The following is from Charlene Midling Ruttan, USA
***
Some Christians (not all) who condemn the use of a ‘Christmas Tree’ will use Jeremiah 10.
They point to the verses of: 3 & 4. They go as far as to say you are not saved & serving a false god though ‘True Saints’ will celebrate the Lord’s Birth, Resurrection, & Burial. Looking at the whole context of chapter 10 we see that there is more to it than cutting the tree down and decorating it.
In verse 4 it says… They deck it with silver & with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
Now when comparing scripture upon scripture look at… Habakkuk 2:19 it says… Woe unto him that says to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold & silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.
Now consider the reading of the other verses in Jeremiah 10 that speak of the ‘Skillful Men’ who worked on the Tree. Which includes verses… 5,8,9,14,15. That’s five verses being left out.
Believe it or NOT! These are ‘Idol/Totem Poles’ spoken in Jeremiah 10. Let’s look at these verses together PLEASE…
In verse 5 it says… They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne (transported/carried), because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
Idol/Totem poles stand upright & people worship them as gods & they are afraid of them, even though they cannot move, speak, nor do no harm or good (Habakkuk 2:18).
In verse 8 it talks about the TRUCK of the Tree which is called: ‘The STOCK’… The stock is a doctrine of Vanities.
The STOCK is referring to the trunk or woody stem of a living tree or shrub, one into which a graft (scion) is inserted. The truck of the pole shows the history of the family. Which was an individual’s ancestry or line of descent.
This video above explains the nature of the ‘Idol/totem poles’ that were used as gods outside or in the homes of the Native Americans of the northwest Pacific coast who CARVED magnificent vertical columns in cedar, commonly known as “totem poles.”
Randy Hoyt will discuss how, when, and why these poles were CRAFTED; explore their relationship to a tribe’s TRADITIONAL STORIES and myths; and examine what anyone working in a CREATIVE PROFESSION can learn from these exquisite WORKS OF ART.
Start this video@1:50 the making of a totem pole within family traditions.
In Hosea 4:12 it shows that God’s people looked to the ‘stock of a tree’ for counsel which says…
‘My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declares to them: for the spirit of prostitutions has caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God’.
In v.9 says… Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workmen, and of the hands of the founder: blue and purple is their clothing: they are all THE WORK OF CUNNING MEN.
This site gives a history of ‘Cunning folks’…
Here we have the book of Exodus & 2 Chronicles that speak of carving that of wood done by ‘Cunning men’.
Exodus 35:33 And in the cutting of stones, to set them, and in CARVING OF WOOD, to make any manner of cunning work.
Exodus 35:35 Them hath he filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of work, of the engraver, and of the cunning workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, and in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of them that do ANY work, and of those that devise cunning work.
In 2 Chronicles 2:7 says… Send me now therefore a man cunning to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue, and that can skill to grave with the CUNNING MEN that are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father did provide.
In verse 14 it says… Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the GRAVEN IMAGE (Idol/totem poles): for his MOLTEN IMAGE is falsehood, and there is no breath in them (Habakkuk 2:18).
This verse speaks of a ‘Graven/Molten Image’. A Graven Image is a CARVED IDOL or representation of a god used as an object of worship. Molten images are define as made by melting and casting the substance or metal of which the thing is FORMED. So, we have a Carved & Formed Image.
In verse 15 it says… They are vanity, and the WORK OF ERRORS: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
The Lord promises that everything will BURN in the Day of his WRATH. These Idol poles or Images will perish.
As you can SEE this is NOT speaking of a ‘Christmas Tree’. When you read it in FULL ‘Context’ of the Chapter. It wasn’t a Standing tree in the heathens homes it was cut down, Carved & Formed into an Idol & adorned w/silver and gold (Exo.34:12-17; Isaiah 44:14-19).
May the Peace of God rest upon you all Shalom
6 Comments
Bjorkbloggen 
Spin it how you want. christmas/Saturnalia is pagan and always will be. It was brought in by the mother of harlots Roman Catholicism. Put you tree up if you wish but be careful telling others it is ok
LikeLike
There is no requirement to celebrate the birth of Jesus with a tree, and the Bible doesn’t say that it’s a sin to select a day of the year to celebrate the birth of Jesus (even if former pagan celebrations are eliminated in the process).
LikeLike
If Christians just stick to the Holy days Yahweh ordained, instead of those made up by the Roman church, we would not even have to discuss this problem.. this is why they got in trouble at Siani, for mixing pagan practice with what Yahweh said to do. December 25 was, for sure, a pagan holiay long before the Catholic church mixed it up with a little Jesus sprinkeled in. Yahweh bless!
