Easter was not in the original text of the Bible. It was added later by the translators. The word is from Chaldean and means Astarte with is also known as the queen of heaven and Ishtar. She was worshipped with Bel, or Baal, depending on the country. She was worshipped by the Druids and the Phoenicians.
What America calls Easter is supposed to be celebrating the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. The history of this holiday is as far from Jesus as it can get. First, let’s look at what Palm Sunday is supposed to be about.
Passover
In Jesus’ last week of ministry, He rode into Jerusalem on an ass colt that no man had ever ridden. The timing of this entry we call Palm Sunday, was done to match what the Jews called the Lamb Selection Day. As they were told in Exodus 12:3 each family would go on the 10th day to select the lamb that would be killed for them on Passover.
Exodus 12:3 (KJV) 3 Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house:
This lamb had to be perfect, without blemish, to take their sins away. The lamb was kept until the 14th day when it was slaughtered for the family to eat for Passover and the blood was placed on the door.
In God’s usual way, the timing of when Jesus would be crucified had to be exact. Every Passover celebration from the time of Exodus was a practice run. As of the day Jesus rode in on the colt, the final lamb to be slain for the sins of the world had been chosen by God but dismissed by God’s people.
The final Passover was fulfilled when the sinless blood of Jesus paid the price for every sin ever committed. All the Passover feasts celebrated since the time the children of Israel came out of Egypt were done as an example of exactly what would occur when Jesus was crucified and redeemed us from our sins.
On the other hand, Easter has been celebrated since the times of Nimrod when God sent all the nations in different directions and confused their languages. Easter was celebrated for thousands of years with bunnies who laid eggs and child sacrifice.
If you have ever read your Bible, you can’t tell me you believe Jesus would have chosen to be associated with child sacrifice and a fertility god.
Fertility gods
The fertility gods worshipped on “Easter” are Easter, Ishtar, Ashtoreth: Goddess of Fertility, and Queen of Heaven. The sun god and the fertility goddess had different names in every nation, but all pointed back to the same roots.
Even the History Channel did a video on how Christians adopted this Pegan holiday, honestly as a point of making fun of Christianity. They show how Easter was a Pegan holiday celebrating Eostre, which was an Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring and fertility who consorted with a hare, thus we get the easter bunny. All this may or may not be true but what does Jesus’ sinless death on the cross have to do with a fertility symbol like a rabbit?
Easter Eggs
Eggs are a part of every spring celebration because they stand for new birth and fertility. They were part of the Druids, Hindi, Chinese, Egyptians, Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, and Japanese customs going back as far as we have records for. The sacred eggs have been painted, dyed, covered in blood, and covered in gold or brass.
“An egg of wondrous size is said to have fallen from heaven into the river Euphrates. The fishes rolled it to the bank, where the doves having settled upon it, and hatched it, out came Venus, who afterward was called the Syrian Goddess”–that is, Astarte.
This has been going on from the days of the Druids, which goes back to the time of Nimrod and the tower of Babel. When Shem killed Nimrod, his wife told the people that Nimrod had gone into the sun, and they should worship the sun now. This is where the sun god worship came in.
Hot cross buns of Good Friday and dyed eggs were part of the Chaldean worship rites to their goddess Astarte. The prophet Jeremiah goes into detail about the abomination of Israel committed by worshipping the queen of heaven. He talks about how they gather wood, build a fire, knead the dough, and make cakes (buns) for the queen of heaven.
Jeremiah 7:18-19 (KJV) 18 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. 19 Do they provoke me to anger? saith the LORD: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces?
Jeremiah 44:17-23 (KJV) 17 But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil. 18 But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine. 19 And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men?
20 Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people which had given him that answer, saying, 21 The incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the LORD remember them, and came it not into his mind? 22 So that the LORD could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day. 23 Because ye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil is happened unto you, as at this day.
Jeremiah 44:26-28 (KJV) 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. 27 Behold, I will watch over them for evil, and not for good: and all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them. 28 Yet a small number that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, and all the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose words shall stand, mine, or theirs.
Because of this worship to the queen of heaven God tells them His name will not be named by them any longer. Translated to Christianity today, it would be the same as saying you no longer have the right to call on my name. Since it is necessary to call on the name of the Lord to be saved that is a huge problem for us Christians.
