http://www.ccg.org/english/c/cb023.html
Información:
Christian Churches of God
No. CB23
Satan’s Days of Worship
(Edition 2.0 20030312-20061223)
Most people of the world keep Christmas, Easter and New Year but is there any scriptural basis for keeping these days? If not, can we keep God’s Days alongside a false religious system?
Christian Churches of God
PO Box 369, WODEN ACT 2606, AUSTRALIA
Email: secretary@ccg.org
(Copyright ã 2003, 2006 Diane Flanagan, ed. Wade Cox)
This paper may be freely copied and distributed provided it is copied in total with no alterations or deletions. The publisher’s name and address and the copyright notice must be included. No charge may be levied on recipients of distributed copies. Brief quotations may be embodied in critical articles and reviews without breaching copyright.
This paper is available from the World Wide Web page:http://www.logon.org and http://www.ccg.org
Satan’s Days of Worship
True worship
The Saints of God are those who keep the Commandments of God and the Testimony of Christ (Rev. 12:17; 14:12; 22:14). They worship the One True God (Deut. 6:4; Jn. 1:18; 17:3; 1Tim. 6:16; 1Jn. 5:20). They obey all the Law and worship God on the correct days in the way that God has ordered.
False systems of worship
Satan is the Prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2). This means that Satan can influence the way people think. Satan wants to thwart God’s Plan. Of course, God will not allow that to happen. But in the first 6,000 years during which Satan was allowed to rule the Earth, he introduced many false teachings and, in doing so, he deceived many people.
Changing the God we worship
Satan combines portions of the truth with lies. Or he takes old pagan traditions and mixes them with a bit of the truth. Satan has even made people believe that God is made up of three parts, called a Trinity. We clearly know from 1Timothy 6:16 that there is only One True God (see the paper Who is God? (No. CB1)). It is the One True God that we worship on the days He sets apart as His Holy Days and commanded assemblies. Though Satan was created perfect, he rebelled. He disobeyed God and attempted to take over God’s Throne (Isa. 14:13). When he was first created his name was Lucifer, which means Light Bearer, but God changed it to Satan, which means the Adversary or Accuser (1Pet. 5:8; Rev. 12:10). For details of the rebellion see the paper The Creation of the Family of God (No. CB4).
Over time, Satan has made many attempts to stop God’s Plan. Shortly after Christ’s death, Satan set up systems that attempted to eliminate the Law. He then changed the nature of the God we worship, by combining some parts of the pagan religions with Christianity. Pagans are people who worship many different gods, but not the One True God (Eloah). In different parts of the world, many Trinities (gods that have three parts or persons) are worshipped. In the early centuries after Christ’s death, the Trinity was introduced into the Roman Catholic Church.
Many people today believe that God is made up of three parts – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is a lie. There is God the Father, Creator of all and He alone we are to worship. There is also Jesus Christ, His Son, who came to Earth as the Angel of Yahovah and talked with Moses and others, as the Bible tells us. Later, Christ came in human form and introduced the new symbols for Passover. He became the perfect sacrifice that reconciled man and Host to God the Father. See the paper Who is Jesus? (No. CB2).
The Holy Spirit is the power of God. It helps us to communicate with God and helps us to understand what God wants us to do. But we should not let anyone try to fool us by saying that these three are oneGod. Satan does not care how he leads people away from the True God. See the paper What is the Holy Spirit? (No. CB3).
Changing the calendar and the beginning of the day
God tells us that the year begins in Abib, the month when Israel was brought out of Egypt (Ex. 13:4). On the Roman calendar, that is in March or April depending on the year. For a complete understanding of the Calendar, see the paper God’s Sacred Calendar (No. CB20). The primitive Roman calendar also began the year in March/April. Over a short period of time, Satan was able to convince most of the world to change the start of the year to the month of January, as it currently is with the Gregorian calendar.
Most of the months of the year are named after pagan gods, emperors, or the number of the month from the first month of the calendar:
January from Janus, ancient Roman deity.
February from Februaries, because Roman purification was held on the 15th of that month.
March from Mars, god of War. Anciently the Romans, along with most of the world, began the year in March.
April from Aprilis, the earth opens for the growth of plants.
May from Maia, goddess of growth or increase.
June from the Latin word Junius (goddess Juno). This is the female reproductive power of the Roman State and part of the triune or threefold system.
July from the Latin word Julius (named after Julius Caesar).
August from Augustus, a Roman Emperor.
September from the Latin word Septim meaning seven, because it was originally the seventh month in the Roman calendar. It is now the 9th month. The two months named after the emperors were added.
October from Octo meaning eight; the 8th month of the primitive Roman Calendar which began the year in March. It is the 10th month of the Gregorian calendar.
