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BibleTruth.cc "Doctrines of Demons" Series What's Wrong with Christianity? The False Teachings of Popular Churchianity Written by David M Rogers www.BibleTruth.cc Published: 2005 Table of Contents False Prophets and False Teachers
The title to this web page might elicit many thoughts and responses. We could talk about the moral corruption of the Christian Church. Evangelical preachers and now Roman Catholic priests have gotten more than their fair share of headlines for their despicable immorality and disgusting lifestyle practices. Or we could talk about the persecutions by the church and the killing of millions which are well documented in church history books. Or we might discuss many other abuses for which church leaders and laypeople will someday give an account. However, the intention of this question should be understood in terms of a discussion of the traditions and common practices, customs and doctrines of the Christian Church. The Christian Church is supposed to be following the Messiah of the Bible and the teachings of the Bible. If it is important to us to follow the Messiah of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures, then it should also be important to us to do what He told us to do and to believe what he told us to believe. Yahusha (the actual Hebrew name of the Messiah) once told his disciples, "If you love me, you will obey what I command" (John 14:15). And, in another place, Yahusha replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me" (John 14:23,24). So, if we are to obey his word, keep his commands and walk as Yahusha did, then we must know for certain what he has commanded us to do. The Christian world consists of hundreds of denominations, sects and branches. It has become this way because of the proliferation of divergent and distinctive doctrinal beliefs. From very early in the common era, false teachers have infiltrated the ranks of true believers of the Word causing divisive and destructive disagreements over correct teaching. In fact, doctrinal controversies have been a trademark of Christian churches throughout her history. The spread of false doctrine is at the root of all that is wrong with the Christian Church today. The apostle Sha'ul (Paul) had some important things to say about the rejection of sound doctrine. He said that intolerance for sound biblical doctrine would be characteristic of the church in the end times: For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. (2 Timothy 4:3,4) And this is precisely what we see in the Christian churches today. Nearly every "Christian" church in the world today is laden with false doctrines which are nothing more than myths. The false doctrines of Christianity today have become its own deadly plague. Sha'ul (Paul) himself defines the terms "sound doctrine," "false doctrine," "truth" and "myths" by the way he uses them. Note carefully how these terms are used and interconnected in the introductory portion of his first letter to Timothy: As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than Elohim's work-- which is by faith. The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm. We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers-- and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed Elohim, which he entrusted to me. (1 Timothy 1:3-11) Sha'ul contrasts false doctrines and sound doctrine. At the beginning of the passage he references those who teach false doctrines. At the end of the passage he references sound doctrine. The point of reference which distinguishes between the false and the sound is the matter of what a person does with the law. In other words, Sha'ul describes law-breaking as false doctrine and lawbreakers as being contrary to sound doctrine. It couldn't be clearer in the text that breaking the Law is what constitutes "false doctrine" or being "contrary to the sound doctrine." Sha'ul writes that the law is good if one uses it properly. But those who promote false doctrines don't "use it properly. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about." As a result of not using it properly, they become lawbreakers and rebels, ungodly and sinful, unholy and irreligious, and kill their fathers or mothers, become murderers, adulterers and perverts, slave traders and liars and perjurers. Those who embrace sound doctrine are those who are characterized by love, which is at the heart of the law, a pure heart, a good conscience and a sincere faith. All of these characteristics are descriptive of the person who obeys Elohim's law. Thus, by inference, the one who uses the law properly and is not a lawbreaker is in possession of sound doctrine. So, keeping the law is characteristic of those who hold sound doctrine. Christianity has become a religion that practices lawlessness. This would include nearly every denomination and sect. They have rejected Elohim's Torah, His Law. And in doing so, they have all become corrupt... "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks Elohim. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." "Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit." "The poison of vipers is on their lips." "Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness." "Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know." "There is no fear of Elohim before their eyes." The Christian church has rejected Elohim's Law, the Torah of the Old Testament, the instructions which Elohim has given his people which serve as guidelines for the one who wants to walk with Elohim. By rejecting the Torah, they have rejected the instructions which would keep them from believing and embracing false doctrines which are based on myths. The prophet Hosea describes the result of Elohim's people rejecting His instructions (the Torah): My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your Elohim, I also will ignore your children. (4:6) Because Elohim's people of the Old Testament times rejected his Torah, he says he also rejects them. But the same is true of Elohim's people of the New Testament times! Yahusha said the exact same thing about people who reject his Torah: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' "(Matthew 