If your life is not in jeopardy for what you
believe, you’re probably on the wrong side!
“Indeed, all who want
to live a godly life united with the Messiah Yeshua will be persecuted.” (2Tim 3:12)
It is what you actually believe that determines how you walk out your faith,
“but avoid stupid controversies, genealogies,
quarrels and fights about the Torah; because they are worthless and
futile.” (Titus 3:9)
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Please Note: Absolutely nothing on this website should be taken as anti-Church. I am not anti-anything or anyone. I am only pro-Torah and pro-Truth (see “Philosophy”), but sometimes the Truth upsets our long-held beliefs. I know it certainly upset mine! For example, see “Why Isn’t My Theology Consistent Throughout the Website?”
A Few Reasons Why I Choose
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First and foremost, there is neither Biblical command nor Biblical precedent for celebrating Messiah’s birth at all. In ancient Hebrew tradition, it is the anniversary of a person’s death that is commemorated, not that of their birth.
Second, God has established an entire annual cycle of feasts and festivals that He gave to all of His people to be celebrated forever. There is nothing in Scripture that suggests that God is pleased when His people seek to worship Him in ways of their own designing; in fact, the exact opposite is quite true.
Third, the God-ordained Festival that coincides with Yeshua’s birth is Sukkot [Tabernacles], which is the actual date of Messiah’ birth.[1]
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. … The Word became flesh, and took up residence [literally, tabernacled[2]] among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1,14, HCSB[3])
 Saturn prepares to slay an infant[10] |
The Roman Catholic Mass is, in their own words, “… a continuation and a re-offering of Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary” [see below]. Since the Christ Mass is rooted in paganism and is a festival in honor of the false god Saturn (according to Scripture, all false gods are really demons posing as deity), then any sacrifice that is rooted in that paganism would be the same as a sacrifice to a demon. The Bible says that all Gentile [non-Jewish] sacrifices are sacrifices to demons:
No, what I am saying is that the things which pagans sacrifice, they sacrifice not to God but to demons; and I don’t want you to become sharers of the demons! (1Cor. 10:20[4])
The Bible also teaches that the sacrifice of Yeshua haMashiach (“Jesus Christ”) was a once-for-all event that can never be repeated.
For the Messiah has entered a Holiest Place which is not man-made and merely a copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, in order to appear now on our behalf in the very presence of God. Further, He did not enter heaven to offer Himself over and over again, like the cohen hagadol [high priest] who enters the Holiest Place year after year with blood that is not his own; for then He would have had to suffer death many times — from the founding of the universe on. But as it is, He has appeared once at the end of the ages in order to do away with sin through the sacrifice of Himself. Just as human beings have to die once, but after this comes judgment, so also the Messiah, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to deliver those who are eagerly waiting for Him. (Hebrews 9:24-28)
It is in connection with this will that we have been separated for God and made holy, once and for all, through the offering of Yeshua the Messiah’s body. Now every cohen [priest] stands every day doing his service, offering over and over the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But [Yeshua], after He had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, sat down at the right hand of God, from then on to wait until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. For by a single offering He has brought to the goal for all time those who are being set apart for God and made holy. And Ruach HaKodesh [the Holy Spirit] too bears witness to us; for after saying, “‘This is the covenant which I will make with them after those days,’ says Yehovah: ‘I will put my Torah on their hearts, and write it on their minds …,’” He then adds, “‘And their sins and their wickednesses I will remember no more.’” Now where there is forgiveness for these, an offering for sins is no longer needed. (Hebrews 10:10-18)
Therefore, I choose to not celebrate Christ Mass because:
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(1) it is a pagan practice honoring false gods, that we are commanded to not follow,
(2) it is considered a re-sacrifice of our true High Priest,
(3) the Scriptures consider it a sacrifice to demons, and therefore,
(4) for those of us who know the Truth, to participate in the pagan practice of Christ Mass would for us be a sin.
“So then, anyone who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it is committing a sin.” (James 4:17).
