During His last Passover with His disciples, Jesus explained that this celebration has significant implications for the future as well. In Matthew 26:29 He told them, "I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on UNTIL that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom."
The expression "the Lord's Supper" is found only once in the New Testament. It appears in 1 Corinthians 11:20, where Paul was discussing the observance of the New Testament Passover. Jesus Christ Himself specifically referred to this observance as the Passover (Luke 22:8, 11, 15). He observed Passover, with the new symbols of bread and wine, on the date specified in Leviticus 23. This annual observance should be kept on the 14th day of the first month on God's Sacred calender given to the Hebrews (according to the oracles of God).
The Passover is observed as a memorial to Christ's death (1 Corinthians 5:7; 11:20-27). It takes place just once a year. This is certainly the custom of memorial observances described in the Bible, and it is the typical pattern of secular memorial observances.
As a youth, Jesus observed the Passover annually with His family at the specified time (Luke 2:41). He continued this yearly practice with His disciples (Luke 22:7-15). After His death and resurrection, the early Church continued to observe the annual festivals listed in Leviticus 23. For example, Luke records that Jesus' followers met to observe the Feast of Pentecost: "When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place" (Acts 2:1).
Scripture gives no hint of the early Church adding to or changing the dates God appointed for observing His festivals. The phrase in 1 Corinthians 11:26—"for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup"—does not mean at any time members might arbitrarily choose to partake of these symbols. It means whenever they actually did partake of them as part of the Passover ceremony—which was once a year. Paul was simply pointing out that by observing the New Testament Passover each year on the appropriate day, members were "proclaiming the Lord's death till He comes."
The Bible specifies that the Passover ceremony should be observed annually. As a memorial of Jesus' death, it should be observed once a year at the specified time rather than whenever one chooses.
Following the original disciples' example, we should observe the Passover at the beginning of the evening of the 14th day of the first month of the Hebrew calendar.
Passover falls in early spring in the Holy Land and is a reminder of how God spared His people from death in Egypt. To rescue His people from slavery (SPIRITUAL ASPECT: SLAVERY AND EGYPT REPRESENT SIN, BONDAGE TO THIS WORLD AND PHARAOH SATAN), God took the lives of all the firstborn Egyptian males (Exodus 12:7, 26-29) but passed over the Israelites' homes that had the blood of a sacrificed lamb on their door frames.
The blood of the Passover lamb foreshadowed the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which passes over the sins of people who repent in order to spare them from eternal death. The New Testament makes clear that Christ is the true Passover Lamb (compare Exodus 12:21 with 1 Corinthians 5:7). In observing His last Passover with His disciples, Jesus explained that the symbols of bread and wine represent His body and blood, offered by Him for the forgiveness (or passing over) of our sins and the death penalty our sins have earned for us (Matthew 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24).
The death of Christ actually took place during the daylight hours that followed the Passover evening—which was still the same date according to Hebrew sunset-to-sunset reckoning.
Christ was sacrificed on Passover.
The New Testament Passover is a memorial of the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. This is also when baptized members of the Church of God (the "spiritual" Body of Christ) renew our agreement to come under the blood of Jesus Christ, the perfect Passover Lamb, for the forgiveness of our sins. We approach this period of the year with deep spiritual introspection. We commemorate the Passover on the 14th day of the first month of the sacred year with a service based on the instructions of 1 Corinthians 11:23-28 and the Gospel accounts of the New Testament Passover that Christ instituted.
This solemn service begins with a brief explanation of its purpose, followed by foot-washing (based on Christ's example and instructions in John 13). Then the minister gives an explanation of the symbols of the Passover, unleavened bread and wine, which represent the body and blood of our Savior. Each baptized member of the Church eats a small piece of the unleavened bread and drinks a small glass of the wine (Mark 14:22-24).
Christians who observe this annual memorial marking Jesus' death (1 Corinthians 11:26) are reminded that eternal life is possible only through Him (John 6:47-54; Acts 4:10-12). Jesus' sacrifice is the starting point for salvation and the foundation of the annual feast days that follow. The next ones are the 1st & 7th Days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Our covenant with God
The blood of Christ also signifies that He has entered into a covenant, or agreement. As we've seen, when Jesus presented the wine to His disciples during the observance of their final Passover together, He told them, "This is My blood of the new covenant" (Matthew 26:27-28).
Why is this wine called the "blood of the new covenant"? The writer of the book of Hebrews explains that, after God at Mount Sinai enjoined on ancient Israel what is now called the Old Covenant, and after the Israelites' response of obedient commitment, the covenant was ratified by the ceremony of the sprinkling of blood. The Bible writers called this the "blood of the covenant" (Hebrews 9:18-20; 13:20; Exodus 24:3-8).
We must understand that repentance, baptism and the acceptance of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ—along with belief in His promise to forgive our sin—constitutes a covenant with God. Through this covenant, which we gratefully accept and can completely rely on (Hebrews 6:17-20), God grants us eternal life. By accepting the sacrifice of Christ for the remission of sin, we enter into a covenant relationship with the God of the universe. The terms of this covenant are absolute, because it was sealed with the shed blood of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 9:11-12, 15). We are reminded of this covenant every year when we partake of the Passover.
What are the terms of this covenant relationship? "'This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,' then He adds, 'Their sins and lawless deeds I will remember no more'" (Hebrews 10:16-17).
Ancient Israel did not have the heart to faithfully keep God's commandments (Deuteronomy 5:29). Under the New Covenant, however, God writes His law in our hearts and minds. His laws are not those of physical purification contained in the system of sacrifices, washings and rituals in the tabernacle. Instead, they are the holy and righteous laws that define right behavior toward God and neighbor (Romans 7:12) and lead to eternal life (Matthew 19:17). Our drinking of the Passover wine is symbolic of our acceptance of this covenant relationship that is ratified by the blood of Jesus Christ.
