Little Children, Keep Yourselves From Idols by Carroll R. Bierbower

When one thinks of idolatry today, he feels it is an expression which belongs in the dark ages or in some so called pagan land. The Lords' people have always been warned against it in Old Testament times as well as the New Testament era. This was a strict regulation given to the Gentiles, "that they abstain from pollutions of idols." (Acts 15:20) Idolatry is mentioned among the works of the flesh, and "... they which do such thing shall not inherit the kingdom of God." (See Galatians 5:19-21)

Idolatry was always the great sin that provoked the Lord to anger against Israel. While Moses was in the mountain to receive the two tables of stone (the law), the people of Israel went to Aaron and said, "... Up, make us gods which shall go before us ..." (Exodus 32:1). So, they made themselves a golden calf and danced around it and worshiped it. This was one of the gods of Egypt. Three thousand of them were slain because of this great sin.

It seems to be human nature to want to worship something that can be seen and admired; all idolators do this. The children of Israel came face to face with a new form of worship when they entered the land of Canaan. The Lord instructed them before they ever entered this promised land that, "Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their weeks; but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images." (Exodus 23:24) As we know, Israel did not do this, but rather in process of time took on the worship of the gods of the Canaanites. It is this form of worship that has been well preserved down through the ages; having its beginning with Nimrod, the mighty hunter. Nimrod was the grandson of Ham that wicked son of Noah. He built the tower of Babel, the original Babylon, ancient Nineveh and many other cities. The name Nimrod comes from a root word in the Hebrew meaning "he rebelled." All that has ever been written about Nimrod proves he did rebel, and in his rebellion founded a religion of his own. This religion embraced the worship of the sun, and the mother and child, which are called "all the host of heaven" in 2 Chronicles 33:3. This pagan religion is spoken against in Romans 1:25, "... who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator ...". This is exactly what Nimrod's religion consisted of, i.e., worshiping the creature, that creature being the woman and her son.

The children of Israel worshiped the mother and son of Babylonia as Jeremiah cried out against it. There are two days that are observed by the children of God as well as the ungodly world in which the pure Babylonian religion and practice have been preserved. Yes, for thousands of years this pagan religion has been preserved with little deviation from its original form. There have been changes of the names of the mother and son, but the religion basically is unchanged as I will endeavor to prove by this article.
    The first and most popular idol that we will consider is the one known as:

CHRISTMAS     "And they set them up images and groves in every high hill and under every green tree: and there they burnt incense in all the high places as did the heathen ... and wrought wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger: and they served idols, whereof the Lord had said unto them Ye shall not do this thing." 2 Kings 17:10-12

We all know holiday seasons are very popular. Any time of festival seems to have great sentimental appeal to the hearts of most people. Add to this emotional expectation, the complex of a conscience which compels a vague respect of the day when Christ supposedly was born, and we have the "Christmas spirit." No date on the calendar is welcomed more. Old and young, rich and poor, pious and vulgar, the godly and the ungodly with boundless frenzy, race with the coming "Christmas day" like the waters of a flooded river, submerging every thing before it. Christmas is the day when the driving power of this festive love reaches its zenith. No other day can equal it for fleshly revelry. All this is at the same time, supposed to honor Christ.

Now, as our text reads, "and they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree."

Every place in the Old Testament where the words grove or groves appear as objects of worship, they come from the Hebrew word meaning the "Image of Astarte and the infant Tammuz." This is the same Astarte who is worshipped as the queen of heaven. These
"groves" are the idols of Astarte and her son Tammuz, the original form of mother and son worship. She was called the "mother of god" as the Romish "church" today refers to Mary.

It might be interesting at this point to explain how this worship ever got mixed up into the so called Christian churches.

