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Easter - Truth or Fiction?
You know, sometimes we do things out of habit. At other
times, we do things from tradition because it was the way we were raised
or because it just "feels" like it's right. We don't stop to investigate
if what we're doing is really right. We just continue because it's
familiar and easy. It's always easier to continue doing the thing that's
familiar than it is to do something that's new and unfamiliar. Such is the
case with many of the holidays we habitually keep in the so-called
Christian western world. I suppose the two most prominent of those
holidays are Christmas and Easter. We have previously discussed the
origins and history of Christmas and its "supposed" relation to the birth
of Christ but what about the holiday we know as Easter? What are its
origins and its history? Does it accurately picture the truth about the
resurrection of our savior? If it does, then why doesn't our society treat
it with sacred solemnity rather than allowing it to become so highly
commercialized? If it doesn't accurately picture the truth about the death
of our savior, then why do we keep the observance at all?
Easter’s Origin
According to the New Unger's Bible Dictionary, "the word
Easter is of Saxon origin, Eastra, the goddess of spring, in whose honor
sacrifices were offered about Passover time each year. By the eighth
century Anglo-Saxons had adopted the name to designate the celebration of
Christ's resurrection."
According to Nelson's Bible Dictionary, Easter is defined
as "a feast or festival of the Christian church that commemorates the
resurrection of Christ. It is observed and celebrated on the first Sunday
following the full moon that occurs on or after March 21--or one week
later if the full moon falls on Sunday. In other words, Easter falls
between March 22 and April 25. Easter was originally a pagan festival
honoring Eostre, a Teutonic (Germanic) goddess of light and spring. At the
time of the vernal equinox (the day in the spring when the sun crosses the
equator and day and night are of equal length), sacrifices were offered in
her honor. As early as the eighth century, the name was used to designate
the annual Christian celebration of the resurrection of Christ. The only
appearance of the word Easter (KJV) is a mistranslation of pascha, the
ordinary Greek word for ‘Passover.’"
So, clearly by these definitions, we can see that the
Easter holiday was not used in connection with the resurrection of Christ
for more than 600 years after his death. Well, 600 years is quite a long
time in which a lot can happen and change. Let's see if we can learn more
of the ancient history of Easter's beginnings.
In the Encyclopedia Britannica, we read that Easter is the
"principal festival of the Christian Church Year, [and it] celebrates the
Resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his crucifixion. Its
origins go back to the beginnings of Christianity, and it is probably the
oldest Christian observance after Sunday, which came to be regarded as the
weekly celebration of the Resurrection. Western Christians celebrate
Easter on the first Sunday after the full moon that occurs upon or next
after the vernal equinox (March 21). If the full moon occurs on a Sunday,
Easter day is the Sunday after. Easter, therefore, can fall between March
22 and April 25. This rule was fixed after much controversy and
uncertainty, which lasted in various parts of the church down to the 8th
century… The festival of Easter occurs on a particular Sunday, but its
importance is emphasized in the worship of the church by the long
preparation of Lent; by Holy Week, with its solemn services; and by the
following seven weeks until Pentecost (Whitsunday). Easter is central to
the whole Christian year… (Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th
Edition, 1978, Micropaedia, Vol. III, pg.757)."
According to Darryl Conder in Mystery Babylon the Great,
"the history of Easter begins not with Christ's resurrection, but in
Babylon, 2000 years before His birth… The first thing to be emphasized is
that the Easter tradition is a composite history of two men and one woman.
As the stories of their lives unfolded in ancient times, the religion they
founded was conformed to explain the different occurrences. It is a
somewhat complicated story that, as it becomes clear, will present a
chilling account of modern day religious practices found, literally,
around the world! To understand the Easter custom of the western world, it
is important that we basically dissect this festival piece by piece. First
of all, where did we get the name Easter, and what does it have to do with
Jesus Christ? Most any encyclopedia will mention that the name Easter is
derived from the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring, Eostre (pg. 55)."
Mr. Conder goes on to quote Alexander Hislop from his
book, The Two Babylons, "…Easter bears its Chaldean origin…[and] is
nothing else than Astarte, one of the titles of Beltis, the Queen of
Heaven, whose name as pronounced by the people of Ninevah, was evidently
identical with that now in common use in the country [that is, Easter]
(pg. 103)."
The Rites of Easter
What about the traditional observances associated with the
Easter holiday? What do dyed Easter Eggs, the baking of "hot cross buns"
and rabbits have to do with the sacrifice of Jesus Christ?
On the subject of Easter, Ralph Woodrow writes in his
book, Babylon Mystery Religion Ancient and Modern, that "The word
itself, as the dictionaries and encyclopedias explain, comes from the name
of a Pagan Goddess - the goddess of Spring. Easter is but a more modern
form of Ishtar, Eostre, Ostera, or Astarte. Ishtar, another name for
Semiramis of Babylon, was pronounced as we pronounce "Easter" today. And
so the name of the Spring Festival, "Easter", is definitely paganistic,
the name being taken from the name of the Goddess. And not only is the
name "Easter" of pagan origin, but we shall see that the traditional
customs and observances of this season originated in paganism also. A good
example of this can be seen in the well known usage of the Easter egg.