Access to the Father
Christ's shed blood also makes possible our access to the very throne of God the Father. Under the Old Covenant only the high priest could enter the area of the tabernacle known as the Most Holy Place or Holiest of All (Hebrews 9:6-10). The "mercy seat" positioned there represented God's throne. Leviticus 16 describes the ceremony that took place each year on another of God's sacred occasions, the Day of Atonement. At that time the high priest took the blood of a goat, representing the future sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and sprinkled it on the mercy seat so the Israelites could be symbolically cleansed of all their sins (verses 15-16).
Because the blood of Jesus Christ removes sin, making us pure before God, we can enjoy direct access to the Father (Hebrews 9:24). Jesus, as our High Priest, entered into the Most Holy Place through His own blood (Hebrews 9:11-12). We can now approach God the Father without hesitation or fear of rejection, but with confidence and assurance (Hebrews 10:19-22).
Hebrews 4:16 speaks of this confidence we can have in approaching God: "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Jesus Christ makes it possible for us to experience this intimate relationship with our Father.
The meaning of the Passover wine
Why did Jesus command His disciples to drink wine as a symbol of His blood during the Passover service? What does this symbolize?
It had become tradition among the Jews to drink wine at meals on sacred occasions, including the Passover. But Jesus attached special meaning to the wine on this night: "Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom'" (Matthew 26:27-29).
What are we to learn from this symbol? First, Christ knew that drinking a little wine as a symbol of His shed blood would impress deeply on our minds that His death was for the forgiveness of our sins. "This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me" (1 Corinthians 11:25). Jesus "loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood" (Revelation 1:5). God forgives our sins through Jesus' shed blood (1 John 1:7).
Many people normally understand this tenet—that God forgives our sins through Jesus Christ's blood—but not everyone realizes how it occurs. Paul explained that "according to the Law . . . all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness [of sin]" (Hebrews 9:22, New American Standard Bible).
The Old Testament records God instructing the priesthood to perform certain duties that included a system of cleansing and purification using the blood of sacrificed animals, thus foreshadowing the shedding of Christ's blood, the ultimate sacrifice for sin. He commanded the nation of Israel to follow this temporary system of the ritualistic cleansing of sin (Hebrews 9:9-10). Animal sacrifices served as a type of the one and only real and future sacrifice, Jesus Christ, who would pay the penalty for everyone's sins once and for all.
The Bible teaches that one's life is in his blood (Genesis 9:4). When a person loses sufficient blood, he or she dies. Therefore blood, when poured out, makes the atonement for sin, which produces death (Leviticus 17:11). Jesus lost His blood when He was scourged, crucified and pierced (Luke 22:20; Isaiah 53:12). He poured out His blood, dying for the sins of humanity.
In partaking of the wine at the Passover service, we should carefully consider its meaning. That small portion of wine represents the very life blood that flowed from Jesus Christ's dying body for the remission of our sins (Ephesians 1:7). With this forgiveness comes freedom from eternal death.
Not only does Jesus Christ's blood completely cover our sins, but it makes possible the removal of our guilt. Hebrews 9:13-14 compares the physical sacrifice of an animal with the blood of Christ: "For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"
The word conscience comes from the Latin word conscire, meaning "to be conscious of guilt." Our conscience is our awareness of right and wrong.
Our partaking of wine in the New Testament Passover ceremony is an expression of faith that God really has forgiven us. We are free from sin and guilt (John 3:17-18), and our hearts are "made free from the sense of sin" (Hebrews 10:22, Bible in Basic English). We live in newness of life with a clear conscience (Romans 6:14).
Some people, however, feel guilty even after they have repented. Although our consciences should readily convict us when we sin again, we should not continue to condemn ourselves over sins God has already forgiven. Instead, we should be fully confident in our God-given freedom from guilt (1 John 1:9; 3:19-20).
A relationship leading to a new way of life
The Passover bread reminds us of the close relationship Christians have with Jesus Christ. In Romans 6:1-6 Paul shows that, once we are symbolically united with Christ in death through baptism, "we should no longer be slaves of sin" but "should walk in newness of life." Eating the bread demonstrates our commitment to allow Christ to live in us.
The apostle Paul describes this uniting with Christ in Galatians 2:20: "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me" (KJV). Paul understood that pursuing his own ways was no longer his life's focus. His relationship with Jesus Christ became supremely important to him.
The apostle John tells us what Christ expects of us in our relationship with Him: "Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments . . . He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked" (1 John 2:3-6).
The Passover bread reinforces our understanding that Jesus Christ, the true "bread of life," must live within us, enabling us to live an entirely new life. God forgives our sins to sanctify us—to continue to set us apart for a holy purpose, to redeem us (that is, purchase us for a price). We now belong to God so He can fulfill His purpose in us.
The bread: symbol of Christ's body
Later, while the disciples were eating, Jesus explained that one of them would soon betray Him (Matthew 26:21-25). But notice verse 26: "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed it and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body.'" So the unleavened bread eaten in the Old Testament Passover was to take on new significance for the disciples.
Christ's body was to become a sacrificial offering for sin, for indeed "we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this man . . . offered one sacrifice for sins forever . . . For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified" (Hebrews 10:10-14). By accepting Jesus Christ's sacrifice in place of our own death upon our repentance and faith, God forgives us and "sanctifies" us—sets us apart—for the holy purpose of obedience to Him.
Our decision to eat the Passover bread means we understand that Jesus Christ has "put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself" (Hebrews 9:26). He willingly consented to suffer an excruciating death for us. Christ bore in His body mental and physical suffering brought on by sin.
Jesus' sacrifice is also intricately associated with our healing. Peter wrote of Christ's suffering that He "bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed" (1 Peter 2:24). Isaiah prophesied of Jesus' suffering on our behalf: "Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:4-5).
Matthew 8:16-17, describing incidents of healing in Jesus' ministry, states that He helped "many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: 'He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.'"
Jesus showed that He was the promised Messiah by miraculous healings. But besides demonstrating His compassion, such healings showed that Christ possessed the power to forgive sin (Matthew 9:2-6).
Sin brings suffering! The ultimate healing made possible by Christ's complete sacrifice includes the whole person, alleviating and eliminating the mental, emotional and physical sufferings that result from our sins.