The pagans of Europe and Asia worshiped Astarte and Tammuz at the same time they were persecuting the Christians for the first 200 years or so after Christ. The early church was free from pagan idolatry. It is true, however, that from the time of the apostles there has been error creeping into the churches. The greatest of all compromises, however, was when Constantine embraced the Catholic religion. He made this new religion the religion of his empire. This was the first time any so called Christian "church" ever became a state religion. Constantine himself presided over the Council of Nice in 354 A. D., making himself the head over both church and state. This however, brought on much difficulty; namely, the major disagreements between pagan Rome with their worship of Astarte the queen of heaven, the mother of the sun god Tammuz; and Tammuz as a god, with the worship of Mary and Jesus. The then apostate "church" having already reverted to the celebrating of "days and months and times, and years," returning to the "weak and beggarly elements" desiring to be in bondage. The church was now so complete in her apostasy that she no no longer opposed idolatry since relic worship had al ready attained a stronghold.

The pagans worshipped the queen of heaven, and by now the Catholics worshipped Mary. The pagans of Rome worshipped the birth and resurrection of Tammuz as the great sun god; the "church" worshipped Christ as the Son of God, His birth (by this time but not before), and His resurrection.

The big job now for Constantine, the ruler over both state and church, was to find unity for his subjects. He, being a very good statesman, found the answer, and pagans flocked into the "church" by the thousands. The answer was in simply changing the names of the idols already worshiped. The madonna and son could be received by the Catholic Bishops, but their names had to be changed. It made It little difference to the pagans what their names were so long as they could keep their mother and son idols to worship. The names of the mother and child had already been changed down through the process of anyway. The mother and child in Egypt were Isis and Osiris, in India Isi and Iswara. In Asia the mother was Cybele and her son Deoius; in Greece they were Ceres and Plutus. So one can see the actual names made little difference so long as they could serve their gods. They, however refused to give up the "every green tree." The worship of the tree is part of the worship of the queen of heaven and the hosts of heaven. Jeremiah cried out against it.

"Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. 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 ax. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not." (Jeremiah 10:2-4)

This practice has changed very little in the last 3,500 years since Jeremiah's time; this is the identical practice of the heathen today. Why is the evergreen tree used in the worship of "Christmas"? There is absolutely no reasonable answer. It is only a custom, you are told. You are expected to worship the tree just be cause "everybody" does, because it's the custom. Remember the Scriptures tell us the customs of the people are vain. What customs? The worship of the evergreen tree, of course. The worshipers of Baal would not give up the trees. Another time of bargaining must come. So Constantine goes to work on it. He gave it a Christian name; it was to be known as the Christ-mass tree. Well the pagans didn't much care what it was called so long as they could worship the tree. So another milestone is crossed by the head of the "church" and state.

Whether erected in public or private, a tinseled and spangled evergreen tree is just a glaring symbol of the worship of this false god. It is supposed, by Baal worshippers, that the evergreen tree sprang up overnight when Tammuz ascended to the sun. The tree was decorated and worshiped as a symbol of the sun, so that at this season, that is, the fourth week in December, the sun would be born anew. By this is meant that the days would get longer again and the sun would not ultimately disappear. Incidentally, it was at this time of the year that Astarte gave birth to Tammuz.

Whether we like to admit it or not the observance of birthdays stems from this paganism of Baal. Now, please notice that the Bible tells us of two birthdays being celebrated; both of them ended in murder. First we read in Genesis 40:20 and 22, "And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharoah's birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants; ... But he hanged the chief baker." Next we read in Matthew 14 that it was Herod's birthday when he had Herodias' daughter dance before him and this ended in the murder of John the Baptist. These are the only biblical records of birthdays observed. Both were observed by pagans, and both ended in murder. We have no record of Christians observing birthdays until after the great merger between paganism and Catholicism. It was the custom of the early church to remember the day of one's death rather than their birth.

In 1 Corinthians 11:26 we read, "For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till He come." One will, however, search the scriptures in vain to find either the date of our Lord's birth or the observance of His birthday by anyone. This should be convincing enough, but no. Man has to devise his own way, a way in which there is no Scriptural authority to worship the "babe" Jesus. Now hear Paul again, "Where fore henceforth know we no man after the flesh; Yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more." (2 Corinthians 5:16) We now find that Christ is not to be worshiped as a fleshly man, much less as an infant, but as "both Lord and Christ." (See Acts 2:36.)

