Five Myths About Christmas

So, we have another Sabbath to learn more about God's Word. And when Jesus Christ mentioned that He had to be about His Father's business, part of the Father's business, which we're involved in, is the truth business. We're in the truth business. If you want to learn the truth, that's what we're all about. And certainly, we're up with these holidays that are coming up, and so does everybody have one of these handouts? Please raise your hand if you didn't get one.

Okay, because that's going to be very important to have this handout for you to keep, and use it as a reference. I basically condensed about 40 years of information into one page. It took me longer to reduce it to one page, and it took me to do all the research on it.

So, go ahead, and we do have extra ones. If anybody needs some, the Alinda here needs one as well. You can make copies of this and share it. Somebody has any questions, because it's very simple, but at the same time profound. And so, we start with the first sentence. It says, probably the commandment most broken by people is the ninth commandment.

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Exodus 20 16. And this includes not lying. Leviticus 19 11, you don't have to turn there, but I have it right here.

It says, you shall not steal. That's the eighth commandment. And then it says about the ninth commandment, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another. It's also mentioned in the book of Ephesians in the New Testament. And so, should we lie to one another? Should we be coming up with myths and falsehoods, even if they are supposed to be kind of pious lies that they're just white little lies? As I bring out here, many people think it's okay to tell a fib or a, quote, white lie.

Yet to God, any type of a lie is very serious and breaks the ninth commandment.

John, the apostle, gives an important spiritual principle about this very subject when he said, no lie is of the truth. First John 2 21. Let's think about that. No lie is of the truth. That means if you're learning God's truths, it shouldn't be mixed with lies. Even if they're popular, even if they're followed by millions of people, it's still a lie. And as we have brought out, if you take a cow, you paint it like a horse, you call it like a, you call it a horse, it's still a cow. You can't change the very nature because you sort of rearrange the coloring and make it look more like a cow. And that's the same way. You can try to rearrange a lie and you can make it look nicer, but its very nature is deceitful.

In other words, either the Bible confirms something as a truth or it is false. And thus, a lie. You can't have it both ways. You can't say you are following God's word, the Bible, and at the same time, following lies, things that are not true. Notice in Isaiah chapter 8, verse 20, Isaiah chapter 8, verse 20, it says, to the law, which is dealing with the first five books of the Bible, and to the testimony, which is the rest of the Bible, the rest of the Old Testament, because at that time, of course, they didn't have a New Testament, so they had to follow. It says, if they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. So you go to God's laws, you go to the testimonies, which are the rest of the books in the Old Testament, and if it doesn't go according to them, it says here there is no real basis. It's not truth. The New Living Translation says, look to God's instructions and teachings. People who contradict His word are completely in the dark.

They're contradicting, and don't pay attention. They're not telling the truth. Take, for example, the idea of Santa Claus. Now, we're all saturated with this.

Who they say lives in the North Pole and brings presents to kids.

This is a total lie. No fat man lives there, nor does he bring presents to children in a sled.

It is really their parents who put the gifts. I remember as a young boy growing up in Catholic Cuba, and I remember we had a big Christmas tree, and my parents told me, well, get to bed, and Santa Claus is coming, and I'm gonna give you all these presents. And so I had a Jewish friend that was a neighbor, and he said, oh, look at this nice tree, and I said, yes, and, you know, Santa Claus is coming, and he's gonna drop all these gifts. And so he didn't say a word.

And so early in the morning, I ran down the stairs, and I looked.

Everything was ransacked. The presents had been open. My presents had been taken. That young Jewish kid thought, well, if Santa Claus is coming to his house, I want some presents, too.

So I thought, what a strange thing there. Santa Claus did that. Why didn't he stop that boy?

But we've all gone through a lot of these things, and I remember when they finally said, no, it's not true, and you always feel, oh, why did my parents lie to me about this? A second example of a lie has to do with a Christmas tree. This is a pagan practice.

In ancient Rome, they celebrated the birth of the sun god by decorating trees on December 25th.

That was the time of the Roman Saturnalia and the Brumalia, which was the day, the shortest day that they thought of the year. And so that was the birth of the sun god. That was the day when the sun would begin to appear and get stronger again. And this is simply based on tree worship. An example, let's go to Jeremiah chapter 10. Jeremiah chapter 10.

