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January 2, 2017 |
| Man-Made Holy Days | ||
Christmas and Easter have been despised by some in the church for decades and this has resulted in an ongoing battle. There isn't any doubt that these holidays (short for holy days) have gained many un-Christian aspects. This is now so true that the world now loves these holidays.
That is where the battle is currently waged, with themes like "Keep Christ in Christmas" on one side, and "Keep the Mass in Christmas - give it back to the Catholics" on the other. But is that the right battlefield? Is the problem the un-Christian aspects it has picked up? If so, then if you went back to a time when there were less of those aspects, then these holidays would be acceptable. But that leaves us with the unresolvable question, how much is too much?
The Church of God rejects Christmas and Easter and the other "extra-Biblical" days. It calls on its members to abstain from them. The foundation for this is how much paganism is part of them. But is that the way for the church to look at it? Are there deeper issues involved? Is there a bigger picture to see?
By defining paganism as the problem, the Church of God has opened the way to observing Thanksgiving, New Years, and Veterans Day. Those days have no Christian basis but are perceived as less pagan than Christmas and Easter.
In this lesson we'll look for a deeper understanding and we'll ask the important question. How does God see these days?
Christmas, Easter and every other holy day on the traditional Christian calendar are man-made holy days. By that I mean they were instituted by man, not by God. There are Holy Days that God instituted under the Old Covenant. The holy days the church observes were instituted by people in the church … or even outside.
Over hundreds of years, the Catholic church created more than 100 holy days, some greater some lesser. They did this because they had arrogated all kinds of authority and felt they were empowered to do anything. Some of these holy days have continued into the Protestant churches.
Just because they were instituted by the Catholic church, though, does not automatically mean they should not be observed. We do have to wonder, though, if God was pleased with those days the Catholic Church created. Was he displeased when the Protestant churches threw out most of them? If he wasn't pleased with those man-made holy days, why would he be pleased with any others.
That still leaves us with little direction about man-made holy days. The answer is that we need to see this through God's eyes. Fortunately, God has given us the definition to use - there is that which is holy to God and everything else is common (ordinary).
Man cannot create anything that is holy to God. There are many examples where God gave instructions for how something man-made was to be purified and become holy. There are no instructions for the purification of a day to make it a holy day.
The only reference I've found in the Bible to a man instituting a holy day comes from Jeroboam in 1 Kings 12:32. He has become afraid that he will lose his kingdom, Northern Israel, if the people continue to go down to Jerusalem, in Southern Israel, to worship on God's Holy Days, as they were commanded by God.
In order to keep them in his kingdom he creates his own worship centers, and idols to go with them. God will remind us of Jeroboam's sin many times after this. Jeroboam had spent a lot of time in Egypt hiding from Solomon. He had been affected during the time and he brought the idea of idolatry back with him.
He does another thing, though, that relates to our topic. He creates a new holy day for them and chooses a date for it. He styles it after one of God's Holy Days.
This is very reminiscent of Easter which began as one of God's Holy Days, Passover, and was "moved" to a different date.
33 Then he went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised in his own heart; and he instituted a feast for the sons of Israel and went up to the altar to burn incense. (1 Kings 12:33)
Notice the emphasis created here by the unnecessary clause ending in, "he had devised [the date] in his own heart". The verse is saying how crazy it is that he would do such a thing. Who does he think he is to do this? The only understanding we can pull from this is that God reserves the right to initiate holy days.
The Bible makes it clear that the Holy Days God gave to Israel were not their days, but God's days. All of his Holy Days are packed with purpose, meaning and prophecy. The ones that men create are hollow shells that are soon filled with paganism.
All of this makes sense when looked at from the perspective of a great and wise king. If someone in the kingdom, on his own initiative, convinces the people to observe an additional holy day, even if he says it observes the king's birthday, the king will not be pleased.
What the king sees is a person who is able to get the king's people to follow him instead of the king. To any earthly king, that person is a threat. He is also out of order and creating disorder within the kingdom. We have a Biblical example of that in King David's son, Absalom (2 Samuel 14). He used his good looks (great hair) and fine promises to lead the people into following him instead of David. The king had to flee from his kingdom.