Through the forgiveness of our sins, Christ also made possible our receiving eternal life. "I am the bread of life," He said. "Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness [the nourishing substance God provided throughout Israel's 40-year desert wandering], and are dead. This [Christ referring here to Himself] is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world" (John 6:48-51).
A lesson in humility and service
The apostle John described the events of Jesus Christ's last evening with His disciples: "Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end." During the meal Jesus "rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded" (John 13:1-5).
Washing the feet of another was an act of lowly servitude (1 Samuel 25:41). Jesus stooped down to wash the disciples' feet Himself to teach an important spiritual lesson. The account continues: "So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, 'Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet'" (verses 12-14).
Jesus left His disciples with a lasting reminder of the importance of humble service to others. This reinforced an earlier lesson He had given them recorded in Matthew 20:25-28, where He admonished His disciples about the wrong and right kind of leadership: "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."
The simple act of washing the feet of others teaches us a vital lesson intimately associated with the Passover. He concluded: "I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you" (John 13:15). How many Christians today follow Christ's example and obey His simple instruction to wash each other's feet, and exemplify that attitude in their lives? As the redeemed possession of God through Christ's sacrifice, our lives should be devoted to the service of God and our fellow man.
God's Passover instruction
As previously mentioned, God through Moses told Pharaoh, "Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness" (Exodus 5:1). Through a series of plagues, God displayed His great power and delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. After nine plagues He gave Israel specific instructions about the next and final terrifying calamity and the steps each Israelite family should take to escape it.
God said that on the 10th day of the first month (in the spring in the Middle East) each Israelite was to select a lamb or goat large enough to feed each household (Exodus 12:3). The animal chosen was to be a yearling male without any sort of defect. On the 14th day of that month at evening, the Israelites were to kill the animals and place some of their blood on the doorposts of their homes. The animals were then to be roasted and eaten along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
The Creator further instructed the Israelites that on this evening He would kill all the firstborn of Egypt to convince Pharaoh to release the Israelites from slavery. The firstborn of each Israelite family would be protected if the sign of the blood were on the entrance of their homes. God would "pass over" their homes to spare them—thus the meaning of the name of this observance (verse 13).
God said this day would be to the Israelites a memorial, "and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance" (verse 14). Bible writers later explained that the annual Passover observance symbolized Christ. Paul, as we just saw, referred to Christ as "our Passover" (1 Corinthians 5:7), and the apostle John recorded that John the Baptist recognized Christ as "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29).
The unblemished male animal represented Jesus Christ as the perfect, sinless sacrifice who died in our place, His death paying the penalty for our sins and reconciling us to God. Hebrews 9:11-12 tells us that "Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come . . . not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption." Jesus Christ bought us with His blood, pouring out His life as our Passover lamb so our sins could be forgiven.
Why did Jesus Christ have to die? Our Savior had to die because that was the only way God could mercifully forgive our sins while maintaining the integrity of His law and perfect justice. The Bible tells us that sin is the violation of God's law of love (1 John 3:4). We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). We have each earned the death penalty for our disobedience (Romans 5:12; 6:23).
Paul illustrated the profound love of Jesus Christ in giving up His life on our behalf (Romans 5:6-8). All would be doomed eternally had not the penalty for our sins been paid somehow. Christ, who lived a perfect life as the unblemished Lamb of God, substituted His death for ours. In fact, His death was the only possible substitution for ours. His sacrifice became the payment for our sins. He died in our place so we could share life with Him forever. We can no longer live according to our own desires. We become God's redeemed, or bought and paid-for, possession (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
Both Jesus and Paul made it clear that the Passover is to continue as a Christian observance. Jesus Himself specified elements of the Passover meal that would still be ceremonially partaken of to teach Christians important truths about Himself and God's continuing plan of salvation.
The Passover sacrifice in the Old Testament foreshadowed Christ's Sacrifice. The New Testament Passover memorializes that Sacrifice. By observing the Passover, we "proclaim the Lord's death till He comes"
(1 Corinthians 11:26).
And He said to me, "Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it a trivial thing to the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they commit here? For they have filled the land with violence; then they have returned to provoke Me to anger. Indeed they put the branch to their nose.
(Ezekiel 8:17 NKJ)
Many of today's customs came into Christianity through Constantine who, in 325 AD, began the process of converting the official PAGAN religion of the Roman Empire to Christianity.Christianity was modeled on many customs that were familiar and acceptable to Jews and PAGANS at that time, when religion and belief were intertwined with superstition.
Christmas is one of the biggest events on the Christian calendar, yet the customs we associate with the event are steeped in PAGANISM.Pesach (Hebrew) in english is Passover, Easter is Ishtar, (Semiramis, widow of Nimrod, mother of Tammuz) the name of the bare breasted pegan fertility goddess of the east who came out of heaven in a giant egg, landing in the euphrates river at sunrise on the first Sunday after the veral equinox, busting out turning a bird into an egg laying rabbit. After that point in time the priest of Easter would sacrifice infants and then take the eggs of Easter and die them in the blood of the sacrificed infants. These eggs would hach on December 25th and that is where that PAGAN Holy Day comes from.
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)
"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
(Matthew 6:24 NKJ)
No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."
(Luke 16:13 NKJ)
We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.
(1 John 5:19 NKJ)
In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.
(1 John 3:10 NKJ)
My tongue shall speak of Your word, For all Your commandments are righteousness.
(Psalm 119:172 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)
Lift up your eyes to the heavens, And look on the earth beneath. For the heavens will vanish away like smoke, The earth will grow old like a garment, And those who dwell in it will die in like manner; But My salvation will be forever, And My righteousness will not be abolished. (Isaiah 51:6 NKJ)
"Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
(Matthew 5:17-20 NKJ)
"PAGANISM" in this sense refers to a range of spiritual paths which are Earth centered -- involving their members living in harmony with the Earth and observing its cycles. These are often NeoPAGAN religions based on the deities, symbols, practices, seasonal days of celebration and other surviving components of ancient religions.