Starting in verse 1, I'm going to read until verse 11, because it's important to explain to you a little bit through what we know about history, archaeology, and all of this information. So, God is addressing himself to the house of Israel. Verse 1, it says, here the word which the Lord speaks to you, oh, house of Israel. So Jeremiah was a prophet. He was the one that was transmitting what God was telling them about the truth. Because God cannot lie. He says, do not learn the way of the Gentiles. So he's not saying, he's saying, don't get involved in all these other religious ideas and all these pagan ideas of the nations that surround you. He said, do not learn the way of the Gentiles. Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, which all the other nations were afraid of. All of these omens with all of these stars and astrology and that it all impacted. God says, that's all nonsense. For the Gentiles are dismayed at them. That's the way the religious leaders are able to control people in many of these lands. For the customs of the peoples are futile, which means they're baseless. They don't have a sound basis. And then he uses example.

Tree worship goes all the way back to ancient Babylon. Just here, for one cuts a tree from the forest.

And so he goes and he goes to the forest where these nice green trees, he cuts one of them.

And then the work of the hands of the workmen with the axe. So of course he works it, makes it into its shapely type of tree. They decorate it with silver and gold. Have you seen that being done today? They fasten it with nails and hammers. Do you see that today? Well, we always remember those Christmas trees in my home and had a big wooden cross and then they nail it so that it would stabilize the tree so that it will not topple. They are upright like a palm tree. It's not talking about a palm tree, but it says it's straight. You don't want a crooked tree that you bring to your home. And they cannot speak. They must be carried. So this type of idea that somehow there's a god behind these trees and they're able to use it kind of like an idol and they still they don't have any power. It says they must be carried because they cannot go by themselves.

Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, nor can they do any good.

Pure superstition. And here we are carrying over these vain and futile type of teachings.

It goes on to say in comparison, inasmuch as there is none like you, oh Lord. Yeah, that's a true god. He is not carried around in a stick. He's not having to worry about not speaking. So he's comparing the true god to these false gods that they use these symbols for people to then look to those false gods.

For you are great and your name is great in might. Who would not fear you, O king of the nations? For this is your rightful due, for among all the wise men of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is none like you. See, saying don't follow the ways of the world. Do you think God is honored by having tree worship in the 21st century? Now some people say, well we don't think of it that way. Well, you're taking this, you're not taking it from the Bible. God says in the second commandment, don't make anything to represent me here on earth or something that you imagine is up in heaven, angels or something. You're not supposed to make decorations like that. God wants a relationship directly. God is spirit and we must worship him in spirit and in truth. And in truth means not having idols. So if you talk to some of these pagans and back in those days and they said, well here's this tree that you have, you have it decorated and well is this what you worship? You know, the most intelligent ones say, no, we don't worship a tree. We worship the God that is represented by the tree.

And so you see how it's related one thing to the other.

It goes on and say, it says, it says, for among all the wise men of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is none like you, but they are all together, dull-hearted and foolish. A wooden idol is a worthless doctrine. So whether it is a tree or a wooden statue, whatever it is, is worthless. It's a worthless teaching. Silver is beaten into plates. It is brought from tarshish. Oh, good. Silver is decorated. Have you seen some of these huge trees? All decorated. Thousands of dollars worth of it.

And gold from Ufaz, the work of the craftsmen and of the hands of the metalsmith. Blue and purple are their clothing. They are all the work of skillful men.

But the Lord is the true God. He is the living God and the everlasting King. All his wrath, at his wrath, the earth will tremble and the nations will not be able to endure his indignation. Thus you shall say to them, those that have these types of trees and idols, the gods that have not made the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens. That's all worthless. When Christ comes back, that's all going to be cleaned out. So why not be part of God's and Christ's cleaning process now, at least in our lives?

Also, remember here, approximately 32 million trees are cut down just to keep Christmas. Perfectly good trees that could have grown, could have provided a lot more wood, would have covered the covering for the animals. You could have also, instead of planting those trees, you could have planted fruit trees. We're in a global, limited supply of food and all of this.

32 million are sold at top prices. You see them in the corners everywhere with all the lights, trying to get you to attract that way. So why kill a perfectly good young tree to keep Christmas? I thought people are talking about ecology and saving the planet. Well, just think all of these good trees. 32 million of them, if you had them all growing and producing oxygen and also providing food and many other things. Because although some of those are made into mulch and just graded away, a lot of them end up in these landfills.

And if you've got one of these metal type of trees, those things, they go to the junk pile and add more garbage to the landfill. Of course, don't tell any of these ecologists about them or environmentalists. They have to have their Christmas tree no matter what. So let's go now to the typical story of the manger scene, which is full of errors and myths. I was talking last Sabbath with a lady and she mentioned how they always had their little manger scene and how wonderful it was and everything until she came to the knowledge of what all of this actually represented.

