Exo 12:1-2 – And Yahweh spoke unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,  This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.

Exo 12:3 – Speak you unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house:

Exo 12:6-7 – And you shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.

Exo 12:11 – And thus shall you eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste: it is Yahweh’s passover.

The first month of the year occurs at the time of Passover.  The next new year will begin on March 23, 2012 with Passover on April 6. The true New Year does not begin in the dead of winter. It begins in the spring when new life begins to bud. It also does not begin in the dead of night at 12:00 midnight, but at sundown. All Biblical days begin and end at sundown.

Here is a short article from U.S. News and World Report, December 23, 1996, concerning the origin of January 1 as the new year.

“In 46 B.C.E. the Roman emperor Julius Caesar first established January 1 as New Year’s day. Janus was the Roman god of doors and gates, and had two faces, one looking forward and one back.  Caesar felt that the month named after this god (“January”) would be the appropriate “door” to the year.  Caesar celebrated the first January 1 New Year by ordering the violent routing of revolutionary Jewish forces in the Galilee.  Eyewitnesses say blood flowed in the streets.  In later years, Roman pagans observed the New Year by engaging in drunken orgies—a ritual they believed constituted a personal re-enacting of the chaotic world that existed before the cosmos was ordered by the gods.

As Christianity spread, pagan holidays were either incorporated into the Christian calendar or abandoned altogether.  By the early medieval period most of Christian Europe regarded Annunciation Day (March 25) as the beginning of the year.  (According to Catholic tradition, Annunciation Day commemorates the angel Gabriel’s announcement to Mary that she would be impregnated by G-d and conceive a son to be called Jesus.)

After William the Conqueror (AKA “William the Bastard” and “William of Normandy”) became King of England on December 25, 1066, he decreed that the English return to the date established by the Roman pagans, January 1.  This move ensured that the commemoration of Jesus’ birthday (December 25) would align with William’s coronation, and the commemoration of Jesus’ circumcision (January 1) would start the new year – thus rooting the English and Christian calendars and his own Coronation).  William’s innovation was eventually rejected, and England rejoined the rest of the Christian world and returned to celebrating New Years Day on March 25.

About five hundred years later, in 1582, Pope Gregory XIII (AKA “Ugo Boncompagni”, 1502-1585) abandoned the traditional Julian calendar.  By the Julian reckoning, the solar year comprised 365.25 days, and the intercalation of a “leap day” every four years was intended to maintain correspondence between the calendar and the seasons.  Really, however there was a slight inaccuracy in the Julian measurement (the solar year is actually 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds = 365.2422 days).  This slight inaccuracy caused the Julian calendar to slip behind the seasons about one day per century.  Although this regression had amounted to 14 days by Pope Gregory’s time, he based his reform on restoration of the vernal equinox, then falling on March 11, to the date had 1,257 years earlier when Council of Nicaea was convened (March 21, 325 C.E.).  Pope Gregory made the correction by advancing the calendar 10 days.  The change was made the day after October 4, 1582, and that following day was established as October 15, 1582.  The Gregorian calendar differs from the Julian in three ways:  (1) No century year is a leap year unless it is exactly divisible by 400 (e.g., 1600, 2000, etc.); (2) Years divisible by 4000 are common (not leap) years; and (3) once again the New Year would begin with the date set by the early pagans, the first day of the month of Janus – January 1.

On New Years Day 1577 Pope Gregory XIII decreed that all Roman Jews, under pain of death, must listen attentively to the compulsory Catholic conversion sermon given in Roman synagogues after Friday night services.  On New Years Day 1578 Gregory signed into law a tax forcing Jews to pay for the support of a “House of Conversion” to convert Jews to Christianity.  On New Years 1581 Gregory ordered his troops to confiscate all sacred literature from the Roman Jewish community.  Thousands of Jews were murdered in the campaign.

Throughout the medieval and post-medieval periods, January 1 – supposedly the day on which Jesus’ circumcision initiated the reign of Christianity and the death of Judaism – was reserved for anti-Jewish activities: synagogue and book burnings, public tortures, and simple murder.

