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Pagan Origins |
According to the Watchtower Society and some other religious organizations, most holidays, such as Christmas, Easter, Birthdays & etc, cannot be celebrated for their pagan origins. Since the customs, stories and/or the associated paraphernalia are either non biblical or of pagan origin, it is believed to be partaking in false worship, "touching the unclean thing," which is displeasing with God, "inciting him to jealousy." But is this really "becoming unevenly yoked with unbelievers?" Is the refusal to celebrate Christmas, Birthdays and many other non harmful customs the true meaning of Apostle Paul's words, "Get out from among them and separate yourselves ... and quit touching the unclean thing and I will take you in? (2 Cor 6:14-18; Deu 32:16)
| "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness
have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial[1]
? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and
idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them,
and I will be their God, and they will be my people." "Therefore come out from them and be separate,
says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.""I will be a Father to you, and you will
be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty." 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 "They made him jealous with their foreign gods and angered him with their detestable idols." Deuteronomy 32:16 |
There
is no denying that Christmas, Birthdays, Easter, New Years and many other holiday celebrations have direct pagan
origins, including the practice of baptism. Birthday candles and celebrations were once associated with the practice
of astrology, a practice that is condemned in the bible. The Christmas tree, mistletoe and date of December 25
all originate or associate with Pagan religions, such as the god Mithras and the week long Saturnalia festival.
The very name of Easter comes from the false fertility god, Ashtoreth, as well as the rabbit and eggs. But is the
observance of the above celebrations, categorize each individual as part of false worship, displeasing God? Does
this make one guilty of "touching the unclean thing?" (Judges 2:13; 1 Sam 7:3; Deu 18:10-12; Dan 4:7)
| "Because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths." Judges 2;13 "And Samuel said to the whole house of Israel, "If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines." 1 Samuel 7:3 "Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in[1] the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you." Deuteronomy 18:10-12 "When the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners came, I told them the dream, but they could not interpret it for me." Daniel 4:7 |
The above words of Paul in 2 Cor 6:14-18 to "not become unevenly yoked with unbelievers ... getting out from among them and separate yourselves ... and quit touching the unclean thing and I will take you in," were a combination of quotes from Isaiah 52:11; Jer 51:45; Exodus 23:32,33; Deu 7:3. All of these scriptures had to do with directly worshiping other false gods, going against God's teachings of love and mercy and by "yoking" or marriage of direct worshipers of other false gods, who had harmful and immoral practices. They did not apply to a Israelite who obeyed Jehovah's mosaic law code, yet followed various non harmful pagan customs, as can be seen by many who worshiped YHWH, yet continued to maintain the practice of teraphim statues throughout their living quarters and daily routines. They also do not apply to modern non harmful customs and holiday celebrations that have Pagan religious origins. To interpret Paul's words as a legalistic approach and blanket condemnation to each and every custom containing Pagan origins, is to miss the meaning of Christianity, "love of God and neighbor, for on this the entire law and the prophets hang." (Matt 22:34-40; 7:12)
| "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." Matthew 7:12 |
On the other hand, when a pagan custom or celebration became harmful to others, or directly worshiped other gods, with harmful, selfish and immoral practices, it went against the mosaic law, and the Christian law of love, thus against God. For instance, many Israelites were imitating the false god Molech and were sacrificing their children by burning them in fire to please God. This pagan custom went far beyond a mere celebration, but directly against God's law, displeasing him and subject to his punishment.
Were Pagan Origins the Problem?
When Moses went up to Mount Sinai to receive the ten commandments, he came down
to find all of the Hebrews partaking in an Egyptian celebration. God became very angry at this and administered
punishment. But was this for simply singing and dancing according to the Egyptian Pagan customs? Apparently not,
for this went far beyond a mere celebration of Pagan customs. Not only was there a disturbing complete lack of
appreciation of God's saving acts for them, but there was direct
worship of a golden calf statue, and logically the Egyptian practices
of immorality and selfish domineering and abusive lust that went along with it. It stands in harmony with the nature of God that pagan
origins were not the issue but rather the harmful and abusive practices that accompanied the worship of other gods.
According to 2 Kings chapter 17, the king of Assyria brought people from many nations and settled them in Samaria.
