hy decorate evergreen TREES on the WINTER SOLSTICE? Why kiss under MISTLETOE? Where did "jolly old Saint NICK" come from and why should anyone LIE to their children about him? Isn't it IDOLATRY to sing "O Tannenbaum" and give PRESENTS to a TREE? Are HALOS and WREATHES merely images of SUN-WORSHIP? Is SANTA just another name for SATAN? When was Jesus born? Who is the "Fool King" or "Lord of Misrule"? Did the Babylon Mystery Religion worship a "mother and child"? "Shall I bow down to a tree trunk?" (Isa. 44:19)

Jeremiah wrote, "Learn not the way of the HEATHEN ... for the customs of the people are VAIN" (Jer. 10:2). "For the mystery of INIQUITY doth already work" (2 Th. 2:3,7). "Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall not come except there come a FALLING AWAY first" (2 Th. 2:3). "Take heed that no man DECEIVE you. For MANY shall come in my name, saying I am Christ; and shall DECEIVE MANY" (Matt. 24:4-5) -- "speaking PERVERSE things" (Acts 20:30) "and MANY shall follow their PERNICIOUS ways" (2 Pet. 1:2) "turning the grace of God into LASCIVIOUSNESS" (Jude 3,19) "and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto FABLES" (2 Tim. 4:3-4). They "call evil good, and good evil" (Isa. 5:20) and "they have made VOID thy law" (Ps. 119:126).

“Christmas was NOT among the earliest festivals of the Church . . . the first evidence of the feast is from Egypt . . . PAGAN customs, centering around the January calends, gravitated to Christ- mas.” And, further, we find this truth acknowledged: “In the Scripture, sinners alone, not saints, celebrate their birthday.” (Catholic Encyclopedia, article "Christmas") Then the Encyclopedia Britannica says: “Christmas (i.e., the Mass of Christ). Christmas was NOT among the earliest festivals of the church.” It was NOT instituted by Christ or the apostles, or by Bible authority -- it was picked up afterward from PAGANISM. The Encyclopedia Americana says : “CHRISTMAS. It was, according to many authorities, not celebrated in the first centuries of the Christian church, as the Christian usage in general was to celebrate the death of remarkable persons, rather than their birth” (the “Lord’s Supper” is a memorial of the DEATH of Christ). “A feast was established in memory of this event (Christ’s birth) in the fourth century. In the fifth century the Western Church ordered it to be celebrated forever on the day of the old Roman feast of the birth of SOL, as no certain knowledge of the day of Christ's birth existed."

The Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia says, “How much the date of the festival depended upon the PAGAN Brumalia following the Saturnalia (Dec. 17-24) and celebrating the shortest day in the year and the ‘New sun,’ . . . cannot be accurately determined. The PAGAN Saturnalia and Brumalia were too deeply entrenched in popular custom to be set aside by Christian influence. . . . The PAGAN festival with its riot and merrymaking was so popular that Christians were glad of an excuse to continue its celebration with little change in spirit and in manner. Christian preachers of the West and of the Near East protested against the unseemly frivolity with which Christ’s birthday was celebrated, while Christians of Mesopotamia accused their western brethren of IDOLATRY and SUN WORSHIP for adopting as Christian this PAGAN festival.” (from art. "Christmas")

The pagan Romans long before the birth of Christ celebrated the Christmas season. They called December 25 Natalis Invicti Solis -- the Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun. For seven days -- from December 17 to 23 inclusive -- the Roman world took a holiday. On these days -- called the Saturnalia in honor of Saturn -- banks were closed, also the schools, the Senate and the law courts. The Saturnalia was a legal holiday. On December 24 -- called "Christmas Eve" today -- the pagan Romans celebrated the Brumalia. And on December 25 the Birthday of the Sun God. Gifts were traded, greeting cards exchanged, feasting, drunkenness and games were indulged in by the whole pagan world during the Saturnalia. In Egypt it has always been believed that the son of Isis (Semiramis -- Queen of Heaven) was born 25th December. This is the "mother and child" (Semiramis and Nimrod). The book called 4000 Years of Christmas by Earl Wendel Count proves that the celebration honored PAGAN gods 2000 years before the birth of Christ. Horus was supposed to be born at the time of the winter solstice, December 25th, when the sun first begins to regain its power (Plutarch De Iside 2:377-378).

Winter Solstice

For three days, December 22, 23 and 24, the sun rises on the exact same latitudinal (declinations) degree. This is the only time in the year that the sun stops its movement northward or southward in our sky. On the morning of December 25th the sun moves one degree northward beginning its annual journey back to us in the northern hemisphere, ultimately bringing our spring. Anything steadily moving all year long that suddenly stops moving for three days was considered to have died. Therefore, God's sun who was dead for three days, moves one degree northward on December 25th and is symbolically born again.