The Israeli term for New Year’s night celebrations, “Sylvester,” was the name of the “Saint” and Roman Pope who reigned during the Council of Nicaea (325 C.E.).  The year before the Council of Nicaea convened, Sylvester convinced Constantine to prohibit Jews from living in Jerusalem.  At the Council of Nicaea, Sylvester arranged for the passage of a host of viciously anti-Semitic legislation.  All Catholic “Saints” are awarded a day on which Christians celebrate and pay tribute to that Saint’s memory.  December 31 is Saint Sylvester Day – hence celebrations on the night of December 31 are dedicated to Sylvester’s memory.”

I hope you will put away man-made traditions and turn to the truth of the New Year as decreed by your Creator, Almighty Yahweh. He  created the heavenly bodies and set them in motion to determine the first day/month of the year. All of Yahweh’s Holy Days throughout the year are based on the first day of that new year. All of man’s man-made holidays are based on their man-made new year of January 1. Who will you follow, your Creator and His days or man and his days?

Many of the arguments for Christmas are not historically based and have few proof texts.  On the other hand, the arguments and documentation against Christmas are very numerous as can be seen in the quoted references below.

Being that there are so many arguments for and against Christmas, can it be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that it is right?  Can it be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that it is wrong?  With something so cloudy and controversial, why participate at all?  There is no wrong committed in avoiding this holiday.  If we avoid Christmas and are wrong, then we lose nothing.  If we avoid Christmas and are right, we prevent ourselves from being united with and engulfed in a sinful religious holiday during that time of the year.

Christmas, its origin found nowhere in scripture and surrounded by pagan worship and rites, has no place in the congregation of our Master.  We cannot separate a religious holiday with its past or its origins.  We can’t say, “Well, that was then, and this is now.”  We are told in Deuteronomy 12:29-30 – “When Yahweh your Elohim cuts off before you the nations which you are going in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, beware that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?,’ and 18:9 – “When you enter the land which Yahweh your Elohim gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations. “

If we can see that there is even a chance, of which there is much more than that, of Christmas being pagan, should we still seek or find justification in participating?  We would only succeed in being ensnared to follow pagan gods in the same way that the pagans did.  The rites performed during Christmas today are those that were done to glorify their false gods in the past.  Do we want to give those gods any glory whatsoever?  If those things are detestable to Yahweh, should we not stay far, far away to avoid even the appearance of evil?

The statements and quotes from reputable sources below should provide plenty enough proof that Christmas has a pagan past.  We cannot “Christianize” something that was theirs first, just like they can’t “Paganize” something that was ours first.  They can’t take Passover and dance around snakes and sacrifice children and it be pleasing to Yahweh, so how can we imitate the rites of those pagan celebrations and honor Yahweh or Yahshua?  If they offered gifts to a tree representing their god (by putting them under the tree), how can we do the same and separate the paganism from that?  That is the same as playing with a wee gee board and asking Yahshua to guide our hands.  We cannot bring Yahshua into that pagan practice. Is it a sin to give gifts to one another?  No.  But when it is done in the same manner, at the same time of the year as the ancient pagans did it, we should run away from it to avoid association with the world in it.  We have had this in our past for so many hundreds of years that it seems normal.  But normal doesn’t always mean right.  Did Yahshua observe it?  Did Yahshua instruct it to be observed?  Did any of the apostles teach or observe it?  Did the early church fathers observe it?  The answers to these are obvious.  Why should we unite our festivities with those rooted in or imitative of pagan rites and rituals?

Date of the birth of Yahshua Unknown

There is probably a good reason as to why the exact date of Yahshua’s birth is not known.  Not even the devout followers of him, in all of their research and attempts, were able to ascertain that date.  Simply put, “Not mentioned, not important.”  There is no instruction to observe the day of the birth of Yahshua as a religious holiday.  If Yahweh thought that would be important he would have said so.  The lack of a specific date being even slightly alluded to should actually keep us on our guard against it.

