Jeremiah 10 and Christmas trees
“For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not” (Jeremiah 10:3,4).
Jeremiah 10 is a prophecy about idolatry. It is not talking about the practice of having or decorating trees in the wintertime like Christmas trees but rather the folly of making a god out of something a man has the power to destroy! Jeremiah was addressing people who were making idols ‘…They deck it with gold and silver, they fasten it with nails and hammers, it does not move. They’re upright like a palm tree but they do not speak. They must be carried around….’. People cut down trees, shape them into wooden gods, overlay them with gold and silver, and pray to them. And they would carry them from place to place and temple to temple.
Another similar passage appears in Isaiah 44:9-20, where Isaiah speaks of the foolishness of the idol-worshipers who cut down a tree, burn part of it in the fire to warm themselves, and use the other part to fashion an idol, which they then bow down to.
Abandon Pagan Practices
There are a lot of practices that people have taken from paganism and they dress it around the birth of Jesus. Christmas can also be turned into a pagan holiday especially when people start decking their Christmas trees with ornaments of Santa or elves and using Yule logs and hot-crossed buns…etc. Instead, the believers should give to the needy and the less fortunate while remembering the birth of Christ. And thus heed the Bible advice “Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:40). Therefore, ” whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
