Let us take a look at Matthew 16:6 in which Jesus says:
Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
We know that the Pharisees and Sadducees of the day were largely influential in the way that people worshipped God. The issue Jesus often had with them is that they often held up their man-made traditions as equal to the Torah, equal to scripture when in fact, many times, their teachings contradicted scripture. This put God's people in a precarious position at best. The people suffered in their relationship with God because they were having the Torah interpreted for them in a way that was twisting what God had said and taking them away from His original intent and desire for them. By Jesus coming as "the Word made flesh" (John 1:14), a large part of his ministry was to correctly interpret the Torah (God's Word) and by exemplifying this by not only upholding the Torah, but also be being the living Torah, the narrow Gate, AND the Narrow Path, the Way for us all.
BEWARE THE LEAVEN OF THE PHARISEES
Yeshua warned us to "beware the leaven of the pharisees". Many modern preachers teach that this means beware of the sin of religious pride. I would agree with this and I would also say that the warning goes much deeper than this. The Pharisees were responsible for taking people away from Torah under the pretense that they were bringing people into the ways of God. How did they do this? By holding their man-made traditions above scripture.
Jesus said in Mark 7:8, (NASB), "Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men".
And the next verse, Mark 7:9 says, "You are experts at setting aside the commandments of God in order to keep your tradition.".
Notice that Jesus said COMMANDMENT of GOD. He upheld the commandments God gave also in Matthew 5:17 "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill." We have talked before that He upheld God's Torah, in the same way that a lawyer advocates for one in a court of law. He fulfilled in the way that means "to fill to the full". He did not say anything about doing what one thinks is right. He mentioned nothing about feelings. He was holding in the highest esteem, God's teaching, His Torah (torah in Hebrew means teaching).
In Mark chapter 7, Yeshua was addressing the accusation heralded by the pharisees against His disciples regarding one of the ceremonial traditions of handwashing before meals. He called this the "tradition of the elders". The pharisees were clinging to this tradition over observing with their hearts the things which God had commanded. The pharisees often clung to the traditions at the price of breaking God's commandments. They upheld finer points of the Torah and neglected the major things (such as love, justice, mercy), see also Matthew 23:23. Much of Jesus' ministry was to help prioritize God's Ways and to bring the people back to the correct interpretation of Torah.
In the previous verse in Mark, Jesus quotes Isaiah 29:3 which says:
Then the Lord said, "Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned {by rote,}"(NASB).
TRADITION LEARNED BY ROTE
Don't we do this today in the church? Many of our traditions consist of a way our spiritual forefathers did things and we follow suit without question. We do things by rote. We do not ask ourselves, "What does God think about this?" After all, wouldn't we want to please God with our lips as well as our actions, even if it meant letting go of some traditions that contradict what is revealed in His will? Pleasing God with our actions is where the proverbial rubber meets the road. God could care less if we give Him praise from our lips if our hearts are corrupted with the love of the things of this world and its ways. Indeed to "work out" our own salvation with fear and trembling must consist of unplugging from the world system, often referred to in the scriptures as Babylon. When we do this, it is pleasing to God. For James 1:27 says, "Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of {our} God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, {and} to keep oneself unstained by the world." (NASB).
I started to think of the traditions in the church world today in terms of things we automatically assume Christians do. We should diligently search out these matters and hold them up to the true light: the whole counsel of the Word of God, of which the foundation is the Torah, God's teachings, His commadments.
I have already addressed in previous posts the problem with seeing legalism in every comment made about God's Commandments. I hope you will go back and read about it. Of course when I mention the commandments of God and His Torah, I am not pushing a legalistic observance of a set of rules by which we observe by rote (that would negate my point), but rather I am talking about the pure unadulterated Word of God which Jesus Himself came to rightly interpret, turning many back to God. Let us see the Torah through the lens of what it really is: what it was meant to be by the Giver. As I have said previously, The Lawgiver and His intent is good and holy and just, therefore the Law (Torah) He gave is good, and holy, and just. I am not talking about man's twisted perverted legalistic interpretation of it. It is precisely from this burdensome yoke I am trying to free those in the Body of Messiah!!
THOU SHALT NOT HAVE.....
Of course, we know the rest of this commandment to read, "any other gods before me. I am the Lord your God". Notice the beginning of this commandment is not a commandment for doing (or not doing) at all, but the basis of which is relationship. "I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery". This is the whole basis for the commandments! Relationship with the Most High God. And this, the history of what God had done for the children of Israel, is the whole basis for this covenant He is entering into with them. Sound familiar? Jesus deserves for us to keep His Word, to keep His commandments, based upon #1: Who He is. and #2 What He has done for us. Interestingly enough, notice that the very resting place of God in the tabernacle and subsequently in the Temple in Jerusalem corresponds to the first and second commandment. Over the ark of the covenant, the place where God's glory dwelt in the tabernacle, stood the two cherubim. What was in the midst of them? An image? No. Nothing. God Himself dwelt there. He was their God. No one else was there. Therefore the Israelites were commanded to make "no graven image". They were to partake in the worship of no idols. He was to be their all in all.