The facts presented in scripture that do give some information regarding the season of Yahshua’s birth contradict what is currently practiced.  First, a census was ordered, which brought Joseph and Miriam there to begin with.  Any king, including Herod, who wanted to get any type of accurate numbering of the people in his kingdom, would not have done it during the dead of winter when traveling was difficult.  Second, the inn was full.  This was probably due to the ongoing or up and coming Feast of Tabernacles in the fall.  Many people would have been making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem at that time for that feast.  Third, the shepherds were sleeping and staying in the fields.  They would not have been doing this in winter.  Fourth, Zacharias, John the Baptist’s father, was of the priestly order of Abijah, which served twice a year.  The course of Abijah was the eighth course which was approximately three months after the start of the priestly cycle in March/April. This would place Elizabeth’s conception around June or, if it was Zacharias’s second yearly turn, around December.

The Bible does not specify which of the two courses it was. Nine months after one of the two courses John the Baptist was born. This would place his birth in March or September. Six months later, Yahshua’s birth would have been around September or the following March. Either way, according to the time of the course of Abijah, a December birth for Messiah Yahshua is out of the question.

- “The exact date of Yahshua’ birth is entirely unknown, as all authorities acknowledge—though there are indications that it was in the early fall—probably September—approximately six months after Passover,” Catholic Encyclopedia.

- “Inexplicable though it seems, the date of the [Christ’s] birth is not known. The Gospels indicate neither the day nor the month,” The New Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 3, p. 656.

- “It was a custom among Jews to send out their sheep to the deserts about the Passover [early spring], and bring them home at the commencement of the first rain,” Clarke’s Commentary by Adam Clarke, vol. 3, p. 370. He adds, “As these shepherds had not yet brought home their flocks, it is a presumptive argument that October had not yet commenced, and that, consequently, our Savior was not born on the 25^th of December, when no flocks were out in the fields …the flocks were still in the fields BY NIGHT. On this very ground the nativity in December should be given up.”

Celebrating our Savior’s birth on December 25 and teaching others to do so is to live and teach a lie. Some will say, “We know he was not born on December 25. We simply choose that day to remember his birth.” Of all the days in the year to remember his birth, why that day? History has shown, as we will see below, that  that day was chosen by the Roman church in order to assimilate pagans who were celebrating their gods and goddesses on the same day. If Christians know Messiah was not born on December 25, then why not move the celebration of his birth to a different day, one that is closer to the approximate time of his birth (September/October)? Since we are not commanded to celebrate Yahshua’s birth and since we do not know the exact date of his birth, the prudent course of action in dealing with such a holiday stemming from paganism is to abandon it.

Intimately related to pagan celebrations

There is plenty of evidence supplied below to bring the celebration of Christmas as relating to Yahshua into question.  From many of the reputable sources here, as well as the sheer volume of documentation by so many different sources on this subject, it is most apparent that Christmas was wholly derived from and/or strongly related to paganism.  With such a “shady” background, these questions should come to mind, “Are the presents, trees, carols, candles, feasts, holly and mistletoe, stockings, and other material things, used during this time of the year, really necessary to celebrate Yahshua’s birth?  Why do we hold so closely and tightly to a man-made tradition, surrounded by and engulfed in pagan rites, with no biblical sanction and no apostolic exemplification?  Is it really important, or are we just fearful of what others would think if we ceased from observing it?”  If there is no instruction to participate in or an example of participation in scripture of a certain religious holiday or feast, we should not participate.  All others can be assumed to be man-made traditions with potentially dangerous backgrounds.

- “This tendency on the part of Christians to meet Paganism half-way was very early developed,” says Alexander Hislop in The Two Babylons, p. 93. “And we find Tertullian, even in his day, about the year 230, bitterly lamenting the inconsistency of the disciples of [Christ] in this respect, and contrasting it with the strict fidelity of the Pagans to their own superstition.” Tertullian – “By us who are strangers to Sabbaths and new moons, and festivals, once acceptable to [Yahweh] – the Saturnalia, the feasts of January, the Brumalia, and Matronalia are now frequented; gifts are carried to and fro, new year’s day presents are made with din, and sports and banquets are celebrated with uproar.”

