Nearly Christmas. I have a hard time with Christmas, because I know this is not the time that Jesus was born. I know how this date was chosen, so many years ago, by a Roman Emperor, to coincide with a pagan god, Tammuz. I know, from reading Ezekiel Chapter 8, that God was not happy about the women weeping for Tammuz, when the Spirit took Ezekiel to the temple in Jerusalem to show him the abominations that were taking place there.
The Church celebrates Jesus' birth on December 25th, but that is not the day He was born. From research I have done, I have discovered that Jesus is the fulfillment of all the Feasts of the Lord as presented in the Book of Leviticus. When I was doing a word study years ago on the word 'tabernacle' in Hebrew and Greek, Holy Spirit dropped these words into my mind and heart: "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt (tabernacled) among us." I knew then that Jesus was born in the fall, during the Feast of Tabernacles. Now, many years later, I have discovered that Messianic Jewish believers also believe that Yeshua (Jesus) was born during the Feast of Tabernacles.
Usually, when I mention the feasts to my Christian friends, they respond with, "You mean the Jewish feasts?" Yes, God gave the feasts to His Jewish people, but He calls them His Feasts - the Feasts of the Lord. As believers, they are our Feasts too. However, the Church has become so far removed from her Jewish roots through the teaching of Replacement Theology and Dual Covenant Theology that she no longer obtains nourishment from those roots.
Today, Christmas has become a worldly holiday. North Americans love their Christmas celebrations! It has become the greatest retail season of the year! Ka-ching ka-ching!! Cash registers raking it in, people standing in long lines to buy the latest gadgets and brightest glitz, fighting the crowds. If 'Christmas' was truly a 'Christian' celebration, would the world be so intent on celebrating it? I think not!
Christmas trees - pagan in origin; Santa Claus - a lie we propagate to our children. All the lights, the parties, the glitz and glamour, the shopping frenzy .... the drinking, the accidents .... most people who celebrate Christmas are certainly not celebrating Jesus' birth! Why does the Church turn a deaf ear on history? Most people don't even think about the history of it. They celebrate it "because we've always done it this way!" That reminds me of the story of the woman who always cut the ends off her roast before putting it in the pan. When asked why, she said her mother had always done it that way. When she asked her mother about it, her mother told her that usually the roast was too big for the pan, so she had to cut some off so that it would fit!
Yes, Christmas is often a wonderful family time. But so could it be if we forsook our 'traditions' and celebrated Jesus' birth during the time it actually took place - during the Feast of Tabernacles, in the fall. Make it a true celebration of Jesus' birth!
Call me a 'grinch' if you like, but I really don't like 'Christmas'.