From the king's perspective the people who would follow another person are also a problem. They are obviously not dedicated to him. A good king wants to take care of his people and be loved by them.
The king would also have a problem with the holiday if it isn't part of his plan for the kingdom. It may interfere with what he has planned for the people. Perhaps there are other things they need to be doing at the time.
The apostles and the early Christian church celebrated Passover on Nisan 14. When the Church of Rome (later the Roman Catholic Church) changed the day to the Sunday following Nisan 14. Polycarp was a bishop in Asia Minor (now Turkey) who had worked with some of the apostles. He traveled the great distance to Rome, to explain to the bishop there that this was wrong.
Polycarp told the Bishop of Rome that the apostles had always kept Passover on Nisan 14. His point was that changing it, even the date, made it unacceptable to God. Polycarp's churches and others did not change the date. At that time the Church of Rome was powerless to do anything about it.
They did begin mocking the people who held on to the Biblical date for Christmas for being so legalistic and rigid. They gave such people the Latin name "Quartodecimans." In English that would probably be "14-ers" - given for their inflexible adherence to the 14th of Nisan.
Later the Roman Catholic Church would change the date for Passover to its current formula. This time a man called Polycrates, along with other bishops in Asia Minor, would send a letter of correction to Rome. By this time the Roman Catholic Church had the power to persecute the churches that did not comply with its rules. Eventually it would drive them out of the Roman Empire.
There is a prophetic reference to another person who will change the dates of days.
He [the anti-Christ] will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time. (Daniel 7:25)
Does it seem odd that a list of his charges would include little things like changing the dates. Maybe they aren't that little.
If we change one of God's days, we have tried to take control of it. God sees it as creating our own day, no matter how much we think it is the same day … only better. The days we create are our own; they are not holy to God.
If God is pleased when we create a holiday to honor him, then he would be even more pleased if we created two holidays to honor him. And if two are good then four are better. If 4, then 8, then 16 …
That's the problem we get into when we try to do things on our own to please God. If one is good - many are better.
Micah the prophet discusses trying to please God in Micah 6.
"6 With what shall I come to the Lord
And bow myself before the God on high?
Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings,
With yearling calves?
7 Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams,
In ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts,
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
8 He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:6-8)
The result is that God is pleased when people do what "he has told you", obedience. When we create a holy day, are we walking humbly with our God?
When we observe a man-made holiday we are being obedient to the prescribed observances for that day. At Christmas time, no one goes from door to door saying "Trick or Treat." We all know the correct observances for each holiday and we obey them.
The creator of that day wants you to observe something on that day. By doing so you are honoring his request. Is George Washington honored by President's Day? No, he's dead. With man-made holidays, who are we obeying and honoring?
A mother or father is honored by a child who creates a picture for them. Even though the picture isn't ready for the Louvre we respect it because the child has used his or her skills to do something and made a gift of it to the parents. The same goes with all gifts among mankind. The person has cared enough to give you something that is of value or significance to them. God is creator and owner of everything, however. We cannot give him anything; it's already his. We cannot use our skills to make anything for him; he gave us those skills. God is spirit and he has no need for things made by man.
The truth is that God is not honored by us creating a holy day to celebrate him. He is not like a man.
Religions that that use statues and other images in their worship believe they are worshiping their god through the image. They don't believe they are worshiping a block of wood or something else. God says, if you create a wooden image of a god and worship it you are worshiping the block of wood. This isn't because there is no god to be worshiped through the image. It's because nothing can be worshiped through another thing. It is always worship of the thing.
This is why God says he cannot be worshiped through an image. It is worship of the thing, not worship of God.
When a holiday is created it is a "thing" just as much as a block of wood or even something as abstract as wealth, strength, or a philosophy. Having been created, by our own hands, it can be worshiped.
