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“Hear ye the word which the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel: Thus saith the Lord, learn not the ways of the heathen . . . For the customs of the people are vain: for one cuts 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 hammers, that it moves not. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: They must be borne, because they cannot go” (Jer 10:1-5).

In the aforementioned verses we have a perfect description of the Christmas tree and God is referring to it as the way of the heathen, the customs of the people. Verse five shows that these trees are upright like the palm tree, they cannot speak, cannot walk and must be carried.

Sacrificed

During the festive seasons one is met everywhere with these dead evergreen trees arrayed in their glitter and tinsel. Annually millions of young trees are sacrificed and with the advancement in technology artificial green Christmas trees are found in Christian homes, shops and churches. But have we ever considered the origin of this custom?

The early Christians forbade the custom. It was among the pagans that a certain reverence was attached to what we know today as the Christmas tree. The tree was considered as a symbol of fertility among the ancient pagan nations, since these evergreen trees never lost their leaves or turned brown (symbolising death) through the winter season as did the other trees.

Mistake

Dear reader, make no mistake, the current custom of cutting down a perfectly good, healthy tree, propping it up in our homes and decorating it with tinsel and globes certainly does not spring from any Christian tradition! It was an idolatrous practice of the ancient Pagans, which has been passed down through the centuries.

As the festive season approaches, the remains of Christmas trees will be thrown into junk piles. Yet thousands of untaught people will gladly go hungry and willingly deprive their families of necessary things in order to buy and decorate this same Christmas tree.

I am not saying that people who today place Christmas trees in their homes, shops and churches are worshipping the tree. What we are saying is that today’s use of the tree is plainly a carryover from Paganism. Though you may insist that you do not worship the Christmas tree, you cannot deny that the whole concept is Pagan!

Prayer

It is my prayer that as Christians we may obey God’s command to ‘learn not the way of the heathen … for the customs of the people are vain’.

The new testament refers to another tree; 1 Peter 2:24 says .. “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” Paul wrote in Galatians 3:13; “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree’.”

Therefore, in some biblical texts the cross is referred to as a tree. If there is a tree that we need in our lives, it is the cross of Jesus. Thank God for we don’t need to buy it, decorate it and place it in our homes. We just need to never lose sight of the cross.

Bopoto Gwinyai