Pillar of Enoch Ministry (POEM)
http://pillar-of-enoch.com
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| NOTE: No Protestant Christian ever worshipped A Nativity Scene. This is meant to be a Memorial of a Miracle, NOT a set of Idols. |
In this illustrated and detailed article, my desire as a Messianic Believer is to show that both Christmas, and the traditions associated with it such as Christmas trees and wreaths are not evil or forbidden under the New Covenant. In addition, I will show why the holiday season that starts on Thanksgiving Day in Canada and the United States, and goes through to after Christmas Day is the Christian Expression of the season of Jewish Feasts that stretches from the week of Sukkot or Tabernacles to the week of Chanukah or the Festival of Lights.
In a similar vein, I have previously shown that Pascha or Easter is the Christian expression of the day of the First-fruits Offering that was done on Sunday, the day after the regular Sabbath, during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Click the following embedded link to read my Blog article about this: “Easter Not Pagan, But A Celebration of Firstfruits!”
Armed with much research and the Ruach Ha Kodesh (i.e. Holy Spirit), our Father Yahweh God has made something perfectly clear to me: Saturnalia HAS NOTHING TO DO with Christmas, and Christmas Trees are NOT evil! I proved this in an article entitled “DON'T LET ANYONE DETER YOU FROM CELEBRATING YAHSHUA'S INCARNATION!””, which reports my findings when doing a study concerning the dates of the Pagan feasts that fell around Christmas. In that study, I discovered that none of the Pagan feasts in ancient times coincided with December 25th until the 5th Century, and the Roman cult followers of Sol Invictus likely tried to tie their Pagan feast to the Christian one that had already been celebrated at that time for centuries in order to win Christian converts to their false religion surrounding the worship of the Sun.
Let me show you some other facts surrounding this assertion. First of all, Christmas is likely a Solar Calendar date that was made for Grafted-In Gentile Believers in ancient times to celebrate the Feast of Chanukah. The reasoning behind this date is as follows: the Solar Twelfth month of December is the first month of Winter on the Solar Calendar, just as the Jewish Ninth Month of Kislev is the first month of Winter on their Lunar Calendar. Furthermore, though the 1st Century Apostles did not celebrate Christmas as it is conceptualized by Christians today, the Apostles did celebrate Chanukah, which begins on Kislev 25. This date on the Jewish Lunar Calendar is analogous to the Gentile Solar Calendar date of December 25th.
Now, it is important to remember that Christ's Apostles were Jews who must have understand Chanukah's connection to Christ's entire Nativity story via their baptism with the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, the Apostle Paul and others in the Church realized that Gentile believers were not expected to follow a Lunar calendar in their society, and Solar calendar equivalents needed to be found from them to keep the three major Feasts of Yahweh, which are Passover or Easter, Pentecost or Shavuot, and Sukkot or the Feast of Tabernacles. However, due to Yahshua's Nativity having a direct connection to Chanukah as the time of His conception and true entry into human life, and the fact that Chanukah is considered to be a secondary celebration of Sukkot among many Jews. Christmas or Chanukah counts as the Christian celebration of that Feast.
Part of the reason Chanukah or Christmas should be very important to believers is because Yahshua was likely conceived at Chanukah, and was most likely discovered by the Magi at Chanukah. That is why the early Christians likely chose to celebrate His coming then. After all, His conception in Miriam’s womb was His first moment as a mortal man, not His birth! If you check the encyclopedias for the history of Saturnalia and other Pagan feasts, you will find that NONE of these feasts held anywhere in the Roman Empire fell on December 25th until four hundred years after Yahshua was conceived and born. Furthermore, the Winter Solstice occurred around December 23rd in the centuries before and after Yahshua’s proposed conception during Chanukah in December of 4 BC, and the Pagan feasts associated with the Winter Solstice were not connected to December 25th either since the Winter Solstice fell on December 22nd or 23rd in ancient times.
The truth is that ALL the encyclopedias, historical books and sites with ANY information about the celebration of Christmas completely ignore the fact that no Pagan feasts were celebrated on that date until the 5th Century AD, but the Roman Calendar date of December 25th can be directly connected to Kislev 25, the first day of the Jewish Feast of Chanukah. Furthermore, the majority of the historical sources of information that the West relies on have been written by scholars with a vested interest in keeping Christianity and Judaism completely separate and antagonistic, and by those who are determined to promote Paganism or Atheism over Judeo-Christianity.
This leaves only ONE conclusion as to why the Apostles or Early Church Fathers may have chosen that date for the celebration of Yahshua’s entrance into the world, and that is the fact that Kislev 25 and December 25th have an obvious connection to Chanukah, and it is conception and NOT birth that is the official beginning of human life. It’s therefore time someone started decrying all the misinformed and brainwashed Christmas-bashers in the Church and the Messianic movement with the REAL facts surrounding Christmas, not the manufactured ones meant to destroy Christian holy traditions. What should be clear to every believer, but unfortunately is not, is that the constant attacks on Christmas these days are also attacks on Christians and Christianity. It is therefore not being done for the sake of righteousness, but to advance Satan’s kingdom of wickedness!