For more information see also:
• The
Shocking Origin of Christmas
• Paganism
and Catholicism: Christmas • Pagan
Roots? 5 Surprising Facts About Christmas
• Ten Christmas Customs with Pagan Roots • Christmas Traditions: Pagan or Christian? The Priest receives these gifts [the
offering] and says a blessing over them, offering them to God,
the work and fruit of our hands, highlighting the great mystery
that God will take food and drink we have made and transform
them into a Heavenly Meal, the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus. After blessing the gifts, the Priest
prays that God will cleanse him of all iniquity and symbolically
washes his fingers which will touch the Lord. The People then pray that God will accept
the Priest’s Sacrifice “for the Praise
and Glory of His Name, for our good and the good of all His Church.” The Mass has its beginning in the Last Supper
when Our Lord first changed bread and wine into His Body and Blood.
But it also has its links in the great events of Good Friday.
Each Mass is a continuation and a re-offering of Christ’s
sacrifice on Calvary. It takes the holocausts and burnt,
bloody sacrifices of the Old Testament and transforms them into the
Holy Sacrifice of the Lamb of God that redeemed all mankind. After the Priest recites a short prayer
of praise to God — the “Preface” — the People sing the Heavenly
Chant of the “Sanctus” “with all the Angels and Saints:” The People then
kneel in readiness for the moment when Jesus
will become truly, physically present on the altar.[6] The Priest begins to pray a great prayer
of thanksgiving and supplication to God called the “Eucharistic
Prayer.” There are a number of Eucharistic Prayers for the
Priest to choose from: The First Eucharistic Prayer is a
translation of the Canon. The Canon was the only Eucharistic
Prayer that was said in the Latin Rite from the time of the
Counter-Reformation until Vatican II. It is rich in the history
of the People of God, it calls on our Jewish heritage, it
reminds us of our Heavenly goal, it calls on each of the
Apostles and the Saints and the Martyrs of the Early Church,
each by name, to intercede for us. (It is my personal favourite!) The Second Eucharistic Prayer (one of the
new ones introduced by Pope Paul VI after Vatican II) is based
on the Eucharistic Prayers in use in the very early Church. It
is beautiful in its simplicity and many appreciate how it links
us to the prayer of the early Church. Many also appreciate that
it is so much shorter than the others! (It is certainly the most
often used, the “default” Eucharistic Prayer, if you like!) The Third Eucharistic Prayer draws
greatly on the liturgical traditions and imagery of the Eastern
Church. There is also a Fourth Eucharistic Prayer
and a number written especially for Masses with Children. The common elements of the Eucharistic
Prayers are: • The Consecration — the moment
when the Priest transforms the bread and wine into the
Body and Blood of Our Lord by repeating the words of
consecration:[7] • This is my Body (hic est enim corpus meum) • Prayer for the Church • Prayer for the Pope, the local Ordinary (Bishop), all priests
and all the Faithful • Prayer for the Faithful Departed (those Faithful who have died) • Invocation of the Blessed Virgin, the Apostles and the Saints • Finally, the Doxology of Praise by the
Priest followed by the People’s “Great Amen”: Through Him, with
Him, in Him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and
honour are Yours, Almighty Father, for ever and ever. Amen. The People then stand to say the Lord’s
Prayer together and to share the Kiss of Peace with each other
(usually a handshake or a nod of the head!) The Priest then breaks the Body
of Christ while the People pray, “Lamb of God, who
takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.” (Agnus
Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis). The Priest then invites us again to acknowledge
our unworthiness in the “Domine, non sum dignus”: “Lord, I
am not worthy to receive you but only say the word, and I shall
be healed.” The Priest then eats and drinks the
Body and Blood of the Lord before proceeding to distribute
the Sacrament to each of the People in turn who wish and are able to
receive communion. This is the great pinnacle of the Mass, of the
Christian Life, of the Church, the moment when Jesus, truly
present, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, enters into our very
being, our bodies and souls, making us one together with Him and with
each other, cleaving us to His Mystical Body, the Church. Needless to say, a few moments’ quiet
reflection and then a song of great joy and praise follow this
blessed moment! At this stage, a second collection is
usually taken. The proceeds of this collection are for the needs
of the parish (maintenance of the Church buildings, paying for
the electricity, funds for the Parish School, etc.) and to
provide for the priests. After consuming any remaining Precious
Blood and placing any remaining hosts in the Tabernacle, the
Priest cleans and purifies the sacred vessels and then sits
quietly for a time in reflection and thanksgiving. In the Torah [Leviticus
23] God has
decreed seven “appointed times” for all His people
to appear before Him in corporate holy assembly:
Shabbat,
Pesach,
Matzah,
First Fruits,
Shavuot,
Yom Kippur, and
Sukkot.[8] He said that
these are to be His “designated times of Yehovah
that you are to proclaim as holy convocations” and that they
are to be observed by all His people as “a permanent regulation,
through all your generations.” The Church argues that these days are “holidays
of the Jews,” yet the Bible clearly calls them “the
appointed feasts of Yehovah” (Lev.