Franz Cumont wrote, "The Mithraists also observed SUN-day and kept sacred the 25th of December as the birthday of the SUN" (Textes et Monuments 1:339). Sir James Frazer says, "The largest pagan religious cult which fostered the celebration of December 25th as a holiday ... was the pagan SUN-worship, Mithraism ... This winter festival was called ... 'The Nativity of the SUN.'" (The Golden Bough, p.471). Mario Righetti, a renowned Catholic liturgist, writes, "the Church of Rome, to facilitate the acceptance of the faith by the pagan masses, found it convenient to institute the 25th December as the feast of the temporal birth of Christ, to divert them from the pagan feast, celebrated on the same day in honour of the 'Invincible SUN,' Mithras." (Bacchiocchi's From Sabbath To Sunday, p.260).

December 25th (or the winter solstice) has been celebrated as the BIRTHDAYof the SUN god for 4000 years. This SUN god was called Krishna (Vishnu), Mithra, Osiris, Horus, Hercules, Dionysus (Bacchus), Adonis, Jupiter, Tammuz, Saturn, Buddha, Frigga, etcetera. (see S.E. Titcomb's Aryan Sun Myths, the Origin of Religions, pp.37-128). The Bible says, "Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean" (Gen. 35:2). "Inquire not after their gods, saying, How do these nations serve their gods? ... You shall not do so unto the Eternal your God" (Deut. 12:30-31). "Learn not the way of the heathen" (Jer. 10:2). "And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the SUN, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to WORSHIP them, and serve them, which the Eternal thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven" (Deut. 4:19).

Nine months after she was fertilized in the spring as "Mother Earth" or "Mother Nature," ASHTAROTH (Judges 2:13), the mother and wife of Baal, gave birth to the SUN on December 25 (Wilkin's Egyptians 4:405). SUN-worshippers were fearful the SUN would continue to decline in the sky and not return and so celebrated the WINTER SOLSTICE.

Santa

According to Francis Weiser's Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs, page 113, we read, "THOR was the god of the peasants and the common people. He was represented as an elderly man, JOVIAL and friendly, of HEAVY BUILD, with a LONG WHITE BEARD. His element was the FIRE, his color RED. The rumble and roar of thunder were said to be caused by the rolling of his CHARIOT, for he alone among the gods never rode on horseback but drove in a CHARIOT drawn by two white goats (called - CRACKER and GNASHER). He was fighting the giants of ICE AND SNOW, and thus became the YULE-god. He was said to live in the 'NORTHLAND' where he had his palace among the icebergs. By our pagan forefathers he was considered as the CHEERFUL and friendly god, never harming the humans, but, rather, helping and protecting them. The FIREPLACE in every home was especially sacred to him, and he was said to COME DOWN through the CHIMNEY into his element, the fire." "He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber" (John 10:1).

"Old NICK" refers to "the evil one" (Noah Webster's 1828 Dictionary 2:22). More importantly, SANTA is SATAN, with the letters merely rearranged. Blavatsky writes: "The name isn't important. It is the letters." (H.P. Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine, Vol II, p. 350). He counterfeits Christ returning from the NORTH POLE (Isa. 14:13; Ps. 48:2; 75:6). He flies through the air wearing a RED garment and WHITE BEARD -- just like the returning Christ (Rev.19:13; 1:14). Yes, SATAN sees you when you're sleeping and knows when you're awake just like Christ (Pr. 5:21). He knows if you've been bad or good just like Christ (Pr. 15:3). SATAN has counterfeited all these traits. Truly, SATAN is "the god of this world" (2 Cor. 4:4; Isa. 14:14). and has a sinister, uncontrollable laugh -- "Ho, Ho, Ho." There are six letters between H and O in the alphabet. They are IJKLMN. Therefore "Ho, Ho, Ho" is 666. He’s always laughing. SATAN says, “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds (as he is pulled by reindeer in his sleigh); I will be like the Most High” (Isa. 14:14). Doesn’t SANTA usurp God’s glory and God’s praise and actually take the place of God every winter solstice in the minds and hearts of millions of children? Children pray to him. Krampus was the Evil Helper of Santa who accompanied him -- to punish the bad children of Europe. Krampus looks like Satan. Red horns, red pointed tongue, pointed ears, goat head, body and tail. Holding switches. Children pray to Krampus to avoid punishment. Krampus is German for "Claw." By participating in X-mas, Satan gets his claws into you -- Santa claws.

