Standing Strong

Isaiah 11:6

2 Thessalonians 2:15

Christmas Trees

 

One of the great debates I hear each year at this time centers around the Christmas Tree, its origins, and whether it is pagan to put one up.  This has people on both sides of the issue often at odds to such a level that harm is done to relationships such that the unity desired in the Body of Believers is sacrificed to the discredit of Him we seek to serve. For this reason I have undertaken to attempt an investigation into the subject that does more than seek a myopic proving of a fore-concluded position.

 

In about two thirds of homes in the United States the Christmas tree is a great focus of the holiday celebrating the Lord’s birth, as conceived by the Holy Spirit to the Virgin Miriam. This is a beloved custom of Americans with few knowing the origins or what the Bible might have to say about the practice.

 

Even prior to the Christ Child’s birth there was a practice of bringing trees, revered in nature, into the home.  The Egyptians, during  their winter solstice rites took green date palms into their homes signifying life triumphant over death. During Saturnalia, Romans trimmed trees with trinkets and small masks of Bacchus. (Krythe, 1954, p. 61)

 

Henry van Drake in his story The First Christmas Tree tells of Winfred a missionary  who while witnessing to Druids told them not to worship their heathen gods any longer. Druids were known to worship gods formed from the hard wood of the mighty oak.  Winfred told them to instead take a tiny fir tree into their homes and with singing and dancing celebrate the birthday of the Christ Child. (Drake, 1907)

 

In Europe prior to trees being used for Christmas Celebrations branches of cherry or hawthorn trees were brought into the home put in water and kept by a warm spot. By Christmas they were beautifully in blossom with a wonderful fragrance filling the home. (Krythe, 1954, p. 62)

 

Another tale of the origins of the Christmas tree attribute it to the reformer Martin Luther who, having gone out to sing carols, was walking home through the woods.  He was so caught up in the wondrous beauty of the myriad of stars in the night sky and the evergreen trees of the woods he walked through was at a loss for words in trying to describe the scene to his wife and children.  He went outside and cut down a small fir tree and decorated it with twinkling candles to represent the starry sky filled with angels on the night the Christ child was born.  This practice was then used in many Protestant churches to help tell the story. (Krythe, 1954, p. 63)

 

In an old volume dated 1605 there is recorded in Strausburg a number of citizens who set up Christmas Trees in their parlors which they adorned with apples and roses cut out of colored paper. (Krythe, 1954, p. 63)

 

Throughout history there has been some clergy who have objected to the use of Christmas trees, some due to supposed pagan origins, and others objecting to the amount of time put into the trees that would be better spent studying the Bible.

 

In Germany it was the custom that presents would be placed on a table by the tree to be exchanged through the family as the father read the Bible, sharing the story of Christ’s birth.

 

There are legends aplenty that center on Christmas trees and visions of the Christ child. Political dinners show Christmas Trees during a feast honoring Henry VIII, Princess Leiven, Queen Charlotte, Prince Albert, Queen Victoria, and many others.

 

Some claim the fir tree was selected to represent the Christ child’s birth because the branches are at right angles and show the cross for which the child was born. (Krythe, 1954, p. 66) The picture in the margin is not altered in any way.

 

Rather than spend too much time herein expounding on the history of the use of the Christmas tree from the time of Roosevelt’s ban that cutting down trees was bad for the forests to the current lighting of the tree at the White House, let us turn to whether this practice should be endorsed, practiced, or condemned by Bible believing followers of Yeshua/Jesus.

 

The verse used most often to discuss whether a Christmas tree should be put up is Jeremiah 10:1-5. When one looks to scripture for what is said it is possible to read the opinions of great scholars that have gone before, but the final analysis requires an investigation on one’s own.

 

Adam Clarke in his commentary gives a good foundation from which to approach this chapter of Jeremiah.

