This post needs a subtitle, so we’ll call it “How to Teach Our Children about Idolatry.”
If you’ve been reading my posts this last year, you’ll know that I’ve been spending a bit of time in the book of Deuteronomy. Do you ever get the feeling that something you’re learning is going to be life-altering, dramatically changing you to the core? That’s how I’ve felt as I’ve studied Deuteronomy.
In the meantime, I’ve been working on world history curriculum that is based on the Bible. I wanted to write a curriculum mostly for my own children, because I’ve been feeling great conviction that in the few short years we have our children at home, we need to spend as much time as possible in our Bibles, spending the majority of our time studying the histories of cultures and peoples that were most prominent in God’s plan for the redemption of mankind.
The kids and I were struck by how much Babylon has influenced our world, both throughout time and even today. The Bible says that there are only two world religions: God’s and Satan’s (Psalm 2:1-2, Ephesians 6:12).
As this Christmas season has approached, my husband and I “happened” to spend some time one Sabbath studying what the Bible says about being holy. As I’ve written before, most of us Christians believe that holy means to be “physically pure, morally blameless or religious, ceremonially, consecrated” (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance). This is certainly an aspect of holiness, but my husband and I have learned by simply reading all the Bible verses about holiness that this word might be better translated as “different” or “set apart for a specific purpose.” We believers are to be “different,” “set apart” from the world’s way of living in our actions and thoughts.
“…As the One who called you is set-apart, so you also should become set-apart in all behavior, because it has been written, ‘Be set-apart, for I am set-apart’” (1 Peter 1:15-16 [The Scriptures], quoting Leviticus 11:44-45).
So what does this look like? What does it mean to be set apart from Babylon, the world’s system of religion and thought?
“I will punish Bel in Babylon and make him spew out what he has swallowed. The nations will no longer stream to him. And the wall of Babylon will fall. Come out of her, my people! Run for your lives! Run from the fierce anger of the LORD” (Jeremiah 51:45).
“Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!
She has become a home for demons
and a haunt for every evil[a] spirit,
a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird.
For all the nations have drunk
the maddening wine of her adulteries.
The kings of the earth committed adultery with her,
and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.”Then I heard another voice from heaven say:
“Come out of her, my people,
so that you will not share in her sins,
so that you will not receive any of her plagues” (Revelation 18:2-4).
The book of Deuteronomy clearly lists the ways that the people of God (of which I am included) can leave the idolatry of Babylon and be “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a [set-apart] nation, a people belonging to God” (1 Peter 2:9).
My husband and I have seen that God warned His people in Deuteronomy that they would be tempted to forsake Him and follow the gods of the people around them. Moses repeatedly warned them not to add to or subtract from any of God’s commands (Deuteronomy 4:2, Deuteronomy 12:32) or to turn from it to the right or the left (Deuteronomy 5:32).
This warning was spoken to people “who held fast” to YHWH (Deuteronomy 4:4). My heart’s desire is to “hold fast” to God, to follow Him with all my heart and all my soul (Deuteronomy 4:29). So it rather surprises me that Moses would specifically warn those who “held fast,” so that they wouldn’t turn from the commands of YHWH to serve false idols.
I would certainly NOT serve or worship idols! I don’t see why I have to “watch myself carefully” so that I don’t become corrupted by false gods. Nor have I ever felt a temptation to make images. When I look up into the sky, I haven’t felt a temptation to bow down to the stars or worship them (Deuteronomy 4:15-19).
Still, Deuteronomy repeatedly says, “Be careful!”
As we’ve been studying world history, we have learned, sadly, that many of the ways we worship God in our churches today have been adopted from the customs of the pagan peoples. (For more information, I recommend reading The Two Babylons, written in 1853 by Alexander Hislop. A pagan resource online is http://www.mother-god.com/christmas-tree-history.html)
A few weeks ago, our family set up our beautiful Christmas tree and decorated our home for Christmas. Because of our discussion about holiness and our historical studies, we were aware that Christmas had pagan roots. However, our goal was to use the Christmas season to share the gospel message with as many people as possible, and to take what Satan meant for evil and use it for good.
