The Spirit of Christmas vs. the spirit of Herod
The Christmas season is once upon us accompanied
by a vengeful anti-Christian spirit. It seems with each passing year the attacks against the Word of God and His Christ get more and more aggressive.
If the world hates you, ye know it hated me before it hated you. John 15:18
I was spending some time on a BLOG (web log) site
where I ran across an article posted by citizen sabbatismus (alias name). The article was entitled “Anti-Christmas in Bible?”
In the article sabbatismus brings out a very interesting
observation found in the scripture;
“The Biblical account also reminds us of the slaughter of the innocent infants, (Mt. 2:16-18) , that suffered as a result of Herod's attempt to destroy Christ AT the DAY of His birth. It's not surprising to see those who zealously work today, to destroy celebration of the day OF Christ's birth.... Herod tried it first, 2,000 years ago. Yep, Herod was the first one to try to stomp out Christmas”.
The many times I have read the accounts of the
birth of our Saviour, I have never noticed that this spirit that exist today, that is fervently working to “stomp out the Christ of Christmas”
existed at His birth.
There are three characteristics of this spirit and
one must agree that they manifest themselves in those that are attacking the Word of God and His Christ today.
Matthew’s account of the Christ’s birth speaks
of the events that occurred when the wise men from the East came in search of “He that is born King of the Jews”.(cf; Matt. 2:2) This turn of
events was bothersome enough to Herod that he was troubled. The first spirit that we can see in Herod was a troubled spirit. The word translated “troubled”
is a spirit of fear and perplexity. One might note that the perplexity is the fruit of the fear. There are those out there today that are confused and
puzzled by the Word of God and it’s TRUTH. The perplexity is the result of the fear that overwhelms the spirit of the unbeliever when he/she must
consider, IS THE WORD OF GOD TRUE? I humbly proclaim, yes… it is true.
The second spirit that we see in Herod was a wily
spirit (wiles- a trick or stratagem intended to ensnare or deceive; to beguile). In Matthew 2:8 Herod
instructed the wise men to search diligently for the young child and bring him word again that he might come and worship him also. At face value it
seems that Herod was sincere and wanted to honor the Christ… Emmanuel- God in the flesh.
I don’t think that was Herod intention, hence
actions speaks louder than words. He had such a heart-felt hate for this child that he lied and attempted to deceive the wise men in order to
manipulate his agenda. Sound familiar? The lies and deception that exist in those that oppose the Word of God and His Christ fervently attempt to
remove any mention of His name.
The third and final spirit is one of destruction.
Once Herod had determined that he had been mocked of the wise men, his anger was in raged and he sought the only course of action that his spirit
would lead him… destroy all the children 2 years old and younger. He wanted to be sure he did not miss getting Christ out of Christmas. This same
destructive spirit is alive and well, today, in America. This same destructive spirit does not want any mention of God or His Word mentioned in our
public schools or any public recognition in our society. There are no limits to what some will do to see that Christ is suppressed and more desirously
destroyed form our society.
I realize that many will say Herod had no
consideration for Christmas when he decreed the slaughter of innocent children. One would argue his concern was egocentric, in that he did not want
anyone threatening his throne and reign as king. I would agree but what one must consider while there are multitudes of folk that are promoting their
own agendas, there is another force that is at work and the playground is the spirit of one’s mind. We see this truth revealed in the gospel of
John, the eighth chapter. The religious leaders of Christ day sought to destroy (kill) Him. Christ told them that they were of their father the devil,
and his lust they would do, and they did. (cf; John 8:44) From this we can glean that many hearts and their agendas are influenced by the devil…
Satan.
We see it in the case of Pharaoh in Exodus. Prior
to the deliverance of God’s people from Egypt, Pharaoh sought to destroy the first-born male children of the Jews. His reason was defendable, at
least in his own mind, “lest the people of the children of Israel become more and mightier than we” (cf: Exodus 1:9). While Pharaoh was concerned
about his own personal agenda, Satan was using his mind and actions to slaughter the people of God. We see this spirit waxing strong today. So it was with the action of Herod. So it is with those attempting to stamp out the Word of God and His Christ, today.
So what are we to do? Sanctify the Lord God in
your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. 1 Peter
3:15
If you my friend do not know the Christ of
Christmas and are unable to sanctify Him in your heart then my prayer is that He may be born again in you. Herein lies the Spirit of Christmas.
Forasmuch then as humanity are partakers of flesh
and blood, He (Jesus Christ) also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is
the devil. Hebrews 2:14
God Bless & Merry
Christmas