"Stranger still, the ancient religion of the Jews survives, when all the religions of every ancient race of the pre-Christian world have disappeared. Again it is strange that the living religions of the world all build on the religious ideas derived from the Jews" - The Ancient World, Professor T.R. Glover

"According to the materialistic and positivist criterion, this people ought to have perished long ago. It's survival is a mysterious and wonderful phenomenon demonstrating that the life of this people is governed by a special predetermination..."
- The Meaning of History, Professor Nicholas Berdkilaev of the Moscow Academy of Spiritual Culture

"It was Judaism that brought the concept of a God-given universal moral law into the world...the Jew carries the burden of God in history and for this he has never been forgiven" - Distinguished Catholic Scholar Edward H. Flannery

Fact: Judaism is the only religion in the world that lost its holy land and has regained it.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

The Pagan Influence of Christmas


In comparing the so-called great monotheistic religions one thing stands out about Judaism; it is the only religion of the three from which every single one of its holidays are Bible-based and are pagan-influenced free.1 This says a lot about all three religions when the question arises concerning the correct and true religion.

The standard Christmas Tree topper (like the ones found at the White House and the German Chancellery every year) is a "star" (usually five-pointed) representing the New Testament "Star of Bethlehem". Therefore, with the standard Christmas Trees among the Christian nations we have an astronomical symbol adoring the highest point of the tree. Now with this in mind let's take a look at what the Hebrew prophet Jeremiah states about the heathens:
"Thus saith YHVH, Learn not the way of the heathen, (goyim in Hebrew) 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 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 10:2-4

It is here that the Hebrew prophet Jeremiah not only mentions two items that are associated with modern Christianity but actually ties them together as a unit. These two items of the heathen are astronomical signs and tree admiration. Is there any wonder why the Christmas Tree and the Star topper are symbolically tied together as a unit? Have many Christmas trees have you seen "decked" (as in "deck the halls"...) with silver and gold tinsels, icicles. and bulbs? Most stars at the top of the Christmas Trees are gold are silver themselves, and sometimes the very trees themselves are silver or gold.

Looking through the eyes of the Hebrew prophet Jeremiah, one can only image how that grand prophet of God would indeed blast the pagan Christmas Tree Gentile ritual just as he did during his own day. It is also worth spiritually noting that this Gentile-pagan ritual of gold and silver tree decoration was "revived" in the Gentile land of the future Holocaust - Germany. It makes me wonder how many Germans sang, the following verse from the song entitled "O Tannenbaum" while the Holocaust Jews and many others were freezing and starving in Nazi concentration camps;
"O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree!
How laden are your branches
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree!
Your presence here enhances
Your silver star does glisten bright
Reflecting all the candlelight
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree!
How laden are your branches "

As noted in the scripture above, the Hebrew prophet Jeremiah calls this whole Gentile tree custom thing "vain". Regarding this vanity issue of the Gentiles, it must be noted that it is just six chapters later from mentioning the "vain"Gentile astronomical-tree custom that this same Hebrew prophet, Jeremiah, describes the End of Days statements of the Gentiles concerning their beliefs and customs as being "vain" as well. "...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. " - Jeremiah 16:19

So why would the Gentiles take up a custom that the prophet Jeremiah so descriptively denounces? Is such a vain denounced custom "fulfilled" by the Gentile-based New Testament too, along with the forbidden non-kosher foods? Does this not show the scriptural-based difference between the two religions of Jewish Judaism and Gentile Christianity? It makes me hate even more what a Jewish convert to Christianity is asked to do. He is asked to avoid keeping his YHVH-given Law of Moses under the pretense that he is now absolved from keeping it, only to be Gentile-custom influenced with a Jeremiah-denounced Christmas tree even placing one inside his very family home this time of year. That's just spiritually sad!

December 25th.
Christians who have studied any history at all realize that Jesus wasn't born on December 25th. So where did this Gentile celebrated date come from, and how did it come to be the most celebrated day of the Gentile calender?2 The comparison pictures above shows a statue of the goddess Isis nursing her god-child Horus dating from around 300 BCE. The other is a fifteenth century medieval painting of the Virgin Mary (or should I say "Goddess Mary" since she is seen as co-redeemer in some Catholic church circles) holding the Christian god-child Jesus, known as the Madonna. Though they are 1700 years apart in age and are separated by the common era itself, notice the striking similarities each one has towards the other. There are even unseen similarities concerning these two similar Madonnas; both child images have the same exact birth date!