The word "Satan" in Hebrew has a numerical value of 359. SHIN = 300, TETH = 9, NUN = 50. December 25th is the 359th day of the year. The 359th chapter of the Bible is 1 Chronicles 21 and the word "Satan" is in the first verse. This is the very first time the word Satan appears in the KJV Bible.

Who were the Nicolaitanes?

Nimrod (Heb. "marad" -- to rebel) "changed the government into tyranny -- seeing no other way of turning men from the fear of God, but to bring them into a constant dependence upon his power" (Ant. 1:4:2). He conquered the people. He took God's place as Melek (Heb. "king") by becoming Molech (1 Ki. 11:7). This "mighty hunter against the Lord" (Gen. 10:9) had a Mesopotamian successor known as Balaam -- meaning "Conqueror of the People" in Semitic tongues (whose residence was St. Peter's of Mesopotamia -- Nu. 22:5); or in Greek a Nicolas -- a Conqueror (nikos) of the People (laos). McClintock and Strong's Encyclopedia says: “The sect of the Nicolaitanes is described as following the doctrine or teaching of Balaam -- and it appears not improbable that this name is employed symbolically, as NICOLAUS is equivalent in meaning to BALAAM” (vol. 1, p. 621). Yes, the two names NICOLAUS and BALAAM are exactly the same in meaning --they both point to NIMROD, the originator of paganism. His followers, called Nicolaitans (Rev. 2:15), worshipped this Saint Nicolas or Santa Claus in place of God. They taught that it was "cowardice to submit to God" (Ant. 1:4:2) -- a doctrine God hates (Rev. 2:15). One of the gods of the ancient Lydians was called "SANTAS" (Langer, Encyc. of World History, p. 37). "SANTA CLAUS" is but a shortened form of "Santa Nicholas" or "Saint Nicholas" who is worshipped on December 25th -- the ancient birthday of Nimrod.

Wreathes & Yule Logs & Round Ornaments

"But indeed a Christian will not even dishonor his own gate with laurel crowns (WREATHES)" (Tertullian, De Corona chpt. 13). Wreathes are ROUND images of the SUN. The term "YULE LOG" means "child log" because children were made to stand in a large circle around a tall oak pole. At sunrise, the shadow of the pole would fall upon a single child. The child was tied up and burned in a BONE PYRE (bonfire). Many people pollute God's name with their X-MAS (Ez. 20:39) and X-MAS TREE (Jer. 10:1-5) on which are hung more ROUND ornaments.

The Manger Nativity Scene

Typically, there are three wise men gathered around the baby in the manger. But the Bible says an UNNUMBERED group of wise men arrived "TWO YEARS" later (Matt. 2:16), not at the nativity. They arrived at a "HOUSE," not a manger, to see a "SMALL CHILD," not a baby (Matt. 2:11). The "manger" was more probably a "SUKKAH" since we read that Messiah "TABERNACLED" among us" (John 1:14). He was probably born on the Feast of SUKKOT. The Greek word "manger" is translated "stall" in Luke 13:15 just as Jacob made "SUKKOT" for his cattle in Genesis 33:17. "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night." Does this sound like a cold, wintry December scene? This had to be BEFORE the COLD WINTER rains and snows began to fall. Flocks would be put in shelters by October. Yet we know from Jeremiah 36:22 that it was cold in Palestine in the winter since the king had a "fire on the hearth burning before him." "December ...(was) the height of the rainy season in Judaea, when neither flocks nor shepherds could have been at night in the fields of Bethlehem" (Encyc. Brit. article "Christmas Day").

Small figurines of "Mary," "Joseph" and the baby "Jesus" all have HALOS around their heads. J.C. Cooper's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Traditional Symbols, p.112 says, "NIMBUS, HALO ... originally indicative of SOLAR power and the SUN'S DISK, hence an attribute of SUN-GODS." Our words "HOLY" and "HALO" both come from the Greek word "HELIOS" meaning the SUN god. But God says, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any GRAVEN IMAGE, or any LIKENESS of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them; for I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God" (Ex. 20:4-5).