December 25th was likely picked as the day to celebrate Yahshua’s entrance into the world via conception (as the calculated date of the fetus’ conception in the womb is everyone’s TRUE birthday!) by the Apostles for the Gentile believers living under Roman rule for several important and valid religious reasons. First of all, as already mentioned, December 25th jives well with the Kislev 25 date for the beginning of Chanukah. Secondly, the 9th Jewish Lunar month of Kislev almost always falls in December. Thirdly, if Yahshua was born in September of 3 BC, as I have virtually proven in my books and articles, then the shepherds likely found the infant Yahshua in a Sukkot booth, NOT in a smelly barn or animal pen. Nonetheless, Yahshua’s real FIRST ADVENT would NOT have been during the Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot, but sometime during the week of Chanukah, when He was conceived by the Ruach Ha Kodesh, or Holy Spirit.
This can be logically proven. For example, there are about 270 to 280 days or 9 months (+ or - 3 to 10 days) in the average cycle of human gestation. Furthermore, the Sign in the Heavens announcing Yahshua’s imminent birth described in Revelation 12:1-2 of the Woman Clothed with the Sun is an allegorical reference to the Sun being in the center of the sign of Virgo, which partly represents Yahshua’s mother Miriam, as well as the True Church. Fascinatingly, about 270 days after Chanukah in 4 BC, the sign of the Woman Clothed with the Sun (Virgo with the Sun positioned in her belly region) appeared on the horizon on September 11th, 3 BC, which was the Feast of Trumpets that year. At the same time, the Messiah planet Jupiter was in conjunction with the king star Regulus in the sign of Leo, the Lion of Judah, and the thin sliver of the New Moon was at her feet. Since this was a clear sign of Yahshua’s imminent birth as described in Revelation 12, He was likely born shortly thereafter.
Some scholars believe that Yahshua was actually born during the Feast of Sukkot or Tabernacles, beginning on the night of September 25th in 3 BC. However, I believe that Yahshua may have been born nearer to Yom Kippur that year, though it could have been on Yom Teruah as well. However, I believe that Yahshua was conceived around December 19th in 4 BC, which was the fifth day of Chanukah that year - the day that is tied to the Servant Lamp associated with the Messiah in a Chanukiah style, nine-branched menorah. Therefore, since conception is the TRUE beginning of life, NOT birth, Yahshua our “Immanuel” or “God With Us” truly came to be with us during the Feast of Chanukah or the “Festival of Lights”, not during the Feast of Sukkot/Tabernacles 15 days later. Interestingly though, there is a Jewish tradition that Chanukah is like a second Feast of Tabernacles. So, in that sense, Yahshua's coming is connected to Tabernacles twice!
When carefully read, the Scriptures coupled with Sacred Astronomy also make it clear that there is a double tie-in with Yahshua’s birth narratives and Chanukah. This is because the Apostle Matthew clearly said that the Wise Men or Magi found Yahshua in Bethlehem living in a house with his earthly mother and father when he was a young child or toddler in Matthew Chapter 2. There, in verse 9, the Greek word “paidion” meaning “toddler” was translated as “young child”. This strongly suggests that the Magi arrived in Bethlehem to see Yahshua at least a year after he was born. For proof of this, I've reproduced the salient portion of Matthew Chapter 2 below. This excerpt contains the lovely story of Yahshua's presentation to the Wise Men or Magi - who followed the wandering star that we know as the planet Jupiter, the Messiah Planet - to Jerusalem, and then onward to Bethlehem:
~~****~~****~~****~~****~~****~~
~*~ Matthew 2:1-12 ~*~ “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem saying,
“Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”
3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:
7 Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”
9 When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.
~~****~~****~~****~~****~~****~~
The Wise Men who found Yahshua or Jesus in Bethlehem by following His Star in the heavens were wealthy and well-educated members of the elite where they resided in Parthia, and they would have traveled with a large entourage of guards and servants, especially since they carried such valuable items as gold, frankincense and myrrh, which were costly gifts ordinarily given to royalty. As educated men, the Magi knew much more about the movements of the stars and their spiritual meanings than anyone else of their age, and they were viewed with great respect because of what they knew. So when they followed this star to Jerusalem and onward, the Wise Men were not just following any star. It had to have had a direct spiritual meaning tied to the people of Israel and their King.
As such, the planet Jupiter fulfills that criteria as the fourth wandering star, and fifth celestial body from the Sun. This gives it a direct connection to Yahshua as the fourth or Servant Lamp on a seven-branched traditional Menorah, as well as the fifth Servant Lamp branch on a nine-branched Chanukah Menorah. There are also many other reasons why Jupiter serves the criteria as a representation of Christ. From my research into the timing of Yahshua's conception and birth, coupled with my research into the heavenly signs that accompanied His first advent entrance into human history, I have come to the strong conclusion that the Star of Bethlehem was the Messiah planet Jupiter. This is not only because Jupiter is the largest planet in our Solar System that is second only to Venus in brilliance, but also because its atmosphere consists of horizontal stripes of reddish and whitish clouds that physically resemble the skin of a scourged, light-skinned man, as seen in the illustration attached to this paragraph.
In a similar vein, I have previously shown that Pascha or Easter is the Christian expression of the day of the First-fruits Offering that was done on Sunday, the day after the regular Sabbath, during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Click the following embedded link to read my Blog article about this: “Easter Not Pagan, But A Celebration of Firstfruits!”
Armed with much research and the Ruach Ha Kodesh (i.e. Holy Spirit), our Father Yahweh God has made something perfectly clear to me: Saturnalia HAS NOTHING TO DO with Christmas, and Christmas Trees are NOT evil! I proved this in an article entitled “DON'T LET ANYONE DETER YOU FROM CELEBRATING YAHSHUA'S INCARNATION!””, which reports my findings when doing a study concerning the dates of the Pagan feasts that fell around Christmas. In that study, I discovered that none of the Pagan feasts in ancient times coincided with December 25th until the 5th Century, and the Roman cult followers of Sol Invictus likely tried to tie their Pagan feast to the Christian one that had already been celebrated at that time for centuries in order to win Christian converts to their false religion surrounding the worship of the Sun.
