Over several trips to Thailand we discovered some surprising truth behind an old legend…that somehow evolved into a familiar Christmas tradition.
Many years ago, the nation we call Thailand was known as the Kingdom of Siam. One of the kings of this ancient realm was a paranoid madman, whose tormented mind would never allow him to let go of even the most insignificant perceived insult or slight. In his conceit and insanity, he imagined that the smallest offense against himself was worthy of a slow, cruel murder. But the threat was couched in what appeared on the surface to be an act of royal generosity.
The king maintained a herd of beautiful white elephants, each one an incredible treasure. And yes, the king did occasionally give his prized elephants away—but with the most corrupt and vindictive of motives.
Following a perceived insult to the royal person, the king would call the offender to appear before him in a “ceremony of honor.” At the conclusion of the ceremony, the king would present his unwitting subject with one of his own prized white elephants. On the surface it seemed a most gracious and generous gesture. In fact, it was the very opposite.
You might say that the white elephants gifts came with strings attached.
The gift (which could not be refused) came with three iron-clad requirements. First, the great beast had to be maintained in royal style for the rest of its life. This had to be accomplished through the resources of the new owner—no one else was allowed to help him in any way. To even try to assist the new elephant keeper was a capital offense. The king required this knowing full well that an elephant would soon eat a common person into financial ruin.
Second, a white elephant would not be allowed to work or carry loads. This, of course, defeated the whole purpose of having an elephant. In those days, the Siamese people relied on elephants to transport heavy loads for them. But if the royal elephant wasn’t allowed to do this, it immediately became a liability rather than an asset.
Third, if the recipient allowed the elephant to die, or attempted to give it away, he would receive the death penalty.
Through these cruel requirements, the king turned what had appeared to be something good and valuable into a deadly curse.
Believe it or not, this unusual practice of sadistic cruelty eventually morphed into the harmless Christmas custom we know as a “white elephant party,” where people have to feign happiness over receiving gifts of questionable worth. In the end, you usually take home something that doesn’t fit, doesn’t work, doesn’t enhance anything, and has no value.
In the spiritual realm, we see in Genesis 3 how the Serpent’s offer of knowledge, prestige, and power in the Garden of Eden—a gift that initially seemed so attractive and desirable—became the source of death and destruction for the human race.
To this day, Satan and his legion of demons work around the clock to set all manner of traps and snares ingeniously disguised as attractive, desirable gifts. The devil knows how to disguise himself as “an angel of light,” and pretends to bring exciting diversions into our lives. Sin, however, for all its outward beauty, allure never lives up to its promise. The end result of sin is always death.
Beware of serpents bearing gifts! Beware of kings and their white elephants! Something waits beneath the wrapping paper, ribbon, and royal trappings. And that something is death.
The Bible tells us that as a young man, Moses could have received a beautiful “white elephant” gift from Satan: A life of ease and luxury in the royal house of Egypt. But he made another choice:
“He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward” (Hebrews 11:25-26).
Saying no to Satan’s white elephant meant saying yes to God.
Moses will be smiling about that decision through all eternity.