the real story of christmas

8/13/2019 The Real Story of Christmas

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When you celebrate Christmas and teach yourchildren about Santa Claus, are you actuallyleading them to Satan's Claws? The holidaysseem merry, fun and harmless, but are theyreally? You may be shocked to learn the originsof Christmas are pagan, and rooted in some vervile customs. These practices are described in

the Bibleand are clearly condemned.

_Before you put up that Christmas tree and wrathose gifts, you should prayerfully consider thefollowing facts.

_The first and foremost question is "Was

really born on December 25?" When wasborn, the shepherds were attending to the sheepin the open field (Luke 2:8). In the land of ancientJudea, the winter was a cold and rainy season(Ezra 10:9, Song of Solomon 2:11), so anyanimals would have been in a shelter called a"winter house" (Jeremiah 36:22). Thus, any

possibility of being born in thewintertime is ruled out.

_Instead, The Bibleindicates that was

born in the fall. In John 1:14, it is written, "And

the was made flesh, and dweltamongus." The Greek word that "dwelt" is translated

from is !"#$%&"'%("eskenosen", Strong'sword entry G4637), which means to "tabernacle

with. became flesh to tabernacle with us!

The BiblicalFeast of Tabernacles is not justa"Jewish feast", as says, "These are

Myfeasts" (Leviticus 23:2). During the Feast ofTabernacles, which occurs in the fall, we arecommanded to dwell in booths or "tents", which

is a representation of dwelling with us in thetabernacles (Exodus 25:8, 1 Kings 8:27, Acts7:48). In a similar manner to how the earlyTabernacle or the "tent of meeting" (Exodus 33:7-10) was an early foreshadowing of KingSolomon's Temple; the "booths" are "mini-tabernacles" or "mini-temples". This is the sameanalogy in 1 Corinthians 6:19 when Paul said that

our body is the temple of the .

Thus, came to tabernacle with us in a body

as during the Feast of

Tabernacles in the autumn season.After the seven-day Feast of Tabernacles, the

culmination is the Eighth Day of Assembly(Leviticus 23:36, Nehemiah 8:18), also known as"The Last Great Day" (John 7:37). On the eighth

day, was circumcised (Luke 2:21), per thcustom of a male Hebrew child (Leviticus 12:3).Clearly, there is an indisputable connectionbetween the Feast of Tabernacles, the eight day

span and the birth of that is fille

to the brim with prophecy.

Now, the question remains ifwas not born on December 25, what doesChristmasrepresent? Where do Christmas

traditions come from? Some might believe The

Biblerefers to the Christmas tree. It does butunfortunately, it is not in a favorable light:

Thus saith , Learn not the way of

the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs

of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at

them.

For the customs of the people arevain: for

onecutteth a tree out of the forest, the work othe 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 areupright as the palm tree, but speak

not... JEREMIAH 10:2-5, KJV

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written by David Jantunen,

Irene Helen Zundel & Lynn Lites


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of Scripturethat condemns the custom of the"green tree":

...and sacrificed and burned incense in the

high places, and on the heights, and under

every green tree. 2 CHR 28:4, LITVAnd you said, I will not transgress, when o

every high hill and under every green tree youlay down likea harlot. JER 2:20, LITV

Since was not born on

December 25, and The Biblespeaks stronglyagainst the Christmas tree then what is the rea"reason for the season"? This widely celebrateddate around the winter solstice is not the birth of

but rather, the birth of Nimrod, the

founder of the Babylonian Empire. Nimrod, thegrandson of Noah's son, Ham, formed thekingdom of Babel (Genesis 10:8-10). "Babel" issynonymous with "Babylon", as it is the same

...Are you not children of transgression, a

lying seed, being inflamed with idols under

every green tree... ISA 57:4-5, LITV

Babylonian tradition of decking a date palm

tree with a decorative trellis.

Hebrew word, lbeb@f("bavel", Strong's word entryH894). "Babel" means "confusion" or "mixture",

not only because confounded the

languages at the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9); but it is indicative that Babylon had an eclecticmixture of customs and traditions from othernations.

_The name "Nimrod" (in Hebrew: drom;ni,Strong'sword entry H5248) is derived from the root word

drAmf("maradh", Strong's word entry H4775),

which means "to rebel" or "to revolt". Nimrod

rebelled against by building the Tower ofBabel in an aspiration to reach the heavens. In

Ancient artifact of a stone bust of Nimrod.

