Cheat Sheet #24

As you read this section, keep in mind that the New Testament is not merely a history book, it's meant to change us to become more and more like Jesus. When we read any passages in the New Testament, our goal should be to discern what God wants us to believe and do so that we can be obedient to Him.

Imagine that your family tells you that they've decided to celebrate your birthday every year by playing a game that they invented that you have no interest in, on a date that's far from your actual birth date. Would you feel honored or pleased by their way of celebrating your birth? It's not your real birthday and you never wanted or asked them to do that, so even though there's nothing wrong with them celebrating your birth in that way, most likely it would mean nothing to you.

If God wanted or commanded us to celebrate Jesus' birth then He would have said something about it in the Christian instruction manual (the New Testament). The New Testament never tells us to celebrate Jesus' birth every year, and there are no examples in the New Testament of any Christians celebrating Jesus' birth every year. For example, I used my Bible software to search for every occurrence of Greek words for concepts such as "birth" or "born" throughout the New Testament (for more on this, see my article called How to Study the Bible), and here's every passage I found that specifically mentions Jesus' birth: Matthew 1:16-25, 2:1-4, Luke 1:31, 35, 2:6-7, 11, John 18:37, Acts 13:33, Hebrews 1:5, 5:5, Revelation 12:2-5, 13.

As we can see in those passages, in every place where Jesus' birth is mentioned we're never told to celebrate it annually and we never see any Christians celebrating it annually. Therefore, celebrating Jesus' birth is not scriptural and we have no reason to think that Christmas honors or pleases God or means anything to Him because it's not something that He wanted or commanded us to do. It's not that there's anything wrong with celebrating His birth, but we should understand that Christmas is nothing more than a human invention. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that Jesus was born on December 25th, and in fact the indications in the Gospels make it far more likely that He was born during the spring or summer (as explained in various Bible commentaries

and online articles).

Personally, I enjoy Christmastime and the secular trappings of Christmas such as Christmas music, Christmas lights, decorating a tree, putting out wreaths and garlands, exchanging gifts, etc., but I don't treat it as Jesus' birthday. As you can see in numerous articles online, Jesus was never "the reason for the season" because celebrating on December 25 and most of the other elements of Christmas are rooted in pre-Christian pagan traditions and practices. Due to these pagan origins, a number of Christians refuse to celebrate Christmas in any way.

Since we're never told to celebrate Jesus' birth, and since most of our Christmas traditions come from pagan origins, is it wrong to celebrate Christmas with trees, gifts, lights, songs, and all of our other traditions?

The answer is no, it's not wrong. Notice that if people in pre-Christian pagan religions had certain practices, this does not automatically mean that anyone who does something similar is worshiping or invoking false gods or trying to ward off evil spirits as the pagans did. Consider some examples:

Pagan religions tend to believe in good spirits and evil spirits. Yet Christians also believe in good spirits (angels) and evil spirits (demons).
In movies that show druids or voodoo practitioners or tribal religious celebrations, we sometimes see them leaping and dancing before their gods. Yet God's chosen people (the Jews) are sometimes described as leaping and dancing before God (e.g., 2 Samuel 6:14-16, Exodus 15:19-21).
Some pagan religions involve animal sacrifices. Yet God's chosen people (the Jews) also had animal sacrifices (e.g., Leviticus 1) that God had commanded them to do.
In pagan religions, people have been known to go into trances. Yet we see apostles going into trances (e.g., Acts 10:9-10, 11:4-5, 22:17-18).
Pagan religions built altars to their gods (e.g., the altars to Baal in Judges 6:25, 1 Kings 16:30-33, 2 Kings 11:17-18). Yet God's chosen people (the Jews) built altars to God (e.g., Exodus 17:15, 20:22-25, Judges 6:24).
People in pagan religions sometimes do (or attempt to do or pretend to do) supernatural things such as sorcery, witchcraft, and casting spells (e.g., Deuteronomy 18:9-14, Isaiah 47:8-12, Micah 5:10-12, Acts 8:9-13). Yet we see Christians doing supernatural things such as signs, wonders, and miracles (e.g., Mark 16:20, Acts 6:8, 8:4-13, 14:3).
Searching online shows that pagan religions have been known to practice some forms of speaking in tongues. Yet we see Christians speaking in tongues (e.g., Acts 2:1-4, 10:44-46, 19:1-7, 1 Corinthians 14:26-29).
Pagans sometimes make decisions by casting lots (e.g., Jonah 1:7, Esther 3:6-7). Yet we see God's chosen people (the Jews) as well as Christians making decisions by casting lots (e.g., Leviticus 16:3-8, Joshua 18:10, Nehemiah 10:34, Acts 1:21-26).