From the "egg-rolling" on the White House lawn to the yard of the most
humble home, eggs are colored, hid, hunted, and eaten - each year at the
"Easter" season. But where did this custom of using eggs at this season
begin? Are we to suppose that Christians of the New Testament dyed eggs?
Do eggs have anything to do with Christ or his resurrection? The answer is
obvious. Such usage is completely foreign to the Bible. On the other hand,
the egg was a sacred symbol among the Babylonians! They believed an old
fable about an egg of wonderous size which was supposed to have fallen
from heaven into the Euphrates River. From this marvelous egg - according
to the ancient story - the Goddess Astarte (Easter), was hatched. And so
the egg came to symbolize the Goddess Easter. From Babylon -the MOTHER of
false religion - humanity was scattered to the various parts of the earth
and with them they took the idea of the Mystic Egg. Thus we find the egg
as a sacred symbol among many nations (pg. 152-153)."
The Encyclopedia Britannica states that "like the Easter
egg, the Easter hare came to Christianity from antiquity. The hare is
associated with the moon in the legends of ancient Egypt and other
peoples… Through the fact that the Egyptian word for hare, UM, means also
'open' and 'period,' the hare came to be associated with the idea of
periodicity [or ovulation], both lunar and human, and with the beginning
of new life in both the young man and young woman, and so a symbol of
fertility and of the renewal of life. As such, the hare become linked with
Easter…eggs (article Easter)."
Ralph Woodrow further writes,"another custom that is
closely connected with the Easter season is the baking and eating of "hot
cross buns." Again, this appears - at first glance - to be a Christian
custom because of the shape or marking on the buns of the cross. But, as
we have seen earlier, the cross symbol is not a Christian symbol. On the
other hand, as early as the days of Cecrops, founder of Athens [Greece],
(1500 BC), such buns were used in the worship of the queen of heaven (Babylon
Mystery Religion Ancient and Modern, pg. 154)."
What about another Easter holiday custom, the Easter
Sunrise service? As even modern worshippers assemble in early dawn to face
the east and gaze upon the rising sun, what they are reenacting is what
their forefathers have done for many millennia. It is just sun-worship
under a different name.
Nimrod and Semiramis
On the subject of the constellation of Orion, we read from
the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, "According to an old
tradition, the name of Nimrod, mentioned in Gen 10:10, as the founder of
Babel, Erech, Accad and Calneh, was given by his courtiers to this most
brilliant of all the constellations, one that by its form somewhat
suggests a gigantic warrior armed for the fight. Until recently it was not
found possible to identify the Nimrod of Scripture with any Babylonian
monarch until Dr. T. G. Pinches suggested that "Nimrod" was a deliberate
Hebrew transmutation of "Marduk," the name of the great Babylonian
national hero, and chief deity of their pantheon (article
Astronomy)."
Darryl Conder writes, "In order to trace the [so-called]
"career" of Nimrod, we must look for him under a name by which he is
better known to ancient historians. The correct translation of Genesis
10:11 shows us that Nimrod was one and the same as Ninus of Assyria…
[even] the Encyclopedia Britannica says that Ninus was the founder and
king of Nineveh. They note he was the son of Bel, and married to Semiramis
(11th ed., Volume 19, pg. 706)."
Mr. Conder continues, "To trace the history of Nimrod, we
only have to look for him in the legends of King Ninus… in the annals of
Babylon and Assyria. These legends of Ninus are a wealth of information
about Nimrod, who[m], I might add, was one of the most detestable men to
have ever lived. Fear and murder were the tools used by Nimrod to secure
his great power. Additionally, Nimrod, just as his father had, required
his followers to offer human sacrifices (often newborn babies) to him… (Mystery
Babylon the Great, pg.59)."
Josephus records "Nimrod persuaded mankind not to ascribe
their happiness to God, but to think that his own excellency was the
source of it. And he soon changed things into a tyranny, thinking there
was no other way to wean men from the fear of God, than by making them
rely upon his own power (Ant. Jud. i. c. 4. 2)."
E.W. Bullinger writes in The Companion Bible, "'The
Chaldee paraphrase of 1Chron 1:10 says: "Cush begat Nimrod, who began to
prevail in wickedness, for he shed innocent blood, and rebelled against
Jehovah.' Nimrod was the founder of Babylon, which partook of his
character as being the great antagonist of God's Truth and God's People.
We cannot fail to see, in Nimrod, Satan's first attempt to raise up a
human universal ruler of men. There have been many subsequent attempts,
such as Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander, Napoleon, and others. He will finally
succeed in the person of the Antichrist (Appendix 28, pg. 29)."