- “In patristic thought [the Christ] had traditionally been associated with light or the sun, and the cult of the Sol invictus, sanctioned as it was by the Roman emperors since the late third century, presented a distinct threat to Christianity. Hence, to compete with this celebration the Roman church instituted a feast for the nativity of [the Christ], who was called the Sol iustitiae …. Usually when Christians celebrated the natalis of a saint or martyr, it was his death or heavenly nativity, but in this case natalis was assigned to be [the Christ’s] earthly birth, in direct competition with the pagan natalis,” Dictionary of the Middle Ages, pp. 317-318.

- “Christmas…was, according to many authorities, not celebrated in the first centuries of the Christian church, as the Christian usage in general was to celebrate the death of remarkable persons rather than their birth.”  “A feast was established in memory of this event [Christ’s birth] in the fourth century.  In the fifth century the Western church ordered it to be celebrated forever on the day of the old Roman feast of the birth of Sol, as no certain knowledge of the day of Christ’s birth existed,” Encyclopedia Americana, 1944 ed.

- “The Feast is first mentioned at the head of the Depositio Martyrum in the Roman Chronograph of 354. Since the Depositio was composed in 336, Christmas in Rome can be dated that far at least. It is not found, however, in the lists of Feasts given by Tertullian and Origen,” New Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 3, p. 656.

- The Romans kept the Saturnalia in December, at the time of the winter solstice in honor of the returning sun. The festival lasted seven days. “All classes exchanged gifts, the commonest being waxed tapers and clay dolls,” says the Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition. “These dolls were especially given to children. Varro thought these dolls represented original sacrifices of human beings to the infernal God,” vol. 24, p. 231.

- “The pagan Saturnalia and Brumalia were too deeply entrenched in popular custom to be set aside by Christian influence. . . . The pagan festival with its riot and merrymaking was so popular that Christians were glad of an excuse to continue its celebration with little change in spirit and in manner. Christian preachers of the West and the Near East protested against the unseemly frivolity with which Christ’s birthday was celebrated, while Christians of Mesopotamia accused their Western brethren of idolatry and sun worship for adopting as Christian this pagan festival,” New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, p. 48. And so, the church established the birthday of the Savior to coincide with the heathen feast day. “…the Latin Church, supreme in power, and infallible in judgment, placed it on the 25th of December, the very day on which the ancient Romans celebrated the feast of their goddess Bruma. Pope Julius I was the person who made this alteration,” Clarke’s Commentary.

- “December 25 was the date of the Roman pagan festival inaugurated in 274 as the birthday of the unconquered sun which at the winter solstice begins again to show an increase in light. Sometime before 336 the Church in Rome, unable to stamp out this pagan festival, spiritualized it as the Feast of the Nativity of the Sun of Righteousness,” New International Dictionary of the Christian Church, p. 223.

- “That Christmas was originally a Pagan festival, is beyond all doubt. The time of the year, and the ceremonies with which it is still celebrated, prove its origin,” The Two Babylons, p. 93

- The decorated tree, St. Nick, yule log, wreaths, cookies, berries, mistletoe, bonfires, roast goose, roast pig, wassailing, caroling, and other familiar fixtures were added or embellished for the Christmas-Saturnalia in various countries. When the Protestant movement attempted to rid itself of the excesses and sins of Roman Catholicism, there also came an opposition to Christmas that almost obliterated it entirely in England. “In England, for example, the Puritans could not tolerate this celebrating for which there was no biblical sanction. Consequently, the Roundhead Parliament of 1643 outlawed the feasts of Christmas, Easter, Whitsuntide, along with the saints’ days,” Celebrations, p. 312.

- “Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church . . . the first evidence of the feast is from Egypt.” “Pagan customs centering around the January calends gravitated to Christmas,” Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911 edition, “Christmas”.

- “The interchange of presents between friends is alike characteristic of Christmas and the Saturnalia, and must have been adopted by Christians from the Pagans, as the admonition of Tertullian plainly shows,” Bibliotheca Sacra, volume 12, pages 153-155.

