Many sincere and well-meaning people have made the decision to get on board with the “War On Christmas.” Yet I find it rather disheartening that the very same people who call themselves “Christians” do nothing to fight the war waged against His Holy Word.
This is a latent yet very active “passive aggressive” war against keeping and applying the Torah in the lives of believers. The word Torah which is often translated “Law,” really means instruction. So my question to you would be which part of His instructions are we free from and when did this happen?
Isaiah 40
8 The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our Elohim stands forever.
From the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance
Forever = ‛ôlâm
properly concealed, that is, the vanishing point; generally time out of mind (past or future), that is, (practically) eternity; frequentative adverbially (especially with prepositional prefix) always:—always (-s), ancient (time), any more, continuance, eternal, (for, [n-]) ever (-lasting, -more, of old), lasting, long (time), (of) old (time), perpetual, at any time, (beginning of the) world (+ without end).
What part of forever is not understood?
Remember, Isaiah didn’t have a pocket New Testament at his disposal. This Word Isaiah is speaking about is His Torah.
Some might try to use the argument that it does not matter what day He (Yeshua) was born; we are redeeming the day. Again my answer to them would be, give me a Scriptural mandate that shows we can redeem pagan things for the Lord? I see quite the opposite in Scripture.
Deuteronomy 7:25
22“The LORD your Elohim will clear away these nations before you little by little; you will not be able to put an end to them quickly, for the wild beasts would grow too numerous for you. 23“But the LORD your Elohim will deliver them before you, and will throw them into great confusion until they are destroyed. 24“He will deliver their kings into your hand so that you will make their name perish from under heaven; no man will be able to stand before you until you have destroyed them. 25“The graven images of their gods you are to burn with fire; you shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, or you will be snared by it, for it is an abomination to the LORD your Elohim. 26“You shall not bring an abomination into your house, and like it come under the ban; you shall utterly detest it and you shall utterly abhor it, for it is something banned.
Have we in the name of grace desired the detestable things?
I know right from the get-go I am going to solicit a negative response from many of you. But hear me out and I promise this little blog will get you thinking. If after you read this note you are still convinced I am full of hokum, hit the delete button and ask me to take you off my list. Is that a deal?
I would like to start with a very simple concept as my premise. The rest of the blog will be devoted to the defense of the premise.
The “war against Christmas” is just a smoke screen perpetuated by Satan himself. This war is waged for the purpose of keeping believers from fighting the real war, that is the war against the Word of the Lord. If you can argue against this point Biblically, I will listen to all opposing views. If not, then stop thinking of all of the traditional reasons why it is okay to celebrate a holiday steeped in pagan practice and roots.
So where did Christmas come from?
The truth is that all of the customs of Christmas pre-date the birth of Yeshua, and a study of this would reveal that Christmas in our day is a collection of traditions and practices taken from many cultures and nations. The date of December 25 comes from Rome and was a celebration of the Italic god, Saturn, and the rebirth of the sun god. This was done long before the birth of Yeshua.
It was noted by the pre-Christian Romans and other pagans that daylight began to increase after December 22, when they assumed that the sun god died. These ancients believed that the sun god rose from the dead three days later as the new-born and venerable sun. Thus, they figured that to be the reason for increasing daylight. This was a cause for much wild excitement and celebration. Gift giving and merriment filled the temples of ancient Rome, as sacred priests of Saturn carried wreaths of evergreen boughs in procession.
In Germany, the evergreen tree was used in worship and celebration of the yule god, also in observance of the resurrected sun god. The evergreen tree was a symbol of the essence of life and was regarded as a phallic symbol in fertility worship. Witches and other pagans regarded the red holly as a symbol of the menstrual blood of the queen of heaven, also known as Diana. The holly wood was used by witches to make wands. The white berries of mistletoe were believed by pagans to represent droplets of the semen of the sun god. Both holly and mistletoe were hung in doorways of temples and homes to invoke powers of fertility in those who stood beneath and kissed, causing the spirits of the god and goddess to enter them.
