Should We Celebrate Christmas?



Have you ever wondered why pagans celebrate Christmas today? Have you ever wondered why you hang mistletoe or cut down an evergreen tree, put in your house, and decorate it? The Bible tells us to “prove all things” 1 Thessalonians 5:21. So we should always ask our selves, “why do we believe this” or “why do we practice this”. If you do not do this, you are relying on other people’s beliefs of how to worship God. If you are going to hang mistletoe or put up a tree in your house and decorate it, you should at least know what brought the custom about. Then you should look to the Bible and see if this form of worship is acceptable to God.


The Pagan Origins of Christmas

Below are some links to short articles that show the origin of Christmas, the Christmas tree, hanging the mistletoe, and more. Please read though the following links before going further.

1. Wikipedia on the pagan beliefs surrounding Christmas

2. The History Channel on Christmas

3. The History Channel on Christmas trees

4. The History Channel on the World Traditions of Christmas


Many Christians have been convicted about celebrating the Pagan holiday “Halloween”. This is good, but they continue to celebrate Christmas. One might say, “Well, that is totally different because we have adopted things like Christmas carols and the manger scene and mixed “Christ” into this pagan holiday.” To them, I ask, “why didn’t you just have your children dress up as biblical characters and replace the phrase “trick or treat” with “feed the sheep” or something like that? Can we mix the holy with the unholy? For those Christians who think it is fine to perform some of the pagan rituals as long as in your mind you replace the original meaning of the ritual with a biblical meaning, I would like to point out these verses:

Isaiah 1:13-16 (NKJV)
Bring no more futile sacrifices; Incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting. Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; They are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil,

When God said, “Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; They are a trouble to Me,” do you think he was talking about the feasts that He set up?


Also, I'll point out that God told us not to mix the holy things with unholy things

Lev 10:10
And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean;

The word "holy" is from Hebrew word qadash which means to set apart or be seperate.


Does the Bible Mention Christmas?

Now, after knowing the origin of Christmas and the customs with it, let us look at what God says about performing some of the customs of Christmas.

Jeremiah 10:1-5 (NKJV)
Hear the word which the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel. Thus says the LORD: “Do not learn the way of the Gentiles; Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, For the Gentiles are dismayed at them. For the customs of the peoples are futile; For one cuts a tree from the forest, The work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. They decorate it with silver and gold; They fasten it with nails and hammers So that it will not topple. They are upright, like a palm tree, And they cannot speak; 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.”

Notice in verse 2 that this tree that was cut down and decorated is connected with “the signs of heaven”. The links above showed you the history of the Christmas tree, that the Gentiles would cut the ever green tree down, bring it into their home, decorate it with gold and silver, and worship it on the Winter Solstice. They believed their sun god was at his weakest at this time. The ritual in the above verses is the same ritual that many Christians do every year.

In verse 3 God tells us that this form of worship is “futile”. The KJV translated the word as “vain”.


Is Worshiping Yahweh as the Pagans Worship their gods Acceptable to God? Can’t we Just Worship Him as we Choose?

Deuteronomy 12:29-32 (NKJV)
“When the LORD your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, 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.’ 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. “Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.

In the above passage Elohim says that it is an abomination to him to worship Him in the same way the heathens worship their gods. He then says, “Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.” Elohim set out a guideline of how he wants to be worshiped. We should not “add to or take away” from that.

Christ also points out that it is possible to worship Him in vain by use of traditions.

Matthew 15:1-9
Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. 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.

Notice that they are still worshiping the true God; they are just worshiping him in vain because of their traditions.

To those that still think we can worship Yahweh anyway we choose (even if it involves pagan rituals), I ask, "Do you think it is okay to kill a pig, and with its blood make a pentagram on the floor, put candles at each tip, and pray as long as you are praying to God? If not, why not?"


