The Evangelical Universalist Forum

Have our Christian traditions "exorcised" their Pagan roots?

This post really stopped me in my tracks. I knew our holydays were based on Pagan festivals, but didn’t realise just how close they are. e.g. Christians dye eggs in food colouring, pagans did in baby’s blood! :imp:

The question is, have Christian’s “exorcised” (overpowered/transformed/cleansed) the traditions of their Pagan roots or have we just conformed to the ways of this world??

Why did we try to “match”, or line up with, Pagan festivals rather than follow Jewish traditions or start new ones?

I wonder how this relates to the “meat sacrificed to idols” passage (1 Corinthians 8?), where Paul says Christians could eat any meat (because it has no power over them), but shouldn’t because it will lead others astray?

But then again, there are passages which criticise Israel for following the practices of the heathen nations around them! :confused:

Well, that’s just the thing, isn’t it. It’s hard to know where to draw the line; ultimately I think one has to follow one’s own conscience on this, and allow others to do the same. I do think “informed consent” is a good thing though. Most believers have no idea.
I’ve heard the argument that if we replace the pagan symbolism with “christian” symbolism that it’s Ok (or even good), but I’m not sure I buy that. It just seems like a well reasoned excuse to maintain status quo to me.

The other thing is: I can’t help but be reminded that one of the major reasons we have the doctrine of ECT today is because of the importation and incorporation of pagan ideas into christianity.

The baby’s blood thing, I heard, was a complete rumour and a false-perpetuation from anti-Easter sources.

But I’d ask the question; do you dye Easter eggs in baby’s blood? If not, why does it matter? If it is simply because “it comes from pagan roots!” then you must also abandon The Olympics for example.

Christ turned a cross, a pagan death machine, into the symbol of freedom from sin and the symbol for peace on Earth and good will toward men. Christ turned wicked, heathen, sinning Jews and Gentiles into men of God and men of loveliness. Christ turned water (which was most likely dirty water drawn up from a well, and then put into those large jars) into the finest wine the party had ever tasted.

I’m pretty sure Jesus can turn a “pagan holiday” into a Christian one.

Not everything “pagan” is to be burned at the stake just because it isn’t Jewish, just like not everything “Jewish” is infallibly perfect just because it is Jewish. In my personal experience, God has met me far better through Anglo-Celtic culture than through any Middle Eastern culture. I celebrate Passover, but before God I also celebrate Easter, and hope to celebrate Yule, and other holidays besides - because God owns every day, I believe.