These customs transcended the borders of Rome and Germany to the far reaches of the known world.
So what’s my point?
When we look at the Word of the Lord and its development, we find that the first five books of Moses, the Torah, are written as an instruction manual for the children of Israel.
Genesis tells us of the creation of the world and it’s fall from the Lord. The rest of the Torah sets the stage to prepare us to receive the Lord’s plan of redemption. In Genesis 12, we have the creation of the Hebrew people through the seed of Abraham, the covenant people the Lord will use to bring forth that plan of redemption.
In Genesis 21, Isaac is born to Abraham and Sarah. In Genesis 25, Jacob is born, and from Jacob came the 12 sons who were to be the 12 tribes of Israel. In Genesis 37, we see the miracle birth of Joseph, the son of his old age.
Through the life of Joseph we witness the salvation of both the sons of Israel and the Egyptians indicating the Lord’s desire to save both Jew and Gentile.
Finally, last but not least, we see the hand of the Lord in the man Moses (Exodus chapter 2). From Moses the Lord established the 12 sons of Israel into a cohesive people group. This was the birth of the nation of Israel. They were now more than just a scattered, loosely-connected group of people who were related through Abraham.
The Lord, through Moses, gave them the Torah in Exodus 20. This was their constitution. They were to live by it and serve the Lord by it. This Torah would give them all that they needed to become the people of the Lord. Through this Torah they would realize the love of the Lord, not only for them but for all mankind.
Moses Interceded, Deut 5
22“These words the LORD spoke to all your assembly at the mountain from the midst of the fire, of the cloud and of the thick gloom, with a great voice, and He added no more. He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. 23“And when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders. 24“You said, ‘Behold, the LORD our Elohim has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire; we have seen today that Elohim speaks with man, yet he lives. 25‘Now then why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the LORD our Elohim any longer, then we will die. 26‘For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living Elohim speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? 27‘Go near and hear all that the LORD our Elohim says; then speak to us all that the LORD our Elohim speaks to you, and we will hear and do it.’
28“The LORD heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, and the LORD said to me, ‘I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They have done well in all that they have spoken. 29‘Oh that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear Me and keep all My commandments always, that it may be well with them and with their sons forever! 30‘Go, say to them, “Return to your tents.” 31‘But as for you, stand here by Me, that I may speak to you all the commandments and the statutes and the judgments which you shall teach them, that they may observe them in the land which I give them to possess.’ 32“So you shall observe to do just as the LORD your Elohim has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right or to the left. 33“You shall walk in all the way which the LORD your Elohim has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you will possess.
The children of Israel were instructed to not turn aside to the right or the left. There was to be no change in the Lord’s Word in the slightest. Yet, they would not obey, even though the instructions were spelled out in perfect detail. The Lord was faithful in telling them the penalty for disobedience. He made no bones about it.
In Deut 28 the Lord spells out the consequences of their disobedience:
15“But it shall come about, if you do not obey the LORD your Elohim, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you.”
Read the rest of this chapter the curses are not pleasant to say the least.
It was not the desire or intent of the Lord to punish His people. His desire was to bless them. His instructions were given that they might have a fullness of life, joy, and prosperity.
Deut 30 Restoration Promised
1“So it shall be when all of these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind in all nations where the LORD your Elohim has banished you, 2and you return to the LORD your Elohim and obey Him with all your heart and soul according to all that I command you today, you and your sons, 3then the LORD your Elohim will restore you from captivity, and have compassion on you, and will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your Elohim has scattered you. 4“If your outcasts are at the ends of the earth, from there the LORD your Elohim will gather you, and from there He will bring you back. 5“The LORD your Elohim will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers.
Oy! If they had only kept His word, what a different life we would lead today.
The entire rest of the First Covenant Scriptures are, in some way, a reminder to the Children of Israel to come back to His Word, His instructions, His Torah.