Let me show you some other facts surrounding this assertion. First of all, Christmas is likely a Solar Calendar date that was made for Grafted-In Gentile Believers in ancient times to celebrate the Feast of Chanukah. The reasoning behind this date is as follows: the Solar Twelfth month of December is the first month of Winter on the Solar Calendar, just as the Jewish Ninth Month of Kislev is the first month of Winter on their Lunar Calendar. Furthermore, though the 1st Century Apostles did not celebrate Christmas as it is conceptualized by Christians today, the Apostles did celebrate Chanukah, which begins on Kislev 25. This date on the Jewish Lunar Calendar is analogous to the Gentile Solar Calendar date of December 25th.
Now, it is important to remember that Christ's Apostles were Jews who must have understand Chanukah's connection to Christ's entire Nativity story via their baptism with the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, the Apostle Paul and others in the Church realized that Gentile believers were not expected to follow a Lunar calendar in their society, and Solar calendar equivalents needed to be found from them to keep the three major Feasts of Yahweh, which are Passover or Easter, Pentecost or Shavuot, and Sukkot or the Feast of Tabernacles. However, due to Yahshua's Nativity having a direct connection to Chanukah as the time of His conception and true entry into human life, and the fact that Chanukah is considered to be a secondary celebration of Sukkot among many Jews. Christmas or Chanukah counts as the Christian celebration of that Feast.
Part of the reason Chanukah or Christmas should be very important to believers is because Yahshua was likely conceived at Chanukah, and was most likely discovered by the Magi at Chanukah. That is why the early Christians likely chose to celebrate His coming then. After all, His conception in Miriam’s womb was His first moment as a mortal man, not His birth! If you check the encyclopedias for the history of Saturnalia and other Pagan feasts, you will find that NONE of these feasts held anywhere in the Roman Empire fell on December 25th until four hundred years after Yahshua was conceived and born. Furthermore, the Winter Solstice occurred around December 23rd in the centuries before and after Yahshua’s proposed conception during Chanukah in December of 4 BC, and the Pagan feasts associated with the Winter Solstice were not connected to December 25th either since the Winter Solstice fell on December 22nd or 23rd in ancient times.
The truth is that ALL the encyclopedias, historical books and sites with ANY information about the celebration of Christmas completely ignore the fact that no Pagan feasts were celebrated on that date until the 5th Century AD, but the Roman Calendar date of December 25th can be directly connected to Kislev 25, the first day of the Jewish Feast of Chanukah. Furthermore, the majority of the historical sources of information that the West relies on have been written by scholars with a vested interest in keeping Christianity and Judaism completely separate and antagonistic, and by those who are determined to promote Paganism or Atheism over Judeo-Christianity.
This leaves only ONE conclusion as to why the Apostles or Early Church Fathers may have chosen that date for the celebration of Yahshua’s entrance into the world, and that is the fact that Kislev 25 and December 25th have an obvious connection to Chanukah, and it is conception and NOT birth that is the official beginning of human life. It’s therefore time someone started decrying all the misinformed and brainwashed Christmas-bashers in the Church and the Messianic movement with the REAL facts surrounding Christmas, not the manufactured ones meant to destroy Christian holy traditions. What should be clear to every believer, but unfortunately is not, is that the constant attacks on Christmas these days are also attacks on Christians and Christianity. It is therefore not being done for the sake of righteousness, but to advance Satan’s kingdom of wickedness!
December 25th was likely picked as the day to celebrate Yahshua’s entrance into the world via conception (as the calculated date of the fetus’ conception in the womb is everyone’s TRUE birthday!) by the Apostles for the Gentile believers living under Roman rule for several important and valid religious reasons. First of all, as already mentioned, December 25th jives well with the Kislev 25 date for the beginning of Chanukah. Secondly, the 9th Jewish Lunar month of Kislev almost always falls in December. Thirdly, if Yahshua was born in September of 3 BC, as I have virtually proven in my books and articles, then the shepherds likely found the infant Yahshua in a Sukkot booth, NOT in a smelly barn or animal pen. Nonetheless, Yahshua’s real FIRST ADVENT would NOT have been during the Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot, but sometime during the week of Chanukah, when He was conceived by the Ruach Ha Kodesh, or Holy Spirit.
This can be logically proven. For example, there are about 270 to 280 days or 9 months (+ or - 3 to 10 days) in the average cycle of human gestation. Furthermore, the Sign in the Heavens announcing Yahshua’s imminent birth described in Revelation 12:1-2 of the Woman Clothed with the Sun is an allegorical reference to the Sun being in the center of the sign of Virgo, which partly represents Yahshua’s mother Miriam, as well as the True Church. Fascinatingly, about 270 days after Chanukah in 4 BC, the sign of the Woman Clothed with the Sun (Virgo with the Sun positioned in her belly region) appeared on the horizon on September 11th, 3 BC, which was the Feast of Trumpets that year. At the same time, the Messiah planet Jupiter was in conjunction with the king star Regulus in the sign of Leo, the Lion of Judah, and the thin sliver of the New Moon was at her feet. Since this was a clear sign of Yahshua’s imminent birth as described in Revelation 12, He was likely born shortly thereafter.