"They deck it with silver and with gold" tell me,does that not sound like the beloved Christmastree we all adorn our houses with? The prophet

Jeremiah warned people that if they

would repent of their sins,the Babylonianarmies would not take them captive. Jeremiahrebuked the people for engaging in the pagancustoms and idolatry of the nations around them.

Chapter 10 unquestionably describes the customof a Christmas tree, which was a Babylonian treeworship ritual. In fact, there is a multitude of

Genesis 10:9, when it says that Nimrod "was a

mighty hunter before "; the Hebrew

word that "before" is translated from is yn'p;li("liphney"), which means to be "against" or"defiant". More specifically, Nimrod was a mighty

hunter against or in defiance of ,

rather than "before" Himin a obedient andworshipful manner. He also rebelled against

Lawprohibiting incest (Leviticus 18:7) by

marrying his own mother, Semiramis. She was

worshipped as the "queen of heaven", (Jeremiah7:18, 44:17-25), while Nimrod was the King ofBabylon.

_After Nimrod died, Semiramis claimed that afully grown evergreen tree sprang overnight froma dead tree stump. Nimrod survived as a spiritbeing and was revived as the sun god. Theevergreen tree symbolized the new life of Nimrodand was venerated as a sacred item. Every yeaon the anniversary of his rebirth, Nimrod wouldvisit the evergreen tree and leave gifts upon it.

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As for "kissing under the mistletoe", this is aBabylonian pagan practice, as well. The branchof the mistletoe represented their "messiah",Nimrod. Kissing under the mistletoe was a rituaof reconciliation, and whoever would kiss under would receive a divine pardon from Nimrod.

is called The Branch

(Zechariah 3:8, 6:12) and we are told to "kiss the

Son" (Psalms 2:12), but Heis the realBranchdon't be fooled by the counterfeit "branch",Nimrod!

How then did Christmas become incorporatedinto mainstream Christianity? Let's follow thetinsel trail. In ancient Rome, the festival ofSaturnalia honored the god Saturn during thewinter solstice, lasting from December 17throughout December 23. During this time, gifts

were exchanged, including "gag gifts" in the samvein as putting lumps of coal in children'sstockings. As for other festivies, merry makingranged from games such as dice rolling todrunken orgies. Once Julius Caesar introduced

Nimrod and Semiramis had a son, Tammuz ,that was also worshipped by the Babylonians.During the apostasy described in Ezekiel 8:12-16,women were "weeping for Tammuz" and

worshipping the sun in temple!

the Julian Calendar in 46 B.C., the winter solsticedate was changed to December 25.

Saturnalia, the Roman festival of drunkenindulgence and lewdness.

During the fourth century in Rome, the sunworship cult of the god Mithras was prevalent.Mithras was the Persian god of the morning sunand was also worshipped as a sun god during th

time period in Rome._History illustrates that empires and kingdomsoften borrow religious practices from the priorinhabitants. For example, the Roman gods aresimply renamed Greek gods, such as "Cronus"becoming "Saturn". In the book of Daniel, thePersians conquered the kingdom of the

Out of the dead tree stump [LEFT], Nimrod isrevived [RIGHT], holding a piece of mistletoe

from a fir tree and a deer.

Chaldeans (or "Babylonians") and historically,they shared some deities and practices in

common._Mithras was the "invincible sun" thatwas revered by the Persians and Romans forslaying the Primeval Bull. He was called "SolInvictus", which is Latin for "unconquered sun".

_During this time in fourth century Rome ofwidespread Mithras worship, Emperor ConstanineI ("Constantine the Great") designated December

25 as the "birthdate" of . This

date was referred to as "Natalis Solis Invicti",

which is Latin for "Birthday of the Invincible Sun"Constantine did this to more easily facilitate the

"conversion" to "Christianity" for Mithrasworshippers, per Julius Caesar's amendment tothe winter solstice date over 300 years earlier.

Constantine's rationale was since is

called "the Sun of righteousness" (Malachi 4:2),that the shift would be fitting. Historically, Romehas a running pattern of accommodating andblending traditions of the other nations for theunity and success of the Roman Empire.

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The Roman Mithras [LEFT] wore a style ofheadwear called a "Phrygian cap" [RIGHT] the same hat that Santa and his elves wear.

day Turkey. He later served as the head bishopof Myra, a city that is now called Demre.

