A) THE WORD EASTER.

B) LENT.

C) WHY EASTER FALLS UPON THESE DATES.

D) THE JEWISH CHURCH.

E) SUNDAY WORSHIP.

F) THE NAME EASTER.

G) HAM, THE BIBLICALLY CONDEMNED “SWINE.”

H) EASTER EGGS.

I) CONCLUSION.

 

 

A) THE WORD EASTER

 

 

The English word for “Easter” comes to us from the Anglo-Saxon “Eastre,” or “Estera,” which in other cultures stood for the goddess “Ishtar,” or “Astarte,” or “Esther” (the name given to Hadassah from the Book of Esther in our English Bibles), and others; but those are the most recognized and prominent.  This supposed goddess was the “bare-breasted sex goddess of fertility,” a “Teutonic goddess,” to whom sacrifice was offered in April.  Thus, the name “Esther” was transferred to the paschal feast by the Roman Catholic church in an effort to bring pagans into their church.

 

You may have noticed that many aspects of our holidays are more tradition than truth.  For example, the word “Easter” appears in the “King James Version” Bible in the Book of Acts (Acts 12:4).  By contrast, the Greek word “pascha,” actually refers to, and is, “Passover,” and is so corrected in the most honest modern renderings.

 

There is no trace of the Easter pagan celebration in the New Testament, though some would see an intimation of it in First Corinthians 5:7.  In regards to the “worship of the queen of Heaven,” which is what this festal originated from, the Old Testament takes notice derogatorily trough the prophet Jeremiah, in Jeremiah 7:18.

 

Passover was renamed “Easter,” which derives from “Eostre,” “Eastur,” “Ostara,” and “Ostar,” terms used by the Norsemen (ancient Scandinavians) to refer to the season of the rising sun.  According to Bede (673-735 A.D.), in his work, the “Father of English History,” the word “Easter” is derived from “Eastre,” an “Anglo-Saxon spring goddess,” to whom sacrifices were offered at the vernal equinox (around March 21).

 

It is also most probable that “Eostra/Ostara,” is the Anglo-Saxon version of “Ishtar,” the “Sumerian goddess of love and war,” whom in Canaan evolved into a “moon goddess” and “wife of Ba-al.”  “Ishtar” was the wife of the Samaritan god, “Tammuz.”  Both are spoken of in the Bible; “Tammuz,” in Ezekiel 8:14, and “Ishtar,” called “Ashtoreth” (equals, the Queen of Heaven), in Judges 2:13; 10:6; Jeremiah 44:17; and elsewhere.

 

The worship of “Ishtar” as a nature goddess (or goddess of fertility), had spread throughout the ancient world.  In Phoenicia and Syria, her name had become “Astarte” (see Jud. 10:6).  Her husband, earlier called “Ba-al,” and known as “Tammuz,” farther east, became “Adon” and “Adonai,” in Phoenicia and Syria.  In Greece, “Ishtar” and “Tammuz” became “Aphrodide,” and or “Adonis;” in Asia Minor they became “Cybele” and “Attis.”  “Diana” of the Ephesians (Acts 19:27) has probable traces to “Ishtar.”

 

Therefore, as one of the main purposes for the writing of the Book of Revelation for God’s people was, “Who Do/Will You Worship?  The Beast Or The True God?”

 

 

B) LENT

 

 

A “Lent” of forty days was observed by the worshippers of the Babylonian goddess “Ishtar,” and by the worshippers of the great Egyptian mediatorial god, “Adonis” or “Osiris.”  Why “forty days?”  This originated in Babylon, when the fake god “Tammuz” was killed in a mythical hunting accident (see below), and “forty days” of lamenting was given for that event, which just happened to be upon the winter solstice.

 

The rape of the goddess “Proserpine” also was commemorated among the Romans by “forty nights of wailing.”  Among the pagans, this “Lent” period seems to have been an indispensable preliminary to the great annual (usually spring) festivals, commemorating the death and resurrection of their gods; a clear counterfeit of our Lord’s resurrection.

 

“Lent,” with the preceding revelries of carnival, was entirely unknown in the earliest Christian Passover celebration.  Christians fasted on the night of Passover until dawn, when they broke their fast with the Lord’s Supper, which commemorated Jesus’ expiatory suffering and death.  Thus, the extension of the fast to “forty days” was obviously borrowed from the pagan spring festivals by the Roman Catholic church in an effort to attract new members.

 

 

C) WHY EASTER FALLS UPON THESE DATES

 

 

In the West, most of their major holidays occur conveniently on fixed dates.  However, unless you are an astronomer, the date of “Easter” can be much more difficult to determine.  This is the case because its date is set by the lunar calendar.  Originally, the rules for determining the date of “Easter” was imposed by the emperor Constantine, at the “Council of Nicaea,” in 325 A.D.  This is long before the advent of the Gregorian calendar that is most widely used in the world today.  “Easter” is celebrated on the first Sunday, after the first full moon, after the spring equinox.  Therefore, it is held on a Sunday on varying dates between March 22 and April 25.