November from Novem for nine; the 9th month in the primitive Roman Calendar It is the 11th month in the Gregorian calendar.
December from Decem for ten; the 10th month of the early Romans. It is now the 12th month.
(Based on The Living Webster Encyclopedic Dictionary of the English Language 1977.)
God uses numbers to identify His months (Ex. 12:2; 13:4; 2Chro. 30:2; Neh. 8:2). At times, we will see names used to refer to months in God’s Calendar. These names are of Canaanite or Babylonian origin and they have entered the Hebrew language.
God also uses numbers to identify the days of the week. The only exception is the Sabbath. The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week, but it is referred to as the Sabbath.
Satan’s false system also uses the names of the god’s for the days of the week:
Sunday from Sunnandaeg in Old English, that is, the day of the sun. Anciently dedicated to the sun or its worship.
Monday from Monandaeg O.E., day of the moon.
Tuesday from Tiwesdaeg O.E., that is, day of Tiw, the northern Mars, or god of war.
Wednesday from Wodnesdaeg O.E., that is, day of Woden.
Thursday was the day consecrated to Thor, the old Scandinavian god of Thunder.
Friday from Frigedae O.E., the day sacred to Frigga or Freya, the Teutonic goddess.
Saturday from Saeterdaeg O.E., day of Saturn. (ibid.)
Note: O.E. = Old English.
As we can see, Satan has attempted to change all the things that God has set in place for us to determine when is the correct time to worship Him. Worship on the wrong day is not honouring God our Father and obeying the Commandments.
The Bible tells us that the day begins at dark (Lev. 23:32; Neh. 13:19; Acts 27:27-33). Long ago, people knew that the day began at dark. But Satan also managed to have man change the time of the beginning of the day. Now the day begins at midnight. This is another attempt by Satan to confuse people and invalidate the day on which they worship God.
If we are not worshiping the One True God on the days that He appointed, we are not obeying or honouring God!
Changing the Sabbath
In a further attempt to destroy God’s Plan, Satan has attempted to change the days on which we should worship. That is why some may say that we must worship God on Sunday. Anciently, people worshipped the sun because it was a thing that they could see and they knew the sun was important to keep them and their crops alive. They worshipped the sun on Sunday. From the second century, Sunday worship was introduced in Rome alongside Sabbath worship. In about the 3rd to 4th century, some people tried to change the Sabbath to Sunday and they convinced others of this lie. See the paper The Sabbath Day (No. CB21).
Substituting a false system for God’s annual Holy Days
Many of the pagan holidays focus on the growing seasons. The year is divided up by the equinoxes, solstices, and cross-quarter days. The equinoxes occur when the sun crosses the equator and day and night are of approximately equal lengths all over the world. The vernal or spring equinox is around March 21st and the autumnal equinox around September 23rd. The solstices are when the sun is at the greatest distance from the celestial equator. It reaches the northern-most point on June 21st, which is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, and December 21st, which is the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, the longest day is December 21st and the shortest is June 21st. Cross-quarter days occur in between the solstice and the equinox.
March 21st Spring Equinox/Ostra/ Easter
Just as attempts were made to change the Sabbath to Sunday, some people also tried to change the Passover to Easter. Actually, the attempt to move the Sabbath to Sunday was tied to the old pagan practices, which were tied to Easter. Easter is a pagan festival to the god Ishtar. The goddess had many different names in the different parts of the world. Some of her names are: Cybele, Shingmoo, Isis, Diana, Nuria, Vensus, Nana, and Disa. In Old English, her name was Easter, and that is where the English name of the festival came from.
The Easter bunny was sacred to the goddess and laid eggs for good children. Easter pictures new life and its symbols are rabbits, eggs and such. Clearly the Bible does not say that we should keep Easter. Some people went as far as to change parts of the Bible to try to get people to keep Easter. In the English King James Version of the Bible (KJV), Acts 12:4 is incorrect because it says "Easter". One needs to look at the Revised Standard Version (RSV) or other correct translations for the proper meaning.
The attempts to say that Christ rose from the dead early Sunday morning were a remake of an old tradition where the priests of Ishtar had a sunrise service. The traditional Easter ham appears to come from the ancient being who became the god Tammuz, who was killed by a wild boar, which is a pig. God tells us that pigs are unfit for us to eat. Please read the study on The Biblical Food Laws (No. CB19).
Attis was another god that bears a strong similarity to Christ. Attis was supposedly born without a human father, came to be a saviour of his people, was crucified on a pine tree, buried and, on the 3rd day, he rose from the dead. Attis’ death was originally celebrated on March 25th. They actually had a weeklong celebration called the Hilaria (Barbara Walker, The Woman’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets, New York: Harper Collins, 1983, pp.267, 268, 403). It was altered to the Friday crucifixion and Sunday resurrection that we all know today and which is falsely labeled as Christian.
