Sola Scriptura-2
We will bring some very uncomfortable truths to light in this study. Most of what churches teach today is truly not biblically correct, but it has been passed down for centuries. First, we must call out the moss gross violations. This brings into question what most would quickly describe as some of most sacred celebrations. We will start with Christmas.
When did Christmas begin to be honored and celebrated? It was not with the church fathers or the early church. It began in the 3rd/4th centuries when the fledgling Church of Rome designated the 25th day of December as the date of the birth of Jesus. But is that correct? Have we ever told by God to celebrate His birth? If this was so important, wouldn’t God’s Word make it very clear and unmistakable?
Who was born at the time of the winter solstice? Actually two sons of the sun gods, Mithras and Tammuz. From these two sons came a plethora of sun gods and idolatry. The ‘halos’ over most of the old masterpieces is actually the acknowledgement of sun worship. There are no ‘halos’ mentioned in the Bible.
From Mithras, comes the sun worship of Mithrasism. According to Wikipedia, it is a pagan religion of sun worship.
“Mithras refers to a Persian sun god whose worship evolved into Mithraism, a secretive mystery religion popular in the Roman Empire from the 1st to the 4th century CE. Followers met in underground temples called mithraea and progressed through a seven-tiered initiation system. The central image of the cult depicts Mithras slaying a bull (tauroctony), a scene whose exact meaning is debated but linked to themes of sacrifice and the triumph of light over darkness. The cult declined with the rise of Christianity and was suppressed by the late 4th century CE.”
Tammuz was the son of Nimrod and Semiramus. This combines both sun worship and fertility worship. What does the Bible say of such worship?
Ezekiel 8:1 It came about in the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, as I was sitting in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell on me there. 8:2 Then I looked, and behold, a likeness as the appearance of a man; from His loins and downward there was the appearance of fire, and from His loins and upward the appearance of brightness, like the appearance of glowing metal. 8:3 He stretched out the form of a hand and caught me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the idol of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy, was located. 8:4 And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the appearance which I saw in the plain.
8:5 Then He said to me, "Son of man, raise your eyes now toward the north." So I raised my eyes toward the north, and behold, to the north of the altar gate was this idol of jealousy at the entrance. 8:6 And He said to me, "Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations which the house of Israel are committing here, so that I would be far from My sanctuary? But yet you will see still greater abominations."
Eze 8:7 Then He brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall. 8:8 He said to me, "Son of man, now dig through the wall." So I dug through the wall, and behold, an entrance. 8:9 And He said to me, "Go in and see the wicked abominations that they are committing here."
8:10 So I entered and looked, and behold, every form of creeping things and beasts and detestable things, with all the idols of the house of Israel, were carved on the wall all around. 8:11 Standing in front of them were seventy elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them, each man with his censer in his hand and the fragrance of the cloud of incense rising.
Eze 8:12 Then He said to me, "Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are committing in the dark, each man in the room of his carved images? For they say, 'The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.'"
8:13 And He said to me, "Yet you will see still greater abominations which they are committing."
8:14 Then He brought me to the entrance of the gate of the LORD'S house which was toward the north; and behold, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz. 8:15 He said to me, "Do you see this, son of man? Yet you will see still greater abominations than these."
8:16 Then He brought me into the inner court of the LORD'S house. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east; and they were prostrating themselves eastward toward the sun. 8:17 He said to me, "Do you see this, son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they have committed here, that they have filled the land with violence and provoked Me repeatedly? For behold, they are putting the twig to their nose.
8:18 "Therefore, I indeed will deal in wrath. My eye will have no pity nor will I spare; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, yet I will not listen to them."
It this single passage we find worship of Tammuz and the sun. How did such idolatry find its way into God’s people?
Jeremiah called out similar idolatry.
Jermiah 7:17 "Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 7:18 "The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods in order to spite Me.
Jeremiah 44:15 Then all the men who were aware that their wives were burning sacrifices to other gods, along with all the women who were standing by, as a large assembly, including all the people who were living in Pathros in the land of Egypt, responded to Jeremiah, saying, 44:16 "As for the message that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we are not going to listen to you!
44:17 "But rather we will certainly carry out every word that has proceeded from our mouths, by burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, just as we ourselves, our forefathers, our kings and our princes did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then we had plenty of food and were well off and saw no misfortune. 44:18 "But since we stopped burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have met our end by the sword and by famine." 44:19 "And," said the women, "when we were burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and were pouring out drink offerings to her, was it without our husbands that we made for her sacrificial cakes in her image and poured out drink offerings to her?"
They attributed God’s goodness to an idol and their misfortune to God. They totally ignored Jeremiah’s warnings from God and boldly declared they would continue to worship idols. What blind persistence when confronted by God’s displeasure as revealed by Jeremiah.
What does all of this tells?
Traditions are stronger than doctrine
People will falsely attribute ‘good’ fortune to idols
People would easily follow the world if it makes them feel good about themselves
People in the world worship the things of the world
Paul had to speak out about this in his letter to the Romans.
Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 1:19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 1:20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
1:21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 1:22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 1:23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
1:24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 1:25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
Two thousand year old traditions don’t become holy from their continued promotion. God still opposes idolatry and sin.
More next Saturday.