The Encyclopedia Britannica states, "After the death of
Ninus, Semiramis, who was accused of causing it [that is, the death of
King Ninus], erected to him a temple-tomb… near Babylon (11th
ed., Volume 19, pg. 706)."
As we shall see, this was the beginning of the Babylonian
Mystery Religion, which lives on, in various forms, even to our present
day.
Israel’s Disobedience
Let's look in God's word to see if there are any examples
that show us God's attitude about such "worship" services. In Ezekiel
8:1-18, we read of God's reaction to Judah's form of worship.
(Ezek 8:1-18 NASB) And it came about in the sixth year,
on the fifth day of the sixth month, as I was sitting in my house with
the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD
fell on me there. {2} Then I looked, and behold, a likeness as the
appearance of a man; from His loins and downward there was the
appearance of fire, and from His loins and upward the appearance of
brightness, like the appearance of glowing metal. {3} And He stretched
out the form of a hand and caught me by a lock of my head; and the
Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in the
visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the
inner court, where the seat of the idol of jealousy, which provokes to
jealousy, was located.
So, we see here that even though Ezekiel was with the
Jewish captives in Babylon, he was given a vision picturing events in
Jerusalem, hundreds of miles away.
(Ezek 8:4 NASB) And behold, the glory of the God of
Israel was there, like the appearance which I saw in the plain. {5} Then
He said to me, "Son of man, raise your eyes, now, toward the north." So
I raised my eyes toward the north, and behold, to the north of the altar
gate was this idol of jealousy at the entrance. {6} And He said to me,
"Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations
which the house of Israel are committing here, that I should be far from
My sanctuary? But yet you will see still greater abominations." {7} Then
He brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, a
hole in the wall. {8} And He said to me, "Son of man, now dig through
the wall." So I dug through the wall, and behold, an entrance. {9} And
He said to me, "Go in and see the wicked abominations that they are
committing here." {10} So I entered and looked, and behold, every form
of creeping things and beasts and detestable things, with all the idols
of the house of Israel, were carved on the wall all around. {11} And
standing in front of them were seventy elders of the house of Israel,
with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them, each man with his
censer in his hand, and the fragrance of the cloud of incense rising.
{12} Then He said to me, "Son of man, do you see what the elders of the
house of Israel are committing in the dark, each man in the room of his
carved images? For they say, 'The LORD does not see us; the LORD has
forsaken the land.'" {13} And He said to me, "Yet you will see still
greater abominations which they are committing." {14} Then He brought me
to the entrance of the gate of the LORD'S house which was toward the
north; and behold, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz. {15} And
He said to me, "Do you see this, son of man? Yet you will see still
greater abominations than these." {16} Then He brought me into the inner
court of the LORD'S house. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of
the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men
with their backs to the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the
east; and they were prostrating themselves eastward toward the sun. {17}
And He said to me, "Do you see this, son of man? Is it too light a thing
for the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they have
committed here, that they have filled the land with violence and
provoked Me repeatedly? For behold, they are putting the twig to their
nose. {18} "Therefore, I indeed shall deal in wrath. My eye will have no
pity nor shall I spare; and though they cry in My ears with a loud
voice, yet I shall not listen to them."
In the Commentary on the Whole Bible by Jamieson,
Fausett and Brown, on this section of scripture we read: "Instead of
weeping for the national sins, they wept for the idol. Tammuz (the Syrian
for Adonis), the paramour of Venus… killed by a wild boar, and, according
to the fable, permitted to spend half the year on earth, and obliged to
spend the other half in the lower world (pg. 678)."
In Manners and Customs of the Bible, James M.
Freeman comments, "This shows their connection with the fire-worshipers.
All nations who worshiped [sic] the sun prayed with their faces turned to
the East. The oldest temples of the fire-worshipers were built in such a
manner that the entrance was on the west side, so that the worshipers
faced the East on entering. The temple of Jehovah was built with the
entrance in the East and the Oracle in the West, so that the worshipers
turned their backs on the place of the rising sun. The perverted priests
mentioned in the text disrespectfully turned their backs on the Oracle,
and faced the East like the fire-worshipers (pg. 300)."
In Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible, on the
subject of the women weeping for Tammuz he writes, "This was Adonis, and
so the [Latin] Vulgate here translates. He is fabled to have been a
beautiful youth beloved by Venus, and killed by a wild boar in Mount
Lebanon. The women of Phoenicia, Assyria, and Judea worshipped him as dead
with deep lamentation. Tammuz signifies "hidden" or "obscure," and hence,
the worship of his image was in some secret place (pg. 666)."
The Semitic scholar, Dr. Parkhurst writes in his Hebrew
Lexicon, "I find myself obliged to refer Tammuz, as well as the Greek
and Roman Hercules, to that class of idols which were originally designed
to represent the promised Saviour Christ Jesus, the desire of all nations.
