Newsletter: A Season To Believe...

Winter Holiday Greetings from HomeWorship 101™

~ The Holiday Season of Hanukkah ~

You probably have heard of the anti-Jewish ranting of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He constantly says Israel is a threat and must be wiped off the map. Israel, a tiny little country compared to it’s much larger Arab neighbors – yet Israel is the threat.

Proposing solutions to the Jewish problem is not a new phenomenon. The Babylonians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Roman Catholics, all made their attempt at solving the problems with the Jews – but the Jews are still here. Even with all the persecution they suffered, and regardless of the fact that they were driven off their land and forced to live amongst the gentiles for more then two millennia, they still remain a distinct people. A thinking person has to wonder why. Why are they hated? And why do they remain a distinct people?

In ancient times the Jews were hated because they steadfastly believed in one and only GOD-CREATOR. The surrounding gentile nations were pluralistic and believed in many gods. If one god wasn’t working for them, no problem, they would tear down it’s statue and give a lesser god and upgrade. When the Romans came to town, they didn’t really didn’t care too much about which gods were worshipped, as long as you didn’t say I believe in the one and only God.

Funny thing about studying history, the more things change, the more they stay the same. The holiday of Hanukah goes back to about the year 165 B.C.E. and it was one of the great Jewish victories of all time, independence from Greco-Syrian oppression. It was a cruel, harsh, and savage time for the Jews. Culturally, it was the "progressive" (sic), Hellenistic time of Greek and Syrian so-called "deities in the flesh," enforcing their modern solution to the Jewish problem. Either assimilate, or be annihilated! If Judaism was practiced, or if the Sabbath was observed, or dietary laws kept, or circumcision performed, or scrolls of the Law were found, the whole family was put to death. Houses were burnt, and tens of thousands were sold into slavery. The full story can be found in 1 and 2 Maccabees of the Apocrypha of the Bible.

After the Jews returned from Babylon, with a sword in one hand and a shovel in the other, they finally rebuilt their beloved Jerusalem Temple, but they had a big problem. The oil for the golden 7-branched lamp stand of the Temple, (called the Menorah in Hebrew), required special preparations, and it took several days to complete the process, but they only had enough consecrated lamp oil for a day. Never-the-less, the Temple light, supplied with only one days worth of oil, burned in the Temple for about eight days until the new oil was ready. Amongst the chaos of their life, it was a Heavenly sign that gave them hope. The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah celebrates this miraculous event. And the meaning behind the bold miracle is that in spite of Satan being the god of this evil world (2Cor.4:4), our CREATOR's Light will shine for the faithful.

Unfortunately, the dark side is always trying to extinguish GOD’S Light, and Hanukkah also commemorates a hard-won victory for religious freedom gained by the faithful against overwhelming odds. No matter who or where you are, you have an individual right to seek GOD's Light and wisdom for your own personal enlightenment. And one can worship however they want! (It was such a great spiritual lesson the ideals became one of the articles on America’s founding Constitution.)

The dark side evolves with society in its ways of extinguishing GOD’s Light. Today, if they can’t do by killing the faithful they will do by something called over-commercialization. In our consumer-driven society, the idea the gift giving has become more important then the meaning of the holiday. For years, many Christians have complained about the Christmas hoopla of gift giving has smothered the more important spiritual meaning of the holiday. It’s gotten so bad they many say it wasn’t the Jews that killed Jesus Christ, it was Santa Clause! The Jews have the much of the same problem. Gift giving has become so prominent in the Hanukkah festivities that some call it the Jewish Christmas. Be cautious not fall victim to the characterless mass-marketing. It’s not about having the best present - remember, “pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” Pro.16:18.

~ The Holiday Season of Christmas ~

Some days it’s just not easy being a Christian. Now as the winter holiday season is upon us and the combat over Christmas begins again. The secular world is hard at work removing nativity scenes, Christmas trees, and anything Christ-like from public property Many Christians still complain that Christmas is being over-commercialized. In an effort to please everyone, stores are distancing themselves from the conflict and wishing everybody “Happy Holidays” instead of saying “Merry Christmas.” Which makes many Christians are complain that the stores are trying to take Christ out of Christmas and they are making noise about boycotting any store that says “Happy Holidays” instead of wishing consumers “Merry Christmas.” (Oy vey!)