As we can see in the above examples, God's people throughout the Bible did certain things that are also found in pagan religions, yet it was proper for them to do so. They were not participating in pagan rituals in those examples because their purpose was different. In the same way, if we do things that pre-Christian pagans did, such as celebrating on December 25th, bringing trees into our homes, hanging mistletoe, exchanging gifts, etc., we are not participating in pagan rituals because our purpose is different. We're not doing these things to honor false gods or ward off evil spirits, just as God's people were not doing the things in the above examples for the same reasons that pagans were.

However, some people believe that the Bible specifically forbids Christmas trees based on this passage:

"This is what the LORD says: "Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the heavens, though the nations are terrified by them. For the practices of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter."" (Jeremiah 10:2-4)

When people say that Christmas trees are forbidden in the Bible, they're simply looking on the surface of the above passage and jumping to the conclusion that it's describing Christmas trees. However, this is not the way to properly understand Bible passages (see my article called How to Study the Bible). When we look at the above passage in context, it becomes clear what that passage is referring to:

"This is what the LORD says: "Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the heavens, though the nations are terrified by them. For the practices of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman [haras] shapes it with his chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter. Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good...They are all senseless and foolish; they are taught by worthless wooden idols. Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz. What the craftsman [haras] and goldsmith have made is then dressed in blue and purple - all made by skilled workers."" (Jeremiah 10:2-9)

The above passage says that after a tree is cut down, a craftsman (haras in Hebrew) shapes the wood with his chisel, then the wood is covered with hammered silver and gold plating and dressed in blue and purple. The above passage specifically says that the finished product is a wooden idol, and the Hebrew word for craftsman in that passage is sometimes used throughout the Old Testament for people who make their living by creating idols:

"[haras is] A masculine noun meaning craftsman, artisan, and engraver. This Hebrew word denotes a craftsman who is skilled in a given medium. It appears in reference to one skilled in metalwork (1Ch 29:5; Hos 13:2); one skilled in woodwork (1Ch 14:1; Isa 40:20); and one skilled in stonework (Exo 28:11). More broadly, the term is applied to those who make their living by fashioning idols (Isa 45:16); or one highly skilled in his or her vocation (Eze 21:31 [36])." (The Complete Word Study Dictionary of the Old and New Testaments, Dr. Spiros Zodhiates, haras, emphasis added)

For example, here are passages which use that Hebrew word specifically in the context of creating idols out of various materials:

"And the Levites shall speak with a loud voice and say to all the men of Israel: 'Cursed is the one who makes a carved or molded image, an abomination to the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman [haras], and sets it up in secret.' And all the people shall answer and say, 'Amen!'" (Deuteronomy 27:14-15 NKJV)

"As for an idol, a metalworker [haras] casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and fashions silver chains for it. A person too poor to present such an offering selects wood that will not rot; they look for a skilled worker [haras] to set up an idol that will not topple." (Isaiah 40:19-20)

"The metalworker [haras] encourages the goldsmith, and the one who smooths with the hammer spurs on the one who strikes the anvil. One says of the welding, "It is good." The other nails down the idol so it will not topple." (Isaiah 41:7)

"All who make idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Those who would speak up for them are blind; they are ignorant, to their own shame. Who shapes a god and casts an idol, which can profit nothing? People who do that will be put to shame; such craftsmen [haras] are only human beings. Let them all come together and take their stand; they will be brought down to terror and shame. The blacksmith [haras] takes a tool and works with it in the coals; he shapes an idol with hammers, he forges it with the might of his arm. He gets hungry and loses his strength; he drinks no water and grows faint. The carpenter [haras] measures with a line and makes an outline with a marker; he roughs it out with chisels and marks it with compasses. He shapes it in human form, human form in all its glory, that it may dwell in a shrine. He cut down cedars, or perhaps took a cypress or oak. He let it grow among the trees of the forest, or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow. It is used as fuel for burning; some of it he takes and warms himself, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. But he also fashions a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it." (Isaiah 44:9-15)

"All the makers [haras] of idols will be put to shame and disgraced; they will go off into disgrace together." (Isaiah 45:16)

"Samaria, throw out your calf-idol! My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of purity? They are from Israel! This calf - a metalworker [haras] has made it; it is not God. It will be broken in pieces, that calf of Samaria." (Hosea 8:5-6)

"Now they sin more and more; they make idols for themselves from their silver, cleverly fashioned images, all of them the work of craftsmen [haras]. It is said of these people, "They offer human sacrifices! They kiss calf-idols!"" (Hosea 13:2)

In the above passages we see craftsmen who cut down trees, shape the pieces of wood with chisels, overlay them with hammered gold and silver, then nail them down so they won't topple or totter. These craftsmen made wooden idols to be worshiped, and notice that these descriptions are exactly what we see in Jeremiah 10:2-9 (above). When we try to be thorough, objective, and unbiased in order to properly understand Scripture passages, we can clearly see that Jeremiah 10:2-9 (above) is not describing Christmas trees. The Bible does not forbid Christmas trees.

