Now Shalom, I certainly don't mind it if you want to join in and celebrate the winter festival and the spring fertility rituals along with all of the nice pagans. But I do object to your calling us hypocritical because we are feasting on those days, because almost all of the symbolism comes from the pagan. You are a guest at our parties, so it would be more polite to join in graciously, would it not?
The name "EASTER" is not a Christian word at all. It really has nothing to do with Christianity. Now, somebody
is going to say, in the KJV Acts 12:4 it says, "And when he had apprehended (Peter), he put him in prison, and
delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after EASTER to bring him forth to the
people." See, there is EASTER in the Bible. Read any other translation you like, New International, New
American Standard, The Living Bible and every one translates the word PASSOVER and rightly so because
the Greek word translated "EASTER" in the KJV is PASCHA (3957). It appears 29 times in the New
Testament and 28 of the 29 times the word occurs it is rightly translated "PASSOVER", except in Acts 12:4. As
you look at those verses it is clear that the reference is to The Feast Of The Passover, which was one of Israel's
three great yearly Holy Days (the other two being Pentecost & Tabernacles). Passover commemorated Israel's
deliverance from Egypt on the night when God's death angel "passed over" the homes of the Israelites without
killing the firstborn when he saw the blood of the lamb. Passover was celebrated on the 14th of Nisan which
falls in our March or April, depending on the reckoning of the Jewish calendar. The Lord Jesus Christ was
crucified at Passover time. That is significant because Christ was the Lamb Of God given to take away our
sins (John 1:29). Paul says that "Christ our passover is sacrificed for us" I Cor. 5:7. Because of the shed blood
of Christ applied to the believer life God does not see out sins and we will not be condemned to the "Second
Death," The Lake Of Fire.
It would be correct to call this time of year THE CHRISTIAN PASSOVER, CHRIST'S VICTORY CELEBRATION
or even RESURRECTION TRIUMPH COMMEMORATION but technically NOT EASTER and here's why.
Easter -- A Pagan Ritual Feast
The name EASTER and celebration come from an occultic pagan feast that is a derivation of the Teutonic,
Anglo-Saxon goddess Eastre. There are a variety of spellings--Eostre, Estera Ostrae and Oestre. Estera was
the goddess of sex (fertility) and spring. Pagan worshippers honored their false goddess by naming a month
after her, Eoster-Monath, which is roughly equivalent to our April. Her deceived followers gathered around the
Spring (vernal) equinox, which is about March 21, and honored their pagan goddess by blood sacrifices and
frenzied sexual rituals. Much like the prophets of Baal mentioned in the Bible, the priests would cut themselves,
splattering their blood on their altars and dance around. Since they erroneously believed she was responsible
for the "rebirth" of plants and the fertility of animals and humans they wanted her blessing, therefore they offered
these bloody and perverted rituals. How sad that they did not realize that the Lord God Almighty, creator of
heaven and earth, ordained the seasons. The non-existent goddess Estera had nothing to do with it. As
Christianity spread throughout the world, the name Easter continued to be used by "converted" pagans to
identify the time of the Resurrection of Christ.
It is obvious that it is NOT THE NAME "EASTER" that makes out celebration important.
Is it the Celebration?
Is it he celebration that makes Easter important? It was not until the second century that the church began to
celebrate the Resurrection of Christ with any regularity. As the Roman Empire expanded it's world wide power
and dominion and adopted "Christianity" as the official religion, some unfortunate things began to happen.
Churches were forced to take in people who were not true Christians. Along with them they brought their old
pagan traditions. By the time of the Protestant Reformation many of the "Holy Days" were so far removed from
biblical Christianity that Protestants quit celebrating Easter, Christmas or any other of the church festivals. They
had become excuses to gluttony, drunkenness and riotous behavior.
"It was not until during the Civil War that the nonritualistic churches began to observe Easter. It began in the
Presbyterian churches first. So many men had been killed that they wanted to point the grieving mothers,
widows and orphans to the promise of the resurrection in the biblical account of the risen Christ. Other
churches soon followed suit, focusing biblical things.
As you can see from history sometimes the churches celebrated Easter and sometimes it hasn't. Biblically
speaking it is not what you celebrate that is important but how you celebrate that is important. (Colossians
2:16-17 "Do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New
Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however
is found in Christ." Romans 14:5-6 "One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man
considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as
special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats so to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who
abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God."
It is not the celebration that makes Easter Important!
Is it the Day that makes Easter important?