- “According to the hypothesis . . . accepted by most scholars today, the birth of Christ was assigned the date of the winter solstice (December 25 in the Julian calendar, January 6 in the Egyptian), because on this day, as the sun began its return to northern skies, the pagan devotees of Mithra celebrated the dies natalis Solis Invicti (birthday of the Invincible Sun). On Dec. 25, 274, Aurelian had proclaimed the sun-Elohim principal patron of the empire and dedicated a temple to him in the Campus Martius. Christmas originated at a time when the cult of the sun was particularly strong at Rome,” The New Catholic Encyclopedia, 1967.

- “The use of Christmas wreaths is believed by authorities to be traceable to the pagan customs of decorating buildings and places of worship at the feast which took place at the same time as Christmas. The Christmas tree is from Egypt, and its origin dates from a period long anterior to the Christian Era,” Answers to Questions.

- “Christmas was originally a festival of the Winter Solstice. It was customary to hold great feasts in honor of the HEATHEN GODS. The early teachers of Christianity PROHIBITED THESE FESTIVALS as unsuited to the character of Christ. Yet the symbols and customs of the old festivals are adapted to the new, and so we find Christmas patterned with many customs of pagan origin.” “To the mind of the Puritans, Christmas smelled to heaven of idolatry… The Puritans abolished Christmas as a hateful relic of Popery.” The Customs of Mankind.

- “There were non-Christian elements present in the origin of Christmas. The giving of presents was a Roman custom. The Yule-tree [modern ‘Christmas Tree’] and the Yule-log are remnants of old Teutonic NATURE WORSHIP.” Schaff-Herzog Religious Encyclopedia.

- “Many current customs date back to pre-Christian origins: among them are Christmas decorations. The Romans ornamented their temples and homes with green boughs and flowers for the Saturnalia [Dec. 17-23] … The Druids gathered mistletoe and hung it in their homes; the Saxons used holly and ivy,” Encyclopedia Britannica.

The Christmas Tree

One of the most beloved traditions of Christmas is to cut down a tree, bring it into the house, secure it so it stands upright, decorate it, and put Christmas presents under it.

An interesting parallel to this is found in Jeremiah 10:1-5:

1  Hear you the word which Yahweh speaks unto you, O house of Israel:

2  Thus says Yahweh, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.

3  For the customs of the people are vain: for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.

4  They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.

5  They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.

This is referring to the idolatry into which Israel fell as a result of learning pagan ways. Those who use Christmas trees today will say, “We are not worshipping our tree as idolatrous Israel did.”  That may be true, however, what relation is there between cutting down a tree and decorating it and Messiah’s birthday? Regardless of the modern day intent, it was a pagan practice to do such things. Since there is no connection between Messiah’s birth and Christmas trees, and since we clearly see how Israel learned to do so from pagans, why would we want anything to do with such a practice?

- 2Kings 17:9-11: “And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against Yahweh their God, and they built them high places in all their cities …. And they set them up images and groves [asherah] in every high hill, and under every green tree … and they wrought wicked things to provoke Yahweh to anger.” “We can find enough instances of the use of trees, even decorated ones such as the pine tree on which images of the god Attis were hung amid rows of ribbons at a spring festival, to convince us of the ultimately pagan origin of our custom,” Celebrations, p. 331.

- “He [St. Boniface] was trying to stamp out the pagan rite of sacrificing people to the oak tree. He led his followers into a forest at yule time. Showing them a fir tree, he said it pointed straight upward to the [Christ]. ‘Take this tree into your homes,’ he said, ‘as a sign of your new worship [Christianity]. Celebrate [Yahweh’s] power no more in the forest with shameful rites, but in the sanctity of your homes with laughter and love’,” Compton’s Encyclopedia and Fact Finder, vol. 5, p. 326.

- “Now the Yule Log is the dead stock of Nimrod, deified as the sun-God, but cut down by his enemies; the Christmas tree is Nimrod redivivus – the slain God come to life again,” The Two Babylons, p. 98 .

No where instructed or exemplified in scripture

It is very clear that there is absolutely no record in scripture of anyone celebrating the birth of Messiah.  The death and resurrection are celebrated, but never the birth.  Likewise, there is no record of the apostles or early church fathers celebrating his birth.  Again, knowing this, we must ask ourselves, “Why are we celebrating this?”  Yahshua didn’t set this example or instruct it to be done before or after his resurrection.  The apostles, the people taught directly by Yahshua himself, didn’t set this example.  Shouldn’t we be following their example?