His other name, Adonis, is almost the very Hebrew word 'Our Lord,' a
well-known title of Christ (as quoted by Doane, Bible Myths, pg.
220)."
In Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words,
under the topic CROSS we read, "stauros, [Strong's] #4716 denotes,
primarily, "an upright pale or stake." On such, malefactors were nailed
for execution. Both the noun and the verb stauroo, "to fasten to a
stake or pale," are originally to be distinguished from the ecclesiastical
form of a two beamed "cross." The shape of the latter [that is, the cross
in the shape of a "t"] had its origin in ancient Chaldea, and was used as
the symbol of the god Tammuz (being in the shape of the mystic Tau, the
initial of his name) in that country and in adjacent lands, including
Egypt… in order to increase the prestige of the apostate ecclesiastical
system, pagans were received into the churches apart from regeneration by
faith, and were permitted largely to retain their pagan signs and symbols.
Hence the Tau or T, in its most frequent form, with the cross-piece
lowered, was adopted to stand for the "cross" of Christ (pg. 256)."
What other examples in scripture are there for us to see
how God views the idolatries of ancient Israel and Judah? Look at Jeremiah
7:17.
(Jer 7:17-23 NASB) "Do you not see what they are doing
in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? {18} "The
children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women
knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out
libations to other gods in order to spite Me. {19} "Do they spite Me?"
declares the LORD. "Is it not themselves they spite, to their own
shame?" {20} Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, My anger and My
wrath will be poured out on this place, on man and on beast and on the
trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground; and it will burn and
not be quenched." {21} Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel,
"Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat flesh. {22} "For I
did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought
them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and
sacrifices. {23} "But this is what I commanded them, saying, 'Obey My
voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you will
walk in all the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.'
Even before God gave Israel the regulations regarding the
daily and monthly animal sacrifices, he spoke the command to Moses of the
obedience God desired from his people. That was at the foot of Mount Sinai
just a few days before God descended on the Mount to speak directly with
the people. In Exodus 19:1, we can read the words God spoke to Moses for
ourselves.
(Exo 19:1-11 NASB) In the third month after the sons of
Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that very day they came
into the wilderness of Sinai. {2} When they set out from Rephidim, they
came to the wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness; and there
Israel camped in front of the mountain. {3} And Moses went up to God,
and the LORD called to him from the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall
say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel: {4} 'You
yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on
eagles' wings, and brought you to Myself. {5} 'Now then, if you will
indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own
possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; {6} and
you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. 'These are
the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel." {7} So Moses came
and called the elders of the people, and set before them all these words
which the LORD had commanded him. {8} And all the people answered
together and said, "All that the LORD has spoken we will do!"
[Look at that! The people were not coerced. They voluntarily agreed to
obey the words of God]. And Moses brought back the words of the people
to the LORD. {9} And the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I shall come to
you in a thick cloud, in order that the people may hear when I speak
with you, and may also believe in you forever." Then Moses told the
words of the people to the LORD. {10} The LORD also said to Moses, "Go
to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash
their garments; {11} and let them be ready for the third day, for on the
third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the
people.
Later in Jeremiah 44, we can read about the remnant of
Jews that were left after Nebuchadezzar's victory over Zedekiah. They had
defied God and chosen to flee to Egypt.
(Jer 44:1-30 NASB) The word that came to Jeremiah for
all the Jews living in the land of Egypt, those who were living in
Migdol, Tahpanhes, Memphis, and the land of Pathros, saying, {2} "Thus
says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, 'You yourselves have seen all
the calamity that I have brought on Jerusalem and all the cities of
Judah; and behold, this day they are in ruins and no one lives in them,
{3} because of their wickedness which they committed so as to provoke Me
to anger by continuing to burn sacrifices and to serve other gods whom
they had not known, neither they, you, nor your fathers. {4} 'Yet I sent
you all My servants the prophets, again and again, saying, "Oh, do not
do this abominable thing which I hate." {5} 'But they did not listen or
incline their ears to turn from their wickedness, so as not to burn
sacrifices to other gods. {6} 'Therefore My wrath and My anger were
poured out and burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of
Jerusalem, so they have become a ruin and a desolation as it is this
day. {7} 'Now then thus says the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel,
"Why are you doing great harm to yourselves, so as to cut off from you
man and woman, child and infant, from among Judah, leaving yourselves
without remnant, {8} provoking Me to anger with the works of your hands,
burning sacrifices to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you are
entering to reside, so that you might be cut off and become a curse and
a reproach among all the nations of the earth? {9} "Have you forgotten
the wickedness of your fathers, the wickedness of the kings of Judah,
and the wickedness of their wives, your own wickedness, and the
wickedness of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and
in the streets of Jerusalem? {10} "But they have not become contrite
even to this day, nor have they feared nor walked in My law or My
statutes, which I have set before you and before your fathers."' {11}
"Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Behold, I am
going to set My face against you for woe, even to cut off all Judah.
