in the imagination of their evil heart…”
Human beings do not want to obey God (Rom. 8:7). They would rather follow their own “imagination.” They do not understand that God wants their lives to go “well.” He wants happiness, joy and blessings to flow into people’s lives. All these are the results of obeying Him.
God inspired Moses to warn parents of the grave responsibility that they have in what and how they teach their children. Notice His instruction in Deuteronomy 6:1, 6-7, 20-21, 25: “Now these are the commandments…which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you go to possess it…And these words, which I command you this day, shall be in your heart: And you shall teach them diligently unto your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up…And when your son asks you in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord our God has commanded you? Then you shall say unto your son, We were Pharaoh’s bondmen in Egypt; and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand…And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as He has commanded us.”
God took Israel out of Egypt—from slavery—out of the customs of the world around them and revealed His Law to them. He does not want His people going back to the traditions, customs and ways from which He has called them.
When all of the interconnected traditions, filled with the symbolism of worshipping an ancient pagan, humanly devised god, are taught, this is not worshipping the true Creator.
We Have not Known that Christmas is of Babylon
Jesus said twice, in Matthew 7:16 and 20, that “you shall know them by their fruits.” Everything that people say or do, good or bad, has fruits. The fruits of Christmas are terrible. This season leads the entire year in adultery, loneliness, jealousy, drunkenness and drunk driving, family arguments (and worse), and accumulation of debt that often lasts until March. This problem is so significant that almost all churches typically report that their incomes—how ironic—drop during this period as people “recover” from all their spending!
The Real “Christmas Spirit”
The prophet Isaiah was inspired to write, “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet, and show My people their transgression” (58:1). I have done this. Now that you have read the plain truth about the true origin of Christmas, what will you do?
The next quote comes from the booklet The Plain Truth About Christmas, by Herbert W. Armstrong. It summarizes the booklet you have just read:
“Christmas has become a commercial season. It’s sponsored, kept alive, by the heaviest retail advertising campaigns of the year. You see a masqueraded ‘Santa Claus’ in many stores. Ads keep us deluded and deceived about the ‘beautiful Christmas spirit.’ The newspapers, who sell the ads, print flowery editorials exalting and eulogizing the pagan season, and its ‘spirit.’ A gullible people has become so inoculated, many take offense when told the truth. But the ‘Christmas spirit’ is created each year, not to honor Christ, but to sell merchandise! Like all Satan’s delusions, it appears as an ‘angel of light,’ is made to appear good. Billions of dollars are spent in this merchandising spree every year, while the cause of Christ must suffer! It’s part of the economic system of Babylon!
“We have professed to be Christian nations, but we’re in Babylon, as Bible prophecy foretold, and we don’t know it! ‘Come out of her, my people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues’—now soon to fall—is the warning of Revelation 18:4 [emphasis mine].
“This year, instead of gift-trading, why not put that money into God’s Work?”
"Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And TEACH THEM TO YOUR CHILDREN AND YOUR GRANDCHILDREN, (Deuteronomy 4:9 NKJ)
