{"id":13459,"date":"2016-12-28T14:45:15","date_gmt":"2016-12-28T18:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=13459"},"modified":"2017-01-24T15:43:03","modified_gmt":"2017-01-24T19:43:03","slug":"the-12-days-of-christmas-decoded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=13459","title":{"rendered":"The 12 Days of Christmas Decoded!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">We&#8217;re all familiar with the song &#8220;<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Twelve_Days_of_Christmas_(song)\" target=\"_blank\">The Twelve Days of Christmas<\/a>.<\/span>&#8221;\u00a0 But other than a silly party song where a quartet of friends gets make fools of themselves by squawking like &#8220;Calling Birds&#8221; (whatever they are), is there any spiritual significance in this song&#8217;s lyrics?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">There are many versions of the origin and meaning of this song, but a spiritual application to each &#8220;gift&#8221; mentioned in this song can be made.\u00a0 Back when this song was written, teaching &#8220;religion&#8221; to kids was made difficult, so this song became a teaching tool disguised as a &#8220;harmless&#8221; story about Christmas gifts.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Here&#8217;s one way to &#8220;decode&#8221; the Twelve Days of Christmas&#8230;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p>First of all, the &#8220;<span style=\"background-color: #ffff99;\">true love&#8221; represents God<\/span> and the <span style=\"background-color: #ffff99;\">&#8220;me&#8221; who receives these presents is the Christian<\/span>.\u00a0 The theme of this song isn&#8217;t that some rich guy is courting his girlfriend by lavishing expensive gifts on her, but it&#8217;s that God has lavished (and continues to lavish) costly gifts on each of us!<\/p>\n<p>Here are the gifts and their meanings for each of the 12 days:<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t<div class='et-tabs-container et_sliderfx_fade et_sliderauto_false et_sliderauto_speed_5000 et_slidertype_top_tabs'>\n\t\t\t\t<ul class='et-tabs-control'>\n\t\t\t<li><a href='#'>\n\t\t\t1\n\t\t<\/a><\/li> \n\t\t<li><a href='#'>\n\t\t\t2\n\t\t<\/a><\/li> \n\t\t<li><a href='#'>\n\t\t\t3\n\t\t<\/a><\/li> \n\t\t<li><a href='#'>\n\t\t\t4\n\t\t<\/a><\/li> \n\t\t<li><a href='#'>\n\t\t\t5\n\t\t<\/a><\/li> \n\t\t<li><a href='#'>\n\t\t\t6\n\t\t<\/a><\/li> \n\t\t<li><a href='#'>\n\t\t\t7\n\t\t<\/a><\/li> \n\t\t<li><a href='#'>\n\t\t\t8\n\t\t<\/a><\/li> \n\t\t<li><a href='#'>\n\t\t\t9\n\t\t<\/a><\/li> \n\t\t<li><a href='#'>\n\t\t\t10\n\t\t<\/a><\/li> \n\t\t<li><a href='#'>\n\t\t\t11\n\t\t<\/a><\/li> \n\t\t<li><a href='#'>\n\t\t\t12\n\t\t<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t<\/ul> <!-- .et-tabs-control --> \n\t\t<div class='et-tabs-content'>\n\t\t\t<div class='et-tabs-content-main-wrap'>\n\t\t\t\t<div class='et-tabs-content-wrapper'>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class='et_slidecontent'>\n\t\t\tThe &#8220;partridge in a pear tree&#8221; was Jesus Christ who died on a tree as a gift from God.\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<div class='et_slidecontent'>\n\t\t\tThe &#8220;two turtle doves&#8221; were the Old and New Testaments &#8211; another gift from God.\n\t\t<\/div><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t<div class='et_slidecontent'>\n\t\t\tThe &#8220;three French hens&#8221; were faith, hope and love &#8211; the three gifts of the Spirit that abide (<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=1+cor+13&amp;version=TLB\" target=\"_blank\">I Corinthians 13:8,13<\/a><\/span>)&#8230;<\/p>\n<p> <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">8<\/span><\/span> <em><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p> <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">13<\/span><\/span> <em><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.<\/span> <\/em>\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<div class='et_slidecontent'>\n\t\t\tThe &#8220;four calling birds&#8221; were the four Gospels which sing the song of salvation through Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Matthew<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Mark<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Luke<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">John<\/span>\u00a0\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<div class='et_slidecontent'>\n\t\t\tThe &#8220;five golden rings&#8221; were the first five books of the Bible also called the &#8220;Books of Moses.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Genesis<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Exodus<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Leviticus<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Numbers<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Deuteronomy<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<div class='et_slidecontent'>\n\t\t\tThe &#8220;six geese a-laying&#8221; were the six days of creation.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Light (Day and Night)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Sky <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Land and Seas <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Stars<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Fish and Birds<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Land Animals (including Humans)<\/span>\u00a0\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<div class='et_slidecontent'>\n\t\t\tThe &#8220;seven swans a swimming&#8221; were the &#8220;s<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Spiritual_gift\" target=\"_blank\">even gifts of the Holy Spirit.<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><em><span style=\"color: #008000;\">There&#8217;s a lot of overlap, and limiting it to Seven kinda forces the &#8220;story.&#8221;\u00a0 But the Bible is clear that different people get different gifts in order to help the whole &#8220;body&#8221; (Church).\u00a0 See I Corinthians 12:8-11; Romans 12, Ephesians 4; I Peter 4:10-11.\u00a0 Here&#8217;s a list of 7 Gifts&#8230;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Wisdom &amp; Knowledge (1 Cor 12:8)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Faith (1 Cor 12:9)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Power &amp; Healing (1 Cor 12:9)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Prophecy &amp; Distinguishing between spirits (1 Cor 12:10)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Speaking in different Tongues and Interpretation (1 Cor 12:10)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Serving &amp; Encouraging (Romans 12:7, 8)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Teaching and Leading (Romans 12:7, 8) <\/span>\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<div class='et_slidecontent'>\n\t\t\tThe &#8220;eight maids a milking&#8221; were the eight beatitudes.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><em><span style=\"color: #008000;\">The &#8220;Beatitudes&#8221; are Jesus&#8217; &#8220;Blessed are the__&#8221;\u00a0 statements which begin the &#8220;Sermon on the Mount&#8221; (Matthew chapters 5 -7).