For instance, we had learned that the fir tree and pine cones were a symbol of fertility, and they were used extensively in evil worship of Nimrod, the sun god, and many other false gods that were patterned after Babylonian Nimrod.
image of Mexican god holding a fir tree in his right hand and a pine cone in his left hand, from http://historical.benabraham.com/html/pine_cone_of_mexican_god.html
Of course, that was certainly not how we were using the tree in our home! Wasn’t it appropriate to take the beautiful things created by God and “set them apart” again for His worship, rather than allowing Satan to “steal” them?
That was our opinion the day we went to hours of work to beautifully decorate our home for Christmas.
Then God showed us more verses, again from the book of Deuteronomy.
“Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains and on the hills and under every spreading tree where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods. Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places. You must not worship the LORD your God in their way” (Deuteronomy 12:2-4).
This verse really struck us! God clearly said not to worship Him in the way of the idolatrous nations. Moses had already told God’s people that all the other nations under heaven would worship images like created things, bowing down to the sun, moon, and stars (Deuteronomy 4:15-19). All the other nations would worship images! All! Remember, there are only two religions: Satan’s (from Babylon) and the one, true God, YHWH. That’s it. No other choices!
But Moses continued, “But as for you, YHWH took you and brought you out… to be the people of his inheritance” (Deuteronomy 4:20). Because of this, His people were to
- Destroy them completely.
- Break down their altars.
- Smash their sacred stones.
- Cut down their Asherah poles.
- Burn their idols in the fire.
“…for you are a people holy [set apart] to YHWH your God. YHWH your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession” (Deuteronomy 7:1-6).
Moses continued,
“The images of their gods you are to burn in the fire. Do not covet the silver and gold on them, and do not take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it, for it is detestable to the LORD your God. Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. Utterly abhor and detest it, for it is set apart for destruction” (Deuteronomy 7:25-26).
My husband and I read these verses and honestly, we shed some tears. The next morning, we gathered our children for a few hours and taught our children what we had learned (see Deuteronomy 4:9-10). That afternoon, we took down our Christmas tree.
I realize that this post cannot possibly contain enough information to lead you to make the same decision we did. However, I’d like to conclude by showing you what Deuteronomy says about how to teach our children about idolatry (from Deuteronomy 11):
- We are to “love YHWH our God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands always.” If His commands aren’t on our own hearts, our children won’t love Him either.
- Our children haven’t seen the works of God that we have. We must tell them — over and over again. (Leviticus 23 tells us exactly how God commands us to spend our holidays, so that they will be tools for teaching our children. See also Exodus 12:24-27, Luke 22:7-19, and 1 Corinthians 11:24-25.)
- We are to be careful! We do this by removing all traces of idolatry from our lives (1 Peter 4:3). As Moses commanded, we remove all detestable things from our homes.
- Last, but not least, we fix the words of God in our minds and in the minds of our children. We teach His commands, over and over and over and over.
This is the context of those famous verses that homeschoolers like to claim as their own:
“Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates” (Deuteronomy 11:18-21).
I cannot speak for anyone else, but in the Elliott home, we have determined that we will obey, even if it means our beloved Christmas tree came down.
Maybe I’ve stirred a desire in you to research this more!
“Now fear YHWH and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve YHWH. But if serving YHWH seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve YHWH” (Joshua 24:14-15).
P.S. If you’re serious about learning more, carefully click through all the links above, especially the Scripture passages linked. You may also wish to watch Jim Staley’s video, “Truth or Tradition.”
This brought tears to my eyes, sis…especially the part when you and your husband gathered your children around, telling them what the Father had shown you and then being obedient to that by taking down the tree…praying for y’all! (c: \o/
Thanks so much for this study!. we’ve by Gods grace not done the Christmas tree, and kept our decor nativity oriented. Just on the simple basis of being true to the accounts in the bible. But your study has really helped in adding to the conviction!! Thanks so much!!. Another verse to help you along the way is this. And I believe it applies to so much in the kingdom, theres alot we as Christians do (including myself am sure!) which falls short of this verse!. By Gods Grace we continue the santification process!. Here it is:
Deu 12:30 “take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’ Deu 12:31 “You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way; for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.
