Christmas is not Jesus' Birthday

Christmas is not Jesus' birthday.

It is a lie that most people do not know they are partaking in.

Pope Julius I and Emperor Constantine proclaimed Jesus' birthday is now on December 25th, and in doing this, Christianity was merged with the pagan practices that were going on during that time of year. This is the traditional time of the pagan festival known as Saturnalia. Saturnalia is an ancient Roman festival and holiday to honor the god Saturn.

You can easily find historical information on this subject. Christ Mass was created to replace the pagan practices of the winter solstice. It is a lie to say it’s Jesus’ birthday. Scripture demonstrates that when God's children engaged in similar actions, He became extremely angry. We see an example of this in Exodus 32 when the children of Israel made a golden calf and said it was a feast to the Lord. As disciples of Jesus, we need to understand that examples were written down in the Bible for our benefit so that we may learn from them. We may not see the exact festival named in scripture that we have today, but if you look at the pattern of what was going on, you can see we have the same issues today and the same root sin problems.

For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness. Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play.” Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day. Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents. Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.
1 Corinthians 10:1-12 NASB® 1995

In Exodus 32 we will look at a feast that was to be for the Lord but was created by man. This feast had pagan practices mixed in.

Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” Aaron said to them, “Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. He took this from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” 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. 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!’” 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.” Then Moses entreated the LORD his God, and said, “O LORD, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your burning anger and change Your mind about doing harm to Your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’” So the LORD changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people. Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets which were written on both sides; they were written on one side and the other. The tablets were God’s work, and the writing was God’s writing engraved on the tablets. Now when Joshua heard the sound of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a sound of war in the camp.” But he said, “It is not the sound of the cry of triumph, Nor is it the sound of the cry of defeat; But the sound of singing I hear.” 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. Then Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought such great sin upon them?” Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord burn; you know the people yourself, that they are prone to evil. For they said to me, ‘Make a god for us who will go before us; for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them tear it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.” Now when Moses saw that the people were out of control—for Aaron had let them get out of control to be a derision among their enemies— 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. Then Moses said, “Dedicate yourselves today to the LORD—for every man has been against his son and against his brother—in order that He may bestow a blessing upon you today.” On the next day Moses said to the people, “You yourselves have committed a great sin; and now I am going up to the LORD, perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” Then Moses returned to the LORD, and said, “Alas, this people has committed a great sin, and they have made a god of gold for themselves. But now, if You will, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out from Your book which You have written!” The LORD said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. But go now, lead the people where I told you. Behold, My angel shall go before you; nevertheless in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin.” Then the LORD smote the people, because of what they did with the calf which Aaron had made.
Exodus 32:1-35 NASB® 1995

Strong’s Lexicon and Brown-Driver-Briggs: The word “LORD” in this section of scripture is the Hebrew word “Jehovah” 3068: "the existing One." The proper name of the one true God. LORD (often rendered in all capital letters in English translations to distinguish it from other titles)

Strong’s Lexicon and Brown-Driver-Briggs: The word “god” in this passage and “God” is the Hebrew word Elohim 430. This word means (plural) rulers, judges, divine ones, angels, gods, (plural intensive-singular meaning), god, goddess, godlike one, works, or special possessions of God, the (true) God.

These people are God's children, and Aaron tells them, “This is your god (Elohim), O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, and ‘Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD (Jehovah).”

This situation in Exodus is very similar to what happened with Pope Julius I and Emperor Constantine; they made up their own holy day feast and said it was for Jesus. God never told them to create a day to celebrate Jesus' birthday. If God wanted us to celebrate Jesus’ birthday, we would know the date from scripture, and it would not be based on a lie. If you look deeply into scripture, you will see that Jesus was born in the spring or fall.

In addition to the fact that it is a lie, God would never be pleased with His people mixing pagan practices into His feast. Since this man-made tradition was established, it has merged pagan practices into most Christian homes, and a lot of people truly believe that it is Jesus’ birthday. Most churches hold onto this tradition of man that has come from Catholicism. When Pastors promote the lie that it is Jesus' birthday, not only are they partaking in pagan rituals and practices, but they are also teaching others to do the same. Christians all over this earth are being lied to and are passing that lie down to their children. If you are wondering what the pagan traditions I am referring to are, you can look at the historical information on the winter solstice and see for yourself. I want to point out that scripture says do not learn the ways of the people of the land. You need to know some information about evil to know what to avoid, but we are not to learn the ways of pagans.