But because they "did not fear Jehovah" and follow the "religion of the God of the land," Jehovah,
the God of the land, "kept sending lions there, putting many of them to death." So the king of Assyria
then sent one of the priests of Israel, who was in exile, to teach the Samaritans about the true religion and the
God of the Hebrews, Jehovah. The result was, they "became fearers of Jehovah, but it was of their own gods
that they proved to be worshipers, according to the religion of the nations from among whom they had led them into
exile," resulting in God's disapproval.
Can
this account be applied to persons today, who claim to serve the true God, but follow customs and celebrations
that have Pagan origins? Are these persons "fearing Jehovah, but ... following according to their former religion?"
Is this what happened in the Samaritans case in 2 Kings? The context of 2 Kings, shows that the customs and celebrations
of the Samaritan people were direct "worship of graven images," resulting in harmful and immoral
practices, in violation of God's laws, as they were practicing
sexual perversions and "burning their sons in the fire to Adrammelech and Adrammelech the gods of Sepharvaim."
Certainly, if the Samaritans were practicing loving behavior to each other, they would be in harmony with the "God
of the land," Jehovah. It was not a matter of mere Pagan customs but harmful
and immoral Pagan practices. (2 Kings 17:24-41)
| "The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took over Samaria and lived in its towns. When they first lived there, they did not worship the LORD; so he sent lions among them and they killed some of the people. It was reported to the king of Assyria: "The people you deported and resettled in the towns of Samaria do not know what the god of that country requires. He has sent lions among them, which are killing them off, because the people do not know what he requires." Then the king of Assyria gave this order: "Have one of the priests you took captive from Samaria go back to live there and teach the people what the god of the land requires." So one of the priests who had been exiled from Samaria came to live in Bethel and taught them how to worship the LORD. Nevertheless, each national group made its own gods in the several towns where they settled, and set them up in the shrines the people of Samaria had made at the high places. The men from Babylon made Succoth Benoth, the men from Cuthah made Nergal, and the men from Hamath made Ashima; the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire as sacrifices to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. They worshiped the LORD, but they also appointed all sorts of their own people to officiate for them as priests in the shrines at the high places. They worshiped the LORD, but they also served their own gods in accordance with the customs of the nations from which they had been brought. To this day they persist in their former practices. They neither worship the LORD nor adhere to the decrees and ordinances, the laws and commands that the LORD gave the descendants of Jacob, whom he named Israel. When the LORD made a covenant with the Israelites, he commanded them: "Do not worship any other gods or bow down to them, serve them or sacrifice to them. But the LORD, who brought you up out of Egypt with mighty power and outstretched arm, is the one you must worship. To him you shall bow down and to him offer sacrifices. You must always be careful to keep the decrees and ordinances, the laws and commands he wrote for you. Do not worship other gods. Do not forget the covenant I have made with you, and do not worship other gods. Rather, worship the LORD your God; it is he who will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies." They would not listen, however, but persisted in their former practices. Even while these people were worshiping the LORD, they were serving their idols. To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their fathers did." 2 Kings 17:24-41 |
According to the The Encyclopedia of The Jewish Religion on page 198, it states:
| "Legal prohibitions, denunciation and sarcasm were among the weapons which the Law and the Prophets directed against idolatry and its attendant moral and spiritual degradation of orgiastic promiscuity, human sacrifices, necromancy, magic, divination and etc." |
Notice the following taken from the author of Elijah, a man like us, by David Roper, describing what Baal worship involved. Ask yourself, does celebrating Christmas, birthdays, Halloween and Easter represent anything that went on here? Baal worship clearly involved hurtful, painful, grotesque and brutal actions. Can this be said of celebrating Christmas? When a family gets together and celebrates dinner over the death and resurrection of Christ, or simply gets together for the sake of getting together and eating and enjoying each other's company such as on the national holiday of Thanksgiving, does it have anything to do with what went on thousands of years ago with Baal and other hurtful pagan worship? When children dress in scary costumes and ring door bells for candy during Halloween, does it harm others? Are people murdered and raped because of this? Balance and maturity are the answers to these questions. Seeing beyond the letter of rules and blanket condemnations give sight to the real meanings behind the surface. When hurtful actions take place they are obviously unacceptable, however when a holiday is celebrated that may or may not have in some way been connected to Baal worship, does that constitute what is displeasing to God?