especially concerning the day you stood before the Lord your God in Horeb, when the Lord said to me, 'Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and THAT THEY MAY TEACH THEIR CHILDREN.' (Deuteronomy 4:10 NKJ)
You shall TEACH THEM DILIGENTLY TO YOUR CHILDREN, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. (Deuteronomy 6:7 NKJ)
YOU SHALL TEACH THEM TO YOUR CHILDREN, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. (Deuteronomy 11:19 NKJ)
For I have known him, in order THAT HE MAY COMMAND HIS CHILDREN AND HIS HOUSEHOLD AFTER HIM, THAT THEY KEEP THE WAY OF THE LORD, TO DO RIGHTEOUSNESS and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him." (Genesis 18:19 NKJ)
For all these riches which God has taken from our father are really ours AND OUR CHILDREN'S; NOW THEN, WHATEVER GOD HAS SAID TO YOU, DO IT." (Genesis 31:16 NKJ)
And he lifted his eyes and saw the women and children, and said, "Who are these with you?" So he said, "THE CHILDREN WHOM GOD HAS GRACIOUSLY GIVEN your servant." (Genesis 33:5 NKJ)
You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and YOU SHALL BE NEAR TO ME, YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN, YOUR CHILDREN'S CHILDREN, your flocks and your herds, and all that you have. (Genesis 45:10 NKJ)
And it shall be, when your children say to you, 'WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THIS SERVICE?' that you shall say, 'IT IS THE PASSOVER SACRIFICE OF THE LORD, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.' " SO THE PEOPLE BOWED THEIR HEADS AND WORSHIPED. (Exodus 12:26-27 NKJ)
Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed CHRIST, OUR PASSOVER, WAS SACRIFICED FOR US. (1 Corinthians 5:7 NKJ)
THEREFORE LET US KEEP THE FEAST, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity AND TRUTH. (1 Corinthians 5:8 NKJ)
"YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FOR YOURSELF A CARVED IMAGE, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; (Exodus 20:4 NKJ)
you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers ON THE CHILDREN TO THE THIRD AND FOURTH GENERATIONS OF THOSE WHO HATE ME,(Exodus 20:5 NKJ; Deuteronomy 5:9 NKJ)
'The Lord is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no means clears the guilty, VISITING THE INIQUITY OF THE FATHERS ON THE CHILDREN TO THE THIRD AND FOURTH GENERATION.' (Numbers 14:18 NKJ)
keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, VISITING THE INIQUITY OF THE FATHERS UPON THE CHILDREN AND THE CHILDREN'S CHILDREN TO THE THIRD AND THE FOURTH GENERATION." (Exodus 34:7 NKJ)
Oh, THAT THEY HAD SUCH A HEART IN THEM that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and WITH THEIR CHILDREN FOREVER! (Exodus 20:6 NKJ)
You shall not eat it, THAT IT MAY GO WELL WITH YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN AFTER YOU, WHEN YOU DO WHAT IS RIGHT IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD. (Deuteronomy 12:25 NKJ)
Observe and OBEY all these words which I command you, THAT IT MAY GO WELL WITH YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN AFTER YOU FOREVER, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God. (Deuteronomy 12:28 NKJ)
FOR HE SAID, "THEY ARE INDEED MY PEOPLE, CHILDREN WHO ARE NOT DISLOYAL." SO HE BECAME THEIR SAVIOR. (Isaiah 63:8 CJB)
THEY WILL NOT TOIL IN VAIN OR RAISE CHILDREN TO BE DESTROYED, FOR THEY ARE THE SEED BLESSED BY ADONAI; AND THEIR OFFSPRING WITH THEM. (ISAIAH 65:23 CJB)
And He said: 'I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end will be, For THEY ARE A PERVERSE GENERATION, CHILDREN IN WHOM IS NO FAITH. (Deuteronomy 32:20 NKJ)
AND ALL THY CHILDREN SHALL BE TAUGHT OF THE LORD; AND GREAT SHALL BE THE PEACE OF THY CHILDREN. (ISAIAH 54:13 KJV)