“When you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations.
Deuteronomy 18:9 NASB® 1995

As we continue to look at scripture on partaking of feasts that are not pleasing to God. We have been looking at how we have been lied to when we have been told December 25 is Jesus’ birthday. Many people pass this lie down to their children. I was one of these people. I never thought I was promoting a lie.

Paul makes this statement about God in Titus 1:2.

in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago,
Titus 1:2 NASB® 1995

Jesus says this about the devil.

You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
John 8:44 NASB® 1995

I know this will be hard for many to process because it is so deeply embedded in our Christian culture today, but I pray you will examine it for yourselves to see if you should be partaking in anything from the devil. I encourage you to take this seriously.

Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD,
But those who deal faithfully are His delight.
A prudent man conceals knowledge,
But the heart of fools proclaims folly.
Proverbs 12:22-23 NASB® 1995

A lying tongue hates those it crushes,
And a flattering mouth works ruin.
Proverbs 26:28 NASB® 1995

We have an example of King Jeroboam creating his feast for the Lord. He was trying to mimic the feast in Jerusalem. By doing this, he created a lie. I encourage you to read the full story of King Jeroboam in 1 Kings 11-16. His name is mentioned throughout the Bible because of the sin he caused Israel to commit. We will look at what he did that made God so angry. Some background on this story is that God took 10 tribes of Israel and gave them to Jeroboam to rule because God was angry at King Solomon for worshipping false gods. Once King Jeroboam took over, he didn't stay true to God.

Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him to death. And King Rehoboam made haste to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day. It came about when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, that they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. None but the tribe of Judah followed the house of David. Now when Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 chosen men who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, “Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin and to the rest of the people, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD, “You must not go up and fight against your relatives the sons of Israel; return every man to his house, for this thing has come from Me.”’” So they listened to the word of the LORD, and returned and went their way according to the word of the LORD. Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and lived there. And he went out from there and built Penuel. Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will return to the house of David. If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will return to their lord, even to Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.” So the king consulted, and made two golden calves, and he said to them, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; behold your gods, O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt.” He set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. And he made houses on high places, and made priests from among all the people who were not of the sons of Levi. Jeroboam instituted a feast in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast which is in Judah, and he went up to the altar; thus he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves which he had made. And he stationed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made. 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. Now behold, there came a man of God from Judah to Bethel by the word of the LORD, while Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense. He cried against the altar by the word of the LORD, and said, “O altar, altar, thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.’” Then he gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign which the LORD has spoken, ‘Behold, the altar shall be split apart and the ashes which are on it shall be poured out.’” Now when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him.” But his hand which he stretched out against him dried up, so that he could not draw it back to himself. The altar also was split apart and the ashes were poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD. The king said to the man of God, “Please entreat the LORD your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.” So the man of God entreated the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored to him, and it became as it was before. Then the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.” But the man of God said to the king, “If you were to give me half your house I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water in this place. For so it was commanded me by the word of the LORD, saying, ‘You shall eat no bread, nor drink water, nor return by the way which you came.’” So he went another way and did not return by the way which he came to Bethel.
1 Kings 12:18 - 13:10 NASB® 1995

Once again, we see a person God has put in charge of leading His people lead them into sin. Jeroboam tells Israel, "This is your god/Elohim that brought you up from the land of Egypt."

So the king consulted, and made two golden calves, and he said to them, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; behold your gods, O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt.”
1 Kings 12:28 NASB® 1995

He implements his feast and tells anyone who wants to be a priest that they can be a priest. He tries to mimic what God had set in place in Jerusalem. It is no different today. We have people leading people whose lives look nothing like Jesus', Peter's, Paul's, or John's lives. The leaders mimic the world's way of business instead of mimicking God's culture of a Christian life. This doesn't paint the proper picture of how disciples of Jesus are to live their lives. And all the while, they believe that they are worshipping God.

Some traditions have been introduced into Christian culture that are simply assumed to be of God, but they are not. Take the Christmas tree as an example; where does that come from? It comes from pagan worship. It has been passed down from generation to generation. Pagans have been using trees for years in their worship. We, as disciples of Jesus, need to examine the scriptures and see the similarities that are taking place in our day. Jeroboam created a lie, and then God's people passed it down from generation to generation. Jeroboam’s lie confused God's people, and we know this from 1 Kings 18:20-21. We all must choose who we will follow: the culture of the day or scripture, which is the Word of God that never changes.