"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy having their conscience seared with a hot iron." (1 Timothy 4:1-2) The worship of Astarte and Tammuz is most certainly the doctrine of devils, and the "Christian" world has been deceived into worshiping them. Seemingly this is all done without being bothered by conscience.

There was a time when the children of Israel said, "But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out our drink offerings unto her ..." (Jeremiah 44:17). Here drunkenness is established as a definite part of mother and son worship. This has not changed. During Chrismastide men and women become foully drunk on "Christmas present" liquor, and perpetuate every kind of social vice and criminal debauchery. In wild "Christmas parties" selling their bodies to do evil around the beribboned and wreathed "Christmas" gifts of champagne, brandy, wine and beer. Thousands of others who would ordinarily not get drunk, commit the abominable sin of gluttony like some gorging carnivorous animal; and in these the name of Christ is used in vile cursing, vulgarity and blasphemy by men and woman, boys and girls who lie deliberately about "Saint Nick" and "Santa Claus," and love a "merry Christmas."

My dear reader, have you stopped to consider the word Christmas as to what it stands for? In the Encyclopedia Americana under "Christmas" we read, "The name is derived from Christes Masse, the Mass of Christ. The celebration was not observed in the first centuries of the Christian Church ... In the fifth century the Western Church ordered the feast to be celebrated on the day of the Mithraic rites of the birth of the sun and at the close of Saturnalia." (1958 Edition, Volume 6, page 622).

Christmas is the mass of Christ. Do you believe in the Romish mass? If not, why do you observe it? "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey?" (Romans 6:16).

The ungodly world has left off the name of Christ by using "X" mas. This is at least the truth of the matter. As I previously mentioned, the "X" (which is one of the marks of the cross) was used in the worship of Tammuz. This proves two things. First, the ungodly world hates Christ, and is trying to forget Him in this celebration. Secondly, it proves the mass is the worship of Tammuz in the pagan idolatry of Baal, and not worshiping Christ at all.

We have heard of late the expression, "Let's put Christ back into Christmas." How, may I ask, can you put Christ back into something that He never was a part of? Let men, if they will, worship an "X-mass," and the apostate "church" their Christ-mass; but beloved, our Saviour said, "God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." (John 4:24) Let us heed these words. Again our Saviour said. "That which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God." (Luke 16:15) "Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil." (Exodus 23:2).

Now, to return to our text, "and under every green tree." It is said that Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas without the tree. Well, that's right, in order to properly worship the pagan deity, you must worship the evergreen tree. People who have little of this world's goods will, after they have spent most all they have for presents to put under "every green tree," then alas, spend the rest on that "green tree" and decorate it just as the Baal worshipers did in Jeremiah's time. (Jeremiah 10:1-4) Then they must get upon their knees before this pagan idol to place the "gifts" under it. When this is complete, the drapes or shades must be opened to show the outside world that you too have done your bit of homage to this pagan idol. You stand back and admire its "beauty." You call in your friends so they will make favorable comments upon your work of "art" in decorating this "every green tree." What would these same "friends" think of you if you called them into your home to tell them of the Sovereign Grace of our God? Would they appreciate it? Would you be just half as enthusiastic to do this as to show the tree? Think on these things. "This people honoreth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. Howbeit in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." (Mark 7:7)

CHRISTMAS PROGRAMS AND LITERATURE

Read Matthew's gospel, chapter 2, then Luke 2. By doing so with care, any thoughtful reader can see at once that Christmas songs, books, cards and programs are not Scriptural. For in most of these we find in one way or another, misrepresentations about the shepherds, the wise men, the star, the child, the stable, etc.