"YOU ARE THE CHILDREN OF THE LORD YOUR GOD; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave the front of your head for the dead. (Deuteronomy 14:1 NKJ)
that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, THAT HE MAY NOT TURN ASIDE FROM THE COMMANDMENT TO THE RIGHT HAND OR TO THE LEFT, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, HE AND HIS CHILDREN in the midst of Israel. (Deuteronomy 17:20 NKJ)
"But come here, You SONS OF THE SORCERESS, You OFFSPRING OF THE ADULTERER AND THE HARLOT! (Isaiah 57:3 NKJ)
ENFLAMING YOURSELVES WITH IDOLS UNDER EVERY GREEN TREE, SLAYING THE CHILDREN IN THE VALLEYS UNDER THE CLIFTS OF THE ROCKS? (Isaiah 57:5 KJV)
Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, WHICH YOU KEPT BACK BY FRAUD, cry out; and the cries of the reapers HAVE REACHED THE EARS OF THE LORD OF SABAOTH. (James 5:4 NKJ)
'Why have we fasted,' they say, 'and You have not seen? Why have we afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?' "In fact, IN THE DAY OF YOUR FAST YOU FIND PLEASURE, AND EXPLOIT ALL YOUR LABORERS. (Isaiah 58:3 NKJ)
Is it a fast that I have chosen, A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, And to spread out sackcloth and ashes? WOULD YOU CALL THIS A FAST, AND AN ACCEPTABLE DAY TO THE LORD? (Isaiah 58:5 NKJ)
"How can you say, 'We are wise, And the law of the Lord is with us'? Look, THE FALSE PEN OF THE SCRIBE CERTAINLY WORKS FALSEHOOD. (Jeremiah 8:8 NKJ)
Whom do you ridicule? Against whom do you make a wide mouth And stick out the tongue? Are you not children of transgression, Offspring of falsehood, (Isaiah 57:4 NKJ)
The children gather the wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough TO MAKE CAKES FOR THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN; AND, JUST TO PROVOKE ME, THEY POUR OUT DRINK OFFERINGS TO OTHER gods! (Jeremiah 7:18 CJB)
Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers , CHILDREN THAT ARE CORRUPTERS : THEY HAVE FORSAKEN THE LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger , THEY ARE GONE AWAY BACKWARD. (Isaiah 1:4 KJV)
Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, THAT TAKE COUNSEL, BUT NOT OF ME; and that cover with a covering, but not of My Spirit, THAT THEY MAY ADD SIN TO SIN: (Isaiah 30:1 KJV)
While their children remember Their altars and their wooden images By the green trees on the high hills. THUS SAYS THE LORD: "CURSED IS THE MAN WHO TRUSTS IN MAN And makes flesh his strength, WHOSE HEART DEPARTS FROM THE LORD. (Jeremiah 17: 4-5 NKJ)
They have built the high places of Ba'al, in order to burn up their children in the fire as burnt offerings to Ba'al - SOMETHING I NEVER ORDERED OR SAID; IT NEVER EVEN ENTERED MY MIND. (Jeremiah 19:5 CJB)
I will utter My judgments Against them concerning all their wickedness, Because THEY HAVE FORSAKEN ME, Burned incense to other gods, AND WORSHIPED THE WORKS OF THEIR OWN HANDS. (Jeremiah 1:16 NKJ)
You display your grace to thousands but also repay the guilt of the fathers into the lap of THEIR CHILDREN WHO FOLLOW THEM. Great, powerful God, whose name is ADONAI-Tzva'ot, (Jeremiah 32:18 CJB)
I will give them singleness of heart and singleness of purpose, so that they will fear me forever - THIS WILL BE FOR THEIR OWN GOOD AND FOR THE GOOD OF THEIR CHILDREN AFTER THEM. (Jeremiah 32:39 CJB)
Now therefore, THUS SAYS THE LORD, THE GOD OF HOSTS, THE GOD OF ISRAEL: 'WHY DO YOU COMMIT THIS GREAT EVIL AGAINST YOURSELVES, to cut off from you man and woman, child and infant, out of Judah, leaving none to remain, (Jeremiah 44:7 NKJ)
KILLING MY CHILDREN, handing them over and setting them apart for [these idols]? (Ezekiel 16:21 CJB)
