TRADITION?

OR TRUTH!

Every year around December 25th you cannot go anywhere without hearing Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Every year around the Passover you will hear a lot of talk about Easter and the death of our Savior Yahushua (they call Him Jesus, a name He never heard) on "Good Friday," and his resurrection on "Resurrection Sunday." The Catholic religion and many of the Protestant religions all go to "church" on "Sunday" for fellowship instead of meeting on Yahuwah's shabbath day and they say one of the reasons is because Yahushua was resurrected on a "Sunday." Therefore, according to them, the shabbath has been changed from the seventh day to the first day, or the "Christian Sabbath."

Well, just like lighting fireworks on the fourth of July, or slicing that turkey on Thanksgiving, these things have become "Tradition". The Fourth of July and Thanksgiving are national happenings and are acknowledged as such by most of the nation that we now live in and are viewed as traditional events in American history. A lot of people acknowledge the other events mentioned above as the correct way to worship the Creator. It is written that our Eloah, whose name is Yahuwah, must be worshipped in spirit and in Truth.

Which are you following? Tradition? Or Truth?
What day of the week was Yahushua impaled? What day of the week did Yahushua rise? Tradition tells us that Yahushua was impaled on a "Friday" and risen on early "Sunday" morning. The people of the Catholic faith celebrate a lot of things based on around this tradition such as Lent, Good Friday, and of course, Easter. Most of the other Protestant religions such as Lutheran, Baptist, Pentecostal, etc., also believe and teach that this is traditionally correct. However, is this tradition able to stand up to the light of the Scripture?

Let's take a look!
The most beautiful thing that we have, as a human race, is our Savior, Yahushua. The best thing about studies in the Word of Yahuwah is that we know that Yahushua is perfect, just as our Father in the sky is perfect. Now, knowing that Yahushua is perfect, we can know that Yahushua told only the TRUTH. Never, not once, did He ever tell a lie. He is the TRUTH. This is the greatest gift to us from Yahuwah, His Son who is the Way, the TRUTH, and the Life!

Let's take a look at the tradition. Tradition says that Yahushua was "crucified" on the sixth day which is called by the pagan name "Friday" (in honor of the pagan goddess Frigga), was buried in the tomb late that afternoon, and was risen before sunrise on the morning of the first day of the week that is called by the name "Sunday" in honor of the pagan Sun god. If this tradition is to be true it would mean that Yahushua was in the tomb from the night of the sixth day about sundown (night #1), all day the shabbath (day #1) and most of that night (night #2), totaling two nights and one day, or approximately 36 - 40 hours.

How does this stand up in the light of the Scripture? - Let's take a look.

    MattiythYahuw (Matthew) 12:40 For as Yonah was three days and three nights in the fish's belly so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Please keep in mind that MattiythYahuw 12:40 are the words of Yahushua, Who is perfect. He did not lie. In this scripture, Yahushua told us that he would be in the ground for THREE DAYS and THREE NIGHTS. This does not support the tradition of being buried the evening of the sixth day and being risen the morning of the first day. Now let's take a look at the Scripture again to see how many hours Yahushua acknowledged there to be in the day light.

    Yahuchanan (John) 11:9 Yahushua answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he does not stumble because he sees the light of this world."

Yahuchanan 11:9 are the spoken words of Yahushua, who did not lie. Since Yahushua acknowledged twelve hours in the light of day, and we know that a from sunset to sunset is twenty four hours, then we also know that the night, or dark period of what we call a day, is a twelve hour period too. Three twelve hour days and three twelve hour nights equals seventy-two hours. Once again, man's tradition indicates that Yahushua was in the earth for only about half of the time He said He would be. Had He been there any less it could NOT have been in the sign of Yonah.

Now let's take the time to look at the Greek words that appeared in the original text, the words that appear as "day" and "night" in the English versions of the Gospel.

The Greek word translated as "day" in MattiythYahuw (Matthew) 12:40

  • G2250. hemera, hay-mer'-ah; fem. (with G5610 implied) of a der. of hemai (to sit; akin to the base of G1476) mean. tame, i.e. gentle; day, i.e. (lit.) the time space between dawn and dark, or the whole 24 hours (but several days were usually reckoned by the Jews as inclusive of the parts of both extremes); fig. a period (always defined more or less clearly by the context):--age, + alway, (mid-) day (by day, [-ly]), + for ever, judgment, (day) time, while, years.

The Greek word translated as "night" in MattiythYahuw 12:40

  • G3571. nux, noox; a prim. word; "night" (lit. or fig.):--(mid-) night.

Obviously, someone is not telling the truth, and we know that someone CANNOT be Yahushua! Easter celebrations therefore fall under the heading of man's pagan traditions that are not supported by scriptural truth.

Is Christmas something that should be acknowledged as worship of the Master? Is it Tradition or is it Truth? We already know that Christmas is a tradition in the United States and many other countries, but did you know that at one time it was outlawed in this country and other countries as a pagan festival of the "church" of Rome? Do you celebrate Christmas? If you do, why? Do you ever stop to ask yourself what the so called holiday season is really about, or do you just assume that since it has been around for so long that is naturally based on truth?

There are many reasons that people will give to justify why they celebrate Christmas. The fact of the matter is that the word Christmas does not appear in the Scripture, not once. Not anywhere in the Scripture does it say to celebrate or remember the birth of our Master Yahushua the Anointed. What it does say is to remember his death until He returns. Yahuwah also says in the Scripture in many different ways not to worship idols or pagan "gods." If you will do your research you will find that Christmas was adopted from customs involved with pagan worship.

Another tradition of man that cannot stand up to the light of scriptural truth. See the SUBJECT Christmas for a detailed discussion.

As we have grown in our day to day lives we have adopted many things as tradition. Family, friends, work, and religion have all handed down as tradition from generation to generation. Please remember that just because a "tradition" has been a natural thing for hundreds of years, that does not make a "tradition" the right or truthful thing to do. Traditions can be good or bad. If you are sincerely trying to be child of Yahuwah, then make sure that your traditions are good ones!

There are many other writings and other informational sources available in your local library that may be able to provide you with more information concerning these and other subjects of tradition versus truth in the practices of the so-called "Christian" churches of today.

C.F. Castleberry
http://www.considerthis.net
buck@considerthis.net