We're Not Putting X-Mas Trees Up!

[Evang.Benincasa]

Deu 12:1-4

"These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the LORD God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth.Ye shall UTTERLY DESTROY all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and UNDER EVERY GREEN TREE: And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their GROVES with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place. Ye shall not do so unto the LORD your God."

1st Kings 14:22-24

"And Judah did EVIL in the sight of the LORD, and they PROVOKED him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done. For they also built them high places, and images, and GROVES, on every high hill, and UNDER EVERY GREEN TREE. And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel."

2nd Kings 16:1-4

"In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign. Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD his God, like David his father. But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel. And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and UNDER EVERY GREEN TREE.

2nd Kings 17:7

"For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods, And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made. And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the LORD their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city. And they set them up images and GROVES in every high hill, and UNDER EVERY GREEN TREE: And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the LORD carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger: For they served idols, whereof the LORD had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing."

Jer 10:1-2

"Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: 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."

The Druids used the word "treow" for "tree," the also used the same word for the word "TRUTH." In ancient folklore and mythology the tree takes a central role. 4,000 years ago the ancients regarded the "oak" as a powerful symbol because of it's strength, its height, its large branch system, and the depth of its root system. In the time of the Old Testament the ancient middle eastern people regarded trees to have special powers, and that the tree themselves represented gods. As the Nile was looked upon as a god, trees also held that position.

In the cult of the ancient fertility goddess Cybele, or Great Mother (Magnae Matri). The Great Mother's consort was Attis, whose SACRED SYMBOL was a PINE TREE. A Roman Catholic named Boniface, supposedly chopped down a Druid's decorated oak tree, where they would have their sacrifices, and rituals. As the story goes, the Catholic missionary, Boniface cut down the oak and when it fell it split open.

The Druids said that because Boniface had done this, it would be he who would fall dead. As time past Boniface didn't die, but the oak that was cut down, and a fir tree spring up from between the oak's split trunk. it is said that Boniface took this as a sign, of his Christian faith, and instructed the people and the Druids that the were to use the evergreen to symbolize Christ.

Ancient tree worship is found in every ancient religion, across the planet.

It's still survives to this day.

In Jesus name

Brother Benincasa

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