7:21-23) The term "evildoers" is the Greek word, anomos, which means "lawbreakers" or "Torah breakers" or "anti Torah" - take your pick of the definitions. In the judgment, Yahusha will ultimately reject all who reject and break his Torah. This includes both "Old Testament" people and "New Testament" people. Elohim is consistent. Elohim is not duplicitous. His judgment is fair and righteous. Both Sha'ul (Paul) and James are in agreement with this. Both teach that those who obey Elohim's Torah will be declared righteous: For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in Elohim's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. (Romans 2:13) You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. (James 2:24) The Torah was given as a schoolmaster (see Romans). Elohim's people need this schoolmaster to guide them in their everyday living. Without the Torah, we would not know how to live a life which pleases Elohim. Without the Torah, the Christian Church has gone badly astray. Without the Torah, the world of Christianity has embraced false doctrines of every kind, and is in danger of being rejected by Yahusha in the soon coming judgment. Every false doctrine believed by Christians, and every false custom and practice which Christianity embraces can be attributed to their rejection of Elohim's Torah. The Torah gives explicit instructions about who Elohim is, how he wants to be worshiped, and how he wants his covenant people to eat, walk, talk, dress. The Torah gives instruction about how to live a life devoted to Elohim and separated to his purposes. The Torah alone holds this information. And the Christian Church has rejected these instructions. As a result, the practices, customs, traditions and teachings of all Christian churches are based upon a lie. All of those customs and traditions and practices which are commonly thought to be "Christian" are, in fact, not! Worship on Sunday is not biblical! The Torah, Elohim's instructions to his covenant people, does not teach worship on the first day of the week. Yahusha never taught his disciples to worship on Sunday. Sha'ul never taught Sunday worship. Nor did any other legitimate prophet of Elohim. Sunday worship cannot be found in the Bible, because it is not from Elohim! Sunday worship is the backbone of so-called Christianity. But nowhere in the Brit Hadashah (New Testament) does it ever tell us to worship Messiah on Sunday. Nor does it say anywhere that the Sabbath day was changed to Sunday. One can search the New Testament from Matthew 1 to Revelation 22:21 but will not find any such teaching by Christ's disciples. The apostles of Messiah, who were all Jewish, worshiped Elohim on the Sabbath Day, in accordance with the instructions of the Torah of Elohim. The apostle Sha'ul (Paul) is recorded to have met with churches and believers regularly on the Sabbath day, throughout the book of Acts, which records many of the missionary journeys he took throughout the Roman world. Nowhere during these missionary journeys does it ever record that Sunday became the day for regular worship. Historical records also indicate that the Sabbath day continued to be the proper day of worship by the first several generations of followers of Messiah and the Bible. (For extensive details, including quotes from first and second century witnesses, see Samuele Bacchiochhi's From Sabbath to Sunday or visit his website http://www.biblicalperspectives.com). So just where did the tradition come from to worship the Messiah of the Bible on Sunday, the first day of the week? In short, the tradition of Sunday worship became established with the decree of the so called "first Christian emperor" Constantine. Because of his well known vision in which he was told to conquer by the sign of the cross, Constantine, around 325 C.E., "converted" to Christianity and declared Christianity to be the official religion of the Roman Empire. Now the Roman Empire up to that time officially worshiped Mithra. Mithra was the Persian sun-god, and his worship was widespread throughout the Roman Empire in the days of the early believers. In the beginning many of the earths inhabitants were sun worshipers because the course of their lives depended on its yearly round in the heavens and feasts were held to aid its return from distant wanderings. Worship of Mithra was performed weekly on the first day of the week, the day of the Sun, later called "Sunday." So, when Constantine decreed Christianity to be the official religion of the Roman world, he also declared the day of the invincible Sun, or Sunday, to be the official day of worship. The Christians at that time gladly accepted this compromise for several reasons. Due to the similarities of the worship practices of the Jews and the Christians, including Sabbath and holy day festivities, Christians were regularly mistaken for Jews and persecuted along with the Jews. Christians wanted all to know that they were not associated with the unbelieving Jews and so happily accepted a change in their worship times. Thus, the Christians effectively put an end to their own persecution at the hand of the Romans, and at the same time distanced themselves from their other nemesis, the unbelieving Jews. So, what effectively happened is the following: The Christians gave up trying to maintain the proper time of worship in exchange for an end to their persecution. And the pagan holidays continued to be celebrated in the Roman Empire, but simply got renamed. Instead of worshiping Mithra the sun god, the Roman world, now including all of the Christians, worshiped "Jesus." But they did so at the same times and days and in the same manner that they had worshiped Mithra. Consequently, the Christian world today worships Jesus on Sunday because a corrupt political ruler of the 3rd century made a wise political decision (by "converting" to Christianity) to bring two diverse religious systems together as one. Thus, Christians worship Elohim on a different day of the week than what Elohim commanded. And Yahuwah hates it because man is trying in his own way to worship a holy Elohim, without regard to what Elohim has declared is the correct time and way to worship Him. Yahuwah has revealed clearly and plainly in his word that he is to be honored by our worship on the Sabbath day. And worship of him must never be done in the same way that unbelievers worship their gods. The Scriptures are clear on this point: These are the decrees and laws you must be careful to follow in the land that Yahuwah, the Elohim of your fathers, has given you to possess-- as long as you live in the land. Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains and on the hills and under every spreading tree where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods. Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places. You must not worship Yahuwah your Elohim in their way (Deuteronomy 12:1-4). You must not worship Yahuwah your Elohim in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things Yahuwah hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods. See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it (Deuteronomy 12:31,32). Yahuwah has made it easy enough to see that he does not accept worship done the way that unbelievers worship their gods. He does not want his worshipers to add to or take away from his own prescribed way of worship. He must be worshiped in the way that he has revealed in his word. The celebration of Christmas is not biblical. The Torah, Elohim's instructions to his covenant people, does not teach the celebration of Christmas. Yahusha never taught his disciples to celebrate his birthday. Moreover, Yahusha wasn't born at Christmas. Neither Sha'ul nor any of the other prophets, Old Testament or New, ever taught the celebration of Christmas. The celebration of Messiah's birthday at Christmas is not in the Bible because it is not from Elohim! Christmas has a pagan origin. In ancient times the winter solstice was celebrated in Babylon as the birth day of Tammuz, the god of vegetation. This was the shortest day of the year, in the latter part of December (today it actually falls on December 21). According to the pagans, the god Nimrod would visit the evergreen tree and leave gifts upon it. This festival became known as the Saturnalia. On this day, friends and family would exchange gifts. Interestingly, the winter solstice was also celebrated by the followers of Mithra as the "nativity" or "birthday of the unconquered sun." Mithra was the Persian sun-god, and his worship was widespread throughout the Roman Empire in the days of the early believers. Frazier admits that The largest pagan religious cult which fostered the celebration of December 25 as a holiday throughout the Roman and Greek worlds was the pagan sun worship -- Mithraism.... this winter festival was called 'the Nativity' -- the 'nativity of the sun' (The Golden Bough, p. 471). Mithra was not the only pagan deity said to be born at this time of year. Osiris, Horus, Hercules, Bacchus, Adonis, Jupiter, Tammuz and other sun-gods were supposedly born at the time of the winter solstice! Many very ancient writings out of Egypt tell of King Osiris and Queen Isis and their son Horus. These originated from about 3000 BC. After the untimely death of King Osiris, Isis began the myth of the ever living spirit of Osiris. According to legend, Osiris was reborn through Horus, the son who was born to Isis much after the death of her husband King Osiris. Alexander Hislop confirms this, adding: That Christmas was originally a Pagan festival, is beyond all doubt. The time of the year, and the ceremonies with which it is still celebrated, prove its origin. In Egypt, the son of Isis, the Egyptian title for the queen of heaven, was born at this very time, "about the time of the winter solstice." The very name by which Christmas is popularly known among ourselves -- Yule-day -- proves at once its pagan and Babylonian origin. "Yule" is the Chaldee name for an "infant" or "little child"; and as the 25th of December was called by our Pagan Anglo-Saxon ancestors, "Yule-day," or the "Child's-day," and the night that preceded it, "Mother-night," long before they came in contact with Christianity, that sufficiently proves its real character. Far and wide, in the realms of Paganism, was this birthday observed (The Two Babylons, pp. 93-94). In the south of Europe, in Egypt and in Persia, the sun gods were worshiped with elaborate ceremonies at the season of the winter solstice, as a fitting time to pay tribute to the benign god of plenty. And in Rome, the Saturnalia reigned for a week. In northern lands, mid-December was a critical time because the days became shorter and the sun was weak and far away. Thus these ancients peoples held feasts at the same period that Christmas is now observed. They built great bonfires in order to give the winter sun god strength and to bring him back to life again. When it became apparent that the days were growing longer, there was great rejoicing because of the promise of lengthening days to follow. Thus, the central idea of the winter solstice - the return of the light - became the hope of the Christian world in the birth of Messiah who is the light of the world. When the feast was celebrated in Rome, it was called the festival of Saturn and lasted for five days. In both ancient Rome and more ancient Babylon, this festival was characterized by bouts of drunkenness, wild merrymaking, and lascivious orgies which would begin with an "innocent kiss" underneath the mistletoe and would then lead to justification of all sorts of sexual excesses, perversions and abominations. Hislop notes that the winter solstice was also the birthday of the Queen of Heaven: Long before the fourth century, and long before the Christian era itself, a festival was celebrated among the heathen, at that precise time of the year, in honour of the birth of the son of the Babylonian queen of heaven; and it may fairly be presumed that, in order to conciliate the heathen, and to swell the number of the nominal adherents of Christianity, the same festival was adopted by the Roman Church, giving it only the name of Christ. This tendency on the part of Christians to meet Paganism halfway was very early developed; and we find Tertullian, even in his day, about the year 230, bitterly lamenting the inconsistency of the disciples of Christ in this respect, and contrasting it with