They have dealt treacherously with the Lord, FOR THEY HAVE BEGOTTEN PAGAN CHILDREN. Now a New Moon shall devour them and their heritage. (Hosea 5:7 NKJ)
"I will stretch out My hand against Judah, And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I WILL CUT OFF EVERY TRACE OF BAAL FROM THIS PLACE, THE NAMES OF THE IDOLATROUS PRIESTS WITH THE PAGAN PRIESTS--(Zephaniah 1:4 NKJ)
In all your dwelling places the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate, so that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, your idols may be broken and made to cease, your incense altars may be cut down, and YOUR WORKS MAY BE ABOLISHED. (Ezekiel 6:6 NKJ)
Thus says the Lord God: "Because your filthiness was poured out and your nakedness uncovered in your harlotry with your lovers, and WITH ALL YOUR ABOMINABLE IDOLS, and BECAUSE OF THE BLOOD OF YOUR CHILDREN WHICH YOU GAVE TO THEM, (Ezekiel 16:36 NKJ)
Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him, who was beloved of his God; and God made him king over all Israel. NEVERTHELESS PAGAN WOMEN CAUSED EVEN HIM TO SIN. (Nehemiah 13:26 NKJ)
Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after OTHER gods: BUT HE KEPT NOT THAT WHICH THE LORD COMMANDED . (1 Kings 11:10)
Should we then hear of your doing all THIS GREAT EVIL, transgressing AGAINST OUR GOD by MARRYING PAGAN WOMEN?" (Nehemiah 13:27 NKJ)
But King SOLOMON LOVED MANY FOREIGN WOMEN, as well as THE DAUGHTER OF PHARAOH: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites-- (1 Kings 11:1)
Thus I CLEANSED THEM OF EVERYTHING PAGAN. I also assigned duties to the priests and the Levites, each to his service, (Nehemiah 13:30 NKJ)
No, what I am saying is that the things which PAGANS SACRIFICE, they sacrifice NOT TO GOD BUT TO DEMONS; and I don't want you to become sharers of the demons! (1 Corinthians 10:20 CJB)
For SOLOMON WENT AFTER ASHTORETH the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. (1 Kings 11:5)
Rather, he lived in the manner of the kings of Isra'el; HE EVEN MADE HIS SON PASS THROUGH FIRE [AS A SACRIFICE], IN KEEPING WITH THE ABOMINABLE PRACTICES OF THE PAGANS, whom ADONAI had thrown out ahead of the people of Isra'el. (2 Kings 16:3 CJB)
"I found Israel Like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers As the firstfruits on the fig tree in its first season. But THEY WENT TO BAAL PEOR, AND SEPARATED THEMSELVES to that shame; THEY BECAME AN ABOMINATION LIKE THE THING THEY LOVED. (Hosea 9:10)
Moreover, he made offerings in the Ben-Hinnom Valley and even burned up his own children as sacrifices, in keeping with the HORRIBLE PRACTICES OF THE PAGANS, whom ADONAI had thrown out ahead of the people of Isra'el. (2 Chronicles 28:3 CJB)
For THE STATUTES OF OMRI ARE KEPT; All the works of Ahab's house ARE DONE; And YOU WALK IN THEIR COUNSELS, That I may make you a desolation, And your inhabitants a hissing. Therefore you shall bear the reproach of My people." (Micah 6:16 NKJ)
You know that when you were pagans, NO MATTER HOW YOU FELT YOU WERE BEING LED, you were being led ASTRAY TO IDOLS, which can't speak at all. (1 Corinthians 12:2 CJB)
Therefore I say this - indeed, in union with the Lord I insist on it: DO NOT LIVE ANY LONGER AS THE PAGANS LIVE, with their sterile ways of thinking. (Ephesians 4:17 CJB)
For YOU HAVE SPENT ENOUGH TIME ALREADY LIVING THE WAY THE PAGANS WANT YOU TO live - in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, wild parties and FORBIDDEN IDOL-WORSHIP. (1 Peter 4:3 CJB)
But ALL THEIR WORKS THEY DO TO BE SEEN BY MEN. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. (Matthew 23:5 NKJ)
PHYLACTERIES--Used as early as the 3rd century B.C. Modern Jews wear phylacteries on an undergarment called a tallith (prayer veil).
