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December is before us, and those in the denominations are celebrating Christmas again. In the opinion of many believers, to celebrate Christmas and to set aside a day during the year to remember the birth of the Savior is a very good thing. I dare not despise the opinion of God's children. However, other than man's opinion, there is still a unique standard — God's Word, the Bible. Our question and what we are concerned with is not what men say, but what God has said. "Thus saith the Lord" is the highest court for everything.
Is there a command in the Bible for us to remember the Lord's birth? If God's children would ask this question, they would be enlightened by God's light. But what a pity that many have forgotten the need to ask this question. According to the Bible, the Lord only commanded us to remember His death at His supper. He did not command us to celebrate Christmas or Easter! These festivals are the poison left from Catholicism! A man who firmly believes in the Bible would surely agree that what God has not commanded is as meaningful as what He has commanded. Many have said: "God has not forbidden us to celebrate Christmas." But has God commanded that we celebrate it? One of the most lamentable things is that believers would search the Scriptures to find justification for their sins and their lust. "Since the Bible has not forbidden this, why can't we do it?" Oh, how I wish that God's children would not say such a word! May God strengthen us to say, "If God has not commanded, how would I dare to do it?"
Oh, in this age of apostasy, God's children have to be very careful. The standard of our walk is not whether or not God has forbidden something, but whether or not God has commanded something. Not only should we refrain from that which God has forbidden, but we should not do that which God has not commanded. If God's children would obey God's word in this way, will there be any ground left for man's tradition and system? But it is regrettable that man always wants to avoid the sharp edge of the sword of the Spirit. As long as something is not forbidden, even though there is no commandment from God, and even though the matter is absolutely contrary to the spirit of the cross of the Lord Jesus, the fact that there is no explicit prohibition means that one can therefore act according to the flesh! How feeble is such a heart in obeying God's word!
Let us come back to the subject of the Savior's "Christmas." Our wise Lord has known that the remembrance of this day is useless. This is why we cannot find from the Bible the month and the day that Christ was born. In writing the Bible, the Holy Spirit purposely obliterated this date. This shows the Lord's intention concerning this matter. What a pity that many people are still conjecturing according to their mind. The Bible did not mention December 25. But how did man come up with December 25?
Mr. Greswell has made an in-depth study into this question. According to his research and reasoning, Christ should have been born on April 5. But this is also a mere conjecture, and it is not a historical fact. Since the Bible has not said anything, no one can say definitely when the Lord Jesus was born. Nevertheless, we can say definitely that December 25 is not Christ's birthday. Luke 2:8 tells us that when the Lord Jesus was born, shepherds were watching over the sheep. According to the custom and habit of the day, when October came, the shepherds no longer kept watch over their flock by night. There could not be such a thing as shepherds being in the wilderness at the end of December. Furthermore, if the Lord Jesus had been born in the heart of winter in December, how could Mary who was pregnant for ten months have traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem? Our Lord's own word says, "Pray that your flight may not be in winter, nor on a Sabbath" (Matt. 24:20).
Since the Lord's birthday was not December 25, where does Christmas come from? Who set the date of December 25?
We can look at the words of the ancient father, Tertullian. What he said characterizes the condition of the Christians at the end of the second century and the beginning of the third century.
If we do not have the right to keep the heathen festivals with the heathen, how sinful it will be if brothers gather together for such a purpose. Who can bear with this? The Holy Spirit caused the Jews to be ashamed of their festivals. He said, `Your new moons, [Sabbaths,] and your appointed feasts My soul hates' (Isa. 1:14). We who do not have these new moons, Sabbaths, and appointed feasts, which God once loved, how can we turn to celebrate the Saturn festival, the New Year, and the winter solstice? Should we have presents, the ringing sound of New Year's gifts, games, and the noise of feasting? Oh, if the heathen were more faithful to the religion they serve, they would have no need for Christians to join their ceremonies! Even if they were to understand the Lord's Day...would they thereby join us? They would be too afraid of being identified by others as Christians. Yet we are not afraid of being identified as heathen!
This passage shows that the origin of many Christian holy festivals is but a transformation of idol worshipping. Christians were not willing to be set on a hill (Matt. 5:14). As a result, they retreated to the deep valleys and tried to be inconspicuous and unnoticed by the world. (Here we would add a word of love: the present Society for the Promotion of Christianity, together with those who are ignorant of God's heart and His Word, try to utilize our national festivals and Christianize them. But this is to secularize the Christians. What a pity this is!) They followed the heathen to keep their feasts with altered names and titles. But why would they set the Lord's birthday at December 25? Three days prior to this day is the winter solstice, which is the shortest day of the year. After the twenty-fifth, the days begin to be longer. Idol worshippers everywhere in the world take this day as the birthday of the sun god. In Rome at that time, the great festivals were conducted at the grand theaters as celebrations of this feast. The Christians tried to take this date for celebrating the Savior's birth. If we read the words of the ancient father ______, we will realize that this date was ordained by men only. He said:
"This day (December 25) was recently made the birthday of Christ in Rome, so that while the idol worshippers are busy with their worldly ceremonies, the Christians can quietly accomplish their holy ceremonies. They call this day the birthday of the unfailing One (i.e., the sun). Yet who can be unfailing as our Lord who has removed death? They call this day the birthday of the sun, but the Lord is the real Sun of righteousness!" This is the way the church at that time adopted the idol worshippers' festival as its own illegitimate child. This is the cause of the defilement of the truth of Christ.
