Growing up in a conservative Baptist family, I was raised not to question our “Christian” traditions. We celebrated Christmas, Easter, and even Halloween, just like our neighbours, and it wasn’t until long after I came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ that I began to look into the history of these celebrations.
When I was a child, my mom would boil eggs and we would decorate them at Easter. In fact this week my mother was doing the same thing with some of her grandchildren.
It was not until someone asked me “Do you know the history of the Easter bunny and Easter eggs?” that I even thought to question the origin of these symbols.
It turns out that rabbits and eggs are ancient fertility symbols! In fact the ancient Easter celebration was a celebration of the sun, spring, and the accompanying fertility it brings!
The very name “Easter” was the name of the ancient fertility goddess Easter, or Eostre! This goddess is known by several other names such as Astarte, Ishtar, Ashtorethand Diana, and was always a life-giving mother goddess. The goddess Easter was actually hatched from an egg, according to the pagan legends! “Hot cross buns” also originated at this time.
This goddess originated in Babylon as the wife of its founder Nimrod, Semiramis, a real person. After Nimrod’s death, Semiramis became pregnant, and claimed an immaculate conception, or virgin birth. Her son was named Tammuz, and she also claimed that he was the reincarnation of his “father”, Nimrod. Nimrod himself, became the Sun god in the ancient pagan religions.
This is why Christians worship on SUNday, the “venerable day of the Sun”. While it is not wrong to worship God any day of the week, once you make it into a command, you are replacing the commandment given by God Himself (Exodus 20:8). This is a sin, which has been committed by the Church as a whole, started by Pope Sylvester I (314-335 A.D.) who “decreed that the rest of the Sabbath should be transferred rather to the Lord’s day [Sunday]”
When Tammuz was killed by a wild boar, Semiramis declared that pig should be eaten in honour of his death. This is why ham is the traditional meat at Easter! By the way, Tammuz’s birthday is December 25th.
14 Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD’S house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. 15 Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these. Ezekiel 8:14-15
Yes, it is an abomination to participate in pagan celebrations.
She was also known as “the Queen of Heaven”. This Queen of Heaven made an appearance in the Old Testament. The people of Israel worshipped her at times, here is what the Lord says about this goddess;
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
Yes, the worship of Easter did provoke the Lord’s anger against Israel. What was the consequence of their disobedience?
25 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying; Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hand, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her: ye will surely accomplish your vows, and surely perform your vows. 26 Therefore hear ye the word of the LORD, all Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt; Behold, I have sworn by my great name, saith the LORD, that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, The Lord GOD liveth. Jeremiah 44:25-26
To this day the people of Israel refuse to say the name of the Lord, Jehovah, Yahuveh, or Yahweh. It has been so long since they have said His name that they no longer remember how to say it! What do they say today, for the name of the Lord? HaShem, השם, which literally means “the name”. So, God’s anger at Israel’s idolatry still remains today, as is evidenced by the fact that they refuse to say His name in fulfilment of Jeremiah 44:26! They claim that it is too holy for them to say, yet the fact that the prophets gave us this name is evidence that God Himself, wants us to use it. However, He wants us to use it in holiness and righteousness, and we certainly can’t do that if we are worshipping other gods!
This brings us back to the Church.
Peter, quoting Psalm 90:4, the psalm of Moses, says;
But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. II Peter 3:8
For you and I, two thousand years is a long time, but for God it is only two days ago! Since Easter was worshipped as a pagan goddess only two days ago, do you think God has forgotten it? I think not! Here we have the celebration of the Lord’s sacrifice on the cross, for you and me, and we are naming the celebration after His arch rival, an impostor? Does this truly honour the Lord Jesus Christ?
The ancient passover celebration was given by God as a celebration of God’s rescue of Israel from the captivity and slavery in Egypt. That celebration was actually a foreshadowing of the Jewish messiah who would one day come and sacrifice Himself for us. This was God’s intention from the beginning, and it is God the Father who tells us; While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. Matthew 17:5
Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: I Corinthians 5:7
Jesus is our passover lamb. He is the ultimate sacrifice, which truly appeases the wrath of God. Let’s stop this sham that is Easter. Lets celebrate the passover that God gave us. Do we have to do it the same day as the Jews? I don’t think so. The bible records what day of the week Jesus was sacrificed, but the Jewish passover bounces around. It’s not wrong to celebrate with the Jews, but I don’t think it’s wrong to celebrate it the same day of the week that Jesus actually died, and actually rose from the dead.
One question we need to ask ourselves is; “Does our keeping the pagan Easter set up a stumbling block for others?” The world knows that Easter has its origins in pagan celebrations, and it seems the most ignorant people, on this subject, are Christians themselves! They point to our keeping of pagan celebrations and ask “Don’t you know what you are doing?” The sad truth is that most of us don’t!
Christians are so caught up in their traditions that they fail to think about what they are doing, or who it harms, just like Israel at the time of Christ!
So let me ask you; In Revelation 17:5 we are told of a woman; “And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” Who is this mother, and who are her daughters?
A daughter is made of the same substance as her mother. A daughter is a woman who comes out of a woman. My wife is a woman, just like her mother. If the mother is a church, then it follows that the daughters are also churches. Just as Laban’s daughters took some of their fathers idols when they left their father,(Genesis 31:19-35) so today most Christian Churches have clung to much of Rome’s idolatry, all the while claiming faithfulness to God.
We can see then that many of the errors of Rome have been perpetuated in the churches that came out of her. Easter in fact, is the tip of the iceberg. In The Spirit of Prophecy I have discussed some of the other errors of Rome that have made their way into the protestant churches. These errors do indeed offend the Lord, and will ultimately lead many professing Christians to participate in the Great Tribulation itself. Don’t put your traditions ahead of the Word of God! That is a very dangerous practice!
On a related note; have you ever noticed the crescent moon and star on top of a mosque? While there are no symbols of Islam contained in the Qur’an, the crescent moon and star have become the universal symbol of that religion.
The crescent moon and star are universally recognized symbols of Islam
Ancient depictions of the mother goddess
This symbol did not have its origin in Islam, but from much further back. Back all the way to the pagan goddess Diana, in fact. The crescent moon represented a womb and the star appears to represent her son, originally Tammuz.
So we see here a connection between Christianity and Islam, through the ancient pagan goddess Easter, Ishtar, or Diana, all one and the same. Once the true Church is raptured there will be nothing to stop the unification of the world’s religions!
For more information see the following, and please browse with discernment:
http://biblelight.net/sunday.htm
http://www.amightywind.com/passover/lambvsham.htm
http://christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-t020.html
http://www.torahandspirit.com.istemp.com/babylon.htm
http://istanbullblog.blogspot.ca/2006/02/star-and-crescent-moon-symbol-of-islam.html
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