On top of that there are those Christians who say that Christmas is a pagan holiday, and the cut and decorated tree is a pagan symbol. This year, internet progress has brought their rants to a new level, care of Youtube, you can see them yelling Santa Clause will take you to hell. (I know you will never teach anybody anything if one begins be insulting the person. Double, Oy vey!!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iX5QOUaQLQ

Then there are the Messianic Jews who argue, if Christ is the King of the Jews shouldn’t the Christ followers give up their pagan holidays and join in on the Jewish holidays? (Jump from one boiling pot into another? Triple, Oy vey.)

So what is a poor Christian to do? If one studies the history of Christmas you learn that the Americas founders and the first Protestants did not celebrate Christmas. They were suspicious of it because it came from Roman Catholic church, not the Bible. There even were laws in England and early America making the observation illegal. So what is a poor Christian to do? How did things get so upside down?

Clear thinking Bible readers can see…

Think back in time for a moment, past the layers of tradition to the beginning. The year was 321 C.E., and the Roman Emperor Constantine worried over civil unrest in the heartland. There were the usual problems plaguing the empire for the last few hundred years, disease, pestilence, corruption, bandits, tribal warfare, etc. In hard times the people needed a scap-goat to blame their troubles on. When times got hard, the tradition among the Gentiles was to tear down the statue of their existing, non-performing god, and replace it with another god, which gives them hope for a better future. Now the emperor wondered what to do to bring peace to the empire. They had used up most of the Greek and Roman gods, and they really didn't work anyway. Because of Acts 15:1-35 and other Gospel passages, joining up with the Jews was not an option, (and today it is still not an option). But maybe adopting the Gospel story of the Messiah-Christ would work.

By now, most all of the Jewish-Christians had been killed, or driven deep underground. Torah learned Gentiles were few, so there would not be much of a protest if some Gospel events were given that "special" Roman touch. The emperor’s sales pitch to his advisors might have been something like this: "We'll disregard the complexity of Hebrew scrolls (the Old Testament), and concentrate only on the end of the story - the belief in the Messiah! Yesterday's - pagan - priests will become today's Gospel priests. Yesterday's temple to Zeus will be replaced with today's Je'zeus. Yesterday's - pagan - holidays will be rewritten with today's Gospel stories of Jesus. He was the Son of God, and had much the same life story as Hercules. You already know the story. His father is a god. He lived to do good works for the oppressed. He died before finishing his work. Went to hell to battle evil, and now sits with his father in heaven. All you have to do is change the names."

If you think about it, it worked! In their eyes, “Good” conquered evil! The Romans never again tore down their Christ-centered worship places and replaced them with some other god. And America, based on the spiritually advanced Protestant concepts, managed, in-spite of all odds, to become a great nation. Now in our modern time here in America, we have the freedom to study the Bible, and other ancient texts. Computers make it very easy to compare different language texts. And with the Jews back in their homeland, we have discoveries in Biblical archeology, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, which are helping to prove the Biblical accounts and prophecies. After careful examination, clear thinking Bible readers can see the prejudice and methods of control in different religions, and now find themselves questioning long held beliefs. For example, the Christmas tree, I grew up believing that it was a quaint German tradition from the 17^th century. I was astonished to learn that the Prophet Jeremiah was already preaching against this pagan practice 600 years before Christ was born (Jer.10:2-4). At least today, no one prays to the holiday trees anymore.

Throughout history, various groups - churches, trade unions, governments, etc. - come to power by instituting reforms to help people. In time, the organizations loose their way and become rigid and top heavy, no longer serving the people. Then the roles reverse, and it is the people who wind up serving the organization. For example: I was raised Lutheran (the people who spawned the Protestant revolution), and my biggest question is: "What have you done for me lately? Originally, Martin Luther (the early years), had 80-odd good ideas, but he could have gone even further...” Sadly, it seemed to me that the religious leaders are more revenue, then Bible orientated.” Frustrated, I put on my hiking boots and blazed my own trail up the spiritual mountain of knowledge. I hope that I have an "inspired" point of view, but I didn't stand in a beam of light to get this spiritual enlightenment, I worked at it! It took many books, and many years of study and prayer to get this far.