I think the reason they are close is that there is a reflection of truth in these pagan days. This kind of deception can not be established without, at least, a small reflection of truth. I wanted to make a post exposing these “false reflections”. May it bring freedom and joy!
As far as my understanding goes, sun god worship began in ancient Babylon. Nimrod, the grandson of Ham, was the first sun god. He set up his own system of government and religious worship. Sound familiar? He was the first “king of the earth”. You can see glimpses of his reign in Genesis 10-11. He built the tower of Babel, according to Josephus, so that if God “should have a mind to drown the world again” the tower would be “too high for the water to be able to reach”. In essence, he pretended to the people that he was greater than the Almighty (there’s an oxymoron). This tower was symbolic of Nimrod’s uncircumcision (physically), an obelisk (phallic symbol).
Tradition has it that Nimrod was slain by Shem, the righteous, and his body parts spread all over the land to proclaim sun god worship was dead but . . .
Nimrod’s wife, Semiramus (or Beltis) knew, because of Nimrod’s death, she would lose the kingdom. She maintained that Nimrod did not die but, had ascended into the heavens and was now the sun god. Later, she said that Nimrod had impregnated her with the rays of the sun. Nimrod was then “rebirthed” as Tammuz. This day was known as the “rebirth of the sun” and known better now as the winter solstice. On the ancient Babylonian calender, this day fell on December 25th.
Tammuz is known in different languages and cultures as, Ra in Egypt, Zeus in Syria/Greece, Mithra in Rome. Chemosh, Baal, Molech, all were recognized as being born December 25th. Sacrifices to these sun god’s were always made on December 25th. The difference in the names are due to the confusion of the languages of the people (Genesis 11:9).
Here we have many parallels between Christianity and the old paganism born out of Babylon.
We have in paganism a father reborn as a son, both are “god”. Christianity has a son who is one with the father, both are God.
Nimrod, in building the tower, was going to save all people from the wrath (if you will) of God, Jesus saves all people from the wrath of God.
Nimrod’s phallic symbol is the sign of the uncircumcised “seed”. In Jesus we are Abraham’s “seed”.
Tammuz was god, born of a woman. Jesus is God, born of a woman.
Tammuz was the sun god. Jesus is the Son of God.
Nimrod was ‘rebirthed’ unto life, Jesus was rebirthed as a sign of the “first fruits” from among the dead.
Tammuz was born when the sun was being rebirthed. Jesus was the Son rebirthed.
The sun, moon and stars were created for signs. We can peer through them to see what is real. The constellations tell the story of humans of earth. It was a way that Yehovah gave hope and understanding for what would really come. But, the paganism I know began to think the signs and representations of the real WERE the real. They worship created things instead of the Creator.
Well, the story doesn’t end there. Years later, Semiramus “the exalted queen of heaven” died. But, because of her beauty, the gods sent her back to grace the earth. She returned on the first sun – day, in an egg. The egg landed in the Euphrates River and broke open. Semiramus stepped out of the egg as the goddess of fertility and sexual desire, Ishtar, or Easter. To prove her divinity, she turned a bird into a rabbit that could lay eggs. I have already gone over the worship of Easter so, I won’t go into that. Yuck! But, to end my story on Tammuz and Easter, I must conclude with the death of Tammuz. It was said that Tammuz was a great hunter. One day, on a hunt, Tammuz was gored to death by a wild boar. He was 40 years old. Since his death, sun god worshipers weep for Tammuz. (Yehovah hates it. Take a peek at Ezekiel 8:14). The 40 days are one day for every year of Tammuz’ life. During the 40 days worshipers also deny themselves pleasures in this life for Tammuz’ pleasure in the afterlife. Now, Easter sun day (the day set aside for sun god worship) is the conclusion of the 40 days of weeping for Tammuz. On this day, after the sunrise service and the egg dying, worshipers symbolically kill the boar that killed Tammuz and eat it. This concludes the two main ancient pagan holy days until the next December 25th.
Similarities abound.
Egg laying rabbits, sunrise services, egg dying.
40 days of denying self and weeping for Tammuz, In Christianity, Lent.
Killing and eating the wild boar in paganism. Easter ham dinner in Christianity. (It is interesting to me that swine is unclean and Yehovah says not to eat it. Just pondering . . )
Tammuz born on December 25th. Christianity celebrating Jesus’ birth on December 25th.
In these three idols you can see the trinity. Nimrod, Tammuz, Semiramus . In Christianity Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
Idolatry is a corruption of truth. It is not, in many ways, completely different from truth. That is why it is so tricky to discern, so easy to innocently melt into.
Magic, Astrology, Idolatry, these are corruptions of real and beautiful truths. We need to strip away the corruption and understand what amazing realities Yehovah has given us to glorify Him, to seek the good of our neighbors, to take care of His creation. I believe moving away from pagan tradition and seeking the truth of these things, which, I believe includes the appointed days of Yehovah, are key to our relationship with Him and will be key in seeing the latter outpouring of the Spirit of Yehovah and enable us to do great exploits. The spiritual battle is at hand. These connections are, at least in part, how the masses will end up worshiping the anti christ in Jerusalem at the end of days. May Yehovah give us wisdom as we discuss these topics! Blessings and Peace!

Jesus said we will drink poison and handle snakes, and not die. Paul said all things are clean if they have been sancified by thanksgiving and prayer. The yeast of God’s kingdom is spreading inexorably throughout the dough of this world and its powers, defeating and transforming them.

True, Allan. But, God says not to worship Him in the way that others worship their gods. It is idolatry. Even if we beg off on keeping His commandments, would it still be ok to just do whatever we want and use the above scripture as a proof text?