Some scholars believe that Yahshua was actually born during the Feast of Sukkot or Tabernacles, beginning on the night of September 25th in 3 BC. However, I believe that Yahshua may have been born nearer to Yom Kippur that year, though it could have been on Yom Teruah as well. However, I believe that Yahshua was conceived around December 19th in 4 BC, which was the fifth day of Chanukah that year - the day that is tied to the Servant Lamp associated with the Messiah in a Chanukiah style, nine-branched menorah. Therefore, since conception is the TRUE beginning of life, NOT birth, Yahshua our “Immanuel” or “God With Us” truly came to be with us during the Feast of Chanukah or the “Festival of Lights”, not during the Feast of Sukkot/Tabernacles 15 days later. Interestingly though, there is a Jewish tradition that Chanukah is like a second Feast of Tabernacles. So, in that sense, Yahshua's coming is connected to Tabernacles twice!
When carefully read, the Scriptures coupled with Sacred Astronomy also make it clear that there is a double tie-in with Yahshua’s birth narratives and Chanukah. This is because the Apostle Matthew clearly said that the Wise Men or Magi found Yahshua in Bethlehem living in a house with his earthly mother and father when he was a young child or toddler in Matthew Chapter 2. There, in verse 9, the Greek word “paidion” meaning “toddler” was translated as “young child”. This strongly suggests that the Magi arrived in Bethlehem to see Yahshua at least a year after he was born. For proof of this, I've reproduced the salient portion of Matthew Chapter 2 below. This excerpt contains the lovely story of Yahshua's presentation to the Wise Men or Magi - who followed the wandering star that we know as the planet Jupiter, the Messiah Planet - to Jerusalem, and then onward to Bethlehem:
~*~ Matthew 2:1-12 ~*~ “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem saying,
“Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”
3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:
6 ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;
For out of you shall come a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ (Micah 5:2)
7 Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”
9 When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.
The Wise Men who found Yahshua or Jesus in Bethlehem by following His Star in the heavens were wealthy and well-educated members of the elite where they resided in Parthia, and they would have traveled with a large entourage of guards and servants, especially since they carried such valuable items as gold, frankincense and myrrh, which were costly gifts ordinarily given to royalty. As educated men, the Magi knew much more about the movements of the stars and their spiritual meanings than anyone else of their age, and they were viewed with great respect because of what they knew. So when they followed this star to Jerusalem and onward, the Wise Men were not just following any star. It had to have had a direct spiritual meaning tied to the people of Israel and their King.
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| Jupiter: a Fitting Symbol for our Messiah |
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| Illustration: Star of Bethlehem Sign # 1 in Leo on June 17th, 2 BC |
Among the Signs in the Heavens that may have alerted the Wise Men to leave Parthia, the Planet Jupiter was considered to be a wandering star in ancient times, and it was prominent in the sky above Jerusalem and Bethlehem at night in the highly significant constellations of Leo and Virgo between June and December of 2 BC, which was nearly a year, to over a year after Yahshua's proposed birth in September of 3 BC. The first of these signs that the Magi may have found of particular importance was the conjunction of the Messiah Planet Jupiter with the Morning Star Venus on June 14th, 2 BC, as shown in the illustration above this paragraph.
Jupiter next appeared in a spectacular conjunction with Mars, Mercury and the Morning Star Venus between the Zodiac signs of Leo and Virgo on August 27th, 2 BC. Fascinatingly, Virgo was considered to be the first sign of the Zodiac in ancient times, not Aries, thereby making Leo the last sign of the Zodiac. This means that any conjunction between these two signs is suggestive of Yahshua as the First (Virgo) and the Last (Leo), the Alpha (Aleph) and the Omega (Tav), and the Beginning and the End, just as Yahshua is called three times in the Book of Revelation (See Rev. 1:11; Rev. 2:8, and Rev. 22:13). Therefore, as shown in the illustration below, this August 27th, 2 BC conjunction may have been the final heavenly sign among many preceding signs that triggered the Magi, who were Sacred Astronomers, to leave Persia (which was called Parthia at the time), and travel to Judea.
Jupiter next appeared in a spectacular conjunction with Mars, Mercury and the Morning Star Venus between the Zodiac signs of Leo and Virgo on August 27th, 2 BC. Fascinatingly, Virgo was considered to be the first sign of the Zodiac in ancient times, not Aries, thereby making Leo the last sign of the Zodiac. This means that any conjunction between these two signs is suggestive of Yahshua as the First (Virgo) and the Last (Leo), the Alpha (Aleph) and the Omega (Tav), and the Beginning and the End, just as Yahshua is called three times in the Book of Revelation (See Rev. 1:11; Rev. 2:8, and Rev. 22:13). Therefore, as shown in the illustration below, this August 27th, 2 BC conjunction may have been the final heavenly sign among many preceding signs that triggered the Magi, who were Sacred Astronomers, to leave Persia (which was called Parthia at the time), and travel to Judea.
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| Illustration: Star of Bethlehem Sign # 2 in Leo - Major Conjunction of Sun, Moon, Planets on August 27th, 2 BC |
The journey between Judea and Persia took about three months on average by caravan, and this would have placed the Magi in Bethlehem in mid December of 2 BC. Fascinatingly, December 25th was the second day of Chanukah that year according to Jewish records and Astronomy, since the Moon was on the 26th day of its cycle on December 25th on the Julian calendar, which also made it the 25th of Kislev that year by Jewish reckoning.
