strange fire?
You should also read Stacey's blog: www.landofpromise.blogspot.com.
So I was writing an e-mail to my Bible study leader because she wanted to know why I don't celebrate Christmas...and it was just so thought-provoking that I have to share it with all y'alls. Even if you don't find a way to apply this to Christmas like I do, it IS the Word of God and thus applies to your life somehow. It is up to you to listen to what God wants you to learn from this. Somehow I doubt that what He wants you to learn is," Sara is an idiot so you should leave nasty comments on her blog". Heh :-). Just trying to keep the peace.
Leviticus 20:23 says, "Moreover, you shall not follow the customs of the nation which I shall drive out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I have abhorred them." The verses before this passage lists specific abominations of the nations. The verses following give the promise of God to inherit the land as well as a command to be holy in verse 26. Jeremiah 10:2 says, "Do not learn the way of the nations...." and it goes on to speak of an idol that many people liken to a Christmas tree (cutting a tree down, decorating it with gold and silver, fastening it so it will not totter...hmmm...). II Kings 17:33 speaks of a people that "feared the Lord and served their own gods according to the customs of the nations...." and thus were not holy in God's sight. You can't mix God with what the rest of the world is doing!
Leviticus 10 relates a passage where Nadab and Abihu worship God in a wrong way. God had commanded them to offer incense to Him. However, it had to be the type He specified, not the "strange fire" that they offered. So, even if your motives are to serve God (sort of), it's no good if you don't do it in the way He specified. Here is the passage: "Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. Then Moses said to Aaron, "It is what the Lord spoke, saying, "By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, And before all the people I will be honored." So Aaron therefore kept silent." ~Leviticus 10:1-3. Being in Christ we are like the sons of Aaron-- we have access to the throne room of God through the Holy Spirit! So, then we have to ask, am I bringing "strange fire" before the Lord? Is taking a holiday that used to be pagan (and it could be argued that it still is...) offering God fire that He did not command? Yes, on the outside it looks like you're doing the right thing: oh, yeah, he's offering incense to God. Check out how holy he is. But err umm have you looked at that incense lately?
My problem with Christmas is not that families get together and give each other preents. My problem is that people think that they are worshipping God but He never told us to worship Him this way....did He?
Enough thoughts for the day? Yes, I believe so.
So I was writing an e-mail to my Bible study leader because she wanted to know why I don't celebrate Christmas...and it was just so thought-provoking that I have to share it with all y'alls. Even if you don't find a way to apply this to Christmas like I do, it IS the Word of God and thus applies to your life somehow. It is up to you to listen to what God wants you to learn from this. Somehow I doubt that what He wants you to learn is," Sara is an idiot so you should leave nasty comments on her blog". Heh :-). Just trying to keep the peace.
Leviticus 20:23 says, "Moreover, you shall not follow the customs of the nation which I shall drive out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I have abhorred them." The verses before this passage lists specific abominations of the nations. The verses following give the promise of God to inherit the land as well as a command to be holy in verse 26. Jeremiah 10:2 says, "Do not learn the way of the nations...." and it goes on to speak of an idol that many people liken to a Christmas tree (cutting a tree down, decorating it with gold and silver, fastening it so it will not totter...hmmm...). II Kings 17:33 speaks of a people that "feared the Lord and served their own gods according to the customs of the nations...." and thus were not holy in God's sight. You can't mix God with what the rest of the world is doing!
Leviticus 10 relates a passage where Nadab and Abihu worship God in a wrong way. God had commanded them to offer incense to Him. However, it had to be the type He specified, not the "strange fire" that they offered. So, even if your motives are to serve God (sort of), it's no good if you don't do it in the way He specified. Here is the passage: "Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. Then Moses said to Aaron, "It is what the Lord spoke, saying, "By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, And before all the people I will be honored." So Aaron therefore kept silent." ~Leviticus 10:1-3. Being in Christ we are like the sons of Aaron-- we have access to the throne room of God through the Holy Spirit! So, then we have to ask, am I bringing "strange fire" before the Lord? Is taking a holiday that used to be pagan (and it could be argued that it still is...) offering God fire that He did not command? Yes, on the outside it looks like you're doing the right thing: oh, yeah, he's offering incense to God. Check out how holy he is. But err umm have you looked at that incense lately?
My problem with Christmas is not that families get together and give each other preents. My problem is that people think that they are worshipping God but He never told us to worship Him this way....did He?
Enough thoughts for the day? Yes, I believe so.
posted by SaraY @ 10:31 AM
9 Comments:
At 02 December, 2005 17:38 ,
Nathan said...
From my handy dictionary:
"Worship - The formal acts or sets of acts performed as prescribed by ritual or custom, prayers, or other religious forms by which the reverent love and devotion accorded a deity is expressed."