In fact, there are many pre-Christian mythological god-men who were born of December 25th such as Krishna, Attis, Osiris, Dionysus, Mithra, and Horus (pictured above ). There's even a inside Jewish and non-Christian joke, saying, "Merry Mithrus" to each other this time of year referring to the Persian god Mithra. My very own coined joke-saying is, "Mithra was the Reason for the Season". Very funny and historically accurate, right?

Mithra not only was born of December 25, but was a mediator between the Persian high god Ahura-Mazda and humanity, was considered to be "the light of the world" and slaughtered the "sacred bull" that would provide life by one consuming its "body and blood" known as the "Mithric sacred meal"3. Aside from have the same traditional birth day, does these attributes of Mithra sound Christian-doctrine familiar? In fact, the similarities between Mithra and Jesus are so great that early Church Father Justin Martyr (103 - 165 CE) complained that Satan (by having foreknowledge) had copied the Christian Eucharist.4

There is a recent controversial video on You Tube that is causing quite a stir. Though it does contain some historical errors, it does present an awesome display of how Christianity is pagan influenced. Here just are some of the facts from the video:
  • The Twelve Zodiac signs were personified as gods and goddesses.
  • The word "horizon" comes from the term "Horus has Risen".
  • The word "hours" also comes from "Horus" that tracts the "sun" throughout the day.
  • Horus represented light and life of the world (without the sun crops wouldn't grow) while Horus' evil brother named Set represented darkness hence come the term "sunset" or Set verses Horus, as Set would sent Horus into the underworld causing him to "resurrect" from underworld in the morning.
  • Isis (goddess mother of Horus) was a virgin - though this is debated she is called the "Great Virgin," in a number of pre-Christian Egyptian writings.
  • Mithra's day of worship was Sunday.
  • The "Star in the East" was Sirius (the brightest star in the sky) aligns on December 24th. with the three bright stars of Orion's Belt, known in ancient times as "the Three Kings".
  • "The Three Kings" (Orion's Belt) along with the "Star in the East" (Sirius) point to the "Sun Rise" on December 25th. bringing the birth or resurrection of the Sun god, and it's why the "Three Kings" "follow" the "Star in the East".
  • The constellation Virgo represents the Virgin Mary. The constellation is known as "Virgo the Virgin". The ancient glyph for Virgo was the altered "M" as in "Mary". Other virgin goddess-mothers also began with the "M" such as Adonis' mother Myyra and Buddha's mother Maya.
  • Virgo is also referred to as the "House of Bread" and the representation of Virgo is a virgin holding a sheaf of wheat. Bethlehem (where Jesus was born) translates as "House of Bread". Therefore, the Christian use of Bethlehem is a reference to the constellation Virgo.
  • See full video > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeTJWp06BxA
The Star and Human Deification:
It also must be noted too that the seven-day visitation of the Great Comet of 44 BCE was understood by the Romans to be the deification of Julius Caesar (100 - 44 BCE) who had recently died. This comet became known to ancient writers as Sidus Iulium ("Julian Star") or Caesaris Astrum ("Caesarian Star"). The Temple of Divus Iulius (Temple of Deified Julius) was built and dedicated by Augustus in 29 BCE which was also called the "Temple of the Comet Star".

A coin commemorating Julius Caesar was also created by Augustus in 19-18 BCE (very close to the time of Jesus' birth) that on its tail-side displayed the image of the comet-star with the words. "Divus Iulius" (Deified Julius). > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesar's_Comet

It was during this time of associating stars with human deities that Rome occupied Israel causing Israel to be heavily influenced by Roman religious perceptions. The Romans even had a military complex called "Fort Antonia" adjacent to the Jewish Temple.
So it's not surprising that the first century New Testament writers would be influenced by the Roman-based star-human deity concept when writing: "
"Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him." - Matthew 2:2 (found only in the Book of Matthew and in no other book of the four Gospels)

There is a saying, "Rome didn't convert to Christianity, but Christianity converted to Rome". Perhaps there is a connection between the star image found on the tail-side of the Caesar Roman coin and the star image placed upon top of the Christmas Tree?