- “There is no historical evidence that our [Savior’s] birthday was celebrated during the apostolic or early post-apostolic times,” (Christmas, p. 47) The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge.

- “The day was not one of the early feasts of the Christian church. In fact the observance of birthdays was condemned as a heathen custom repugnant to Christians,” The American Book of Days, by George W. Douglas.

- “The fathers of the first three centuries do not speak of any special observance of the nativity. No corresponding festival was presented by the Old Testament … the day and month of the birth of [the Christ] are nowhere stated in the Gospel history, and cannot be certainly determined,” Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, p. 276, “Christmas”.

- “Christmas (i.e., the Mass of Christ). . . . Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the church,” Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1946 edition.

- “Christmas . . . was, according to many authorities, not celebrated in the first centuries of the Christian church, as the Christian usage in general was to celebrate the death of remarkable persons rather than their birth,” Encyclopedia Americana, 1944 edition.

- The early Catholic Church father, Origen, acknowledged: “In the Scriptures, no one is recorded to have kept a feast or held a great banquet on his birthday. It is only sinners like Pharaoh and Herod who make great rejoicings over the day in which they were born into this world,” The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911 edition, Natal Day.

Conclusion

Knowing all of the facts above, we should choose to not participate in the normal activities of Christmas time.  This includes:

-Teaching others that Yahshua’s was born on December 25

- Decorating trees or aiding those who sell them

- Using other decorations linked to the Christmas holiday

- Exchanging gifts

- Participating in or going to Christmas plays, pageants, or dramas

- Participating in Christmas caroling

- Setting up Christmas lights

Yahweh seeks those who worship Him in spirit and in TRUTH. A December 25^th birth of the Savior is not true. It has its origins in paganism. Believers are not to learn the way of heathens/pagans. We are to learn Yahweh’s ways and obey them. All His Holy Days are listed in Leviticus 23. Christmas is not one of them. Christmas is not found in the New Testament either.

The word “Christmas” is a contraction of “Christ” and “mass”. The “mass” is a man-made , Roman Catholic doctrine in which the Savior is sacrificed over and over again in what is called an “unbloody sacrifice.” It is taught that the true believer cannot be fully cleansed of his sins unless he partakes of this sacrifice at mass. Christmas is simply a Roman Catholic holiday that has no place in the true worship of Almighty Yahweh.

December 25th was the date of the winter solstice in ancient Rome.

December 25th was celebrated by the pagan sun-worshippers of Mithraism as the “birthday of the invincible sun” because on that day the sun began its return to northern skies.

December 25th was the date of the pagan Brumalia festival in Rome before our Savior’s birth. It was preceded by the Saturnalia festival – Dec.17-24 – in honor of the Roman god Saturn.

The Saturnalia and Brumalia festivals were so popular among the heathens and so deeply entrenched in their customs, that rather than attempt to reform the pagan populous the Roman Church chose to absorb their festivities into “Christianity.”

Christmas is a contraction for “Christ’s Mass.” The “mass” is a man-made , Roman Catholic doctrine in which the Savior is sacrificed over and over again in what is called an “unbloody sacrifice.” It is taught that the true believer cannot be fully cleansed of his sins unless he partakes of this sacrifice at mass. Christmas is simply a Catholic holiday.

Christmas trees, Yule logs, candles, bells, mistletoe, holly wreaths, ham, tinsel, lights, and Santa Claus have nothing to do with the Savior’s birth. They each have a non Biblical source. Most are rooted in fertility rites or in sun worship from a pagan past and were grafted into the so-called “Christian” church during or after the fourth century.

Instead of giving gifts to the Savior such as the gift of our obedience to Yahweh’s laws, the celebrants give gifts to each other. This creates a burden upon people each year as their Christmas lists grows and grows. Many go into great debt because of this supposed “Holy” season. Additionally, the wise men did not give gifts to the Savior because it was his birthday, but because they knew he was born to be a king. It was a common custom in the East to bring gifts to kings.

