Christmas - Celebrating the Son or the Sun?

Christmas, our Messiah's birthday?

Luke 1:5: In the days of Herod the king of Judea, there was a certain priest named Zacharias, of the daily course of Abijah... Zacharias was the father of John the Baptist. During Zacharias' temple course or division, the course of Abijah, Gabriel came to him saying his wife Elizabeth, who was barren, would conceive. Immediately after his return home, Elizabeth did indeed conceive. Let's look at some numbers. Now remember, these temple courses or divisions are going by the Hebrew calendar.

Abijah is the eighth temple course or division (I Chronicles 24:10) of twenty-four. Each course or division served for two weeks each year in the Temple. Therefore, the division of Abijah, which Zacharias was a part of, served during the 15th and 16th weeks of the Hebrew year. When do these weeks fall? The dates from the beginning of the 15th week to the end of the 16th week are the 10th of Tammuz to the 24th of Tammuz. The month of Tammuz has 29 days. So, it is fairly safe to assume that by the beginning of Av, the month following Tammuz, Elizabeth had conceived (Luke 1:23, 24).

Now, in Luke 1:26-37, we see Gabriel sent to Mary to give her the news of her expected child, Yeshua. Mary and Elizabeth are cousins, and during the course of Gabriel and Mary's conversation, Gabriel tells her that her cousin, Elizabeth, is in the sixth month of her pregnancy. This puts us in the month of Tevet. We will assume Mary conceived when, or shortly after, Gabriel was speaking with her.

So, considering all of this, and counting nine months from the end of Tevet, we land in the month of Tishri. Now, let me assure you, Tishri does not correspond to our December. Tishri is around the end of September and beginning of October on our calendars.

There is, however, a Biblical holiday right in the middle of Tishri. It is called Succot or the Feast of Tabernacles, and is a celebration and remembrance of God's provision during the forty years of wandering in the desert, in which everyone lived in tents or tabernacles. It also commemorates God coming to dwell in the midst of the people in the Tabernacle. Could the Lord have chosen this festival as the time for Yeshua's coming on purpose? God once again came and "tabernacled" among us, but this time in a body of flesh (John 1:14 - in the Greek and Aramaic the word tabernacled, not dwelt, is used). Could it be that we are celebrating the wrong day?

If that is not enough, then consider this: December 25 is right in the middle of the rainy season in the Judean hills. No shepherds would have been out at night with their sheep in pasture, as it is very cold during this time, especially at night (I am referring to the story of the shepherds who were in the hill country with their sheep, and to whom the angels appeared. This is not the story of the wise men from the East, who did not visit Yeshua until He was about two. Luke 2:8-17).

The origins of "December 25"

December 25 was originally a Babylonian and Egyptian festival. For what you ask? This is the day that the queen of heaven (Isis in Egypt and Ishtar in Babylon) gave birth to the sun or sun god (Ra in Egypt and Baal in Babylon). That is enough right there to stop, but let's follow its evolution a bit further.

According to legend, this day is also the birthday of the head Greek god, Zeus. This is a minor example, the ones coming are much heavier. Let me warn you now, if you go on, it could severely shake up the customs and traditions you hold dear. But, perhaps that is why God is having you read this.

Let's take a trip to ancient Rome. The Romans had a festival which lasted from December 17 until December 23, the week right before the winter solstice, called Saturnalia. This festival was a feast to the god Saturn, the Roman god of sowing and husbandry, and was usually filled with acts of drunkenness and gluttony. A little later came the sun god Mithra. Mithra originated in ancient Persia, but penetrated into the Roman ranks of gods. The myth was that Mithra, the sun god, was born on December 25, or the winter solstice, when the sun starts its course. This festival was called in Latin Natalis Solis Invicti, or Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun.

So, how do I know that these pagan holidays all took place on December 25th? The Gregorian calendar we have now did not come into use until after the death of Yeshua. These ancient festivals were on different calendars, and could move around on our calendar. Good point, but look at this!

The Gregorian calendar we use now is a solar calendar, corresponding to the major solar occurrences. Now, back to the ancient festivals for a second. These festivals to the sun were always held at the winter solstice (when the sun is at it's furthest point from earth and directly above the Tropic of Capricorn, thus creating the shortest day worth of daylight in the Northern Hemisphere) because it was the day when the sun started it's cycle over again, or was "re-born".

So, with our calendar being a solar calendar, the winter solstice never shifts more than a couple of days, and always lands right around December 25. So, this is indeed the exact couple of days in which the ancients worshipped the sun, putting all calendars aside and going purely by the cycle of the sun.

How wonderful that we celebrate our Lord's coming to earth on the same day the pagan's worship their gods! Is it? Does God have any desire to be associated with these "gods" in any way?