Interestingly, the nine days of Chanukah always begin on the 25th of Kislev, while the twelve days of Christmas always begin on December 25th, and Kislev usually always falls in December. So it would have been natural for Paul and the other Apostles and disciples attempting to lead the many Gentile saints within the Greco-Roman culture to associate Yahshua’s birth narrative stories with December 25th, the Greco-Roman date most closely meshing with the 25th of Kislev beginning of Chanukah. After all, these converts to Christianity were not becoming Torah-observant Jews when they accepted Yahshua. They were entering into a New Covenant of Grace similar to, but better than the Covenant that God unconditionally made with Abraham, who was a Gentile who loved Yahweh God, and followed Him before any Jews even existed.
Now, regarding Christmas Trees and Evergreen Wreaths, I want to make it clear that the only evil that comes from utilizing these symbols of the beauty and creative promise of everlasting life in eternity comes from those who spend countless hours trying to convince others that these symbols are innately evil! They do this by misquoting Scriptures that we will examine in a moment such as Jeremiah Chapter 10, which is clearly referring to idols that are worshiped, not to evergreen trees, garlands and wreaths that are purely used as decorations at Christmas without any ritual religious significance. Indeed, since evergreens are fragrant and lovely, and stay green throughout long, cold winters, they are a perfect symbol for the beautiful fragrance of enduring faith as an act of worship, and for the promise of everlasting life in the world to come.
Fascinatingly, evergreens have always been used at Christmas to freshen and beautify homes because they are the only plants that remain vibrantly alive during the winter, and the oils from their leaves smell wonderful and have many therapeutic properties. For example, all essential oils that are derived from evergreens can be used topically in a carrier oil to promote healing. They can serve as powerful antiseptics, great respiratory aides, or topical analgesics. For this reason, they were once heavily used to freshen homes all winter in temperate climates. Dried sprigs of evergreens like Juniper, Rosemary, Pine, Cedar, Spruce and Balsam Firs were often dried and hung from rafters, and strewn on floors to keep homes smelling fresh, to disinfect the air, and to ward off sickness. So the insistence of Hebrew Roots proponents and other Christmas-bashers that the ancients used evergreen trees, boughs and shrubs into garlands or wreaths as a part of Pagan worship are overlooking the fact that virtually everyone that lived in ancient times used evergreens to freshen and beautify their homes, and to act as healing agents, regardless of their faith, or lack thereof.
Since evergreens stay green throughout long, cold winters and all year long, and they can aid in healing, they are an excellent and fitting symbol for everlasting life through Yahshua or Jesus, the Great Physician - Who heals all who love Him from sickness, sin and death, and Who is the true subject of our worship at Christmas and Chanukah. This means that believers can and should reclaim the symbolism of evergreens for the purposes that they were originally designed to have by our Creator. To do this is NOT mimicking Pagan behavior, but serves to do the exact OPPOSITE! In addition, as I have stated in previous articles and in my books, many symbols that took on Pagan meanings originally started out as godly symbols for concepts, ideas and events that are revealed in God’s Word - both His written Word as given to us by Moses and the Israelites - and God’s Heavenly Tablets, which are also known as the Gospel in the Stars.
It is a terrible shame that there are several Christian Cults, and some teachers in the Hebrew Roots Movement that ignore the fact that God created evergreens for a godly purpose, and have a personal vendetta against traditional Christmas celebrations and decorations, especially Christmas Trees, Nativity Scenes, and homes decorated with lighted trees, garlands and wreaths. They falsely claim that Jeremiah Chapter 10, verses 1 through 8 prohibits cutting down and decorating trees as part of any religious observance. However, a careful reading of the text reveals that Jeremiah is voicing Yahweh’s prohibition against making idols of wood that are plated with silver and/or gold, and then worshiped.
In a similar passage in Isaiah, Chapter 44, verses 9 through 20, the prophet Isaiah spoke of the folly of idol-worshipers who cut down a tree, burnt part of it in the fire to warm themselves, and then used the other part to fashion an idol, which they then bowed down to in worship. This passage has also been erroneously used as a weapon against the use of trees as decorative symbols at Christmas. But, since believers do not bow down before Christmas trees, carve them into idols, or pray to them, these passages cannot apply to Christmas trees. Nativity Scenes aren’t really idolatrous images either since we are not commanded to bow down and worship or pray to the figures in these re-enactment scenes. They are meant to be a source of artistic beauty, and are only meant to remind us of the premiere moment that God became a man and dwelt among us as Emmanuel, or “God With Us”.
Sadly, the worst of these attacks aren’t just coming from Atheists or Occult followers, but from deceived and legalistic believers in Yahweh and Yahshua! Part of the problem is that all of the histories and encyclopedias available today that these Christmas-bashers are relying on have been written by rabidly Anti-Semitic or Antichristian professors and scholars who have zero interest in stating the truth. These historical revisionists have done everything in their power to deceive the world into thinking that many of the customs associated with Christianity are based on Pagan thought and ritual, when they are actually based on Judaic religious rituals and symbols, and also on Pre-Israelite religious teachings that were approved by God.
These Pre-Israelite religious teachings can be traced back to the righteous followers of Yahweh prior to the Flood, especially to Enoch the Sethite. This man was translated into Heaven without seeing death because of his righteousness, and one of the most complete records of what he taught and believed can be found in the Book of 1 Enoch, a canonized book that was discovered intact within the Bible used by the Ethiopian Church. In that book, it is revealed that the holy angel Uriel taught Enoch the science of Sacred Astronomy, and how to understand the Gospel in the Stars, which Enoch called the heavenly tablets.