23:2;
2Chron.
2:4). Daniel prophesied that the Antichrist “will speak words against the
Most High and oppress the holy ones of the Most High. He will intend
to change religious festivals and laws…” (Dan. 7:25). In the spirit
of Antichrist, the Church has decided that what Yehovah
has commanded is simply not important and refuses to honor the
times of worship that He has designated; the Church presumes
that He should be satisfied with their showing up uninvited on
Sunday, Christmas, and Easter, all of which are totally pagan in
origin (plus Wednesday night, which is of purely human origin).
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked;
for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap” (Gal. 6:7, NASB). For those who would argue, “But that
isn’t our intention in celebrating Christmas; we just celebrate Jesus’
birthday” let me first remind that Yeshua was born in September, not in
December,[9] so Christmas
has absolutely nothing at all to do with His birthday. Then I would
offer the following examples of those who violated HaShem’s
instructions without having evil intention to do so. In Eden, HaShem told Adam and Eve to not
eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:16-17).
They had no evil intent when they disobeyed. Just the opposite,
in fact. They considered that “the tree was good for food, that
it had a pleasing appearance and that the tree was desirable for
making one wise” (Gen. 3:6). Surely Father God would be pleased
when He noticed how wise they had become. As a result of their
good intention, death entered creation and they were expelled
from Paradise. To atone for (cover) their sin, HaShem
“made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them”
(Gen. 3:21). For reasons we will see in just a moment, it is not
unrealistic to believe that HaShem instructed them in animal
sacrifice and it was the skin of the sacrificial animal(s) from
which he made their garments. Some few years later Adam and Eve’s son
Hevel [Abel] brought HaShem a sacrifice “from the firstborn of
his sheep, including their fat” (Gen. 4:4). How could he have
possibly even begun to conceive of the idea of an animal
sacrifice unless he learned it from his father, who in turn
learned in from HaShem? Abel’s brother Kayin [Cain], who had
received the same instruction about sacrifice from his father,
“brought an offering to Yehovah from the produce of the soil. …
Yehovah accepted
Hevel and his offering but did not accept Kayin and his
offering. Kayin was very angry, and his face fell. Yehovah said to
Kayin, ‘Why are you angry? Why so downcast? If you are doing
what is good, shouldn't you hold your head high? And if you
don't do what is good, sin is crouching at the door — it wants
you, but you can rule over it.’” (Gen 4:3-7). Kayin wound up
murdering his brother Havel, and as a result he was driven from
the land and from the presence of Yehovah. We can
safely surmise that Yehovah
rejected Kayin’s sacrifice because it was not the kind of
sacrifice that Yehovah
had specified. About a thousand years later, humanity
was still doing things their own way. Then “Yehovah
saw that the people on earth were very wicked, that all the
imaginings of their hearts were always of evil only.
Yehovah regretted
that he had made humankind on the earth; it grieved his heart.
Yehovah said, ‘I
will wipe out humankind, whom I have created, from the whole
earth; and not only human beings, but animals, creeping things
and birds in the air; for I regret that I ever made them’” (Gen.
6:5-7). So HaShem sent the Flood to wipe out all of humanity
except for the eight people who were still doing things His way. After the flood waters had receded,
HaShem instructed Noah and his sons, “And you people, be
fruitful, multiply, swarm on the earth and multiply on it” (Gen.