"Again, you shall say to the children of Israel: 'Whoever of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell in Israel, WHO GIVES ANY OF HIS DESCENDANTS TO MOLECH, he shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. (Leviticus 20:2 NKJ)
without giving in to lustful desires, LIKE THE PAGANS WHO DON'T KNOW GOD. (1 Thessalonians 4:5 CJB)
"Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'THE FEASTS OF THE LORD, which you shall PROCLAIM TO BE HOLY CONVOCATIONS, THESE ARE MY FEASTS. (Leviticus 23:2 NKJ)
So Moses declared to the children of Israel THE FEASTS OF THE LORD (Leviticus 23:44 NKJ)
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your GOOD works AND GLORIFY YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN. (Matthew 5:16 NKJ)
WE WILL NOT HIDE THEM FROM THEIR CHILDREN, TELLING TO THE GENERATION TO COME THE PRAISES OF THE LORD, AND HIS STRENGTH AND HIS WONDERFUL WORKS THAT HE HAS DONE. (Psalms 78:4 NKJ)
By this we know that we love the children of God, WHEN WE LOVE GOD AND KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS. (1 John 5:2 NKJ)
FOR THIS IS THE LOVE OF GOD, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. (1 John 5:3 NKJ)
HERE IS THE PATIENCE OF THE SAINTS; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. (Revelation 14:12 NKJ)
And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, WHO KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD AND HAVE THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS CHRIST. (Revelation 12:17 NKJ)
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, FOR THIS IS MAN'S ALL. (Ecclesiastes 12:13 NKJ)
And THEY WERE BOTH RIGHTEOUS BEFORE GOD, WALKING IN ALL THE COMMANDMENTS AND ORDINANCES OF THE LORD BLAMELESS. (Luke 1:6 NKJ)
Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, BUT KEEPING THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD IS WHAT MATTERS. (1 Corinthians 7:19 NKJ)
THE LORD WILL ESTABLISH YOU AS A HOLY PEOPLE TO HIMSELF, just as He has sworn to you, IF YOU KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF THE LORD YOUR GOD AND WALK IN HIS WAYS. (Deuteronomy 28:9 NKJ)
REPENTANCE IS NECESSARY FOR "SIN"--INCLUDING "UNINTENTIONAL" SIN (FOR GOD WILL NOT DWELL IN "SIN" AND HE LIES NOT) 'SEE IT AS ALL SCRIPTURE AS SPIRITUAL FOR GOD IS SPIRIT--WE ARE "PHYSICAL" (SEE LEV 4). ALL OF THE CEREMONIAL, RITUAL, CLEANSING, PHYSICAL ORDINANCES AND SACRIFICES ALL POINTED TO CHRIST, HIS WORK DURING HIS FIRST COMING--HIS WORK SINCE HIS SECOND COMING--AND HIS WORK WHEN HE COMES TO ESTABLISH THE KINGDOM OF GOD ON EARTH, REIGNING FOR 1,000 YRS WITH THE 144,000. SIN IS SIN TO GOD AND WE FIND THAT BREAKING ANY ONE POINT IS BREAKING THEM ALL AND WE FIND THAT THE LAW OF GOD IS A "SPIRITUAL" LAW, INVOLVING NOT ONLY THE ACTIONS BUT ALSO THE THOUGHTS, ATTITUDES AND WORDS OF OUR MOUTH. FOR WE COMMIT MURDER WHEN WE HAVE HATE IN OUR HEART FOR ANOTHER; AS THOUGHTS OF LUST MAKE US ADULTERERS--AS DO KEEPING DAYS CREATED BY SATAN AND HIS DEMONS MAKE US "SPIRITUAL" ADULTERERS--IDOLATERS!!! BREAKING ONE OF MORE OF GOD'S TEN COMMANDMENTS IS BREAKING THEM ALL TO GOD; SIN IS SIN AND SIN IS THE BREAKING OF GOD'S TEN (AND NOT HAVING FAITH IN HIS WORD--WRITTEN--THE "HOLY" BIBLE; MADE FLESH--"CHRIST" THE MESSIAH).
So the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "SPEAK TO THE CONGREGATION, saying, 'Get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.' " Then Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. And he spoke to the congregation, SAYING, "DEPART NOW FROM THE TENTS OF THESE WICKED MEN! TOUCH NOTHING OF THEIRS, LEST YOU BE CONSUMED IN ALL THEIR SINS." And he spoke to the congregation, saying, "Depart now from the tents of these wicked men! Touch nothing of theirs, lest you be consumed in all their sins." So they got away from around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents, with their wives, their sons, and their little children. (Numbers 16:23-27 NKJ)