the strict fidelity of the Pagans to their own superstition (The Two Babylons, p. 93). The historical record is replete with testimonies confirming the pagan roots of a December 25 celebration. All of the customs and practices surrounding Christmas can be traced back to pagan celebrations of their gods. But if this is so abundantly clear, then why did the early church and why does the church today continue to adhere to the winter solstice celebration? And when did the Christian church adopt the winter solstice celebration as their own? In the fifth century, the Western Church ordered Christ's birth to be celebrated forever on the day of the old Roman feast of the birth of Sol (the sun), as no certain knowledge of the day of the Messiahs birth existed. It was the celebration of the birth of the Sun-god in ancient Rome that was accompanied by a profusion of lights and torches and the decoration of trees. To facilitate the acceptance of the Christian faith by the pagan masses, the Church of Rome found it expedient to make not only the Day of the Sun the weekly celebration of Christ’s resurrection, but also the Birth Day of the Invincible Sun-God on December (25), the annual celebration of Christ’s birth. (Samuele Bacchiochi, The Date and Meaning of Christmas) When the fathers of the church, in AD 440 decided upon a date to celebrate the event, they chose the day of the winter solstice which was firmly fixed in the minds of the people and which was their most important festival. Why did the Roman Church fix upon December 25 as the day to honor the Messiah's birthday when it was clearly a pagan festival day? There are many opinions on this. One which seems to be valid is that the early Church, in moving all of its celebrations away from Judaism without denying its followers the holidays they had come to enjoy, took the date of Hanukkah, the Feast of Dedication, and Romanized it. Hanukkah occurs on the 25th day of the Hebrew month of Kislev, which occurs approximately in December. Whatever reason they used to justify it, it still resulted in a perverse amalgamation of the pagan practices into the Christian Church. The pagan festival at Rome lasted five days, and loose reins were given to drunkenness and revelry. This was precisely the way in which the Babylonian midwinter festival was celebrated. But the Christian church not only adopted the 25th of the month to celebrate Christ's birthday, they also adopted the prevailing customs which the pagans had long been accustomed to during their festival. Hislop describes some of the items used during this celebration: The wassailling bowl of Christmas had its precise counterpart in the "Drunken festival" of Babylon; and many of the other observances still kept up among ourselves at Christmas came from the very same quarter. The candles, in some parts of England, lighted on Christmas eve, and used so long as the festive season lasts, were equally lighted by the Pagans on the eve of the festival of the Babylonian god, to do honour to him: for it was one of the distinguishing peculiarities of his worship to have lighted wax-candles on his altars (The Two Babylons, p. 97). The Christmas tree is also a mere continuation of a custom of pagan Rome and pagan Egypt. In Egypt that tree was the palm-tree; in Rome it was the fir. The palm tree denoted the pagan messiah as Baal-Tamar. The fir tree referred to him as Baal-Berith. The mother of Adonis, the sun-god and great mediatorial divinity, was mystically said to have been changed into a tree, and when in that state to have brought forth her divine son. If the mother was a tree, the son must have been recognized as 'Man the branch.' And this entirely accounts for the putting of the Yule Log into the fire on Christmas Eve, and the appearance of the Christmas tree the next morning" (Hislop, p. 97). The symbolism of the Christmas tree and the Yule log is made plain by Alexander Hislop. He writes that the 25th of December, the day that was observed at Rome as the day when the victorious god reappeared on earth, was held at the Natalis invicti solis, "The birth-day of the unconquered Sun." Now the Yule Log is the dead stock of Nimrod, deified as the sun-god, but cut down by his enemies; the Christmas-tree is Nimrod redivivus -- the slain god come to life again (p. 98). Even "Santa Claus," the most popular symbol of Christmas in the Western world, has a pagan origin. Some of Santa Claus' characteristics date back many centuries. For example, the belief that Santa enters the house through the chimney developed from an old Norse legend. The Norse believed that the goddess Hertha appeared in the fireplace and brought good luck to the home. (World Book Encyclopedia) But the most significant symbolism in this myth is that children are taught that Santa has many of the characteristics that only the Almighty actually has. They are told that Santa "knows if you've been bad or good." Of course, only the Almighty has this attribute of knowing all things. Santa is also believed to be able to cover the world with gift-giving in one night. This absurdity is only an attempt to make him look omnipresent, a characteristic which only Elohim possesses. Any Bible student knows that Satan always wanted to take the Creator's place. And in Santa Claus, he has people attributing to him qualities which only Elohim Himself possesses. Santa Claus stands identified as none other than that original arch apostate Nimrod! His attributes hark back to ancient pagan worship. When children are asked, "What did Santa Claus bring you this year?" it is merely a modern twist to an old Satanic counterfeit pagan religion! And many of the merry Christmas songs hearken back to pagan times as well. How should the person who has placed his faith in the Elohim of the Bible respond to these pagan customs and celebrations? Is it really appropriate for the believer the celebrate Christ's birthday on the same day and in much the same manner that the pagans worshiped and celebrated the birthday of the sun? The prophet Jeremiah rebuked the people of his day who were celebrating this same festival which has now become Christmas: Hear what Yahuwah says to you, O house of Israel. This is what Yahuwah says: "Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the sky, though the nations are terrified by them. For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter. Like a scarecrow in a melon patch, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good." No one is like you, O LORD; you are great, and your name is mighty in power. Who should not revere you, O King of the nations? This is your due. Among all the wise men of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like you. They are all senseless and foolish; they are taught by worthless wooden idols. (Jeremiah 10:1-8). Yes, these are strong words. But he was speaking to a people who were engaged in the celebration of the winter solstice, like their ungodly neighbors. Though they may have been justifying their celebrations by linking them to Yahuwah, the Elohim of Israel, Jeremiah was instructed to communicate to his people that Elohim did not accept this worship or celebration because it was done in the same way that the pagans worshipped their gods. Yahuwah is a jealous Elohim. And worship of him must never be done in the same way that unbelievers worship their gods. The Scriptures are clear on this point: These are the decrees and laws you must be careful to follow in the land that Yahuwah, the Elohim of your fathers, has given you to possess-- as long as you live in the land. Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains and on the hills and under every spreading tree where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods. Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places. You must not worship Yahuwah your Elohim in their way (Deuteronomy 12:1-4). You must not worship Yahuwah your Elohim in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things Yahuwah hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods. See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it (Deuteronomy 12:31,32). Yahuwah has made it crystal clear that he does not accept worship done the way that unbelievers worship their gods. He does not want his worshippers to add to or take away from his own prescribed way of worship. He must be worshipped in the way that he has revealed in his word. Someone may object, "We are not worshipping other gods on Christmas, we are honoring the Elohim of the Bible and his Son, Jesus Christ." Yes, maybe you think you are honoring Elohim in this way. But He rejects this manner of worship. But there is a better way - a way to celebrate the incarnation, the birth of Yahusha the Messiah - in a way that is thoroughly biblical. What if Elohim has already provided the setting and the time and manner he wants us to celebrate the birth of his Son? Shouldn't Elohim's way of celebrating the birth of his Son be the preferred way for sincere and dedicated believers? The celebration of Easter is not biblical. The Torah, Elohim's instructions to his covenant people, does not teach the celebration of Easter. Yahusha never taught his disciples to celebrate Easter. Nor did Sha'ul or any of the other prophets in Bible. The celebration of Easter is not in the Bible because it is not from Elohim! Easter is an old pagan worship day which Yahuwah hates. The word Easter is derived from the name Ishtar, who was also known as Ashtarte. It is filled with detestable practices, including the slaughter of innocent babies, which Yahuwah hates. John Michael Rood very succinctly and poignantly tells us what's wrong with Easter: The Saternalia originated as the birth date of Tammuz, the bastard son of Semiramis, the widow of Nimrod of biblical evil fame. After Shem cut Nimrod in pieces, Babylonian legend insists that he ascended into the heavens and became the sun god himself. The rays of the sun implanted the seed into his widow and presto! The son of the sun god was miraculously conceived, as was the adoration of the mother and child evident in every culture on the earth. On the winter solstice Tammuz was born; as were most of the traditions surrounding “the child-mass” season. Tammuz, the reincarnation of the sun god – Nimrod, was killed in a hunting accident when he was gored to death by a wild boar in his 40th year. Those who worshipped the son of “the sun god” then set aside 40 days of weeping for Tammuz. They celebrated “Lent” one day for each year of his incarnation - in which they would deny a worldly pleasure for his pleasure in the afterworld (see Ezekiel 8). After many years, his mother Semiramis died. The gods looked favorably on “the mother of god” and sent her back to earth as the spring fertility goddess – always depicted as an exaggeratedly endowed bare breasted queen of sexual desire. Semiramis, the queen of heaven, was “born again” as the goddess Easter (Ashstarte) as she emerged from a giant egg that landed in the Euphrates river at sunrise on the “sun” day after the vernal equinox. To proclaim her divine authority, she changed a bird into an egg laying rabbit. As the cult developed, the priests of Easter would impregnate young virgins on the altar of the goddess of fertility at sunrise on Easter Sunday. A year later the priests of Easter would sacrifice those three-month-old babies on the altar at the front of the Sanctuary and dye Easter eggs in the blood of the sacrificed infants. The forty days of Lent - or weeping for Tammuz, starts the Easter fertility season. The festivities culminate on Easter Sunday, when the priests of Easter slaughtered the “wild boar that killed Tammuz” and the entire congregation would eat the “ham” on Easter Sunday. In later years “Good Friday”, the day that the Philistines sacrificed to Dagon, the Philistine fish god, also became an integral part of the Easter pageantry (if you are over 40 years of age, you will recall eating fish on Friday in the public school system in America). This entire menagerie of satanic festivities is the pinnacle of the abominations that God had pronounced to the Children of Israel before they entered the Promised Land. (John Michael Rood, The Mystery of Iniquity, Chapter 8) Yahuwah has told us that worship of this kind is completely unacceptable with Him. Yet, all of Christianity is caught up in the celebration of the resurrection of the son on Easter day. Little do most Christians