So here are five myths about Christmas. The first myth is that Joseph and Mary, she's about ready to have a baby, and so they travel to Bethlehem and they're desperate to find a place. They're about ready to have the baby and they can't find any place for it. Notice, though, in Luke chapter 2, we're going to find out that that's not true. They weren't desperate at all. In Luke chapter 2, let the Bible tell you the truth about the matter, which has been covered up by man.

Luke chapter 2, verse 1, it says, and it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was a census. This is what we did in California just about a year, year and a half ago. Well, they had one for the Roman Empire. It says, this census first took place while Kyrenius was governing Syria. By the way, from archaeology, there was more than one Kyrenius and they found a coin now with another governor.

That was at the time when Christ was born. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Now, you had to go to your natal village where you were born and to register yourself. Why? Do you think the Roman Emperor's interested in you? No, he's interested in your taxes. So that's the way they get the whole role. And whether you move out or not, they've got you, just like the IRS has got you.

And so you can't hide. This was done every 14 years or so. Some places could have been a bit different. And it goes on to say, Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David. To be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. And so here comes one of the descendants of David to the village which he had grown up in.

And so here's this son now coming back because of the census with Mary, who was also of the genealogy of King David. And these people would have been highly respected. They had relatives there. And being of royal lineage, they didn't have a problem that they would have been with relatives, especially with Mary pregnant at that time. But notice what it says in the following verse.

So it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. So it wasn't like they just showed up and, oh, where's this place where we can have the baby? No, this was carefully planned out. And so they were already living in Bethlehem.

And so she eventually started with her labor pains.

And so it says in verse 7, and she brought forth her firstborn son. Notice it wasn't the only one. It's another myth that Christ didn't have brothers and sisters. He did. This was the firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. So point one is they weren't desperate. This was in a last-minute rush, you know, docking on hotels and everything like in Bethlehem. There probably wasn't even an inn because it was a small town and it was far away from the main highways of the time. So the first thing we have to know is when it says there was no room at the inn, this is one of the worst translated words in the whole Bible. The term in the Greek is kataluma, and this term is a mistranslation and it was actually a guest room. In Luke chapter 10 verse 8, we see that Luke uses the term for an inn, but he doesn't use this word kataluma. Notice in Luke chapter 10 and verse 8. Let me see here. I think I've got that scripture off. It's not, see, I think I copied it wrongly because I'll look it up in a minute, but he does use the term for, see if you find the Samaritan, the good Samaritan might have been a little bit later on. Anybody see the parable of the, you've got a couple of parables here. Let's see.

Parable of the good Samaritan. Anybody find it there? Anybody? Yeah, which one is that in? In what chapter? 1024? 1045. Okay, so I've got the right chapter. I just, okay, 1040. Let's see now. 34. Okay, yes, this is where the good Samaritan bandages his wounds, pouring on oil and wine, and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn and took care of him. So please correct it. It should have been 1034.

And that word is in the Greek, pando kion, which means an inn. But in Luke 22 11, Luke 22 11, when Jesus instructs his disciples about the Passover, it says, then you shall say to the master of the house, the teacher says to you, where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples? And you know what that term is? Cataluma. So it was the guest room in a house where they had it already occupied. And so what happened? Let's go to the next one here.

Number three, about the stable. This is what the myth says. So they find a stable and have the baby false. At night, and we can put that mic now, the picture here. See, this was a typical four-room house in Israel at the time of Christ, according to the archaeology of that, been able to reconstruct it. And basically, you had a place at the bottom. Now, this is just a cutscene. Actually, it would have been walled. But just so you can see the inside. And over at the extreme side of the house on the right, usually you had a guest room. Sometimes they would have storage place if they didn't use it. But because of the senses, there's a lot of people. And they were occupying it. And instead of emptying that room, they went downstairs where they kept the animals at night.

Because those animals were very valuable. Transportation, you had to do all of your work plowing with your animals. And basically, this was a walled area where you could protect them. If you left your animals in some stable outside, you would not find them. There was a lot of robbery. These are very highly prized animals. And so they kept them downstairs with a stone manger, which they still find all the time over there in Israel, in these ruins of houses. And so they would be able to there, put some hay, put some cloths, and have the baby right there. And everybody helping out. All the women would have been there to help Mary out. So it's a very different idea of this stable that you go and basically they were preparing for this. They cleaned that all out. And so it was a hygienic place. And again, this is all written in the Talmud by the Jews about childbirth and how everybody had to chip in and everything else, especially Joseph and Mary coming from this royalty, the lineage of David. And so we come to the fourth point about Jesus being born on December 25th. That is wrong.

