Posted on 12/21/2016 8:03:51 AM PST by DouglasKC
In just eight days much of the world will celebrate and observe Christmas. In America alone 92% of the population will observe Christmas. This includes professing Christians as well as non-Christians. In fact 81% of people who are anything but Christian will also celebrate Christmas. This includes Muslims, atheists, Wiccans and various pagan earth cults.
I am part of the 8% who doesn't observe Christmas at all. Now the primary reason why I don't observe it is that I KNOW and BELIEVE that the Lord God has given us HIS days to observe and that these days have purpose and meaning. They ARE holy days. Days that are set apart for God's purpose. These days are listed in God's holy word in Leviticus chapter 23.
It's clear that Christmas falls OUTSIDE of God's commands AS DEFINED IN THE BIBLE, Christmas falls outside of God's world. It's NOT part of God's holy world IF we follow scripture.
There is the world of God. And there is the world system. There is holy....things of God. And there is worldly...things of the world.
Let's look at that point by turning to Leviticus chapter 10. In Leviticus chapter 10 the Lord is giving instructions to Aaron about how they, as a priesthood, are to treat God. In verse 3 the Lord says that anyone who comes near to God must regard God as holy. In verse 9 he tells the priests that they are not to drink any kind of alcohol when coming before the Lord...they need to have clear heads....this is serious business. And in verse 10 he tells them why.
Lev 10:10 that you may distinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean,
God wants his people when they come near to him, to be able to tell the difference between holy.....Godly things...and unholy...things that are not Godly.
There's a better English word for “Unholy”......and the New American Standard bible uses that word and I'll read that same word from that translation.
(NASB) and so as to make a distinction between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean,
That word in English is “profane”. There is holy...God's world....and profane....worldly...things not holy.
Now in the greek versions of the old testament the word that is translated here as “unholy” or “profane” is the word “bebelos”. It's Strongs number G952 and it means to step over a threshold into a place where anyone is permitted. It springs from the notion that the temple, or the tabernacle, was a holy place....a place of God...and that outside of the temple, was a common place...a profane place...a worldly place.
In fact the English word “profane” comes from the latin word “Profanus” which literally means “outside of the temple.”
Now obviously we don't worship in temples as Christians. But the concept of God and his temple are still with us and is still applicable. Corinthians chapter 3 confirms that;
1Co 3:16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 1Co 3:17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. 1Co 3:18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.
We are the temple of God. Individually and as a church. And God still has rules for holiness. There are holy things of God as defined by God in scripture. And we should hold on to and adhere to his instructions. But there are also things outside of the temple...behaviors, objects, attitudes and emotions that are not holy. That do NOT belong in the temple of God. That are OUTSIDE of the TEMPLE. And when we engage in those things we GO over the threshold of the temple. We go outside the temple. We PROFANE the temple of God.
So what does all this have to do with Christmas? Let's look at that by turning to 1 Timothy chapter 4.
1Ti 4:1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,
This is MUCH more latter then when Paul wrote it. These ARE the latter times and Paul tells us that there are some who are going to turn from the faith and be deceived and follow false doctrine. In verses 2 to 5 Paul lists some examples. In verse he says this:
1Ti 4:6 If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. 1Ti 4:7 But reject profane and old wives' fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness.
Look at verse 7. It says to reject “profane and old wives fables”. Let's analyze that. Profane as we've seen are things things outside the temple of God. The “old wives fables” denote stories or customs passed on from elders. Or the traditions passed on to younger by older. In that verse the world fables is the greek word “mythos” from which we derive the English word “myths”.
So we are to reject things traditional myths that fall outside of the temple of God. Doesn't this describe Christmas?
What the myths of Christmas? Santa Claus. Flying reindeer. Elves. Jesus born on December 25th. All myths. All fables. Christmas itself, the holiday, is NOT in the word of God. Anywhere. It is NOT a holy day of the Lord God. It is outside of the temple. Thus it is profane.
We need to look at one more scripture. Let's turn to Ezekiel chapter 22. In Ezekiel 22 Ezekiel is prophesying against a fallen Israel. An Israel, that much like America today, has rejected God and turned to idols. An Israel that has abandoned all morality. In verse 26 Ezekiel turns to religion...to the conduct of the priests who claim to be priests of God.
Eze 22:26 Her priests have violated My law and profaned My holy things; they have not distinguished between the holy and unholy (bebelos, PROFANE), nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.
When we profane God we are putting God OUT of his temple. WE are NOT keeping him holy. Brethen, as Christians....and when we BECOME Christians....we have a duty and an obligation to God, to the Lord, to preserve HIS holiness. To recognize that there still are Godly standards of holy and profane. Our role as priests of God is to recognize God's holiness when we come before him and to discern that there are things that are NOT part of God's world, things that are NOT part of the temple of God. Brethren let us keep God and his temple holy.
Get off your high horse and do it for the kids.
Get off your high horse and do it for the kids.
I bet you don’t observe Easter as holy either?
I get where your coming from, though. I do.
IMO EVERY Sunday is Easter Sunday. Where Christians come together - observe the LORDS Supper - and celebrate the fact we serve a risen Savior.
The Entire world has chosen a consensus date to celebrate the divine birth of the man who saved us all by sacrificing himself in a painful, miserable way. He showed us all that through his single sacrifice we have nothing to fear, we have everything to be thankful for, and that we are free in the free-est way.
The actual holiday is not the birth of Jesus. It’s not his birthday. The church declared this day to be his to take the wind out of the sails of the Pagani and the Heathens who celebrated Yule, Solstice, or some other tribal harvest / sacrifice holiday.
In my house we know it’s not his actual birthday. We just know this is the day we celebrate Him and his, and what he gave us all to enjoy forever.
Pass on profane old wives fables like scripture says not to do??
I do not....Leviticus 23 has God's days listed.
Bah, humbug to you, too!
CC
I don't think it worked. God said specifically:
Deu 12:29 "When the LORD your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land,
Deu 12:30 take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, 'How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.'
Deu 12:31 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.
Deu 12:32 "Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.
And so what have we done? Taken every pagan custom, myth and observation of non-Christian societies and polluted our worship of the Lord...exactly what he said not to do.
No Christmas. No Easter. I get that.
So. What Holy Days DO you observe? In the New Testament we see Jesus and his disciples observing...
The Feast of The Tabernacles.
The Day of Atonement.
Pentecost.
Feasts of Trumpets.
Etc.
You DO celebrate these then, right?
Romans 14:5New International Version (NIV)
5 One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind.
Definition of humbug: something designed to deceive and mislead.
Christmas was designed to deceive and mislead people about what days God has made holy.
/s
Exactly...
This verse has nothing to do with holy days. The greek text doesn't mention "holy" or "sacred". In context this verse is referring to eating practices. It's most likely referring to a problem in the early church where clean animals had been sacrificed in pagan worship and later sold in the meat market. The issue as that early Christians were conflicted on whether they could eat meat that had been sacrificed to idols. Some became vegetarians. The "days" were likely those days that pagans sacrificed and put their meat out in the market.
If they did all these things it was only a couple of months after they had their Halloween party. :-)
Prov. 14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable:
10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.
12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Obviously we disagree on this. Have a nice day. I’d wish you Merry Christmas, but it would just piss you off.
CC
I love that parable. However I don’t think I’m more righteous for observing what God said to do in the bible. I’m humbled that Christ wrote what he wrote and that he allows a sinner like me to obey him.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.