 

By contrast, according to Exodus 12:8, the “Passover Lamb,” or better for this Study, the “Passover Celebration,” was to be eaten along with the “unleavened bread.”  The lamb is killed on the “14th day” of the month, and then eaten “that night,” Exodus 12:8, meaning on the “15th day,” or the beginning of the “Feast of Unleavened Bread” (Exo. 12:16).  That is, the 14th and 15th days of the “First Month,” or “Head of the Month,” Exodus 12:1-2, of the Jewish calendar.  That being the month of “Abid,” the western calendar of April.  Thus, the 15th rarely falls upon a Sunday.  Once again, this reverts back to Roman Catholic origin.  Protestants have forgotten what the meaning of their profession is.  Protesting against false doctrines, celebrations, ordinances, and the like, coming out of the Roman Catholic church.  What Revelation calls, “THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS,” Revelation 17:5.  Are you in one of these “harlot” churches?

 

 

D) THE JEWISH CHURCH

 

 

The Jewish Christians in the early Church continued to celebrate the “Passover,” regarding Christ as the true Paschal Lamb.  This was naturally passed over through the powers of the Roman Catholic church, into a commemoration of the death and resurrection of our Lord; or better, an “Easter Feast.”  This was preceded by a fast, which was considered by one party as ending at the hour of the crucifixion, i.e., at 3 o’clock on Friday (the Bible’s ninth hour), then by another as continuing until the hour of the resurrection before dawn on Easter morning.

 

Differences arose as to the time of the Easter celebration.  The Jewish Christians naturally fixing it at the time of the Passover Feast, which was regulated by the paschal moon.  According to this reckoning it began on the evening of the 14th day of the moon, of the month of Nisan (originally Abib), without regard to the day of the week.  While the Gentile Christians (Romans Catholics) identified it with the first day of the week, i.e., the Sunday of the resurrection (Sunday Worship was becoming mandatory within Roman Catholicism), irrespective of the time of the month.  This latter practice finally prevailed in all churches who followed their mother, the Roman Catholic church.  Those who followed the Biblical reckoning of Passover were stigmatized as heretics.

 

 

E) SUNDAY WORSHIP

 

 

However, differences arose as to the proper Sunday for the Easter celebration, which led to long and bitter controversies.  The “Council of Nice,” in 325 A.D., decreed that it should be on Sunday, but did not fix a particular Sunday.  It was left to the bishop of Alexandria to determine, since that city was regarded as the authority in astronomical matters, and he was to communicate the result of his determination to the other bishops.

 

But this was not satisfactory, especially to the Western churches, and a definite rule for the determination of Easter was needed.  By some, it was kept as early as March 21, and by others as late as April 25, and still others followed the dates in between.  The rule was finally adopted, in the 7th Century, to celebrate Easter on the Sunday following the 14th day of the calendar moon, which comes on, or after, the vernal equinox, which was fixed for March 21.  Did you notice the slight drawback to the Bible’s “14th day” of the first month?

 

However, this is not always the astronomical moon, but near enough for practical purposes, and is determined without astronomical calculation by certain intricate rules adopted by ecclesiastical authority.  These rules involve the “Dominical Letters,” or the first seven of the alphabet, representing the days of the week.  The breakdown is, “A” standing for the first day of the year and the one on which Sunday falls, being called the “Dominical” for that year.

 

There are also involved the “Golden Numbers,” and the “Epacts.”  The first is that of being the numbers from 1 to 19, the cycle of the moon when its phases recur on the same days of the year.  The first of the cycle of the moon being that in which the “New Moon” falls on January 1st.  The “Epacts” indicate the moon’s age at the beginning of each year.  Easter was thus fixed by these rules.

 

By contrast, another difficulty arose when the Gregorian calendar was adopted in 1582 A.D.  The difference between it and the Julian being then -- 10 days.  This, of course, affected the determination of Easter and its celebration by the Greek Church (which has never admitted the Gregorian calendar).  Thus, the Greek Church has it usually occurring at a different time from that followed by the Western churches.  This difference may be as much as five weeks and it may occur as late as April 30.  While in the West, it cannot occur neither later than April 25, nor earlier than March 22. Occasionally the two come together, but this is rare, since the difference between the two calendars is now 13 days.

 

However, the fact that it must always fall on a Sunday came about when the Roman Catholic church changed the Biblical Sabbath to Sunday worship.  See my Bible Study:  “SABBATH, STILL VALID TODAY.”