Though modern Judaism has a lot of spiritual corrections to make regarding their Torah and Bible-based holidays, they are still holy sanctioned by the one true God of Israel through His Torah of Moses and prophetic writings of the Hebrew Bible.

Have you ever noticed that it is only the "religious" Gentile holidays like Christmas (Santa Clause who sees all things) Easter (the Easter Bunny that gives life in the form of a colorful egg) and Halloween (the eve of All Saints Day) that are the most pagan-influenced, where as the secular Gentile holidays such as, New Years Day, Presidents Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day, are not pagan influenced at all? This fact alone speaks volumes about the religious Gentile world!
It is through such religious Gentile concepts that the Jews have been persecuted down through the ages unto this very day with the so-called Palestinians. The overall Gentile desire is to "replace" the Jewish nation that holds the most purest of holidays known to mankind, with their Gentile-pagan influenced religion and holidays.

However, the good news (gospel) is that the Gentiles (goyim) will see their grave religious errors (Jeremiah 16:19) then turn to the Jews for spiritual guidance (Zachariah 8:23) and from there follow in the footsteps according to the Jewish holidays (Zachariah 14: 16). With this lovely and Jewish thought in mind I'd like to wish most all of my fellow Gentiles in goyim land - with a wink and a smile - a "very Merry Mithras" and a Happy New Year!

Notes:
1. One exception would be the Jewish holiday of Purim which is Bible-based (see Easter 9:20-21) but has been heavily influenced by the Catholic celebration of "Mardi Gras" or "Carnival season" (both holidays being celebrated during the same time of the year) which started in sixteenth century Christian France. There are movements in Israel to restore this Biblical holiday to a more religious theme and to oust the Catholic pagan influence of it.
2. More businesses are closed on December 25 that any other day of the year. Even the secular businesses that stay open on other holidays such as Labor Day, New Year's Day, and Thanksgiving Day, they are usually closed on Christmas Day.
3. "Twenty-six Reasons Why Jews Don't Believe In Jesus" by Asher Norman - page 195.
4. Ibid

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

God's Name: The Original

Ones belief can be found in the name of their God / god(s). One of the questions I like asking Trinitarian Christians is "what is the single most personal name of your one god?" Yahweh, 1 the God of the Jews, is the oldest and most original Name of the monotheistic concept of God. However, you will never hear His Name in Christian or Islamic worship. Both Christianity and Islam seek to change and avoid this most personal Name of God in an attempt to shape their newer religion on a much older established religion of which they are founded.

With their God having a name change Christianity and Islam took on different ways from the original in worshiping their God. For example, if your God's most personal Name was indeed Yahweh then you are associated with keeping of the Torah. If your God's most personal name is Jesus Christ or Allah, then Torah worship has been abolished and different methods (i.e. Gentile methods) of worshiping are set into place.

The following is a small list of things that has accommodated the changing of God's Name:
  • The Headquarters of the Religion - While Judaism's eternal city has and always will be Jerusalem, Israel (The City of David) Christianity's headquarter is in Rome, Italy and Islam's is in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
  • The Language of the Holy Books - While Judaism's Bible was originally written in mostly Hebrew (with a little Aramaic) Christianity's scriptures are written in Greek (including their Hebrew scripture portion - 'The Septuagint') and Islam's Koran is written in Arabic.
  • War in the name of God - While Jews has never sought the annihilation of Christians nor Muslims, Jewish annihilation has been a "main goal" of both Christianity and Islam ever since those religion held influence in world power.
The fact that Christianity and Islam's holy books (the New Testament and the Koran) do not carry the most original and direct Name of the God of Israel on which they are founded is quite amazing given the fact that in just the Torah alone 70 exact times the God of Israel declares "I (am) YHVH". Where is such a direct declaration of God's Name given by God Himself found anywhere within the New Testament or the Koran?

