Whether you believe in the bible or not, this article is going to give you an understanding about the main bible verse for Easter i.e. Acts 12:4.
You will find out where the celebration came from and where the word Easter came from.
By the end of this lesson, you have to decide whether you’re going to celebrate the modern day Easter “Holiday” or the “Holy Day” that Most High commanded Israel to remember…
The questions I will be answering with scripture are questions such as: where did the word Easter come from? The reason for easter bunnies and easter eggs…
I will also have an indepth look at what the easter celebration is. I will do this by looking at the three components that make up the easter celebration, which are:
Ash Wednesday
Lent
Good Friday
I will also look at the Resurrection (3 days and 3 nights) and what the scriptures really say about it…
Where Did The Word Easter Come From?
William Tyndale, who was the first translator of the Bible into English in 1535 he was the person who translated the word Pasach, which later he translated as Passover.
It was called Passover because it was the day that the most high passed over children te Israelites children, but killed the first born of the Egyptian children, because the king of Egypt refused to let the Israelites leave Egypt.
Although Tyndale created the word Passover from the word Pasach, in the New Testament, he used the word spelled e s t e r. Which is modern day Easter today. Another spelling is e o s t r e.
Eostre is the pagan anglo-saxon goddess of dawn, a Germanic deity that was worshiped around the same time as the Passover i.e. Spring, April, during the vernal equinox.
This celebration involved the gving of Easter eggs as gifts. Later on when the Christians arrived, the same tradition came to include pastors as recipients of eggs as gifts also.
The inclusion of rabbits in the celebrate relates to a rabbit’s ability to have lots of offspring, it’s this connection tbo abundant new life that made the rabbit a mascot for the Springtime. A time when new life is expected.
Folklore surrounding this pagan worship also suggested the Easter rabbit could actually lay eggs. Obviously an impossibility, because we know that Rabbits don’t lay eggs. This pagan worship can be traced back to the Germanic pagan beliefs.
Germanic languages are indo-European, which is one of the Indo-Uranian languages, so it’s highly probable that this custom has been passed on from an ancient Babylonian/Assyrian worships. The region that Iran is located.
When you read Matthew 26:17-19 in the Tyndale Bible, the Bible translation makes mention of the Passover lamb. Then in the next verse calls it the ester Lamb, and the Passover celebration, Easter, which proves that this celebration should be written as PASACH or Passover when we see it in the Bible.
So let’s see how the Tyndale Bible bible reads…
Matthew 26:17-19 in Tyndale’s Bible:
17 The fyrst daye of swete breed ye disciples cam to Iesus sayinge vnto him: where wylt thou that we prepare for ye to eate ye paschall lambe?
18 And he sayd: Go into the cite vnto soche a man and saye to him: the master sayeth my tyme is at hande I will kepe myne ester at thy housse with my disciples.
19 And the disciples did as Iesus had apoynted them and made redy the esterlambe.
In today’s King James Bible, these verses have been correctly translated as Passover. The only place we find Easter today in the King James Bible is…
Acts 12:4
4 And when he had apprehended him, 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.
So here we see the term Easter.
If you look in a Greek concordance, which shows the original word translated from the Greek, we see that this word was Pasach.
The Easter Celebration
I’ll break it up into 3 parts,
Ash Wednesday
Lent
Good Friday and The Resurrection
This will give you an understanding of what each stage means and the role that it plays in Easter. Then we can use the Bible to see if the scriptures point to Easter as a celebration to be kept.
So let’s start with…
Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday is officially the start of the Easter holiday it is the beginning of lent. Lent last approximately 6 weeks, and it’s supposed to commemorate a time when the Messiah fasted 40 days and 40 nights.
Why Do We Celebrate Lent?
Lent has become a time of fasting, penance, and reflection. The celebration ends on Saturday at sundown, which brings in the morning of Easter Sunday. During this period it’s seen as a sin to eat meat on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday or any of the Fridays during lent.
If you read your Bible this should immediately raise alarm bells because is
1 Timothy 4:1-3
1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
So when we read these verses, we see that Paul prophesied that the abstaining from marriage which we see with the Catholic priests and pope’s and abstaining from meats, would be a doctrine that would be brought into place, in the latter days. And this is what we see during the yearly celebration of Lent, which is part of the Easter celebration.