LikeLike
Nothing is wrong with eliminating a pagan holiday by instead start a better tradition where the son of God is celebrated.
GBU
LikeLike
To eliminate a pagan holiday by mixing many elements with it and say change the name and celebrate Christ, isn’t that to make are own way to praise the Lord?
We adapt to the Lord and His will not the other way around. At Sinai Aron dedicated the offers and the golden calf to the Lord but YHWH was not pleased at all, because it was not according to His will but the will of men, they praised him in their way instead of obeying the Lord. It was the same thing with Saul…
The pagan holiday called christmas or scandinavic Yule is not in honor of Jesus, in fact the bible never even says when He was born, his birthday was not important but his death, burial and ressurrection is the most important event in the whole Bible it’s also the biggest holiday to, “eastern”.
We can just go back to the catholic church and praise Baal and start to worship the sun in the name of YHWH to eliminate the pagan traditions. Nope, doesn’t work that way, come out from among them, not hold on to the traditions of men.
Apart from that i do not believe that you are lost because you celebrate christmas, but one thing is sure, christmas do not please the Lord and is not in his honor. If i hate something people will not label it with my name and keep it in my honor if they want to please me, they depart from it and get rid of it and do what i’ve said is pleasing to me. This is a very logical conclusion and God is very clear about how he wants to be worshiped…
To eliminate pagan holidays by changing it to a Christian holiday is like opening a brothel in the honor of Christ. Doesn’t really work does it…
If it would be like that we could just hold hands with all kind of heresies that are dedicated to the name of Christ. Word of Faith, Jehovas, Mormonism etc. We should obey the Word of God not make our own holidays and stuff like that.
With that said i believe it’s a really good time to be before the Lord, worship him and be with your family around christmas because of the fact that you get some days off from work and have time over to spend with each other. But the celebrating of christmas to honor the Lord is not right.
LikeLike
Hi Aron
<<To eliminate a pagan holiday by mixing many elements with it and say change the name and celebrate Christ, isn’t that to make are own way to praise the Lord?
Where do you get the idea that we could "mix" pagan elements with celebrating Christ and get away with it? The suggestion was that we ELIMINATE the pagan holiday completely and in instead celebrate Christ. Note also that it's not even sure that the day was pagan to begin with. Please show me a verse where it says that God dislikes that we destroy a pagan holiday by using it to celebrate him?
<< The pagan holiday called christmas or scandinavic Yule is not in honor of Jesus—
Do read this article about the idea that christmas is pagan.
https://bjorkbloggen.com/2011/12/13/christmas-once-pagan-always-pagan/
There is no obligation to celebrate christmas with pagan elements.
<<We can just go back to the catholic church and praise Baal and start to worship the sun in the name of YHWH to eliminate the pagan traditions.
That is against God's words isn't it? So why would christians do that?
<<Apart from that i do not believe that you are lost because you celebrate christmas
Yes I read in another comment from you that you believe we are fine even if we sin, so why would it be a drawback if we also celebrated a pagan holiday? If the idea is that we cannot stop sinning, then why would sin in the end of December be damning for us? Or can we avoid sin after all?
<<they depart from it and get rid of it and do what i’ve said is pleasing to me.
That's why I suggest that we both get rid of pagan holidays and focus on celebrating Christ. Killing a pagan holiday by placing a Celebration for Christ in its stead, should therefore be pleasing for God. But again, we don't even know that it used to be pagan.
<<To eliminate pagan holidays by changing it to a Christian holiday is like opening a brothel in the honor of Christ. Doesn’t really work does it…
No that wouldn't work if the idea is to KEEP the brothel activities. If a house used to be a brothel, and you cleanse the house from all such activity and instead start a church, would that be something that is not pleasing to God? Or must you remove the entire house and build a completely new house?
<<If it would be like that we could just hold hands with all kind of heresies that are dedicated to the name of Christ. Word of Faith, Jehovas, Mormonism etc. We should obey the Word of God not make our own holidays and stuff like that.
No one suggests that we should mix in heresy in our lives.
<<With that said i believe it’s a really good time to be before the Lord, worship him and be with your family around christmas because of the fact that you get some days off from work and have time over to spend with each other. But the celebrating of christmas to honor the Lord is not right.
It's not right to celebrate christmas by honoring the Lord? But isn't "to be before the Lord, worship him and be with your family around christmas" the very same thing as "celebrate christmas by honoring the Lord"? Make up your mind now.
GBU
LikeLike