And I heard another voice from heaven saying, "COME OUT OF HER, MY PEOPLE, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. (Revelation 18:4 NKJ)
ONE GENERATION SHALL PRAISE YOUR WORKS TO ANOTHER, And shall declare Your mighty acts. (Psalms 145:4 NKJ)
and said, "Yes! I tell you that unless you change and BECOME LIKE LITTLE CHILDREN, you won't even enter the Kingdom of Heaven! (Matthew 18:3 CJB)--{WE MUST BE TEACHABLE (HUMBLE BEFORE OUR FATHER AND TEACHER}
Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN BELONGS TO SUCH AS THESE." (Matthew 19:14 NIV)
"Do you hear what these children are saying?" they asked Him. "Yes," replied Jesus, "have you never read, " 'FROM THE LIPS OF CHILDREN AND INFANTS YOU HAVE ORDAINED PRAISE'?" (Matthew 21:16 NIV)
For you used to be darkness; but now, united with the Lord, you are light. LIVE LIKE CHILDREN OF LIGHT, (Ephesians 5:8 CJB)
so that you may be blameless and pure children of God, without defect IN THE MIDST OF A TWISTED AND PERVERTED GENERATION, among whom you shine like stars in the sky, (Philippians 2:15 CJB)
So it is with us - WHEN WE WERE "CHILDREN" WE WERE SLAVES TO THE ELEMENTAL SPIRITS OF THE UNIVERSE;(Galatians 4:3 CJB)
SO IMITATE GOD, AS HIS DEAR CHILDREN; (Ephesians 5:1 CJB)
FOR THE PROMISE IS TO YOU AND TO YOUR CHILDREN, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call." (Acts 2:39 NKJ)
He has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: " 'YOU ARE MY SON; TODAY I HAVE BECOME YOUR FATHER. ' (Acts 13:33 NIV)
SO, SINCE WE ARE CHILDREN OF GOD, WE SHOULDN'T SUPPOSE that God's essence resembles gold, silver or stone shaped by human technique and imagination. (Acts 17:29 CJB)
"'I said to their children in the desert, "DON'T LIVE BY THE LAWS OF YOUR FATHERS, OBSERVE THEIR RULINGS OR DEFILE YOURSELVES WITH THEIR IDOLS. (Ezekiel 20:18 CJB
They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons. (Psalms 106:37 CJB)
"BUT THAT GENERATION ALSO DEFIED ME. THEY BROKE MY LAWS AND DID NOT KEEP MY COMMANDS, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. THEY PROFANED THE SABBATH. I was ready to let them feel THE FORCE OF MY ANGER there in the desert and to kill them all. (Ezekiel 20:21 GNT)
"I will not have mercy on her children, For they are the children of harlotry. (Hosea 2:4 NKJ)
and WHEN OFFERING YOUR GIFTS, YOU MAKE YOUR CHILDREN PASS THROUGH THE FIRE AND DEFILE YOURSELVES WITH ALL YOUR IDOLS - to this day. So, am I supposed to allow you to consult me, house of Isra'el? As I live,' says Adonai ELOHIM, 'I swear that I won't have you consult me, (Ezekiel 20:31 CJB)
For I considered all this in my heart, so that I could declare it all: that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God. PEOPLE KNOW NEITHER LOVE NOR HATRED BY ANYTHING THEY SEE BEFORE THEM. (Ecclesiastes 9:1 NKJ)
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; BECAUSE YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN THE LAW OF YOUR GOD, I also will forget your children. (Hosea 4:6 NKJ)
For AFTER KILLING THEIR CHILDREN FOR THEIR IDOLS, they came THE SAME DAY INTO MY SANCTUARY TO PROFANE IT; this they did IN MY HOUSE. (Ezekiel 23:39 CJB)
When the Lord first spoke to Israel through Hosea, he said to Hosea, "Go and get married; your wife will be unfaithful, and your children will be just like her. IN THE SAME WAY MY PEOPLE HAVE LEFT ME AND BECOME UNFAITHFUL." (Hosea 1:2 GNT)--{GOD GIVES MANY "PHYSICAL" EXAMPLES TO SHOW "SPIRITUAL" ADULTRY--UNFAITHFULNESS TO HIM.
