Wednesday, April 13, 2011

THE TRUTH ABOUT EASTER

Countless millions of Christians the world over celebrate Easter without a clear understanding of the true meaning behind it. The presumption is it commemorates the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. There is only one verse in Acts 12:4 which mentions the word Easter in the King James translation. But the correct translation should be Passover, as was the original meaning of the Greek word Pascha, there is no other meaning attached to the word.

The Passover tells the story of God's deliverence of the nation of Israel from their bondage in Egypt through the ten miraculous plagues. The people of Israel was commanded by God to keep it as a rememberance forever (Exodus 12:14). The Lord's supper was instituted to replace the need to slaughter a lamb as Christ is the perfect Lamb of God whose death has brought about our deliverance from sin and death. There is biblical command to observe the Passover (1 Cor 5:7-8), though in a new spirit, but no such command to observe Easter. Neither the Lord Christ nor any of the early Apostles observe Easter, save the Passover.

It is paradoxical that what the Bible commands, such as the observance of Passover (the 14th day of the first month of Nisan), few do; but no such Biblical injunction to observe Easter, most do. The origin of Easter is derived from pagan religion, with name like Ishtar, later changed to Easter. It has its roots from Babylon which traced back to Nimrod and his mother/wife Semiramis. Nimrod was also known as Tammuz and was worshipped as a god in Babylonian culture. Semiramis was also named Ishtar from which the  term Easter was derived. Ishtar was known as Astarte to the Greeks and Ashtoreths to the Jews - the worship of such goddess was condemed in Scriptures as an abomination to the Lord (1 Samuel 7: 3-4; Rev 17:5)! Their son Horus was also worshipped with horoscope become common practice in modern times. Centuries ago, the Anglo Saxon worshipped their fertility goddess named Eostre, from which the name Easter could have been derived.

After America was founded, Easter was first celebrated as a kind of spring festival to welcome the arrival of warmer climate in the northern hemisphere. Similar term like Lent also came from pagan religious practices and not from the Bible. The symbol of the easter egg is nothing more than an adaptation of the fertility rites of pagan worship and also a symbol of spring for the Europeans. All these are paganistic practices with a Christian logo embossed for credibility. Modern humanistic thinking and reasoning have given it a lift for purpose of commerce and publicity, albeit in the name of God!

The Easter rabbit has its origin from Egypt, where rabbit is a symblol of fertility due to their rapid rate of reproduction. None of these is ever mention in the Bible as these pagan lores predate Scriptures. The Apostle warned in 2 Cor 11: 3-4, 'But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted - you may well put up with it!' Whatever man may conjure up and do, dressing up pagan worship with Christian logo, God is not impressed. The Scripture is clear - man's thoughts and ways are not His thoughts and His ways (Isaiah 55:8).

Truth is, Easter is nothing more than Astarte, also known as Ashtoreth and the queen of heaven. All these originated from the Tower of Babel and the Babylonian system carried on till these last days which God will ultimately punish and destroy. All those who are associated with the Babylonian system effectively carry the mark of the beast and will not be protected from the coming Great Tribulation with all its horrendous sufferings and chaos. There are two church system worshipping God side by side. One is bona fide and the other fake. Those who are called need to wake up from their stupor and be counted to avoid being on the wrong side of the great divide come the day of reckoning!