What to do about Christmas and Easter. . .
That's what our Christian forefathers did with our holidays. When Rome was conquering and assimilating all the known world into the Empire, and Constantine declared "Christianity" the religion of the empire, the Roman Catholic Church re-labeled the Winter Solstice/Saturnalia with "Christmas" (the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ). They flat out adopted Easter and called it the celebration of Jesus' resurrection because it was around the time that Jesus really was resurrected - during the week of Unleavened Bread. Let's just be honest and call it like it is. The Winter Solstice is a pagan celebration - it's sun worship, not SON worship. Jesus was never in it. It was around long before Jesus was even born. The gift giving, the evergreen tree, the feasting, caroling, decorations, all of it is rooted in paganism and demon worship, it's a G-rated version of the orgies, child sacrifices, and reveling that happened in honor of Nimrod (AKA Zeus, Saturn, Ra, Mithras, Baal, etc.). Easter is the ancient fertility goddess (AKA Ishtar, Astarte, Artemis, Isis, "Queen of heaven", etc.), companion to the sun god. Go ahead, do the research! Look up the origins of Easter and Christmas, you may be surprised.
So if this is a fact, how come Christians insist that they can just celebrate Jesus in these two holidays? Probably because most church leaders are still teaching the "Christmas" and Easter propaganda to people, and the people are buying it. And why not? "Christmas" is a fun, family holiday and we love it! Easter is supposed to be all about the most important event in history to believers, and we love it! But if we found out that Easter and "Christmas" have nothing to do with Jesus, would we still love those holidays? Sadly many people love those holidays more than they love what God says. God said to His people in Deuteronomy 12:29-32: "When the LORD your God cuts off before you the nations which you are going in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, beware that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, 'How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?' You shall not behave thus toward the LORD your God, for every abominable act which the LORD hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it.".
To the people who know: why do we continue the deception of making it all about Jesus, and continue to worship God the way we want instead of the way He wants? To the people who haven't heard yet: we have inherited lies and are deceived. (Jeremiah 16:19)
God gave us His Holy Days to keep in Leviticus 23. Why aren't we keeping those instead?
The main reason is because of theology. Popular modern protestant theology stems from Roman Catholic doctrines of old. One point of this theology is a misinterpretation of Paul's letters in the New (Renewed) Testament, in order to separate the church from her Jewish roots and create a whole new religion - the Roman Catholic religion. It is the doctrine that states that Jesus fulfilled the Law (Torah: God's instructions, commandments), so we don't have to. But this is not a Biblical concept.
Jesus (Yeshua) did fulfill the Torah, but He didn't do away with it, or start a new religion. In fact, if Jesus did away with the Law of God, then He is a false prophet by God's own standards.
Deuteronomy 13:1-5 says, " If a prophet or a dreamer of
dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the
wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, 'Let us go after
other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,' you shall not
listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for Yehovah your
God is testing you to find out if you love the LORD your God with all your heart
and with all your soul. You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you
shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him. But
that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has
counseled rebellion against the LORD your God who brought you from the land of
Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to seduce you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to
walk. So you shall purge the evil from among you."
We know that Jesus didn't say, "Let us go after other
gods", rather, He always led people back to the Father and His commands. Verse 5 explains what false prophets do, they
seduce people away from God's commands, specifically in context, the Torah. God
calls this 'counceling rebellion against Him'. According to this passage in
Deuteronomy, we are shown what following the LORD, YHVH (Yehovah), the one true God and Creator
of all, is: it is fearing Him, keeping
His commandments, listening to His voice, serving and clinging to Him. The
Father is serious about His Word. Moses warns us in Deuteronomy 4:1-3: "Now,
O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I am teaching you to
perform... You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take
away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I
command you." The Law, Writings, and the Prophets (Old Testament) are God's Word and Jesus is the Word made flesh (John 1:14). He lived out God's Torah perfectly and fulfilled the requirements necessary for our salvation (2 Corinthians 5:21). He also taught us how to apply God's Torah in our lives, but He did not come and die a horrible death in order to exempt us from following God's commands. Jesus said, "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill (fully live out / to varify). For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." And when Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 that "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the person of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.", what Scripture do you think he was referring to? There was only the Old Testament Scriptures when he said that.
God didn't start Judaism or Christianity - men did. God simply created us in order to have a relationship with us. But God uses Judaism and Christianity to bring people to His Word. He is our Father and He has given us His Word to teach us what He loves and what He hates. The Torah is our tutor, our instructor, that leads us to the Messiah. Once we have mastered the Torah, we are no longer under it, but have come to maturity of faith in Jesus because of it (Galatians 3:24-25). Likewise, we don't skip elementary school and go straight to high school or college, nor once we arrive at high school or college do we forget all the fundamental education that we learned in elementary school. We don't suddenly forget how to add, read, or write. Rather, we keep what we have learned and build upon it. This is exactly how God's Word has unfolded for His people, and that is how we are to treat His Word, for the whole sum of His Word is truth (Psalm 119:160). Jesus alone is our Source of salvation; we enter the kingdom of God through faith in Him. No one has ever been saved by works or by keeping God's commands, but once we are saved, we delight in keeping His commands because we love Him (John 14:15; I John 5:1-3). Let us learn to love what He loves and hate what He hates and adjust our lives accordingly so that we can walk with Him!
"The LORD spoke again to Moses, saying, 'Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, "The LORD's appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy convocations, My appointed times are these . . ." (Leviticus 23:1). The Biblical holy days are God's apointed times with those who are His, they mark highlighted events in which God does something significant in the world. The Hebrew word for 'apointed times' (sometimes translated as 'feasts') means a special meeting time for a purpose. The holy days God gives us are to be kept, if for no other reason, than to meet with God on the days He has set specifically to come meet with us. He instructed that these times are to be holy convocations. The Hebrew word for 'convocation' means a rehearsal and assembly meeting. We often do not realize God's purposes for what He tells us to do, but we are told to rehearse the holy days, not only to be prepared for what is to come, but also because Jesus our Messiah is the very substance of these days! (Colossians 2:16-17; Hebrews 10:1)