I think the greatest danger or maybe evil is that we as Christians would believe that the true God is actually like one of those pagan gods. Then live the lie that he is like those gods. He is not like those gods. The gospel, the good news, tells us that he is not like those gods. the entire old testiment is spent with God showing us he is not like those gods. When Jesus tells us that, when you see me you see the Father, we saw in human form that God is not like those other gods. We all need to trust in what God really sayes He is. I think that behind the idea that God will recaoncile everyone to Himself is that Christians are understanding that God is YHWH, the loving father, sheperd, husband or brother and not a cleaned up Zeus.

i still use baby blood…is that wrong? :astonished:

but seriously.

this is my simple view. i have not looked deeply into everything, but i feel that Paul said we could do certain things, as Christians, that were not essential but were also not harmful, such as i believe the feast of the new moon (as relevant to his recipients).

when Jesus comes to a place, He does demand all worship, and He does demand we be released from chains of idolatry. does He demand that we give up customs and feasts and clothing styles, etc, etc? or does He teach us how to redeem them?
is there anything innately wrong with the “pagan” aspect of being in harmony with the earth, its seasons and creatures? or does such an attitude, properly lifted up to the Creator, make us better stewards?

there’s alot of nonsense out there i feel, teaching us to fear our pre-Christian roots…but shouldn’t we be lifting everything up to His glory that isn’t sin?

also, the idea that Pagans were bloodthirsty baby killers is really unhelpful propaganda. no wonder there are so many neo-Pagans trying to take the name and reputation back of their ancestors. is this not also what we’re trying to do with the name of “Christian?” redeem it from the reputation of being tyrannical crusading witch burners?

the aspects of Paganism (as a catch all term) that i believe are wrong is the fact that many times they are different gods to what i worship, and some specific practices that stem from that and contradict our own values (temple prostitution as a possible example), and most importantly the idea that a God can be manipulated or appeased by the right magic words or rituals. this last one to me is the evil aspect of “paganism” which has infected the church. how many people figure God will forgive them their crappy lives if they raise their hands and sing passionately the latest Vinyard or Hillsong song? how many figure answering the altar call will fix their lives? THAT to me is “paganism”. being in tune with nature i have no problem with.

I think the true worship of God is more to do with caring for widows and orphans than making grain offerings at the proper time. It’s an interesting question though. I wonder what Western culture would look like now if we had conscientiously erased all traces of paganism and replaced it with ancient Jewish practices.

You are right, Allan. We should take care of widow and orphans and the poor. From my point of view mod christianity uses a whole lot of the resources that should go to taking care of others to build monuments of great glory to man (like Nimrod and the tower). I’m not sure if I made it clear, our family does not keep the Jewish practices like a pre-temple Jew would. These days are types and shadows of realities that are found in our Messiah. Just as pagan practices work also in the spirit with types and shadows, the realities found in their messiah (anti christ). We do not sacrifice, say, a passover lamb but, celebrate that the Passover Lamb has come and paid for our sins. Pesach is like an awesome time of communion, remembering that He has come and recounting all that He has fulfilled in that day. The 7 big days of Yehovah required that everyone be in Jerusalem 3 times a year. This is when everyone would bring their tithe. It was each person’s responsibility to find a widow, orphan or others without provision and give their tithe to them. It was an awesome plan of God to have continued provision for all His people. As the Torah shows us how to love our neighbor, the appointed days were the time to show love to all and take care of one another. Also, the offerings brought to the temple, were also eaten by the people. They supped with Yehovah in reconciled and renewed relationship with Him and each other on the mountain. Two beautiful aspects of our Awesome Creator! In summation, I would say that celebrating the appointed days that have been fulfilled and rehearsing the ones that haven’t, gives us the opportunity to show the greatness of our God and, by using the days as a calendar, for example, to care for widows, orphans and the poor, lets them know that God loves them and will provide for them in their needs. And, that as God’s people, we take seriously His love for us and others, that we rejoice in it and that He blesses everyone through it.
Thank you Allan, for responding with good thoughts. It helps me to explain the appointed days. There is just so many aspects that I sometimes don’t know where to start. May you sing for joy at His Name!

Well said, Dave. I wonder sometimes, as I have deeply considered this, if Christianity has accepted and worshiped a pagan Jesus. Reading the Bible, it is clear that the Messiah that was to come was worshiped and known as Yehovah. Yeshua is “God with us”. He is Yehoshua, literally, Yehovah’s salvation. This “Greek” Christianity kicks against the Jewish Messiah. Mainly, because of the merging of paganism and Christianity by Constantine, I am guessing. Why shouldn’t we want to continue with the One God and Creator that has made Himself known through the stars, through Scripture, instead of trying to squeeze Him into the ancient pagan Idolatry? And, the question I have asked myself is, is this Jesus of Christianity another name for Tammuz? I know it is in my pagan family’s view. When I look at Christianity today, it really does look that way. My proposal with sharing the truth of the appointed days, is that we return completely to God in our celebrations and leave the corruption of the truth behind. Peace to you!

