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.

Oh Come, O Come Emmanuel

 

1 O come, O come, Immanuel,

and ransom captive Israel

that mourns in lonely exile here

until the Son of God appear.

Refrain:

Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel

shall come to you, O Israel.

2 O come, O Wisdom from on high,

who ordered all things mightily;

to us the path of knowledge show

and teach us in its ways to go. Refrain

3 O come, O come, great Lord of might,

who to your tribes on Sinai's height

in ancient times did give the law

in cloud and majesty and awe. Refrain

4 O come, O Branch of Jesse's stem,

unto your own and rescue them!

From depths of hell your people save,

and give them victory o'er the grave. Refrain

5 O come, O Key of David, come

and open wide our heavenly home.

Make safe for us the heavenward road

and bar the way to death's abode. Refrain

6 O come, O Bright and Morning Star,

and bring us comfort from afar!

Dispel the shadows of the night

and turn our darkness into light. Refrain

7 O come, O King of nations, bind

in one the hearts of all mankind.

Bid all our sad divisions cease

and be yourself our King of Peace. Refrain 

Psalter Hymnal (Gray)

Deep Dive Into Babylon Mystery Religion & The Babylon Connection by Ralph Woodrow

 

This podcast episode discusses Ralph Woodrow's shift in perspective regarding the alleged pagan origins of Christian practices. Initially, Woodrow, influenced by Alexander Hislop's controversial book The Two Babylons, promoted these claims in his own book; Babylon Mystery Religion. However, he later refuted many of these claims in The Babylon Connection, citing weak evidence and flawed interpretations in Hislop's work. Woodrow's journey highlights the importance of critical thinking and intellectual honesty, emphasizing the need to examine evidence carefully and challenge one's own biases. The episode uses Woodrow's experience to encourage listeners to approach information with a discerning and thoughtful mindset.

Ai-COG

Armstrongism investigated:: takes a Deep Dive into the cultic murky world of the Worldwide Church of God and its offshoots. If you love investigating cults stick around and prepare to dive deep!

How Easily Armstrongism Fell For Errors (And Still Does)

 

Several decades ago Ralph Woodrow came out with a book that became the third Bible of Armsrongism. We had the Bible as interpreted by Herbert Armstrong, Alexander Hislops The Two Babylons, and Ralph Woodrow's Babylon Mystery Religion. In these three books, all doctrines and teachings of the church revolved. The idolatry of church members with Hislop and Woodrow's books was shocking. Their words were 100% true, immutable, and without error. Yet time has proven that these two books are filled with major historical errors, and yet people like Bob Thiel and Gerald Flurry slobber at their words as divine truth.

Ralph Woodrow had the sense to realize he had a lot of errors in his books and wrote the following book to refute those errors. Armstrongists and others went into fits when this book came out.

THE BABYLON CONNECTION?

128 pages | 60 illustrations | 400 footnotes | Price: $8

THE BABYLON CONNECTION? shows that claims about Babylonian origins often lack connection, takes a closer look at the oft-quoted THE TWO BABYLONS by Alexander Hislop, and provides some much needed clarification on this subject. In a scholarly and understandable style, this book explains why Woodrow removed his very popular book BABYLON MYSTERY RELIGION from publication. 

According to the teaching made popular by Alexander Hislop, if we went back to the days of ancient Babylon, we would find people attending mass, partaking of a little round wafer, worshipping a cross, going to confession, being baptized with water for the remission of sins, burning wax candles, and bowing before a divine Mother and Child. We would notice that places of worship featured a tower. Priests, wearing a circular tonsure, dressed in black garments, would give those who died the last rites. With monks and nuns in abundance, the Babylonians would be practicing essentially all the rites that are known today in the Roman Catholic Church!

According to Hislop, it all started with Nimrod and his wife Semiramis, thus the subtitle of THE TWO BABYLONS: “The Papal Worship Proved to Be the Worship of Nimrod and His Wife.” But, any historical information about Nimrod and Semiramis is sketchy, at best. One can check the articles on “Nimrod” and “Semiramis” in recognized reference works. Not one says anything about Nimrod and Semiramis being husband and wife! They did not even live in the same century!