_There are many legends of the charitable deedof Nicholas of Myra. Arguably, the most popularone is how he helped the father of three sisterspay their dowries so they wouldn't be sold intoprostitution. St. Nicholas secretly went to theirhouse on three separate occasions and put a baof money inside. On the third visit, the father sawNicholas and thanked him for his kindness.

_The fame of Nicholas of Myra spread throughou

_What about good old "St. Nick"? St. Nicholas isa legendary figure that was born in 280 A.D. inPatara, Lycia, an area that is now part of modern

Nicholas of Myra, a venerated saint whosecharitable exploits are the stuff of legends.

their reasoning being that it was "a mixture ofpagan revelry and Catholic mandates". In fact,"Christmas" literally means "Christ Mass". On

May 11, 1659, the Massachusetts Bay Colonylegislature passed a law banning the observanceof Christ Mass. In 1656, English ministerHezekiah Woodward distributed a pamphletentitled "Christ-Mass Day, the old Heathens'Feasting Day, in honor to Saturn their Idol-God".

_A little-known fact about Sinter Klass is that hisoriginal helpers were not elves, but were demon

Emperor Constantine I [LEFT] and the Councilof Nicea [RIGHT] enacted drastic changes tomany Christian dates and observances.

Europe and Asia Minor as he used his inheritanceto give gifts to the poor and sick. He becameknown as the "protector of sailors and children".To this day, Nicholas of Myra is venerated as asaint by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran

and Anglican churches._Although St. Nicholas' popularity did not havemuch staying power with the Protestant countriesof Europe after his death; Holland and the Alpinecountries still remembered him very fondly. TheDutch celebrated December 6 as a "feast day"

for St. Nicholas. It was a common practice forchildren to put out their shoes the night before foSt. Nicholas to leave gifts in them in the morning"St. Nicholas" is known in Dutch as "SintNikolaas", or by his nickname, "Sinter Klaas".

During the 1700s, Dutch immigrants brought thetradition of Sinter Klass with them to America, anhis name became Anglicized as "Santa Claus".

_Curiously, in the 1640s, the original Puritancolonies banned Christmas in America. TheEnglish Parliament enacted a ban on Christmas,

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Sinter Klaas giving gifts tochildren [LEFT] and aboutto enter a chimney [BELOW].


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Sinter Klass with his legion of Krampus[LEFT] to "discipline" children [RIGHT].

They that sanctify...and purify themselves in

the gardens behind one treein the midst, eating

swine's flesh. ISA 66:17, KJV

Ihave spread out Myhands all the day long

to a rebellious people...a people that provoke

Meto Myface...who eat swine's flesh, and

broth of unclean things intheir pots...

ISA 65:2-4, KJ

Christmas eve to this day.

[LEFT]Yule ceremony of welcoming the log.[RIGHT]An ornately decorated Yule log.

The next peculiar Yule tradition is the "Yule boaor "sonargltr". A sacrificial ceremony was heldfor the boar and before eating the meat, solemnvows were sworn on the boar's bristles. This oaswearing ritual was called "heltstrenging" and wa

commenced by laying hands on the bristles. Itwas believed that the boar's bristles had divinepower to bring good fortune. In fact, in somecultures today, ham is eaten on New Year's to"bring good luck". The Yule boar evolved into th"Christmas ham" and "New Year's resolutions".

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known as "Krampus" or"Black Jacks". Theygathered informationabout the children'sbehavior throughout theyear. If the childrenwere nice, they wererewarded with presentsbut the naughty childrenwere mercilesslyshamed and beaten.

European greetingcard of a Krampus.

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Let us unwrap thethe origins of the restof the Christmas tra-ditions. The ancientGermanic peoplecelebrated a 12-dayfestival during the

winter solstice called "Yule", also known as"Yuletide" or "Yule time". Yule and its ritualspredate Christmas by several hundred years andbear many striking similarities. Let's investigate...

The first tradition that will ring some familiarity isthe "Yule log". A joyous ceremony on "Yule evewas held to welcome the log into the house,which would provide warmth for the entire house"Chestnuts roasting on an open fire", anyone?The original Yule custom was to bring an entiretree into the house and then cut a sturdy part frothe tree for the fire log.