Acts 2:21 (KJV) 21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
God also said He would send them evil and not good. These people would be killed with swords and famine until there was an end to them. God said, “He could no longer bear the evil deeds and the abominations committed. Therefore, your land has become a desolation and a waste and a curse, without an inhabitant”. Having anything to do with the worship of the queen of heaven was and still is very serious in God’s eyes. He did not excuse it then and He will not excuse it now.
Ashtoreth
God said that Solomon has forsaken me because he worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess, specifically. Ashtoreth is considered to be a demon that was worshipped as a goddess by the Canaanites.
Personally, I believe all of these so-called gods and goddesses were the fallen angels who tricked mankind into worshipping them. The reason Satan fell was because he wanted to be worshipped as God was. When he fell, he took a third of the angels with him. Those demons were looking for a little limelight of their own. I think this is where all the gods came from including Zeus, Poseidon, Aphrodite, Jupiter, Neptune, Venus, and Diana, and the list goes on to thousands of names around the world and through the ages.
1 Kings 11:4-5 (KJV) 4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. 5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
1 Kings 11:33 (KJV) 33 Because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father.
Why were these holidays created in the first place?
Holidays like Halloween, All Saints Day, Christmas, and Easter were added by the Roman Catholic church. Over and over the Roman Catholic church compromised the Word of God, or outright changed what the Word of God said in order to include pagan and idol-worshipping cultures into their offering plates. Remember these are the same people who started killing anyone who dared disagree with them. They would tell these pagan cultures they can still worship their gods and have their celebrations, but they must do it our way or we kill them. What did the pagans care? They were just adding a new god to a long list they already served.
People will argue the validity of these beginnings, just as they will argue this scripture doesn’t say that. On the other hand, just as many people will stand with valid examples they did, and it does mean that. Sometimes I think Google has made things worse. So many have put out false information that you can’t tell what to believe anymore. So, putting aside all he said, she said, they said, we know from history that the Roman Catholic church laid out the rules of how the church was to be “done”, what would be celebrated, when services would be, and so forth.
In the 1500’s the Protestant Reformation occurred, and all the other churches started splitting off to start their own religions. I know the UPC specifically has a very detailed history list to show they started in the Book of Acts and remained outside of the Roman Catholic church the whole time. I am not disputing that point, but I will ask you besides the fact of one God doctrine what part of what Apostolic Pentecostals do is different from Baptist, Methodist, Assembly of God, Presbyterian, and so forth? They still go to church on the same days, they sing, they pray, and they worship in their own way. They give tithe and offerings, they support missionaries, and they try their best to do good, not evil. They celebrate Christmas and Easter, and some celebrate Halloween. Where is the difference? They are still following the celebrations designed by the Roman Catholic church and not those dictated by God for His people to participate in.
Why did God depart from Israel in Ezekiel?
Ezekiel was in captivity in the land of the Chaldeans and God sends him visions of what is to come for the Israelites. Chapters 1-7 tell of all the curses that God will bring against the people for what they have done. Then in Chapter 8, God takes Ezekiel in a vision to see the abominations the people were committing at the gates and within the walls. The elders or leaders were worshiping beasts and idols within the temple. God takes him to the door of the gate and women are weeping for Tammuz the fertility god. God takes him to the most sacred place at the inner courts of the temple where 25 priests have their backs to the altar as they face the East, bow, and worship the sun. Notice the political and the spiritual leaders were taking part in these acts against God.
Ezekiel 8:13-17 (JPS 1917) 13 He said also unto me: ‘Thou shalt again see yet greater abominations which they do.’ 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 the women weeping for Tammuz. 15 Then said He unto me: ‘Hast thou seen this, O son of man? thou shalt again see yet greater abominations than these.’ 16 And He brought me into the inner court of the LORD’S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east. 17 Then He said unto me: ‘Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here in that they fill the land with violence, and provoke Me still more, and, lo, they put the branch to their nose?
Ezekiel 9:4-6 (KJV) 4 And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.