<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Poor in Spirit- for their&#8217;s is the Kingdom of God (Matt 5:3)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Those who Mourn- they will be comforted (Matt 5:4)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The Meek- they will inherit the earth (Matt 5:5)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Those who Hunger for Righteousness- they&#8217;ll be filled (Matt 5:6)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The Merciful- they will be shown mercy (Matt 5:7)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The Pure in Heart- they will see God (Matt 5:8)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The Peacemakers- they will be called Sons of God (Matt 5:9)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The Persecuted- theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven (Matt 5:10)\u00a0<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>\n\t\t<div class='et_slidecontent'>\n\t\t\tThe &#8220;nine ladies dancing&#8221; were nine fruits of the Holy Spirit. (Which are listed in <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Galatians+5%3A19-23&amp;version=TLB\" target=\"_blank\">Galatians 5:22 &amp; 23<\/a><\/span>)<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Love<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Joy<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Peace<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Patience<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Kindness<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Goodness<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Faithfulness<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Gentleness<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Self-control\u00a0<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<div class='et_slidecontent'>\n\t\t\tThe &#8220;ten lords a-leaping&#8221; were the Ten Commandments.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><em><span style=\"color: #008000;\">The Ten Commandments are listed in <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a style=\"color: #008000; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Exodus+20%3A1-17&amp;version=TLB\" target=\"_blank\">Exodus 20:1-17<\/a><\/span> and also in <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a style=\"color: #008000; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Deuteronomy+5%3A7-21&amp;version=TLB\" target=\"_blank\">Deuteronomy 5:7-21<\/a><\/span>.\u00a0 Here they are&#8230;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Don&#8217;t worship any other gods<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Don&#8217;t make idols and worship things you made<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Don&#8217;t misuse the Name of the Lord your God<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy (special)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Honor your father and mother<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Do not murder<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Do not commit adultery<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Don&#8217;t steal<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Don&#8217;t give false testimony against your neighbor (don&#8217;t lie!)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Don&#8217;t covet your neighbor&#8217;s stuff (or his wife!)\u00a0<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<div class='et_slidecontent'>\n\t\t\tThe &#8220;eleven pipers piping&#8221; were the eleven faithful disciples (listed in <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=matthew+10%3A2&amp;version=TLB\" target=\"_blank\">Matthew 10:2<\/a><\/span>, Acts 1:13, and in other places).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><em><span style=\"color: #008000;\">The list of &#8220;Faithful&#8221; disciples doesn&#8217;t include Judas (who betrayed Jesus).\u00a0 It also doesn&#8217;t include Matthias who was chosen to replace Judas (in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Acts+1%3A15-26&amp;version=TLB\" target=\"_blank\">Acts 1:15-26<\/a>).\u00a0 Here are &#8220;The Eleven Faithful Disciples&#8221;&#8230;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Simon (who is called Peter) <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Andrew (Peter&#8217;s brother)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">James (son of Zebedee)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">John (James&#8217; brother and the author of several NT books)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Philip <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Bartholomew<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Thomas (of &#8220;Doubting&#8221; renown)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Matthew (the tax collector)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">James (son of Alphaeus)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Thaddaeus<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Simon (the Zealot )\u00a0<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<div class='et_slidecontent'>\n\t\t\tThe &#8220;twelve drummers drumming&#8221; were the twelve points of the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Apostles%27_Creed\" target=\"_blank\">Apostles&#8217; Creed<\/a><\/span>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><em><span style=\"color: #008000;\">Organizing the points of the Apostles&#8217; Creed into 12 points might be a bit random, but here&#8217;s the text in a list of 12 lines&#8230;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">I believe in Jesus Christ, God&#8217;s only Son, our Lord,\u00a0 <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,<\/span>\n <span style=\"color: #000080;\">suffered under Pontius Pilate, <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven,<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">he is seated at the right hand of the Father,<\/span>\n <span style=\"color: #000080;\">and he will come to judge the living and the dead.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">I believe in the Holy Spirit,<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">the holy catholic Church,<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">the communion of saints,<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">the forgiveness of sins,<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">the resurrection of the body,<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000080;\">and the life everlasting.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Amen.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div> <!-- .et-tabs-container --><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>So, the next time you hear &#8220;The 12 Days of Christmas&#8221;, consider how this otherwise non-religious sounding song had its origins in the Christian faith.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We&#8217;re all familiar with the song &#8220;The Twelve Days of Christmas.&#8221;\u00a0 But other than a silly party song where a quartet of friends gets make fools of themselves by squawking like &#8220;Calling Birds&#8221; (whatever they are), is there any spiritual significance in this song&#8217;s lyrics? There are many versions of the origin and meaning of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9779,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[123,146,93],"class_list":["post-13459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-god-moments","tag-christmas","tag-godsprovision","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13459"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13459\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13480,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13459\/revisions\/13480"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}