Notice how David Roper explains:
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The Phoenician version of Baal worship was deemed evil even by other pagans. When the Romans - hardly paragons of virtue themselves - encountered Baalism at Carthage, a Phoenician colony, they were utterly grossed out by it. Literature from this dark culture abounds. A number of years ago, a Syrian peasant accidentally plowed up a flagstone that covered a subterranean passageway leading down into a burial chamber. Subsequent excavations unearthed a large library with inscriptions in various Near Eastern languages, including a new Semitic language now known as ugaritic. the language was deciphered and the texts were translated. Much of the writing is comprised of erotic poems describing the racy escapades of Baal and his consorts. As a result, we've come to learn more than most of us would ever care to know about the theology and morality of that horrible religion. The poems were beautifully crafted - yet filled with images and fantasies of a
In one text, Anat, in a bloody, misanthropic spree, massacres a gathering of male guests who she invited into her house. After the slaughter she "fastens (their) hands to her girdle"; plunges "knee-deep through their blood, hip-deep through their gore." Then "her liver swells with laughter; her heart swells up with joy." In another poem, in a wild fit of rage she shouts at her father El:
And then there's that other aspect of Canaanite culture, one captured in the Old Testament writings as well as in the secular literature of that day; it was awash in sexual aggression and perversion. Some of the poetry is little more that hard-core pornography with an emphasis on lewd sensuality, deviant eroticism, and group sex. Much of it celebrates Baal's potency:
Myth in ancient times gave rise to ritual. The Canaanites acted out their poetry in seasonal ceremonies or cultic dramas, believing these enactment's would produce rain and promote fertility. They were dramas with a distant purpose. They represented a mechanism by which men and women could manipulate the gods. In the spring, priests and priestesses mated to insure the fertility of soil, beasts and women, There were more couplings in the fall to express gratitude to the gods, more at the winter solstice to strengthen the fading sun. When it came to conjugation, any old season would do Baal worshipers engaged in a catalog of sexual deviancy, polygamy, polyandry, prostitution, adultery, fornication, rape, incest, abusive homosexuality, casual gay encounters, pederasty and bestiality. In some instances, the priests of Baal performed the rituals vicariously as representatives of the people, but at other times the people themselves shared in the ritual, participating in all the lusty capers of the priesthood. |
Does any of this sound like what happens at Easter, Christmas, Mother's day and the 4th of July? Where on father's day does anything even close resemble the above description of the pagan Baal worship? Does it make sense that God would hold a person responsible for what happened thousands of years ago during Baal worship against a person today who celebrates birthdays? Christian maturity comes with freedom, freedom to have an individual faith and relationship with the fruitage of love, mercy and forgiveness of our fellow man. This is what the spirit of God supplies. The enemy of this spirit is the spirit of legalism, the very spirit that removes the freedom that Christ has given us, the freedom that has set us free from religious bondage. (Galatians 5:1; John 4:24)
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God's True Servants Followed |
The implications of this understanding were felt in Hebrew and Christian scriptures and represented one of the earliest introductions of a sense of inner values which served to control people in their relations to each other. As seen in Genesis, God's servant, Joseph, directly followed this above stated Pagan custom of embalming.
| "Thus Jacob finished giving commands to his sons. Then he gathered his feet up onto the couch and expired and was gathered to his people. then Joseph fell upon the face of his father and burst into tears over him and kissed him. After that Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel, and they took fully forty days for him, for this many days they customarily take for the embalming, and the Egyptians continued to shed tears for him seventy days." (Genesis 49:33 to 50:3) |
Pagan origins of embalming a dead body, were not found to be against God and had no significance to Joseph and Jacob's worship of the only true God.
The scriptures make reference to the caves in the land of Canaan that held the sacredly prepared bodies of Abraham and his wife Sara, Isaac and his wife Rebekah, Jacob and his wife Leah. Of Joseph's death, the torah states,
| "Joseph died at the age of one hundred and ten years; and he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt." King Asa of Israel, was also "filled with balsam oil and different sorts of ointment of special make." |
Pagan origins of treating a dead body with various spices, wrapping them and burying them in caves, were not interference to the worship of the only true God. (Gen 23:11,17,19,20; 25:9; 49:29,30; 50:13; 2Ch 16:14)
According to the scriptures, the process in which Jesus' body was prepared
shows he was mummified according to the widely accepted practice of the ancient Egyptians, who originally performed
this process for purely
Jesus Christ's body preparation, had direct
similarities with the Egyptian Pagan custom of mummification.