I think leaving behind pagan practices to keep in step with what God has and is doing is redeeming the roots of paganism, which is worship of Him. All things start with Him and then are corrupted. Yehovah is the one who originally had holy day “appointed days”. From there, there is corruption that leads to idolatry. I agree with you that pagans are closer to the spiritual aspect than most christians. Most christians I know, really think of everything as literal and pertaining to this physical life yet, give lip service to the spiritual, only because there is obviously that aspect in the Bible. Speaking specifically about what my pagan family did and understood, they “worked” in the spirit to bring about things in spirit and in the natural. They were aware of what was going on and knew how to influence things in the spirit. Not for good, though they thought so. God’s people should work in the Spirit but, not along side pagans in idolatry. Want a good witness among the pagans I know? Then show them the difference between their gods and Yehovah. Do what Yehovah says, that is what He told the Hebrews to do to show the nations around them His greatness. Yeshua was “a prophet like unto Moses”. Moses says here in Deuteronomy,
“…and ye who are cleaving to Yehovah your God, are alive, all of you, to-day. See, I have taught you statutes and judgments, as Yehovah my God hath commanded me--to do so, in the midst of the land whither ye are going in to possess it; (occupy till I come?) and ye have kept and done them (for it is your wisdom and your understanding) before the eyes of the peoples who hear all these statutes, and they have said, Only, a people wise and understanding is this great nation.For which is the great nation that hath God near unto it, as Yehovah our God, in all we have called unto him? and which is the great nation which hath righteous statutes and judgments according to all this law which I am setting before you to-day?”
(Deu 4)

Heartily agree.

Awesome point! I don’t think the pagans were or are blood thirsty baby killers. I think the gods they serve are and perhaps the gods christians served in “christianity” were and are. Seems there are a lot of pagan sects, like christianity. I think some of them see the foreshadowing of Yehovah in their practices and may even be seeking him unknowingly, which is why God’s people should portray a clear reflection of Him to the world, not somehow try to show them how our Jesus can be like their gods which, as you have pointed to, is something some people have already discerned.

Another good point. I am only speaking from what I know of the Paganism my family practiced, I’m sure there are many who do different things.
Temple prostitution has nothing to do with Yehovah’s ways. The teachers of the law, practiced paganism themselves (there is a taste of that in Ezekiel). The Pharisee’s and religious leaders did, and do the same thing we are talking about, they mix idolatry with Yehovah. They give a false view of Him (not all of them, but, the corrupt majority). That’s were we get all the “adding to and taking away” from the Torah, all the other traditions of men. It is our lot to shine a clear reflection of God, that’s what it means to be His. So the world may know and understand.
I agree that we should be in tune with nature. The Creator made us to be. And we should be in tune with Him also for the whole melody to be a beautiful song. Also, agree with you on the “paganism”, as you see it affecting the church. I am hoping that understanding these appointed days will help us to be in tune with God and all creation. Blessings and great peace to you, as sing your song!

Yes. The line is difficult. I have struggled with the line a lot. I don’t think it’s possible to go beyond our own conscience. I agree with you on informed consent but, I think once true understanding comes there is no informed consent, only following conscience. Unless, one goes against their conscience to do what is comfortable or what they want regardless. Most really don’t have any idea. But, knowing brings such great joy in God, that I can scarce believe anyone would go on in the corruption.

This has been going on since Constantine, it is preached and taught in the established religious institution, not by accident, and I am sorry to say, it seems christianity has indeed accepted a pagan Jesus.

From what I see (still looking), there is a true thing and a corruption of the true thing. EU is distinctly Biblical but, UU is the corruption of the truth. Alex just answered me that there are already sects of EU’ers. But, UU, is a corruption, that I believe is the deception that will lead “believers” to Jerusalem to worship the anti christ. There are christian movements right now that are beginning to usher in the anti christ. They are ignorantly working alongside (my family’s pagan organization anyway) to bring this about. This is the same thing that happens when we worship Jesus in the corruption, He isn’t the corruption and God has given us a way to worship Him in purity and truth.
Thanks, Melchizedek, for the thoughtful comments! May Yehovah bless you!