Let us begin to solve this problem by stating that nowhere in the Scripture are we informed how many wise men there were. Neither are we informed that they followed a star to Jerusalem. Most certainly they knew the way there. Being wise men, they knew how the prophets foretold of the Messiah's coming birth in Bethlehem. When they came to Herod to learn the whereabouts of the new born Christ, it was sometime after His birth. No one in Jerusalem seemed to know where the child was. So, the same star they had seen before at the time of His birth, now appeared and led them to where the Child was. When the wise men found the Lord Jesus, He was no longer a tiny babe but a child living in Nazareth. Joseph and Mary had already returned from taking Him up to Jerusalem which took place when Jesus was 41 days old. (See Leviticus 12:1-4) Therefore, the wise men never saw the Saviour until He had been brought back to Nazareth from the temple in Jerusalem. (See Luke 2:39)

They could not possibly have seen Him before; because immediately after their departure, when they had seen the Saviour, Joseph and May fled into Egypt with Him and remained there till Herod died. (Matthew 2:14-15)

It was not the wise men but the shepherds who came to visit the babe Jesus in the manger at Bethlehem. They followed no star; there is no record of them seeing one. They were in formed of the birth of their Messiah by the angels of the Lord. (Luke 2:10) Religious leaders join together with covetous men who have made the Christ-mass season a profitable one indeed for themselves. Because of their misrepresentations of the Scriptural account of the birth of Christ, the land abounds at that season with all sorts of literature, cards, books and programs of celebrations; these confuse the facts. Few people ever bother to read their Bibles to discover the truth. Jesus said, "And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." Shepherds and wise men, angels and stars, manger and house are all interchanged to satisfy carnal man. The visit of the shepherds and the visit of the wise men are confused, and this makes the whole story of the birth of Christ become a distorted combination of truth and error. This is all done so they can "set them up images and groves (idols of mother and son) in every high hill and under every green tree." (2 Kings 17:10) Oh how pitiful is the case. The people of today are as Israel of yesteryear, and it is said of Israel that, "They feared the Lord, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations." (2 Kings 17:33)

"Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew My people their transgressions." (Isaiah 58:1) Will you as Israel of old, fear the Lord and serve your own gods? Remember what the Scriptures have to say concerning this, "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey."

But the cry is, "Oh, it is for the children." How can you expect your children to believe you when you say you worship Christ alone, and then bow down before the decorated X mass tree. How will they believe it is wrong to tell lies when you lie to them about old Saint Nick. How can you help a bewhiskered clown, dressed like a dunce, who is hired by some commercial establishment to lie to children all day long, betray your own children into a maze of falsehood to save your face before the Christ-mass idolators? The amazing part about this whole thing is that you are trying to convince someone that this is to honor Christ! Our Lord said, "If ye love Me, keep My commandments." Idolatry is strictly forbidden both in the Old and New Testament times. "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." (James 4:17)

With God idolatry is a very serious matter. Then how can we treat it so lightly without expecting to reap His punishment? See Galatians 6:7-9.

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in Un righteousness." (Romans 1:18)

Now, in order to rightly deal with this subject, we must include "Lent," "Good Friday" and "Easter." All three of these observations are also handed down to us from the paganism of old Babylon, the city of Nimrod; and are in honor of Tammuz and his mother Astarte.

LENT

In the Encyclopedia Americana, Volume 9, page 506 we read "Easter is a convergence of three traditions. (1) Pagan; (2) Hebrew; (3) Christian." In Humbolt's "Mexican Researches," Volume 1, page 404, we find how the pagan Mexicans kept a "Lent." "Three days after the vernal equinox began a solemn fast of forty days in honor of the sun." There are a host of other quotations that could be given here; however, I believe the above proves that the 40 days of a spring fast is not Christian, but pagan.

The Bible tells us nothing of such a fast in the New Testament. However, it does tell of it in Ezekiel 8:12 and 14: "He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again. and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do. Then He brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord's house which was toward the North; and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz." This, dear friends, is the forty days of weeping, fasting, and sorrow for the death of Tammuz, a "sun god". It was indeed an abomination unto the Lord then; do you suppose it looks any better to Him now?