religious reasons. The Bible's Gospel according to John describes
the entombment of Jesus as follows:
| "And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulcher, wherein was never man yet laid.There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews' preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand." |
Jesus Christ's body preparation had direct similarities with the Egyptian Pagan custom of mummification. This can also be seen in the account of a man named Lazarus, a man Jesus found to be worthy of him resurrecting. Neither of these actions were found displeasing by God. (Mr 16:1; Lu 23:56; 24:1; Joh 19:39,40)
Showing that this widely accepted, ancient Pagan custom of mummification, that was used on Jesus' body was not displeasing to God, was the fact that Jesus Christ was resurrected three days later and appointed to a "superior position," "sitting at God's right hand." Jesus is the role model for us to follow his steps closely." As Christians, we are to become "imitators of God, as beloved children and go on walking in love, just as the Christ also loved you ... " God also showed his approval by blessing the Christian congregation, pouring out his holy spirit on them at Pentecost 33 CE, making them an example for us to imitate as well. As Paul wrote, "Be imitators of me, even, as I am of Christ." No legalistic ruling to wrap a dead body in spices, or restricting such actions are of any consequence in regarding our relationship with God. Rather, what is conveyed in many scriptural accounts, is that the enforcement of following or restricting of various customs and celebrations equates to the enslavement of religious bondage that removes our individual freedom with Christ. In addition, pagan originated holidays are Not presented scripturally to be an offense to God, unless the practice itself consists of harmful, immoral and hurtful abuse and direct worship of other Gods are involved. (1 Pet 2:21; Eph 5:1,2; 1 Cor 11:1; Acts 1:21-22; 1 Pet 1:3; Heb 1:2,8,12; 10:13; Psalm 110:1)
| "Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter." John 10:22 |
There is also a strong possibility that this rededication of the temple
back to the God of the Hebrews accrued on December 25, making the date of Christmas to be of a non Pagan origin."This
Feast of Dedication" is still celebrated by Jewish people as Hanukkah.
Under the subject "Maccabees" in Harper's Bible dictionary, it says: "Under Judas's brilliant leadership,
what had begun as a guerrilla war turned into full-scale military engagements in which smaller Jewish forces managed
to defeat much more powerful Syrian armies. Among Judas's most notable achievements were the recapture of Jerusalem
(except for the Akra fortress, where the Syrian garrison continued to hold out) and the rededication of the Temple,
after the defiled altar had been demolished and rebuilt. The date of the rededication, 25 Kislev (December 25) of 164 B.C., with
the at tendant eight-day festivities, has since that time been celebrated annually as Hanukkah or the "Feast
of Dedication." Italics added
Birthdays - (From
The Beacon)
| "And his sons went and held a banquet at the house of each one on his own day; and they sent and invited their three sisters to eat and drink with them. And it would occur that when the banquet days had gone round the circuit, Job would send and sanctify them; and he got up early in the morning and offered up burnt sacrifices according to the number of all of them; ..." |
How do we know "his day" meant their birthday? Note Chapter 3 verses 1-3:
| "It was after this that Job opened his mouth and began to call down evil upon his day. Job now answered and said: "Let the day perish on which I came to be born, Also the night that someone said, 'An able-bodied man has been conceived!' |
For this reason, the Living Bible renders Job 1:4,5:
| "Every year when each of Job's sons had a Birthday, he invited his brothers and sisters to his home for a celebration. On these occasions they would eat and drink with great merriment. " |
When these Birthday parties ended--and sometimes they lasted several days--Job would summon his children to him and sanctify them, getting up early in the morning and offering a burnt offering for each of them."
There is also another interesting account pertaining to Abraham and his son Isaac in Genesis 21:8.
| "Now the child kept growing and came to be weaned and Abraham then prepared a big feast on the day of Isaac's being weaned." Could this be compared to a birthday celebration? Perhaps there were other Pagan nations that held feasts on the day of their children being weaned, for the God of Abraham did not command this feast, nor did he find it displeasing for Abraham to celebrate. |
(1)"Among northern nations of Europe, in ancient times, it was the custom for newly married couples to drink milheglin or mead (a kind of wine made from honey) for a period of about thirty days after marriage. Antiquarians say that from this custom grew the term "honey month" or "honeymoon."
But
whether that origin of "honeymoon" is true or not:
(2) We do know that in the days of "marriage by capture," it was necessary for the bridegroom to remain in hiding with his bride until her kinsman tired of the search for her.
