The Reason for the Season

By Doug Cook  2009

I will begin this “Christmas” discourse reviewing the biblical truth that “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” (Galatians. 5:9) I heard an explanation once that gave a brilliant example of the concept of this verse and I don’t remember the exact story, but it goes something like this: A man was trying to illuminate this Galatians scripture to his children who wanted to do something that was for the most part good, but it would necessitate them telling a “little white lie” that “wouldn’t hurt anybody.” Recognizing the difficulty he was having in getting them to accept this truth, the next morning he baked them a fresh pan of brownies, which all his children loved to eat. He sat it before them and told them he made this batch the same way he had done for years with one small exception. He added just a little bit of dog feces. He assured them it was such a small amount they wouldn’t be able to taste the difference. Needles to say, they quickly grasped the full understanding of the verse and not one of the children ate the brownies.

I was one of those Christians that really loved to celebrate Christmas. I had more lights and decorations in my yard than anyone else in my neighborhood, including illuminated crosses. I also had a vast manger scene with glowing figurines that were larger than most adolescents. People would periodically stop their cars in front of my house and take pictures of their brood standing in the midst of the manger set. It was enjoyed by everyone and made them “think about Jesus.”

Then one year, I happened to notice one morning that during the middle of the previous night, someone had stolen the baby Jesus right out of the crib. They bypassed every one of the more expensive manger pieces to steal “Jesus.” I remember how distraught I was that some deprived person would stoop so low as to steal only Jesus. I would have handled it better if they had stolen some of the other manger pieces with it, but how reprobate could a person get to only steal Jesus? That one act put a colossal damper on my Christmas season. I never put up lights in my yard again.

During that season of growing in the Lord, I was wrestling with the truth that, in the life of Christians, God “…worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.” (Ephesians 1:11) So, after wallowing in my disappointment for a very long season, I began contemplating what God was trying to show me though this pilfering escapade. At first I thought it may be just a lesson in forgiveness that I definitely needed to learn…following a year of sulking. But after a few years, the revelation grew to be much more than I had ever imagined.

Questions began to infect my mind. If Jesus received so much opposition and hatred while He was here on this earth, why is it that all the Luciferians, witches and other pagans continue to celebrate Christmas if “Jesus is the reason for the season?” Why aren’t they opposing it? If He’s the true reason for the season, why is depression and suicide more prevalent during this period than any other time in the year? Many more subjects concerning “the reason for the season” just weren’t lining up with the Jesus I was studying about in the bible.

After years of off and on research, I uncovered many truths about the season.  Here are a few:

One day, while reading in the first few verses of Jeremiah Chapter 10, I found a reference to a “Christmas” tree and the Lord was calling it the “way of the heathen” and “the customs of the people are vain.” This practice of cutting down a tree, nailing a wooden stand to it then decorating it with silver and gold (that I was continuing to participate in every year) was in place long before “Jesus’ birthday” and God was calling it heathenistic. This is the final straw that sent me on a quest to pursue the real “reason for the season” and what’s behind all the customs and traditions we as Christians celebrate during this holiday.

I discovered that the practice of setting up and decorating a tree originated with Asherah, the ancient goddess of fertility. The word “Asherah” is often translated as “groves” in the bible because the worshippers of this goddess performed their rituals in forests or “groves”. This was brought out in 1Kings 18 describing the 450 prophets of Baal (sun god), and the 400 prophets of the groves (Asherah), which ate at Jezebel’s table. The purpose of the tree object was to display male fertility emblems, but the tree was also a type of altar, where offerings and sacrifices were placed underneath it while bowing to it as they did so. This practice evolved into the wrapped “presents” beneath the trees we have nowadays. When the northern tribes of Israel were dispersed into the nations by the Assyrians in 722 B.C., they carried this “tree” custom with them. Around 600 B.C. was when Jeremiah warned those “believers” left in Jerusalem about this heathen practice in chapter 10.

Most importantly, Jesus was not born in December. There are no reliable historical documents that would place the birth of Jesus on December 25th. However, careful study of many scriptures reveals that John the Baptist was born on or around the time of Passover (March or April). Scripture also points out that Jesus was 6 months younger than John. Exactly 6 months after Passover is the Hebrew Feast of Tabernacles which puts His birth sometime in September or October in our calendars. Some Jewish scholars believe it was Tishri 15 of the Hebrew calendar, the first day of Tabernacles, but scripture does not pinpoint the exact day.

On the other hand, there is overwhelming documentation that the birthday of many of the sun gods of antiquity was recognized as December 25th. In 273 A.D. the Roman Emperor Aurelian brought the worship of Baal, from Syria, back to Rome, and instituted the cult of Sol Invictus (“the unconquered sun god”), which combined the worship of all the pagan sun god-men/saviors as Appolo, Attis, Baal, Dionysus, Helios, Hercules, Horus, Mithra, Osiris, Perseus, and Theseus into a single festival called the “Birthday of the Unconquered Sun” on December 25th, the winter solstice at the time. The Emperor Aurelian set up this holiday to establish religious unity among all the sun-god worshipers in the empire.  Each nation had their own specific sun gods, so he proclaimed December 25th to be the birthday of “Sol Invictus,” the leader of all the sun gods. The unearthed Codex Calendar of 354 A.D. shows December 25th to be the birthday of Sol Invictus. It is listed as the most important pagan birthday of the whole year. It was celebrated in the Roman Circus with extra chariot races. Sol Invictus is the sun god that the Emperor Constantine the Great worshiped while claiming to be a “Christian.” Coins found minted during his reign (306 – 337 A.D.) state that he was “committed to Sol Invictus.”