These heavenly tablets are written using the starry constellations and planets that are representations of Yahweh’s allegorical language of symbols. In my Language of God Series Books, I delve into this symbolism in the heavens as part of the Language of God. This language of heavenly signs was always part of Yahweh God’s method of communicating His will to mankind. But wicked men and fallen angels later corrupted and bastardized this symbolic record so badly that it led to the many Pagan religions of the past and present.
When the truths hidden in the symbols interwoven throughout the heavenly tablets are reclaimed by Messianics and Christians, and the Parables of Yahshua are also called into play, there is really no problem with Christmas or Christmas traditions as they are kept in traditional Protestant Christianity. There is, however, a BIG problem with the persistent lies and misinformation being used to attack Christmas. Please be forewarned and forearmed with the knowledge in this article when you are called to witness to the truth among rabidly Anti-Christian Messianics, and misled Christians. These misinformed believers may mean well, but they either really don’t know ALL the facts, or are being presented with the incorrect facts and then passing on the lies that they have been taught to believe as truth, when nothing could be further from the truth!
In this article, I have shown that many Judaizers have been teaching lies. Many who have sold out to Judaism are either too stubborn, proud or hateful of all things Christian to read my work, and to pray about it, and ask the Ruach to reveal the truth. Too many have been taught to love being Jewish, and hate being Christian. Too many have been taught that this war on Christmas is a holy war, but it is NOT. It is evil. Also, in the process of waging this war, many have thrown out Love, Grace and the FREEDOM/Liberty given to us by the power of the Holy Spirit/Ruach. Instead, they have embraced the Curse of the Law that Yahshua mercifully set us free from by fulfilling the Law perfectly for us. They have become the Synagogue of Satan spoken of in the Book of Revelation, and they are too deaf, dumb and blind to see it. I feel very sorry for all those who spread such hatred, and fight so wretchedly during what should still be one of the holiest times of the year for all believers.
As for the traditional name of this holy day, which is a contraction of the phrase “Christ Mass”, I don’t condone the “Sacrament” of the Mass, and I don’t believe in Transubstantiation. The way the Catholics do this, it’s like a form of witchcraft. It is also disturbing that the Roman Catholic Church focuses on Yahshua’s death rather than His life and resurrection. Though it was Yahshua’s death and shed blood, not His conception, birth or resurrection that saved us all from sin and death, it is more in keeping with the triumph and victory over the Devil that Christ won for us on the Cross to focus in His life, ministry, and resurrection, as well as His death and shed blood, rather than on His death alone.
None of the Protestant Churches, or the Messianic congregations that love their Christian brethren believe in Transubstantiation, or focus on Yahshua’s death instead of His resurrection. That is why the word “Christmas” or “Christ-Mass” has an entirely different connotation for Protestants than it does for Catholics, and it therefore contains no offensive meaning. Armed with this truth, I have no problem saying MERRY CHRISTMAS to everyone who shares my love of Christ at this time of year. Likewise, I have no trouble wishing everyone a HAPPY CHANUKAH, nor do I have trouble telling others that the week long Feast of Chanukah has a direct connection with the twelve days of the Christmas Season.
To make my point even further, here are introductory paragraphs and links to several articles I’ve written and published at my POEM Web Site that explain how I came to understand that December 25th is truly holy unto Yahweh God and His Son, and not a Pagan feast at all:
~~****~~****~~****~~****~~****~~
The Prophetic Ties Between Yahshua’s Fetal Development And The Jewish Feasts - Excerpt: My study of the connection between the Jewish Feast Days, human gestation and Yahshua’s gestation led me to synchronize the events of Yahshua’s life, which fell on major Jewish Feast Days, with the developmental stages in human gestation. Fascinatingly, through my current review of this study to write this article, I just realized that the nine branches of the Chanukiah can also depict the nine months between human conception and birth! The chart I created below shows the amazing connection between human gestation and the Jewish Feasts, and Yahshua’s gestation and the same Jewish Feasts in reverse order (This article was written in October of 2012, and added to this article in October of 2013).
POEM Blog: The Prophetic Ties Between
Yahshua’s Fetal Development and The Jewish Feasts:
http://pillarofenoch.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-prophetic-ties-between-yahshuas.html
~~****~~****~~****~~****~~****~~
Where is Christ in Christmas? - In this essay, Helena carefully shows how many Christmas symbols are not truly Pagan at all, and how these symbols can be reclaimed for Christ. Helena also shows that, though Christmas has an undeniable connection to the autumn Feast of Sukkot or Tabernacles, it also celebrates Chanukah, which always begins on the 25th of Kislev, and Yahshua was likely conceived and hence truly came to be with us during Chanukah of 4 BC. Kislev 25 has a natural connection to December 25th that can’t be denied, and it is likely that the Wise Men discovered the already toddler-aged Yahshua in a house in Bethlehem on that very day, which was also the second day of Chanukah in 2 BC. Therefore, this article shows that, for a Christian to celebrate Christmas in the traditional manner, they are not forsaking Christ for a lie! Instead, they are keeping a tradition with Biblical and Sacred Astronomical support:
http://pillar-of-enoch.com/essays/index.html#Xmas
~~****~~****~~****~~****~~****~~
Excerpt from “The Language of God in the Universe” -
The Divine Timing Of The Celestial Signs At Christ’s Birth and
Their Ties to Sukkot, Tabernacles, Chanukah and Christmas
Though this supplement is now included in all editions of “The Language of God in the Universe” printed after January 2008, it compliments and enhances the information shared in older editions, and offers a sizable peek into the amazing contents of this book. This supplement discusses the heavenly signs at Christ’s Birth in much greater detail than the original book, as well as the origin of the Magi, and their purpose for visiting Christ. It also shows Zodiac tie-ins of the heavenly signs at Christ’s birth with several major Jewish Feast Days, and contains new illustrations not shown in the book prior to 2008: http://pillar-of-enoch.com/essays/index.html#Birth
~~****~~****~~****~~****~~****~~
Please read the illustrated, heavily researched articles that I linked to above to learn that those attacking Christmas are doing so with subtle, as well as blatant lies rather than the truth, which is not meant to enslave us but to set us free to be true disciples of the Messiah.