The term "PAGAN" is sometimes used to refer to ancient polytheistic religions:
The Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) contains many references to the societies surrounding the Israelites -- Babylonians, Canaanites, Philistines, etc. These are commonly referred to as PAGANS:
There are allegations that these societies engaged in human sacrifices:
II Kings 3:26-27: "...the king of Moab...took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall."
Psalms 106:37-38: "Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood."
Their altars were often referred to as "high places:"
II Kings 16:4: "And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree."
Surrounding tribes were viewed as committing idolatry by worshiping golden images of animals:
II Kings 17:16: "And they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal."
Some current examples of this usage are:
Referring to sun wheels and obelisks: "...These symbols of PAGAN sun worship were associated with Baal worship, or Baalim, which is strongly condemned in scripture. So why are they so prevalent in the Roman Catholic Church, if they are associated with PAGANISM and apostasy?" An anti-Catholic essay on a conservative Protestant Christian web site.
Ancient faiths of ancient Celtic, Egypt, Greece, Norse, Rome, and other cultures are frequently referred to as PAGAN religions. Even though many of these religions had strict social and sexual behavioral codes, their followers are often portrayed as hedonist and immoral:
1 Peter 4:3: "For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries."
PAGANISM is occasionally used to refer to animistic, spirits-and-essences filled belief systems. It is based upon direct perception of the forces of nature and usually involves the use of idols, talismans and taboos in order to convey respect for these forces and beings.
The term "PAGAN" was widely used by Atheists, Agnostics, Humanists, etc. to refer to themselves. The word was also used by others to describe these groups. The usage dropped after the rise of NeoPAGANISM in the middle of the 20th century, and is rarely seen today.
(for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), (Exodus 34:14 NKJ)
You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe--and tremble!
(James 2:19 NKJ)
And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, "You are the Christ, the Son of God!" And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ.
(Luke 4:41 NKJ)
Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.
(1 Corinthians 10:20 NKJ)
Notwithstanding, the children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, and were not careful to observe My judgments, 'which, if a man does, he shall live by them'; but they profaned My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out My fury on them and fulfill My anger against them in the wilderness.
(Ezekiel 20:21 NKJ)
They sacrificed to demons, not to God, To gods they did not know, To new gods, new arrivals That your fathers did not fear.
(Deuteronomy 32:17 NKJ)
Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it. (Deuteronomy 12:32 NKJ)
And the statutes, the ordinances, the law, and the commandment which He wrote for you, you shall be careful to observe forever; you shall not fear other gods.
(2 Kings 17:37 NKJ)
Therefore you shall be careful to do as the Lord your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. (Deuteronomy 5:32 NKJ)
"Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Matthew 7:13-14 NKJ)
"Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
(Luke 13:24 NKJ)
The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, (Matthew 13:41 NKJ)
And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'
(Matthew 7:23 NKJ)
Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
(Matthew 23:28 NKJ)
Walk prudently when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil.
(Ecclesiastes 5:1 NKJ)
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination; How much more when he brings it with wicked intent
(Proverbs 21:27 NKJ)
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, But the prayer of the upright is His delight.
(Proverbs 15:8 NKJ)
And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the Lord your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage.
(Deuteronomy 4:19 NKJ)
saying, "This fellow persuades men to worship God contrary to the law."
(Acts 18:13 NKJ)
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
(1 John 4:1 NKJ)
Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, (Colossians 2:18 NKJ)
Then the Lord said to me, "Go again, love a woman who is loved by a lover and is committing adultery, just like the love of the Lord for the children of Israel, who look to other gods and love the raisin cakes of the PAGANS."
(Hosea 3:1 NKJ)
But if you or your sons at all turn from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them,
(1 Kings 9:6 NKJ)
Do not go after other gods to serve them and worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands; and I will not harm you.'
(Jeremiah 25:6 NKJ)
And I will winnow them with a winnowing fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children; I will destroy My people, Since they do not return from their ways.
(Jeremiah 15:7 NKJ)
For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity hidden from My eyes.
(Jeremiah 16:17 NKJ)
"Because My people have forgotten Me, They have burned incense to worthless idols. And they have caused themselves to stumble in their ways, From the ancient paths, To walk in pathways and not on a highway,
(Jeremiah 18:15 NKJ)
Yet they seek Me daily, And delight to know My ways, As a nation that did righteousness, And did not forsake the ordinance of their God. They ask of Me the ordinances of justice; They take delight in approaching God.
(Isaiah 58:2 NKJ)
So He brought me to the door of the north gate of the Lord's house; and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz
(Ezekiel 8:14 NKJ)
And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' " (Matthew 15:9 NKJ)
And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'
(Mark 7:7 NKJ)
Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.
(Colossians 2:8 NKJ)
For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: "So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest,' " although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. (Hebrews 4:3 NKJ)
in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
(Ephesians 2:2 NKJ)
When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
(1 Corinthians 13:11 NKJ)
Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. (Galatians 4:3 NKJ)
that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. (Ephesians 2:12 NKJ)
For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh,
(Philippians 3:3 NKJ)
Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie--indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you.
(Revelation 3:9 NKJ)
that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
(Philippians 2:15 NKJ)
"Therefore their way shall be to them Like slippery ways; In the darkness they shall be driven on And fall in them; For I will bring disaster on them, The year of their punishment," says the Lord.
(Jeremiah 23:12 NKJ)
Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one.
(1 Corinthians 8:4 NKJ)
This evil people, who refuse to hear My words, who follow the dictates of their hearts, and walk after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be just like this sash which is profitable for nothing.
(Jeremiah 13:10 NKJ)
"Thus says the Lord: 'Stand in the court of the Lord's house, and speak to all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the Lord's house, all the words that I command you to speak to them. Do not diminish a word. (Jeremiah 26:2 NKJ)
So He brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house; and there, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, and they were worshiping the sun toward the east.
(Ezekiel 8:16 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)
Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. (Deuteronomy 8:19 NKJ)
Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them,
(Deuteronomy 11:16 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)
The women also said, "And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make cakes for her, to worship her, and pour out drink offerings to her without our husbands' permission?"
(Jeremiah 44:19 NKJ)
By the first day of the first month they finished questioning all the men who had taken PAGAN wives.