{12} 'And I will take away the remnant of Judah who have set their mind
on entering the land of Egypt to reside there, and they will all meet
their end in the land of Egypt; they will fall by the sword and meet
their end by famine. Both small and great will die by the sword and
famine; and they will become a curse, an object of horror, an
imprecation and a reproach. {13} 'And I will punish those who live in
the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with
famine, and with pestilence. {14} 'So there will be no refugees or
survivors for the remnant of Judah who have entered the land of Egypt to
reside there and then to return to the land of Judah, to which they are
longing to return and live; for none will return except a few
refugees.'" {15} Then all the men who were aware that their wives were
burning sacrifices to other gods, along with all the women who were
standing by, as a large assembly, including all the people who were
living in Pathros in the land of Egypt, responded to Jeremiah, saying,
{16} "As for the message that you have spoken to us in the name of
the LORD, we are not going to listen to you! {17} "But rather we
will certainly carry out every word that has proceeded from our mouths,
by burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out libations
to her, just as we ourselves, our forefathers, our kings and our princes
did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then we
had plenty of food, and were well off, and saw no misfortune. {18} "But
since we stopped burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring
out libations to her, we have lacked everything and have met our end by
the sword and by famine." {19} "And," said the women, "when we were
burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven, and were pouring out
libations to her, was it without our husbands that we made for her
sacrificial cakes in her image and poured out libations to her?"
Verse nineteen is important to notice. For those who might
say "the women sacrificed but not the men," verse nineteen is a plain
admission that the women worshipped idols with the full knowledge, and
probably even the assistance, of their husbands.
Continue in verse twenty.
(Jer 44:20 NASB) Then Jeremiah said to all the people,
to the men and women-- even to all the people who were giving him such
an answer-- saying, {21} "As for the smoking sacrifices that you burned
in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your
forefathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land,
did not the LORD remember them, and did not all this come into His mind?
{22} "So the LORD was no longer able to endure it, because of the evil
of your deeds, because of the abominations which you have committed;
thus your land has become a ruin, an object of horror and a curse,
without an inhabitant, as it is this day. {23} "Because you have burned
sacrifices and have sinned against the LORD and not obeyed the voice of
the LORD or walked in His law, His statutes or His testimonies,
therefore this calamity has befallen you, as it has this day." {24} Then
Jeremiah said to all the people, including all the women, "Hear the word
of the LORD, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt, {25} thus says the
LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, as follows: 'As for you and your
wives, you have spoken with your mouths and fulfilled it with your
hands, saying, "We will certainly perform our vows that we have vowed,
to burn sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pour out libations to
her." Go ahead and confirm your vows, and certainly perform your vows!'
{26} "Nevertheless hear the word of the LORD, all Judah who are living
in the land of Egypt, 'Behold, I have sworn by My great name,' says the
LORD, 'never shall My name be invoked again by the mouth of any man of
Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, "As the Lord GOD lives." {27}
'Behold, I am watching over them for harm and not for good, and all the
men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will meet their end by the
sword and by famine until they are completely gone. {28} 'And those who
escape the sword will return out of the land of Egypt to the land of
Judah few in number. Then all the remnant of Judah who have gone to the
land of Egypt to reside there will know whose word will stand, Mine or
theirs. {29} 'And this will be the sign to you,' declares the LORD,
'that I am going to punish you in this place, so that you may know that
My words will surely stand against you for harm.' {30} "Thus says the
LORD, 'Behold, I am going to give over Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt to
the hand of his enemies, to the hand of those who seek his life, just as
I gave over Zedekiah king of Judah to the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon, who was his enemy and was seeking his life.'"
Idolatry
Under the article QUEEN OF HEAVEN in the International
Standard Bible Encyclopedia, we read:
"The worship of the heavenly bodies was widely spread in
the East and in Arabia; and the Babylonian pantheon was full of astral
deities, where each divinity corresponded either to an astral phenomenon
or to some circumstance or occurrence in Nature which is connected with
the course of the stars… From the prophets we gather that before the
exile, the worship of the host of heaven had become established among all
classes and in all the towns of Israel. In that worship, the queen of
heaven had a conspicuous place; and if, as seems probable from the cakes
which were offered, she is to be identified with the Assyrian Ishtar and
the Canaanite Astarte, the worship itself was of a grossly immoral and
debasing character. That this Ishtar cult was of great antiquity and
widely spread in ancient Babylonia may be seen from the symbols of it
found in recent excavations… that the people of Judah in the days before
the exile had given themselves over to the worst and vilest forms of
heathen worship and incurred the grievous displeasure of Yahweh is made
clear by the denunciation of the worship of the queen of heaven by
Jeremiah."
How does God view the prospect of his people worshipping
false gods and the heavenly bodies? Look at Deuteronomy 17:2.