If there was any sin which God gravely chastised the children of Israel for, it was for the sin of idolatry. After all, both captivities happened as God's response to this particular sin, even after He warned them. This tells me this is a grave offense to God indeed.
This very important commandment of God to worship no idols was given preeminance by God in the way He ordered the comandments. You would think that would be pretty important to Him, no? Then, my friend, please tell me why idolatry is taught and encouraged in most churches today?- along with other forms of lawlessness. Christians are expected to partake in man-made traditions and holidays which have nothing to do with God and in fact, could be argued that He is against, even disgusted with. More on this later. Right now I want to deal with two "sacred cows" in the church: Christmas and Easter. Namely, the first, Christmas, since the holiday shopping season is upon us and every commercial and radio station is beckoning us to join in the merriment. But what does our Lord think of it? His Word tells us exactly what He thinks of it, regardless of WHO you do it in the name of:
THE LEAVEN OF THE BABYLONIANS
In Genesis chapter 11, we see the men of the earth rebelling against the specific instructions God gave Adam and Eve to "fill the earth and subdue it". In chapter 11, they settled in the plain of Shinar. They said "Come let us build ourselves a city with a tower that has its top reaching up into heaven, so that we can make a name for ourselves and not be scattered all over the earth". Notice their intent was diametrically opposed to what God wanted. Therein was the seed of rebellion manifest corporately. We see the fruit of this seed today in every false relogious system and ungodly political system in the world. This tower they built became known as the Tower of Babel and the city became known as Babylon. Babylon became the prototype for the city of satan which was to be the counterfeit of the city of God, which is Jerusalem (and more specifically, the New Jerusalem).
It is here, in Babylon, that every conceivable evil was thought up and practiced. And it was here that God allowed the chastisement of his people, Israel, in the form of the Babylonian captivity. The Israelites engaged in idolatry which God expressly forbade, therefore, He allowed them to become captives in a land not their own, the land that was the capital of idolatry. The contrast, to the Israelite captives, must have been very stark indeed!
When Jesus came to Israel, it was after the Israelites retruned from their captivity in Babylon. Indeed, many of the teachings of His day came straight from Babylonian thinking (after all, one major part of the Talmud is called the Babylonian Talmud). Not only that, but the Israelites changed their calendar to reflect names of the Babylonian gods (i.e. the month of Tammuz). Therefore, I cannot help but to think that much of what Jesus was trying to flesh out in his teaching against the "leaven of the pharisees" was indeed, leaven that came straight out of Babylon. Tradition...in this case....idolatry....learned. By rote.
The Babylonians were known for their many gods they worshipped and for holding the "mysteries" of the universe. They prided themselves on knowledge of every kind, including astronomy, mathematics, and the Chaldean language. The Babylonian mystery religious system gave birth to many beliefs, myths, and false religious practices. The founder of the city, Nimrod,
and specifically his wife Semiramis, gave birth to one of the "mysteries" that is still practiced today, yes, in our Western culture. Allegedly, Semiramis wife of Nimrod, had a miraculous conception and the product of which was Tammuz. This was the counterfeit fulfillment fo the promise given to the seed of the woman, through whom the Messiah would come. According to the account, Tammuz was killed by a wild animal and was resurrected, again, a counterfeit to God's real Messiah. In a culture where stargazing was held in high esteem, this Tammuz became known as the sun god. The mystery perpetuated itself in later civilizations, as Babylon was taken over by several subsequent peoples. The seed of rebellion remained. Sun god worship was spread over the face of the earth, at the same time knowledge of the One True God of the children of Israel was also spread. The true seed and the counterfeit. The wheat and the tares. In Roman culture, they celebrated the feast of Saturnalias, on the same day as the winter solstice, ironically the very day of the birthday of the Babylonian sun god Tammuz...yep...December 25th. The names had been changed to protect the guilty.
Most Bible scholars agree that although we do not have the exact date of Jesus' birth, they do know when He was NOT born. He was not born on December 25th (which corresponds to the Hebrew month of Kislev). For one thing, the shepherds would not be out in the fields of Israel tending the sheep there in the middle of winter. Many think Jesus was actually born during the Feast fo Tabernacles. I could go into the vast array fo evidence for this, however, for brevity's sake, lets just say that in John chapter 1 verse 14 where is says, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt (tabernacled) among us" (clarification mine), would make a whole lot more sense during this feast of the Lord, rather than a pagan festival.