WE SHOULD NOT ENQUIRE, NOR DO LIKEWISE, IN THE NAME \ OR FOR THE CAUSE OF YAHWEH!!! isnt that amaziing, how many things do we get from the world and say its ok if we r doing it for Jesus!!!… God Help Us!!
Not to burst your bubble or anything, but the nativity is idolatry. Re-read the second commandment. Seems like a bad idea to make any graven image of Christ our God.
I agree with you, see what I mean .. we all need the sanctification process!. so maybe I’ll take the babe out of the manger. My children usually cover the face when doing coloring pages, or don’t colour it at all, that was their way of honoring that command. Thanks for the reminder!
Love this…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jeOjAMqd4o&feature=share
There is evidence also that Yeshua’s birth was during the time of the Fall Feasts…if we wish to draw people to HIS ways, we need to do it by living HIS way…
Good for you. Following the Lord is not always easy but it is rewarding. You can see Jer.10: 4 to confirm that the Christmas tree was truely and idol.
We quit celebrating all holidays 35 years ago because they are all associated with pagan rituals. I always wondered why Easter was called Easter and not Resurrection Day. It is the celebration of Estarte. Christmans was the celebration of Saturnalia. Not celebrating the holidays has set us free to be givers all year and love the Lord and share him in ways that His desires us to.
We have not celebrated Christmas or Easter for several years. December 25 was the Roman celebration of sol invictus (invincible sun) and Easter is another name for Ishtar. It broke my heart to find out that what I believed and practiced was of pagan origin. Jesus was (according to what I have read) was actually born in the fall. I am not Jewish, but I have decided to celebrate Passover instead of Easter because this was a feast that Jesus also observed.
We reached the same conclusion this year ~ before we put our tree up. My children were in agreement, after we sat down with them and discussed the why’s and our convictions. I did purchase 2 small ornament stands at a craft store and we put some of our special, collectable ornaments on them ~ they are on our mantle. Our decorations will fit into one rubbermaid tote instead of the 6-7 we’ve previously used. We then decided to set the day completely apart and not open any gifts that day. (Well if someone showed up unexpectedly, it would be ok but we are planning on any gifting) We decided to put our efforts into ministry opportunities as a family. Any gifts we have bought our children have been given to them that day and not hidden away for 12-25. Our older children that are out of the home, got some gift cards for restaurants and/or the grocery store. Thanks for sharing your journey and the Deut. references.
Anne,
We haven’t celebrated Christmas for several years now. I so enjoy reading your posts. Your honesty is a delight and such an encouragement to me. We have tried to share on FB and our family blog about the true roots of Christmas, but so many just do not want to know the truth. But there is so much joy and freedom that comes from keeping Yahweh’s Feast Days commanded in Lev 23! We have learned so much and have needed to unlearn much also. That has been difficult at times, but I would gladly follow that path again and again, for the blessing it has brought us.
My husband recently read a book called, “Come Out Her My People” published by the Institute for Scripture Research. The book shares 26 things the church has adopted from pagan worship, with detailed research and footnotes.
Laurie,
A friend gave us that book, too, and I am actually reading it right now. It is slow reading for me, because he puts 10-15 Scripture references every two words, LOL! (slight exaggeration). But I appreciate the Scripture! So I’ll keep reading. It’s nice to hear that someone else recommends this book. ~Anne
Anne, thanks so much for sharing! We stopped celebrating x-mas and easter over 13 years ago for the very reasons you have mentioned and more. We also observe the Sabbath and the Feasts. None of our friends and extended families understand or agree with us, and it has been a tough and lonely road at times, but we are just as convicted today as when we first made the decision – even more so. There is a LOT of information out there to anyone who wants to find out. But most people do not want to know about it. Have you read Too Long in the Sun by Richard Reeves? Good concise resource. Thanks again for the encouragement that we are not alone. God bless!
