There are two places in the Torah, both in the Book of Deuteronomy, where God says that we are not to treat him the way the pagans treat their gods.
But in the Book of Leviticus, the first 7 chapters are dedicated to tell us how to do the things that the pagans did! So, what’s up with that?
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God says not to do as the pagans do, but tells us we should sacrifice to him (which pagans do for their gods) and we are to bring him offerings of fruit (which pagans do for their gods).
I have been seeing this “don’t do as they do” command lately more than usual because it is one of the main arguments against celebrating Christmas and Easter. Personally, I am Jewish and don’t celebrate either of them, but what I do celebrate is God and his Messiah, Yeshua, so when I see people telling others that these man-made Christian holidays are pagan, just because they fall on a certain date or because they incorporate a tree (which is nothing like what Jeremiah and Isaiah talked about) and misusing this command in Deuteronomy, I have to say something.
I have already lost one of my “friends” who even honored me for years as her “mentor”, but now has rejected me and all my teachings because she is adamantly against Christmas, and I defend it. She has even gone as far to warn people in my own discussion group against following me because I support paganism. Oy!
So, let’s see what this is all about, this idea that we are not to do as pagans do yet God tells us to do the same things that pagans do.
Lety’s start with the first admonition against this in Deuteronomy 12:1-4. Here is what the verse states (CJB):
You must destroy all the places where the nations you are dispossessing served their gods, whether on high mountains, on hills, or under some leafy tree. Break down their altars, smash their standing-stones to pieces, burn up their sacred poles completely and cut down the carved images of their gods. Exterminate their name from that place.
But you are not to treat Adonai your God this way.
This commandment is to be performed when the Israelites enter the land while they are conquering it, eliminating the pagan people as God directed them to do.
The main emphasis on this command is to destroy every pagan symbol and formation they find, but they are never to do that to anything that is of God. There isn’t anything here about not copying the pagan practices, only not doing to God’s standing stones and altars as they are doing to the pagan ones.
Now let’s see what Deuteronomy 18:9-12 says (CJB):
When you enter the land Adonai your God is giving you, you are not to learn how to follow the abominable practices of those nations. There must not be found among you anyone who makes his son or daughter pass through fire, a diviner, a soothsayer, an enchanter, a sorcerer, a spell-caster, a consulter of ghosts or spirits, or a necromancer. For whoever does these things is detestable to Adonai, and because of these abominations Adonai your God is driving them out ahead of you.
Now we see that God is a little more detailed in what he says we should not do. And, relating the many experiences I have had with Christian friends and their families, I do not recall anyone ever doing any of those things during Christmas or Easter.
The bottom line is this: every religion has sacrifices and offerings, that is an essential part of worship. So, when a Hindu offers fruit to one of their many gods, or a Buddhist offers fruit to their god, and then a Jewish or Christian person offers fruit to the God of Abraham Isaac, and Jacob, why is it okay for the Jew and Christian but not okay for the Hindu or Buddhist?
After all, aren’t they all doing the same thing?
Yes, they are both doing the same thing and no, they are doing something totally different; it is that difference that is so important.
The difference is not what we are doing, but to whom we are doing it.
When we are worshiping the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob by obeying the Torah regulations regarding sacrifice and offerings, we are pleasing God and doing what is righteous in his eyes.
On the other hand, if we burn our children as an offering to Molech, or bring fruits to Ba’al, or sacrifice to Ashera, that is not going to get us an invitation to eternity.
For a few years now I have asked this question to those who are adamant that Christmas and Easter are pagan: “How can something be pagan when there are no pagan gods involved?”
And you know what? No one has addressed it directly- all I get is a red herring about Jeremiah and trees, or December 25th isn’t Yeshua’s real birth date, or some other comment that does not directly say how something can be pagan without a pagan god.
You know why? Because it can’t be pagan without a pagan god, and since there are no pagan gods associated with Christmas or Easter, they cannot answer truthfully because it is the one thing that will destroy their “Christmas is pagan” argument.
I have even had people tell me that Santa is thought to be a god, but the truth is that Santa has NEVER been considered a god by anyone: what a ridiculously lame attempt.
And since the Bible is pretty clear that what we do in worship is going to be accepted or rejected based on who we are worshiping, if a man-made holiday is designed to thank God for sending Messiah Yeshua by celebrating his birth (or resurrection), regardless of the tree and tinsel and Maypole and such, it honors God and his Messiah, so how is that pagan?
Unless, of course, you think God doesn’t know the difference between honoring him and Dagon, or Ba’al, or Molech, or Ashera? Personally, since we are told over and over throughout the Bible that God knows our hearts and minds, I can’t see him getting confused about who you are really worshiping.
I will agree that the real meaning of these holidays has been lost to many by over-commercialization.
So, the bottom line is this: so long as we are not doing specifically what God said not to do in Deuteronomy 18, and the holidays we do celebrate are designed solely for honoring the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, thanking him for his blessings (whether they be of health, freedom, or the Messiah), we are doing what pleases God and is right in his eyes.
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That’s it for today, so l’hitraot, and Baruch HaShem!