Thy Word is a Lamp Unto My Feet Outreach

Easter

Each year in Spring, groups of worshipers celebrate Easter. Sunrise services are held: clergy recite praises and devotees kneel and bow in worship towards the East as the sun crests the horizon.
But is Easter biblical?

AN HISTORIC VIEW

What means the term Easter itself? It is not a Christian name. It bears its Chaldean origin on its very forehead. Easter is nothing else than Astarte, one of the titles of Beltis, the queen of heaven […] The festival, of which we read in Church history under the name of Easter, in the third or fourth centuries, was quite a different festival from that now observed in the Romish Church, and at that time was not known by any such name as Easter. It was called Pasch […] To conciliate the Pagans to nominal Christianity, Rome, pursuing its usual policy, took measures to get the Christian and Pagan festivals amalgamated, and, by a complicated but skillful adjustment of the calendar, it was found no difficult matter, in general, to get Paganism and Christianity […] to shake hands. (The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop, Chapter 3, Section 2, 1858).

The Savior and his apostles have enjoined us by no law to keep this feast […] The aim of the apostles was not to appoint festival days, but to teach a righteous life and piety. And it seems to me that just as many other customs have been established in individual localities according to usage. So also the feast of Easter came to be observed in each place according to the individual peculiarities of the peoples inasmuch as none of the apostles legislated on the matter. (Ecclesiastical History by Socrates Scholasticus, Book 5, Chapter 22, from the 5th Century AD).

Originally a Saxon word (“Eostre”), denoting a goddess of the Saxons, in honour of whom sacrifices were offered about the time of the Passover. Hence the name came to be given to the festival of the Resurrection of Christ, which occured at the time of the Passover. In the early English versions this word was frequently used as the translation of the Greek PASCHA (the Passover). When the Authorized Version (1611) was formed, the word ‘passover’ was used in all passages in which this word PASCHA occurred, except in Acts 12:4 . In the Revised Version the proper word, ‘passover,’ is always used. (Easton’s Bible Dictionary, “Easter”, 3rd Edition, 1897).

WHAT DOES SCRIPTURE SAY?

Then he said to me, Have you seen this, O son of man? turn you yet again, and you shall see greater abominations than these. And he brought me into the inner court of YHWH’s house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of YHWH, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of YHWH, and their faces toward the east; and they worshiped the sun toward the east [Ezekiel 8:15-16].
As the sun rose in the East the Jewish leaders were turned to face the East, symbolic of rejecting YHWH and worshiping the rising sun. Judah was corrupting the true worship of YHWH by introducing false, paganistic sun worship into their fellowship.

The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, 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 7:18].

Then YHWH said to me, ‘Go again, love a woman who is loved by a lover and is committing adultery, just like the love of YHWH for the children of Israel, who look to other gods and love the raisin cakes of the pagans’ [Hosea 3:1, NKJV].
The women in Jeremiah’s time were baking small cakes with raisins for Asherah, the queen of heaven. The cross has been a pagan symbol for thousands of years, representing Tammuz, the Sumerian god of vegetation who was said to resurrect from the dead every Spring. Lent, being the modern incarnation of the 40 days of weeping for Tammuz, is part of the rituals that have been carried over from paganism to professing Christianity.

WHAT DOES SCRIPTURE WARN?

Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you; and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty [2 Corinthians 6:17, 18].

And I heard another voice from heaven saying, ‘Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues’ [Revelation 18:4].

And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: “The feasts of YHWH, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are MY feasts”‘ [emphasis added; Leviticus 23:1, 2; Leviticus 23:4, 37; see also Numbers 28, 29; Book of Acts has numerous references to the feasts being observed].

FOR CONSIDERATION…

This is an important area requiring personal research and heart-felt introspection; all believers are strongly encouraged to delve into the reasons for their beliefs. It’s not enough to take any belief or practice for granted, by any one denomination’s authority. Everything is to be measured against the Word of YHWH for its purporting of Truth, and with guidance through His spirit.

WANT TO LEARN MORE?
Easter: The Fertility of it All
Passover vs. Easter

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