One thing about Christmas, it’s focus is on a baby. Christ Jesus was a baby 1 year, a man 33 years, but God forever eternal. I’ve always been told Christians must celebrate Christmas because it is a witness to a dieing world. I don’t know about that. I just don’t see people coming to Christ during the Christmas season among the hustle, bustle, and stress of the season. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe millions come to the truth thru Nativity plays, candle light services, Christmas light displays. The pews are packed but I’ve never known one person to come to salvation during the season. I don’t think the story of Baby Jesus is as convicting as the rest of Scripture.
We started celebrating Sukkot and gather in our tent outside
I bring the nativity set (minus the wisemen, who came later) and we read about Christ’s birth and also John 1, where He came and Tabernacled with us. If it’s not too cold (Sukkot was late this year, we already had snow on the ground) we have some meals out there. The kids love it, we dig into the Word, there’s no holiday trappings.
I once was listening to a Christian explain about satanist and new-agers. He mentioned that to them, their birthday is the most important day in their life, because of astrology. It hit me if that is why Christ Jesus didn’t command us to celebrate His birthday. He told us to remember His death, but not necessarily His birth. He came to fulfill Scripture (and in my opinion, to fulfill the Feasts), not to be “celebrated.”
Your post is an appointment with God for me and my family. Here I sit, December 23rd and no tree. We have been waffling about this for months. For our children, the thought of no tree is a tough one. I laughed at your picture of (who I assume is your daughter) hugging the tree and crying(?) because I am sure some of our children will shed tears too. We are desperately trying to come out of Babylon. There is no Christmas decor in our home. And as I said we have waffled and discussed back and forth between whether or not to have a small (maybe 3 ft) tree. Well, we have made it this far. And when hubby comes home from duty (he is a serviceman) I am going to sit down with him and have him read this post. This year we begun by celebrating the Biblical feasts that God appointed. And we are amidst Hanukkah right now. I too have heard all the agruements for keeping Christmas. I think you touched on the biggies (not to let Satan “steal” holidays from us, using for the glory of God what others have used for evil, using Christmas to witness to others about the birth of Christ). We have been deeply in prayer about wanting to be right in the eyes of the Lord, and for Him to show us what to do about Christmas. And yet the closer we get, we still don’t feel the desire to have a tree, and then things (like your blog post) pop up. Well, I feel God IS showing us His desires. I’ll let know you how it all ends. I am going to check out the books mentioned by you and some of the commentors. Thank you again for your insight.
Tiffany,
My friend Posey has a nice blog with ideas for celebrating Hanukkah with your family:
http://www.seektheancientpath.com/index.php/learning-center/shabbat-biblical-feasts-n-holidays/hanukkah/168-chanukkah-activities-a-family-fun
and also a podcast about it here:
http://hebrewnationradio.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=1863:remnant-mama-hannukah-ways-to-celebrate-part-1&Itemid=119
and
http://hebrewnationradio.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=1870:remnant-mama-hannukah-ways-to-celebrate-part-2&Itemid=119
Praying for you,
~Anne
The verdict is in. We are not having a tree. Surprisingly, the children didn’t fuss about it at all. Thank you for your prayers.
AHHHH! It feels good, doesn’t it? We stopped celebrating christmas altogether about 8 years ago. My children, 6y 3y 1y and baby don’t miss anything. We’ve had honest conversations as they came up about it’s roots and how/why people tried to redeem it. We do celebrate Yeshua’s (Jesus’s hebrew name) birth during the Feast of Tabernacles, when Israel is celebrating YHWH dwelling with them during their wandering. God is so good and His holydays are more meaningful and worth so much more.
Hi Anne,
Did I ever tell you how I taught my kids the meaning for Christmas? I always make a Birthday cake for Jesus. On Christmas Morning, before anyone opens any gifts, we all sit on the floor, hold hands and sing “Happy Birthday” to Jesus. I only put on 1 candle (because Jesus is infinite), and the kids blow out the candle. We talk about why we give gifts at Christmas, (because the Magi brought gifts to Jesus in the stable, and because of the GIFT of Eternal Life that Jesus/God gave us with Jesus’ birth and sacrifice.
I always explained to my kids (and now to Journey) that we don’t really know when Jesus was born exactly, but this is the day we celebrate it.
After the little talk, we eat cake and hot coccoa while we open our gifts.
I know it’s not exactly Biblical, but it explained everything, and the kids NEVER opened gifts without thanking Jesus.
Loads of Love,
Merry Christmas to all the Elliotts!
Darlene & John.
P.S. Keep an eye open toward the mail. I know it’s late, but we had to go back out to CO. Give me a call when you can and I’ll tell you what happened. THANKS to you and Kraig for keeping us on your prayer list at church.
D.
Anne,
Thanks for the letter. You know how I feel about many things, and you know I love you all.
Darlene
This is a very thought-provoking article and interesting discussion of biblical theory in the comments section. This makes me wonder how today’s older Christians who came of age in the 40s and 50s have been so seemingly wrong in the things they’ve taught about education of kids and the celebration of holidays such as Christmas and Easter, etc (and Bible interpretation itself). As one who has received a lot of my Christian edification from such individuals, I have to wonder.
At any rate, have a safe and wonderful Happy New Years.
That’s too harsh…Not saying the older people are wrong. But I do wonder why there has been a significant paradigm shift among today’s younger generation of Christians. What is driving this?
Tom, you are asking some excellent questions. We have a number of studies about this on the Nazarene Israel website, http://www.nazareneisrael.org. Basically what most Christians don’t know is that the Christian people are the descendants of the lost tribes of Israel (which is why the apostles Peter and James write to the lost tribes). It was prophesied that His people would be blinded for some 2,730 years, but that He would bring them back to an understanding of who they were, in the end times. Or if you send me your email address, I will be glad to send you some studies. servant@nazareneisrael.org.
How I wish I could do this. I’ve known these things since I was a child. I am married to an unbeliever having married him equally yoked then coming to faith in Christ two years into the marriage. His desire to hold on to tradition and lack of interest in spiritual things is what I choose to submit to every holiday. He tolerates me taking our children to church, to homeschooling them as I see fit (and he pays for it, too!), to training them spiritually as best I can. So things like what you write of in your post take a back seat to the more direct, basic doctrines of the faith.
Interestingly enough, I grew up in a Christian cult that did not celebrate any of the holidays, but followed the Feast of Tabernacles, Atonement, Trumpets in the fall, and Unleavened Bread and a couple other days in the spring. I understood it all, and we exchanged gifts & actually travelled all over the U.S. & Canada for Tabernacles. And I was a social misfit/outcast for it all. BUT, their basic doctrine was wrong – that’s the problem with cults!
So, I’ve decided that things like Christmas trees (a lower priority) will have to step aside for eternal salvation (highest priority). Still, like I said, how I would love to do this and give up all the trappings of Christmas for good.
Good post.
You’re right, Naomi. You’re not worshipping the Christmas tree, and you are obeying and loving God by submitting to your husband.
It’s been a blessing to read about your journey. We stopped celebrating the traditional holidays about 4 years ago. It’s been a hard transition in some ways. But once we gave that up, we wondered what to do next. We began to study the feasts of YHWH and to observe them over the next year. After our first full 8 days of the Feast of Tabernacles my kids declared “this beats Christmas any day”. People think that they are missing out, but really we were missing out on YHWH’s blessings before. It’s encouraging to hear other people’s stories. Keep seeking Him in spirit and in truth. John 4:23
Good for you! We felt the same conviction and gave it up years ago, but we chose to skip the whole holiday as there are too many issues here. We place much more emphasis on His death and trying to focus the kids on avoiding placing emphasis on one day above another rather than daily faithfulness. Our God is a jealous God and we have always felt that ‘repurposing’ Babylon in the name of Christ still didn’t make it right. Daniel didn’t eat the meat that was sacrificed to Baal and justify it by saying a prayer to Jehovah God over it. We are to be set apart…even the corner tavern has a Christmas tree. It is not a witnessing tool. It is a compromise of our faith. Did you know the Pilgrims did not practice Christmas? They knew better, but the heathen sailors who brought them here did.