So Ahab sent a message among all the sons of Israel and brought the prophets together at Mount Carmel. Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him a word.
1 Kings 18:20-21 NASB® 1995

The last section of scripture we will look at is Ezekiel 8. God shows Ezekiel the abominations that the house of Israel was committing. We need to understand what God says abominations are. This is very important to ensure we are not committing abominations.

It came about in the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, as I was sitting in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell on me there. Then I looked, and behold, a likeness as the appearance of a man; from His loins and downward there was the appearance of fire, and from His loins and upward the appearance of brightness, like the appearance of glowing metal. He stretched out the form of a hand and caught me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the idol of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy, was located. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the appearance which I saw in the plain. Then He said to me, “Son of man, raise your eyes now toward the north.” So I raised my eyes toward the north, and behold, to the north of the altar gate was this idol of jealousy at the entrance. And He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations which the house of Israel are committing here, so that I would be far from My sanctuary? But yet you will see still greater abominations.” Then He brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall. He said to me, “Son of man, now dig through the wall.” So I dug through the wall, and behold, an entrance. And He said to me, “Go in and see the wicked abominations that they are committing here.” So I entered and looked, and behold, every form of creeping things and beasts and detestable things, with all the idols of the house of Israel, were carved on the wall all around. Standing in front of them were seventy elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them, each man with his censer in his hand and the fragrance of the cloud of incense rising. Then He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are committing in the dark, each man in the room of his carved images? For they say, ‘The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.’” And He said to me, “Yet you will see still greater abominations which they are committing.” Then He brought me to the entrance of the gate of the LORD’S house which was toward the north; and behold, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz. He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Yet you will see still greater abominations than these.” Then He brought me into the inner court of the LORD’S house. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east; and they were prostrating themselves eastward toward the sun. He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they have committed here, that they have filled the land with violence and provoked Me repeatedly? For behold, they are putting the twig to their nose. Therefore, I indeed will deal in wrath. My eye will have no pity nor will I spare; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, yet I will not listen to them.”
Ezekiel 8:1-18 NASB® 1995

In verses 9-10, God shows Ezekiel every form of creeping things, beasts, detestable things, and all the idols of the house of Israel carved on the wall. We may think it is only carvings, but these carvings mean something, and they are detestable to God. These carvings represented idols. God tells the children of Israel this in Deuteronomy 18.

“When you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations.
Deuteronomy 18:9 NASB® 1995

Abominations may look different in the culture we live in today, but there are still abominations in the land. We must not learn them or take part in them in any way, just like God told the children of Israel. We need to examine how we worship and what we take part in. We must understand that we must imitate the men and women in the scriptures who are pleasing to God. We are to be set apart for Him. You may think this is not relevant to you under the New Covenant, so I want to leave you with these last sections of scripture to consider.

Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
Revelation 21:6-8 NASB® 1995

Strong’s Lexicon: This word “abominable” is the Greek word bdelussomai 948 ; it means to abhor, detest, loathe.
HELPS Word-studies: 948 bdelýssō – properly, stink, become foul (abhorrent), detestable as stench; "to strongly detest something on the basis that it is abominable—'to abhor, to abominate'"
Corresponding Greek / Hebrew Entries: - Strong's Hebrew 8262: שָׁקַץ (shaqats) - to detest, make abominable

I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Revelation 21:22-27 NASB® 1995

Strong’s Lexicon: In Greek, the word “abomination” is bdelugma 946; it means a detestable thing; an abominable thing, an accursed thing.
HELPS Word-studies: 946 bdélygma (from 948 /bdelýssō, derived from bdēō, "to reek with"stench")—properly, what emits a foul odor and hence is disgustingly abhorrent (abominable, detestable); (figuratively) moral horror as a stench to God (like when people refuse to hear and obey His voice).

Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.
Revelation 22:14-15 NASB® 1995

Strong’s Lexicon: The Greek word for “lying” is pseudos 5579 it means a lie, falsehood, untruth; false religion
Topical Lexicon Usage: In the New Testament, "pseudos" refers to falsehood or lies, often in the context of false teachings or deceitful practices. It is used to describe anything contrary to the truth, particularly in a spiritual or moral sense. The term underscores the contrast between God's truth and human or demonic deception.

Everyone has a choice to make about what they will partake in. As a disciple of Jesus, I have no desire to test God. The scriptures are given for our example; if we set aside our feelings and emotions, we can see we have very similar situations in our world today.

For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
Romans 15:4 NASB® 1995

References:

Strong’s Lexicon: BibleHub.com
Topical Lexicon: BibleHub.com

1 Heart 1 MindMay 10, 2025