“The Jews, about to be carried into captivity, are here warned against the superstition and idolatry of that country to which they were going. Chaldea was greatly addicted to astrology, and therefore the prophet begins with warning them against it, 1, 2. He then exposes the absurdity of idolatry in short but elegant satire; in the midst of which he turns, in a beautiful apostrophe, to the one true God, whose adorable attributes repeatedly strike in view, as he goes along, and lead him to contrast his infinite perfections with those despicable inanities which the blinded nations fear, 3- 16. The prophet again denounces the Divine judgments, 17, 18; upon which Jerusalem laments her fate, and supplicates the Divine compassion in her favour, 19-25.” (Clark)

 

The book of Jeremiah was written with warning to the kingdom of Judah just prior to the Babylonian captivity due to following false gods rather than remaining loyal to the one and only God.   Following other deities, as seen practiced by those dwelling among them, was becoming more prevalent and would lead to a life in exile.  It is in that format that we must look at what is written with immediate application as well as application to us today.

 

Jer 10:1  Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:

Jer 10:2  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.

Jer 10:3  For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.

Jer 10:4  They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.

Jer 10:5  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.

 

These verses speak of things that are often misunderstood.  This is clearly written against the making of idols and bowing down to false deities.  The northern kingdom is already in exile based upon disobedience and the southern kingdom must keep from the same errors.  The gods created were from wood that was overlaid with silver or gold, fastened to a base and then brought  into the home. This god could not teach or intercede in the affairs of man for it would have no life in it.  To understand Jeremiah 10:1-5 we can look to Isaiah 44: 12-21 and let scripture help us understand scripture.

 

Isaiah 44:12-21

 

12 A blacksmith works with his tool and forges metal over the coals. He forms it with hammers; he makes it with his strong arm. He gets hungry and loses his energy; he drinks no water and gets tired. 13 A carpenter takes measurements; he marks out an outline of its form; he scrapes it with chisels, and marks it with a compass. He patterns it after a man, like a well-built man, and puts it in a shrine. 14 He cuts down cedars and acquires a cypress or an oak. He gets trees from the forest; he plants a cedar and the rain makes it grow. 15 A man uses it to make a fire; he takes some of it and warms himself. Yes, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Then he makes a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire— over that half he eats meat; he roasts a meal and fills himself. Yes, he warms himself and says, ‘Ah! I am warm as I look at the fire.’ 17 With the rest of it he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships it. He prays to it, saying, ‘Rescue me, for you are my god.’ 18 They do not comprehend or understand, for their eyes are blind and cannot see; their minds do not discern. 19 No one thinks to himself, nor do they comprehend or understand and say to themselves: ‘I burned half of it in the fire— yes, I baked bread over the coals; I roasted meat and ate it. With the rest of it should I make a disgusting idol? Should I bow down to dry wood?’ 20 He feeds on ashes; his deceived mind misleads him. He cannot rescue himself, nor does he say, ‘Is this not a false god I hold in my right hand?’ 21 Remember these things, O Jacob, O Israel, for you are my servant. I formed you to be my servant; O Israel, do not forget me.

 

This does not speak of bringing a full tree into a home for decoration, but rather using part of a tree for fuel and part of the same material, good for a fire and crafting furniture and such, being fashioned into a god.  The foolishness of such actions is obvious to the reader.   The current use of a Christmas tree to adorn the home, much as bringing flowers into the house to put on the dinner table for a fancy meal, is not creating an object to be bowed down to or to worship. 

 

Some will put forward that the gifts to each other are put under the tree to force a bowing down in front of the tree as if to worship. This logic does not follow the practice of gifts being put on a table beside the tree as was earlier practice. The use of the type of tree to decorate is so far from the mighty oak of the druid worship that to connect the two is almost laughable. 

 

The burning of the Yule log was a requirement to burn a large hardwood log to prove there was not a following of the druid practice, but a burning of what was considered as sacred by those following this false religion.

