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#Post#: 125--------------------------------------------------
December 2012
By: Mentor Date: December 12, 2012, 8:41 pm
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Do you read the bible seriously or leisurely? There is no better
time to set your future goals then right now. This will be the
first official article for Trust N Truth. Please take the time
to read the entire article im sure you will enjoy!
--------------------
Have you been set free from Egypt (the world)? Were you once a
slave to sin but now you have become a follower of Jesus Christ,
someone who is on their way to the Promised Land? Have you left
behind all of the "trappings" of your old life and are you now
trusting in the Lord, obedient to His direction and commands,
and sensitive that you do not do those things that would be
offensive to God Almighty?
What if your church or family or friends said to you, "Hey,
let's make a golden calf in commemoration to all that God has
done for us." And then after they fashioned their golden calf,
they took it and placed it on an altar and then announced,
"Tomorrow let's make a feast to the Lord. We will rise up early
and offer burnt offerings and peace offerings (presents) here at
this golden calf altar. And then we will eat and drink and enjoy
each other's company"? Would you go along with the activities?
Sure, it's a ritual that has pagan origins and similarities, but
you are devoting your feast to the Lord and doing it in His
honor. So what do you say? Are you in? Would you go along with
your church, your family, and your friends? Of course you would
not. Right?
Well, there was a group of people who long ago were faced with
this very scenario. They were the Israelites whom God had led
out of captivity in Egypt. They were on their way to the
Promised Land. All they had to do was trust and obey God, and He
was going to do great and mighty things in their lives.
But there came a time when someone came up with the bright idea
of making a golden calf (Exodus 32:1-4). The Israelites had
previously been taught God's command that they were not to make
graven images nor bow down to them nor serve them (Exodus
20:4-5), but they were planning on doing it anyway. They had
witnessed with their own eyes the wickedness of Egypt with its
false gods and pagan religious rituals, yet here they were
emulating the very people whom God was trying to separate and
set them free from.
It is true that they tried to "clean up" and make holy what they
were about to do by offering the calf and festivities to the
Lord. The bible reads, "Now when Aaron saw this, he built an
altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said,
“Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.” So the next day they
rose early and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace
offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose
up to play." (Exodus 32:5-6) But do you think God wanted their
pagan-inspired calf? Do you think God said, "Well, they
scratched off Molech's name and replaced it with my name, so
that makes it all right"? Of course not! God was not pleased at
all. Let's read just how unpleased God was with the Israelites
for doing this thing:
Exodus 32:7-8, "Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go down at once,
for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt,
have corrupted themselves. They have quickly turned aside from
the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a
molten calf, and have worshiped it and have sacrificed to it and
said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the
land of Egypt!’" Yes, God was most certainly unpleased with this
"act of worship." The Israelites were trying to exchange the
truth of God for a lie, and they were trying to fit true holy
worship and devotion into some satanic world-inspired worship,
and God wanted to have nothing to do with it or them! God said
that the people had corrupted themselves in doing this thing.
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Now, you may be sitting there saying, "Well, I would have never
taken part in something like that anyway. I know better." Do
you? Are you sure you haven't already been doing this very same
thing?
As I was reading this bible account in Exodus, I was struck with
how similar these actions by the Israelites are to something
that Christians around the world do every year. Christians take
something that they know has evil origins, satanic beginnings,
and pagan roots, and they change the name of it around, tack on
a couple sweet-sounding platitudes, and proclaim that "It's a
day of honor to the Lord." What am I talking about? I'm talking
about the yearly celebration of Christmas.
The origins of "Christmas" and the traditions of it are widely
known by the world to have derived from the pagan Romans and
their "Feast of Saturnalia" in honor of their god Saturn.
Everything from gift exchanging, evergreen trees, mistletoe,
tree decorating, yule logs, and holly and ivy traces back to
this satanic ritual the early Romans practiced. The pagan
festival was celebrated December 17th - 24th, culminating on the
25th with a new celebration. If you don't believe me, look in
any Encyclopedia. Or even just type in the words, "Christmas
Origins" on the internet, and you will find this information out
for yourself.
And Christians everywhere have picked up right where the Romans
left off, without skipping a beat. Yes, in spite of having
knowledge of Christmas' sordid beginnings, stiffnecked,
rebellious Christians insist on doing just like the Israelites,
and they turn this golden calf from Satan himself into something
they worship as unto the Lord.