(Ezra 10:17 NKJ)
And among the sons of the priests who had taken PAGAN wives the following were found of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah.
(Ezra 10:18 NKJ)
All these had taken PAGAN wives, and some of them had wives by whom they had children. (Ezra 10:44 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)
Should we then hear of your doing all this great evil, transgressing against our God by marrying PAGAN women?"
(Nehemiah 13:27 NKJ)
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)
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)
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward.
(Psalm 127:3 NKJ)
Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
(1 Corinthians 1:20 NKJ)
But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;
(1 Corinthians 1:27 NKJ)
and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,
(1 Corinthians 1:28 NKJ)
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
(1 Corinthians 2:12 NKJ)
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, "He catches the wise in their own craftiness";
(1 Corinthians 3:19 NKJ)
Their land is also full of idols; They worship the work of their own hands, That which their own fingers have made.
(Isaiah 2:8 NKJ)
You shall not worship the Lord your God with such things.
(Deuteronomy 12:4 NKJ)
You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way; for every abomination to the Lord which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.
(Deuteronomy 12:31 NKJ)
But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them,
(Deuteronomy 30:17 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)
To this day they continue to follow their former [PAGAN] customs. They do not fear ADONAI. They do not follow the regulations, rulings, Torah or mitzvah which ADONAI ordered the descendants of Ya'akov, to whom he gave the name Isra'el,
(2 Kings 17:34 CJB)
However, they didn't listen, but followed their old [PAGAN] practices.
(2 Kings 17:40 CJB)
"But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods, and worship them,
(2 Chronicles 7:19 NKJ)
I also said, "What you are doing is not good! You should be living in fear of our God, so that our PAGAN enemies won't have grounds for deriding us.
(Nehemiah 5:9 CJB)
For you have forgotten the God who saved you, failed to remember the Rock of your strength; so you plant PAGAN-style gardens and set out vine-cuttings for a foreign god.
(Isaiah 17:10 CJB)
If he refuses to hear them, tell the congregation; and if he refuses to listen even to the congregation, treat him as you would a PAGAN or a tax-collector.
(Matthew 18:17 CJB)
For all the PAGAN nations in the world set their hearts on these things. Your Father knows that you need them too.
(Luke 12:30 CJB)
How dare one of you with a complaint against another go to court before PAGAN judges and not before God's people?
(1 Corinthians 6:1 CJB)
And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.
(2 Peter 2:2 NKJ)
Let all be put to shame who serve carved images, Who boast of idols. Worship Him, all you gods
(Psalm 97:7 NKJ)
But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up."
(Daniel 3:18 NKJ)
There shall be no foreign god among you; Nor shall you worship any foreign god.
(Psalm 81:9 NKJ)
Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets: 'Did you offer Me slaughtered animals and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
(Acts 7:42 NKJ)
You also took up the tabernacle of Moloch, And the star of your god Remphan, Images which you made to worship; And I will carry you away beyond Babylon.'
(Acts 7:43 NKJ)
Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God!
(Daniel 3:28 NKJ)
Those who worship the host of heaven on the housetops; Those who worship and swear oaths by the Lord, But who also swear by Milcom; (Zephaniah 1:5 NKJ)
Your carved images I will also cut off, And your sacred pillars from your midst; You shall no more worship the work of your hands;
(Micah 5:13 NKJ)
When Ephraim spoke, trembling, He exalted himself in Israel; But when he offended through Baal worship, he died.
(Hosea 13:1 NKJ)
So not only is this trade of ours in danger of falling into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess Diana may be despised and her magnificence destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worship."
(Acts 19:27 NKJ)
For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
(Revelation 16:14 NKJ)
And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name." (Revelation 14:11 NKJ)
And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
(Romans 16:20 NKJ)
Go through, Go through the gates! Prepare the way for the people; Build up, Build up the highway! Take out the stones, Lift up a banner for the peoples!
(Isaiah 62:10 NKJ)
Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
(Psalm 95:6 NKJ)
Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth.
(Psalm 96:9 NKJ)
"I will punish the world for its evil, And the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
(Isaiah 13:11 NKJ)
For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with His truth. (Psalm 96:13 NKJ)
All nations whom You have made Shall come and worship before You, O Lord, And shall glorify Your name.
(Psalm 86:9 NKJ)
Let us go into His tabernacle; Let us worship at His footstool.
(Psalm 132:7 NKJ)
And it shall come to pass That from one New Moon to another, And from one Sabbath to another, All flesh shall come to worship before Me," says the Lord.
(Isaiah 66:23 NKJ)
Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the entrance to this gateway before the Lord on the Sabbaths and the New Moons.
(Ezekiel 46:3 NKJ)
The Lord will be awesome to them, For He will reduce to nothing all the gods of the earth; People shall worship Him, Each one from his place, Indeed all the shores of the nations. (Zephaniah 2:11 NKJ)
But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.
(John 4:23 NKJ)
And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.
(Zechariah 14:16 NKJ)
God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."
(John 4:24 NKJ)
Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
(Psalm 90:2 NKJ)
All the ends of the world Shall remember and turn to the Lord, And all the families of the nations Shall worship before You.
(Psalm 22:27 NKJ)
But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets.
(Acts 24:14 NKJ)
saying with a loud voice, "Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water." (Revelation 14:7 NKJ)
But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk
(Revelation 9:20 NKJ)
And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, "See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." (Revelation 19:10 NKJ)
Then he said to me, "See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God." (Revelation 22:9 NKJ)
Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, For Your judgments have been manifested." (Revelation 15:4 NKJ)
Then the Angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on this side and a wall on that side.
(Numbers 22:24 NKJ)
Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; (Psalm 1:1 NKJ)
Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, For I delight in it.
(Psalm 119:35 NKJ)
Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
(Psalm 119:105 NKJ)
as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,
(1 Peter 2:2 NKJ)
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. (Hebrews 5:12 NKJ)
For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.
(Hebrews 5:13 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)
Yet the Lord testified against Israel and against Judah, by all of His prophets, every seer, saying, "Turn from your evil ways, and keep My commandments and My statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by My servants the prophets."