Thank you for reading this article. I hope that you are deeply blessed and edified by it. Please share it with everyone you know and love. In the meantime, may our Father God Yahweh bless you, and May Yahshua His Son and our Messiah shower you all with Christmas and Chanukah blessings!
Yahshua is coming SOON! Maranatha!
To Give A Financial Gift to POEM:
http://pillar-of-enoch.com/contact.html
To Purchase My Language of God Series Books:
http://pillar-of-enoch.com/bookstore
~~****~~****~~****~~****~~****~~
Interestingly, the nine days of Chanukah always begin on the 25th of Kislev, while the twelve days of Christmas always begin on December 25th, and Kislev usually always falls in December. So it would have been natural for Paul and the other Apostles and disciples attempting to lead the many Gentile saints within the Greco-Roman culture to associate Yahshua’s birth narrative stories with December 25th, the Greco-Roman date most closely meshing with the 25th of Kislev beginning of Chanukah. After all, these converts to Christianity were not becoming Torah-observant Jews when they accepted Yahshua. They were entering into a New Covenant of Grace similar to, but better than the Covenant that God unconditionally made with Abraham, who was a Gentile who loved Yahweh God, and followed Him before any Jews even existed.
Now, regarding Christmas Trees and Evergreen Wreaths, I want to make it clear that the only evil that comes from utilizing these symbols of the beauty and creative promise of everlasting life in eternity comes from those who spend countless hours trying to convince others that these symbols are innately evil! They do this by misquoting Scriptures that we will examine in a moment such as Jeremiah Chapter 10, which is clearly referring to idols that are worshiped, not to evergreen trees, garlands and wreaths that are purely used as decorations at Christmas without any ritual religious significance. Indeed, since evergreens are fragrant and lovely, and stay green throughout long, cold winters, they are a perfect symbol for the beautiful fragrance of enduring faith as an act of worship, and for the promise of everlasting life in the world to come.
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| Eden's Garden Oils Are Wonderful! www.edensgarden.com |
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| Christmas Tree Lights Seen as a Reflection of God's Truth |
It is a terrible shame that there are several Christian Cults, and some teachers in the Hebrew Roots Movement that ignore the fact that God created evergreens for a godly purpose, and have a personal vendetta against traditional Christmas celebrations and decorations, especially Christmas Trees, Nativity Scenes, and homes decorated with lighted trees, garlands and wreaths. They falsely claim that Jeremiah Chapter 10, verses 1 through 8 prohibits cutting down and decorating trees as part of any religious observance. However, a careful reading of the text reveals that Jeremiah is voicing Yahweh’s prohibition against making idols of wood that are plated with silver and/or gold, and then worshiped.
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| Let Your Light Shine On Chanukah, And Christmas |
Sadly, the worst of these attacks aren’t just coming from Atheists or Occult followers, but from deceived and legalistic believers in Yahweh and Yahshua! Part of the problem is that all of the histories and encyclopedias available today that these Christmas-bashers are relying on have been written by rabidly Anti-Semitic or Antichristian professors and scholars who have zero interest in stating the truth. These historical revisionists have done everything in their power to deceive the world into thinking that many of the customs associated with Christianity are based on Pagan thought and ritual, when they are actually based on Judaic religious rituals and symbols, and also on Pre-Israelite religious teachings that were approved by God.
These Pre-Israelite religious teachings can be traced back to the righteous followers of Yahweh prior to the Flood, especially to Enoch the Sethite. This man was translated into Heaven without seeing death because of his righteousness, and one of the most complete records of what he taught and believed can be found in the Book of 1 Enoch, a canonized book that was discovered intact within the Bible used by the Ethiopian Church. In that book, it is revealed that the holy angel Uriel taught Enoch the science of Sacred Astronomy, and how to understand the Gospel in the Stars, which Enoch called the heavenly tablets.
These heavenly tablets are written using the starry constellations and planets that are representations of Yahweh’s allegorical language of symbols. In my Language of God Series Books, I delve into this symbolism in the heavens as part of the Language of God. This language of heavenly signs was always part of Yahweh God’s method of communicating His will to mankind. But wicked men and fallen angels later corrupted and bastardized this symbolic record so badly that it led to the many Pagan religions of the past and present.
When the truths hidden in the symbols interwoven throughout the heavenly tablets are reclaimed by Messianics and Christians, and the Parables of Yahshua are also called into play, there is really no problem with Christmas or Christmas traditions as they are kept in traditional Protestant Christianity. There is, however, a BIG problem with the persistent lies and misinformation being used to attack Christmas. Please be forewarned and forearmed with the knowledge in this article when you are called to witness to the truth among rabidly Anti-Christian Messianics, and misled Christians. These misinformed believers may mean well, but they either really don’t know ALL the facts, or are being presented with the incorrect facts and then passing on the lies that they have been taught to believe as truth, when nothing could be further from the truth!