Christians have the freedom (see my article called Covenants, Dispensations, and the Ten Commandments - Part Three) to celebrate Christmas as Jesus' birthday, or to enjoy the Christmas traditions without treating it as Jesus' birthday, or to refuse to celebrate Christmas in any way due to the pagan origins of our Christmas traditions. None of those choices are violating Scripture because God never commanded anyone to celebrate or commemorate Jesus' birth. But when Christians refuse to celebrate Christmas due to its pagan origins, they might not understand that there are a number of other modern traditions and things that they do that come from pagan origins (as you can see online). For example, in many languages the names of the months and the days of the week are based on the names of false gods and goddesses. Wearing a wedding ring on our "ring finger" comes from ancient pagan beliefs. The original purpose for having bridesmaids at a wedding was for them to wear dresses and veils identical to the bride's to trick evil spirits so that they would attack a bridesmaid instead of the bride. The bouquet of flowers that a bride carries at her wedding was originally intended to mask her human smell from evil spirits. Placing candles on birthday cakes was originally meant to ward off evil spirits and beckon good spirits. Covering your mouth when you yawn was originally for the purpose of preventing evil spirits from taking your life force out of your throat.

So there are a number of things that we do today that come from pagan origins (according to articles online), but the important issue is that we're not doing these things for their original reasons or purposes. We're not doing these things in order to participate in pagan religious rituals or customs, just as God's people were not doing the things in the above examples for the same reasons that pagans were.

Similarly, many Christians and churches celebrate Easter every year to commemorate Jesus' resurrection. But if God wanted or commanded us to specifically celebrate Jesus' resurrection then He would have said something about it in the Christian instruction manual (the New Testament). The New Testament never tells us to specifically celebrate Jesus' resurrection every year, and there are no examples in the New Testament of any Christians specifically celebrating Jesus' resurrection every year. For example, I used my Bible software to search for every occurrence of Greek words for concepts such as "resurrection" or "risen" throughout the New Testament (for more on this, see my article called How to Study the Bible), and here's every passage I found that mentions Jesus' resurrection: Matthew 16:21, 17:9, 23, 20:19, 26:32, 27:63-64, 28:6-7, Mark 8:31, 9:9-10, 31, 10:34, 14:28, 16:6, 9, 14, Luke 9:22, 18:33, 24:6-7, 34, 46, John 2:19-22, 20:9, 21:14, Acts 1:22, 2:24, 31-32, 3:15, 4:10, 33, 5:30, 10:40-41, 13:30-37, 17:3, 31-32, 26:23, Romans 1:4, 4:24-25, 6:4-9, 7:4, 8:11, 34, 10:9, 14:9, 1 Corinthians 6:14, 15:4, 12-23, 2 Corinthians 4:14, 5:15, Galatians 1:1, Ephesians 1:20, Philippians 3:10, Colossians 2:12, 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 4:14, 2 Timothy 2:8, 1 Peter 1:3, 21, 3:21.

As we can see in those passages, in every place where Jesus' resurrection is mentioned we're never told to celebrate it annually and we never see any Christians celebrating it annually. Therefore, specifically celebrating Jesus' resurrection is not scriptural and we have no reason to think that Easter honors or pleases God or means anything to Him because it's not something that He wanted or commanded us to do. It's not that there's anything wrong with specifically celebrating Jesus' resurrection, but we should understand that most of our Easter traditions are nothing more than human inventions, and many of those traditions such as Easter eggs and the Easter bunny and possibly even the name "Easter" come from pagan origins as you can see online.

Since Jesus was resurrected on a Sunday (see my article called Who Wrote the New Testament? for the reasons why it was probably on April 5, AD 33), this has led many Christians to assume that Sunday is called "the Lord's Day" in the New Testament, or that the Old Testament Sabbath has been changed to Sunday, or that Sunday is now the "Christian Sabbath," or that first-century church services were held on Sunday to commemorate the Resurrection. However, my article called Covenants, Dispensations, and the Ten Commandments - Part Three explains in scriptural detail why these assumptions are all wrong. As that article shows, there's not a shred of scriptural evidence that first-century Christians were commemorating Jesus' resurrection every week because there's not a shred of scriptural evidence that they had the custom of going to church services on Sunday.