How clear it is that Christmas is made by man! Since it is made by man, why do we have to keep it? God has not commanded man to remember His Son's birthday! Since He has not commanded us to do so, why should we keep it? All faithful children of God should know how to answer this question.
Why do men celebrate Christmas? I am afraid that there is more realization of the flesh than remembrance of spiritual things! The jesting, laughter, amusement, and much other wantonness that disturbs the quietness of the spirit are not only harmful to the body, but inflict deadly wounds to the spirit. After I was saved, I attended some of these services. When I returned home from these meetings, I was not happy. On the contrary, I had to confess my sins before the Lord for participating in these meetings. Strictly speaking, Christmas parties at their worst are nothing but opportunities for the flesh, and at their best are something to stir up the soul and to cause confusion. The most beneficial thing for the spirit is to keep the Lord's Word, to remember only the Lord's death, and nothing else. Hence, in order to receive the greatest benefit, we should not celebrate Christmas.
I do not know when God's children will separate the worldly things from the spiritual things, the human things from the divine things. If our brothers and sisters will one day happily separate themselves from the literary clubs, the concerts, the welcome parties, the entertainment clubs, and the social gatherings, and will make a clear-cut separation from the world, they will receive power to be God's witnesses. Alas, jesting is the greatest destroyer of a godly living, and revelling is a worm in one's spiritual living! Social celebrations and gatherings are the weapons that put the believers' holy life and power under a siege! Young believers should beware of these things!
In July this year, there were one thousand sixty Jews who returned to Palestine.
A world convention of Jewish youths was held in Paris recently. Eight languages were used, and many problems were discussed. This time, sixty persons attended. They hope to have the next convention in 1929 on a larger scale.
Although the new Hebrew University in Jerusalem has only sixty students, the funding of the school is on a solid financial foundation, and the school organization is fairly satisfactory. The school itself is the highest expression of Jewish nationalism.
A Jewish silk factory in Vienna is about to open up a silk farm in Palestine.
Palestine will soon have its own coins.
At the end of June this year, there was a Jewish convention in Buffalo in the United States. We will quote the report of the New York Report:
This was the twenty-ninth convention. The most open demonstration of their meeting was their mass congregation at the concert hall with two thousand in attendance. Most of them are delegates to the convention and local Jews from Buffalo. The meeting was held on Sunday evening, and the hall was adorned with Zionist decorations, which filled the ceiling and the four walls with blue and white colors. These two colors are a symbol of Palestine.
Their leader, David Yellin, gave a speech in Hebrew. While he was speaking, the audience would applaud intermittently. This showed their appreciation of his words. Yellin described the changes that had taken place in the Jewish land within the past six years, that wars had turned Palestine into a rubble, and that other factors had caused the Palestinian population to dwindle to forty thousand. But now they are beginning to walk out of these tribulations, and a young and strong colony is being formed, with a population of more than one hundred fifty thousand and growing faster year by year. Yellin also said,
In my opinion, our work toward the Hebrew language and in Palestine during the past six years exceeds that of the last thirty years. Now the time is near; through this material and spiritual growth, the Palestinian Jews are able to attain a strength undreamed of ten years ago and to build up a Jewish nation with five hundred thousand Jews closely knitted together....I send you greetings on behalf of the Congress of our Jewish homeland. This homeland is advancing day by day before our eyes, and its hidden life is being made manifest...These three days as I sat together with you, I felt like I was sitting together with all the Israelites in the holy city. Your faith has been strengthened through your contact with each other and with your leaders. You have set your minds to make the coming year shine with splendor, so that the work done in Palestine in previous years would be pale by comparison. You should press on as you have resolved to do, and perhaps you will receive more than you have hoped for.
After reading this speech, we can see how earnest were his words and how full of life they are! The Jews have high hopes indeed. According to the prophecies in the Bible, the Jews will be revived before Christ comes back again, and they will return to their homeland and will prosper. When Christ comes, they will receive Him as the Messiah. In observing the vigorous and prospering condition of the Jews, we have to admit that the recovery of the nation of Israel must be a reality before our eyes. The fig tree has indeed sprouted, and summer is near. "So also you, when you see all these things, know that it is near, at the doors" (Matt. 24:33).