(3) And later, when love entered marriage and elopements were frequent, it was necessary for bride and groom to remain in hiding for a while. Both of these "hiding periods" seem to point to possible origins of the honeymoon." (Eichler, 255 - Eichler, Lillian. The Customs of Mankind. New York: Garden City Publishing Company, Inc., 1924.
Other historians have put the three origins along with an additional lunar significance into the origins of the honeymoon, as stated:
| "The origin of the term "honeymoon" is something of a mystery, but
according to folklore, it stems from marriage practices of days long before wedding ceremonies ever existed. Instead
of having a public marriage rite, a man would very often simply abduct his chosen bride, and would go into hiding
with her for a period of time, until her (possibly enraged) relatives stopped looking for them. While in hiding
the newlywed couple would supposedly drink a special type of wine made from honey. (4) The period of hiding traditionally lasted for a month, enough time for the moon to go through all its phases; hence, the name honeymoon. Today, many couples still keep their honeymoon plans a secret." |
Another version:
| "It was the accepted practice in BABYLON, 4,000 years ago, that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer, and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the "honey month" or what we know today as the 'honeymoon'." |
It appears the overall consensus is the origins of the honeymoon are entwined with pagan customs. The act of "marriage by capture" or abduction, the drinking of honey beer (mead) or honey wine and the lunar based time of hiding, all point to pagan teachings and customs. If you were to go by the "letter of the law, which kills" then the main teachings of God - Love and Mercy - are lost, and no honeymoon could be celebrated. But when following the "spirit of the law," what can be seen is the "forest from the trees," the understanding can be reached that loving kindness to others far outweighs the man made interpretations, rules, restrictions and legalistic (non) observances. How we treat our neighbor on a daily and continual basis will determine our standing with God, not our interpretation of what constitutes a pagan teaching. If the honeymoon custom was to harm others or worship other gods, making burnt offerings of our children, then we would not be loving, but cruel and selfish to others, thus displeasing God. But to take a harmless or actually beneficial custom that actually bonds persons and families together, and restrict it from one's self and others because of its pagan origins is to "have eyes and not see" "have ears and not hear," another wards, blinding intellectualism. (2 Cor 3:6; Jer 5:21)
Baptism was used in Babylon and ancient Egypt, "where
the Pagan teaching of the cold waters of the Nile were thought to increase strength and bestow immortality."
Baptism That Jesus Himself Practiced
Clearly A Pagan Practice
| "Baptism preceded the Christian faith. It was used in Greece, Babylon and ancient Egypt, "where the cold waters of the Nile were thought to increase strength and bestow immortality." |
Baptism was an ancient custom that employed the term baptizo. Before
going to war, Spartan soldiers took their spears and swords and plunged (baptized) them in blood. Apparently, the
Spartan's immersion was to identify their weapons with their intended purpose, which for them was warfare.
The Egyptians had a custom when a crocodile dragged a person into the Nile and drowned him. When his body was recovered,
the priests embalmed the remains, arrayed it in beautiful robes and placed it in a sacred sarcophagus. They treated
his body "'as one who is more than an ordinary being.' A man drowned in this way was called one who had been
'immersed' [baptized]." The Egyptians believed that the immersion of the drowned man identified him with special
status. He was no longer ordinary, but extraordinary. So it is with Christians. Their baptism identifies them with
their new extraordinary place in the plan of God: they are sons of God, royal priests, and raised to newness of
life.
Despite Baptism being clearly a Pagan practice, Jehovah's Witnesses
get baptized as a part of "God's organization." They will not celebrate a holiday that has any Pagan
origin, yet will openly partake in a practice that clearly came from Pagan origins. According to their reasoning
a holiday that has Pagan origins is displeasing to Jehovah. How can this be, if the pagan practice of Baptism is
not? Just as the Watchtower Society allows the use of pagan names for our modern day calendar and the use of wedding
bands in marriage, where do holidays differ?
It is clear that Pagan origins had no impact on pleasing or displeasing God, for John the Baptist was send to baptize
for the forgiveness of sin against the Law Covenant. Jesus Himself submitted to the pagan practice of baptism by
John the Baptist (Baptizer). And he sent his disciples to baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
He did not reject the practice of Baptism because of its "pagan" origins, just as he did not reject the
"festival of lights" (Chanukah), the teaching in synagogues, the mummification and embalming of dead
bodies and various other customs that came from either a man made tradition or a Pagan origin. (Mat. 3:7, John
3:22, etc.).