Children are being lied to concerning the date of birth and concerning Santa Claus. Is it any wonder that when they grow up and learn the truth they begin to believe Yahweh is a myth too? And who gave Santa Claus Yahweh’s right to decide who is naughty and who is nice?

Man-made “holy days,” including Christmas, are being exalted over Yahweh’s true Holy Days.

Gluttony and drunkenness are typical results of Christmas merrymaking.

Throughout the year people treat each other like dirt and then suddenly become nice for the Christmas season. It is a time of hypocrisy.

Christmas causes tremendous stress on families and individuals as they fret over what gifts to buy, fight crowds to buy those gifts, race to prepare feasts of gluttony, try to outdo each other with decorations, and fight crowds to return all the gifts that they don’t want.

Christmas is perpetuated by merchants who get rich during this season. It is based on materialism, greed, and the lust of the flesh.

“Christmas” is not in the Bible.

We are not commanded to celebrate the Savior’s birth in Scripture.

The true spirit of Christmas is a spirit of anti-Messiah and untruth.

“And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables” ( II Tim.4:4).

“Thus saith Yahweh, ‘Learn not the way of the heathen . . .” (Jer.10:2).

“Lie not one to another . . .” (Col.3:9).

“Therefore, putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor . . . ” (Eph.4:25).

“Love not the world, neither the things in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 Jn.2:15). If December 25th were really the birthday of Yahshua, you can be sure that the world would have nothing to do with it. The very fact that the world observes it proves that it isn’t of Yahweh.

“. . . in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mk.7:7).

Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour. I Peter 5:8

Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons. 1Timothy 4:1

We know the fate of the devil that deceives the world:

And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. Re 20:10

The question is, “Will you be a victim of his deceptions or will you be among those who have been enlightened to the truth concerning Halloween?”

Let’s consider the following historical references concerning Halloween.

Encyclopedia Britannica:

“Halloween, also called All Hallows’ Eve or All Hallows’ Evening, a holy or hallowed evening observed on October 31, the eve of All Saints’ Day. In modern times, it is the occasion for pranks and for children requesting treats or threatening tricks. In ancient Britain and Ireland, the Celtic festival of Samhain eve was observed on October 31, at the end of summer. This date was also the eve of the new year in both Celtic and Anglo-Saxon times and was the occasion for one of the ancient fire festivals when huge bonfires were set on hilltops to frighten away evil spirits. The date was connected with the return of herds from pasture, and laws and land tenures were renewed. The souls of the dead were supposed to revisit their homes on this day, and the autumnal festival acquired sinister significance, with ghosts, witches, hobgoblins, black cats, fairies, and demons of all kinds said to be roaming about. It was the time to placate the supernatural powers controlling the processes of nature. In addition, Halloween was thought to be the most favorable time for divinations concerning marriage, luck, health, and death. It was the only day on which the help of the devil was invoked for such purposes.”

Encarta Encyclopedia:

“Origins, Halloween: Many of the ancient peoples of Europe marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter by celebrating a holiday in late autumn. The most important of these holidays to influence later Halloween customs was Samhain, a holiday observed by the ancient Celts, a tribal people who inhabited most of Western and Central Europe in the first millennium BC. Among the Celts, Samhain marked the end of one year and the beginning of the next. It was one of four Celtic holidays linked to important transitions in the annual cycle of seasons. Samhain began at sundown on October 31 and extended into the following day. According to the Celtic pagan religion, known as Druidism, the spirits of those who had died in the preceding year roamed the earth on Samhain evening. The Celts sought to ward off these spirits with offerings of food and drink. The Celts also built bonfires at sacred hilltop sites and performed rituals, often involving human and animal sacrifices, to honor Druid deities.”

The World Book Encyclopedia:

“Halloween is a festival celebrated on October 31. Its name means hallowed or holy evening because it takes place the day before All Saints’ Day.

Many superstitions and symbols are connected with Halloween. The Irish have a tale about the origin of jack-o’-lanterns. They say that a man named Jack was unable to enter heaven because of his miserliness. He could not enter hell because he had played practical jokes on the devil. So he had to walk the earth with his lantern until Judgment Day.