9:7). But instead of dispersing throughout the earth as HaShem
had commanded, a few hundred years later, humanity (under the
leadership of Nimrod, according to tradition) “used the same
language, the same words. It came about that as they traveled
from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shin'ar and
lived there. They said to one another, ‘Come, let’s make bricks
and bake them in the fire.’ So they had bricks for
building-stone and clay for mortar. Then they said, ‘Come, let’s
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’” (Gen. 11:1-4). The text of
Genesis says, literally, “let us build ourselves a city with a
tower, and at its top, the heavens.” It is well known by
scholars that “the Babylon Mystery Religion” (as discussed at
the very beginning of this paper) was born at Babel, along with
one of its key components — the practice of astrology. Many
believe that the phrase “at its top, the heavens” suggest
strongly that the tower was dedicated as an observatory for
astrology. Because humanity had continued to “have it their way”
HaShem confounded their language and scattered them throughout
the whole earth (Gen.11:7-9). Fast forward another few hundred years,
and we find HaShem making a promise to Avraham that he and his
wife would have a son, and that he, Avraham, would become the
father of a great nation. Avraham and Sarah became impatient and
took matters into their own hands to have a son named Ishmael.
They had absolutely no evil intent, but only wanted to see
HaShem’s promise fulfilled — with their help. As a result, the
descendants of Ishmael (the Arab Muslims) and the promised son
Isaac (the Jews) have been at war for four thousand years, with
no end in sight until Messiah returns to settle their
differences. About a thousand years later, HaShem has
redeemed Israel — a great nation of perhaps as many as six to
twelve million people
— out
of Egypt and brought them to Mount Sinai where He literally took
the nation as His bride. When Moshe [Moses] went up the mountain
to receive the marriage contract (the Torah), the people became
restless and concerned that Moshe had died on the mountain and
was never going to return. With absolutely no evil intent, the
people wanted to worship HaShem and felt it would be helpful if
they had an object to help them focus their worship. “Aharon
[Aaron] said to them, ‘Have your wives, sons and daughters strip
off their gold earrings; and bring them to me.’ The people
stripped off their gold earrings and brought them to Aharon. He
received what they gave him, melted it down, and made it into
the shape of a calf. They said, ‘Isra'el! Here is your god, who
brought you up from the land of Egypt!’ On seeing this, Aharon
built an altar in front of it and proclaimed, ‘Tomorrow is to be
a feast for Yehovah.’
Early the next morning they got up and offered burnt offerings
and presented peace offerings. Afterwards, the people sat down
to eat and drink; then they got up to indulge in revelry” (Exod.
32:2-6, NASB). There are a few things that it is
critical to note about this narrative. They had absolutely no
evil intent. There were
not worshipping the golden calf; they were worshipping Yehovah
but using the calf as a visible reminder of “your god, who
brought you up from the land of Egypt.” They were worshipping
HaShem, but were doing it “their way.” As a result, the Levites
were ordered, “‘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.” (Exod.
32:27,28, NASB) Just a few years later, “Nadav and Avihu,
sons of Aharon, each took his censer, put fire in it, laid
incense on it, and offered unauthorized fire before Yehovah, something
He had not ordered them to do. At this, fire came forth from the
presence of Yehovah
and consumed them, so that they died in the presence of
Yehovah. Moshe said
to Aharon, ‘This is what Yehovah said: “Through those who are near me I will be
consecrated, and before all the people I will be glorified”’”
(Lev 10:1-3). Nadav and Avihu were priests of Yehovah, serving
Yehovah in the Tabernacle, and performing their assigned task
of offering incense. However,
Yehovah had
prescribed the precise manner in which the incense was to be
offered. With absolutely no evil intent, they chose to offer the
incense in a manner other than that which He had ordered, and
for that indiscretion their lives were immediately and violently
forfeit. In the Torah HaShem has decreed seven
“appointed times” for all
His people to appear before Him in corporate holy assembly:
Shabbat, Pesach, Matzah, First Fruits, Shavuot, Yom Kippur, and
Sukkot. He said that these are to be His “designated times of ADONAI
that you are to proclaim as holy convocations” and that they are
to be observed by all His people (not only the Jews) as “a
permanent regulation, generation after generation.” If you
consider yourself as a person of God, the “permanent regulation”
applies to you! When the Ark of the Covenant was
constructed, HaShem instructed Moshe: “When Aaron and his sons
have finished covering the holy objects and all the furnishings
of the sanctuary, when the camp is to set out, after that the
sons of Kohath shall come to carry them, so that they will not
touch the holy objects and die. These are the things in the tent
of meeting which the sons of Kohath are to carry. … But do this
to them that they may live and not die when they approach the
most holy objects: Aaron and his sons shall go in and assign
each of them to his work and to his load; but they shall not go
in to see the holy objects even for a moment, or they will die.”