Friend, you might think that your Christmas carols and
candle-lit services and nativity scenes are paying homage to
God, but those things are noise and so much rubbish. All of it
is truly offensive to the very One you claim to be honoring.
And it doesn't matter if the WHOLE congregation, or EVERY member
of your family, or ALL of the people that you know are
participating in some kind of Christmas celebration, that still
does not make it right. God wants us to live holy, righteous,
obedient lives. He doesn't want us caught up in mass ignorance
and idolatry. If you put a pig in a tuxedo, you still have a
pig. And if you take that which is dung and set it in a box and
gift wrap it, it still is dung, AND IT STILL STINKS! You cannot
make what is unholy holy, and God does not want that which has
been offered to devils given to Him as homage. The Lord didn't
want Israel's golden calf, and He doesn't want your "Jesus is
the reason for the season" nonsense!
Furthermore, we are not given ANY information on the day or
month of Jesus' birth, NOR are we told to pay special tribute or
to acknowledge or celebrate any birthday for the Lord. But we
ARE told to be separate and apart from the world. We ARE told to
not do those things that the heathen do. We ARE told to hate
evil, (not to emulate it).
2 Corinthians 6:16-18, "Or what agreement has the temple of God
with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God
said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be
their God, and they shall be My people. “Therefore, come out
from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord.“ And do not
touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you. “And I will be a
father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” Says
the Lord Almighty."
Jeremiah 10:2, Thus says the Lord, “Do not learn the way of the
nations...
Judges 2:2, "and as for you, you shall make no covenant with the
inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But
you have not obeyed Me; what is this you have done?
Ephesians 5:11, "Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of
darkness, but instead even expose them;
Psalm 97:10, "Hate evil, you who love the Lord,
1 Corinthians 10:21, "You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and
the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord
and the table of demons.
Christian man or woman, are you going to continue to give that
which is unholy to God? The truth is out there if you want to
learn it and have an open heart to receive it. You can hold on
to your man-made, Satan-inspired traditions, or you can be set
free from following the blind and repent of this golden calf
worship. Which are you going to do?
--------------------
Let's end this where we started, with the Israelites, and see
what God said and did to them because of their folly.
Exodus 32:9-10, "The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this
people, and behold, they are an obstinate people. Now then let
Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may
destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation.”
God was so displeased with the Israelites and their "strange
fire" and abominable offering that He was ready to destroy them.
Fortunately for them, God did not kill them all. But they were
taught a lesson, their idol was destroyed, and some of them who
would not repent of this sin were killed.
Exodus 32:19-20, "It came about, as soon as Moses came near the
camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing; and Moses’ anger
burned, and he threw the tablets from his hands and shattered
them at the foot of the mountain. He took the calf which they
had made and burned it with fire, and ground it to powder, and
scattered it over the surface of the water and made the sons of
Israel drink it.
Exodus 32:26-28, "Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and
said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me!” And all the sons of
Levi gathered together to him. He said to them, “Thus says the
Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Every man of you put his sword upon
his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp,
and kill every man his brother, and every man his friend, and
every man his neighbor.’” So the sons of Levi did as Moses
instructed, and about three thousand men of the people fell that
day.
As we just read, the sons of Levi saw the error of their ways.
They were willing to repent of their sin of worshipping the
golden calf, come forth from the masses, and even be used to
slay those whom the Lord directed them to slay, be it brother,
companion, or neighbor. By their actions they showed whose side
they wanted to be on, which was the Lord's side. They were not
trying to play both sides of the field.
The Israelites had sinned a great sin by making themselves a god
of gold. People today sin a great sin by trying to pretend that
something that is thoroughly pagan is in honor of the True and
Only Living God. Will you be like the sons of Levi and come out
from amongst this adulterous generation, lift up your sword (The
Word of God), and "kill" in your home and in your life all
traces of this abomination called Christmas? Or will you
transgress the commandment of God by your traditions and cleave
unto your abominations out of sentimentality and stubbornness?
God says: “Therefore, come out from their midst and be
separate,” says the Lord. “And do not touch what is unclean; And
I will welcome you. (2Corinthians 6:17)
God also said: "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is
wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there
are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way
is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
(Matthew 7:13,14)
Do yourself a favor and take the bible seriously not leisurely.
Seek the truth!
THELORDSSIDE
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