We have seen that many Jews are returning to their homeland. Now, not only are the living returning; the dead ones are also returning! Thirty years ago many zealous Jews organized a Zionist organization. The goal of this organization is to develop the land of Palestine and to help the Jews to return to their homeland to rebuild their homes. The recent prosperity of the Jewish land is a direct result of the work of the Zionists. The founder of this organization was Herzl. One of the most famous co-workers of Herzl was Dr. M. Nordau. Both of them have died long ago. Now Nordau's bones have been transported to the Jewish land. Soon Herzl's bones will be returned also. Let us quote the words of the New Palestine:
Fifteen thousand Jews received the bones of Nordau at the train station. Scouts and others all put on their military uniforms. These together with a few thousand students came to maintain order among the crowd who came to honor their dead leader. The Jewish nation is not just receiving the living, but the dead ones also. Now Nordau is once again living among us, and he is in his homeland forever! Now our feet can safely trod on our ancestors' graves. Herzl will come back soon, and we shall rejoice by the graves of these prophets. Now we are safely dwelling in our homeland. Nordau has returned. The bones of Joseph have returned from Egypt to the land of Israel!
We praise God that all these refer to the glory of the millennium. The dry bones of Israel will soon become a standing man. The millennium is before our eyes. The Lord is coming soon, and we should be ready and watchful.
Daniel prophesied that when Antichrist comes, he will change the times (Dan. 7:25). The word "times" here refers to years. Antichrist will no doubt try to change the way we reckon the years. In other words, he will try to change the calendar. In relation to this, we know that the League of Nations is now intending to change the calendar. There are now 137 different proposals being submitted to the committee for the reformulation of the calendar. How interesting this is, and how amazing it is! Even in these minor matters, the prophecies are being fulfilled, as preparations for the coming of the end.
Revelation shows us that the future great city, the Great Babylon, has much to do with ships. All the ships and captains pay much attention to it. The interesting thing is that man has now dug out sixteen million tons of dirt from the ancient Babylonian waterway, and large vessels can now sail on the waters of Mesopotamia. The Jewish Mission Report said, "In this way, the road is now open for there to be great commerce when Babylon is rebuilt again."
In 1925, there were 31,650 Jews who returned to the Holy Land. They brought along with them 1.3 million pounds sterling. Mr. S. B. Rohold said, "A certain Jewish leader was not yet a true Christian. But he has noticed that in every room of a Jewish hotel, there is one New Testament Bible."
The reports from all sides show that the Jews are having increased interest in Christianity. It is said that many Jews in Palestine love to hear God's Word. Even the son of the founder of Zionism, Mr. Theodore Herzl, has become a Christian and has joined the Baptist Church. Someone has reckoned that within the last eight years in Hungary alone there are more than eighty thousand Jews who have joined the church. This forms a sharp contrast to the seventy-two thousand Jews who joined Protestantism in the nineteenth century. Someone else has calculated that in terms of percentages the present number of Jewish Christians is five times that of the Gentile Christians. It is said that in England and Europe Jews occupy more than six hundred pulpits. The recovery of the Jews is an undisputed fact, and the time for the "natural branches" to be grafted in is at hand (Rom. 11:21-23). Of course, the believing and saved Jews are part of the church, and they have nothing to do with the Jewish remnant, who will be in the tribulation. But more than the fact that a greater number of Jews are believing in Christ, the time when they will rise up to be the preachers to the world has drawn near. Some have said that the Jews in these days, if scattered among the nations, would be able to speak a total of 492 languages. They can indeed preach the gospel of the kingdom of the heavens to the whole world within three and a half years, for they will no longer need to learn new languages, like the missionaries do who are going to a foreign country now.
Sir Wyndham Deedes said, "If Palestine is to go on progressing at the same speed as it does now, within fifteen years their works and enterprises will be so developed that the Jews will be able to manage everything in their own land." This means that the Jews will become another nation again. The British government has intended for a long time to make the East prosperous. Now it is going ahead with its plan. The building of the port at Haifa is part of this plan, and a million pounds have been spent on the project. Underground oil pipes are being laid directly from Mesopotamia to Haifa. In May of this year, 17,500 returned Jews moved into Palestine. In addition, the Jews were enthusiastically responding to the call of the Zionists engaged in battles in South Africa. Mr. Nahum Sokolom said that the hope of the Zionists is in the farmers. For the Jews to return to farming is a great mystery and a great salvation. In this way, the Jews are fast becoming the most amazing nation of the world! In finance and politics, many Jews have made outstanding achievements. The Romanian Congress recently elected four Jews as congressmen and five as representatives. The Polish government is opening all its departments to Jews and fulfilling its promise to the Association of Jews. This is the first time since the establishment of the Polish government that Jews have been admitted to be members of the Congress. The Zionist movement has received its legal status in Poland. Indeed, the fig tree is sprouting! "Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord comes....For this reason you also be ready, because at an hour when you do not expect it, the Son of Man is coming" (Matt. 24:42, 44).