I discovered that many symbols and practices associated with Christmas are also of Pagan origin: holly, ivy, mistletoe, yule log, gift giving, magical reindeer, snowmen etc. For example: The round wreath symbolized the sun, and at the same time the “womb”, both thought of as symbols of fertility to pagans. The “boughs” of holly were Saturn’s emblem. The two swooping curves of holly were a symbol of the female anatomy. All of these type items used for decoration have historical significant meanings to the pagan nativity of Sol Invictus.

The early Church of the first and second centuries never celebrated Jesus birth, but focused on the atoning work of his death, burial and resurrection, of which scripture gives the exact day. There is no record of a December 25th celebration of the birth of Christ in Rome earlier than 336 A.D. By the beginning of the 4th century A.D., there was intense interest in the newly formed Roman church (established by the Emperor Constantine) in choosing a day to celebrate Jesus birthday (The Roman church was trying to be like the world). The western church leaders selected December 25^th because this was already the date recognized throughout the Roman Empire as the birthday of various Pagan sun gods. Since there was no central Christian authority at that time, it took centuries before the tradition was universally accepted:

• Eastern churches began to celebrate Christmas after 375 A.D.
• Ireland started in the 5th century
• The church in Jerusalem started in the 7th century.
• Austria, England and Switzerland in the 8th
• Slavic lands in the 9th and 10th centuries.
• The 10th century is when the Roman Church introduced the term “Christmas.”

More study revealed even our Christian ancestors knew better. The celebration of December 25th was illegal in England. The English Parliament abolished Christmas in 1647. It was also outlawed in New England from 1649 to 1658. During these times the December 25th celebration was condemned for its pagan roots by the Puritans, the Methodists, the Quakers, the Amish, the Presbyterians, and the Baptists. In Massachusetts, Puritans unsuccessfully tried to ban Christmas entirely during the 17^th century, but by 1856 the merchants were finally able to make Christmas a legal holiday there.

What God has revealed to me through these years of processing these documented historical truths is that He Himself, “working all things after the counsel of His own will,” ordained someone to take the baby Jesus from my manger scene, because Jesus has nothing to do with this pagan celebration. Sometimes, we are so stuck in our religious traditions that God has to hit us pretty hard to get our attention. I now praise the Lord for that baby Jesus bandit that God used to wake me up!

Brothers and Sisters, “Sol Invictus” is the reason for the season!  Not Jesus!

I now recall a time several years back when there was such an uproar over the fact that people were using X in place of Christ and calling it Xmas. Oh, how we “Christians” were so offended by this and we caused such strife that people quit using it as much. Now we’re in a time that some are saying Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas, and again, the “Christians” are offended even to the point of boycotting establishments whose employees are restricted from using the term “Merry Christmas.” But do we Christians ever humble ourselves enough to consider that God may be “working all things after the counsel of His own will?”

What believers fail to recognize is that it is God himself who is trying to get Jesus out of Christmas. Isn’t it ironic the “Happy Holiday” worldly people are the ones actually obeying the Lord in this circumstance! It’s time those of us that are calling ourselves by His name quit fighting against Him, quit trying to keep Jesus involved in pagan practices, and let the sun god worshipers call their holiday whatever they want? It was theirs to begin with, so let them have it. No wonder the witches and Luciferians continue to celebrate it every year.

2Corinthians 6:17 “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.” If Christmas is so popular that everyone in the world wants to celebrate it, shouldn’t believers be suspicious that something is wrong? Aren’t Christians supposed to be uniquely different, separating ourselves from ungodly traditions and not be touching the unclean things associated with the worlds pagan gods? Aren’t we supposed to look like Jesus, uniquely different – not like the world?

1Peter 2:9 “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:”

Please understand, I’m not trying to condemn any believers or unbelievers who celebrate Christmas out of ignorance without the biblical and historic knowledge to discern the roots of the holiday. It took me a few years for God to change my “religious” traditions, so I realize it will take a while for these seeds to grow, but the seeds need to be sown. I pray my words agitate enough “Christians” that they try to prove me wrong, as God did to me. Do as the Bereans did – research everything I say to see if what I declare is true. If you do your research properly, you can form no other conclusion than what the original Christian founders of this country did.  Please consider this as well; a sincerely held belief in a centuries old tradition practiced in the churches and an absolute biblical truth are sometimes in direct opposition to each other.  

And yes, I’ve heard all the excuses about the church “Christmas” trees, programs and diners reminding people to think about Jesus, so continued celebrations of the “Jesus season” are justifiable. To you I would say, I also thought that about my manger scene, but the Lord our God wanted nothing to do with it.  If you decide to turn a blind eye to the leaven, then go ahead and partake of the brownies!  As long as we keep reminding people how good the brownies are, that little bit of E-coli won’t hurt anything…right?

Matthew 11:15 “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

“The capacity of the human mind to resist the intrusion of new knowledge is infinite.”

May God soften your hearts and free your minds to receive His truth and then give you the strength to stand against the doctrines and traditions of men within the churches in these last days!

Matthew 15:6-9 …“Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”

Your servant in Christ.