GOOD FRIDAY

Friday is accepted without question, by most of the Lord's people today, as the day of the crucifixion. One who opposes this idea is considered by these to be sacrilegious and a trouble maker. Well, let us now consider a few facts.

Any thoughtful student, unbiased by tradition or men's imagination, will have no difficulty in understanding that our Lord Jesus Christ did not die on Friday. Proof of this fact is in the following verses:

"For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale; so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." (Matthew 12:40)

"And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed and after three days rise again." (Mark 8:31)

"Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while He was yet alive, after three days I will rise again." (Matthew 27:63)

"And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures." (1 Corinthians 15:4)

In John 11:9 we read, "Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in a day?" Here our Lord teaches that twelve hours make a day. Therefore, by His reckoning a day and night are exactly 24 hours.

In the Jewish order of time, the night preceded the day. (Genesis 1:5) The reckoning of time during the time of Christ was that night began at 6:00 o'clock in the evening, and ended at 6:00 o'clock in the morning when the day began.

Now, from the Scriptures quoted we conclude one important fact: Christ was in His tomb after His death and before His resurrection three days and three nights which make 72 hours, no less.
    In each of the four Gospel records we read of Mary of Magdala and others coming to the sepulcher to anoint the body of Jesus. If we consider them all, one fact stands out beyond any question. That is, when they came to the grave Jesus was gone. In Matthew 28 we have the record of the angel rolling away the stone, but this was not to liberate the Lord of glory. It was only to show the world that He was gone. Sometime before the women witnessed the tomb unsealing. our Savior had come forth from the dead. The angel said, "He is risen, He is not here."

We know that haste was made, by those who put Christ in the tomb of Joseph, in order to have Him buried before the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath which began at 6:00 in the evening. We read in John 19:31, "for that Sabbath was an high day." Now this Sabbath was the Passover Sabbath and did not come on Saturday (the seventh day of the week) at all, but rather this Sabbath came on Thursday. The regular seventh day Sabbath is never referred to as a high day. Sometimes special feasts among the Jews were called Sabbaths or high days, even though they never fell on the seventh day of the week. We also learn from John 19:31 that Jesus was buried by His sorrowing followers the evening before the high day Sabbath.

Now Christ could never have been buried on Friday evening and risen Sunday morning, be cause that is not "three days and three nights," but one day and two nights. I believe our Saviour knew more about His resurrection than carnal man, and when He said "three days and three rights" He knew quite well what He was saying.

According to the Scriptural record the crucifixion took place Wednesday. His body was removed, wrapped and buried before 6:00 o'clock that day. The "three days and three nights" period of time (seventy two hours) expired at 6:00 o'clock Saturday evening which was the beginning of the first day of the week, since the evening was the beginning of the new day. Therefore, the resurrection took place sometime after 6:00 o'clock or sundown on the seventh day sabbath and the Scriptures conclusively prove that He was not crucified on Friday nor was the resurrection at sun up on the first day of the week.

EASTER

Now let us consider the "images and groves in every high hill." Once a year every spring, we witness the sun worship of Tammuz in its purest form, under the disguise of the resurrection of Christ; the name of this "holy day" is Easter. Now, Easter is not a Christian name but rather is derived from the name "Astarte," who is the goddess of spring; called the "queen of heaven in Jeremiah 7:18 and 44:17-25. It is true the name Easter is in the King James Version of the Bible (Acts 12:4), however, in all other translations as well as in Greek texts it is always translated "Passover." One needs to remember that the King James Version was translated about 1250 years after the council at Nice in 354 A. D.; it was at this council that Easter (Astarte) was adopted by the Romish "church." So you can see why it was thus translated.

The Cross: The cross as we know it was never a symbol of the Christian people. It is this giant "T" which represents the name of the pagan god "Tammuz," the son of Astarte, the goddess of spring. According to the mythology of Nimrod's religion, Tammuz was conceived at the time of the vernal-equinox in the spring, and born about the 25th of December. He met an untimely death and ascended to dwell in the sun. This is why the Humans had the three crosses at Golgotha. The sun was worshiped as the god Tammuz. They offered human sacrifices on the cross which was the symbol of Tammuz. So today people are still worshiping this pagan idol on "every high hill." Later on I intend to prove the rising of the sun has nothing to do with the resurrection of Christ.

