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When we look at the future, it is what we are teaching our children today that will be the
path of our society in the future. The Spiritual health of our future lies in what our
children grow to adopt as their truth. Society, not just parents, also influences our
children, and sometimes the teaching of society is stronger than the teaching the
parents give to our kids.
But that doesn’t mean we give up and let society teach our kids. We must speak plainly
and emphatically to our children and teach them the truth.
In the coming season, the influence in our society will be about Christmas. I know this
influence is strong in Kenya, as while we were out grocery shopping in Nairobi, a group
of kids came up and started commenting on Stuart’s long white beard and associating
him with Santa and began singing “We wish you a Merry Christmas”. Through rounds of
this song we had to get into the van and get away from their begging for items from our
grocery order.
Yehovah also has had a hard time teaching His Own Children to worship Him in purity
without adding in the worship of the pagan gods. The influences of the world are
strong, behind these influences of course is the Devil, the deceiver, the destroyer, the
one who leads us to worship the dead.
Deuteronomy 30:19
I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life
and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your
descendants may live;
In the news this week, there was a situation in Israel where two Palestinians drove their
vehicle into a crowd of people, and one man got out of the car and started stabbing the
victims who had been run down. Both these terrorists were killed by soldiers in the area,
but the father of one of these 18 year old terrorists praised his son and said he knew
from childhood his son would die a martyr. This father was proud of his son. This is a
culture of death, a culture that celebrates the death of their children and the destruction
of anyone… whether Jew, Christian, American, or even anyone who is not of their own
sect of Islam.
This culture of death, are we guilty of teaching this to our children too? Are we teaching
our children to choose life?If we are allowing the teaching of Christmas to influence our children, if we are allowing
lies to infiltrate our worship of Yehovah, then all measures of other lies will easily lead
our kids astray.
Yehovah gave us some plain instructions in Jeremiah regarding what’s called in our
modern day the Christmas Tree.
Jeremiah 10:1-10
1Hear the word which the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel.
2 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.
3 For the customs of the peoples are [a]futile;
For one cuts a tree from the forest,
The work of the hands of the workman, with the ax.
4 They decorate it with silver and gold;
They fasten it with nails and hammers
So that it will not topple.
5 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.”
6 Inasmuch as there is none like You, O Lord
(You are great, and Your name is great in might),
7 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.8 But they are altogether dull-hearted and foolish;
A wooden idol is a [b]worthless doctrine.
9 Silver is beaten into plates;
It is brought from Tarshish,
And gold from Uphaz,
The work of the craftsman
And of the hands of the metalsmith;
Blue and purple are their clothing;
They are all the work of skillful men.
10 But the Lord is the true God;
He is the living God and the everlasting King.
At His wrath the earth will tremble,
And the nations will not be able to endure His indignation.
This is an idol and even the singing regarding this tree is worship – it will bring Yehovah’s
indignation. We are told not to learn the ways of the Gentiles, it is difficult, it’s
everywhere, everyone is doing it. Even if Kenyan’s are not putting this tree up in their
homes, the venerating of such a symbol is worshipping an idol. If we are teaching our
children songs to sing about this tree, or about the season, we are teaching the children
to mix in the pagan worship towards Yehovah. We are teaching our children syncretism.
Let me tell you a little of the history of Santa. There really was a man named Nicolas,
who was the Bishop of Myra, located in Turkey, in the 4th century. He is said to have
suffered persecution under Diocletian, then rescued from prison by Constantine. He is
said to be known for generosity, to children and destitute women who would have
otherwise fallen into prostitution, providing them with dowries. He is said to have been
part of the Counsel of Nicea. Because he is said to have restored some women to life
after being butchered to death, he was made a saint, and his name went from Saint
Nicholas to Sinterklaus to Santa Claus. This European tradition of venerating this man
for his generosity was brought to North America and became the Santa Claus of
modern day Christmas.
Now some say, “We don’t keep Christmas about Santa Claus, we keep it because it’s the
birthday of Jesus”. I can prove to you, it is not. We must follow a trail through scripture
to determine when Yeshua was born, and prove it was not December 25. The trail starts
with Zechariah who is serving in the temple.Luke 1:5-7
5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias,
of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was
Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments
and ordinances of the Lord blameless. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was
barren, and they were both well advanced in years.
