Getting a Christmas Tree? Save Some $ and Read This First!

Posted on 12/11/2016 by Natan Lawrence

The use of trees or wooden poles as an object of worship in the ancient world was universal as a fertility or phallic symbol. In many places, the Bible strongly condemns involvement with this pagan custom. Obviously the tree of Jeremiah 10:1–5 is not the modern “Christmas tree” as we know it, since Christmas wasn’t invented by the Christians until about the late fifth century AD. However, the decorated tree is a pagan symbol as evidenced by history, which is why it was outlawed by the Puritans and many other religious groups in America in the 1700s. It was not until the 1850s with many Germans migrating to America with their Christmas tree tradition that Christmas became popularized again in this country.

The Scriptures advise us to abstain from all appearances of evil (1 Thess 5:22). At the very least, because of its pagan connotation, a Christmas tree is an appearance of evil. Furthermore, where in the Bible do we find any examples of YHVH’s people reclaiming a pagan tradition, sanitizing it, and then practicing it? This occurred only when Israel was in a state of apostasy or was attempting to syncretize the religion of the Bible with the pagan practices of the surrounding nations.

True, many things in our daily lives have been tainted by paganism. If we were to toss out everything that fits that category, we probably wouldn’t be able to say anything, wear anything, eat anything, or do anything. Some of us would even have to change our names! What we are to throw out are those things that the Bible forbids, anything that is indigenously pagan, or anything that leads us away from YHVH and his Word.

Often our view of the Scriptures is filtered through our emotions. We all struggle with this spiritual disease. When we’re extremely partial to a belief or an idea, we have a hard time conforming our lives to those biblical scriptures that disagree with us. Thus, we have a spiritual blind spot. For many, Christmas has become a spiritual blind spot because it is so ingrained in our families and the culture around us. It is perhaps the hardest thing for people to let go of because of family and emotional ties. Each of us has to make the choice: Do we love the praises of family or the praises of Elohim more (John 12:43)?

Jeremiah 10:1–5 is the perfect description of what has come to be known as a Christmas tree. Continue reading →

New Video: Prophetic Meaning of the Last Great Day, Water Pouring Ceremony

Posted on 11/26/2016 by Natan Lawrence

Feast Date Information for 2017

Posted on 11/13/2016 by Natan Lawrence

For a list of projected dates for the spring and fall 2017 biblical festivals (and other biblical calendar information and resources), go to:

http://hoshanarabbah.org/calendars-info.html#feast_dates

For the record, our projected calendar dates are based on the visible new moon sliver as viewed from the land of Israel. The beginning of the new year is based on the barely being aviv in land of Israel.

For those of you who are unclear about the biblical calendar or confused about such things as conjunction vs. visible sighting, or rabbinic vs. first-century biblical calendar, I invite you to read the articles on the page at the link above. For additional information not contained in these articles, you can scroll down through the posts on this blog to pick up articles and videos on the subject. To access this information quickly, in the search box at the top of this page, you can also type in the key search word “biblical calendar” or something similar and all the posts on this subject will come up in the search results.

Happy studying.

Sukkot NW 2016 Praise Report

Posted on 10/30/2016 by Natan Lawrence

We’re back from Sukkot NW 2016 on the middle Rogue River near Grants Pass in SW Oregon. Here is a quick review of the event.

This was our fifteenth and final Sukkot NW. My wife and I founded this ministry in 2002 and every year we have gone to a beautiful location in the state of Oregon in YHVH’s creation and away from the Babylon of the big city to meet with him and to join with those who hunger for the kingdom of Elohim and his righteousness.

When we planted Sukkot NW, there were no other events like ours in Washington State or Oregon. Over the years, we have helped to transmit this vision to many people and to train them how to do a Sukkot event, and now there are many such events going on around us. We praise Yah for this. It is now time for my wife and I to pass the baton to someone else and focus our energies on other ministry areas that need our attention. To our excitement, YHVH has gone ahead of us and has raised up another family to receive this spiritual calling, and plans are already being made for next year’s Sukkot in the NW region of the United States.

This year, we again rented Griffin Park on the Rogue River. People came in from as far away as Alaska and southern California, as well as Washington State and Continue reading →