Yes, it is wrong to worship God in an unbiblical manner (i.e. the "prescribed by ritual or custom"). However, there is a difference between celebrating (back to dictionary: observing a day or event with ceremonies of respect, festivity, or rejoicing) Christ's birth (or simply, Christmas) and worshipping Christ's birth. If I worshipped Christmas, I'd be in the wrong. Yet, I don't know of too many that worship (in the true sense of the word) Christmas.
At 02 December, 2005 17:46 ,
Charity said...
Haha! You know what is very funny, Sara? It was almost exactly a year ago when this subject was brought up and I decided I strongly disliked you before I met you! And now...I just laugh! Not at you, at myself! I respect your stand on this, though I'm not fully convinced that celebrating Christmas is sinful in itself. You have good points, though, and I am impressed with your perseverance. Even through 'persecution'...like the words from me last year! Hahaha I'm still laughing!
At 02 December, 2005 19:49 ,
SaraY said...
Yes, Charity, I thought about that as I posted this...I really didn't want to rub anyone the wrong way this year. Although in the end everything turned out pretty well, didn't it? ;-)
Nathan, perhaps "worship" isn't the right word. But the fact is that Christmas is not like Fourth of July or someone's birthday, because people claim to do it in honor of Christ. It's not just celebrating a day. As a Christian, we are showing the world that this is how we honor our God.
At 05 December, 2005 09:29 ,
Edwin Allen Henry said...
Hmm...
So I guess I'll leave a comment about this controversy. :-) I enjoy reading posts that stimulate thinking and that are backed up with something, at the least good reasoning. I figure we all need to think about what we believe and why we believe it. Like I Peter 3:15 says, "Always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear." And I think that verse applies not just to our defense of our faith in Christ, but the way we strate our faith, the things we daily do and do not do because of our beliefs.
So after that introduction, on to Christmas... Well, at Cair Paravel (Josh, Ross, and Andrew's) last night Z and I and the Cair Paravelians (Cair Paravel has become their house name as so to be less confused with Green Gables and etc - spread the word!) has a very good discussion on Christmas. We talked about 'groves' (trees that were used in OT times in Israel in idol worship) and the actual holiday and whether it is right to have the name of Christ on the holiday or it is taking His name in vain, etc.
So, after that good discussion, I think I don't agree about the trees and groves. Today, in our ure, we don't use trees to help us worship (at least most of us don't) and therefore, in today's ure, I don't think a Christmas tree is seen as a help in worship, if that makes any sense, and therefore can't be considered an idol. In Scripture, one always needs to look at the historical and ural context (also called exegesis) of the passage (for example, in Paul's letters, there are many verses on 'greeting one another with a holy kiss,' however, that is just not something we in our ure do). Going back to trees, one thing we talked about with idols and idolatry was Japan and the sun. In Japan, the sun is worshipped as a god, so in Japan, it could certainly be sinning for a Christiasn to have a picture of the sun in thier house, because of that. However, in most other places, that could be perfectly fine because when most (I would think most, at least) people see a sun, they don't think about worshipping it. In that same sense, in our ure, when most people see a tree, they don't think of it as a help or tool in worship or an idol.
I am still thinking and wondering about if Christmas is a secular holiday, why do we have the name of Christ associated with it, and is that right? Or, is Christmas a celebration, a remembrance of the birth of Christ, and if so, how do we take that? A big question in my mind is whether it is right and okay for a non-Christian to celebrate Christmas (and by Christmas meaning the birth of Christ)... because, if it isn't, we propably shouldn't be promoting, possibly celebrating Christmas (because it would be a from of taking Christ's, and thus God's name in vain), but if it is, if it is okay for non-Christians to celebrate and remember the birth of Christ, I would be more along the thinking that it is fine to celebrate Christmas. (If anyone has any Scripture which might be a help to answering my last question - Is it okay for non-Christians to celebrate Christmas as it was origionally intended [as a celebration/remembrance of Christ's birth], I would certainly ask you to share them with me!)
So, there you have a few thoughts and questions from me concerning Christmas.
I would love to hear any further thoughts on this matter!
Also, Sara, why did you say that I missed posting in November? I posted the evening of Nov 30th! :-)
God Bless!
At 05 December, 2005 15:24 ,
SaraY said...
Wow Allen!
Hmm I thought your post said "Decemeber 1"...maybe you posted after midnight? Oh well, whatever.
I agree that the Christmas tree as idol is a weak argument...In today's culture it is hard to point to an object as an idol, because most people, Christian or not, see something very wrong with that. In Bible times worshipping an object was very normal. Today, however, iIt's more like the whole Christmas season becomes an idol because it is so important to people and takes priority over other activities, and is so highly revered. The comments on this blog show very well how important Christmas is to people! Either that, or it is simply a very thought-provoking subject. Probably a little of both. But you have to admit, that if I asked you to give up Christmas most of you would have a very hard time doing it. It is a little lonely sometimes being the only one not going to Christmas parties and stuff (except Josh! You go dude!) and buying presents and yada yada. However it gives me more time to seek God and figure out what He wants me to do :-).