_Interstingly, the Yule log is called "Christklotz" "Christbrand" in German (which means "Christ-log" or "Christmas-log") and is still kindled on

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_A blacksmith named Eitri threw a pig's skin intoa furnace as a gift for Freyr. A glowing boaremerged from the furnace, whose bristles in itsmane glowed in the dark. "Gullinbursti" means"gold mane" or "golden bristles".

_It was customary to sacrifice and eat boars atweddings, banquets, and other important eventsto honor Freyr so that he would bring you goodfortune. It was preferable to serve the boar as"golden-baked" to emulate Gullinbursti's goldenbristles. Today, "golden-baked ham" or "honey-

_The chief of the Germanic gods was W!den,which is derived from "Odin", who was thesupreme Norse god. During Yule, the main

attraction was the "Wild Hunt" or "W!den's Hunt".W!den and his army of phantom huntsmen,arrayed with horses and hellhounds, to makesport in the forest. People who saw the passinghunt and mocked it were cursed and would bedestroyed by the army. Those that joined insincerity were rewarded with gold.

_For the final wrapping on the Pandora's box of

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The oath swearing tradition of "heltstrenging"actually first originated with Norse mythology.Freyr, the Norse fertility god of fortune, was oftenseen with the magical boar, Gullinbursti.

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But that we write unto them, that they abstai

from pollutions of idols.

ACTS 15:20, KJ

Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

1 JOHN 5:21, KJ_What about Christmas caroling? This popularcontemporary pastime stems from "Yule singingalso known as "wassailing". There were two

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baked ham" is a popular way to eat ham.

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Germanic gods. Evidently, there was plenty tosing about as they "decked the halls" with idols o

jolly and dined on the boar du jour.

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two distinct categories of wassailing. The firsttype was "House-visiting wassailing", which wasgoing door-to-door singing Yule liturgy. "Orchard-visiting wassailing" was the other kind of Yulesinging, which involved singing incantations to the

trees in apple orchards to summon a goodharvest for the coming year. Fruitful crops were aconcern, as choice cider during the Yule seasonwas a staple of the festivities.

__The greatest hits of the Yule songbook alsoincluded melodies of praise for the ancient

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[LEFT]Freyrwith his boar

companion,Gullinbursti.

For thou shalt worship no

other god: for ,

whose name is Jealous, is a

jealous God...and they go a

whoring after their gods, anddo sacrifice unto their

gods...and thou eat of his

sacrifice. EX 34:14-15, KJV

It isbetter to hear the

rebuke of the wise, than

for a man to hear the

song of fools.

ECCL 7:5, KJ

Odin descends from thesky with a vast army, acounterfeit to the Second

Coming of .

For false christs and false

prophets will rise up. And

theywill give great signs and

wonders, so as to lead astray

if possible, even the elect.

MATT 24:24, LITV


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paganism with a bow on top, let us present theChristmas sleigh. This actually was an attributeof Odin, who rode on Sleipir, an eight-leggedhorse. Sleipnir could cover long distances in avery short period of time, just like Santa's sleighand reindeer. During the Wild Hunt, childrenwould fill their shoes with carrots, straw and sugarand place them near the chimney. These were

treats for Sleipnir so he could eat while resting. Inreturn, Odin would leave gifts, toys and candies inthe children's shoes. The Wild Hunt of Yule,

despite not being common knowledge, had asignificant influence on our culture. As a matter fact, "Wednesday" is named after W!den, whichmeans "W!den's day".

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_After several thousand years of various heathencultures, it has been stirred up into this meltingpot of pagan soup that we taste, see and smelltoday. How did this happen? Is all of theinformation we presented farfetched?

_The Scripturesprophesied all of this would

happen. We recommend pausingat this point toread Revelation 17:1-9 in your Bible.

_Under the inspiration of the ,

King Solomon gave us these words of wisdomthat history (and prophesy) repeats itself:

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Notice that the woman is named "Babylon theGreat" she is the great confusion or the greatmixture. A whore or "harlot" has many lovers, oa "mixture". In verse 2 of Revelation 17, it says

all the kings of the earth committed fornicationwith her the gods of Babylon, Persia, Rome,etc. All of the inhabitants of the earth are drunkwith her wine of false doctrine and under a deepsleep of deception (Isaiah 29:9-10).