We just went through Luke chapter 2 where it talks about the census. And of course, the Romans knew that people couldn't travel during the winter when the roads were all muddy and it was cold and everything else. No, the Romans set up these senses so that you could go after the harvest. So sometime in late October or so, or October, usually about the time of the Feast of Tabernacles, when the harvest was all taken, people had money because they had sold their products. And now they could go and make this trip. But to believe in Israel, it gets under freezing during November, December. And mid-winter time, it is very cold, especially up there in the mountains of Bethlehem.

And so the census tells you that this was not the time that Jesus Christ was born.

Also, it says in Matthew chapter 2.

Let's see.

Matthew chapter 2. Let's see. Well, let me check here. No, it's Luke chapter 2 verse 8. Luke chapter 2 verse 8, it says, when he was born, verse 8, now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. Well, that tells you immediately that this wasn't a mid-winter because by the time of mid-October, the shepherds brought their sheep into what they called the sheepfolds, which are these walled areas where they kept sheep and usually with a covering because of the cold and snow and everything else involved. The shepherds would not have been out taking their turns watching the sheep at night. And usually, you don't let the sheep wander in these fields close to where these towns are because that's where you have the crops. But if it was after the harvesting, then you have a lot of this fodder and all this that the sheep can eat and fertilize that ground. So again, we're talking about sometime in September-October as the time when the shepherds would have been out, when the census would have been made. You don't do it in summer either because of the work that people are involved in.

And then the fifth point, a magi. They're supposed to also be there at the birth of Christ. That's why the major scene always has them, and that they were guided by a star. It's a physical star or a conjunction or something they talk about, or maybe maybe some comet or well that is not true.

Notice in Matthew chapter 2, we also have here details about the birth of Christ. Matthew chapter 2 verses 1 through 11. It says, 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. So this was way after his birth. It took him quite a while just to travel from the east to get there. Verse 3, When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him, because, oh, now he's got a rival, the king of the Jews. Herod was supposed to be the king of the Jews. He wasn't very popular.

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. So they said to him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet, that 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.

Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. So again, it could have been weeks, could have even been months, because he's trying to figure out, well, when was this little child born in Bethlehem? And by the way, it was the second great figure that was born in Bethlehem. Who was the first? David. So again, you see that relationship, everything being fulfilled according to prophecy. Verse 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. Well, Herod was known to be very astute. He had gotten rid of several of his children, because he thought they were threatening to be the next king. And so here he wanted to know exactly where that child was. Now, if there was this star that was just, everybody could see the star, and these men are following the star, Herod could have found out, just take an army and follow the star. But it wasn't the case. Notice more evidence. When they heard the king, they departed, and behold, the star which they had seen in the east, went before them. So here they're traveling, and the star keeps moving in front of them, just like Israel, when it had the pillar of fire guiding them in this way, till it came and stood over where the young child was. So you can't have a star that just now is right on top of this house. It was identified where these magi could go. Notice it was a house. It wasn't a stable. Shepherds had long ago already left. Verse 10, and when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. They said, wow, we know where this house is, where this messiah is going to be born.

And when they had come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and fell down and worshipped him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to him, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Normally, though, you don't have just three of these men making the journey, especially men that already had a renowned position. They probably would have brought protection with them. It could have been many more than just three. It doesn't tell us. So this is another false idea that just there were three of them. There were three of them.

Verse 12, then, being dividedly warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way. And of course, when Herod found that out, he sent his troops, and he said, kill all the kids from two years and below. So certainly, it wasn't the infant child at that time. It could have been months. It could have been up to a year or so that this took place. Also, notice in the Bible that angels, many times, they look like stars because of their brilliance in the sky. Notice in Judges 5.20.

Talking about the battle where Deborah and Barak defeat the Malachites. Notice in 5.20, it says, they fought from the heavens. The stars from their courses fought against Cicera. And so actually, Israel received angelic help to defeat that general, Cicera. Also in Job 38.7, Job 38.7 tells us here the equivalent of stars are angels.