know that the son, whose resurrection is celebrated on Easter, is Tammuz, not the Messiah of Scripture. Elohim described the abominations that were going on by the priests and in the temple of those who worshiped Tammuz. The prophet Ezekiel was brought, in vision, into the temple of Yahuwah and was shown what abominable things were happening there: Again, he said, "You will see them doing things that are even more detestable." Then he brought me to the entrance to the north gate of the house of Yahuwah, and I saw women sitting there, mourning for Tammuz. (Ezekiel 8:13,14). The whole modern day season of Lent is the carry over of the 40 days of weeping for Tammuz. And Yahuwah hates this. Yahuwah hates all that is associated with the Easter season, even if we try to pass it off as legitimate worship of Jesus. Worship of the true Elohim must never be done in the same way that unbelievers worship their gods. Again, we quote the Scriptures: Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains and on the hills and under every spreading tree where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods. Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places. You must not worship Yahuwah your Elohim in their way (Deuteronomy 12:1-4, mine). You must not worship Yahuwah your Elohim in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things Yahuwah hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods. See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it (Deuteronomy 12:31,32). Yahuwah has made it crystal clear that he does not accept worship done the way that unbelievers worship their gods. He does not want his worshipers to add to or take away from his own prescribed way of worship. He must be worshiped in the way that he has revealed in his word. We have shown that the big three - the three biggest and most important worship practices of modern day Christianity - are all pagan to the core. Sunday worship, Christmas and Easter are NOT biblical celebrations! Sunday is the pagan substitution for the legitimate day of worship which Yahuwah accepts - and that is the Sabbath. Christmas is the pagan substitution for the legitimate day on which Messiah was born into the world - and that was on the Feast of Tabernacles. And Easter is the pagan substitution for the Passover - a remembrance of his suffering and death on their behalf. But there is more. The fourth biggest and most important worship custom which is practiced in every Christian church today is the partaking of the Lord's Supper. And even this custom is done by every church in the wrong manner and at the wrong time. Yahusha was explaining the new meaning of the unleavened bread and the required wine offering when he exhorted his disciples to remember him by the partaking of the bread and the wine. The bread which is a reminder and representation of Yahusha is the unleavened bread of Passover, not some cracker or wafer which most ministers and priests give to their congregations. The bread and the wine have specific meaning within the context of the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread which is lost when the Lord's Supper is celebrated at any other time. If it is true that the Lord's Supper was intended by Messiah to be partaken of as part of the celebration of the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread (rather than at any random time during the year), then we would expect to find New Testament exhortations to this effect. And we are not left unsatisfied! Sha'ul admonishes his New Testament believers to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread: Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast-- as you really are. For Messiah, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Corinthians 5:7,8) Sha'ul's rebuke of the Corinthians was with regard to the wicked lifestyle which some were living. So, he borrowed the example of unleavened bread to illustrate what the Feast of Unleavened Bread should be teaching believers. The bread without yeast portrays the believer getting sin out of his life. Let it furthermore be noted that Sha'ul uses this illustration of unleavened bread because the Corinthians were so familiar with it! And why were they so familiar with it? Obviously, because their custom was to regularly observe the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread at its appointed time every year. And they were in the habit of remembering the Lord's death at that time of year. But Christian churches do not teach the significance and importance of partaking of the bread and the wine in the manner in which Yahusha exhorted his disciples. Every church has their own way and their own time for eating the Lord's supper. Some do it daily, others weekly. Some semi-monthly and others monthly. And still others, once a quarter. But why do they do this when Elohim said to celebrate the Feast once a year and at the Appointed Time. Why can't Christians just do it the way Elohim the Father and his Son Yahusha said to do it? False Prophets and False Teachers The reason that the Christian churches celebrate on all the wrong days - the pagan days of worshiping foreign gods - and do not celebrate the events and observe the days which Elohim has ordained and established and set apart for worship of Him, is that wolves have commandeered the Christian churches! False prophets and false teachers have taken over nearly every church in the land. And yet, we should not be surprised. For didn't the Savior tell us that this would be the case in the last days? Yahusha said that "false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect - if that were possible" (Matthew 24:24). This work of Satan is so ingenious that many unsuspecting people do not discern the truth from Satan's error. In fact, the truth will be taken as error and false doctrine will be thought to be the truth of the Word of Elohim. Only through careful, prayerful study of the Scriptures and keen discernment will believers be able to detect and expose Satan's lies. The reason his work of deception is so effective is that he uses the Bible to accomplish it. When Satan tempted the Son of Elohim, he quoted Scriptures to him, albeit, out of