From history, we DO know that December 25th is the recognized birthday of the sun god.
Subsequent cultures have taken up the custom of celebrating the birthday of the sun god. Some of the customs to commemorate his birth are: cutting down a tree (an evergreen symbolizes the eternal nature of this sun god) and adorning it with silver and gold, feasting, drinking, and the giving of gifts. And a fertility custom known by description to us as kissing (a vestige of the orgy) under a leafy bough.
It is a well known custom of pagan idolaters to commemorate the day of the birth of their gods. We know that these gods are not gods at all, but demons, for the Bible says so. (Deuteronomy 32:17).
But what does God think of this revelry? Specifically, how does He treat the veneration of the sun god Tammuz in His Word? Ezekiel 8:14 tells us that there were women weeping for Tammuz in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. The next verse shows what this "man of fire" thought of the practice. He used the word "disgusting". Let's look at verse 16b:
"...there, at the entrance to the temple of Adonai, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of Adonai and their faces toward the east; and they were worshipping the sun toward the east". (Stern's Complete Jewish Bible).
Again in verse 17, He calls such practices "disgusting" and says such practices fill the land with violence.
Moreover, the description of cutting down a tree and adorning it with silver and gold as an idolatrous practice is explicitly addressed in Jeremiah chapter 10. Let's take a glance at it.
"Don't learn the way of the Goyim, don't be frightened by astrological signs, even if the Goyim are afraid of them; for the customs of the peoples are nothing. They cut down a tree in the forest; a craftsman works it with his axe; they deck it with silver and gold. They fix it with hammer and nails, so that it won't move." (CJB). [Note: goyim means gentiles, the surrounding nations].
Sound familiar?
In Jeremiah 16:19, it says, "The nations will come to you from the ends of the earth, saying, 'Our ancestors inherited nothing but lies, futile idols, completely useless'". (CJB).
Well, you may say, that was the Old Testament and we serve a God of grace and mercy now. He doesn't mind if we celebrate Jesus' birthday on the same day as the pagans do their thing. After all, we are doing it in the Name of the Lord and for His glory (the take-over arguement).
Then I would say to you: please remember how the Israelites treated the worship of the golden calf after coming out of Egypt; after all, they declared a Feast unto the Lord while they worshipped the golden calf. God was not pleased. I believe He went lightly on them, considering they had just left the land where they learned idolatrous ways and were just getting re-aquainted with this Lord who delivered them. However, the longer they knew Him and saw of His great mercy and awesome power, the more they were held accountable. It is the same with us today. To whom much is given, much is required.
Also, God commanded the Israelites to destroy the high places of idolatry in the land of Israel...AND TO NOT WORSHIP HIM ON THOSE HIGH PLACES. (Lev. 26:30; Num 33:52; Deu. 12:2, Jer. 10).Additionally, we have strong indication from the New Testament that Jesus Himself warns His followers to "come out of" Babylon in Revelation 18:4 which reads:
I heard another voice from heaven, saying, "Come out of her (Babylon), my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues; (clarification mine). (CJB).
Notice that God will pronounce judgement on this world system called Babylon. Those that "partake of her sins" will undoubtedly be recipients of that judgement. It's a sowing and reaping effect. For the wages of sin is death. Sin brings its own reward.
Just what are the sins of Babylon? Revelation dscribes this world religious system as a woman of adultery, wherby the kings of the earth have committed fornication. Committed fornication against whom? Against God. We also have the rich description of Babylon in the Book of Daniel; their customs, mindsets, their practices. The seed of which was organized rebellion against God. King Belshazzar offered up the holy vessels from the Temple in Jerusalem to his gods during a drunken orgy. How did God respond? He took the kingdom from him that night and the king lost his life. The king had prostituted the things of the one true God to the gods of Babylon. Moreover, the description of Babylon the harlot in Revelation 17:5 says:
and on her forehead a name {was} written, a mystery, "BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." (NASB)
Notice that what was written above her head was a mystery. Ironic, since the Babylonian mystery religions are always beckoning man to come and taste and see, to know some sort of secret, in effect, drawing them away from the Lord of Glory. Every lie and counterfeit comes out of Babylon where it became institutionalized. Every ungodly lie and ideology which the devil makes look good: paganism, humanism, every kind of ism. These ideologies, which, by the way, have made their inroads to every aspect of our society: politics, public school system, and pop culture. Remember that in the last days, men will call good evil and evil good. We live in a Babylonian system indeed!