The tangibles, like wood, stone, and metal, are more easily understood as potential objects of worship but some religions, for example Taoism, are based on worship of a philosophy. The prophet Habakkuk speaks of a people whose God is their strength. We also understand that wealth can be a God.
Just as we cannot worship God through an idol or any other thing we create, we cannot worship him through a day that we have created. This is true even if we have decided the holiday is about some aspect of God.
25 Because they have forsaken Me and have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore My wrath will be poured out on this place and it shall not be quenched. (2 Chronicles 34:25)
16 I will pronounce My judgments on them concerning all their wickedness, whereby they have forsaken Me and have offered sacrifices to other gods, and worshiped the works of their own hands. (Jeremiah 1:16)
41 And they made a calf for themselves in those days, and they sacrificed sacrifices to the idol and they were delighting in the work of their hands. (Acts 7:41)
20 And the rest of the children of men who were not killed by the scourges did not turn from the work of their hands to not worship Devils and idols of gold, of silver and of brass, and of wood and of stone, which do not see, neither hear, nor are able to walk. (Revelation 9:20)
How do we worship such intangibles as wealth, strength, and philosophies? Just as we praise our God we can praise these gods, though it sounds a little different. God of Wealth: "My wealth has made me secure; I need not fear." God of Strength: "Because of our strength we cannot be beaten." God of Philosophy: "You have given me understanding and wisdom."
I have heard Christians praise Easter with words like, "It's the most holy day of the year." We've also heard Christmas praised as "the happiest day of the year."
When a holiday is created there are always rituals and symbols that accompany it. Christmas has its tree and gift giving. Easter has its eggs and dressing up for church. July 4th has its flag and going to see fireworks. Thanksgiving has its turkeys and pumpkins and eating.
We commonly see these rituals and symbols inside churches as well. The word "Syncretism" describes the mixing together of holy and pagan (common, as God sees it). Remember that pagan doesn't mean evil. It just refers to things that are not part of the faith.
In fact, an argument can be made that anything we have created does not belong in a place of worship because it distracts from worship, attracting our attention to the glory of the thing we have created.
25 If you make an altar of stone for Me, you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you wield your tool on it, you will profane it. (from Exodus 20:23-26) (NIV)
God's concern here is about bringing things we have made into our worship. The temptation is to worship them instead of God. It's easy to understand how an ornate church building or decorated church building could be a visual distraction. It can be more than that though. It can become a source of pride and worship.
Because of this commandment, the stones for Solomon's temple were worked off-site then brought to the temple to be placed in position.
God also speaks of another kind of thing that should not be in a place of worship.
21 You shall not plant for yourself an Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of the Lord your God, which you shall make for yourself. 22 You shall not set up for yourself a sacred pillar which the Lord your God hates." (Deuteronomy 16:21-22) (NIV)
This verse deals with bringing pagan symbols and rituals into worship. One of the symbols used in the worship of the goddess Asherah was a pole or pillar. Note that God doesn't say not to worship the goddess or the pillar - he says not to have it anywhere nearby.
The world prizes self-starters and those who take the initiative. Not so with God. Among the Biblical examples we find King Saul, who had a "better" plan than the one given by God. He thought he would honor God by sacrificing the captured animals to God. He had been instructed to destroy them instead of capturing them. What God wanted was obedience. We are not smart enough or aware enough of God's plans to take the initiative.
A general principle to be pulled from this is Syncretism. Why would we even want to mix these man-made holy days into the faith.
Do not be associates with those who are unbelievers; for what partnership has righteousness with evil, or what intimacy has light with darkness? 15 What harmony has the Messiah with Satan? What lot has a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement does the Temple of God have with demons? But you are the Temple of the living God, just as it is said, "I shall dwell in them and I shall walk in them, and I shall be their God, and they shall be a people to me." (2 Corinthians 6:14-16)
These bullet points cover the topics we've looked at.
This lesson can be found at http://ourhope.site/2017-01-02%20ManMadeHolyDays/MMHD.html. If you are setup to scan QR codes, this code will take you there.
Additional information about this topic can be found at http://ourhope.site/XmasAtNHU/XANHU.html.