context. Likewise, the devil is spreading false doctrine and lies through the evangelical community by making it seem as though these teachings are straight from the Word of Elohim. Nobody would be fooled by a cheaply constructed counterfeit dollar bill, but most people are unaware when a good counterfeit currency passes through their hands. The best counterfeit dollar bill is the one that looks and feels just like the real thing. Only a highly trained professional with a keen eye and special equipment and long years of studying the real bill is able to detect the best counterfeit. So it is with Satan's work. His imitation teachings appear to be straight from the Bible. Most people believe these apparent "truths" because the Bible seems to be saying these things. Only a careful, objective study of the Scriptures and an open heart and mind will enable the believer to see through the false and find the true. Satan is very active today spreading his lies through the church. He does this through popular men and women in the church who are highly visible. But Sha'ul, speaking of Satan's emissaries, explains that such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Messiah. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). Some of the popular radio and television evangelists are, in effect, false prophets, because they are the agents through whom Satan's lies are being propagated. No doubt, these "ministers of the Word" are sincere in their teaching, and think they are doing the work of Elohim in preaching their message. Nevertheless, in spite of what they consider to be deep devotion to Messiah, these workers are accomplishing the objectives of the evil one by popularizing a counterfeit gospel made up of counterfeit doctrines and customs and practices. Elohim's adversary is preparing the world right now to accept the lawless one by making people favorably disposed toward his lies. Even "Bible-believing" fundamentalists, if they do not get their heads out of the sand, will believe and welcome the lawless one when he comes, because he will appear to be promoting a Bible-based world view. If this is difficult to believe, the reader should keep in mind that Yahusha said the deception could fool even the elect. The Scriptures explicitly state that the coming of the lawless one will closely resemble the effects of the true message of Messiah. Sha'ul told the Corinthian believers that "the things that mark an apostle - signs, wonders and miracles - were done among you with great perseverance" (2 Corinthians 12:12). Satan's counterfeit gospel is also characterized by these same marks of an apostle: "The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders" (2 Thessalonians 2:9). And sobering is the fact that we are seeing these things being done in churches around the world right now. This is not to deny that some of the signs and wonders being performed by men of Elohim are done by the power of Elohim. Yahuwah is engaged in a contemporary work to lead people to the Savior and he may be working miracles through those people who are so gifted and who are obedient to his Word. But Satan also has a vast number of his servants deceiving the people in the name of the "Lord Jesus." How can we tell the difference? Elohim's workman can be distinguished from the adversary's servant by his doctrine and his lifestyle. Sha'ul advised his understudy to "watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers" (1 Timothy 4:16). If someone is doing miraculous things in the name of Yahusha, but his lifestyle is not in line with the teaching of Messiah, you can be sure his power is not from Elohim. Or if his doctrine is not in accord with that of Messiah, then his power is from the evil one. Yahusha taught his disciples that they could recognize the false prophet by his lifestyle: Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.... Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them (Matthew 7:15-20). The description of false prophets as coming in sheep's clothing suggests that they will be doing their work in his church in the name of Bible Christianity. But whoever has discernment may recognize his true identity by his lifestyle - the "fruit" he produces. Yahusha then further explained who will enter his kingdom: Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophecy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' (Matthew 7:21-23). Only the person who discerns and then lives out the will of the Father will enter Christ's kingdom. When someone accepts Messiah into his life by faith, that "saving faith" will be evident through the performing of the will of the Father. Merely performing miracles in the Lord's name does not guarantee entrance, and neither does lip service (i.e. saying, 'Lord, Lord'). Whoever belongs to Yahusha will live out (do, perform) the will of Elohim like Yahusha did. These false prophets, Yahusha said, will actually stand before Messiah thinking that they are his. But Messiah labels them as "evildoers" and "false prophets." Many in our contemporary evangelical churches are doing great things "in Jesus' name," but when they stand before Messiah, they will be rejected because they have not done the will of the Father. The other test of a true disciple of Yahusha is his doctrine. If a "Christian" believes and teaches a message other than that taught by Messiah himself, he is thereby classifying himself with the false prophets. False prophets are guilty of believing and teaching false doctrine, that is, doctrine which is contrary to the Word of Elohim. By doing so, they deceive themselves and others with a lie. The apostle Sha'ul warns the church, If someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted... such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen... (2 Corinthians 11:4,13). And Sha'ul tells Timothy, You, however, know all about my teaching (and) my way of life.... But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it (1 Timothy 3:10,14). The churchianity of our day is guilty of spreading false reports and doctrines contrary to the Word of Elohim. The source of many popular doctrines taught in our churches is not the Almighty. The father of lies has been busy at work. The Christian