December 25th

Luke 2:8-16

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

1 — Rejecting Idolatry and Pagan Practices

God’s command to avoid adopting customs and practices from pagan nations.

1a — Primary Command to Avoid Pagan Customs

Deu 12:30-32; Mar 7:7-9; Col 2:8

Deuteronomy 12:30-32

30 Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.

31 Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God: for every abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.

32 What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.

Don’t learn the ways of the heathen. Don’t add or diminsh to what God commands.

Jeremiah 10:2 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.

Don’t learn the ways of the heathen.

Mark 7:7-9

7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.

9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.

Don’t worship God based on man-made traditions over God’s commandments.

Colossians 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

Don’t be led astray by traditions of men that are actually not after Yeshua.

1b — Command to Remove All Idols and Pagan Altars

Deu 7:5; Deu 12:2-4; Jdg 3:7; 1Ki 18:19; 2Ki 23:4-15; 2Ch 14:3; 2Ch 17:6; Jer 7:28-34; Eze 6:13; Eze 23

Since we aren’t in the land, we aren’t allowed to destroy other’s idols, but we must remove the ones we have.

Deuteronomy 7:5 But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.

groves H842 → sacred trees or poles set up near an altar

Destroy pagan altars, groves (sacred trees), and idols.

Deuteronomy 12:2-4

2 Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree:

3 And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.

4 Ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God.

Since we’re no longer in the land, we can only remove our own idols.

Judges 3:7 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgat the Lord their God, and served Baalim and the groves.

If you’ve learned that Baal is Jesus (His Name & Baal’s Name), these sacred trees are exactly Christmas trees.

1 Kings 18:19 Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel’s table.

Who typically causes the people to do this idolatry? Jezebel.

2 Kings 23:4-15

4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel.

5 And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.

6 And he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.

7 And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the grove.

8 And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba, and brake down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man’s left hand at the gate of the city.

9 Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren.

10 And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.

11 And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathanmelech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire.

12 And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, did the king beat down, and brake them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.

13 And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile.

14 And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men.

15 Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he brake down, and burned the high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burned the grove.

1c — Condemnation of Adopting Idolatrous Practices in Worship

1d — Warning Against Mixing with Idolatrous Nations

Scripture List

Don’t Learn Heathen Ways or Add/Diminish to God’s Commands

Deuteronomy 12:30-32 (Don’t learn the heathen ways, don’t add nor diminish to what God commands)

Exodus 34:12-17

Deuteronomy 7:5

Deuteronomy 12:2-4

Deuteronomy 16:21 (don’t put up a tree near altar/pulpit)

Mark 7:7-9

Colossians 2:8

Isaiah 14:12-16 (Santa/Satan, flies in the heavens and clouds, sits in the North Pole, saying he’s like God cause he knows whether you’ve been good or bad, knows what you’re doing and thinking, judges based on that)

2 Corinthians 6:14-17 (Be separate from unbelievers; avoid unclean practices)

Exodus 32