The origins of our modern "Christmas"

It was decided around 340 AD that December 25, the day of Mithra's birthday, would now be the birthday of Yeshua. Not until this point was the birthday of Yeshua ever celebrated, except by a possible small minority, who would have celebrated it during the Feast of Tabernacles. The more important of Yeshua's dates, to the early church, was Passover, when he died for our sins. Sadly, this too has been corrupted with the pagan holiday of Easter. (We will discuss this in a later essay.)

Anyway, back to the Roman Catholic Church. December 25 was chosen as Yeshua's birthday, which fit well with the anti-Semitic attitude that the Church had by this time, and all of the pagan traditions from the sun festival were absorbed as "Christian". When Christendom expanded north into Northern Europe, it was discovered that other pagan peoples (ie. the Norsemen) also celebrated festivals to the sun at the winter solstice (ie. the Norsemen's Yule festival). Getting them to celebrate Christmas instead would be easy, they didn't have to give up anything, just change the name!

With the advent of Christmas also came the creation of Easter (traditionally a festival to Ishtar and her many identities among other civilizations) at the spring equinox (another solar occurrence), as well as other minor Catholic holidays each corresponding with pagan festivals.

The pagan festivals of Rome, and other peoples, were numerous, but none as prominent as the festivals Saturn and Mithra before and during the winter solstice. How could everyone give these up? To get people to give this all up for Christianity would be hard, if not impossible, so why not absorb it all and have the best of both worlds? This is apparently the thinking of the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church at the time. Did this please God? What makes us think it pleases Him now?

The term "Christmas" - Christ's Mass or the Mass of Christ

The first comes when the catechumens (those not yet initiated into the secrets of the service) finish singing or chanting their songs, and are dismissed by the priest. The second part of Mass from which the term is derived is at the very end. At the end of the service, the priest says, "Ite, missa est", or "Go, you are dismissed".

How fitting that the word Christmas, if the whole thing is put in its very literal English meaning, says Messiah's dismissal or the dismissal of Messiah. Why is this the term used for the day that Yeshua was supposedly born? Perhaps God did this as a play on words. The other customs of Christmas, all of pagan background, more often than not seem to overshadow or "dismiss" Yeshua.

Final points

So, how did a man-made holiday with pagan roots and customs come to be exalted above the God given feasts in the Bible? Yeshua said it best: "But in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrine the ordinances of men." (Matthew 15:9) And what does Paul have to say? "For a time will be when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own lusts, they will heap up to themselves teachers tickling the ear; and they will turn away the ear from the truth and will be turned aside to myths." (2 Timothy 4:3, 4)

They were talking about people who supposedly follow God. They had adopted the ways of the world as their own. It has come to pass, right in our midst, in Christianity. Read Jeremiah chapter 10. Bear resemblance to a holiday you know? We have become like the nations that Jeremiah warned to stay away from!

Just a quick summary. Yeshua's exact date of birth is not known for certain, but what is known is that it is in the month of Tishri. Tishri does not correspond with December, but with September/October. December 25, or the winter solstice, was, for millennia before Yeshua's birth and centuries after, celebrated as the birth of the sun. The sun, under the guise of numerous different names, was a common pagan god, as it dominated everyone's lives.

The Roman Catholic Church, in the 4th century AD, decided to make December 25 the birthday of Yeshua so as to entice all the pagans to convert without fear of losing their winter festivals.

So, now what do we do? It is hard to give up Christmas, as it is deeply embedded in our culture and religion. It usually offends or makes skeptics of many when someone stops celebrating Christmas. Let me ask you something, are you more concerned about offending people or of offending God? Do you think God likes the fact that His Son's coming to earth is celebrated on the day of numerous pagan festivals? Or that pagan customs and traditions are used on that supposed birthday? But you say you are doing it with a right heart, and for that God won't mind. Think again. Saul, when he was told to destroy the Amalekites and all of their spoils, decided that he would keep the best of the spoils and use some of it to sacrifice to God. His heart was right, but that is not what he was commanded to do. ("To obey is better than sacrifice.) 1 Samuel 15:22. We have been commanded to be a separate people unto God, we are not to embrace the things of the world, which the Church did by instituting a pagan festival as Yeshua's birthday.

Need I go on with examples? Need I remind you of what happened to Israel 200 years after Solomon's reign because they incorporated pagan rituals and customs into their lives and relationship with God? I am sure the people of Israel felt the same way we do about Christmas. They probably thought it was not that big a deal, they still loved God, and were doing these things unto Him, He understood, right? Why have we no fear of God? Has God changed? The Word says He never has and never will.

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