Presents Under The Evergreen Tree

When Eve obeyed the SNAKE in the TREE rather than God, that became an idol since idol-worship is whatever you obey rather than God. TINSEL is SNAKELIKE. Those who put presents under the tree are condemned by Ezekiel who says, "UNDER every GREEN TREE (evergreen)... they did OFFER sweet savor to all their IDOLS" (Ez.6:13). "Pollute ye my holy name no more with your GIFTS, and with your IDOLS" (Ezekiel 20:39). In at least ten Biblical references, the "GREEN" tree is associated with idolatry and false worship [Deut. 12:2; 1 Kings 14; 2 Kings 16:4, 17:10; 2 Chron. 3:6, 13; 17:2; 28:4; Isa.57:3-5; Jer. 2:20; Jer. 3:6,13; 17:1-2 Ez. 6:13]. Now, of course, all trees are GREEN at one time or another. Apparently then, the references to the "GREEN" tree refer to a tree that is especially noted for being GREEN, the EVERGREEN. “At the time of their Saturnalia the Romans decorated homes and temples with FOLIAGE on which they hung IMAGES of their GODS” (p.333, How Did It Begin? by Brasch). Christians are warned against partaking of things OFFERED to IDOLS (Acts 15:29; 21:25; 1 Cor. 8 & 10; Rev. 2:14,20). Varro states that the CLAY DOLLS , which were an important feature of the celebration, represented the infant sacrifices once made to a Phoenician Baal who had been introduced to Rome under the name of Saturn or Cronos (J.G. Frazer in Encyc. Brit., 9th ed. vol. 21p. 321).

Thus saith the Eternal, Learn not the way of the heathen ... For the customs of the people are vain; for one cutteth a TREE out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They DECK it with SILVER and with GOLD; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. They are upright like the palm tree, but speak not" (Jer. 10:2-5). “Little children, keep yourselves from IDOLS” (1 John 5:21). “A CORRUPT TREE bringeth forth EVIL fruit” (Matt. 7:17). "Thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon ...The Lord has broken the rod of the wicked ... All the lands are at rest and at peace; they break into singing. Even the PINE TREES and the cedars of Lebanon exult over you and say, ' Now that you have been laid low, no woodsman comes to CUT US DOWN'" (Isa. 14:5-8).

In Hebrew the word TANNIN means "dragon" or "serpent" (Ex. 7:9-12) and BAMAH means "high place." (pp.7, 49 Young's Index-Lexicon). "O TANNENBAUM" -- how evil are thy serpent high places. After Nimrod was slain, he was portrayed as the old dead tree or YULE LOG. But the serpent Aesculapius coiled around this dead stump and from the roots of the dead tree came forth a young living EVERGREEN TREE representing Tammuz. Today we coil tinsel around an evergreen on December 25th in imitation of the snake. This is a celebration of the fall of man. Or a celebration of new-found "wisdom" received through the serpent.

Mistletoe

The MiSTLETOE branch (a parasite) is another reincarnation of Tammuz because it never touched the ground but instead seemingly came down from heaven to join a TREE growing up from earth. This heaven-and-earth reconciliation is typified by KISSING. But Yeshua the Messiah is our true “Branch” that came down from heaven (Zech. 3:8; 6:12).

Giving Gifts At A Birthday Party

From the Bibliotheca Sacra, Vol. 12, pp. 153-155, we quote: "The interchange of presents between friends is alike characteristic of Christmas and the Saturnalia, and must have been adopted by Christians from the Pagans, as the admonition of Tertullian plainly shows."

"Every good GIFT and every perfect GIFT is from above, and cometh down from the father of lights" (Jam. 1:17). When we teach our children that GIFTS come from Santa, we put another god before the Eternal God who commanded us: "You shall have NO OTHER gods before (in place of) me" (Ex.20:3). It is interesting that wherever we find GIFT-GIVING at anyone's BIRTHDAY party, evil and murder followed. On Pharaoh's BIRTHDAY, the chief baker was hanged and beheaded. During Herod's BIRTHDAY, John the Baptist was beheaded. In Revelation 11, we read how wicked people celebrated the slaying of God's two witnesses by making merry and SENDING GIFTS to one another. Will this be at the BIRTHDAY of the SUN god on the winter solstice -- December 25th?

The wise men when they came to see the Christ-child presented to Him GIFTS. Some suppose that this is where the custom of exchanging GIFTS at Christmas time came from. But that is not correct. The wise men did not EXCHANGE GIFTS among themselves. They presented their gifts TO JESUS, who was born king of the Jews. It was an Eastern custom to present GIFTS when coming into the presence of a King. "The people of the East never approach the presence of KINGS... without a PRESENT in their hands" (Clark's Commentary 5:46). But these gifts were NOT BIRTHDAY GIFTS. When the wise men arrived, it was some time AFTER the day on which Jesus was born. By this time he was no longer in a stable, but in a HOUSE (Matt 2:9-11). Obviously, the GIFTS from the wise men were NOT CHRISTMAS GIFTS. The wise men arrived about TWO YEARS after the birth of Jesus. This is demonstrated by King Herod’s attempt to kill Jesus. Matthew 2:16 says he, “sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, FROM TWO YEARS OLD AND UNDER, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.”