Job 38.7, it says, talking about the creation of the universe, it says, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy. So here we have a parallel between the angels and being these bright lights. And so God had an angel that was able to guide these men. It was in such a way that nobody else, it got anybody else's attention. When they came to Jerusalem, Herod didn't say, oh yeah, we've been seeing that star for quite a while. No, it was something that was very personal and it stood right on top of that house. And so we see five myths here. Joseph and Mary were not desperate. They were already in Bethlehem. They didn't go to the inn to try to find a place. They didn't have the baby in a stable somewhere, but in a home. The shepherds were not there during that time of winter. So that discounts the idea of December 25th as the birth of Christ and the Magi had gone much later and that the star actually had to do more with God sending an angel and lighting the way. So Christmas, the word actually means Christ plus Mass, which is a special Catholic service kept on Christmas Eve. So Christmas is not something Protestants should do because it has to do with the Mass taking of the communion host and the Catholics and everything else. This is what is done. Christmas is one of the pagan religious feasts that was, quote, converted to a Catholic holiday by the church in Rome. First, it was Sunday and Easter that were adopted by Emperor Constantine and also the Pope. That's the change from Sunday, keeping the Sabbath to Sunday, it was transferred.

And later, Christmas was officially listed on the Catholic Church calendar in AD 354.

Now, over 300 years later than the birth of Christ, Pope Liberius declared at that time that all Christians should celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25th. Yet Paul said we should avoid such lying works of the devil. Notice what it tells us in Ephesians 511. Ephesians 511. It says, And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. Show them for what they are. Falsehoods. And these unfruitful works of darkness, one of them are these pagan feasts that try to substitute for God's holy feasts.

So, Paul said we should avoid such things. We see these man-made feasts, such as Easter and Christmas, are cheap substitutes for God's seven holy feasts found in Leviticus 23 and kept by the New Testament Church. These were times of real rejoicing and looking forward to the kingdom. Notice in Deuteronomy 14 verse 22 how these feasts were kept. And these are commandments of God. As you know, Deuteronomy is part of the law of God, one of the five books. Let's go to Deuteronomy 14.

Verse 22. It says here, You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year, and you shall eat before the Lord your God in the place where he chooses to make his name abide, the tithe of the grain and your new wine and your oil, of the first flocks of your herds and your flocks that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. So keeping this tithe for the feasts of God is part of our practice in this church. We keep a second tithe. The first tithe goes to God. That's in Leviticus 27. That you don't touch. That expressly goes to God. And through that, to be able to carry out the gospel, just like we have here in the seal, preaching the gospel and preparing a people. And so that's the way we sustain ourselves. We don't have any government help. We're not a state church, and so we're independent. We don't have any type of ties politically or economically, so they can't tell us what to do. And they don't have any economic influence on us, which is very nice. And then it goes on to say, verse 24, but if the journey to attend these feasts is too long for you so that you are not able to carry the tithe, because in those days people had to take animals and take everything for those different feasts during the year. And three times they would have to make these pilgrim or feast pilgrimages. They had to go with family. They had to bring because they don't have a McDonald's around the corner, so you had to go with your animals for the milk, for the meat, the wine that were carried. And so it says here, then you shall exchange it for money. Take the money in your hand and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses. And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires, for oxen or sheep. So we usually eat a little better at that time. Nice slices of steaks that we can have, or lamb for wine or similar drink for whatever your heart desires. You shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice. It's not just for you, you and your household, you and your family. You shall not forsake the Levite. And then it goes on talking about taking care of all of Israel that would go to these feasts. Well, that's not abolished. The feast days are still to be kept, and here's God's financial plan so that you don't have to rush and at the last minute try to come up with money for the feast.

So these feasts are much better than Christmas. I know our children, they look forward to the Feast of Tabernacles, and when they were smaller, that's when we could give them gifts. Out of the second tithe, then be able to have enjoyable feasts together, because it's not just a Feast of Tabernacles. It starts out with the Passover days of 11 bread, and then Pentecost, and then you have trumpets, and you have atonement, which is the day that you fast, and then you have Feast of Tabernacles in the last great day or the eighth day.

So just one word of caution. This information is for you, but you can make copies, and if somebody asks you, wants to know more, then you can share it with them. Based on the principle in Colossians chapter 4, Colossians chapter 4, in verse 6, Paul instructs us, he says, let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. This is not something to cram down somebody's throat. The Good News Bible says your speech should always be pleasant and interesting, and you should know how to give the right answer to everyone. So this is much better to keep God's Feast days. They're not based on lies.

And we just learned a little bit more about why we keep God's feasts and not man's feasts at all.