Christmas is Satan’s Counterfeit of the Feast of Tabernacles

Let us compare Christmas (the holy day the pagans set up) to the feast of Tabernacles (the holy day God set up)

During Christmas, people spend much money on gifts to give to one another. Today, most of the people will spend the next several months paying off the debts that occurred during this festival time. This makes Christmas somewhat of a burden for many people when they know in the back of their minds that it will take months to pay off this Christmas debt.

God told us to set aside 10% of our income (our second tithe) for the feast of Tabernacles. He tells us at this time we should “spend that money for whatever your heart desires”.

Deuteronomy 14:26 (NKJV)
And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household.

We are to be good stewards of the finances that God blesses us with. Many people know this and they cringe at spending money on a nice vacation or on things that they want but do not need. Knowing God's command to spend your second tithe on whatever your heart desires, makes your vacation 100% better because you don't have to worry about the cost as long as you have enough second tithe to cover it.

So during the feast of Tabernacles, I use the money that I set aside for “what ever my heart desires”. If I had a wife and children, my heart would desire to make them happy. It would also desire to make this holiday (holy day) a time for them to look forward to every year. If my wife would like a new car at this time and we had enough second tithe, I would have no problem in buying her the new car at this time (even though I am personally against buying new cars for financial reasons).

Instead of lying to my children, and teaching them to “fear” Santa (how many parents have said, “You better be nice or Santa will not give you presents this year”), I am going to tell my children the truth and teach them to fear God. At the feast of Tabernacles, I will shower them with gifts and tell them they are from me (and not a semi fictitious character that by use of magic and magical reindeer is able to fly around the world giving presents to the children in one night).

Many Christians celebrate the birth of Yahshua during Christmas. Yahshua actually was born on the feast of Tabernacles. Someone will always ask me, “What is wrong with celebrating the birth of Christ”. To them, I say, “nothing is wrong with it.” There is much evidence that Yahshua was born during the Feast of Tabernacles. I believe that Yahshua was born on the first day, and circumcised on the eighth day (both the first day and the eighth day are considered holy days) of this feast. I am not saying we should put up a Christmas tree in our house at this time. We should not adopt pagan rituals in our worship of Elohim.

There are many Christians around the world who have stopped celebrating Christmas because they see that it is a pagan tradition that is an abomination to Elohim. I have talked to several Christians who have stopped celebrating Christmas and Easter. It is sad though that many of these Christians do not have any celebrations to worship Elohim. The LORD, our God does want us to have a vacation and celebrate and worship Him. This is why he set up His feast days. They were never intended to be a burden. They were for celebrating and worshiping Him. Some Christians who have stopped celebrating the pagan holidays and are now finding the joy of celebrating God’s holy days.


The Secular Benefits of Celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles over Christmas

Many people work at a job that must be open year round, (like hospitals, law enforcement, restaurants, and sales). It is extremely hard to take a vacation at this time due to everyone else wants this vacation time and that this time is also the busiest time of the year for all the above examples mentioned. It would be much easier to take your vacation during the feast of Tabernacles. Then when Christmas time comes, the chances are high that you will get paid extra for working during this holiday.


Beware of Whom you Celebrate the Feast With

There are many cults and church groups who have found this truth but do not know how to celebrate or throw a feast. They just sit around and talk about how they are more righteous than the rest of the Christians who have not found this truth. They are so focused on being at the feast because of God’s commandment; they forget that it is a time of worship, celebration, and feasting with fellow believers. At this time, I have only been to two feasts. The group that I met still had a few things they needed to work on (we all do), but overall, it was a very good and celebrated feast. The chances are good that if you attend just any feast, you will find yourself in the middle of a very strict, self righteous group. So, check them out before you go. Talk to some people; see if they invite you to hang out with them at the feast (which is a good sign). Ask them if shorts or blue jeans are fine to wear to most of the services. If they tell you that you won’t feel out of place with jeans on, then that is a good sign. Ask for audio tapes or downloads of previous festival sermons so you can listen to them so you can get an idea of what spirit they have. Ask many questions. You don’t want this time of celebration to be a bad vacation.


Good books and other resources on the pagan/occult practices of the Christian Church are:
1. 2. 3. 4.


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