Worshipping the "Mother & Child"

Catholics place much emphasis on the worship of “Mary” -- a mere human woman --rather than on Jesus alone. But Mary called God “my SAVIOR” (Luke 1:47). Therefore, if Mary needed a SAVIOR, she was not a SAVIOR herself.

Originally, all nations dwelt together at Babel. This would account for the close similarity of all branches of pagan religions. Noah preached (2 Pet. 2:5) about a coming Savior (Gen.3:15) who would be born of a virgin, live a sinless life, be crucified, die (Rev. 13:8) and live again (Ps. 16:10).

Everyone knew in detail about Jesus the Messiah long before he came. Naamah-Isis, Noah's wife, became his "nemisis" and counterfeited the coming Savior with her own grandson, Nimrod, thus raising her own status to a goddess. The name “MADONNA” comes from the Latin “Mea Domina” or “Mother Ruler” -- the mother of the gods -- Naamah-Isis.

Then God scattered mankind at the tower of Babel. Osiris, Mithra, Buddha, Krishna, Horus, Zeus, Asclepus and Zoroaster are just some of the many "gods" who were "born of a virgin" to counterfeit the coming genuine Messiah. Even in far off Mexico, Quetzalcoatl, the savior, was supposedly born of a virgin, tempted, fasted forty days, was crucified, and his second coming was looked for so eagerly that, when Cortez appeared, the Mexicans greeted him as the returning god (see Kingsborough's Mexican Antiquities, vol. 6). Thus, when images and pictures of the "Virgin Mary" are worshipped on December 25th, the goddess Isis (Egyptian) is really being worshipped. "If ye do return unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth (the pagan “Mary” Mother worship) from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him ONLY: and He will deliver you" (I Sam. 7:3).

The "Fool King" Or "Lord of Misrule"

Philo of Byblus says it was customary for the king to give his beloved son to die for the nation as a ransom offered to the avenging devils. The words of the prophet Micah may be taken as the custom of that day: "Shall I give my FIRSTBORN for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" (Micah 6:7).

King Mesha of Moab sacrificed his eldest son (2 Ki. 3:27). King Hiel sacrificed his sons at the foundation of Jericho (1 Ki. 16:34). Both kings Ahaz and Manasseh incinerated their sons in sacrificial fire (2 Ch. 28:3; 33:6). The Carthaginians, who originally came from Syria, also had this custom: Hamilcar sacrificed his son at the seige of Agrigentum (Diodorus 13:86) and Maleus, a Carthaginian general, crucified his son as a sacrifice to Baal (Justin 18:7). Maleus dressed up his son as a royal personage before crucifying him.

The king's son was eventually exchanged for an annual mock-king -- a criminal condemned to death -- who would become a human sacrifice to ensure crop fertility and spare the royal prince. Thus in the Babylonian festival of the Sacaea "a criminal, condemned to death, was dressed in the king's robes, seated on the king's throne, allowed to issue whatever commandes he pleased, to eat, drink and enjoy himself, and even to lie with the king's concubines." But at the end of five days he was stripped of his royal robes, scourged and hanged or impaled" (Frazer's Golden Bough, p.114). At Rhodes a criminal was similarly sacrificed at the Kronian festival (Porphyry De Abstinentia 2:54), in commemoration, obviously, of the sacrifice by Kronos of his royal son Ieoud. In the Kronos legend Ieoud was dressed in royal robes before being sacrificed. The victims of these human sacrifices were generally crucified, or else killed and then "hung on a tree," as in the various hangings before the Lord mentioned in the Bible (2 Sam. 21:9; Josh. 8:29; 10:26; etc.). The "Lord of Misrule" in Medeival England's December 25th celebrations and "King of the Carnival" or "Rex" in today's Mardi Gras in New Orleans can be traced back to this human sacrifice in the primitive fertility rite at the turn of the year, ensuring that the soil would continue to be productive (Celebrations by Robert J. Myers).

Palestine, like other provinces of Rome, practiced a custom where a criminal was sacrificed in place of the primitive royal "Son of the Father" or Bar Abbas. The significance of dressing up our Lord as a king, and of the inscription "The King of the Jews," and the mock crown of thorns and a mock scepter in his hand all become apparent. The phrase "Mazaltov" actually means "Lord of Misrule."

Today we no longer sacrifice humans or eat their flesh or drink their blood at the winter solstice. Instead, we bake "gingerbread men" and eat them.

