2 Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
3 For the customs of the people are in vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with an ax.
4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
5 They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not; they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
The above passage is taken from Jeremiah 10: 2 – 5, King James Version of the Holy Bible. It is telling us not to learn the ways of the heathen, and it singles out the practice of cutting down a tree from the forest and decorating it with silver and gold. Amazingly, those instructions from the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah, who lived six hundred years before the birth of Christ, seem to be speaking about the modern day practice of decorating a Christmas tree.
It is safe to conclude that the custom of setting up Christmas trees has nothing to do with what some is the reason for the season – the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. If I am to go by the words of Jeremiah, the custom of setting up Christmas trees is merely following the ways of the heathen. Surely, it should be offensive to right-thinking people to adopt the customs of heathens to celebrate the birth of Christ.
It is also interesting to note that the Christian church only started celebrating the birth of Christ four hundred years after his birth. Again the church adopted pagan celebrations that pre-date the birth of Christ to celebrate that event.
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