What is Easter? What do all the customs connected with it represent? Easter is the day when the forty day Lent and Good Friday celebrations reach their zenith (grand climax). A time when especially the women must put on their finest apparel; a time when thousands of people who have absolutely no interest in the gospel church nor the gospel of the Son of God must go and worship before the "image" "in every high hill"; then they must take their children out to hunt "Easter eggs," and tell them they were laid there by the
"Easter bunny." If all these practices were of God, it most certainly would not command the respect and worship of the ungodly world as it does.

I would like at this point to take the customs and practices of the people in connection with their worship of "Easter" and prove both by history and by the Word of God that they all came from the worship of "Astarte the goddess of spring" and "her son Tammuz," and that they all began with the ancient religion of Nimrod the one who rebelled from the true worship of God and became the founder of ancient idolatry, known in the Bible as the worship of Baal.

"And Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel." (Numbers 26:3)

"Seest thou not what they do in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fires, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods; that they may provoke Me to anger." (Jeremiah 7:17-18) Here we have a Scriptural reference to the famous "hot cross buns" that are so popular at "Easter time." Why are they marked with a cross?" This cross stands for Tammuz the son of the "queen of heaven." The letter "T" and other forms of the cross such as the "X" stand for Tammuz.

According to the old mother and son worship of Babylonia, Tammuz the son of Astarte, was incarnated into the sun and rules from his throne there; so when people go to "every high hill" and worship, is it not the worship of Tammuz? They must be at the "high hill" and watch the sun rise through the very symbol of Tammuz (the sun god), the cross, which is the initial of this pagan deity. "And He brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshiped the sun toward the east." (Ezekiel 8:16)

Rabbits and eggs have for centuries been used to worship the "queen of heaven." I would like to now quote from Hyginus, keeper of the Palatine library in Rome in the days of Augustus. He said: "An egg of wondrous size fell down from heaven into the river Euphrates. The fishes rolled it to the bank. The doves settled upon it and hatched it and out came Venus, who was afterwards called the Syrian goddess Astarte."

The ancient Druids of the British Isles used eggs in their heathen worship. In the mysteries of Bacchus, celebrated in ancient Athens, one part of their pagan ceremony was to consecrate an egg! In Hindu paganism eggs of a golden color are used in their celebrations. The Shinto worshiping Japanese have sacred eggs of brazen hue. In China they used painted eggs in their idolatrous festivals. Eggs were used in religious rites of the Egyptians who hung them in their heathen temples for mystic purposes. This should be sufficient proof as to where the worship of the egg came from.

Rabbits are known for their rapid rate of productivity. To the above mentioned pagans, eggs held the secret of life. Combine these facts and you have the fertility rites of idolatry. Now, this is where the custom of the women wearing their finest apparel on Easter comes from, and by so doing they are complying with the ancient fertility rites of paganism. The "Feast of Astarte" has a two fold purpose. It is to celebrate the conception and the resurrection of Tammuz. Astarte was called the queen of heaven, and this is where the Romish expression of "the mother of God" comes from. Not from the Bible at all, but
from the oldest known form of pagan idolatry.
    So much for these pagan customs. Now, in the twentieth century our educated, cultured and refined generation of pagans have well preserved this ancient idolatry of Babylon. So we have "educated" and highly "cultured" parents, yes, even church goers, who brazenly deceive their little children into believing that rabbits lay colored eggs for Easter. Is this bringing up the children in the "nurture and admonition of the Lord?" (See Ephesians 6:4) Shame on you parents. You are perfect hypocrites; punishing your children for lying to you, while you lie and deceive them. Again I say, Shame on you.

"This people draweth nigh unto Me with their mouth, and honoreth Me with their lips; but their heart is far from Me." (Matthew 15:8)