(Deu 17:2-6 NASB) "If there is found in your midst, in
any of your towns, which the LORD your God is giving you, a man or a
woman who does what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, by
transgressing His covenant, {3} and has gone and served other gods and
worshiped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the heavenly host,
which I have not commanded, {4} and if it is told you and you have heard
of it, then you shall inquire thoroughly. And behold, if it is true and
the thing certain that this detestable thing has been done in Israel,
{5} then you shall bring out that man or that woman who has done this
evil deed, to your gates, that is, the man or the woman, and you shall
stone them to death. {6} On the evidence of two witnesses or three
witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death; he shall not be put
to death on the evidence of one witness.
In 2 Kings 17:6, we can read further of God's strong
stance against the worship of false gods.
(2 Kings 17:6-20 NASB) In the ninth year of Hoshea, the
king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried Israel away into exile to
Assyria, and settled them in Halah and Habor, on the river of Gozan, and
in the cities of the Medes. {7} Now this came about, because the sons of
Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up
from the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt,
and they had feared other gods {8} and walked in the customs of the
nations whom the LORD had driven out before the sons of Israel, and in
the customs of the kings of Israel which they had introduced. {9} And
the sons of Israel did things secretly which were not right, against the
LORD their God. Moreover, they built for themselves high places in all
their towns, from watchtower to fortified city. {10} And they set for
themselves sacred pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every
green tree, {11} and there they burned incense on all the high places as
the nations did which the LORD had carried away to exile before them;
and they did evil things provoking the LORD. {12} And they served idols,
concerning which the LORD had said to them, "You shall not do this
thing." {13} Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah, through all His
prophets and every seer, saying, "Turn from your evil ways and keep My
commandments, My statutes according to all the law which I commanded
your fathers, and which I sent to you through My servants the prophets."
{14} However, they did not listen, but stiffened their neck like their
fathers, who did not believe in the LORD their God. {15} And they
rejected His statutes and His covenant which He made with their fathers,
and His warnings with which He warned them. And they followed vanity and
became vain, and went after the nations which surrounded them,
concerning which the LORD had commanded them not to do like them. {16}
And they forsook all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for
themselves molten images, even two calves, and made an Asherah and
worshipped all the host of heaven and served Baal. {17} Then they made
their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, and practiced
divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight
of the LORD, provoking Him. {18} So the LORD was very angry with Israel,
and removed them from His sight; none was left except the tribe of
Judah. {19} Also Judah did not keep the commandments of the LORD their
God, but walked in the customs which Israel had introduced. {20} And the
LORD rejected all the descendants of Israel and afflicted them and gave
them into the hand of plunderers, until He had cast them out of His
sight.
Again in Deuteronomy 4, God reminds the people of Israel
of his benevolence in giving them his righteous commandments, statutes and
judgements.
(Deu 4:1-9 NASB) "And now, O Israel, listen to the
statutes and the judgments which I am teaching you to perform, in order
that you may live and go in and take possession of the land which the
LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. {2} "You shall not add to
the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may
keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you. {3}
"Your eyes have seen what the LORD has done in the case of Baal-peor,
for all the men who followed Baal-peor, the LORD your God has destroyed
them from among you. {4} "But you who held fast to the LORD your God are
alive today, every one of you. {5} "See, I have taught you statutes and
judgments just as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do thus
in the land where you are entering to possess it. {6} "So keep and do
them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of
the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, 'Surely this great
nation is a wise and understanding people.' {7} "For what great nation
is there that has a god so near to it as is the LORD our God whenever we
call on Him? {8} "Or what great nation is there that has statutes and
judgments as righteous as this whole law which I am setting before you
today? {9} "Only give heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently,
lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen, and lest they
depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to
your sons and your grandsons.
Personal Responsibility
The end of verse nine is very important. God gave to his
people his very own precious laws and statutes and judgements for their
own good. It was the responsibility of the people to keep those precious
instructions from God. Beyond that, they were (and so are we) to
diligently teach them to their children. That is the responsibility of the
parents, and even the grandparents, to pass along the righteous ways of
God to the next generation. What the next generation does with that
precious knowledge is their own responsibility.
It is the responsibility of the servants of God to show
the people their sins that they might turn from them and live according to
God's way of life, for their own good. Ezekiel 33:1 speaks of that
responsibility and accountability in the eyes of God.
(Ezek 33:1-20 NASB) And the word of the LORD came to me
saying, {2} "Son of man, speak to the sons of your people, and say to
them, 'If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take
one man from among them and make him their watchman; {3} and he sees the
sword coming upon the land, and he blows on the trumpet and warns the
people, {4} then he who hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take
warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his
own head. {5} 'He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take
warning; his blood will be on himself. But had he taken warning, he
would have delivered his life. {6} 'But if the watchman sees the sword
coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and
a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away in his
iniquity; but his blood I will require from the watchman's hand.' {7}
"Now as for you, son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the
house of Israel; so you will hear a message from My mouth, and give them
warning from Me. {8} "When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you shall
surely die,' and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that
wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from
your hand. {9} "But if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from
his way, and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity;
but you have delivered your life. {10} "Now as for you, son of man, say
to the house of Israel, 'Thus you have spoken, saying, "Surely our
transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we are rotting away in
them; how then can we survive?"' {11} "Say to them, 'As I live!'
declares the Lord GOD, 'I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked,
but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn
back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?'
