OH, CHRISTMAS TREE!



Christmas in the White House

Not long back, a well-respected local pastor advertised that he was going to preach on: ‘The attack on Christmas from within’.   His main beef was that Father Christmas should not be part of Carols by Candlelight, but… 
the surprise was in seeing a Christmas tree take pride of place beside him on the stage in a building ‘dedicated’ to the public worship of God, especially after finding what Moses has to say:

“Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the altar of the Lord thy God, which thou shalt make thee. Neither shalt thou set thee up any image; which the Lord thy God hateth.” Deuteronomy 16:21

There was further surprise when some friends pointed this one out:

            "Hear ye the word which the Lord speaketh unto you, O house of  Israel:

            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 cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workmen, with the axe.

They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be born, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good. 

            Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O Lord; thou art great, and thy name is great in might..."                 Jeremiah 10:1-

Uhh!?.....‘Christmas trees’ in Jeremiah’s day – the 7^th century B.C.??                             

I wonder - is this what Jeremiah was trying to tell Israel?...                                                                            

Ho, ho, ho and away we go!

“Don't copy the pagans around you who worry about things like climate change. They fetch ‘Christmas’ trees for good luck, prop them up, then deck them with gold baubles and silver tinsel - how useless that is!  
God, you are the One who should be honoured...”

Are you now surprised too?                    

By the way, you will find that ‘Christmas’ comes from the ancient pagan festival of Saturnalia celebrated with much debauchery in Ancient Rome - adapted by the Roman Catholic Church, popularised with German superstition and adopted by Coca Cola. 

We used to enjoy decking a Christmas tree... 

“Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree,                                         
How richly God has decked thee…”

…or should it be: oh, idol-a-tree??

I guess we’ll find out in due course if the Almighty has had a problem with Christmas trees in Christian churches and homes.

Photo credits:                                                                          
newsholidash.com                                                                          
agrmachinery.com.au