FOR YOUR MAKER IS YOUR HUSBAND, The Lord of hosts is His name; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called THE GOD OF THE WHOLE EARTH. (Isaiah 54:5 NKJ)
BRING CHARGES AGAINST YOUR MOTHER, bring charges; For SHE IS NOT MY WIFE, nor am I her Husband! Let her put away HER HARLOTRIES from her sight, And HER ADULTERIES from between her breasts; (Hosea 2:2 NKJ)
And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. (Revelation 17:5 NKJ)
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, MY SOUL SHALL BE JOYFUL IN MY GOD; For HE HAS CLOTHED ME WITH THE GARMENTS OF SALVATION, HE HAS COVERED ME WITH THE ROBE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. (Isaiah 61:10 NKJ)
For as a young man marries a virgin, So shall your sons marry you; And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, SO SHALL YOUR GOD REJOICE OVER YOU. (Isaiah 62:5 NKJ)
the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, THE VOICE OF THE BRIDEGROOM AND THE VOICE OF THE BRIDE, THE VOICE OF THOSE WHO WILL SAY: "PRAISE THE LORD OF HOSTS, FOR THE LORD IS GOOD, FOR HIS MERCY ENDURES FOREVER"-- and of those who will BRING THE SACRIFICE OF PRAISE INTO THE HOUSE OF THE LORD. For I will cause the captives of the land to return as at the first,' says the Lord. (Jeremiah 33:11 NKJ)
Then I, John, saw THE HOLY CITY, NEW JERUSALEM, coming down OUT OF HEAVEN FROM GOD, prepared AS A BRIDE ADORNED FOR HER HUSBAND. (Revelation 21:2 NKJ)
Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, "COME, I WILL SHOW YOU THE BRIDE, THE LAMB'S WIFE." (Revelation 21:9 NKJ)
And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" AND LET HIM WHO HEARS SAY, "COME!" And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:17 NKJ)
"Oh, WHAT CAN I COMPARE THIS GENERATION WITH? They're like children sitting in the marketplaces, calling out to each other, (Matthew 11:16 CJB)
"I will sow them among the peoples, And THEY SHALL REMEMBER ME IN FAR COUNTRIES; They shall live, together with their children, And they shall return. (Zechariah 10:9 NKJ)
A TEACHER OF THE FOOLISH, having in the law THE FORM OF KNOWLEDGE and of what is true; (Romans 2:20 BBE)
AND HE WILL TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS TO THE CHILDREN, AND THE HEARTS OF THE CHILDREN TO THEIR FATHERS, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse." (Malachi 4:6 NKJ)
Have you not known? HAVE YOU NOT HEARD? HAS IT NOT BEEN TOLD YOU FROM THE BEGINNING? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? (Isaiah 40:21 NKJ)
Who has performed and done it, Calling the generations from the beginning? ' I, THE LORD, AM THE FIRST; AND WITH THE LAST I AM HE.' " (Isaiah 41:4 NKJ)
WHO HAS DECLARED FROM THE BEGINNING, THAT WE MAY KNOW? And former times, that we may say, 'HE IS RIGHTEOUS'? Surely there is no one who shows, Surely there is no one who declares, SURELY THERE IS NO ONE WHO HEARS YOUR WORDS. (Isaiah 41:26 NKJ)
Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, 'MY COUNSEL SHALL STAND, And I will do all My pleasure,' (Isaiah 46:10 NKJ)
"I HAVE DECLARED THE FORMER THINGS FROM THE BEGINNING; THEY WENT FORTH FROM MY MOUTH, and I caused them to hear it. Suddenly I did them, and they came to pass. (Isaiah 48:3 NKJ)
EVEN FROM THE BEGINNING I HAVE DECLARED IT TO YOU; BEFORE IT CAME TO PASS I PROCLAIMED IT TO YOU, Lest you should say, 'My idol has done them, And my carved image and my molded image Have commanded them.' (Isaiah 48:5 NKJ)
"Come near to Me, hear this: I HAVE NOT SPOKEN IN SECRET FROM THE BEGINNING; From the time that it was, I was there. And now the Lord God and His Spirit Have sent Me." (Isaiah 48:16 NKJ)
He said to them, "Moses, BECAUSE OF THE HARDNESS OF YOUR HEARTS, permitted you to divorce your wives, BUT FROM THE BEGINNING IT WAS NOT SO. (Matthew 19:8 NKJ)
But from the beginning of the creation, GOD 'MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE.' (Mark 10:6 NKJ)