 

Dr. Bucher goes so far as to call a comparison of the intended description of an idol to the Christmas tree used today as silliness. “First, there is the immediate context of this passage. The very next verse, 10:5, goes on to say, "Like a scarecrow in a melon patch, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good." This passage and the passages that follow make it crystal clear that the "decorated tree" that Jeremiah was talking about in 10:3-4, was a tree that was cut down and made into an idol, a very common custom in the ancient world. 10:8-10 also confirms this, where the wooden idols are contrasted with the LORD, who is the true and living God.”… “From the foregoing, it is abundantly clear that the "decorated tree" to which Jeremiah 10 refers is an idol, very likely the Asherah. Therefore, it is very superficial Bible interpretation and pure silliness to understand this passage as directly referring to the use of a fir tree for Christmas! If, and I repeat, if those who set up a Christmas tree fall down and worship it as a god or goddess, complete with altars and incense stands, then Jeremiah 10 applies here. Or if someone loves their Christmas tree more than God, then such a thing might also be considered spiritual idolatry. But apart from these exceptions, I think it is abundantly clear that Christians who erect Christmas trees are NOT worshiping them as gods or goddesses, nor are they loving them more than their Savior Jesus Christ. ” (Bucher, 2000)

 

Those who use wreaths of holly or fir with its many needles are actually putting up an object to remember the crown of thorns at the crucifixion thus connection the birth with the eventual sacrificial death.

 

We must also acknowledge that if our actions were to cause another to stumble we should refrain from such actions.  (cf. Romans 14:13)  If there are those who live in your abode who are highly offended by having a tree in your home and they sincerely believe you might be bowing down to it in worship, do not have a tree.  If the focus of the celebration turns from that of the Lord and the great miracle of the virgin birth and the subsequent atoning death that brings us salvation to seeing only the beauty of a decorated tree, don’t have a tree. But if you keep your focus on the Lord and you use the decorations to help celebrate the gift of Love god gave us through sacrificing His only begotten son and brings to mind the wonder of the entering into the earth as a child and the sign of the star that brings notice of the king of the Jews, our Savior; in my opinion after much consideration and study, use your decorations with clear conscience.

 

I agree with Bible.org when it states, “I can accept the fact that some may refrain from using a Christmas tree out of conscience, but this is not a matter that should be debated, or over which we should divide (see Romans 14:1--15:12).” (Bible.org)

 

Shalom (Be filled with the peace of mind, body, and soul; the peace that passes all understanding).

 

Messianic Rabbi Richard Bristol (Dec 2011)

Bibliography

Bible.org. (n.d.). Does Jeremiah 10:1-5 show that we should not have a Christmas tree in celebration of Christmas? Retrieved November 28, 2011, from Bible.org: http://bible.org/question/does-jeremiah-101-5-show-we-should-not-have-christmas-tree-celebration-christmas

 

Bucher, D. R. (2000, December). Jeremiah 10 and the "Pagan" Christmas Tree . Retrieved November 27, 2011, from Our Redeemer Lutheran Church: http://www.orlutheran.com/html/jer10.html

 

Constantine the Great - Profile of Constantine the Great. (n.d.). Retrieved November 14th, 2011, from About.com: http://historymedren.about.com/od/cwho/p/who_constantine.htm

 

Henry, M. (1998). Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible. Cedar Rapids, Iowa: Parson's Technology.

 

Hervey, T. K. (1888). The Book of Christmas; Descriptive of the Customs, Ceremonies, Traditions, Superstitions, Fun, Feeling, and Festivals of the Christmas Season. London: Frederick Warne & Co.

 

History of Christmas Trees. (n.d.). Retrieved November 28, 2011, from www.history.com: http://www.history.com/topics/history-of-christmas-trees

 

J. Hampton Keathley, I. (n.d.). Should Christians Celebrate Christmas? Retrieved November 27, 2011, from Bible.org: http://bible.org/article/should-christians-celebrate-christmas

 

Jeremiah 10 and Christmas Trees. (n.d.). Retrieved November 29, 2011, from Grace Communion International: http://www.gci.org/church/holidays/trees

 

Krythe, M. R. (1954). All About Christmas. New York: Harper & Brothers.

 

Lehane, B. (1987). The Book of Christmas. New York: Simon & Schuster.

 

Richard, L. O. (1998). The Bible Reader's Companion . USA Canada England: Victor Books.

Crosses in fir tree from natural growth

Asherah pole overlaid with gold

Holly wreath representing the crown of thorns with berries representing the blood.