Perhaps you have noticed over the years that Easter is not celebrated at the same time from year to year. In
our day the earliest that Easter is ever celebrated is March 22 an the latest is April 25. In 1945 Easter fell on
April Fools Day, April 1st.
Because of calendar changes, no one knows the exact date of the Resurrection of Christ, though they do know
the DAY it happened. It was SUNDAY for Luke 24:1-6 (selected portions) says, "Now upon the first day of the
week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre... and they found the stone rolled away... and
found not the body of the Lord Jesus. ...two men stood by them in shining garments and... said unto them, Why
seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen..."
The truth is, the Church has argued for years about when to celebrate Christ's resurrection. In 159 A.D.
Polycarp, who was baptized by the Apostle John, December 25, 95 A.D. tried to persuade the church to
celebrate the Resurrection at the end of the "Paschal Feast" in Nisan on the 14th day of the moon at evening,
regardless of the day of the week. That was the habit of the Jewish Christians. The Gentile Christians
disagreed, saying Jewish traditions were unimportant. What was important was the DAY of the WEEK, Sunday
not the day of the month. For a long time each church did what it pleased. But In 325 A.D. The Council of Nice
decreed that "Pasch" should be celebrated on SUNDAY but did not fix the particular Sunday. It was left to the
Bishop of Alexandria to determine the particular Sunday, as his city was regarded an authority in astronomical
matters. Those who continued to follow the Jewish rule were called "Quartodeciman," which was a derogatory
remark, and considered heretics.
That still did not completely solve the problem. Bitter differences arose as to the proper Sunday for Easter to be
celebrated. The western churches did not like this matter being in the hands of the Alexandrian Church. Finally,
in the 7th century the Spring equinox was fixed at March 21 and Easter would be celebrated the Sunday
following the 14th day of the calendar moon which comes on, or after, the vernal equinox. Things were all set,
right? WRONG. A difficulty arose when the Gregorian calendar was adopted in 1582. There was a 10 day
difference between the Gregorian and Julian calendars. As a result some churches then and yet today refused
to follow the Gregorian calendar. That means the celebration of Easter can be as much as five weeks apart.
Obviously, it is not the date that makes Easter Important!
Is it the Easter Bunny that makes it important?
How did rabbits get associated with Easter? Actually, they have nothing to do with the Christian celebration of
Easter. The fact of the matter is, that the hare, or rabbit was the was the symbol of Estre, the ancient false
goddess of fertility. Pagans regarded rabbits as an emblem of fertility because of the number and frequency of
offspring they produced. As cute as the Easter Bunny is, it is NOT THE EASTER BUNNY that makes the day
important.
Is it Easter Eggs?
Eggs have an interesting history. According to Mildred H. Arthur in her book Holidays of Legend, there are
people who once worshipped eggs. She says, "Archaeologists tell us that on Easter Island in the South Pacific
Ocean a sacred village called Orongo was once inhabited by a race of egg worshippers." Certainly Easter has
nothing to do with egg worship but "Eggs were colored and eaten during spring festivals as far back as the
time of ancient Egypt" one reference book said. Further, he giving of eggs as gifts was also common. "The
Persians gave eggs as presents at the time of the vernal equinox." And, Greeks and Romans continued to dye
eggs and give them as gifts. In fact, in celebration of the spring equinox Romans would run races. You'll never
guess what prize the winner got -- eggs!
John MacArthur says "There were other ancient Easter rites attached to the worship of the sun and worship of
certain gods of fertility that predate Christianity also. That's where the Easter egg came from. In ancient times
the egg was a symbol of fertility and a symbol of the sun because of the color of the yoke."
In another book I read, "The egg also came to be regarded as symbolic of the resurrection, as it holds the see
of a new life." At first reading you think this is a reference to Christ's resurrection, but not so. Most cultures
hoped their loved ones would live again. Egyptians buried eggs in their tombs. Greeks placed eggs atop
graves. Romans coined a proverb --Omne vivum ex ovo-- which means "All life comes from an egg." The egg
in all these cultures was symbolic of birth and resurrection before the resurrection of Christ.
The custom of "Christians" dying eggs and giving them as gifts at Easter came for came to Western Europe in
the 1400's. Likely knights brought the idea home from the Crusades. Red was the popular color for early Easter
eggs symbolizing the blood of Christ.
It is clear that neither the history of eggs nor the attractiveness of colored eggs is what makes Easter important.
I've just scratched the surface regarding Easter customs. There's Hot Cross Buns originally made and given to
honor a pagan god. Pretzels have their origin in Easter . . .
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