What is this division of Abijah? We follow the trail to 1 Chronicles 24:3-10
[3] With the help of Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar,
David organized them according to the appointed duties in their service. [4] Since more
chief men were found among the sons of Eleazar than among the sons of Ithamar, they
organized them under sixteen heads of fathers’ houses of the sons of Eleazar, and eight
of the sons of Ithamar. [5] They divided them by lot, all alike, for there were sacred
officers and officers of God among both the sons of Eleazar and the sons of Ithamar. [6]
And the scribe Shemaiah, the son of Nethanel, a Levite, recorded them in the presence
of the king and the princes and Zadok the priest and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar and
the heads of the fathers’ houses of the priests and of the Levites, one father’s house
being chosen for Eleazar and one chosen for Ithamar.
[7] The first lot fell to Jehoiarib, the second to Jedaiah, [8] the third to Harim, the fourth
to Seorim, [9] the fifth to Malchijah, the sixth to Mijamin, [10] the seventh to Hakkoz, the
eighth to Abijah, ,
Ah, there’s Abijah – Abijah is of the 8th division of these priests chosen for appointed
duties
So if we count from the barley, every two weeks the division changes, so 16 weeks from
the barley was when Zechariah was in the temple. He goes home from his term of
service when his wife Elizabeth gets pregnant. Then the Angel comes to Mary when
Elizabeth is 6 months pregnant.
Luke 1:36
[36] And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and
this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.
Zerchariah served from the 16th to the 18th week of this year, this would be half way
through the 4th month when Elizabeth conceived then. 6 months later makes it about
midway through the 10th month. Now let’s read about when Mary conceives.
Luke 1:26-31[26] In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named
Nazareth, [27] to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of
David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. [28] And he came to her and said, “Greetings,
O favored one, the Lord is with you!” [29] But she was greatly troubled at the saying,
and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. [30] And the angel said to her,
“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. [31] And behold, you will
conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
From the midpoint of the 10th month we add 9 months of pregnancy for Mary, this
brings us to the end of that year and then another 7 months. If that year John was born
in was a 13 month year, Yeshua would then be born on Yom Teruah, the first day of the
7th month. This fits with the symbolism of the Feast of Trumpets which is a day where
we shout for joy, a day the trumpets bring announcement that the Bridegroom is
coming, or warning that the Atonement is near. If the feast of Shouting, YomTeruah, is
part of the picture, then somewhere in the birth of Yeshua story we would see
something about shouting or heralding, and we do in Luke 2:8-20
8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch
over their flock by night. 9 And [c]behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and
the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel
said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which
will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who
is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in
swaddling cloths, lying in a [d]manger.
”
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God
and saying:
14 “Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill[e] toward men!”
15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the
shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has
come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they came with haste and
found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. 17 Now when they had seen
Him, they made [f]widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child.
18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the
shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 Then
the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard
and seen, as it was told them.The evidence points to Yeshua born in the fall, not in the winter. Another sign that this is
so, is that shepherds are not on the hillside in winter, for it is too cold. In winter the
sheep are brought back down to the corral and fed in the protected space with hay
harvested for this season.
Another evidence is that of the moon beneath the Virgin’s feet. Let me show you the
picture in the heavens. This picture can only be in the Fall, not in the winter. This is the
picture telling us when the New Moon of the 7th Month in the year 3 BC was. This
image can only be seen for about an hour on that day and none other in the time frame
when Yeshua was born.
Revelation 12:1-2 Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun,
with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. 2 Then being
with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.
You will find much more detailed explanation of when Yeshua was born in the book “It
was a Riddle, Not a Command” by Joseph F DumondSo who is this that is born in December, on the 25th day, that we have been deceptively
taught is the Messiah’s birth? Why was this date told to us? It is Mithra, the Iranian god
of oaths, the friend, the god of obligations, the god of good relations. Mithra is the sun
god.
Deuteronomy 4:19
And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon,
and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them,
which the LORD your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a
heritage.