5 And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: 6 Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.
Chapter 9 of Ezekiel, God’s judgment begins on the idolaters who defiled the temple in Jerusalem. Ezekiel is given a vision of God leaving the mercy seat and leaving the temple. God told the angels to go out and mark all the people who were standing up to say these things are an abomination. God set apart all those who refused to worship the sun or cry for Tammuz and marked them as His. He then told the angels to go out and kill everyone else who was crying for Tammuz or worshipping the sun.
The people God marked for death were mixing the holy with the profane. They were taking part in pagan idol worship in the temple of God. They were worshiping idols in the place set aside to for the worship of God. They brought idol worship into God’s house and expected God to ignore what they were doing. Or did they expect God to bless what they are doing because they called it holy worship? Don’t do unto Me as they do to their gods!
Jeremiah 10:1-4 (KJV) 1 Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:
2 Thus saith the LORD,
Learn not the way of the heathen,
and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven;
for the heathen are dismayed at them.
3 For the customs of the people are vain:
for one cutteth a tree out of the forest,
the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
4 They deck it with silver and with gold;
they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
Leviticus 18:1-5 (KJV) 1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the LORD your God. 3 After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances. 4 Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the LORD your God. 5 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD.
Ordinances = substantially the same: — appointed, custom, manner, ordinance, site, statute.
Leviticus 20:22-23 (KJV) 22 Ye shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: that the land, whither I bring you to dwell therein, spue you not out. 23 And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.
Deuteronomy 12:29-32 (KJV) 29 When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; 30 Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. 31 Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. 32 What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.
Deuteronomy 12:3-4 (KJV) 3 And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place. 4 Ye shall not do so unto the LORD your God.
Judges 2:2 (KJV) 2 And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?
Psalms 106:34-41 (KJV) 34 They did not destroy the nations,
concerning whom the LORD commanded them:
35 But were mingled among the heathen,
and learned their works.
36 And they served their idols:
which were a snare unto them.
37 Yea, they sacrificed their sons
and their daughters unto devils,
38 And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.
39 Thus were they defiled with their own works,
and went a whoring with their own inventions.
40 Therefore was the wrath of the LORD kindled against his people,
insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance.
41 And he gave them into the hand of the heathen;
and they that hated them ruled over them.
Ezekiel 20:32-33 (KJV) 32 And that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, that ye say, We will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.
33 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you:
Deuteronomy 18:9-14 (KJV) 9 When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, 11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. 12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee. 13 Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God. 14 For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.
2 Kings 17:15-18 (KJV) 15 And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them, that they should not do like them. 16 And they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. 17 And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. 18 Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.
How many times have you thought to yourself, “I don’t see how Israel was so stupid to fall back into idol worship”? How many times have you thought, “If that was me, I never would have messed up like that”? The tricks Satan pulled on them are very like the ones he has fooled the world with ever since. Just rename a thing and make it a tradition. People won’t question it they will just follow along and do what everyone else does. It still works. The world celebrates Christmas and calls it honoring God. A God who said plainly don’t do unto me what they do to their gods.
America now stands in the exact place that Israel did all those years ago when Ezekiel witnessed God leaving the Temple. America has turned away from God and let in false gods and idol worship. Just as Israel was cursed to fall to ruin if they turned away from God so was America. We now stand cursed for taking part in the things God hates. Remember the angels that went around marking those who didn’t take part in the abominations? Those angels are walking around today. Did you ever hear of the mark of the beast? If there is a mark of God on you the beast can’t mark you. Think about that.
1 Peter 4:3-5 (KJV) 3 For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: 4 Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you: 5 Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.
Ephesians 4:17-23 (KJV) 17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, 18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: 19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
20 But ye have not so learned Christ; 21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
Ezekiel 8:16-18 (KJV) 16 And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD’s house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.
17 Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose. 18 Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.
God is calling you to repent of your idol worship, to come out from among them and be separate. Will you hear Him?
You may bless me, mock me, hate me, or shun me but I will stand for what I believe no matter what it costs me. On the day of judgment, each of us will give an account of our actions and reactions to God’s Word. As for me, I will listen to the greatest voice in my life, my grandfather Rev. O.R. Graves who said, “If you doubt don’t do it.”
Ezekiel 3:18-19 (JPS 1917) 18 When I say unto the wicked: Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thy hand. 19 Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
