Thursday, December 10, 2009

"The Twelve Days Of Christmas...Reprise With Meaning", by Pastor Kevin Lynch

I thought it would be nice to publish this today. What is traditionally a popular Christmas song, it may well have been created as a sort of Christian "code" written during a time when there was not a lot of freedom to express one's faith in Christ.

In any event, it is an encouraging meaning to a song that never made a whole lot of sense anyway. Now it might actually mean something to you!

The 12 Days of Christmas

The 12 Days of Christmas refer to the twelve day period that starts with Christmas day and ends on Epiphany (6th January). The song begins, On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me... The 'true love' was meant to represent God, the true love of the world. The 'me' in the carol is the Christian man or woman who receives these presents. The meanings given to the 12 Days are:

The 'partridge in a pear tree' is Jesus who died on the cross. In ancient times a partridge was often used as mythological symbol of a divine, sacred king.

The 'two turtle doves' are the Old and New Testaments of the Bible - another gift from God. Doves also symbolize peace.

The 'three French hens' are faith, hope and love - the three gifts of the Holy Spirit. (See 1 Corinthians 13 ). The French hens can also represent God the Father, His Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

The 'four calling birds' are the four Gospels in the New Testament of the Bible.

The 'five golden rings' are the first five books of the Bible also called the Pentateuch, the Books of Moses or the Torah.

The 'six geese a-laying' are the six days of creation.

The 'seven swans a swimming' are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. (See 1 Corinthians 12:8-11, Romans 12, Ephesians 4, 1 Peter 4:10-11)

The 'eight maids a milking' are the eight beatitudes, Jesus' teachings on happiness. (See Matthew 5:3-10)

The 'nine ladies dancing' are nine fruits of the Holy Spirit. (See Galatians 5:22)

The 'ten lords a-leaping' are the Ten Commandments in the Bible. (See Exodus 20)

The 'eleven pipers piping' are the eleven faithful disciples of Jesus .

The 'twelve drummers drumming' were the twelve points of the Apostles' Creed .

I hope you enjoyed it, and perhaps it will help you to sing it with a new fervor!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Keepin' it Real,

Pastor Kevin <><

No comments:

Post a Comment