Lent
To mainstream Christianity, Lent is a season kept from Ash Wednesday and ends on Easter Sunday. Lent is meant to be 40 days of penance in preparation for Easter. Many people observe Lent by fasting, giving offerings, not eating certain foods and abstaining from amusements, etc.
However, those who follow God’s true Calendar know that Lent is a perversion of the preparation for the First month (Abib) when we prepare for and take the Passover according to God’s Law. The pagan system took this over as it has done with Easter and all the other holidays and traditions introduced by man.
Mardi Gras
This is a colourful celebration held on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Lent begins. The date depends on the date of Easter. The celebration takes place at the end of a long carnival season that begins on January 6 or Twelfth Night. Mardi Gras is a French term meaning Fat Tuesday. The term arose from the custom of parading a fat ox through the streets of Paris on Shrove Tuesday.
The Mardi Gras celebration goes back to an ancient Roman custom of merrymaking before a period of fast.
(World Book Encyclopedia, 1989 Ed.)
Ash Wednesday
On Ash Wednesday in mainstream churches, the people have ashes placed on their foreheads by the priest or minister. It is supposed to remind the people of the shortness of life and the need to prepare for death.
This was not an original Christian custom and it takes its origins from the pagan customs that were taken on with the Easter system in the second century. Ash Wednesday has nothing to do with the Bible system. Originally Ash Wednesday was the mourning for the dying god and the death of the shrove at carnival. It was when they burnt the shrove and that is where the ash came from.
April Fool’s day
The Carnival of the Hilaria ended on April 1st. On this day, the people went around in disguises and generally people could say or do whatever they pleased (ibid., pp.79,403).
May 1st Belatine/ May Day
In Germany, it is known as Walpurgisnacht, in Ireland and Scotland as Beltaine or Baltein, when the god Baal, Bel or Balder was burned in effigy. Sometimes a man is chosen to leap through the fires known as Baler’s balefires in rural Scandinavia (ibid., pp. 624-626). Many will remember from Scripture the references to Baal.
Anciently, Israel also served Baal. "And they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves, and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the starry hosts and they worshipped Baal" (2Kgs. 17:16). See also Judges 2:13.
But what did God say to Elijah? "I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal" (Rom. 11:4). We too should be among those who remain faithful to the One True God and not worship other gods.
This is the time of year that the goddess of witchcraft reaches her full power. Large bonfires are lit to welcome the goddess. Jeremiah tells us that sometimes these fires were for sacrificing people, "They have built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal - something I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind" (Jer. 19:5). We know this is not God’s Law or will.
The Maypole dance is an ancient fertility symbol and dance. The dance was to be continuous interweaving of partners to ward off evil. The Maypole dance was the origin of the square dancer’s Grand Right and Left, as men and women passed in and out of each other’s circles winding the ribbons around the pole (Walker, ibid., pp. 25,26).
Summer Solstice June 21st Litha/Midsummer
The festival of the summer solstice was like the equinoxes and was an important festival of the growing seasons. Bonfires burned all night to encourage the sun to return. There were wild dances and general rowdiness.
Independence Day July 4th in the USA
This is another ancient day of sacrifice in the pagan calendar. It was moved to July 4th so that it would fit in with the ancient Wiccan or Witchcraft calendar, which was a day of human sacrifice.
August 1st Lughnasad / Lammas
Lammas means Feast of Bread. It was the Christian name of the pagan Lugnasad, the Celtic "Games of the Lug" (ibid., pp. 556-556). Lug was a grain god sacrificed and resurrected to honour the Harvest Mother at the beginning of August.
Autumnal Equinox September 21st Mabon
This is another ancient day of sacrifice in the pagan calendar.
Halloween October 31st - All Soul’s Day November 1st
Halloween or All Hallow’s Day was the so-called Christian version of Samhain, the Celtic feast of and to the dead. It was named after the Aryan Lord of the Dead. The pagan idea used to be that at specific times in the seasons "cracks" opened in the fabric of time between the "ghost world" and mortal world (ibid., pp. 371-372). We know from Scripture that the state of the dead is that they sleep (Mat. 9:24; Lk. 8:52); that they know nothing (Ecc. 9:5); that they are silent (Ps. 115:17); and they are in darkness (Ps. 143:3). Anciently, many people believed in an immortal soul. This meant that they would live forever as souls (spirits). People still believe this lie. Symbols such as owls, bats, and cats are soul-type symbols.