A friend just wrote to me,
“I noticed that you have a link to listen to Jim Staley’s teaching truth or tradition. I wanted to let you know that he has a new updated version and it can be seen on Youtube. It is very powerful. Think it is better than the first one he did. I hope you find this helpful.”
Here is the link:
http://youtu.be/Lg5-v0SPRgk
Thank you for this article, Anne! It is a real encouragement to me to read about your family’s journey out of Babylon and the comments here. We decided to stop celebrating Christmas and Easter several years ago and it has been difficult in some ways, but we don’t regret it, and we are learning and growing so much through celebrating the Biblical feasts and the Sabbath. For the first time this year we are celebrating Hanukkah. We waited to do this because we didn’t want to just make it a “substitute Christmas”. We get together with family who are visiting and it is hard for them to understand, but they are getting used to it. I’m praying about how to share with others more about why we do this. Mostly I just don’t bring it up unless I have to. We just skip church in December and go back in January.
I don’t judge others for where they are on this journey because I was afraid to look any further into the pagan origins of the holidays for at least six months after I began to learn some of these things! I knew we would have to make some big changes and I just wasn’t emotionally ready to go there just yet. It took some time, but we wouldn’t change it for the world, so I would just like to encourage others who are where I was at.
Thanks for being brave enough to share this!
What passages from the Bible would support the celebration of Hanukkah by Christians? Just wondering because I know it is has some support in 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees, which are not part of the Bible. Any help anyone can give would be greatly appreciated. I am rather confused because it has been ingrained in me by seasoned Christians that I know and trust that since Christians are not subject to the Law we are not to celebrate those holidays.
I don’t know about Hanukkah. But there are 7 others (do I have that right??) that are so full of truth and point to Christ Jesus. I feel that we aren’t required by the law, but they are powerful, moving and wonderful, so why wouldn’t we? And they don’t have the commercial trappings, pagan beginnings, and non-biblical warping. The more I learn about the Feasts, the more excited I get about them
Tom, Hanukkah is not a celebration that is commanded by God, so it is entirely optional. It was celebrated at the time of Jesus and it’s mentioned in John 10 that Jesus was present in the temple at that time, although it doesn’t specifically say he was celebrating the holiday. It is the commemoration of the rededication of the temple after the Maccabean revolt. I would probably equate it to our American tradition of Thanksgiving, which isn’t commanded by God, but I believe it’s permissible for Christians to take part in this kind of celebration.
Many of the other holidays we think of as only for the Jews were actually commandments to be celebrated “throughout your generations” for all of Israel, which we as Christians are grafted into if we are followers of the Messiah.
As far as being “under the law”, we are no longer under the law of sin and death because Jesus paid our penalty once and for all. We are free to obey God’s law with assurance of his forgiveness when we mess up. Jesus followed the law and told us that he did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it (show us how to properly live it) (Matt.5:17-18). He never broke his father’s law, but he broke the man-made law of the pharisees with abandon!
If you have more questions Passion for Truth Ministries is, in my opinion, the best resource out there:
http://www.passionfortruth.com/
Tom,
What biblical support is there in the Bible to celebrate xmas? I can’t find any. It is 100% roman catholic tradition. I am open if you have any.
As a former Catholic, I agree that many of the “Christian” traditions are actually Catholic traditions.
As a follow up to Mike’s comment, I am curious to know Anne’s position on the Biblical warrant Christians have to celebrate christmas (and easter). If one comes to the conclusion Anne has fleshed out in this post in that certain rituals associated with christmas are idolatry so we should shun them, then it seems logical that since the practice of christmas itself is not something commanded in Scripture, and can be traced to a “baptism” of idolatrous heathen practices by the Roman Catholic church, then we should not celebrate it. It seems that the whole holiday itself is idolatrous, whatever the intentions may be in partaking of it. The point is that the thing itself has not been commanded nor anything we would replace it with, such as hannukah, and therefore it is idolatry. If you have some time Anne, I would love to hear what your thoughts are?