Church of our day has become completely corrupted by customs and traditions of pagan worship systems. You can look at any denomination, sect, segment or group and you will come to the same conclusion. The Christian Church has adopted, into its very core, a set of customs and practices which are abominable in the eyes of Elohim. Elohim has given explicit instructions about how he wants his people to live and worship. Those instructions are given in great detail in the pages of the Torah. But the Christian Church has rejected the Torah. They don't want to be "shackled" by Elohim's way of doing things. They are the Burger King of religions - they want to have it their way. Consequently, Christianity is fragmented into hundreds of denominations, sects and organizations. Each have their own distinctive false doctrines which all run contrary to the revealed will of Elohim as written in the Torah. May Elohim have mercy on his ignorant and stubborn people. May he lead some of them out of Babylon. What, Then, Should the Christian Church Do? This examination of what's wrong with the Christian Church would not be complete without some sort of suggestion regarding an appropriate course of action to correct its wrong teachings, traditions, customs and practices. The apostle Sha'ul (Paul) wrote about the lies which would deceive nearly the whole world in the last days preceding Yahusha's coming. And he implies that only those who have a deep love for truth would be able to recognize the deceptions and false teachings and then to discern truth from error. Speaking of the lawless one, Sha'ul writes: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause Elohim shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12, king jimmy version) Even believers in the Bible would be fooled by the great lies of Satan, according to Yahusha: For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. (Matthew 24:24, king jimmy version) Not only will Bible-believers be deceived, but the Bible-teachers in whom they trust will be the ones propagating these lies of Satan: For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Messiah. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. (2 Corinthians 11:13-15, king jimmy version) Yes. I'm talking about your favorite Bible pastor or teacher. The one you watch on TV. The one you go to listen to every Sunday! Christian people everywhere should be aware that there are a plethora of false prophets and false teachers in Christian churches. The wolves are disguised in sheep's clothing and are quietly devouring the Master's sheep. We all need to wake up to that reality. And we should not be so naive to think that "these false teachers are in all the others churches, denominations and sects, but not in my church." Wake up and smell the coffee! These false teachers are probably in your church deceiving you, and you haven't got a clue to it! But the prophet Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) spoke about the disposition of Gentile believers (the Church) in the latter days. His message is one on which Christian people everywhere ought to meditate for awhile. He says, Yahuwah, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit. Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods? Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is Yahuwah (Yirmeyahu 16:19-21, KJV with sacred name restored). This is a prophesy which is finding fulfillment today - yes, even right now. And its truth is startling. Yirmeyahu is saying that the Gentile believers of the last days will come to realize that all the teachings, doctrines and traditions which our fathers, forefathers, Bible-teachers and preachers have been teaching us as truth for all these many years- yea, even centuries - are nothing but a pack of lies! Yahuwah wants all of us to wake up to this sobering reality. He wants us to realize that many of the Christian practices, customs, doctrines, traditions and teachings which are so popular and so widespread are false. They are wrong. They do not accurately depict the will of Elohim for His people. What then, should the Christian church do? In the text from 2 Thessalonians 2 cited above, Sha'ul spoke about the love of the truth. He said that those who do not receive the love of the truth will be victims of the pernicious lies. And to these people, Elohim Himself (!) will send a powerful delusion that they might believe the lie. So, Christian, you need to have a genuine love for the truth, not a love of believing anything your "Bible Teacher" tells you is true. Love the truth, not "Christian doctrine" as taught by the popular preachers and teachers whom everyone listens to. Have a love for the truth as it is revealed in the Word of Elohim. Don't rely on your pastor, minister, church Father or anyone else to tell you what to believe as truth. You need to find out for yourself what Bible truth is. And that can only be had by your own intense meditation and study of the Scriptures yourself. Lay aside all your preconceptions about "correct Bible doctrine" and let Elohim's Holy Spirit guide you into all truth as you read, meditate and study the Scriptures alone. Then, when Elohim reveals to you something you never saw before or never understood before, or something that runs contrary to what "they" have been telling you before, believe it. Believe it and keep on studying, reading and meditating. And the truth will, indeed, set you free! Those who study and learn and believe with this approach to loving the Scriptures will find out just how true the words of Yirmeyahu are. The person who studies the Scriptures with a willingness to believe and obey what the Word of Elohim says will find himself moving further and further from the teachings and practices of the mainstream Christian churches. It is not an easy road to travel. But Yahusha said that the road that leads to life is narrow and full of trouble. Better to find the correct path to life and experience trouble and rejection from our friends and peers now, than to follow the Christian crowd down the broad path which is accompanied by the applause of men only to find in the judgment that you are rejected by the Messiah you originally intended to follow. END |