Deuteronomy 17:2-7
2 “If there is found among you, within any of your [c]gates which the LORD your God gives
you, a man or a woman who has been wicked in the sight of the LORD your God, in
transgressing His covenant, 3 who has gone and served other gods and worshiped
them, either the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have not
commanded, 4 and it is told you, and you hear of it, then you shall inquire diligently. And
if it is indeed true and certain that such an [d]abomination has been committed in Israel,
5 then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has committed that
wicked thing, and shall stone to death that man or woman with stones. 6 Whoever is
deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses; he
shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness. 7 The hands of the witnesses
shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the
people. So you shall put away the evil from among you.
There is grave consequences for worshipping this Mithra – this sun god – for making
oath with this idol. December 25, the winter solstice is known as “the birthday of the
unconquered sun” or as the Romans called it Invicus Sol. Let me read to you from a
website called Early Church History 101
The records actually show that Constantine seemed to act in genuine Christian
charity while at the same time continuing to embrace various aspects of Sun
worship. But it must also be remembered that prior to Constantine early
Christians had already co-opted aspects of Sun worship.
Clement of Alexandria portrays Christ, like the Sun-god, racing his chariot across
the sky. Many pagans accused the Christians of Sun worship because they met
on Sunday mornings – the early Christians did this to celebrate “the Lord’s Day”as opposed to the Jewish Sabbath. Early in the fourth century the birthday of the
Sun-god was co-opted as the day to celebrate the nativity of Jesus – there is no
clear record of who started this tradition.
You see, the infiltration of this sun-god into the Christian Faith was right from the
beginning with Constantine and the Counsel of Nicea when they changed the Sabbath
to Sunday and changed the day of Yeshua birth to that of Mithra’s birth.
We have been subtly lied to, just like Eve was by the Serpent in the Garden of Eden.
The sly whispers of Satan over the ages has taught us as children, our parents as
children, our grandparents as children, before we had discernment to know Truth and
stand for Truth. So the subtle lie regarding Santa Claus is that we have not learned the
truth of where this tradition of having your children sit in the lap of Santa Claus comes
from Jeremiah 9:13- 16
13 And the LORD said, “Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them,
and have not obeyed My voice, nor walked according to it, 14 but they have walked
according to the dictates of their own hearts and after the Baals, which their fathers
taught them,” 15 therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will
feed them, this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink. 16 I will
scatter them also among the Gentiles, whom neither they nor their fathers have known.
And I will send a sword after them until I have consumed them.”
Jeremiah 9:25-26 25 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “that I will punish
all who are circumcised with the uncircumcised— 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, the people of
Ammon, Moab, and all who are in the farthest corners, who dwell in the wilderness. For
all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the
heart.”
The Circumcised children of Israel had forsaken the Instructions of the Torah and were
worshipping Baals – the Baals of Egypt, Edom, Ammon and Moab. We were warned
not to do this.
Leviticus 18:21
And you shall not let any of your descendants pass through the fire to Molech, nor shall
you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.
We’re told right here not to let our descendants – that means our children – pass through
the fire of Molech. Who is this Molech? Long before Jeremiah wrote his Prophetic
words into a book, King Solomon, who was seduced by his many wives later in life,brought pagan gods into the city and put them up on the Hills to the east of the Temple –
that is, he erected monuments to false gods at Golgotha.
1 Kings 11:7
Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that
is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon.
Molech is the god of the Ammonites. A picture is worth a thousand words, so take a
good look at this image. This is a bronze statue, that they heat with fire until the bronze
is bright red. They then lay a child in the arms of the statue. This is the form of worship
to this baal – sacrificing children. Now let me show you the connection between Molech
and Santa ClausSatan’s deceit has transformed the horrific practice of child sacrifice into a seemingly
harmless tradition. During Christmas, families worldwide intentionally extend this
ancient pagan ritual by bringing their children to sit on the lap of Santa Claus, a figure
strikingly reminiscent of idols like Molech. Children have a keen sense of awareness ofdanger and can sense the evil in the man in the red suit.
I opened this message with a current story, the story of the terrorism in Israel, and the
praise the father gave of his son’s actions. Parents who bring their children to sit in
Santa’s lap do it with conviction that they are doing a good thing, just like this terrorist’s
father was convicted. He believes he was doing a good thing raising his son to die while
killing Jews.
The subtle message behind the Christmas tree, Santa and Christmas day is that we are
worshipping Yehovah, while quietly we have chosen death over life, we have chosen
this abomination of sacrificing our children to this Molech, this culture of death.