For Christianity, the name "Jesus" replaces the originally declared Name of YHVH.2 Some will argue that Jesus' name contains the name of YHVH thereby proving the Name of YHVH throughout the Christian text. The list of refuting such a claim is as follows:
  • Jesus' name in Hebrew though starting with the Hebrew letter yod (as does the Name YHVH) is NOT linked to the Hebrew verb "to be" as is the Name of YHVH.
  • Biblical Hebrew uses a three-letter root system for verbs that are contained in common everyday names (not religiously sanctified names). Therefore, common Hebrew everyday names such as Jeshua (pronounced "ya-ho-shua") found in such texts as Ezra 2:36, and the name Joshua (see KJV and Darby translations of Hebrews 4:8) are linked to God's attribute of deliverance and salvation - making an attribute of God - via the verb contained within the common name being the main focus, and not the reference of the Name of God itself.
  • The name Isaiah (pronounced "ya-sha-yahu") meaning "Salvation of YAH" could have been no more the declared Name of God spoken in the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement by the High Priest than could the name of Jesus (ya-ho-shua).
  • Men were not named YHVH throughout the ages because that Name is so special it would be like making mortal man the deity of YHVH - making the bearer of that Name a "carrier" of God's Name in vain. While the name of Jesus was very common in first century Israel - Josephus cites 20 other Jesuses within his works - and today Latin countries are full of people named Jesus (hay-zues).
  • YHVH was the Name chosen and declared by God Himself to be His Name to the nation of Israel in the earth and of Israel's God abiding heaven forever. (Exodus 3:14-15) This concept of the Torah did not leave the mind of the Hebrew prophet Zachariah centuries later when he prophesied of the future: "YHVH will be the King over all the earth, on that day YHVH will be one and His Name one." (Zachariah 14:9)
For Islam, the name Allah replaces the Name of YHVH while claiming to be the same God (see Koran 29:46). Muslims point to Allah being the same God as Elohim, Eloah, or Elah (in Aramaic) in the Hebrew Bible. The list of refuting such a claim is as follows:
  • Anytime El, Eloah, Elah, or Elohim are used within the Hebrew Bible they are used as an appellation3 or title - never as the most personal Name of the Hebrew God of Israel.
  • The most personal Name of YHVH is used throughout the Hebrew Bible no less than 6828 times - three times more than the appellations El, Eloah, Elah, or Elohim added together!
  • The Name YHVH has never been used as a name for a false god(s) in the history of mankind nor is it used for a false god(s) anywhere in the Hebrew Bible. However, on the other hand, all three appellations of El, Eloah, Elah, and Elohim can and have indeed been used throughout history and the Hebrew Bible in references for false deities, god(s), and carved heathenistic idols. Fact: the Canaanite pantheon of gods included the chief god "El" being the father of all gods and husband to the goddess Asherah and biblical references of false god(s) and idols include: Exodus 20:3 (Elohim) II Chronicles 32:15 (Eloah) and Daniel 11:37-38 (Elah - written in Aramaic).
  • The Hebrew prophets usage of El, Eloah. Elah, and Elohim, as false deities would have at the time directly included the many pagan deities "Ilah" (a term for a single god in Arabic) worshiped at the Arabian Kaaba in Mecca as well as the chief pagan moon deity "Allah" who had a daughter named "Al-lot" (the famine pronunciation version of masculine Allah).
  • In keeping the Arabian pagan moon deity tradition, Muhammad kept this name of this pagan moon deity "Allah" meaning, "the (pagan) god" of which his very own Arabian father Abdulla4 (meaning 'servant of Allah' - the pagan moon deity) was so named. This was also done early to make it easier for the pagan Arabians (who were totally unfamiliar with the Name YHVH) to convert to a new religion towards a deity reference and name they were already religiously familiar with. We have seen the same workings within Catholicism in adopting December 25th. as Jesus' New Testament birthday when December 25th. was indeed the Roman pagan deity Attis' and Greek pagan deity Dionysus' birthday.
  • As mentioned above the Hebrew Bible proclaims the most personal Name of the God of Israel YHVH nearly 7,000 times! Seventy (70) times within the Torah and ninety (90) times throughout the writings of the prophets God declares of Himself with the absolute and direct words "I am YHVH" yet not even once did Mohammad (being the false prophet he is) gave credence to this most personal Name of the God of Israel.
Since Islam apologists point to first century Jesus using his Aramaic term "Eloah" when referring to his God, it must be pointing out that at the very exact time when Jesus referred to his God as Eloah in Aramaic the Arabians referred to their chief deity moon-god "Allah" in Arabic. The bottom-line being, Jesus' referral to his God and the original Arabian referral to their god may sound similar but are indeed two totally different gods all together, in which this principle has NOT changed since the birth of Islam!