What we are told to commemorate in the New Testament is the Atonement (when Jesus was humiliated and brutally tortured and executed and resurrected). We're never told where or when or how often to commemorate the Atonement, but we're told how to do it: by observing the Lord's Supper. Notice that we do this in remembrance of the entire Atonement, not specifically Jesus' resurrection. Churches observe the Lord's Supper in their Easter services (and other times as well), but most of them are not doing it correctly (see my article called Cheat Sheet #18).

Even though there's nothing wrong with celebrating Christmas or Easter, there's a potential danger in blindly following what others tell us (such as our pastor or church). Notice how harshly Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and teachers of the law for their human rules and traditions:

"So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, "Why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?" He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.' You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions." And he continued, "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!...Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that."" (Mark 7:5-13)

If we blindly follow the rules and traditions that we're taught in church, we might be in danger of setting aside the commands of God and worshiping God in vain, as Jesus said in the above passage. We've seen that Christmas and Easter are merely human traditions, human inventions, but they're not setting aside or disobeying any commands in the New Testament so we're free to celebrate them if we wish. However, there are plenty of other human rules or human traditions or human inventions being taught and practiced in many churches that are setting aside or disobeying what we're told in the New Testament as you can see throughout this article. As described in my articles called Cheat Sheet #11, Cheat Sheet #12, and Cheat Sheet #13, we're likely to be disciplined (perhaps severely) both in this life and in heaven for following human traditions that disobey the Christian instruction manual (the New Testament).

God is the One who gets to decide what He wants us to believe and do. Just because Christians believe with all their hearts that their views and actions are correct and pleasing to God, this doesn't mean they actually are correct and pleasing to God. Our views and actions are only correct and pleasing to God if they are properly supported in the instruction manual (the New Testament).

Personally, I don't celebrate Easter in any way (or Lent, or Good Friday, etc.) for the reasons described above. Instead, I observe the Lord's Supper at home by myself every Saturday evening so that I can do it properly and with the proper focus (on the Atonement). The only reason why I do it on Saturday evenings is because that just happens to be the day and time when I first did it myself at home, and I've simply kept that as my regular routine. To learn the correct way to celebrate the Lord's Supper, see my article called Cheat Sheet #18.

Our enemy, the devil, is described as being filled with fury at God and God's people, waging war against them and God's angels, and prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (e.g., 1 Peter 5:8, Revelation 12:7-9, 12, 17). He's described as a thief, a robber, a murderer, a schemer, a cunning deceiver, a liar, and the father of lies, whose goal is to steal and kill and destroy (e.g., John 8:44, 10:1, 9-10, 2 Corinthians 11:3-4, Ephesians 6:10-11, 1 Timothy 4:1-2). In order for him to wage war against God, one effective strategy would be to create deception and confusion by prompting people to invent and believe in numerous false religions and false deities over the millennia. To do this, we're told that he uses false Christs, false prophets, false apostles, false teachers, deceitful workers, destructive heresies, counterfeit or false miracles, and "every sort of evil that deceives" (e.g., Matthew 24:24, 2 Corinthians 11:13-15, 2 Thessalonians 2:9, 2 Peter 2:1-2, Revelation 13:11-17).

We're told that the devil is "the god of this age" who blinds people's minds to the truth of the Gospel message (2 Corinthians 4:4), who deceives people and leads their minds astray with a different gospel (2 Corinthians 11:3-4), who deceives the inhabitants of the earth (Revelation 13:11-17) and leads the whole world astray (Revelation 12:7-9) using his servants who masquerade as servants of righteousness (2 Corinthians 11:13-15) so that people will follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons (1 Timothy 4:1-2). Again, in order for him to wage war against God, one effective strategy would be to create numerous false religions, and another effective strategy would be to incorporate elements from Old Covenant Judaism and New Covenant Christianity into many of these false religions (see the bullet points above) to add more deception and confusion for leading people away from God's truths. These forms of counterfeit Christianity and counterfeit Christs are what you'll find if you dig deeper into the pagan background of many of our Christmas and Easter traditions.

Some of the passages in the previous two paragraphs involve the devil leading Christians astray. One way that he does this is by prompting Christians to violate Scripture by fracturing the body of Christ into divisions such as denominations (see my article called Cheat Sheet #21), and another way is by prompting many Christians to believe the apostasy known as cessationism (see my article called All Gifts of the Spirit Are Available Today). He also leads Christians astray into disobeying God (see most of the sections in this article) or being in a church where God does not want them to be (such as a church that's not properly teaching God's truths).

To help you discern the Lord's guidance about these or any other issues, see my article called How to Discern God's Guidance.