Hannah, I’d be happy to try to put an answer together. I just wanted to ask, though, for clarification:
Are you wondering specifically if celebrating any part of Christmas (or Easter) is wrong?
Or are you asking a more general question, like, Is ANYTHING that is not commanded in Scripture, wrong? Like, is Hannukah wrong because it is not explicitly commanded in Scripture? …because it is “adding to.”
I’ll be trying to put my thoughts together in the meantime. I DO have some opinions, LOL! Didn’t ya know it?
Hi Anne,
Thanks for your time! I was wondering what your principles are for things pertaining to worship. Obviously one can rightly infer that it is ok to brush one’s teeth, drive a car, or use the internet, although they have not been specifically mentioned or commanded in Scripture. However when it comes to worship, only that which is commanded or can clearly be deduced from Scripture is permitted without adding to or taking away from Scripture and how God desires to be worshipped (atleast that’s the impression I have that you go by – let me know if I’m wrong!).
Based upon that principle, holidays like christmas, Easter, Hanukkah, etc that are meant to be acts of worship, would not be permissable, let alone the elements of them (like a christmas tree) as that is to worship the way the heathens do rather than how God has commanded. Christmas, Easter, Hanukkah etc are never mentioned in the Bible, so what warrant do we have to celebrate them at all, even in a “baptized” way, taking out the idolatrous elements – especially if the holidays’ origins can be traced to pagan practices?
Yes, Hannah, that’s exactly how I’m seeing it. You worded it really well!
When it comes to the worship of God, He has told us HOW in His Word, and He has commanded us not to add to or take from. See Exodus 32:5, which was intended as worship to YHWH, but which was obviously judged as a terrible sin.
We aren’t sure what we think of holidays like Hanukkah and Purim. We don’t see this as “worshiping” holidays, but more like patriotic celebrations for the Jews, to thank God for His deliverance of them, much like we believing Americans thank God for His providential hand on our country on July 4. However, I’m not Jewish, so we aren’t sure if the Elliott family will be celebrating them. I don’t see them necessarily as wrong, though.
I hope this makes sense! What a great discussion this has been!
Anne, I agree that this is a great discussion!. I wish I could have more of this kind of discussion with my Christian friends and family. I appreciate your honesty about the things you are learning.
I’m glad you mentioned Exodus 32. I was shocked to realize that when the Israelites made the golden calf, they actually intended to worship Yahweh with it! Even though they thought they were worshipping the Lord, God called it idol worship.
When we first gave up Christmas and Easter and began celebrating Biblical Feasts instead, we did not do Hanukkah or Purim. I think it’s really important to investigate those traditions for yourself and decide if they are okay for Christians. Right now I’m prayerfully investigating New Years traditions. If we’re in doubt, we usually just avoid until we’ve made a decision.
For us, the holidays that are commanded are not optional. As for other holiday traditions that are not pagan in origin, that can get a little more complicated, as far as I’m concerned. I don’t personally believe I’m adding to or taking away from God’s word by commemorating special times of God’s deliverance at Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, or Purim because I don’t find pagan influences in their origins. July 4th is a little more conflicted for our family because of issues with whether our government system should be celebrated.
I respect anyone who has the conviction to celebrate no other holidays but those that are commanded, but it seems to me that to celebrate American holidays and assume that Jewish holidays that were celebrated during Jesus’ time are wrong for Christians is inconsistent. Does that make sense? We should look at all holidays in light of scripture to decide whether or not to celebrate. That’s just my 2 cents!
And that “adding to or taking away from Scripture” is where a lot of people end up getting stuck in the briar patch. Then it gets back to the whole idea again that people tend to interpret the Bible from the framework of their own ideas and beliefs, which is inevitably biased toward their own experiences.
We had this same experience in our home last Christmas. This was our second year without the tree, and it is strange and hard to get used to (for me), but I can see that it helps us all realize that Jesus is to be our ALWAYS focus.