About your question on non-Christians celebrating Christmas...if you view it in the same light as the sacrements, then they are cursed for doing so. ("Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup." I Corinthians 11:27-28...this is written to Christians so if they can partake unworthily then it is certainly possible for non-Christians to do so, if you had any questions about that...) But is celebrating a holiday (holy day) similar to taking communion? In some ways it is. Communion was created for Christians to gather together and remember Christ's death. Holy days in the OT were gatherings of all God's people to remember a certain event (Passover for example). Some of them required purification before you could partake (I think...I'm doing all this off the top of my head so any more in depth knowledge would be appreciated!) much like communion. Thus celebrating in an "unworthy manner" (i.e. not doing it for the right reason or while you are not "pure" in God's eyes, which comes only through Christ) would be wrong. But then you have things like prayer...does God frown on unbelievers who pray to Him? I don't think so. If He did, no one would ever be saved because He would hear no one. There is a process to coming to Christ, and crying out in prayer to Him is part of that. Is trying to honor Him part of that also? For example, honoring Him by attending church instead of sleeping in, even if you are not a Christian, is not wrong. In fact it is a good thing that will hopefully lead you down the path of salvation.
There's some things to ponder :-)
At 05 December, 2005 15:29 ,
SaraY said...
Oh one more thing! Christmas was not originally intended to celebrate Christ's brith! It was a pagan holiday that was "christianized". And I just thought of something else....why is celebrating Christ's birth so special? Yes it was miraculous...but Christ did not come here to be born. He came to earth to die. So why don't we celebrate that? Even Easter celebrates His "second" birth if you will, rather than the point at which He took upon Himself all of our sins...hmm. Interesting indeed.
I think I'm done. Time to do Stat homework! Chi-squares and two-way tables and Excel files that confuse me! Woohoo!
At 06 December, 2005 13:53 ,
Edwin Allen Henry said...
Just a quick response on celebrating the birth of Christ.
(And also, yes, I know that the holiday on Dec. 25th wasn't originally to celebrate Christ's birth, but it was a pagan celebration; however, when the holiday was, as you said, 'Christianized,' wasn't that when it became Christmas -or as the Spanish say, Navidad [meaning birth]-? So, when Dec. 25th actually began being called "Christmas," wasn't that in celebration of Christ's birth?)
Okay, after that long parenthetical statement, on to the actual celebration of Christ's birth. Well, is Christ's birth not one of the most mentioned stories in the Bible? Also, in our culture, it is customary to celebrate people's birth (I do know that you celebrate birthdays), and often, to honor a person, we set aside a day to celebrate/remember them, usually on their birthday (MLK Jr. Day, President's Day, for examples). It is true that Christ's death and ressurection is what saved us, and obviously, Christ is no longer a baby, but had he not come into this world as a human baby, we also would not be able to have salvation.
So that's why I think celebrating Christ's birth is special, among a few other reasons, mostly along those same lines.
And I'll try and respond to what you said about non-Christians celebrating Christmas as well - another thought I had - so if we called thanksgiving something like 'Thank God Day' instead of 'Thanksgiving Day,' would it be bad for non-Christians to celebrate it? (Kind of goes along with what you said about God accepting non-believer's prayers).
:-) God Bless!
At 07 December, 2005 18:58 ,
Edwin Allen Henry said...
I was directed to an article on the origins of Christmas by Joe Bibby on Ryan Cerbus's site/blog. http://www.touchstonemag.com/docs/issues/16.10docs/16-10pg12.html. Also, World Magazine had an aritcle I think summarizing this article - http://www.worldmag.com/subscriber/displayarticle.cfm?id=11344.
It still doesn't answer all my questions on Christmas, but does it mean that Christmas was actually NOT originally a pag'an holiday, as many have said (and as I had thought from what I had been told by people as well)?
Anyways, I'd say the article is at least worth reading.
God Bless!
At 11 December, 2005 19:53 ,
SaraY said...
Well, Edwin, I read both the articles...actually the World mag one I had already read and posted some stuff about on Ross' blog. I thought it was very weak, whether or not it is true. The other one had more facts to back it up but I wouldn't say I am 100% convinced that Christmas was not a pagan invention. Or that it matters so much. The point for me really is, can I celebrate Christmas in a way that brings more glory to God than not choosing to not celebrate it does? For me, the answer is no.
I don't mean to undermine Christs' birth. It was a miraculous event that displays God's power.
I would be all for non-Christians celebrating a "Thank God Day"--IF they are told exactly what it means, and how we are to thank God as described in the Bible. Perhaps Christmas is used to show some unbelievers the truth of the gospel. God can use anything to draw people to Himself, after all! But the majority of people get too caught up in all the other aspects of the holiday. And that includes many Christians.
I apologize for not responding sooner...I do have school too ya know! Plus I wanted to have read both articles before I utterly condemned them lol. Actually there may be truth to them....I would like to look up old Puritan doctrines and see why they chose not to celebrate Christmas. That could be interesting!
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