Jeremiah 10:3-5 and COG Myths

 

It is hard to believe that here we are in 2024, and we are still surrounded by ordained men in COGland who still believe that Jeremiah 10:3-5 is talking about cutting down pine trees and decorating them for Christmas. But because Herbert said so, it has to be true! So let it be said, so let it be done!

3 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.
4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
5 They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.

Modern-day Church of God heretics like Bob Thiel and Gerald Flurry are still beating that drum to death. But then, telling the truth has never been a strong point for either of them due to their erroneous theological understanding.

Even the United Church of God still beats that drum, all the while, some of their ministers celebrated Christmas and had trees when still in WCG. Apparently, leopards easily change their spots when a paycheck is involved.

Look at how UCG dances around Jeremiah 10:

Regrettably, the Israelites failed to permanently heed God's warning. Time and time again they let their fascination with the religious practices of those around them get the better of them as they lapsed into idolatrous worship. 

 

Around 600 B.C. God gave three more warnings against this kind of behavior. First, through the prophet Jeremiah, God said, 'Do not learn the way of the Gentiles; do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the Gentiles are dismayed at them' (Jeremiah 10:2). Here God cautioned His people against following the gentile (non-Israelite) practices of worshiping the heavenly bodies (like the sun on Dec. 25) and against astrology in general. 

 

In the following verses (Jeremiah 10:3-5), God describes some of their idolatrous customs. They cut a tree from the forest, shaped it with an ax and overlaid it with precious metals. Although this account is specifically referring to the making of an idol (Jeremiah 10:6-8), God's command, 'Do not learn the way of the Gentiles,' applies to all pagan customs. Christmas trees, mistletoe and colorful lights that come from pagan winter-solstice celebrations, rabbits and Easter eggs as fertility symbols, and demonic concepts at Halloween, all fit this prohibition. In giving this instruction against learning the way of the gentiles, God wanted His people to avoid the type of sin their forefathers had committed with the golden calf.

UCG (and Bob Thiel/Gerald Flurry) completely ignores one major FACT of Jeremiah 10:3-5. It is NOT talking about a Christmas tree but an idol carved from a tree and covered in silver and gold that was hammered into place to give the idol human or animal characteristics that people bowed down to in worship. First or second-year Bible students in any good seminary learn this, but Armstrongism cannot.

Exit and Support Network had this:

Herbert Armstrong taught that Jeremiah 10:3-5 was talking about “Christmas trees”; however, if one reads the chapter in context, it is clear that God is speaking about the heathen custom of idolatry, not Christmas trees. 

 

The verses are actually directed toward the house of Israel and refers to regulating one’s life according to the Zodiac or being troubled by such things as eclipses or comets, which were believed by these idolatrous nations to be signs of coming events given by the gods. Verse 5 is talking about how the idols they were carving out of trees had eyes, ears, mouth, legs and feet, but they could not speak and had to be carried from one place to another. Israel also covered these idols with blue and purple clothing (verse 9). A similar reference is seen in Habakkuk 2:19: “Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.” 

 

Worldliness, drunkenness, revelry, covetousness and idolatry are condemned in the Bible, but HWA made it sound like everyone who did something on “pagan” holidays was guilty of such. HWA emphasized the negative elements in society in order to isolate people into his exclusive group. This fostered judgmental attitudes, self-righteousness, pride, and a lack of love and compassion toward others. 

 

Christmas can be used as a time to show love and kindness to friends and family if one chooses; i.e., eating dinner with others, or spending time together, something members avoided for many years while under the control of the group leader, and which caused much division and hurt feelings. They can also be an opportunity to help the less fortunate.

Jeremiah 10:6-10 continues on with this: 

6 Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O Lord; thou art great, and thy name is great in might.
7 Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee.
8 But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities.
9 Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of cunning men.
10 But the Lord is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.

All of the neighboring idols decked out in their gold, silver, and purple clothes are just the work of mere men, both of which will decay and pass away, but the God of Israel will always remain Lord of all gods. 

Jermiah10:14-15 states:

14 Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
15 They are vanity, and the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.

Here is how the Message paraphrases it:

1-1
“Tell them this, ‘The stick gods
who made nothing, neither sky nor earth,
Will come to nothing
on the earth and under the sky.’”
But it is God whose power made the earth,
whose wisdom gave shape to the world,
who crafted the cosmos.
He thunders, and rain pours down.
He sends the clouds soaring.
He embellishes the storm with lightnings,
launches wind from his warehouse.
Stick-god worshipers looking mighty foolish,
god-makers embarrassed by their handmade gods!
Their gods are frauds—dead sticks,
deadwood gods, tasteless jokes.

When the fires of judgment come, they’ll be ashes.

The stick gods of men like Thiel, Flurry, Pack, and others in COGland are handmade foolish embarrassments. They are guaranteed to pass away, no matter how much they dress them up and embellish them.