Then the LORD said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the leaders of Israel are doing with their idols in dark rooms? They are saying, ‘The LORD doesn’t see us; he has deserted our land!” Then the LORD added, “Come, and I will show you even more detestable sins than these!” He brought me to the north gate of the LORD’s Temple, and some women were sitting there, weeping for the god Tammuz. “Have you seen this?” he asked. “But I will show you even more detestable sins than these!”- Ezekiel 8:12-15 NLT

Warrior;

Do you know Church history enough to know the truth about Christmas and Easter?  Do you desire to know God so intimately, that you dig deeply eschatologically? What would you say if I told you that the holidays that we Christians hold dearest, were created as Pagan Holidays, before Christianity became the state religion of Rome? Christianity became the state religion of Rome during the reign of Emperor Constantine in the 4th century, specifically through the Edict of Milan issued in 313 CE which granted religious tolerance to Christians, marking a significant shift in the status of Christianity within the Roman Empire. Holidays that were celebrated by those who followed other Gods, were continued to be celebrated by the people of ‘the Way’, but the meaning was changed. Here is some TRUTH THERAPY. Shortly after the flood, when Noah and his family came out of the ark, they first settled in the Babylonian plain and there the son of Ham, whose name is Cush, had a son by the name of Nimrod. Hear the Word of the Lord: Cush was also the ancestor of Nimrod, who was the first heroic warrior on earth. Since he was the greatest hunter in the world, his name became proverbial. People would say, “This man is like Nimrod, the greatest hunter in the world.” He built his kingdom in the land of Babylonia, with the cities of Babylon, Erech, Akkad, and Calneh. From there he expanded his territory to Assyria, building the cities of Nineveh, Rehoboth-ir, Calah, and Resen (the great city located between Nineveh and Calah). (Genesis 10:8-12) This is the beginning of the FALSE RELIGIONS, or the beginning of RELIGION. Remember, man feared God, we are just a short time after the flood, Genesis 9 is where Noah landed on land after One year in the ark. Nimrod was strong and powerful and could protect people from a petulant God. Nimrod’s name is similar to the Hebrew word for “rebellion,” and traditionally he was considered a dictator and tyrant. Nimrod was so famous for his hunting skill that being like Nimrod, “a mighty hunter before the Lord,” became a common saying in the world. In the modern English-speaking world, the term “nimrod” is used as an insult, mostly to someone’s intelligence. This is due to a series of sarcastic references in the 1920s and 1930s, which mocked an inept hunter as “Nimrod,” replacing the reputation of that name with almost the exact opposite!

Leader, Nimrod’s Mother, Semiramis, was later called the Queen of Heaven. A while after the death of Nimrod, he was deified and was called Tammuz. Here you have your ancient mystery Babylon religion born- the worship of the mother (Semiramis), the Queen of Heaven, and her son Tammuz. Later, Semiramis claimed that Tammuz was virgin born and that he was born on December 25th. So that they began to worship and serve Tammuz at birth and celebrate it on the 25th of December. According to THE STORY, as Nimrod was out hunting wild boar, a wild boar turned on him and gored him and he lay there dead for three days, after which life came back into him. And they began to celebrate the resurrection from the dead of this man, Tammuz or Nimrod. It so happened that it took place in the spring. And thus, they began to celebrate a holiday that they called Eshtar in the springtime, celebrating the resurrection of Tammuz from the dead. Eshtar is a false, pagan goddess of fertility. Because the egg is a symbol of perpetuated life in the celebration they would take and color eggs and the whole idea behind the Easter Bunny… rabbits, fertility… it all goes back- not to Christian origins but to pagan origins, to Babylon. One of the GIFTS of CHRISTMAS is TRUTH! The Bible is a GIFT from God, it is the WORD, and it is our instruction manual, and it is a book of TRUTH THERAPY, written to combat the LIES OF THE WORLD.  The Bible is written POLEMICALLY. Polemically means in a way that strongly defends or attacks a particular opinion, idea, person, or set of beliefs. Polemical theology is nothing other than contending for a particular theological understanding (usually one that the contender holds to be the truth) and disputing those that contradict it or minimize it. It is impossible to indulge in serious critical thought without becoming enmeshed, to some degree, in polemics.

Conduit, Jesus told us HE IS THE TRUTH!  In all religions there is a FLOOD story. In Babylonian mythology, the most well-known flood story is found within the Epic of Gilgamesh, where the hero, Utnapishtim, is warned by the god Ea to build a large boat and save himself and all living creatures from an impending flood sent by the gods to destroy humanity; after the flood subsides, Utnapishtim is granted immortality as a reward for his obedience. Jesus told us about the prince of this world. The Prince of the Power of the air is a LIAR! Lying is part of the devil’s character. TRUTH IS PART OF GOD’S CHARACTER. Jesus told us, “When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). The devil is a perverter of the truth, he is WICKED.  Think of WICKER furniture, it is twisted wood.  The devil has always been a twister of the truth.  He starts with a truth, “There was a great flood”, then he twists it and adds layers of lies, half-truths, and misleading implications. This is why JESUS TOLD US; HE IS THE TRUTH!! “Jesus is the truth” means that Jesus embodies the ultimate truth, as stated in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life,” signifying that he is the source and embodiment of all truth, not just a teacher of truth; essentially, he is the standard by which all other truths are measured. This truth is important because we have a BUILT IN NEED OF GOD! It is written, “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope. (Romans 8:19-20) Paul tells us that when God created man God created man incomplete. God made man subject unto emptiness and that by the design of Him who created him, God placed this emptiness within.  This creates an INNATE desire in our SOULS to thirst after God. That was part of the plan of God in bringing us to Himself to make within us this vacuum. We know that nature always abhors a vacuum and seeks to fill it. And so man seeks to fill this inner vacuum that he has, that desire to touch God- with whatever FEELS GOOD. Man being led by LIES, and having a desire to fill that vacuum, created all kinds of religious systems.Sociologist Émile Durkheim defined religion as, “things that surpass the limits of our knowledge”, calling it, “a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, ‘set apart’ and forbidden, beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community, all those who adhere to them”. Religion can be defined as a system of beliefs that necessitates faith and demands devotion from its followers, requiring individuals to trust in a higher power, or a set of principles by FAITH- while actively participating in practices and rituals associated with that belief system. One of the Gifts of the BABE IN THE MANGER is the WORD of GOD, the TRUTH, THE WAY, THE LIFE! This is why JESUS, and the BIBLE ARE ONE! It is written; In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1) ENJOY your GIFT OF THE WORD, THE TRUTH! So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32) Amen!