Why are we so surprised we are having trouble raising our children to serve Yehovah
with purity, with righteousness, with obedience to the Torah when we have allowed this
whisper of the serpent to slither into our lives.
Let me share with you another little piece of history. It comes from the book of
Maccabees.The books of Maccabees are not scripture, they are not the inspired word of
Yehovah, but they do give historical telling of the world into which Yeshua was born. You
may not have it in your bibles, so I have it here in Luo 1 Jo-Makabayo 1:41-64
Antioko Epifano osando jo-Yahudi modagi weyo timbegi
41Bang mano ruoth Antiko nogoyo milome mondo ji duto odok oganda achiel, ka ng’ato
ka ng’ato weyo chike mag ogandane. 42Ji duto ma ok jo-Israel noluwo chik ruoth,
43kendo jo-Israel mang’eny bende noyie lemo e dini mare, ka gigolo liswa ni nyisechemanono kendo giketho chieng’ Sabato. 44Ruoth bende nooro joote Jerusalem kod
miech Juda, komiyo gi chik manyiso ni nyaka jo-Israel luw timbe mag jopinje mamoko.
45Nokwerogi bende ni kik gitim misengni miwang’o pep, gi misengni mamoko, kod
misengni miolo piny, ma gin misengni ma itimo Kama Ler. Bende nokwerogi mondo
gijwang’ ndalo Sabato gi ndalo sewni, 46kendo nomiyo Hekalu kaachiel gi jodolo odoko
mogak. 47Bende nogero kende mag liswa, gi hembko, kod hekalu moko, mag nyiseche
manono, kotimo misengni gi nguruwe kod le mamoko ma ok ler. 48Nokwero jo-Israel
mondo kik ter yawuotgi nyangu, kendo nochungogi mondo gichiwre ni timbe mag
dwanyruok malich makuero. 49Notimo kamano mondo wi ji owil gi Chik Musa ka
giweyo weche mag chik duto. 50Ruoth nochiko ni, ka ng’ato ok omako chikenegi, to
onego ng’adne buch tho. 51Barupe manyiso wechegi noor e pinje duto manie bwo
lochne, kendo noketo jolimbe e piny ngima mane dhi e dala ka dala mar Juda mondo
gichun ji otim liswa.
52Ji mang’eny nojwang’o chik Musa, kendo nobiro ir jolimbego, 53mi timgi marach e
piny duto nomiyo jo-Israel oringo mondo opond kamoro amora mane ginyalo konyoree.
54Chieng’ due apar gabich, due mar Kislev, e higa mar mia achiel gi piero ang’wen
gabich mar loch jo-Grik, ruoth noketo Gima Kuero Makelo Kethruok e wi
kendo-mar-misango mar Nyasaye, kendo nogero kende mag liswa e mier molworo
Jerusalem, 55kendo nowang’o ubani e dhoudi kendo e wang’yore. 56Kitepe duto mag
Chik mane oyudi noyiech kendo nowang’, 57kendo ng’ato ang’ata mane oyud gi kitap
Chik, kata mane oyud komako Chik, nyaka ne ng’adne buch tho, kaluwore gi chik ruoth.
58Ne gin gi teko, omiyo ne gilworo mier duto mag Juda due ka due, ka gisando ji duto
mane giyudo koketho, 59Chieng’ due piero ariyo gabich, ne gitimo liswa e
kendo-mar-misango mar Nyasaye mitimoe misengni miwang’o pep. 60Mon mane okelo
nyithindgi mondo oter nyangu nonegi, 61kolier nyithindgi e ng’utgi, kendo joutegi,
kaachiel gi jong’ad nyangu bende nonegi kaluwore gi chik ruoth.
62Kata kamano, ji mang’eny e Israel notimo chir modagi luwo chikego, ka gitamore
chamo gik ma ok ler. 63Ne giyie tho moloyo bedo mogak gi chiemo ma kamano, kata
moloyo ketho singruok mane gitimo gi Nyasaye. Kuom mano, noneggi. 64Mano kaka
masira mane omako Israel ne lich ahinya!
1 Maccabees 1:41-64
Antiochus now issued a decree that all nations in his empire should abandon their own
customs and become one people. All the Gentiles and even many of the Israelites
submitted to this decree. They adopted the official pagan religion, offered sacrifices to
idols, and no longer observed the Sabbath.
