Part Two: Conclusion of
The
Reason for
The Season
(Go to Part One)
This brings us to the ultimate question after all,
the only question that really makes any difference: What is God's Will
in this matter? Does God care what customs we use to honor Him? Let's look
at some scriptures and see.
"The LORD your God will cut off before you the
nations you are about to invade and dispossess. But when you have driven
them out and settled in their land, and after they have been destroyed
before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods,
saying, 'How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same.' You
must not worship the LORD your God in their way, because in worshiping their
gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the LORD hates. They even burn
their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods. See that
you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it." (Deut.
12:29-32 )
Note that the issue in this passage is not
the worship of other gods. The warning is to not adopt customs used to
worship other gods, in order to worship the true God (YAHWEH). At first you
might think that this just applies to the abominable customs such as child
sacrifice. Wouldn't it be O.K. to use the harmless customs, since they don't
make you think of pagan gods? The problem with that approach is that you have
forgotten that God's memory goes back a lot further than yours! While you are
looking at a pretty custom that makes you nostalgic for your childhood, God may
look down at the same custom and remember the horrible rites that accompanied it
in ancient Babylon or Rome.
There is a profound principle involved in religious
symbolism and symbolic acts- which is what "customs" actually are:
Your desire should be that the symbol or act
evoke in you the SAME understanding and emotions
that it evokes in your Creator!
But does God really care that much about
detail?:
"They [earthly Israelite priests] serve at a
sanctuary that is a copy and a shadow of what is in heaven. This is why
Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: `See to it that
you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.'"
(Hebrews 8:5 )
"Make an altar of acacia wood for burning
incense... Aaron must burn fragrant incense on the altar every morning when
he tends the lamps. He must burn incense again when he lights the lamps at
twilight so incense will burn regularly before the LORD for the generations
to come. Do not offer on this altar any other incense or any burnt
offering or grain offering." (Exodus 30:1, 7-9)
"Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers,
put fire in them, and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire
before the LORD, contrary to His command. So fire came out from the presence
of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD." (Leviticus
10:1-2 )
We would like to think that this kind of immediate
retribution for what we might even view as a minor infraction of God's orders,
is only an "Old Testament" response of God. But consider the story of Ananias
and Sapphira in the New Testament:
"All the believers were one in heart and mind. No
one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared
everything they had... There were no needy persons among them. For from time
to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from
the sales and put it at the apostle's feet, and it was distributed to anyone
as he had need... Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira
also sold a piece of property. With his wife's full knowledge he kept back
part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the
apostle's feet." (Acts 4:32,34-35; 5:1-2 )
The problem was not that Ananias kept some of the
money, but, as the story unfolds, that he lied, and tried to pretend that he was
generously giving the full proceeds of the sale, evidently to receive the praise
of men.
"[Peter said to Ananias] What made you think of
doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God. When Ananias heard
this, he fell down and died... (Acts 5:4-)5
And three hours later, Sapphira came to see Peter,
lied about the same incident, and received the same rebuke. She also fell down
dead immediately.
"Great fear seized the whole church and all who
heard about these events." (Acts 5:11)
Thus we see that, even in the "time of grace" under
the New Covenant, serious consequences can sometimes result from what, on the
surface, seem minor matters.
There are two other examples in the Old Testament
that illustrate God's reaction to "mixed worship":
"So all the people took off their earrings and
brought them to Aaron. He took what they handed him and make it into an idol
cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said,
'This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.' When Aaron
saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, 'Tomorrow
there will be a festival to the LORD [YAHWEH].' So the next day the people
rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship
offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in
revelry." (Exodus 32:3-6 )
{NIV Study Bible Note on verse 6: "A pagan symbol
evoked pagan religious practices... Immoral orgies frequently accompanied pagan
worship in ancient times."}
Note that Aaron did not say the festival would be to
a "calf god." He said it would be to the true God, YAHWEH. He was just
introducing familiar customs and religious symbolism from Egypt to calm the
people down when they started complaining that Moses had disappeared.
Later in Israel's history, after the kingdom of
Israel under David and Solomon was shattered into the two rival houses, Israel
and Judah, the Israelite king Jereboam worried how to calm his restless people
also:
"Jereboam thought to himself, 'the kingdom will
now likely revert to the house of David. If these people go up to offer
sacrifices at the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem, they will again give
their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me
and return to King Rehoboam.' After seeking advice, the king made two golden
calves. He said to the people, 'It is too much for you to go up to
Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.'
One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. And this thing became a sin;
the people went even as far as Dan to worship the one there. [NOTE on verse
28: "Pagan gods of the Arameans and Canaanites were often represented as
standing on calves or bulls as a symbol of their strength and fertility...
Jereboam attempted to combine the pagan calf symbol with the worship of the
LORD, though he attempted no physical representation of the LORD- no 'god'
stood on the backs of his bulls."] Jereboam built shrines on high places and
appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not
Levites. He instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month,
like the festival in Judah [the Feast of Tabernacles, appointed by the LORD
to begin on the fifteenth day of the seventh month], and offered sacrifices
on the altar. This he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made.
And at Bethel he also installed priests at the high places he had made. On
the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month of his own choosing, he
offered sacrifices on the altar he had built at Bethel. So he instituted the
festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to make offerings."
(I Kings 12:26-33 )
Was YAHWEH, the true God of Israel happy with this
"substitution"?
"[The LORD] will give Israel up because of the
sins Jereboam has committed and has caused Israel to commit." (I Kings
14:16 )
So Jereboam invented his own traditions, on his own
chosen calendar dates. Is this problem irrelevant in New Testament times?:
[Jesus] replied, "Isaiah was right when he
prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written [Isa. 29:13]: 'These
people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They
worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.' You have
let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men."
(Mark 7:6-8 )
Not everything labelled a "tradition" is necessarily
bad. We can have family traditions such as family reunions at the park every
summer. It is when we start using "traditions" in worship of God that they can
be a problem.
God knew that traditions can get a hold on our
emotions that is even stronger than the hold that truth can have on our minds.
But if we are to be true worshippers, we must worship in Spirit and in
Truth, not in Traditions of men. We must grow up:
"When I was a child, I talked like a child, I
thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put
childish ways behind me." (I Cor. 13:11 )
It is time for God's people to begin reasoning as
adults. You have been given information on the observance of Christmas. You
must decide:
IS Jesus REALLY the "Reason for the Season"?
CAN we REALLY "put Christ back in Christmas"?
Epilogue
But wait! Surely God doesn't intend us to
live bleak lives with never any refreshment and celebration. Does the Bible
speak of special periods of worship during which we can rejoice with other
believers before Him, honor our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ--and even have fun?
Indeed it does. For more Biblical insight into this
question, click on the Refreshment button on the menu at the left.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A Right Merrie Christmas
Ashton, John
© 1968; Benjamin Blom; N.Y./London
4000 Years of Christmas
Count, Earl W. [Professor of
Anthropology, Hamilton College]
© 1948; Henry Schuman Pub.; N.Y.
The Origins of Christmas
Bush, Roger
© 1982; Frederick Muller Ltd.; London
PLEASE NOTE:
The three books listed, quoted in the above article,
are all written from the perspective of men who enthusiastically endorse
Christmas observance. They have not presented the pagan origins of Christmas, or
the history of its observance, in order to evaluate "whether" it should be kept.
They have all just honestly recorded the results of their research.
