Pod Prep : 10-20-17
The Pagan Roots of Societies Holidays. Are They Acceptable to God ?
WHAT ARE THE POLLUTIONS DELIVERED BY PAGANISM
What kinds of influences are commonly found in Paganism? Almost all pagan cultures exhibit some, if not all of these traits listed below:
1. Participation in the occult which involves witches and demons usually.
2. Nature worship which involves usually Mother Nature and Father Sky.
3. Superstitious fears of heavenly bodies which usually involve Sun or Moon worship.
4. Often includes human sacrifices, normally infants.
5. Some included worshiping the gods of war and violence.
6. Often includes Temple prostitution with children sold into sex slavery.
These pagan worship services are an abomination to God and He forbade the Israelites from using these methods of worship. Even if the Israelites thought that they were worshiping Him thru these patterns, He said they were abominable to Him.
De 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.'
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.
(NKJV)
It is quite obvious that Halloween is the most openly paganized of all the worldly holidays. Playing with the demonic themes is not good for society. But our world does not understand this. God stated that as Judah degenerated into fatal pagan compromises, and was sent into exile, they showed very little wisdom. Their culture back then was labeled by God as foolish.
Jer 4:22 "For My people are foolish, They have not known Me. They are silly children, And they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, But to do good they have no knowledge."
(NKJV)
Our culture is clearly declining morally. Up is down and down is up in today's world. We also look unwise in our societal directions.
TO TREAT OR NOT TO TREAT THAT IS THE QUESTION
Many Christians are divided over this dark magic, occult type holiday. Some find it acceptable regardless while others choose to hide from it. Some try to clean it up by observing it at a church with some limits on ghoulish costumes etc. Other churches take advantage of the popularity of the day to try and evangelize. Surprisingly, in America, Halloween is the number two commercial draw behind only Christmas. According to the National Retail Federation billions and billions of dollars are spent on Halloween activities, decorations and food.
According to the Library of Congress Research Center, virtually all Halloween customs can be traced back to the ancient Celtic festival, Samhain, about 2000 years ago, in Ireland. The Druids (priests) ushered in the new year. They lighted bon fires (bone fires) and offered sacrifices both human and animal. They danced around the fire and celebrated the end of summer and start of a new year. These traditions go back before the time of Jesus. They are linked to Sun worship as are Christmas and Easter. The people superstitiously feared the powers in the heavens and the demonic forces they wanted to appease. The act of 'trick or treating' is based on appeasing the evil underworld of demons.
How Did Halloween Get Its Start?
Roman Catholic Church ran out of days to honor saints because they had created so many saints.
They decided to create a day to honor all saints so they wouldn't have any more problems. They called it, All Saints Day or All Hallows as a day to celebrate all the saints, thus, Halloween.
BABYLON IS THE FOUNDATION OF MUCH OF PAGANISM
Mithraism is a form of paganism extant in Babylon. According to the Twentieth Century Encyclopedia of Catholicism, many Catholic traditions and practices come from Mithraism. Here is a list of doctrines of the Catholic Church that have come from ancient Babylon and not the Bible: Sunday worship, infant baptism, celibate priests, relic worship, mass, rosary, indulgences, Mary worship, eternal torment, confessional. The Bible does not support the above traditions.
The Emperor Constantine had a great deal to do with the acceptance of pagan traditions into the early Christian Church. He wanted to strengthen his ruler ship so he tried to joined paganism with the new popular Christianity. This was done to please the pagans with Christianity. Some true Christians refused, thus, we survived. The universal Church used the blending in of the already established pagan concepts with Christianity to insure acceptance by the population of the world ruling Roman Empire. It worked but how does God feel about these compromises?
De 18:11 "or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.
12 "For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you.
Balaam had them use temple prostitutes to bring curses on Israel. God executed the men involved and was not happy with this pagan behavior.
Nu 25:1 Now Israel remained in Acacia Grove, and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab.
2 They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods.
3 So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and the anger of the LORD was aroused against Israel.
Balaam tried to get Israel to curse themselves so he could gain funds from the pagans because God would not curse them otherwise. Pagan ways brought curses to Israel. Achan just took few pagan religious items and brought curses upon God's people.
Jos 7:1 But the children of Israel committed a trespass regarding the accursed things, for Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed things; so the anger of the LORD burned against the children of Israel.
THE CORE PAGAN SUN WORSHIP MYTH
The Sumerian legend of Tammuz and his wife Ishtar called 'the descent' is a key to understanding Sun worship. Tammuz dies and grief stricken Ishtar follows him into the underworld. She is judged and killed and hung for display. In her absence , the earth loses fertility, crops cease to grow. Unless something is done all life will end says the legend. Another character carries the water of life to them resurrecting them. The power is given to earth to grow again as the light of the sun rises for six months. After about six months Tammuz and Ishtar must return to the underworld. The world grows cold and darker and unproductive for about another six months. Most of the legends are similar to this one. During Halloween they appease the demons and prepare for six months of relative darkness. This is pure Sun worship. The Sun god is the life giver for superstitious. Paganism was bad for the people as well as angering God.
Jer 7:17 "Do you not see what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
18 "The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger.
19 "Do they provoke Me to anger?" says the LORD. "Do they not provoke themselves, to the shame of their own faces?"
God strongly disliked pagan customs like trick or treat or cakes made to the queen of heaven.
Eze 8:16 So He brought me into the inner court of the LORD'S house; and there, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east, and they were worshiping the sun toward the east.
17 And He said to me, "Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it a trivial thing to the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they commit here? For they have filled the land with violence; then they have returned to provoke Me to anger. Indeed they put the branch to their nose.
This sun worship was abominable to God. What about those who say these are just interesting traditions of men. Traditions of men is not an adequate excuse for pagan compromises or unlawful customs based on God's ways and laws.
Mt 15:9 And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.
WHAT SHOULD A TRUE BELIEVER DO ?
We should follow the Bible examples. What Holy Days did the non Jewish Christians keep?
1Co 5:6 Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?
7 Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.
8 Therefore let us KEEP the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
The New Testament gentile converts many years after Christ crucifixion were keeping the Biblical Holy Days. They WERE TOLD to keep the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread by one who wrote most of the New Testament. This is clear as a bell !
KEEPING BIBLICAL HOLY DAYS WITH GOD'S CHURCH IS HIS COMMAND FOR US!