THE BABYLON CONNECTION? shows that claims about Babylonian origins often lack connection. Was Nimrod a deformed, ugly black man, and Semiramis a beautiful white woman with blue eyes and blond hair? Was She the originator of soprano singing and priestly celibacy? Was she the mother of Tammuz? Is the cross a symbol of Tammuz, the initial letter of his name? Are round communion wafers sun-symbols? Are candles, black clergy garments, the letters I.H.S., the fish symbol, halos, and church steeples of pagan origin? Does the Pope wear a crown with 666 on it? Was the papal mitre copied from the fish head of Dagon?

Message from Ralph Woodrow regarding the former book, BABYLON MYSTERY RELIGION.

"It puzzles me how some can be so fanatical against one set of errors—or what they perceive to be errors—only to develop greater errors: becoming judgmental, hateful, and dishonest."

Here is a list of the some of the unsubstantiated claims that are made about the religion of ancient Babylon: (Notice how many of these are the exact same lies Bob Thiel currently is spreading)

• The Babylonians went to a confessional and confessed sins to priests who wore black clergy garments.

• Their king, Nimrod, was born on December 25. Round decorations on Christmas trees and round communion wafers honored him as the Sun-god.
• Sun-worshippers went to their temples weekly, on Sunday, to worship the Sun-god.
• Nimrod’s wife was Semiramis, who claimed to be the Virgin Queen of Heaven, and was the mother of Tammuz.

• Tammuz was killed by a wild boar when he was age 40; so 40 days of Lent were set aside to honor his death.
• The Babylonians wept for him on “Good Friday.” They worshipped a cross-the initial letter of his name.

It is amazing how unsubstantiated teachings like these circulate—and are believed. One can go to any library, check any history book about ancient Babylon, none of these things will be found. They are not historically accurate, but are based on an arbitrary piecing together of bits and pieces of mythology. 

 

Hislop, for example, taught that mythological persons like Adonis, Apollo, Bacchus, Cupid, Dagon, Hercules, Janus, Mars, Mithra, Moloch, Orion, Osiris, Pluto, Saturn, Vulcan, Zoraster, and many more, were all Nimrod! He then formed his own “history” of Nimrod! He did the same thing with Nimrod’s wife. So, according to his theory, Nimrod was a big, ugly, deformed black man. His wife, Semiramis—also known as Easter, he says—was a most beautiful white woman with blond hair and blue eyes, a backslider, inventor of soprano singing, the originator of priestly celibacy, the first to whom the unbloody mass was offered! This is not factual history—it is more in the category of tabloid sensationalism. 

 

Some claim that round objects, such as round communion wafers, are symbols of the Sun-god. But they fail to mention that the very manna given by God was round! (Exod. 16:14). Some are ready to condemn all pillars and historical monuments as pagan. But they fail to take into account that the Lord himself appeared as a pillar of fire; and, in front of his temple, there were two large pillars (Exod. 13:21,22; 2 Chron. 3:17). 

 

Because Babylon had a tower (Gen. 11:4), some suppose this must be why there are church buildings with towers or steeples: they are copying Babylon! A newspaper reporter in Columbus, Ohio, wrote to me about this. In that city, and numerous other places, this claim has been made. Let me say it quite clearly: No church ever included a steeple or tower on their house of worship to copy the tower of Babel! Why discredit thousands of born-again Christians by promoting ideas that have no connection? If a tower in itself is pagan, God would be pagan, for David described him as “my high tower” (2 Sam. 22:3; cf. Prov. 18:10). 

 

No Christian who puts a bumper sticker with a fish symbol on the back of his car has ever done so to honor the fish-god Dagon. No congregation has ever put a cross on a church building for the purpose of honoring Tammuz. No Christian has ever gone to an Easter sunrise service to worship Baal. No Christian has ever worshipped a Christmas tree as an idol. Claims that imply “all these things started in Babylon,” are not only divisive and fruitless, they are untrue. 

 

The concern about not wanting anything pagan in our lives can be likened to a ship crossing a vast ocean. This concern has taken us in the right direction, but as we come to a better understanding as to what is actually pagan and what is not, a correction of the course is necessary in our journey. This is not a going back, but a correction of the course as we follow “the shining light, that shines more and more unto the perfect day” (Prov. 4:18).