(2 Kings 17:13 NKJ)
"Nevertheless they were disobedient And rebelled against You, Cast Your law behind their backs And killed Your prophets, who testified against them To turn them to Yourself; And they worked great provocations.
(Nehemiah 9:26 NKJ)
The priests did not say, 'Where is the Lord?' And those who handle the law did not know Me; The rulers also transgressed against Me; The prophets prophesied by Baal, And walked after things that do not profit.
(Jeremiah 2:8 NKJ)
Her gates have sunk into the ground; He has destroyed and broken her bars. Her king and her princes are among the nations; The Law is no more, And her prophets find no vision from the Lord.
(Lamentations 2:9 NKJ)
Yes, they made their hearts like flint, refusing to hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Thus great wrath came from the Lord of hosts.
(Zechariah 7:12 NKJ)
"Listen to Me, you who know righteousness, You people in whose heart is My law: Do not fear the reproach of men, Nor be afraid of their insults.
(Isaiah 51:7 NKJ)
because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
(Romans 1:21 NKJ)
"This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,"
(Hebrews 10:16 NKJ)
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
(Hebrews 8:10 NKJ)
If our own 'set apart days' were not acceptable to God (Yah) 3,000 years ago, how can they be so today?
Could this be what YHWH (The Eternal) is trying to tell us when we read:
Amos 5:21-22
21 "I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies.
22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them.
Must we not separate ourselves from all PAGAN days and walk in the Way of the God (Elohiym) of Israel? For He has called us out of darkness. He is our Elohiym and we must follow Him. When we celebrate His Holy Days, we reflect to the world the One and Only True Elohiym (God). Do we dishonor Him when we celebrate any but His Set Apart Days?
But be careful not to let yourselves be seduced, so that you turn aside, serving other gods and worshipping them. (Deuteronomy 11:16 CJB)
by going and serving other gods and worshipping them, the sun, the moon, or anything in the sky - something I have forbidden - (Deuteronomy 17:3 CJB)
And He said to me, "Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it a trivial thing to the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they commit here? For they have filled the land with violence; then they have returned to provoke Me to anger. Indeed they put the branch to their nose.
(Ezekiel 8:17 NKJ)
Many of today's customs came into Christianity through Constantine who, in 325 AD, began the process of converting the official PAGAN religion of the Roman Empire to Christianity.Christianity was modeled on many customs that were familiar and acceptable to Jews and PAGANS at that time, when religion and belief were intertwined with superstition.
Christmas is one of the biggest events on the Christian calendar, yet the customs we associate with the event are steeped in PAGANISM.Pesach (Hebrew) in english is Passover, Easter is Ishtar, (Semiramis, widow of Nimrod, mother of Tammuz) the name of the bare breasted pegan fertility goddess of the east who came out of heaven in a giant egg, landing in the euphrates river at sunrise on the first Sunday after the veral equinox, busting out turning a bird into an egg laying rabbit. After that point in time the priest of Easter would sacrifice infants and then take the eggs of Easter and die them in the blood of the sacrificed infants. These eggs would hach on December 25th and that is where that PAGAN Holy Day comes from.
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)
"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
(Matthew 6:24 NKJ)
No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."
(Luke 16:13 NKJ)
We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.
(1 John 5:19 NKJ)
In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.
(1 John 3:10 NKJ)
My tongue shall speak of Your word, For all Your commandments are righteousness.
(Psalm 119:172 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)
Lift up your eyes to the heavens, And look on the earth beneath. For the heavens will vanish away like smoke, The earth will grow old like a garment, And those who dwell in it will die in like manner; But My salvation will be forever, And My righteousness will not be abolished. (Isaiah 51:6 NKJ)
"Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
(Matthew 5:17-20 NKJ)
"PAGANISM" in this sense refers to a range of spiritual paths which are Earth centered -- involving their members living in harmony with the Earth and observing its cycles. These are often NeoPAGAN religions based on the deities, symbols, practices, seasonal days of celebration and other surviving components of ancient religions.
The term "PAGAN" is sometimes used to refer to ancient polytheistic religions:
The Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) contains many references to the societies surrounding the Israelites -- Babylonians, Canaanites, Philistines, etc. These are commonly referred to as PAGANS:
There are allegations that these societies engaged in human sacrifices:
II Kings 3:26-27: "...the king of Moab...took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall."
Psalms 106:37-38: "Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood."
Their altars were often referred to as "high places:"
II Kings 16:4: "And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree."
Surrounding tribes were viewed as committing idolatry by worshiping golden images of animals:
II Kings 17:16: "And they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal."
Some current examples of this usage are:
Referring to sun wheels and obelisks: "...These symbols of PAGAN sun worship were associated with Baal worship, or Baalim, which is strongly condemned in scripture. So why are they so prevalent in the Roman Catholic Church, if they are associated with PAGANISM and apostasy?" An anti-Catholic essay on a conservative Protestant Christian web site.
Ancient faiths of ancient Celtic, Egypt, Greece, Norse, Rome, and other cultures are frequently referred to as PAGAN religions. Even though many of these religions had strict social and sexual behavioral codes, their followers are often portrayed as hedonist and immoral:
1 Peter 4:3: "For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries."
PAGANISM is occasionally used to refer to animistic, spirits-and-essences filled belief systems. It is based upon direct perception of the forces of nature and usually involves the use of idols, talismans and taboos in order to convey respect for these forces and beings.
The term "PAGAN" was widely used by Atheists, Agnostics, Humanists, etc. to refer to themselves. The word was also used by others to describe these groups. The usage dropped after the rise of NeoPAGANISM in the middle of the 20th century, and is rarely seen today.
(for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), (Exodus 34:14 NKJ)
You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe--and tremble!
(James 2:19 NKJ)
And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, "You are the Christ, the Son of God!" And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ.
(Luke 4:41 NKJ)
Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.
(1 Corinthians 10:20 NKJ)
Notwithstanding, the children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, and were not careful to observe My judgments, 'which, if a man does, he shall live by them'; but they profaned My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out My fury on them and fulfill My anger against them in the wilderness.