_The Bibleoften refers to a church as a "woman(e.g., Revelation 12) but this mystery woman

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is not the chaste Bride of but the Whore

of Babylon! In Revelation 17, she rides on a

beast (verse 4), which is the beast empire ofRome, as Rome sits on seven hills (verse 9). Thechurch ("woman") of the Roman Empire ("thebeast") is the Roman Catholic Church. Theircardinals and bishops wear scarlet and purple(verse 4) and they martyred the saints whorefused to submit to the Pope (verse 6, see alsoDaniel 7:25).

_Not only is Rome and the Catholic Church54

responsible for integrating subtle paganism intoChristianity, they even changed the calendar!

The Bibleprophesied that the beast would"change times and laws" (Daniel 7:25). The eighdays from Tabernacles to the Last Great Day,

which is the realbirth of , were changed

to December 25 through January 1! Although th

Biblicalnew year begins in the spring (Exodus12:2), Julius Caesar changed the "new year" tothe cold dead of winter! "January" is named afteJanus, the Roman god of doors and gateways,

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[LEFT] Odingoes for a joyride on Sleipnir

to spread thejoy of the Yulespirit.

And upon her forehead

was a name written,

MYSTERY, BABYLON

THE GREAT, THEMOTHER OF HARLOTS

AND ABOMINATIONS

OF THE EARTH.

REVELATION 17:5, KJV

That which has

been, is that which

shall be. And that

which has been don

it is that which will

be done. And thereis no new thing

under the sun.

ECCL 1:9, LIT


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The word for our faith, Nazarene (Hebrew: Netserim

MyrIcen'), comes from Matthew 2:23 and Acts 24:5. In our

faith, we believe in (Hebrew: Mashiachxay#$imf) and keeping the commandments/Mosaic Law(Hebrew: Torah hrFwOt@) following both Old and NewTestaments. We do not believe that the Torahis abolishe(Matthew 5:17-20, 19:17; John 14:15, James 2:26, 1 John

3:4, 5:2-3). We call our Creatorby His Hebrew Name

(Psalms 68:4, John 5:43, Joel 2:32, Acts 2:21)

is the Father(The LORD) and

is the Son(Jesus) and Theyare One God(John 1:1, 14;8:58, 10:30, 14:8-9). If you have any questions about this

tract or our fellowship, e-mail: [email protected]

The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hidin a field...which when a man hath found...hegoeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth thatfield. Mt. 13:44-48, Prv. 3:13-18, Ps. 111:10

!"#$% '(!)*+,-.

HEBREW FOR:

house of hiddentreasure"

NAZARENE

MINISTRY

as Janus was believed to be the "door" towintertime.

_Some of you may be wondering, "Why haven't Iheard any of this before?" That is why the Whoreof Babylon is called a "Mystery" her history isshrouded. Her ways are movable, you cannotknow them (Prov. 5:6). The devil gives the beastits power and authority (Rev. 13:2). Satan is the

god of this world (John 14:30, 2 Cor. 4:4), theprince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2) and hasdeceived the whole world (Rev. 12:9)!

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gives us a

strong warning about celebrating Christmas:

Come out of her, my people, that ye be not

partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of

her plagues. REV 18:4, KJV_At first, we might think it is harmless tocelebrate Christmas. We might say, "That's not

what it means to me, I'm thinking about ."

It doesn't matter what wethink, it only matters

Julius Caesar and Pope

Gregory XIII influencedthe calendar the world

uses today, the "Julianand "Gregorian" calen-

dars, respectively. Theadded days to the year

and changed the nameof the days and months

to pagan gods.He shall think to change times and laws.

DANIEL 7:25, KJV

the world. If any man love the world, the love of

the Fatheris not in him.1 JOHN 2:15, KJVKnow ye not that the friendship of the world is

enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a

friend of the world is the enemy of God.

JAMES 4:4, KJVWe are commanded to love more than

even our own parents do you love more

than Christmas? Are you willing to take up

what Godthinks. We are not to worship

our Godlike the pagans (Deut. 12:30-31)You might also think, "Everyone else is doing itand it doesnt mean you cant still be a goodperson." If people have good intentions but arenaive, we still have to make the better choice:

Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil.

EXODUS 23:2, KJLove not the world, neither the things that are

your cross and follow Himat anycost (Mt. 10:3439)? Is it worth it to lose your soul, your mostprized possession for the pleasures of sin?

Idolators....shall have their part in the lake

which burneth withfire.REV 21:8, KJV_Choose this day whom you will serve whetheit is the gods of the Babylonians, the gods of Yul

or the of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. As fo

me and my house, we will serve .

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the real story of christmas

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