Jesus Wasn't Born On December 25th

Jesus' public ministry lasted for three and a half years (Dan. 9:27). It came to an end at the time of Passover (Nisan 14) (John 18:39) which was in the spring. Therefore, he began his ministry in the fall (Tishri 15). Jesus began his ministry at about the age of 30 (Luke 3:23). This was the recognized age for a priest before he could become an official minister under the Old Testament (Num. 4:3). Therefore his birth must have been in the fall (Tishri 15).

We read in Revelation 12:1-5 that "there appeared a great wonder in heaven -- a WOMAN clothed with the SUN, and the MOON under her feet ... And she, being with child, cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.... And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron." If an astronomer were to read this passage, he would automatically think of the constellation VIRGO at the point in time when the SUN'S PATH in the heavens crosses through her body. This event always occurs in MID-OCTOBER, the exact time of the FEAST of TRUMPETS in many years. The fact that the MOON was VISIBLE indicates that the CRESCENT NEW MOON begins the month rather than the astronomical new moon. TRUMPETS can occur as many as 29 DAYS AFTER September 21st, 22nd or 23rd (Autumnal EQUINOX) or as few as the SAME DAY if the equinox and the crescent occur on the same day. Thus, MID-OCTOBER is a very typical time for Tishri one.

Another indication that Jesus was born just after the FEAST of TRUMPETS is that Elizabeth conceived "after those days" (Luke 1:24). Israel was divided into 24 priestly courses and the first served for the first week of Nisan and Tishri. "Those days" were the eighth "course of Abijah" (Iyar 27 to Sivan 5 -- Ant. 7:14:7 & Talmud, Sukkah) (1 Chr. 24:10; Luke 1:5) and the week of PENTECOST afterward since all the courses served during the week of the festivals (PENTECOST could fall anywhere from Sivan 4th to 12th). In other words, Sivan 5th to 13th is the earliest Zechariah could start home. Giving Zechariah two days to get home, we have Sivan 7 to 15. Allowing for her period of at most 12 days, she conceived at the earliest Sivan 7 to Sivan 27. If we add nine months pregnancy, John ("Elijah") was born on Adar 7 to Adar 27 at the earliest. If we add six months (Luke 1:26, 36, 39, 56, 57), we have Mary's EARLIEST birth date for Jesus (Luke 1:35-38) of Elul 7 to 27. This is from 22 to 3 days before TRUMPETS. Because of other indications, we believe it was more probably SUKKOT. Jesus was circumcised the eighth day which may have fallen on the EIGHTH DAY (Tishri 22).

We read that Jesus "TABERNACLED" among us (John 1:14) and was born in a "manger" (Heb. "SUKKAH") (Luke 2:12) -- both indicating a FALL FESTIVAL season. The word "manger" is the Greek word "phatn'e" translated "stall" in Luke 13:15. Jacob made "SUKKOT" for his cattle in Genesis 33:17. Hosea 6:3 says Messiah would come as the former and latter rain of the "FIRST MONTH" (Joel 2:23). He came as a Lamb to the slaughter on PASSOVER which was the former rain but he came as a baby in a SUKKAH on the FEAST of SUKKOT as the latter rain.

At the time Jesus was born, Joseph and Mary had gone to Bethlehem to be TAXED (Luke 2:1-5). TAXES were probably paid around the FALL HARVEST season since Palestine was basically an AGRICULTURAL economy. Women weren't required for TAXING purposes, so Mary must have come to ATTEND the FESTIVALS, as she did on a later occasion (Luke 2:41). Because of the enormous FESTIVAL CROWDS meeting together in Jerusalem, there "was NO ROOM in the inn" (Luke 2:7). Each person returned to his own city to be TAXED, so that doesn't account for the crowds. The greek word for "INN" is "GUEST CHAMBER" referring to the FALL FESTIVAL season when private homes accommodated the extra crowds. This is proof Jesus was born on the FALL FESTIVALS and not on December 25th.




Babylon Mystery Religion Moves To Rome

Tertullian wrote, "Babylon ... is a figure of the city Rome" (Against the Jews). Augustine wrote that "Rome was founded as the second Babylon and as the daughter of the former Babylon" (City of God 5:439). In the same book Augustine again said, "Babylonia as the first Rome ... Rome itself is like a second Babylon" (ibid. p.371). When Belshazzar was slain (Dan. 5:30), and the Chaldeans were defeated by Darius the Mede, the priests of BABYLON'S mystery religion fled to PERGAMOS -- "Satan's seat" (Rev. 2:13) where this worship of Aesculapius, the child of the incarnate SUN" continued. Then at the death of Attalus III, he left by will all his dominions to the Roman people. Thus Phrygia became part of the Roman Empire in 133 B.C., and the Babylonian Mysteries moved to ROME. (see Hislop's Two Babylons, pp.240-241, 279). Babylon's supreme Sun-god, Bel, was worshipped also in northern Syria. From one of the Sun-temples in Palmyra Syria, namely from the temple of Bel, the great image of Bel was removed and taken to Rome where it was erected. This was done by Emperor Aurelian of Rome, who was known as "the sun emperor."