In this article, I have shown that many Judaizers have been teaching lies. Many who have sold out to Judaism are either too stubborn, proud or hateful of all things Christian to read my work, and to pray about it, and ask the Ruach to reveal the truth. Too many have been taught to love being Jewish, and hate being Christian. Too many have been taught that this war on Christmas is a holy war, but it is NOT. It is evil. Also, in the process of waging this war, many have thrown out Love, Grace and the FREEDOM/Liberty given to us by the power of the Holy Spirit/Ruach. Instead, they have embraced the Curse of the Law that Yahshua mercifully set us free from by fulfilling the Law perfectly for us. They have become the Synagogue of Satan spoken of in the Book of Revelation, and they are too deaf, dumb and blind to see it. I feel very sorry for all those who spread such hatred, and fight so wretchedly during what should still be one of the holiest times of the year for all believers.
As for the traditional name of this holy day, which is a contraction of the phrase “Christ Mass”, I don’t condone the “Sacrament” of the Mass, and I don’t believe in Transubstantiation. The way the Catholics do this, it’s like a form of witchcraft. It is also disturbing that the Roman Catholic Church focuses on Yahshua’s death rather than His life and resurrection. Though it was Yahshua’s death and shed blood, not His conception, birth or resurrection that saved us all from sin and death, it is more in keeping with the triumph and victory over the Devil that Christ won for us on the Cross to focus in His life, ministry, and resurrection, as well as His death and shed blood, rather than on His death alone.
None of the Protestant Churches, or the Messianic congregations that love their Christian brethren believe in Transubstantiation, or focus on Yahshua’s death instead of His resurrection. That is why the word “Christmas” or “Christ-Mass” has an entirely different connotation for Protestants than it does for Catholics, and it therefore contains no offensive meaning. Armed with this truth, I have no problem saying MERRY CHRISTMAS to everyone who shares my love of Christ at this time of year. Likewise, I have no trouble wishing everyone a HAPPY CHANUKAH, nor do I have trouble telling others that the week long Feast of Chanukah has a direct connection with the twelve days of the Christmas Season.
To make my point even further, here are introductory paragraphs and links to several articles I’ve written and published at my POEM Web Site that explain how I came to understand that December 25th is truly holy unto Yahweh God and His Son, and not a Pagan feast at all:
The Prophetic Ties Between Yahshua’s Fetal Development And The Jewish Feasts - Excerpt: My study of the connection between the Jewish Feast Days, human gestation and Yahshua’s gestation led me to synchronize the events of Yahshua’s life, which fell on major Jewish Feast Days, with the developmental stages in human gestation. Fascinatingly, through my current review of this study to write this article, I just realized that the nine branches of the Chanukiah can also depict the nine months between human conception and birth! The chart I created below shows the amazing connection between human gestation and the Jewish Feasts, and Yahshua’s gestation and the same Jewish Feasts in reverse order (This article was written in October of 2012, and added to this article in October of 2013).
POEM Blog: The Prophetic Ties Between
Yahshua’s Fetal Development and The Jewish Feasts:
http://pillarofenoch.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-prophetic-ties-between-yahshuas.html
Where is Christ in Christmas? - In this essay, Helena carefully shows how many Christmas symbols are not truly Pagan at all, and how these symbols can be reclaimed for Christ. Helena also shows that, though Christmas has an undeniable connection to the autumn Feast of Sukkot or Tabernacles, it also celebrates Chanukah, which always begins on the 25th of Kislev, and Yahshua was likely conceived and hence truly came to be with us during Chanukah of 4 BC. Kislev 25 has a natural connection to December 25th that can’t be denied, and it is likely that the Wise Men discovered the already toddler-aged Yahshua in a house in Bethlehem on that very day, which was also the second day of Chanukah in 2 BC. Therefore, this article shows that, for a Christian to celebrate Christmas in the traditional manner, they are not forsaking Christ for a lie! Instead, they are keeping a tradition with Biblical and Sacred Astronomical support:
http://pillar-of-enoch.com/essays/index.html#Xmas
Excerpt from “The Language of God in the Universe” -
The Divine Timing Of The Celestial Signs At Christ’s Birth and
Their Ties to Sukkot, Tabernacles, Chanukah and Christmas
Though this supplement is now included in all editions of “The Language of God in the Universe” printed after January 2008, it compliments and enhances the information shared in older editions, and offers a sizable peek into the amazing contents of this book. This supplement discusses the heavenly signs at Christ’s Birth in much greater detail than the original book, as well as the origin of the Magi, and their purpose for visiting Christ. It also shows Zodiac tie-ins of the heavenly signs at Christ’s birth with several major Jewish Feast Days, and contains new illustrations not shown in the book prior to 2008: http://pillar-of-enoch.com/essays/index.html#Birth
Please read the illustrated, heavily researched articles that I linked to above to learn that those attacking Christmas are doing so with subtle, as well as blatant lies rather than the truth, which is not meant to enslave us but to set us free to be true disciples of the Messiah.
Thank you for reading this article. I hope that you are deeply blessed and edified by it. Please share it with everyone you know and love. In the meantime, may our Father God Yahweh bless you, and May Yahshua His Son and our Messiah shower you all with Christmas and Chanukah blessings!
To Give A Financial Gift to POEM:
To Purchase My Language of God Series Books:
Thank you for writing this article. I AM deeply blessed!
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