Amos 5;8
You will pick up your images of Sikkuth, your king, and Kiyyun, your star god, which you made for yourselves,
Acts 7:43
But you took along the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of the god Rephan, the images you made to worship, but I will deport you beyond Babylon

Stephen is quoting from Amos when he says this in Acts. both these passages (likely) refer to the ark of the covenant which had a tabernacle itself.

Moloch=king=jupiter
Rephan=Kiyyun=saturn

The israelites had named the cherubim after the chief idolater, for Nimrod=Jupiter the father, while saturn=tammuz the son
the main Symbol for Nimrod is the bull

Exo 32:4 He took the gold from them, formed it in a mold, and cast an image of a calf; and they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”

One image represents multiple gods. One of the faces of the cherubim is of course that of a calf or a young bull.

EZE 20:18 “‘But I said to their children in the wilderness, “Do not follow the practices of your fathers; do not observe their regulations, nor defile yourselves with their idols. 20:19 I am the Lord your God; follow my statutes, observe my regulations, and carry them out. 20:20 Treat my Sabbaths as holy and they will be a reminder of our relationship, and then you will know that I am the Lord your God.” 20:21 “‘But the children rebelled against me, did not follow my statutes, did not observe my regulations by carrying them out (the one who obeys them will live by them), and desecrated my Sabbaths. I decided to pour out my rage on them and fully vent my anger against them in the wilderness. 20:22 But I refrained from doing so, and acted instead for the sake of my reputation, so that I would not be profaned before the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. 20:23 I also swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them throughout the lands. 20:24 I did this because they did not observe my regulations, they rejected my statutes, they desecrated my Sabbaths, and their eyes were fixed on their fathers’ idols. 20:25** I also gave them decrees which were not good and regulations by which they could not live. **20:26 I declared them to be defiled because of their sacrifices – they caused all their first born to pass through the fire – so that I would devastate them, so that they will know that I am the Lord.’

What decrees and regulations were not good for them?
Exo 25:18
You shall make two cherubim of gold; you shall make them of hammered work, at the two ends of the mercy seat.

why were they not good? He just gave them this
Exo 20:4
You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;

why would God give the Israelites who were known idolaters a command to put the very thing they shouldn’t have, graven images in the temple?

Right there in the holy of holies, kind of like putting the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the holy of holies (the midst of the garden, the garden=the holy place, eden=the outer court)

I believe He gives the choice of the counterfeit the cherubim/idolatry/tree of knowledge vs. Him/tree of life/shekinah

Btw, at the deportation to Babylon, Jeremiah took the ark and the bronze serpent (which is also a graven image, that the israelites worshipped) and hid it in a cave (according to tradition) because the Israelites worshipped them. The ark never returned to the temple.

There have always only been 2 “religions”, the true religion, and the false, jerusalem and babylon, shem and nimrod. Under grace it seems we can have christmas and easter, but knowing what I know now, it seems like spitting in Gods face, and frankly I don’t want the counterfeight gods, or any of their rites.

Greetings, Lefein,
I was never took part in this practice, it is only my understanding of our family’s roots.

No, I don’t. I celebrate Yehovah’s days. I celebrate the original meaning of the symbols (though they are only symbols).
I believe even the Olympics has a true meaning and it is what Paul is saying when he tells us to run the race. It is also written in the stars and you can see a picture of it from Psalm 19.

You are right in saying we should strip away corruption and worship God purely. All pagan symbols, that I know of, originate with the Creator, Yehovah. For example, the “cross” is part of Yehovah’s plan written in the stars. Mithra is not the originator of the cross. Paganism is not the originator of anything. Truth can be seen through the pagan things because they held on to the original symbols. Mainly, because christianity has left the OT, the knowledge of astronomy, etc behind, it has lost the original meanings and understandings of those things.

You are right, pagans should not be burned at the stake (and I’m thankful they aren’t :slight_smile: ). I have found my pagan background has actually helped me to know Yehovah and understand Him better, once I stripped away the corruption. They may be our only hope to retrace tracks back to truth. I think many pagans are truly seeking Yehovah, the originator of the truth of mysteries but, don’t yet know it. Many are on an honest journey which, will lead them to all they seek. I am more talking about people who want to follow Yehovah and how to reconcile truth with what we know then move to celebrate the original truth of these mysteries on the days He has appointed to do so. These days also give us a knowledge of where we are in Yehovah’s plan and what we should be doing at this point in the plan.
You are also right that everything Jewish is not infallible. Remember, the priests and elders worshiped idols in the temple (Ezekiel). It was because they had made the shift to pagan understanding of symbols and shadows. They began to worship created things instead of the Creator. That is still handed down today in Jewish culture. Greek paganism is handed down in ours. It is the same thing. Let’s come out and be separate! Blessings and peace to you, Lefein!