The FIR TREE was worshipped in Rome as the same new born god called Baal-Berith who was restored to life by the same serpent, and a feast was held in honor of him on December 25th, called the "BIRTHDAY of the Unconquered SUN." In private the day (SATURNALIA) began with the sacrifice of a young pig (because Adonis died from a boar's tusk wound) ... all ranks devoted themselves to feasting and mirth, PRESENTS were interchanged among friends, and crowds thronged the streets, shouting'Io Saturnalia!'" (Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, 3rd ed. vol.2, art. "Oscilla"). "The Saturnalia, like Christmas, was a time for giving presents. Small DOLLS were a popular gift -- though for an unpleasant reason. They commemorated a myth that Saturn ate all his male children at birth, to fulfill a pledge that he would die without heirs" (The United Church Observer, Santa's Family Tree, Dec. 1976, p.14).

Saturnalia lasted from Decdember 17 to 23 and was given to drunkenness and revelry, being a time for giving of presents in the form of "images" to one another, especially to children (J.M. Robertson, Christianity and Mythology p. 232). This was the origin of the custom of giving dolls to little girls. The OFFERING was made beneath a DECORATED TREE. Virgil, the pagan poet, mentions a PINE or EVERGREEN. The Roman Catholic Church adopted "CHRISTMAS" in 534 A.D. Semiramis and her son Tammuz became "MARY and JESUS." Statues were merely renamed.

"Merry Christmas"

"CHRISTMAS" is a blasphemous name since "Mass" is a PERPETUAL sacrifice of Jesus whereas Christ died ONCE for our sins (Heb. 9:26; 10:14). God says in Hosea 2:14-17 that Israel "shall no more call me BAALI." When worshippers mention Jesus' name on "CHRISTMAS" they are calling him "BAALI." “If there come any (Christmas celebrants) unto you (wishing you a “Merry Christmas”); and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed (Don’t wish him “Merry Christmas”): For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds” (2 John 10-11). “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain” (Ex. 20:7) by even saying the word “Christmas." "Merry Christmas" actually means "Happy Dismissal of Christ."

Deuteronomy 12:28-32 says, "Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the Lord thy God. When the Lord thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them (X-Mass, Easter, Halloween), after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise (X-Mass, Easter, Halloween). Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God: for every abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it."

Mithraism Became Roman Catholicism

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica 11th edition vol. 18, p. 624, article "Mithras" (commentary added in parentheses), we read:

Prayers were addressed to him (Mithra) by devotees who had purified themselves by ablution (like BAPTISM by sprinkling or immersion -- Justin's First Apology, ch.61) and repeated flagellation (like PENANCE -- 1 Ki. 18:28).... It seems at first to have had relations with the cult of the Great Mother of the Gods at Rome (MARY-worship is really "Queen of Heaven" worship -- Jer. 44:17-25 & p.64, Land of Sinim by Gillespie) (like a CONVENT for women -- priestesses of Cybele were known as "Mothers" in a cult for women only), whose influence served to protect it and facilitate its growth.... From the end of the 2nd century the emperors encouraged Mithraism, because of the support which it afforded to the divine right of monarchs. (Constantine dedicated his coins to "Sol Deus Invictus"; forbade work on SUNDAY in 321 AD -- Eusebius, Life of Constantine 4:18; then endorsed Easter SUNDAY at the Council of Nicea in 325 AD) ... Its importance at Rome may be judged from the abundance of monumental remains—more than 75 pieces of sculpture (IDOLS)... Heaven and Earth ... begat Ocean, who formed with them a TRINITY corresponding to Jupiter, Juno, and Neptune. (cp. Cumont, Mysteries of Mithra, pp. 109, 111, 191) ... Tertullian speaks of "marking the forehead ... which may have been the branding of a Mithraic sign (of a celestial CROSS -- Plato's Dialogue, Timaeus; Nabarz, The Mysteries of Mithras, p.36) (similar to LENT -- Ez. 8:14) ... A sacred communion of bread (like a HOST or HOT CROSS BUNS -- Cumont, p.160; Justin's First Apology, ch. 66; Jer. 7:18), water and possibly wine, compared by the Christian apologists to the EUCHARIST, was administered to the mystic who was entering upon one of the advanced degrees ... The ceremony was probably commemorative of the banquet of Mithras and Helios before the former's ASCENSION, and its effect strength of body, wisdom, prosperity, power to resist evil, and participation in the IMMORTALITY enjoyed by the god himself.... The Mithraic priest, sacerdos or antistes, was sometimes also of the degree of PATER (Padre or Father -- cp. Matt. 23:9) ("Simon [Magus] ... was known as FATHER among the Samaritans" -- p.122, Augustus to Constantine by Robert Grant). ("Simon [Magus] ... those who follow his lead, while pretending to accept that sober Christian philosophy [2 Cor. 11:13-15] ... prostrate themselves before PICTURES and IMAGES of Simon himself and his companion ... Helen ... WORSHIPPING THEM with INCENSE [Ez. 8:11; Hos. 11:2; 2 Ki.17:11], sacrifices and libations [blood -- Ps. 16:4]. Their most secret rites ... make sport of wretched women" [SEX with temple prostitutes] -- Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. p.48) Tertullian (De praescr. haeret. 40) calls the chief priest summus PONTIFEX (bridge between God and man), probably the PATER PATRUM (Father of Fathers -- cp. Matt. 23:9), ("who always lived at ROME" -- Arendzen's Mithraism) who had general supervision of all the initiates in one city, and states that he could marry but once (Even the pope's Dagon MITER comes from Latin MITRA). According to the same author, there were Mithraic, as well as Christian, VIRGINES et conlinentes (like NUNS). Besides the administration of ("the SEVEN" -- Aiken C.F., Mithraism and Christianity, p. 380) SACRAMENTS ... the priest ... addressed prayers to the SUN AT DAWN (like EASTER SUNRISE service -- Ez. 8:16), midday and twilight, turning TOWARDS EAST, south and west respectively. ... There was pouring of libations, (Gregorian?) CHANTING and MUSIC, and BELLS and CANDLES were employed in the service. ... The most interesting aspect of Mithraism is its antagonism to Christianity. Both religions were of Oriental origin; they were propagated about the same time, and spread with equal rapidity on account of the same causes, viz. the unity of the political world and the debasement of its moral life. At the end of the 2nd century each had advanced to the farthest limits of the empire ... the struggle was the more obstinate because of the RESEMBLANCES between the two religions, which were so NUMEROUS and so CLOSE as to be the subject of remark as early as the 2nd century, and the cause of mutual recrimination. (Mithra had "TWELVE DISCIPLES" -- p. 203, Carpenter, Origins of Pagan and Christian Beliefs).The FRATERNAL (convents of "BROTHERS" -- Cumont, p.190; "Mithraism had its MONKS and NUNS, as Tertullian admits, with the TONSURE in honour of the disc of the SUN" -- Khwaja, The Sources of Christianity, p. 100; cp. Leviticus 21:5; Ezekiel 44:20) ("in sacerdotal ROBES" -- Cumont, p.166) and democratic spirit of the first communities, and their humble origin; the identification of the object of adoration with LIGHT and the SUN; the legends (in both) of the SHEPHERDS with their gifts and adoration, the FLOOD, and the ARK; the representation in art of the FIERY CHARIOT, the drawing of WATER from the ROCK; the use of BELL and CANDLE, HOLY WATER and the COMMUNION; the sanctification of SUNDAY (Justin's First Apology, ch.67) and of the 25th of DECEMBER (Birthday of the SUN; X-MAS) ("the large-scale celebration of BIRTHDAYS in Europe began with the cult of Mithras" -- Wikipedia "Birthdays"); the insistence on MORAL CONDUCT, the emphasis placed upon ABSTINENCE and SELF-CONTROL; the doctrine of HEAVEN (an initiate may "ascend into HEAVEN" -- Wright, Early History of Heaven, p. 112) and (torture of wicked in) HELL, of primitive REVELATION, of the mediation of the LOGOS emanating from the divine, the ATONING SACRIFICE, the constant warfare between GOOD and EVIL and the final triumph of the former, the IMMORTALITY of the SOUL, the LAST JUDGMENT, the RESURRECTION of the flesh and the fiery destruction of the universe—are some of the resemblances which, whether real or only apparent, enabled Mithraism to prolong its resistance to Christianity. At their root lay a common Eastern origin rather than any borrowing. (CONSTANTINE BORROWED from Mithraism) On the other hand, there were important contrasts between the two. Mithraism courted the favour of Roman paganism and combined monotheism with polytheism, while Christianity was uncompromising. The former as a consequence won large numbers of supporters who were drawn by the possibility it afforded of adopting an attractive faith which did not involve a rupture with the religion of Roman society, and consequently with the state. In the middle of the 3rd century Mithraism seemed on the verge of becoming the universal religion. (It finally did in the ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH)

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