Thanksgiving
The cornucopia, which is typically seen at Thanksgiving in the United States, was originally the horn of the Great Mother in her cow or goat form. Her names were Io, Ceres, Hera, and Hathor. All good things poured forth from the hollow horn, which was symbolic of prayer to the goddess. Cornucopias are still frequently seen as decorations although many do not know its pagan meaning as a sacred festival (ibid., p. 90). The original day of Thanksgiving was moved to this date for pagan reasons by the early USA secret cults.
Christmas
The Bible does not tell us to keep any holy day in the 11th month or in December. But, once again, Satan substituted a pagan festival of the Saturnalia, and linked it with Christ’s supposed birthday, and tales of Santa Claus. See the paper Why we don’t celebrate Christmas (No. CB24).
There are numerous pagan rituals tied to the winter solstice that are thousands of years old.
New Year’s Day
In the ancient Roman calendar, the New Year began on the Ides, which is the middle of March. It was generally believed to be a time of wild parties and drunkenness because the New Year would forgive the past year’s sins. Currently, the pre-Lent carnival is still a time of wild parties and sins. As the Roman calendar changed, the New Year was celebrated after the winter solstice and associated with Janus. Janus was a two-faced god that looked backward and forward. She/It was the Mother of Time, ruling the Celestial Things at the back of the North Wind, around which the universe revolved (ibid., p. 208).
February 1st Imbolg/Candlemass day/ Ground hog day
Originally the Candlemas day was a Roman festival honouring Juno Februata as the virgin mother of Mars. The pagan people went around Rome with candles burning to worship Februa. Among the Celtics, it was known as Imblog (ibid., p. 171).
Animals’ behaviour was taken as an omen or prediction of weather (Sam Epstein, Spring Holidays, Champaign, Illinois. 1964, pp. 5-11). Thus, the ground hog day of the USA mimics this festival and is pagan in origin.
Valentine’s Day February 14th
St. Valentine was regarded as the patron of lovers, a tradition that may be connected with the old belief that birds pair on February 14th. Or it may be connected with the pagan fertility festival, Lupercalia. This was a festival where young men chose female partners by drawing their name and engaging in sexual games and activities (Oxford Australian Reference Dictionary).
Saint Patrick’s Day
March 17th was originally associated with Leprechauns who were little green-clothed people who were causing trouble. Green is the symbolic colour of nature. The Shillelagn or Shillelagh was a staff of occult power. It was also known as a fairy wand, unicorn horn, Horn of Moloch and the Italian Horn. The cauldrons were used by witches for their potions and symbolized the financial blessings of Moloch.
Birthdays
Scripture states that the day of one’s death is better than one’s birth (Ecc. 7:1). Nowhere in the Bible are we told to keep birthdays. Actually, the examples in the Bible indicate that we should not keep birthdays (Gen. 40:20; Job 1:4; Mat. 14:6; Mk. 6:21). The Satanic bible lists one’s birthday as the day we become a god. Though we can be members of the God Family, we will never be God like God is God. Keeping birthdays is another one of Satan’s lies.
Another practice associated with some cultures for birthdays is having a Piñata. This is also of pagan origin and we should have nothing to do with this practice. Originally, the Piñata was made in a figure of a mermaid, although it is not always a mermaid now. Sometimes, it is a six-pointed star. This star of the god is derived from the same source as the mermaid. These are pagan gods.
The mermaid was beaten with sticks to break the Piñata or parcel of seeds, which she had, in order that the seeds would fall to the Earth and so reproduce. That is why the Piñata has sweets/lollies in them representing the seeds.
In ancient times, they placed humans in skins and beat them. Often the rites involved human sacrifice.
Mother's Day and Father's Day
The cult of Mother’s Day / Father’s Day was adopted by the Romans. It is part of the fertility cult, which the Trinity represented. The Triune god in Rome was a Trinity of Jupiter, which was the male reproductive Genii, or collective genius of the Roman State. The goddess Juno represented female fertility. The third element was the Minerva, which came from the East and represented the influence of the virgin goddess in acting with the other two in the system. It represents the spiritual power of Lucifer. It is the reason winged female dolls are placed on Christmas trees.
The Mother’s Day / Father’s Day of the modern system varies from nation to nation. Much of it is commercialism, but some of it is tied to the ancient system as well.
Summary
There are many other holidays that we should not keep. If we are unsure about certain days or celebrations, we should ask our parents what the real meaning of the day is to determine if it is an activity in which we should participate.
Remember that when we have at least one parent who is baptized and believes in the One True God, we are holy, or set apart (1Cor. 7:14). What our believing parent or parents teach us as correct from the Bible should guide us, and not what the world teaches us.
We need to avoid learning the ways of the heathen.
Jeremiah 10:2 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
It is up to each one of us to learn to fear and worship God more correctly each time that we go through His Holy Day season. See the paper The Holy Days of God (No. CB22).
Entradas
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario