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SHALOM!
Word of Encouragement:
Deuteronomy 12:3-5 Names of God Bible (NOG)
3 Tear down their altars, crush their sacred stones, burn their poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah, cut down their idols, and wipe out the names of their gods from those places.
4 Never worship Yahweh your Elohim in the way they worship their gods. 5 Yahweh your Elohim will choose a place out of all your tribes to live and put his name. Go there and worship him.
Revelation 18:4 King James Version (KJV)
4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Egyptian Pyramids and Ever Green Christmas Trees have a very similar shape and are both important in different ways. How and why?
Well, in a nut-shell, it is all about sun-worship (a.k.a Ba-al/Bel/Ra worship)!
Notice that the reason why, the ever green christmas trees were chosen to be used around Christmas time is because they are green throughout the year. It is all about making the sun-god happy so that the sun can come out again.
What about the Ever Green Christmas Trees?
According to historical records, some ancient people believed that the sun is a god. They therefore worshipped the sun. They also believed that the winter solstice came about because the sun fell sick. They therefore developed the habit of observing the sun setting on 21st December or 22nd December each year. They then searched for an ever green throughout the year plant to use to honour the sun-god who was known as Ba-al/Ra, etc. From the ever green trees, they made boughs, wreathes, etc to use to chase away bad spirits, witches, death, etc. They also cut the trees down and placed them in their houses.
IN REMEMBRANCE OF NIMROD (BY APOSTLE ELISHEVA ELIYAHU)
Nimrod, the grandson of Noah, became the first king known as Sargon I. He built Babylon and Nineveh. Being warlike, he wore a type of helmet with a horn in the front; a trait inherited by the druid Vikings of the Celts, descendants of the Assyrian line.
Nimrod means “tyrant”. He led the Sumerians of Babylon to pay tribute to the skies (sun, moon, stars, and planets) with the sacrifice of their children. The Tower of Babel was built for this purpose, echoed in other cultures such as the Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas.
Since the head of this government was such an idolatrous tyrant, Shem (Nimrod’s uncle) killed Nimrod. Nimrod’s mother, Semiramis, consoled the people by making them believe the child she carried was Nimrod “reincarnated”– And named him “Duzu” (Tammuz), Babylonian for the son who rises. This Duzu went into the groves (forests) and placed a gift on a tree to honor Nimrod each year at the winter solstice. It has been said that Duzu was the offspring of Nimrod, who mated with his mother. Nimrod became known as Baal, meaning Lord, and was worshipped by the Babylonians as the sun in the sky — thus the origin of “going to the heavens” at death.
Trees and branches became symbols of Nimrod. Because Nimrod was “cut down” by Shem, a tree stump became a place of honoring him. Thus, the Hebrew Scriptures speak of the pagans going into the “groves”, and bringing a “branch to the nose,” and going into the forest and cutting down a tree, decorating it, and propping it up a so that it will not totter.The winter solstice was the time when the sun was thought to be “reborn,” so December 25th was celebrated as Baal’s (Nimrod’s) birthday. By tradition, the artificial idea of a New Year following this birthday celebration became an integral part of every human culture, based on this pagan idolatry. Generally, all mankind is fast asleep, dreaming this old Babylonian dream.
Christmas is an attempt by Catholicism to revise and adopt this paganism. In the year 525, a Scythian monk named Dionysius Exiguus visited Rome. He witnessed the ancient pagan celebration of the winter solstice (then called Paganalia or Saturnalia), and this offended his devout sensibilities.
Scripture itself demands that we observe the Messiah’s death and resurrection, not His birth. But, since the pagan mind was so oriented around fertility and birth, it developed the way we see it today, blending the most important features of pagan interpretation. “Babel, the Great Mother of Harlots and of the Abominations of the Earth” — has intoxicated the masses, and she herself is drunk with the blood of the set-apart ones.
What is her name? It’s Easter! Semiramis, Nimrod’s mother, became known as “Magna Mater”, the “Great Mother”, and was worshipped as Mother Earth. The Sun “mated” with the Earth each spring, and the “Rites of Spring” symbolized by the “May Pole” and “Easter” came 9 moons/months before the December 25th “birth” of the winter Sun. Her Assyrian name, Ishtar, gives us the word “Easter”.
The Romans called her Astarte, and the Phoenicians used Asherah. The Hebrews called her Astoroth, the consort of Baal. Her emblem is the flower of the lily. She is the “goddess of the dawn”, and her statue stands on a bridge in France. The French made a colossus of this image, and it now stands in New York Harbor, facing “East” — in itself a word referring to the rising son/sun — from which her name springs!
Nimrod “He is credited with having instigated the building of the tower of Babel and of being the author of Babylonian idolatry.” What’s more, Bryce Self found in his research that “Nimrod consolidated his power by establishing a state religion. He constructed a religion that included deification and worship of the emperor (himself), [and] worship of Satan.” The fact that this holiday may be associated with the man accredited with the start of religious opposition to YAHUVEH God should make us seriously question its approval by God.
The ZME Science newsletter of December 8th 2017 says that Long before Christianity appeared, people in the Northern Hemisphere used evergreen plants to decorate their homes, particularly the doors, to celebrate the Winter Solstice. On December 21 or December 22, the day is the shortest and the night the longest. Traditionally, this time of the year is seen as the return in strength of the sun god who had been weakened during winter — and the evergreen plants served as a reminder that the god would glow again and summer was to be expected.
The solstice was celebrated by the Egyptians who filled their homes with green palm rushes in honor of the god Ra, who had the head of a hawk and wore the sun as a crown. In Northern Europe, the Celts decorated their druid temples with evergreen boughs which signified everlasting life. Further up north, the Vikings thought evergreens were the plants of Balder, the god of light and peace. The ancient Romans marked the Winter Solstice with a feast called Saturnalia thrown in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture, and, like the Celts, decorated their homes and temples with evergreen boughs.
It’s worth mentioning at this point that Saturnalia was the most important celebration in Roman life. It was a week-long lawless celebration held between 17 and 25 December in which no one could be prosecuted for injuring or killing people, raping, theft — anything usually against the law really. But although a lot of people blew off steam by taking advantage of the lawlessness, Saturnalia could also be a time for kindness. During Saturnalia, many Romans practiced merrymaking and exchange of presents.
Sounds familiar? In the early days of Christianity, the birth of Jesus was set at the last day of Saturnalia by the first Christian Romans in power to approach pagans, even though scholars assert Jesus was born nine months later. It was a clever political ploy, some say, which in time transformed Saturnalia from a frat party marathon into a meek celebration of the birth of Christ.
While a lot of ancient cultures used evergreens around Christmas time, historical records suggest that the Christmas tree tradition was started in the 16th century by Germans who decorated fir trees inside their homes. In some Christian cults, Adam and Eve were considered saints, and people celebrated them during Christmas Eve.
During the 16th century, the late Middle Ages, it was not rare to see huge plays being performed in open-air during Adam and Eve day, which told the story of creation. As part of the performance, the Garden of Eden was symbolized by a “paradise tree” hung with fruit. The clergy banned these practices from the public life, considering them acts of heathenry. So, some collected evergreen branches or trees and brought them to their homes, in secret.
These evergreens were initially called ‘paradise trees’ and were often accompanied by wooden pyramids made of branches held together by rope. On these pyramids, some families would fasten and light candles, one for each family member. These were the precursors of modern Christmas tree lights and ornaments, along with edibles such as gingerbread and gold covered apples.
Some say the first to light a candle atop a Christmas tree was Martin Luther. Legend has it, late one evening around Christmas time, Luther was walking home through the woods when he was struck by the innocent beauty of starlight shining through fir trees. Wanting to share this experience with his family, Martin Luther cut down a fir tree and took it home. He placed a small candle on the branches to symbolize the Christmas sky.
What’s certain is that by 1605, Christmas trees were a thing as, in that year, historical records suggest the inhabitants of Strasburg ‘set up fir trees in the parlours … and hang thereon roses cut out of many-coloured paper, apples, wafers, gold-foil, sweets, etc.’
During these early days of the Christmas tree, many statesmen and members of the clergy condemned their use as a celebration of Christ. Lutheran minister Johann von Dannhauer, for instance, complained that the symbol distracted people from the true evergreen tree, Jesus Christ. The English Puritans condemned a number of customs associated with Christmas, such as the use of the Yule log, holly and mistletoe. Oliver Cromwell, the influential 17th-century British politician, preached against the “the heathen traditions” of Christmas carols, decorated trees, and any joyful expression that desecrated “that sacred event.”
The modern Christmas Tree
Across the ocean, in the 19th century, Christmas trees weren’t at all popular, though Dutch and German settlers introduced them. Americans were less susceptible to the Queen’s influence. However, it was American civic leaders, artists, and authors who played on the image of a happy middle-class family exchanging gifts around a tree in an effort to replace Christmas customs that were seen as decadent, like wassailing. This family-centered image was further amplified by a very popular poem written by Clement Moore in 1822 known as the “Twas the Night Before Christmas”. The same poem conjured the modern picture of Santa Claus.
It took a long time before the Christmas tree became an integral part of American life during this faithful night. President Franklin Pierce (1804-1869) arranged to have the first Christmas tree in the White House, during the mid-1850s. President Calvin Coolidge (1885-1933) started the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on the White House lawn in 1923.
Though traditionally not all Christian cultures adorned their homes with evergreens and presents, the influence exerted by the West and rising consumerism has turned the Christmas tree into a ubiquitous symbol. In fact, many people of other faiths have adopted the Christmas tree (See Japan for instance).
The Christmas tree has gone a long way from its humble, pagan origins, to the point that it’s become too popular for its own good. In the U.S. alone, 35 million Christmas trees are sold annually, joined by 10 million artificial trees, which are surprisingly worse from an environmental perspective. Annually, 300 million Christmas trees are grown in farms around the world to sustain a two-billion-dollar industry, but because these are often not enough, many firs are cut down from forests. This is why we recommend opting for more creative and sustainable alternatives to Christmas trees.
ARE CHRISTMAS TREES OKAY WITH YAH?
WHAT’S WRONG WITH A CHRISTMAS TREE? (BY APOSTLE ELISHEVA ELIYAHU)
I use to go and let my kids pick out the Christmas tree, haven’t you also done that? I didn’t think it was a god but took pride in its beauty as it was all decked out in gold and silver ornaments especially the gold
and silver tinsel on the Christmas tree. How many of us put an angel atop the tree? We thought it meant the Holy angels right? But the truth is when we do this and we are following a heathen custom we were pleasing satan who once was the most beautiful angel of all! Worst of all we slowly killed the tree the minute we had it cut down although we tried to keep it alive with water in the pot knowing it was dying.
- Ok, you may say you used an artificial tree so your not killing a tree. Lets examine this for I did the same thing, besides the stepping on the pine needles in bare feet or the pain of sweeping them up wasn’t worth the pine smell, now was it? Why would satan have us cut down a live tree? Who is the tree of Life? Why YAHUSHUA is the branch of the tree and we are the vines right? What was YAHUSHUA crucified on, a tree! Why would satan want us to decorate a tree that symbolizes the cross our beloved Messiah hung on, was tortured on and died on ? Oh how we grieve YAHUVEH and YAHUSHUA when we did these things and did not know better.
Remember that green or red tree stand? - How many of you have the same tree stand?
- We don’t have to fasten the tree down with nails, we use the bolt to screw the tree so it won’t topple and it will die standing up straight, right?
- We don’t want the Christmas tree to move, do we? Especially when our children greedily grab for their Christmas presents excitedly on December 25, Nimrods birthday! Who is Nimrod you ask? I will get to that later.
THE TREE IS A MOCKERY OF YAHUSHUA (by Apostle Elisheva Eliyahu)
Here is a revelation given to me while going over this page with my site manager. The Christmas tree is a MOCKERY of the death of YAHUSHUA on the cross, because both use nails (or a stand in the case of the tree) to hold them up. Both are held upright. YAHUSHUA died with nails in his hands. Perhaps, before the stand, trees were nailed down so they would stand up. Neither the tree, nor YAHUSHUA when He was on the cross, are allowed to move. Satan mocks the crucifixion. Now, knowing that, do you STILL want to have a tree in your living room and decorate it?
The only one that will be angry that you have forsaken this pagan celebration of Xmas will be satan. I will not put the name of CHRIST in this pagan celebration for it is a lie it is not about the CHRIST we serve our YAHUSHUA!
Have you ever noticed even the stock markets is gauged on how many toys and presents you bought that day?
- Have you noticed suicidal spirits hit people and more commit suicide and are depressed on that day then any other time of the year?
- Maybe now you will understand these people are being tormented by satan and he is trying to sacrifice them just like the evil king Nimrod killed.
MORE ON THE CHRISTMAS TREE (BY APOSTLE ELISHEVA ELIYAHU)
| http://amightywind.com/flash/bootstompstree.swf Give that ol’ tree the boot! |
The morning after the Yule log was burned, pagans would erect a tree and decorate it and surround it with presents. This represented new life to their Child-king. A couple of days after the “Holly kings” death, he came again as the “Oak King”. This practice dates back to ancient Babylon as Jeremiah states: |
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.
For the customs of the people are vain: for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. Jeremiah 10:2-5
In the Northern hemisphere, the shortest day and longest night of the year falls on December 21 or December 22 and is called the winter solstice. Many ancient people believed that the sun was a god and that winter came every year because the sun god had become sick and weak. They celebrated the solstice because it meant that at last the sun god would begin to get well. Evergreen boughs reminded them of all the green plants that would grow again when the sun god was strong and summer would return.
The ancient Egyptians worshipped a god called Ra, who had the head of a hawk and wore the sun as a blazing disk in his crown. At the solstice, when Ra began to recover from the illness, the Egyptians filled their homes with green palm rushes which symbolized for them the triumph of life over death.
The fierce Vikings in Scandinavia thought that evergreens were the special plant of the sun god, Balder.
So the origin of the Christmas Tree is deeply rooted in the worship of the sun in some form or another.
How does YAHUVEH feel about this? Take special notice of what he told his prophet Ezekiel…
Ezekiel 8:15-18
“Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these.” And he brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east. Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose. Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.” – KJV
If we are truly concerned about pleasing YAHUVEH would we want to be associated at all with a custom that brings so much dishonor to him?
What about the Egyptian Pyramids?
These too have something to do with sun-worship.
Location of Egyptian Pyramids
(http://www.ancient-egypt-online.com/ancient-egyptian-pyramids.html)
The Egyptians built all their pyramids on the West bank of the Nile. Scholars have found around 100 pyramids in Egypt and more are likely buried under the sand. The most important pyramid complexes are at Saqqara, Meidum, Dahshur and Giza. Some pyramids are only mud-brick remnants now.
According to Wikipedia, The ancient Egyptians built pyramids as tombs for the pharaohs and their queens. The pharaohs were buried in pyramids of many different shapes and sizes from before the beginning of the Old Kingdom to the end of the Middle Kingdom. There are about eighty pyramids known today from ancient Egypt.
Scholars have excavated a cemetery for pyramid workers at Giza. The tombs helped them understand how the administrative organization of the builders worked. Administrators divided workers into crews that had names and overseers regulated every aspect of the building (http://www.ancient-egypt-online.com/ancient-egyptian-pyramids.html).
The pyramids were built as tombs for kings and it had everything they needed in the afterlife. Ancient Egyptians believed that when the king is dead, part of his soul remains in his body to guide him in the afterlife. For this reason, the corpse was mummified and everything he needed was buried with him.
The burial chambers of most pyramids were underneath the structure. Some of Snefru’s pyramids and the Great Pyramid were exceptions to this rule. In these cases, the burial chambers were inside the structure, along with many false corridors and chambers. This was likely an attempt to confuse grave robbers. No pyramids had traps, the builders depended on the confusing passageways to protect the burial.
Engineers designed the internal chambers to support the weight of the pyramid. The Great Pyramid had a unique feature, shafts leading from the king’s chamber. At first, scholars thought they were ventilation shafts, but some do not reach the outside.
The shape of the Pyramids: Significance
Egyptologists have developed many theories about why the tombs of the early pharaohs were built in the pyramid shape. … The pyramid had sloping sides so that the dead pharaoh could symbolically climb to the sky and live forever. The pyramid represented the rays of the sun.
The Pyramids of Giza are the largest and most recognizable pyramid structures in the world. They were built to honor certain Pharaohs of the fourth ruling dynasty of Egypt during a period known as the Old Kingdom.
The oldest and largest of the three pyramids at Giza, known as the Great Pyramid, is the only surviving structure out of the famed seven wonders of the ancient world. It was built for Khufu (Cheops, in Greek), Sneferu’s successor and the second of the eight kings of the fourth dynasty.
As time went on, pharaohs stopped building pyramids, yet the exact reason for this change is unknown. Many scholars think pharaohs started building rock-cut tombs to stop grave robbers. Similarly to the previous periods, the change could represent shifts in religious ideas, but it is still uncertain.
Egyptian Pyramid Symbolism
(http://www.ancient-egypt-online.com/ancient-egyptian-pyramids.html)
Most scholars believe that most pyramids represent the benben. The benben was the mound that rose from the primordial waters in the Heliopolis creation myth. The creator god stood on the mound to create mankind, the gods and the world.
A small benben was in Ra’s temple at Heliopolis. The Egyptians believed this was the first place the sun’s rays touched each dawn and might have seen the capstones of the pyramids as a form of the benben. Obelisks were also a representations of the same concept, as well as small pyramid-shaped stones some Egyptians built.
Step pyramids have specific beliefs associated with them. Scholars believe the Egyptians saw them as a stairway to the stars. The pharaoh’s soul would climb them to take his place in the stars to be joined with Ra.
Scholars believe true pyramids might reflect a change in religious ideas. Snefru moved his capital and began building true pyramids in the middle of his reign. Scholars think he was trying to associate himself with Ra before his death, as the power of Ra’s priests was rivaling his own. The Egyptians might have thought the true pyramids represented the sun’s rays as they touched the earth.
In summary,
Why did the Egyptians build the pyramids?
- Most pyramids were part of a funerary complex.
- Temples, courtyards, boat pits, small pyramids and a cult pyramid were part of the complex
What did the pyramids represent?
- The Egyptians saw pyramids as representations of the benben.
- Pyramids symbolized staircases to the stars, or the rays of the sun touching the Earth, the concepts changing according to shifts in religious beliefs.
So, What are the similarities between Egyptian Pyramids and Ever Green Christmas/X-mas Trees?
- Were both used in commemoration of Kings
- Both have a triangular shape
- Both have an association with the sun
- Both have an association with the sun-god who is also known as Ra in Egypt and Ba-al as well as Bel elsewhere, etc
- Both are idolatrous symbols
As seen above, both have idolatrous symbolisms attached to them. What does the 2nd commandment say?
Exodus 20:1-6 Tree of Life Version (TLV)
The Ten Words
20 Then God spoke all these words saying,
2 “I am Adonai your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 Do not make for yourself a graven image[a], or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or on the earth below or in the water under the earth. 5 Do not bow down to them, do not let anyone make you serve them. For I, Adonai your God, am a jealous God, bringing the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing lovingkindness to the thousands of generations of those who love Me and keep My mitzvot.
Word of Encouragement:
Deuteronomy 12:3-5 Names of God Bible (NOG)
3 Tear down their altars, crush their sacred stones, burn their poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah, cut down their idols, and wipe out the names of their gods from those places.
4 Never worship Yahweh your Elohim in the way they worship their gods. 5 Yahweh your Elohim will choose a place out of all your tribes to live and put his name. Go there and worship him.
Revelation 18:4 King James Version (KJV)
4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
[YAHUSHUA HA MASHIACH] THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE MINISTRY (based in Glasgow, Scotland, UK) 