In the past,

the Jews were persecuted because they believed

in the one and only GOD-CREATOR.

Now two-thirds of the religious world argues and murders

over the one and only way to worship

the one GOD-CREATOR.

Bottom line to Satan,

he is laughing all the way to the soul bank - his body count is still a steady business.

In my climb up the spiritual mountain of knowledge, I remember meeting with a Christian Sabbath keeping group, who also kept the Biblical Holy Days. Some of the member’s relayed stories of how they had had arguments, and had broken ties with their parents, or other close friends and relatives who continued to be Christmas keepers. Personally, I think this is sad, most everyone I know, family, friends, workplace, are Christmas keepers but I know they are not evil. The purists would accuse me of being a little new-ageish, because I don't choose sides in the faith wars. But I'm not some new-ager, and I’m not a holiday-Nazi, I'm a realist, and a teacher. I know that you will never begin to teach someone something new if you begin by insulting them. Learning about our CREATOR and Messiah should not break up families, it should bring them together!

False doctrines aside, I see organized religion more as a Bible learning center. The Romans brought the Bible down to its lowest common dominator, and let's call that the grade school level. The Protestants are like high school. The Sabbath keepers, the Holy Day keepers, the Sacred Names keepers, are like junior college. And studying Hebrew, Biblical archeology, and natural healing, are like the university level. I can't help but wonder, do the university professors look down their noses at the grade school teacher? Do the college students, confident in their educational superiority, insult the grade school students?

Maybe this holiday has pagan roots, but people are not sacrificing children and virgins anymore - they are celebrating righteousness. Would the Xmas critics feel better if the masses went back to celebrating paganism instead? I don’t think so. Do you think they will all just give up Christmas and start keeping Tabernacles? I don’t think so. Discounting the characterless mass-marketing, they are celebrating the Divine concept of giving, instead of receiving (Act.20:35). One must remember, if giving up long held traditions was so easy, there wouldn't be a very special reward for it, Rev.2:17. We should always look to the example of our Master-Teacher. When Yahshua-Jesus was talking to a general audience about Heaven, with all His spiritual knowledge, He didn't look down his nose at them and demand ritual purity. He spoke of His FATHER's Kingdom as a blessing to the people, Mat.5:1-12.

Presently, this world is a compromise. The righteous do not have it completely their way, and neither does the dark side, (Mat.13:36-43). There is no doubt, when the conquering Messiah arrives, He will destroy this corrupt system and things will change, but until then, getting to Heaven is a matter of the heart, (Dan.2:34; Heb.4:12). If getting there was because of a perfect theology, then we would a-l-l be in serious trouble.

It is important to remember, Adam and Eve, after being created, immediately knew their CREATOR. After their fall from grace, humanity now has to have 'faith' in our CREATOR, and the 'heart' for HIS Righteous path, (Heb.11:1). That is what makes the faithful so special, because we believe without seeing, and follow HIS Ways (Jon.20:29,1Pet.2:9).

Sometimes I receive mail asking why I do not list the year ending holidays of Hanukkah and Christmas on my website. The focus of my book and website is – nonreligious - Biblical teaching only. Technically speaking, Hanukkah and Christmas are “traditional” or “national” religious holidays based on Biblical stories. Discounting the characterless mass-marketing, I don't have a problem with righteous themed holidays as long as they do not replace the Biblically - YHWH - ordained Holy Days or Holy Convocations of Lev.ch.23.

Wishing you a season of believing... Blessings, Errol.

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Errol Mueller, chronicler extraordinaire

e-mail: errol@homeworship101.com

website: www.homeworship101.com

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WSC Newsletter 2008-06, posted 12/20/08.

Copyright © 2008 Errol Mueller. All rights reserved. Short quotations, page copying, or redistribution for personal or non-commercial group study is permitted and encouraged, provided they are copied in total with no alterations or deletions. Author’s name, website address, and copyright notice must be included. If any other use is desired, written permission is required.

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Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version of the Holy Bible.

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