The Druids, an order of priests in ancient Gaul and Britain, believed that on Halloween, ghosts, spirits, fairies, witches, and elves came out to harm people. They thought the cat was sacred and believed that cats had once been human beings but were changed as a punishment for evil deeds. From these Druidic beliefs comes the present-day use of witches, ghosts, and cats in Halloween festivities.

The Druids had an autumn festival called Samhain, or summer’s end. It was an occasion for feasting on all the kinds of food which had been grown during the summer.

In the 700′s, the Roman Catholic Church named November 1 as All Saints’ Day. The old pagan customs and the Christian feast day were combined into the Halloween festival.”

The Roman Catholic Church chose to assimilate the pagan practices of their new converts into the worship of the Almighty rather than truly converting their mind to Yahweh’s ways. The protestant churches continued the practices of the RCC and we see those practices even today.

Many churches today actually sponsor Halloween parties in which the children dress up as witches, ghosts, warlocks, etc. What does Yahweh’s Word say?

Exodus 22:18 – “You shall not suffer a witch to live.”

Deuteronomy 18:10 – “There shall not be found among you any one that makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that uses divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, 11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. 12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto Yahweh: and because of these abominations Yahweh thy Elohim drives them out from before you.”

Galatians 5:19 – “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of Elohim.”

Should we allow our children to dress up like witches or any other occult character in light of these verses that reveal Yahweh’s heart? Doing so will only grieve His Holy Spirit.

On the other hand, there are many churches that are moving away from traditional Halloween parties by sponsoring alternative Halloween gatherings in which the children dress up as Bible characters or less occult/scary secular characters. I suppose alternatives are better than traditional Halloween parties, but why offer alternatives at all? Why not just stay home like any other ordinary day or hold them on a different day? It seems to me that alternative Halloween gatherings are simply watered down versions of traditional gatherings. They still stem from the same pagan origins.

There are many people that view Halloween activities as good, innocent fun.  That is part of the deception. Halloween has evil origins as the references above show. How, then, can they be considered good?

“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” Isaiah 5:20

“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil.” 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22

“… have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” Ephesians 5:11

“After one’s own birthday, the two major Satanic holidays are Walpurgisnacht (May 1st) and Halloween (or All Hallow’s Eve).” The Satanic Bible by Anton Levey page 96, section on Religious Holidays.

Halloween is a Satanic holiday in which people show their allegiance to him by glorifying the occult. It is a holiday that revolves around death and the macabre and it goes beyond the supposed innocent fun of trick or treating. All sorts of mayhem and murder take place on Halloween in the name of Satan.

On the night before Halloween the city of Detroit is set ablaze every year by arsonists. This night is referred to as Devil’s Night, Mischief Night or Hell Night. Similar, but not quite as destructive, activities take place in cities around the U.S. and Canada.

According to the Satanic Calendar Halloween, October 31st is a night for Human and animal sacrifice. Evangelist Dave Benoit tells of a mother finding a strange diary, called “The Book Of Shadows” in her son’s room. She, with fear and trembling, leafed through pages filled with satanic drawings. Then her eyes fell on these horrifying words, “Last year I stole a car at Halloween and ran over a kid and killed him. This year, at Halloween, I plan to do the same thing!” The words in his satanic diary proved to be true. He murdered a person the previous Halloween as a sacrifice to Satan.

One of the biggest problems with Halloween is that it desensitizes children to the occult, violence, death, gore, mutilation, etc. This desensitization is exacerbated by movies that glorify the same type of violence and gore. Movies like “Halloween”, “Nightmare on Elm Street”, Friday the 13^th”, and the Harry Potter series all serve to further desensitize children. And then we wonder why we have mass murderers and all sorts of evil activities taking place in society.

I encourage you to prayerfully consider not allowing your child to engage in any Halloween or alternative Halloween activities. I also suggest you turn off your porch light as a signal to trick or treaters that you do not want them coming to your door.

I highly recommend the Halloween article found at http://www.jeremiahproject.com/culture/halloween.html. Please read it as it goes into much greater depth than I have here.

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, 
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2

“For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Messiah and Belial?” 2 Corinthians 6:14, 15