{12} "And you, son of man, say to your fellow citizens, 'The
righteousness of a righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his
transgression, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will not
stumble because of it in the day when he turns from his wickedness;
whereas a righteous man will not be able to live by his righteousness on
the day when he commits sin.' {13} "When I say to the righteous he will
surely live, and he so trusts in his righteousness that he commits
iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but in that
same iniquity of his which he has committed he will die. {14} "But when
I say to the wicked, 'You will surely die,' and he turns from his sin
and practices justice and righteousness, {15} if a wicked man restores a
pledge, pays back what he has taken by robbery, walks by the statutes
which ensure life without committing iniquity, he will surely live; he
shall not die. {16} "None of his sins that he has committed will be
remembered against him. He has practiced justice and righteousness; he
will surely live. {17} "Yet your fellow citizens say, 'The way of the
Lord is not right,' when it is their own way that is not right. {18}
"When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity,
then he shall die in it. {19} "But when the wicked turns from his
wickedness and practices justice and righteousness, he will live by
them. {20} "Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not right.' O house of
Israel, I will judge each of you according to his ways."
There are many instances in scripture of God warning and
pleading with his people Israel for them not to continue in their
self-destructive way of life. In a larger sense, however, as we read in
Isaiah 55, the conflict was one of divergent perceptions, attitudes, and
philosophies. It was, in short, the issue of living according to God's
standards or Satan's standards.
(Isa 55:7-9 NASB) Let the wicked forsake his way, And
the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He
will have compassion on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly
pardon. {8} "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your
ways My ways," declares the LORD. {9} "For as the heavens are higher
than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My
thoughts than your thoughts.
The Reality of Christ’s Resurrection
We've established from many sources, both secular and
scriptural, the pagan origin, growth and perpetuation of Easter. Anyone
can freely investigate and come to the same conclusions but let's see what
the real truth is about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. To do
so, we need to first go to God's word to see for ourselves the sequence of
events surrounding the resurrection of the Messiah.
(Mat 28:1-10 NASB) Now after the Sabbath, as it began to
dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary
came to look at the grave. {2} And behold, a severe earthquake had
occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and
rolled away the stone and sat upon it. {3} And his appearance was like
lightning, and his garment as white as snow; {4} and the guards shook
for fear of him, and became like dead men. {5} And the angel answered
and said to the women, "Do not be afraid; for I know that you are
looking for Jesus who has been crucified. {6} "He is not here, for He
has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. {7}
"And go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead;
and behold, He is going before you into Galilee, there you will see Him;
behold, I have told you." {8} And they departed quickly from the tomb
with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples. {9} And
behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold
of His feet and worshiped Him. {10} Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be
afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there
they shall see Me."
We can fill in even more detail in the account written by
the apostle John in John 20:1.
(John 20:1-23 NASB) Now on the first day of the week
Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw
the stone already taken away from the tomb. {2} And so she ran and came
to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to
them, "They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know
where they have laid Him." {3} Peter therefore went forth, and the other
disciple, and they were going to the tomb. {4} And the two were running
together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter, and came
to the tomb first; {5} and stooping and looking in, he saw the linen
wrappings lying there; but he did not go in. {6} Simon Peter therefore
also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he beheld the linen
wrappings lying there, {7} and the face-cloth, which had been on His
head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by
itself. {8} So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb entered
then also, and he saw and believed. {9} For as yet they did not
understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. {10} So
the disciples went away again to their own homes. {11} But Mary was
standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and
looked into the tomb; {12} and she beheld two angels in white sitting,
one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been
lying. {13} And they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said
to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where
they have laid Him." {14} When she had said this, she turned around, and
beheld Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. {15}
Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?"
Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, "Sir, if you have
carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him
away." {16} Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to Him in
Hebrew, "Rabboni!" (which means, Teacher). {17} Jesus said to her, "Stop
clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My
brethren, and say to them, 'I ascend to My Father and your Father, and
My God and your God.'" {18} Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the
disciples, "I have seen the Lord," and that He had said these things to
her. {19} When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of
the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for
fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst, and said to them,
"Peace be with you." {20} And when He had said this, He showed them both
His hands and His side. The disciples therefore rejoiced when they saw
the Lord. {21} Jesus therefore said to them again, "Peace be with you;
as the Father has sent Me, I also send you." {22} And when He had said
this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.
{23} "If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven
them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained."