Other Pagan Superstitions God has Used
God has used other Pagan practices and superstitions and teachings to accomplish His purpose. We have several examples of this in the Scriptures.
In the days of Moses, when God carried on a battle with Pharaoh, He dealt with him in terms he could . Every one of the plagues was leveled at a particular idol in the land of Egypt. God communicated down on their level.
And when God wanted to speak to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon who worshiped idols, how did He speak to him? Through an idol, that multimetallic image he saw in his dream. God came down on his level. (Daniel chapter 2)
Urim and Thummim
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After surveying the history of interpretation and the treatment of the terms in the various versions and translations, Van Dam examines the implications of similar oracular devices and priestly dress within the larger cultural context of the ancient Near East. He places the use of the Urim and Thummim within the context of divine revelation and human inquiry and the corollary prohibition of divination in ancient Israel. He concludes that the breastpiece functioned as a pouch to hold the Urim and Thummim, which therefore clearly were tangible objects. Van Dam traces the use of this oracular instrument early in Israel's history--from the time of Joshua through the early monarchy under David--and its apparent disappearance by the time of the "classical" prophets, where a shift to primarily verbal oracles occurs.
The Urim and Thummim were priestly objects used by Aaron and his successors.
Their meaning in Hebrew is something like lights and perfections, which merely adds to the curiosity about them.
They are first mentioned in the above verses in Exodus, with no previous explanation of their origin, construction,
appearance, or specifically how they worked.
What we do know is that they were physical objects, perhaps precious stones or metal, that were placed in the breastplate
(shown in the illustration) of the high priest. They were somehow used to determine the will of God in matters
affecting the nation.
There are two primary theories regarding the Urim and Thummin. The first is that they were used as some sort of
device for casting lots, the result somehow revealing God's will. The second is that they served as a symbol of
the high priest's authority to seek the will of God.
The Catholic Encyclopedia states:
| "Urim served to bring to light the guilt of the accused person, and Thummim to establish his innocence." |
Regarding the Urim and Thummin:
| "And he placed the breastpiece on him, and in the breastpiece he put the Urim
and the Thummim." (Leviticus 8:8 RSV) "And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before The Lord; at his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the people of Israel with him, the whole congregation." (Numbers 27:21 RSV) |
From the Encyclopedia of Mormonism:
| "The Urim and Thummim is mentioned in the Bible and, with added details about
its use and significance, in latter-day scriptures. It is an instrument prepared by God through which revelation
may be received. Abraham learned about the universe through the Urim and Thummim (Abr. 3:1-4). Joseph Smith - through the medium of the Urim and Thummim - translated the [Book of Mormon] by the gift and power of God. Smith described the Urim and Thummim as "two transparent stones set in the rim of a [silver] bow fastened to a breast plate" (HC 4:537; JS--H 1:35). Biblical evidence allows no conclusive description, except that it was placed in a breastplate over the heart (Ex. 28:30; Lev. 8:8) |
Casting of Lots
In the days of Jonah, as he sailed ship away from his God given assignment
to Nineveh, God caused a storm to
To fulfill prophecy: Roman soldiers practiced the Pagan custom of casting
lots to determine who would take the seamless robe which belonged to Christ. This same practice was performed by
Jonah, with God's approval, to determine his activities.
occur almost sinking the boat Jonah was on. God worked through the
Pagan superstitious practice of "casting lots," to determine who on the boat was causing this supernatural
storm. And guess who it pointed to? Jonah.
This same Pagan superstition of "casting lots" was fulfilled in the outcome of Jesus' garments by the Roman army officers. At the foot of the Cross, Roman soldiers cast lots to determine who would take the seamless robe which belonged to Christ. [Mt 27:35; Mk 15:24; Lk 23:34; John 19:24] This was to fulfill the prophecy, "They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots." [Psa 22:18] This is a vivid image of the wicked forming their plots against the children of God. [Joel 3:3]
The Jewish Feast of Purim gets its name from the lots that Haman cast to determine which day would be the best day to exterminate all the Jews in the Persian empire. (Est 3:7, 9:34) Lots were often cast to fairly decide who would perform certain duties. Under King David, lots were thrown to determine the order in which the teams of priests should begin their eight day terms of service. (1 Chr 24:3-19)
Casting lots is an ancient way of making certain kinds of decisions. The 'lot' involved can be the flip of a coin, a set of specially-marked stones (from which came dice), sticks wrapped with written words on them, or (in a modern version) slips of paper mixed up in a hat. The ancient stones or sticks would be thrown on the ground and then someone would figure out what it means based on rules agreed to beforehand or set by tradition. The Pagan and Heathen ancients are said to have believed in the power of the throwing of lots, so much so that some (like the Mesopotamians) believed that even the gods were bound by them. (Actually, many of them were practical people with practical reasons to randomize many of their decisions. There was a real belief that the gods (or just God) revealed themselves through random things, because ultimately nothing is random and all things are dictated by the gods (or God) or fate.