Is UU unitarian universalism?

I would argue that ET is the (major) corruption. Or at least a major component of the major corruption. the Roman catholic church and its reformations are the corruption. Here are a couple things

the word church derives from the word Circe tentmaker.org/Dew/Dew2/D2-Ci … heSun.html
circe is the daughter of the sungod, who is a sorcoress, she turns men into swine with her cup of enchantments

REV 17
Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, 2with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality.” 3And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. 4The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality, 5and on her forehead a name was written, a mystery, “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” 6And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus.

EZE 16
8“Then I passed by you and saw you, and behold, you were at the time for love; so I spread My skirt over you and covered your nakedness. I also swore to you and entered into a covenant with you so that you became Mine,” declares the Lord GOD. 9“Then I bathed you with water, washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil. 10“I also clothed you with embroidered cloth and put sandals of porpoise skin on your feet; and I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk. 11“I adorned you with ornaments, put bracelets on your hands and a necklace around your neck. 12“I also put a ring in your nostril, earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. 13“Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your dress was of fine linen, silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey and oil; so you were exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. 14“Then your fame went forth among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect because of My splendor which I bestowed on you,” declares the Lord GOD.

  15“But you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot because of your fame, and you poured out your harlotries on every passer-by who might be willing. 16“You took some of your clothes, made for yourself high places of various colors and played the harlot on them, which should never come about nor happen. 17“You also took your beautiful jewels made of My gold and of My silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself male images that you might play the harlot with them. 18“Then you took your embroidered cloth and covered them, and offered My oil and My incense before them. 19“Also My bread which I gave you, fine flour, oil and honey with which I fed you, you would offer before them for a soothing aroma; so it happened,” declares the Lord GOD. 20“Moreover, you took your sons and daughters whom you had borne to Me and sacrificed them to idols to be devoured. Were your harlotries so small a matter? 21“You slaughtered My children and offered them up to idols by causing them to pass through the fire. 22“Besides all your abominations and harlotries you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare and squirming in your blood. 

35Therefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD. 36Thus says the Lord GOD, “Because your lewdness was poured out and your nakedness uncovered through your harlotries with your lovers and with all your detestable idols, and because of the blood of your sons which you gave to idols, 37therefore, behold, I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, even all those whom you loved and all those whom you hated. So I will gather them against you from every direction and expose your nakedness to them that they may see all your nakedness. 38“Thus I will judge you like women who commit adultery or shed blood are judged; and I will bring on you the blood of wrath and jealousy

The passage in Ezekiel is talking about Israel, God’s wife, He only has one bride, spiritual israel, later He says I will make a new covenant with you

Rev 18
1After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illumined with his glory. 2And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. 3“For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality.”
4I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “[size=200]Come out of her, my people, [/size]so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues; 5for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. 6“Pay her back even as she has paid, and give back to her double according to her deeds; in the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her. 7“To the degree that she glorified herself and lived sensuously, to the same degree give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, ‘I SIT as A QUEEN AND I AM NOT A WIDOW, and will never see mourning.’ 8“For this reason in one day her plagues will come, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her is strong.

This is an interesting discussion. Thanks Kelly for taking the time to respond to people :slight_smile:

I can certainly relate to the idea that evil takes what is good & twists it. I don’t know if you’ve read Tolkien’s Lord Of The Rings, or seen the movies? However, one of the insightful things Tolkien says is that evil cannot create, but only corrupt. He illustrates this with a number of the creatures, e.g. the Orcs, who from memory, were bred from Elves, by Melcor (equivalent of the devil), as a mockery to the Elves.

How does someone ignorant (like me :blush: ), know what days they should celebrate? What days do you celebrate?

Yes.

Wow! Thank you so much for this post, I learned a lot! I’m going to have to go over to tentmaker.org and check it out. So far I’ve just pretty much pieced stuff together from what I know from my past and the Bible.
Awesome! Really appreciate your thoughts!