Christmas…a feast to the Lord?

  Each year, most Christians take part in the celebration known as Christmas.  In this teaching, we will take a look at just one example from Scripture showing why perhaps, we as Children of the Living God should reconsider our participation in this celebration proclaimed by many to be a “feast to the Lord”.  We will look very briefly at the story of the golden calf incident. I believe the golden calf incident is fitting for as you will see, “Christmas” may just be perhaps, the biggest “sacred cow” of Christianity. Now, this teaching will assume that you know the true origins of this man made holiday and how many of it’s trappings have been, and still are, objects used in the occult worship of false gods to this very day.  If you are not aware of this, five minutes on a computer search engine with the words “Christmas” and “origins” will yield you the truth.  The choice is yours.  I realize that I will not win any popularity contests for this teaching.  Perhaps this will be the last time you read anything I write. Please know that it is not in my nature to offend needlessly, and that I offer this teaching in love, with hopes that God might use it in His restoration of all things.  May God bless you all.

Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him. And Aaron said to them, “Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me”. So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf.  Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!” So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it.  And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord.”  Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.  And the Lord said to Moses, “Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves.  They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them.  They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!” And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people! Exodus 32:1-9

In 1 Corinthians 10:6-7 Paul says this concerning the story of the exodus from Egypt…”Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted.  And do not become idolaters as were some of them”.  He then goes on in verse 11 to say something very interesting concerning us who are living in the end times…”Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come”.  Finally, in verse 14 he says “therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry”.  As you can see, Paul believes that it is important for us as end-time Believers to understand the story of the great exodus, so that we might avoid making the mistakes of our forefathers.  And as Christians, we are to flee from any sort of idolatry.  Now, and with Word of God as spoken thru Paul tucked away in our hearts, let’s take a closer look at the account from the wilderness to see what we can learn.

First, we find that as Moses delays, the people begin to doubt his ever returning to them. Of course, as you and I know, he did come back… and probably at a moment when the people least expected it.  Immediately we see an awesome, prophetic picture unfolding.  Even though He too has delayed His return, Jesus is coming back! He promised. (John 14:3)  And, His return as well will be in a moment in which many will least expect.  Jesus tells us that we know “neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming” (Matthew 25:13)  Sadly,  just as the children of Israel said of Moses “we do not know what has become of him” Peter tells us that “scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming?”  So, how should we answer these scoffers? Why is Jesus delaying His return?  Peter tells us that “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance”. (2Peter 3:9) Do you see the grace of God in this verse? Praise Him. We see His grace throughout all of Scripture.  But folks, there is something else we find being taught in this verse and throughout all of Scripture. Something that is not taught often enough in these last days…the need for repentance.  As you and I study the Word of God, there should be real change occurring in our lives as we seek to apply what we have learned. Understanding the mistakes our forefathers made in the wilderness will do nothing to help us unless, we make sure we are not repeating them.  There needs to be true repentance as we discover perhaps, that we have been going the wrong direction, we have been walking contrary to the Word of God, we have corrupted ourselves.  If we are only studying the Scriptures to gain head knowledge, we are in fact, wasting our precious time. In fact, we are deceiving ourselves according to James. He says “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves”. (James 1:22)  Our hearts should be focused on being like our Messiah.  He is our example…He is our goal.  He is the reason I write. All of Scripture points us to Him.  Now, you know that we will never deserve what God has done for us.  No matter how many commandments we keep, no matter how many Scripture verses we memorize, no matter how often we attend church, it will never be enough. It is impossible for man to earn God’s free gift of salvation. But, as  Paul reminds us “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not”!  (Romans 6:1) 

  Folks, as we learn the lessons from the wilderness, may we humbly repent, may we flee from idolatry in any form and begin to walk according to all of His commandments from a heart of love for Him. (1John 5:3) Praise the Lord for His grace and mercy.Let’s continue.  Scripture teaches us that while Moses delayed his return, the people had “corrupted themselves” before God.  Now this is important…if we are to learn as Paul instructs us, from the mistakes made in the wilderness, we must understand just how they corrupted themselves.  What did they do wrong? At first glance it would seem that they were simply worshiping an idol, the molded calf. But is this all that’s going on here? Does it make sense that after having applied the blood of the lamb in faith to their doorposts, after having seen the plagues brought upon Egypt and having witnessed the “salvation of the Lord” at the Red Sea that the children of Israel would turn away from God so quickly, to an idol in the form of a cow?  Let’s put our ears on and listen once again.  Notice that Scripture says they fashioned a molded calf saying “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt”.  There, did you catch it?  It would seem they were not worshiping a “false god” or an “idol”.  They instead were using an idol to “worship” or “represent” the true God of Israel!  Do you see the difference?  In their hearts, they were worshiping the God of Israel!  The golden calf had been fashioned to be a visible representation of Him to the people.  We find more proof of this in Aaron’s own words.  Notice that he issues a proclamation saying “Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord” with a capital “L”.   Yet, even though this “holiday” was declared to be in honor of the Lord, God Himself said that the people had “corrupted themselves”.   Why?  Because they had sought to use pagan idols in the worship of the One True God.

How would you feel as a parent, if your child set up a little cow in their room and said “thank you, I love you Daddy”.  I will hazard a guess that you would not be pleased either. Yet, that is what the people had done. Now, let’s fast forward 3400 years or so to December 25th, 2005.  When learning of the true origin of “Christmas” and all that goes with it, very few will cast it aside.  Instead, we say that in our hearts, we are using these things to honor Jesus.  Yet, could it be, that we are making the same mistake our forefathers made in the wilderness?  I believe so.  God expects us as His children, to worship Him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24) We as Christians must have no part in any celebration which combines the worship of God with things of occult origins.  Period. He detests it. May we learn the lesson before Jesus comes back down from “the mountain”.

Deuteronomy 12:4  “You shall not worship the Lord your God with such things”

Deuteronomy 7:26 “Nor shall you bring an abomination into your house, lest you be doomed to destruction like it.  You shall utterly detest it and utterly abhor it, for it is an accursed thing”.

Jeremiah 10:2-4   Thus says the Lord:  “Do not learn the way of the nations or be terrified by signs in the sky, though the nations are terrified by them. For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsmen shapes it with his chisel.  They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten with hammer and nails so it will not totter. 

Mark 7:9  He (Jesus) said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.Father, may your people ask for the old paths, where the way is good, and walk in it, thus finding rest for their souls.

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