(Ezekiel 20:21 NKJ)
They sacrificed to demons, not to God, To gods they did not know, To new gods, new arrivals That your fathers did not fear.
(Deuteronomy 32:17 NKJ)
Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it. (Deuteronomy 12:32 NKJ)
And the statutes, the ordinances, the law, and the commandment which He wrote for you, you shall be careful to observe forever; you shall not fear other gods.
(2 Kings 17:37 NKJ)
Therefore you shall be careful to do as the Lord your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. (Deuteronomy 5:32 NKJ)
"Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Matthew 7:13-14 NKJ)
"Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
(Luke 13:24 NKJ)
The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, (Matthew 13:41 NKJ)
And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'
(Matthew 7:23 NKJ)
Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
(Matthew 23:28 NKJ)
Walk prudently when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil.
(Ecclesiastes 5:1 NKJ)
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination; How much more when he brings it with wicked intent
(Proverbs 21:27 NKJ)
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, But the prayer of the upright is His delight.
(Proverbs 15:8 NKJ)
And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the Lord your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage.
(Deuteronomy 4:19 NKJ)
saying, "This fellow persuades men to worship God contrary to the law."
(Acts 18:13 NKJ)
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
(1 John 4:1 NKJ)
Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, (Colossians 2:18 NKJ)
Then the Lord said to me, "Go again, love a woman who is loved by a lover and is committing adultery, just like the love of the Lord for the children of Israel, who look to other gods and love the raisin cakes of the PAGANS."
(Hosea 3:1 NKJ)
But if you or your sons at all turn from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them,
(1 Kings 9:6 NKJ)
Do not go after other gods to serve them and worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands; and I will not harm you.'
(Jeremiah 25:6 NKJ)
And I will winnow them with a winnowing fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children; I will destroy My people, Since they do not return from their ways.
(Jeremiah 15:7 NKJ)
For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity hidden from My eyes.
(Jeremiah 16:17 NKJ)
"Because My people have forgotten Me, They have burned incense to worthless idols. And they have caused themselves to stumble in their ways, From the ancient paths, To walk in pathways and not on a highway,
(Jeremiah 18:15 NKJ)
Yet they seek Me daily, And delight to know My ways, As a nation that did righteousness, And did not forsake the ordinance of their God. They ask of Me the ordinances of justice; They take delight in approaching God.
(Isaiah 58:2 NKJ)
So He brought me to the door of the north gate of the Lord's house; and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz
(Ezekiel 8:14 NKJ)
And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' " (Matthew 15:9 NKJ)
And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'
(Mark 7:7 NKJ)
Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.
(Colossians 2:8 NKJ)
For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: "So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest,' " although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. (Hebrews 4:3 NKJ)
in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
(Ephesians 2:2 NKJ)
When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
(1 Corinthians 13:11 NKJ)
Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. (Galatians 4:3 NKJ)
that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. (Ephesians 2:12 NKJ)
For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh,
(Philippians 3:3 NKJ)
Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie--indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you.
(Revelation 3:9 NKJ)
that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
(Philippians 2:15 NKJ)
"Therefore their way shall be to them Like slippery ways; In the darkness they shall be driven on And fall in them; For I will bring disaster on them, The year of their punishment," says the Lord.
(Jeremiah 23:12 NKJ)
Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one.
(1 Corinthians 8:4 NKJ)
This evil people, who refuse to hear My words, who follow the dictates of their hearts, and walk after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be just like this sash which is profitable for nothing.
(Jeremiah 13:10 NKJ)
"Thus says the Lord: 'Stand in the court of the Lord's house, and speak to all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the Lord's house, all the words that I command you to speak to them. Do not diminish a word. (Jeremiah 26:2 NKJ)
So He brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house; and there, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, and they were worshiping the sun toward the east.
(Ezekiel 8:16 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)
Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. (Deuteronomy 8:19 NKJ)
Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them,
(Deuteronomy 11:16 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)
The women also said, "And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make cakes for her, to worship her, and pour out drink offerings to her without our husbands' permission?"
(Jeremiah 44:19 NKJ)
By the first day of the first month they finished questioning all the men who had taken PAGAN wives.
(Ezra 10:17 NKJ)
And among the sons of the priests who had taken PAGAN wives the following were found of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah.
(Ezra 10:18 NKJ)
All these had taken PAGAN wives, and some of them had wives by whom they had children. (Ezra 10:44 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)
Should we then hear of your doing all this great evil, transgressing against our God by marrying PAGAN women?"
(Nehemiah 13:27 NKJ)
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)
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)
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward.
(Psalm 127:3 NKJ)
Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
(1 Corinthians 1:20 NKJ)
But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;
(1 Corinthians 1:27 NKJ)
and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,
(1 Corinthians 1:28 NKJ)
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
(1 Corinthians 2:12 NKJ)
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, "He catches the wise in their own craftiness";
(1 Corinthians 3:19 NKJ)
Their land is also full of idols; They worship the work of their own hands, That which their own fingers have made.
(Isaiah 2:8 NKJ)
You shall not worship the Lord your God with such things.
(Deuteronomy 12:4 NKJ)
You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way; for every abomination to the Lord which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.
(Deuteronomy 12:31 NKJ)
But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them,
(Deuteronomy 30:17 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)
To this day they continue to follow their former [PAGAN] customs. They do not fear ADONAI. They do not follow the regulations, rulings, Torah or mitzvah which ADONAI ordered the descendants of Ya'akov, to whom he gave the name Isra'el,
(2 Kings 17:34 CJB)
However, they didn't listen, but followed their old [PAGAN] practices.
(2 Kings 17:40 CJB)
"But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods, and worship them,
(2 Chronicles 7:19 NKJ)
I also said, "What you are doing is not good! You should be living in fear of our God, so that our PAGAN enemies won't have grounds for deriding us.
(Nehemiah 5:9 CJB)
For you have forgotten the God who saved you, failed to remember the Rock of your strength; so you plant PAGAN-style gardens and set out vine-cuttings for a foreign god.