Now, the events surrounding Christ's resurrection are very
important to notice. It is our Messiah's supposed Sunday sunrise
resurrection that forms the basis for the whole Easter celebration - and
for the change of the seventh day Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. We
already read at the beginning of John 20 that Mary Magdalene came to the
tomb early on the first day of the week [that is, Sunday] while it was yet
dark. It was before the sunrise and Jesus was not in the tomb because he
had already risen from the dead. In addition, Matthew stated that when
they came to the tomb, the stone had already been rolled away. It could
have happened several hours before they came to the tomb.
You can see for yourself that there was no Sunday sunrise
resurrection. So, what is it that people today are really worshipping when
they participate in Easter sunrise services? It's plain and simple to see
that even if they slap a so-called "Christian" name on it, they are facing
the east at sunrise and are, in actuality, participating in the same
heathen practices of sun worship as their forefathers of thousands of
years ago.
What does God think of humans using the name of his Son to
legitimize practices which directly violate his expressed instructions for
mankind? God spoke of the vanity of another pagan holiday celebration in
Jeremiah 10:2.
(Jer 10:1-11 TANAKH) Hear the word which the Lord has
spoken to you, O House of Israel! {2} Thus said the Lord: Do not learn
to go the way of the nations, and do not be dismayed by portents in the
sky; Let the nations be dismayed by them! {3} For the objects that the
nations fear are delusions: For it is the work of a craftsman’s hands.
He cuts down a tree in the forest with an ax, {4} He adorns it with
silver and gold, he fastens it with nails and hammer, so that it does
not totter. {5} They are like a scarecrow in a cucumber patch. They
cannot speak. They have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Be not
afraid of them, for they can do not harm; nor is it in them to do any
good. {6} O Lord, there is none like You! You are great and Your name is
great in power. {7} Who would not revere You, O King of the nations? For
that is Your due, since among all the wise of the nations there is none
like You. {8} But they are both dull and foolish; [their] doctrine is
but delusion; it is a piece of wood, {9} Silver beaten flat, that is
brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of a craftsman and
the goldsmith’s hands; their clothing is blue and purple, all of them
are the work of skilled men. {10} But the Lord is truly God: He is a
living God, the everlasting King. At His wrath, the earth quakes, and
nations cannot endure His rage. {11} Thus shall you say to them: Let the
gods, who did not make heaven and earth, perish from the earth and from
under these heavens.
God Desires Repentance
Look at Ezekiel 18:29. Notice God’s compassion and how he
wants to have mercy on his people and extend forgiveness to them.
(Ezek 18:29-32 TANAKH) Yet the House of Israel say, "The
way of the Lord is unfair." Are My ways unfair, O House of Israel? It is
your ways that are unfair! {30} Be assured, O House of Israel, I will
judge each one of you according to his ways – declares the Lord God.
Repent and turn back from all your transgressions; let them not be a
stumbling block of guilt for you. {31} Cast away all the transgressions
by which you have offended, and get yourselves a new heart and a new
spirit, that you many not die, O House of Israel. {32} For it is not My
desire that anyone shall die – declares the Lord God. Repent,
therefore, and live!
Remember what we read earlier in Deuteronomy 4,
(Deu 4:1-2 NASB) "And now, O Israel, listen to the
statutes and the judgments which I am teaching you to perform, in order
that you may live and go in and take possession of the land which the
LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. {2} "You shall not add
to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you
may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.
It’s easy to see that the practices of modern "Christian"
church holidays actually add to God's word many things which he has not
commanded us to do. Furthermore, they take away from God's word many
things God has directly commanded us to perform. Such holidays cause us to
"miss the mark" and fall short of God's standard of righteousness.
In answer to the question, "is Easter truth or fiction"
we’ve seen that there is no truth in the Easter celebration performed
today in mainstream "Christianity." Easter appropriates as its own the
name of Jesus Christ and the sequence of events related to his crucifixion
but the story it relates and the conclusions it teaches are complete
fiction. It is the modern perpetuation of ancient paganism. Our nations
today need to know the real truth about their traditional practices. They
need to be told that their tradition is sin and it is detestable
in the eyes of God. The practice of such detestable traditions in the
sight of God causes God to refuse to hear them and to be far from them. To
go through life in a manner that causes God's animosity is a fearful
position in which to place yourself.
Just remember Ezekiel's words "repent and turn from
your evil ways my people… for why would you die?" It just doesn't make
sense: why would you voluntarily behave in such a manner as to drive God
away from you? Without God's protection, you are really "on your own" and
you are truly defenseless.
Our nations are persisting in doing evil in the sight of
God. That evil causes our nations to be cut off from the very God who has
provided our prosperity. We are, in short, becoming nations in open
rebellion against God. If we persist in doing the things that drive God
away, we’re going to be left totally on our own, without God’s blessings
and without God’s protection.
So, if you join the crowd and insist on going your own way
and being without God’s protection, just remember the question from the
old western movie, "do you feel ‘lucky’?"
Sermon by Philip
Edwards
April 7, 2007
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