BABY STEPS OUT OF BABYLON
It is here that I would like to share some of my own personal testimony and exhortations to the reader to begin to make his or her own way out of the customs, practices and thinking of Babylon. For that is what I consider the modern Christmas traditions which continue (officially) in the church today. I like how the Messianic movement treats it corporately. They say we do not tell families what and what not to practice in their own homes. However, as a community of believers, we do not corporately acknowledge the customs associated with the celebration of Christmas. I think the institutionalized church would do well to adopt this same principle.
And so from a personal standpoint, I also do not believe in going around pointing the finger at believers who celebrate Christmas calling them "idolaters". I don't think Yeshua would be caught doing that. However, that does not mean He would not be speaking out in general and encouraging His followers to repent from their own ways and turn to God regarding the matter. If my conclusions are correct, as a son of Israel and the Living Torah, the Living Word of God, Yeshua would recognize the practices modern Christians today celebrate under the guise of "Christmas" as pagan. Therefore, I won't be silently afraid to address the issue, either.
Since about 9 or 10 years ago, I have not celebrated Christmas. I have been invited to many a Christmas party and heard many church Christmas programs announced. However, I have to decline such offers because of the nature of the customs. I want to please my Lord and want to be found faithful to Him on the Day He comes for me. Regardless of what the surrounding culture, if that even has to include the surrounding church culture, does.
My journey has not always been so strident. I grew up loving Christmas as my favorite holiday, with the tree, the lights, the food, and oh, especially all the baking. Like you, probably, I was surrounded with music and family and warm family memories of traditions of opening gifts around the tree and leaving out cookies for "Santa". However, once I started walking with the Lord and seeking to make Him the Master of my life, I started having a slight and ever so faint uncomfortableness with the traditions of Christmas. I remember one year in particular being sour over a game my family played where you open a gift from a common pot of wrapped gifts and the person who opens one after you, if they are disatisfied with thier gift, can make you trade yours for theirs. I found the game so miserly and mean. It was in this sour state that I began to stew and take a really hard look at all the "fruit" of the Christmas season: the debt, the greed, the drunken revelry. I knew from the words of Jesus that if you have a rotten tree, you have rotten fruit. Such practices, as it says in Ezekiel 8, fill the land with violence and provoke (the Lord). I started to ask myself "Is this what I want to be a part of every year?" I found the prospect depressing.
Oh, I tried for awhile to "put Christ back in Christmas" after all, He was the "reason for the season"....right? But I soon found out the truth from scripture about how my wonderful Jesus felt about it. And I could no longer pretend and could no longer stomach the massive singing Christmas tree in our church's sanctuary every December.
It was around the same time that God started bringing me back to the Hebrew root of my faith. He started showing me the Holy Days He had ordained and what a blessing they were to observe. Even the man-made extra biblical feasts which fall under the "Jewish" heading, inasmuch as they did not contradict the Word of God, became a joy to celebrate. Hanukkah, or the Feast of Dedication, which Jesus Himself celebrated (John 10:22) became a welcome substitution; and more recently, a more authentic version of the celebration, involving a 7-branched menorah like the one in the Temple which was re-dedicated, rather than the Hannukah-Bush ridden western- Christmas-makeover version.
Do I still struggle with the pull of the marketplace around Dec 25th? You betcha. Do I still long to do those customs which I grew up with as a child sometimes, like bake cookies and want to hear Christmas music? Sure (I love the praise songs about Jesus, such as 'O Night Divine' at any time of the year. It is unfortunate that they are usually coiled up with songs about pagan fertility rites and sun god worship on the radio and tv). You see, the enemy of our souls is crafty and cunning. He makes these customs indelible in our minds as children so we form warm attachments to them and want to perpetuate them throughout our generations. He did the same thing to the children of Israel. The difference is now, I can recognize them and submit them to the Lord, taking every thought captive to the obedience of the Messiah.
Looking back, I think that God is pleased with my journey. It has taken years and baby steps to come out of Babylon. However, with each step, the Lord gives me from His Word and confirmation through the Holy Spirit that I am on the right track. First, the action changed, then my beliefs came more into sync with His Word and will for my life. I have been living TORAH!! How freeing! As I have been on this road of teshuvah (repentance), the fruit stemming from the intimacy with Him has increased ten fold in my life. And most importantly, I believe, like Ruth, who left her Moabite pagan religion for the people of Israel and their God, ('your people will be my people and your God will be my God'), I have an eternal blessing that will never and can never be taken away from me.
May the Lord Yeshua HaMaschiach bless your obedience and your journey into holiness and conformity to His image in a similarly abundant way!! Isn't He worth it?!
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