It’s common knowledge that priests are not permitted to be married in the Catholic Church. Paul prophesies and warns against this practice. Now you have an overview of eastern’s Lent and Ash Wednesday.
Let’s move on to…
Good Friday And The Resurrection In The Bible
Good Friday is supposed to commemorate the crucifixion of the Messiah, which sounds good on the surface, until we count the days, and remember what the Messiah said.
The Easter celebration claims that the Messiah was crucified on Friday and rose on Sunday, which is specifically what Easter commemorates i.e. the resurrection of the Messiah.
This should be an immediate concern to any true beleiver, because according to the scriptures the Messiah himself sais that he would be in the earth 3 days and 3 nights and then he would resurrect.
If the Messiah was crucified on Friday and rose on Sunday, it would be impossible to get 3 days and 3 nights between Friday and Sunday? in:
Matthew 12:39-40
39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:
40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
And if that wasn’t clear enough, in
John 2:19-21
19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?
21 But he spake of the temple of his body.
So here it shows clearly that the Messiah was saying that he would be in the earth 3 days and 3 nights and then rise.
Furthermore, the official ending of the Easter holiday is sundown on Saturday, which would mean that the messiah rose before Sunday, which he did, but this only gives room for one day and one night or two days and one night.
The bible also confirms the the resurrection was before Sunday, which is the first day of the week.
Matthew 28:1-6
1 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
3 His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:
4 And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.
5 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.
6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
When we look at Easter historically, more questions need to be asked..
In 325 AD, the council of nicea called by Emperor Constantine I, the first established Christian council, created their own law that the Easter celebration should take place on the first Sunday after the full moon, after the spring, Vernal Equinox.
So again, this takes us back to pagan observance of the Spring time.
Easter Or Passover?
Historically it is known by historians that the celebration of Easter, was celebrated by the pagans.
Easter has celebrations associated with pagan folklore that were tolerated by the Catholic Church in 325 ad. These included the introduction of easter eggs, easter breads and easter rabbits that were known to bring sweets and coloured eggs during the night.
This is where the notion of Easter eggs comes from, and the of them. This has no relation to the Most High and is very pagan.
These pagan celebrations, celebrate the rebirth of vegetation. This was in Honour of the sun which becomes stronger between the spring time and summer.
Unfortunately, the churches in England and Germany accepted the name of the pagan goddess Easter (the name of this goddess has a number of different spellings), in place of Passover.
Interestingly christianity in the Mediterranean areas such as, italy, spain and France celebrated pascha, derives from the name Passover.
The fact is historians, don’t know where the tradition relating to easter rabbits came from. These facts clearly show that the concept of Easter is very Pagan.
This is something the Messiah warned against (Mark 7:8), that is keeping the traditions of men over the commandments of the Most High.
Conclusion
Whatever the folk lore is in regards to Easter, such as rabbits and Easter eggs and its relation to fertility gods. As believers, we should know that this has no relation to the scriptures.
The worshipping of Pagan gods has always been forbidden in the scriptures…
I Samuel 7:3-4
3 And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.
4 Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the Lord only.
#Israel is told here to put away the worship of Ashtaroth who was the Queen of Heaven, A babylonian deity that was worshipped by other nations. And more than likely the origin of the Easter goddess of dawn.
When we look at the Ten Commandments in...
Exodus 20:1-6
1 And God spake all these words, saying,
2 I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
So We see that Israel, is told not to observe or worship any other God.
Unfortunately, this type of worship has crept into the life of believers unconsciously today.
We are programmed to follow the observance of things that have nothing to do with the scriptures such as Lent, Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
The observance of the Easter holiday is worldwide, which is what makes it so easy to observe, but it’s our job to work out our own salvation.
We should remember that the Messiah said the Pharisees had created traditions of men and put them above the laws of the most high, which is the same thing that we see here.
Mark 7:6-9
6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.
9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
You now know Easter is supposed to be the hebrew word Pasach which is better translated as Passover.
So the true celebration during this spring period is the remembering of the Passover, which leads into the feast of unleavened bread. A seven day feast found in Leviticus 23:4-8 and which takes place in the springtime. The time the Most High designated the beginning of the year for Israel.
Shalom! and shared this with someone that needs it…