 

 

F) THE NAME EASTER

 

 

The name “Easter” came to be given to the festival of the Resurrection of Christ, which occurred at the time of the Passover.  In the early English versions, this word was frequently used as the translation of the Greek word “pascha” (the Passover).  Why, makes no sense.  When the “Authorized Version” (1611 A.D. “KJV”) was formed, the word “Passover” was used in all passages in which this word “pascha” occurred, except in Acts 12:4, where it somehow slipped through, most likely because of the celebration of it as a very important Roman Catholic church holiday.  Thus, it became embedded -- a status it still holds onto today -- mostly through the influences of the Roman Catholic church. Also because the Roman Catholic church disregards the influence of the Old Testament over the New Testament, the New Testament having more authority.  This is a practice still held by most daughter Protestant (non-protesting) churches today.

 

Thus, you can see that it is just another in the long line of Roman Catholic church influences to attempt to incorporate pagan holiday’s into True Church Holy Days, in an effort to win over the majority, without the quality of character that our Lord requires, nor the overcoming of sin requirements for Heavenly mindedness and entrance.

 

From GC88:386-387 we read:  “[386] Says Howard Crosby:  ‘The Church of God is today courting the world.  Its members are trying to bring it [387] down to the level of the ungodly.  The ball, the theater, nude and lewd art, social luxuries with all their loose moralities, are making inroads into the sacred inclosure of the Church; and as a satisfaction for all this worldliness, Christians are making a great deal of Lent and Easter and church ornamentation.  It is the old trick of Satan.  The Jewish church struck on that rock; the Romish church was wrecked on the same; and the Protestant is fast reaching the same doom.’ ”

 

 

G) HAM, THE BIBLICALLY CONDEMNED “SWINE”

 

 

Why is pig; swine; bacon; pork chops; oh wait, “Ham” (condemned forever in anyone’s diet according to Isaiah 66:16) a normal dish served upon “Easter.”  Because the false god “Tammuz” was killed in a made up story freak hunting accident by a bore.  So many things about “Easter” go back to the false worship of fake gods in Babylon.  Going back to the “forty days” (see above), the celebration would start with sex orgies, ending upon the worship of the sun (Sunday).

 

 

H) EASTER EGGS

 

 

Easter eggs are thought to have originated from the Mesopotamian tradition of taking eggs and dying them red for the blood of Christ.  However, its real origin is from the Babylonian goddess “Ishtar,” the bare breasted fertility goddess.  And since rabbits were so prolific at producing many babies, and that often, they were adopted as sex symbols in Babylon.  Why “eggs?”  It was a belief originating in Babylon that all life and universe had stemmed out of an egg (instead of the latter adapted “Big Bang”.  Hence, eggs held a status of importance in Babylon, and they were considered to be a symbol of life and renewal.

 

 

I) CONCLUSION

 

 

According to Jeremiah 7:18 (see also Jer. 44:17-19), to celebrate Easter is to “provoke Me [The Almighty God] to anger.”  You may argue that that is not why YOU celebrate Easter; but God doesn’t care about your reasoning or excuses.  He cares about what is truly being worshipped in this celebration, or any celebration you have in your household.  Are you celebrating God’s Love for you, or a bare-breasted fertility goddess who changed bunnies into colored egg laying machines?  And according to Jeremiah 44:25-26, should you continue in celebrating this heathen celebration?

 

“While the disciples were contending for the highest place in the promised kingdom, Christ girded Himself, and performed the office of a servant, by washing the feet of those who had called Him Lord.  He, the pure and spotless One, was about to offer Himself as a sin-offering for the world; and as He ate the Passover with His disciples, He put an end to the sacrifice which for four thousand years had been offered.  In the place of the national festival which the Jewish people had observed, He instituted a memorial service, the ordinance of feet washing and the sacramental supper, to be observed through all time by His followers in every country.  These should ever repeat Christ’s act, that all may see that true service calls for unselfish ministry.”  ST, May 16, 1900 paragraph 6.

 

The Passover sacrifices have been “put” to “an end,” but the service itself still applies, being replaced by the Communion service.  However, the timing is inconclusive.  According to First Corinthians 11:24-25, “as oft as ye drink it” might seem to suggest a whenever time period, or, what our Lord was saying was, “When you observe it often, do it in remembrance of Him.”

 

“When the Saviour yielded up His life on Calvary, the significance of the Passover ceased, and the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper was instituted as a memorial of the same event of which the Passover had been a type.”  PP:539.3.  So should we be holding this ordinance on one correct day alone, or along with additional days for remembrance sake (1Co. 11:24-25), or both?  The Passover, or better, the Western churches “Easter,” is no longer to be celebrated Biblically!!!