just as THOSE WHO FROM THE BEGINNING were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, (Luke 1:2 NKJ)
But there are some of you who do not believe." FOR JESUS KNEW FROM THE BEGINNING WHO THEY WERE WHO DID NOT BELIEVE, AND WHO WOULD BETRAY HIM. (John 6:64 NKJ)
YOU ARE OF YOUR FATHER THE DEVIL, and THE DESIRES OF YOUR FATHER YOU WANT TO DO. He was a murderer from the beginning, and DOES NOT STAND IN THE TRUTH, BECAUSE THERE IS NO TRUTH IN HIM. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, FOR HE IS A LIAR AND THE FATHER OF IT. (John 8:44 NKJ)
He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8 NKJ)
I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that NO LIE IS OF THE TRUTH. (1 John 2:21 NKJ)
And HE IS THE HEAD OF THE BODY, THE CHURCH, who is the beginning, tHE FIRSTBORN FROM THE DEAD, that in all things He may have the preeminence. (Colossians 1:18 NKJ)
But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation THROUGH SANCTIFICATION BY THE SPIRIT AND BELIEF IN THE TRUTH, (2 Thessalonians 2:13 NKJ)
and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation."(2 Peter 3:4 NKJ)--{THIS INCLUDES THE "SABBATH" WHICH HAS BEEN SINCE "THE BEGINNING"--THE FIRST WEEK OF CREATION--WHEN GOD REFORMED AND REFASHIONED THE EARTH FOR US, MANKIND, FOR IT HAD "BECOME" VOID AND WITHOUT FORM AFTER SATAN AND 1/3 OF THE ANGELS--FALLEN ANGELS--DEMONS--REBELLED AGAINST THE "WORD/WILL OF GOD"}
THAT WHICH WAS FROM THE BEGINNING, WHICH WE HAVE HEARD, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life-- (1 John 1:1 NKJ)
Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. THE OLD COMMANDMENT IS THE WORD WHICH YOU HEARD FROM THE BEGINNING. (1 John 2:7 NKJ)
I write to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, Because YOU HAVE OVERCOME THE WICKED ONE. I write to you, little children, Because you have known the Father. (1 John 2:13 NKJ)
For this is THE MESSAGE THAT YOU HEARD FROM THE BEGINNING, THAT WE SHOULD LOVE ONE ANOTHER, (1 John 3:11 NKJ)
And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had FROM THE BEGINNING: THAT WE LOVE ONE ANOTHER. (2 John 1:5 NKJ)
THIS IS LOVE, THAT WE WALK ACCORDING TO HIS COMMANDMENTS. THIS IS THE COMMANDMENT, THAT AS YOU HAVE HEARD FROM THE BEGINNING, YOU SHOULD WALK IN IT. (2 John 1:6 NKJ)
I have written to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, And YOU HAVE OVERCOME THE WICKED ONE. (1 John 2:14 NKJ)
THEREFORE LET THAT ABIDE IN YOU WHICH YOU HEARD FROM THE BEGINNING. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. (1 John 2:24 NKJ)
And it shall be that THE ROD OF THE MAN WHOM I CHOOSE WILL BLOSSOM; thus I will rid Myself of the complaints of the children of Israel, which they make against you." (Numbers 17:5 NKJ)
"How long shall I bear with this EVIL CONGREGATION who complain against Me? I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make AGAINST ME. (Numbers 14:27 NKJ)
Moreover YOUR LITTLE ONES AND YOUR CHILDREN, who you say will be victims, who today have no knowledge of good and evil, THEY SHALL GO IN THERE; to them I will give it, and they shall possess it. (Deuteronomy 1:39 NKJ)
And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, spoke up and said to Ezra, "WE HAVE TRESPASSED AGAINST OUR GOD, AND HAVE TAKEN PAGAN WIVES FROM THE PEOPLES OF THE LAND; yet now there is hope in Israel in spite of this. (Ezra 10:2 NKJ)
Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, "YOU HAVE TRANSGRESSED AND HAVE TAKEN PAGAN WIVES, ADDING TO THE GUILT OF ISRAEL. (Ezra 10:10 NKJ)
NOW THEREFORE, MAKE CONFESSION TO THE LORD GOD OF YOUR FATHERS, AND DO HIS WILL; SEPARATE YOURSELVES FROM THE PEOPLES OF THE LAND, AND FROM THE PAGAN WIVES." (EZRA 10:11 NKJ)
PLEASE, LET THE LEADERS OF OUR ENTIRE ASSEMBLY STAND; and let all those in our cities who have taken PAGAN WIVES come AT APPOINTED TIMES, together with the elders and judges of their cities, until the fierce wrath of our God is turned away from us in this matter." (Ezra 10:14 NKJ)