In Antiquity the gods were very much connected with the land.5 This was the main reason YHVH wanted any and all forms of worship to other gods driven out of the Land of Promise! (see Numbers 33:52-53) Guess what? To the disapproval of the New World Order Quartet, YHVH hasn't changed His mind on this issue. YHVH being connected to the land was why Israel was never blessed outside the land of Israel and it was a punishment-exile to have to lived outside the land of Israel.

The connection between the Name of YHVH, the Torah, the Jewish Hebrew people, and the Land of the Covenant - Israel are forever spiritual linked together! On several occasions within the Hebrew Bible YHVH calls Israel, " My Land" (see Ezekiel 36:5, 38:16, Joel 3:2). Because of this eternal fact, and because of the new concept of the God of Israel among the Gentiles was sought, both Christianity and Islam has dramatically changed the spiritual foundation set by YHVH Himself. Even today, the New World Order Quartet is set against the Jewish State of Israel via the Israeli - Palestinian Conflict has its historical foundation in the prophesied Esau and Ishmael (Christian and Islam) alliance against YHVH:
  • The Name of YHVH changed to Jesus or Allah.
  • Chosen (Jewish) People-nation to be the Christians or Muslims.
  • Subverted the Torah / Hebrew Scriptures for the New Testament or the Koran.
  • Changed the promised Land of Israel to a Heavenly Jerusalem or a Muslim Waqf.
All of these spiritual changes are the most direct root cause of, but not limited to, the historic Christian Crusades, Inquisitions, Pogroms, Holocaust, and Islamic Jewish-murder and banishment of the Arabian Jewish tribes, Jihad Jewish civilian-targeted terrorism, and the present Quartet do-nothing endorsement of the Hamas-Ahmadinejad alliance!

In the eyes of the world's Gentile-spiritual changers, the Name of YHVH must be abolished spiritually in order to justify their replacement theology of the chosen land of promise and of the chosen Jewish people and their covenant with YHVH their God. As I have stated in past blogs, the purposed of the New World Order Quartet "Palestinian state" is nothing more than a spiritual-sought "replacement-theology state" with Jewish King David's Jerusalem as it spiritual "replacement-theology capital". The world Quartet has picked the most evil people of the world for the "replacement people" to occupy the land of the covenant that is meant to sanctify the name of YHVH!

The good prophecy news is this will never happen for any length of time. It is in the most bleakest hour that the Name of YHVH will come forth for all the Gentile world to see:
"And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am YHVH. So will I make My Holy Name known in the midst of My people Israel; and I will not let them pollute My Holy Name any more: and the Gentiles shall know that I am YHVH, the Holy One in Israel." - Ezekiel 39:6-7

Notes:
1. The way it is commonly spelled in today's English is not how I believe this Name was pronounced by the ancient Israelites. For the truer pronunciation, I refer to James D. Tabor's book entitled "Restoring Abrahamic Faith" section "Pronouncing the Name of God" pages 18-23. [Click on the image of this book on this site for ordering]
2. Philippians 2:10 - This New Testament verse is referring to the Hebrew text of Isaiah 45:23. However when reading in the original Hebrew the surrounding text to get the context and true meaning of Isaish 45:23, one will notice that just two verses prior (verse 21) and the following two verses after (verses 24-25) the declaration of "The Name" that Isaiah is referring!
3. Concerning in title "Elohim" I always start out asking the Muslim apologist what the English term "appellation" means before addressing the "Name of God" issue.
Wordnet Dictionary states that an appellation as an: "identifying word or words by which someone or something is called and classified or distinguished from others". To refer to God as God (Elohim in Hebrew) is simply to acknowledge Him as God. It does not and in no way state, refer, or acknowledge His most personal Name no more than calling me a "man" or "human" addresses my personal name of "Joe".
4. Abdullah ibn ‘Abdul Muttalib was Mohammad's father. Mohammad's full name was "Muhammad ibn Abdallah" - meaning "Mohammad son of Abdullah".
5.
See Joshua 24:15, Judges 6:10, 2 Samuel 7:23.