The book of Judges deals with the constant disobedience of His children. They are to conquer the land and stay separate from the paganism of the people who dwell there. I can sum the book up in a few short sentences. Israel continued sinning against the Lord. They refused to keep His Torah. He delivered them into the hands of their enemies. They repented and the Lord sent them a judge to deliver them and keep them on the straight and narrow.
Apart from the role of the Judges, the rest of the Scripture really seems to follow this pattern to the tee. Time does not permit me to cover every book in the Bible – I would be here until next Hanukah. I would like to refer to a few more passages to make my point.
Concerning the Passover He says…
Exodus 12
43The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover: no ◙ foreigner is to eat of it; 44but every man’s slave purchased with money, after you have circumcised him, then he may eat of it. 45“A sojourner or a hired servant shall not eat of it. 46“It is to be eaten in a single house; you are not to bring forth any of the flesh outside of the house, nor are you to break any bone of it. 47“All the congregation of Israel are to celebrate this. 48“But if a stranger sojourns with you, and celebrates the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near to celebrate it; and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat of it. 49“The same law shall apply to the native as to the stranger who sojourns among you.”
The Passover was given as a perpetual event to happen in all of our dwellings.
Exodus 12
14‘Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance.
Zech 14
16Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 17And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, there will be no rain on them. 18If the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which the LORD smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 19This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.
20In that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “HOLY TO THE LORD.” And the cooking pots in the LORD’s house will be like the bowls before the altar. 21Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the LORD of hosts; and all who sacrifice will come and take of them and boil in them. And there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts in that day.
In the Millennium all men will celebrate the Holy day of Sukkot. There will be sacrifices of praise in the Temple built in Jerusalem.
We will also serve the Lord in His holy temple according to His Word, His Torah will be restored and put in our hearts.
Isaiah 2
2 Now it will come about that
In the last days
The mountain of the house of the LORD
Will be established as the chief of the mountains,
And will be raised above the hills;
And all the nations will stream to it.
3 And many peoples will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
To the house of the Elohim of Jacob;
That He may teach us concerning His ways
And that we may walk in His paths.”
For the law will go forth from Zion
And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
4 And He will judge between the nations,
And will render decisions for many peoples;
And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not lift up sword against nation,
And never again will they learn war.
What might this law be if it is not His Torah? What could Isaiah possibly be thinking of?
Micah chapter four echoes the same sentiment almost verbatim.
So based upon all of this Scriptural evidence, the Lord really put a lot of attention into this Torah-keeping thingy. Taking into consideration that there were curses for those who refused to keep His instructions, I might safely conclude that this was not a casual topic on the Lord’s mind.
Yet, with that being said, why is it that so many “Christians” refuse to acknowledge the Torah as valid for today? Why is there a need to replace that which is Biblical for that which is contrived, made up from pagan roots. I might conclude from this short study that it is because “Christianity” is guilty of the same sins that Israel was guilty of.
I would even go as far as saying that many who do acknowledge the validity of the Torah in the lives of the Gentile believers still struggle with putting off the foolish traditions of men that have usurped the Scripture.
Jeremiah said it best in chapter 5:
11 “For the house of Israel and the house of Judah
Have dealt very treacherously with Me,” declares the LORD.
12 They have lied about the LORD
and in verse 31…
31 The prophets prophesy falsely,
And the priests rule on their own authority;
And My people love it so!
But what will you do at the end of it?
It is time for the “Church” to stop lying to itself and others. It is time for the Word to take prominence over the failed traditions of men. It is time for the war against His Torah to stop from within by the very people who profess to follow Him. Consider His Word.
Jeremiah 10 A Satire on Idolatry
1Hear the word which the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel. 2Thus says the LORD,
“Do not learn the way of the nations,
And do not be terrified by the signs of the heavens
Although the nations are terrified by them;
3 For the customs of the peoples are delusion;
Because it is wood cut from the forest,
The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool.
4 “They decorate it with silver and with gold;
They fasten it with nails and with hammers
So that it will not totter.
5 “Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field are they,
And they cannot speak;
They must be carried,
Because they cannot walk!
Do not fear them,
For they can do no harm,
Nor can they do any good.”
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