In ancient times, just as today, it was common to use lots to find out what God wanted them to do. This and any other sort of divination is condemned in Deuteronomy. Yet there is a specific exception given in the Torah : the use of the Urim and Thummim (marked stones) by the chief priests (Numbers 27:21; Deut 33:8). This use is authorized by God for difficult situations. In I Samuel 14, lots were used to discover who had acted against King Saul's rash command; Saul was clearly not commanded or authorized to use lots, but he did, with a 'successful' discovery that was almost horrible. The Septuagint translation, which in this case is probably more accurate, makes the use of lots more explicit by referring directly to Saul's use of the Urim and Thummim. In Esther, lots were used by the Persians (not the Jews) for determining when to act. Hence the name of the Jewish holiday Purim, from Akkadian puru (='lot'). But the Jews were not above using lots to suss out God. In Joshua, Israel lost at Ai, and used lots to find out whose evil deeds caused it; the lots were used at God's command (7:14). In Jonah, the sailors used lots to (correctly) find out whom God was angry with; God did not command the lots, but used it anyway.
The casting of lots was not itself forbidden in Scripture, however divination was, which in essence was the "casting of lots. Yet, God uses whatever means are at hand to communicate the divine will when the crunch comes. Most likely 99.9%, God won't be at work when you cast lots. Outside of the framework of God's commands, use of lots is just dumb luck. It tells you nothing. Using the casting of lots as a way of divvying up goods or adding randomness to a situation (like dice in a board game, or a coin flip) can sometimes be a good way of doing things. But using lots as a way of finding God's will does not. It is Pagan, it is divination, and God has spoken clearly against that. Yet at certain times in history God felt suited to use this Pagan practice. In reality, it is also a lack of trust in what God has already given you : the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit, tradition, your fellow believers, your mind, your conscience. We are in the same boat as King Saul, when in his pride he usurped high-priestly authority and almost had his son killed. It is far better to trust in truth than chance, however God's use of the casting of lots supports the argument of Pagan origins in our celebrations of having no significance with our pleasing or displeasing God.
Love is the Laws Fulfillment
"One man judges one day as above another, another man judges one day as all others, let each man be fully convinced in his own mind." With the exception of the commandments to put faith in Christ and showing love of God by showing this to our neighbors, which include a moral code of non-hurtful actions towards others, each one of us must use our own "perceptive powers of understanding" and be "fully convinced in our own mind" of what pleases and displeases God, when it comes to the many conscience interpretations in the bible. All Christians would want to "welcome the man having weaknesses in his faith" and not to "be a cause for stumbling," however, to put undue restrictions and laws on others, because of our personal or organizational conscience, is to "put a heavy yoke on the shoulders of men" going beyond a stumbling factor and living by the "letter of the law that kills." It is the "spirit of the law that gives life." (Heb 5:14; 2 Cor 3:6; Rom 14:2-3,5,13,20; Matt 23:4)
It is not legal requirements that pertain to the followers of Christ.
| The Mosaic law "pertained to gifts and sacrifices offered. However, these are not able to make the man doing sacred service perfect as respects his conscience, but have to do only with foods and drinks and various baptisms. They were legal requirements pertaining to the flesh and were imposed until the appointed time to set things straight." (Heb 9:9-10,14) |
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The commandment we have to follow has nothing to do with customs, holidays and practices that originally had pagan origins, but rather as Apostle John put it,
| "So now I request you, ... not a new commandment, but one which we had from the beginning, that we love one another. And this is what love means, that we go on walking according to God's commandments. This is the commandment, just as you people have heard from the beginning, that you should go on walking in it." (2 John 5,6) |