(Num. 4:15,19-20, NASB). About a thousand years later, as David
and his men were bringing the Ark of the Covenant up to
Baale-judah on an ox-drawn cart, “Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of
Abinadab, were leading the new cart. So they brought it with the
ark of God from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill;
and Ahio was walking ahead of the ark. … But when they came to
the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out toward the ark
of God and took hold of it, for the oxen nearly upset it. And
the anger of the Yehovah
burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down there for his
irreverence; and he died there by the ark of God” (2Sam. 6:3-7).
With absolutely no evil intent, but with every possible
good intent Uzza
reached out and touched a holy thing of God’s with the intent of
protecting it from harm, and God struck him down for “his
irreverence.” Likewise, King Saul became impatient waiting
for Samuel to come offer the burnt offerings and peace offerings
prior to engaging the Philistines in battle, so he took it upon
himself to offer the sacrifices when HaShem had not instructed him
to do so, and for his arrogance, HaShem took the kingdom from him
and gave it to David. (1Sam 13:1-14) With absolutely no evil intent, the Church
has unilaterally decided that HaShem’s seven “appointed
times” are not important, and so they offer Christmas, Easter,
Sunday morning and evening, and Wednesday evening as the
Church’s “appointed times,” and they expect the Creator
and Emperor of the Universe to bend to their will,
show up at their appointed times, and be pleased with
their worship. Is this not the very definition of irreverence
and arrogance? Is that not exactly what Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel,
Nimrod and his priests at Babel, Aaron and those who fell down before
the golden calf, Nadav and Avihu, and King Saul did? If HaShem struck
down Uzzah for his unintentional irreverence, why should the
Church assume that He will be pleased with their collective
intentional irreverence? So by all means, if it seems good in your
sight to ignore “the appointed times of HaShem” and expect him
to honor your worship at “the appointed times of the Church,” by
all means, feel free to do so. ____________ 1. See “Yeshua’s
Birthday:Biblical Dates for the Birth of Yochanan the Immerser and
for the Conception and Birth of Yeshua HaMashiach.”
[BACK] 2 The Greek
word that is used here is σκηνόω
(skenoo), to fix one’s tabernacle, have one’s tabernacle,
abide (or live) in a tabernacle (or tent), tabernacle; to dwell.
[BACK] 3. Holman
Christian Standard Bible ® Copyright © 2003, 2002, 2000, 1999
by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[BACK] 4. Unless otherwise
indicated, Scripture references are taken from the
Complete Jewish Bible,
© Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament
Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
[BACK] 5. The following
description of the mass is taken from “A Tour of the New Mass” at
catholic-pages.com/mass/newmass.asp. It is not my intention to engage
in “Catholic-bashing.” I merely present this information for your careful
consideration. You need to decide for yourself whether this is something
in which you are comfortable participating (all emphasis added).
[BACK] 6. It is critically
important to understand that in Roman Catholic belief, the Eucharist
is not merely symbolic of the body and blood of Christ. After having been
blessed by the priest, the bread literally becomes His flesh and
the wine literally becomes His blood. This is literally
cannibalism!
[BACK] 7. This is nothing
less than the practice of witchcraft; the priest manipulates physical
reality through the incantation of “magic words.”
[BACK] 8. See
“The
Moadim: God’s Appointed Times.”
[BACK] 9. See “Yeshua’s
Birthday” for details.
[BACK] 10. Image obtained from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and is
tagged as being in the public domain.
[BACK]
The Liturgy of the Eucharist[5]
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord,
God of Power and Might,
Heaven and Earth are full of Your glory
Hosanna in the Highest!
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord
Hosanna in the Highest!
This is the cup of my Blood (hoc est calix sanguinis meus)
Why Are HaShem’s Appointed Times Important?
Samuel said to Saul, “You have acted foolishly;
you have not kept the commandment of the Yehovah your God, which He
commanded you, for now the Yehovah would have established your kingdom
over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not endure. The
Yehovah has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the
Yehovah has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have
not kept what the Yehovah commanded you.”
(1Sam 13:13-14)
If it seems bad to you to serve
Adonai, then choose today whom you are going to serve! Will
it be the gods your ancestors served beyond the River? or the
gods of the Emori, in whose land you are living? As for me and
my household, we will serve Yehovah! (Josh.
24:15)
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