(Isaiah 17:10 CJB)
If he refuses to hear them, tell the congregation; and if he refuses to listen even to the congregation, treat him as you would a PAGAN or a tax-collector.
(Matthew 18:17 CJB)
For all the PAGAN nations in the world set their hearts on these things. Your Father knows that you need them too.
(Luke 12:30 CJB)
How dare one of you with a complaint against another go to court before PAGAN judges and not before God's people?
(1 Corinthians 6:1 CJB)
And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.
(2 Peter 2:2 NKJ)
Let all be put to shame who serve carved images, Who boast of idols. Worship Him, all you gods
(Psalm 97:7 NKJ)
But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up."
(Daniel 3:18 NKJ)
There shall be no foreign god among you; Nor shall you worship any foreign god.
(Psalm 81:9 NKJ)
Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets: 'Did you offer Me slaughtered animals and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
(Acts 7:42 NKJ)
You also took up the tabernacle of Moloch, And the star of your god Remphan, Images which you made to worship; And I will carry you away beyond Babylon.'
(Acts 7:43 NKJ)
Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God!
(Daniel 3:28 NKJ)
Those who worship the host of heaven on the housetops; Those who worship and swear oaths by the Lord, But who also swear by Milcom; (Zephaniah 1:5 NKJ)
Your carved images I will also cut off, And your sacred pillars from your midst; You shall no more worship the work of your hands;
(Micah 5:13 NKJ)
When Ephraim spoke, trembling, He exalted himself in Israel; But when he offended through Baal worship, he died.
(Hosea 13:1 NKJ)
So not only is this trade of ours in danger of falling into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess Diana may be despised and her magnificence destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worship."
(Acts 19:27 NKJ)
For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
(Revelation 16:14 NKJ)
And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name." (Revelation 14:11 NKJ)
And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
(Romans 16:20 NKJ)
Go through, Go through the gates! Prepare the way for the people; Build up, Build up the highway! Take out the stones, Lift up a banner for the peoples!
(Isaiah 62:10 NKJ)
Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
(Psalm 95:6 NKJ)
Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth.
(Psalm 96:9 NKJ)
"I will punish the world for its evil, And the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
(Isaiah 13:11 NKJ)
For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with His truth. (Psalm 96:13 NKJ)
All nations whom You have made Shall come and worship before You, O Lord, And shall glorify Your name.
(Psalm 86:9 NKJ)
Let us go into His tabernacle; Let us worship at His footstool.
(Psalm 132:7 NKJ)
And it shall come to pass That from one New Moon to another, And from one Sabbath to another, All flesh shall come to worship before Me," says the Lord.
(Isaiah 66:23 NKJ)
Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the entrance to this gateway before the Lord on the Sabbaths and the New Moons.
(Ezekiel 46:3 NKJ)
The Lord will be awesome to them, For He will reduce to nothing all the gods of the earth; People shall worship Him, Each one from his place, Indeed all the shores of the nations. (Zephaniah 2:11 NKJ)
But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.
(John 4:23 NKJ)
And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.
(Zechariah 14:16 NKJ)
God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."
(John 4:24 NKJ)
Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
(Psalm 90:2 NKJ)
All the ends of the world Shall remember and turn to the Lord, And all the families of the nations Shall worship before You.
(Psalm 22:27 NKJ)
But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets.
(Acts 24:14 NKJ)
saying with a loud voice, "Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water." (Revelation 14:7 NKJ)
But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk
(Revelation 9:20 NKJ)
And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, "See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." (Revelation 19:10 NKJ)
Then he said to me, "See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God." (Revelation 22:9 NKJ)
Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, For Your judgments have been manifested." (Revelation 15:4 NKJ)
Then the Angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on this side and a wall on that side.
(Numbers 22:24 NKJ)
Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; (Psalm 1:1 NKJ)
Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, For I delight in it.
(Psalm 119:35 NKJ)
Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
(Psalm 119:105 NKJ)
as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,
(1 Peter 2:2 NKJ)
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. (Hebrews 5:12 NKJ)
For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.
(Hebrews 5:13 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)
Yet the Lord testified against Israel and against Judah, by all of His prophets, every seer, saying, "Turn from your evil ways, and keep My commandments and My statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by My servants the prophets."
(2 Kings 17:13 NKJ)
"Nevertheless they were disobedient And rebelled against You, Cast Your law behind their backs And killed Your prophets, who testified against them To turn them to Yourself; And they worked great provocations.
(Nehemiah 9:26 NKJ)
The priests did not say, 'Where is the Lord?' And those who handle the law did not know Me; The rulers also transgressed against Me; The prophets prophesied by Baal, And walked after things that do not profit.
(Jeremiah 2:8 NKJ)
Her gates have sunk into the ground; He has destroyed and broken her bars. Her king and her princes are among the nations; The Law is no more, And her prophets find no vision from the Lord.
(Lamentations 2:9 NKJ)
Yes, they made their hearts like flint, refusing to hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Thus great wrath came from the Lord of hosts.
(Zechariah 7:12 NKJ)
"Listen to Me, you who know righteousness, You people in whose heart is My law: Do not fear the reproach of men, Nor be afraid of their insults.
(Isaiah 51:7 NKJ)
because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
(Romans 1:21 NKJ)
"This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,"
(Hebrews 10:16 NKJ)
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
(Hebrews 8:10 NKJ)
If our own 'set apart days' were not acceptable to God (Yah) 3,000 years ago, how can they be so today?
Could this be what YHWH (The Eternal) is trying to tell us when we read:
Amos 5:21-22
21 "I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies.
22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them.
Must we not separate ourselves from all PAGAN days and walk in the Way of the God (Elohiym) of Israel? For He has called us out of darkness. He is our Elohiym and we must follow Him. When we celebrate His Holy Days, we reflect to the world the One and Only True Elohiym (God). Do we dishonor Him when we celebrate any but His Set Apart Days?
But be careful not to let yourselves be seduced, so that you turn aside, serving other gods and worshipping them. (Deuteronomy 11:16 CJB)
by going and serving other gods and worshipping them, the sun, the moon, or anything in the sky - something I have forbidden - (Deuteronomy 17:3 CJB)