44 The king also sent messengers with a decree to Jerusalem and all the towns of
Judea, ordering the people to follow customs that were foreign to the country. 45 Heordered them not to offer burnt offerings, grain offerings, or wine offerings in the
Temple, and commanded them to treat Sabbaths and festivals as ordinary work days.
46 They were even ordered to defile the Temple and the holy things in it.[e] 47 They were
commanded to build pagan altars, temples, and shrines, and to sacrifice pigs and other
unclean animals there. 48 They were forbidden to circumcise their sons and were
required to make themselves ritually unclean in every way they could, 49 so that they
would forget the Law which the Lord had given through Moses and would disobey all its
commands. 50 The penalty for disobeying the king’s decree was death.
51 The king not only issued the same decree throughout his whole empire, but he also
appointed officials to supervise the people and commanded each town in Judea to offer
pagan sacrifices. 52 Many of the Jews were ready to forsake the Law and to obey these
officials. They defiled the land with their evil, 53 and their conduct forced all true
Israelites to hide wherever they could.
54 On the fifteenth day of the month of Kislev in the year 145,[f] King Antiochus set up
The Awful Horror on the altar of the Temple, and pagan altars were built in the
towns throughout Judea. 55 Pagan sacrifices were offered in front of houses and in
the streets. 56 Any books of the Law which were found were torn up and burned, 57
and anyone who was caught with a copy of the sacred books or who obeyed the Law
was put to death by order of the king. 58 Month after month these wicked people
used their power against the Israelites caught in the towns.
59 On the twenty-fifth of the month, these same evil people offered sacrifices on the
pagan altar erected on top of the altar in the Temple. 60 Mothers who had allowed their
babies to be circumcised were put to death in accordance with the king’s decree. 61
Their babies were hung around their necks, and their families and those who had
circumcised them were put to death. 62 But many people in Israel firmly resisted the
king’s decree and refused to eat food that was ritually unclean. 63 They preferred to die
rather than break the holy covenant and eat unclean food—and many did die. 64 In his
anger God made Israel suffer terribly.
All the Gentiles and even many of the Israelites submitted to this decree. They adopted
the official pagan religion, offered sacrifices to idols, and no longer observed the
Sabbath.
This is what our world looks like today. This is what the Christian Church looks like
today. And this is the same thing that is going on when people are celebratingChristmas, they have bowed to the influences of the world, the oppression of Satan –
and have become like these Hellenized Jews in the days before Yeshua was born. I
encourage you to keep reading the history in the book of 1 and 2 Maccabees –
specifically about Mattatias and his sons who fought to uphold the Torah against the
persecution of the Greeks – even to die to save the Jews from the Greeks. There is a
story in 2 Maccabees 7 about a woman named Hannah whose 7 sons were killed
because they would not forsake the Torah.
Are we teaching our children to be willing to die to uphold the Torah? Are we willing to
die to uphold the Torah? Or are we going to allow the wiles of the devil to infiltrate us
and whisper to us that it’s ok to allow a little syncretism, allow us to put up a little fence
law like Eve saying that Yehovah said we could not even touch the tree of the
Knowledge of Good and Evil. Any time we add to or take away from the Torah, we are
tearing down the walls that Yehovah put up around the Garden of Eden to keep it
separate from this world. We were designed to live in the Garden, but we can’t live in the
Garden if we are going to listen to the one who came to steal, kill and destroy.
John 10:10
The thief comes only in order to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come in order that you
might have life—life in all its fullness.
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
15 “Today I am giving you a choice between good and evil, between life and death. 16 If
you obey the commands of the LORD your God, which I give you today, if you love him,
obey him, and keep all his laws, then you will prosper and become a nation of many
people. The LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are about to occupy. 17 But
if you disobey and refuse to listen, and are led away to worship other gods, 18 you will
be destroyed—I warn you here and now. You will not live long in that land across the
Jordan that you are about to occupy. 19 I am now giving you the choice between life
and death, between God’s blessing and God’s curse, and I call heaven and earth to
witness the choice you make. Choose life. 20 Love the LORD your God, obey him and be
faithful to him, and then you and your descendants will live long in the land that he
promised to give your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
Philemon, will you please give us the Blessing from Numbers 6
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