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The Easter holiday revealed
The Easter Holiday
And Christians
The Easter Holiday-Revealed
Written By Rev. Penny Hibbitts
April 12, 2011
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The traditional holiday celebrated as
Easter
This Bible Study is intended to find out the
truth about Easter and the traditions that are
used to celebrate it by Christians. Easter is
celebrated by many with Church services,
family get-togethers, stories about Easter
bunnies and a traditional holiday meal. Much
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time and effort is given to coloring Easter eggs
for the traditional Easter egg hunts held for
children and preparing and eating the
traditional Easter dinner, which usually
features ham as the main course. According to
traditional Christian beliefs Easter is said to be
a celebration of Jesus Christ resurrecting from
the dead, yet this does not seem to be the main
focus of the holiday.
Jeremiah 24:6-7 (KJV)
6. For I will set mine eyes upon them for good,
and I will bring them again to this land: and I
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will build them, and not pull them down; and I
will plant them, and not pluck them up.
7. And I will give them an heart to know me,
that I am the Lord: and they shall be my
people, and I will be their God for they shall
return unto me with their whole heart.
Diligent Christians should study to show
themselves approved. Christians should never
just assume that something they heard or read
from someone or someplace, or is held as a
tradition is true without first verifying it by
finding the proof in the Holy Bible. It is easy to
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be deceived by someone elses perception of
predictions. Christians are now being made
aware that most (if not all) of the holidays
traditionally celebrated by Christians have
pagan origins. Armed with the fact that the
celebrated Christian Holidays have pagan
origins, Preachers, Reverends, Priests and other
Christian teachers should be made aware that
they will be held accountable to the Lord for
what they teach their followers, just as parents
are accountable for what they are teaching their
children. This bible study will examine the
dates, origin, symbols and how Easter became a
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Christian celebrated holiday associated with the
resurrection of Jesus Christ and Passover (a
biblical based Christian holiday with no pagan
origins).
The apostle Paul who taught the gospel of
Jesus Christ after Christs death and
resurrection clearly shows that the old laws and
traditions were still in effect at that time and
were not abolished by the birth, death or
resurrection of Jesus Christ as Paul cites the
Ten Commandments of the Old Testament
given to Moses by the Lord, when teaching the
people.
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Romans 13:9
9. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery,
Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou
shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not
covet; and if there be any other commandment,
it is briefly comprehended in this saying,
namely, Thou shalt love they neighbor as
thyself.
Celebration Dates for Easter and
Passover
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Easter is celebrated on April 25. The Easter
Holiday falls on the last day of Passover during
the Seventh Day of Unleavened Bread.
According to the Christian Calendar the
Passover dates are:
Christian Passover
Nisan 14 = sunset April 17 to sunset April 18 in
2011
Christian Passover observed just after sunset on
April 17 in 2011, (Blank, 2011).
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First Day of Unleavened Bread
Nisan 15 = sunset April 18 to sunset April 19 in
2011, (Blank, 2011).
Seventh Day of Unleavened Bread
Nisan 21 = sunset April 24 to sunset April 25 in
2011, (Blank, 2011).
The Origin of Easter
In order to determine the validity of Easter
as a Christian Holiday we must look to the
bible. Easter is mentioned in the bible
depending on which translation is used.
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The New Testament churchcelebrated Passoverwith unleavened
bread.Acts 12:23 clearly demonstrates
that Passover celebrations were still in effect
and this holiday was celebrated for more
than a thousand years after Jesus
resurrection which shows that the Old
Testament holidays and laws (given by the
Lord to His people in Leviticus 11- 23 should
still be recognized by Christians today.
In Acts 12:4-King Herod put theapostle peter in prison with the
intention of bringing him in front of the
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people after Easter. Hebrew words are often
used in the GreekNew Testament versions
some bibles have the wrong translation for
the Hebrew word Pasok which means
Passover. The biblical word Easter derives
from the Greek word Pasha, which is
derived from the Hebrew word Pasok.
Translation of the word Pasha means
Passover, (Pack, 2011. Video).
People began celebrating Easter in the
1870s.
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This is a description of an ancient
Babylonian family2,000 years before Christ
honoring the resurrection of their god,
Tammuz, who was brought back from the
underworld by his mother/wife, Ishtar (after
whom the festival was named). As Ishtar was
actually pronounced Easter in most Semitic
dialects, it could be said that the event
portrayed here is, in a sense, Easter. Of course,
the occasion could easily have been a Phrygian
family honoring Attis and Cybele, or perhaps a
Phoenician family worshipping Adonis and
Astarte. Also fitting the description well would
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be a heretic Israelite family honoring the
Canaanite Baal and Ashtoreth. Or this depiction
could just as easily represent any number of
other immoral, pagan fertility celebrations of
death and resurrectionincluding the modern
Easter celebration as it has come to us through
the Anglo-Saxon fertility rites of the goddess
Eostre or Ostara. These are all the same
festivals, separated only by time and culture.
(Pack, 2004).
The word Easter derived from the Old English
word Eastre or Eostre.
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Symbols of Easter
Hot Cross Buns
There is no reference in the bible about or
too Hot cross buns. This tradition has many
supposed origins. Hot cross buns are typically
eaten on Good Friday and during Lent. Stories
abound about the origins of the Hot Cross Bun.
Yet, the common thread throughout is the
symbolism of the "cross" of icing which adorns
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the bun itself. Some say that the origin of Hot
Cross Buns dates back to the 12th century, when
an Angelican monk was said to have placed the
sign of the cross on the buns, to honor Good
Friday, a Christian holiday also known as the
Day of the Cross. Supposedly, this pastry was
the only thing permitted to enter the mouths of
the faithful on this holy day. Other accounts talk
of an English widow, whose son went off to sea.
She vowed to bake him a bun every Good
Friday. When he didn't return she continued to
bake a hot cross bun for him each year and
hung it in the bakery window in good faith that
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he would someday return to her. The English
people kept the tradition for her even after she
passed away. Others say, that Hot Cross Buns
have pagan roots as part of spring festivals and
that the monks simply added the cross to
convert people to Christians. (Sharon, 2011).
The hot cross bun was originally used as part of
a religious ceremony to the spring fertility
goddess Ostera or queen of heaven, Ishtar,
Ashatari, Astarte (cruel, wayward-Babylonian).
Jeremiah 7:18-19
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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?
20. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold,
mine anger and my fury shall be poured out
upon this place, upon man, and upon beast,
and upon the trees of the field, and upon the
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fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall
not be quenched.
Easter Eggs
There are no verses in the bible about Easter
eggs or any reference to them. Queen
Semiramis a worshipper of Baal who married
her own son created her own religion with
Satans help while claiming that she came from
a giant moon egg that fell in the Euprates River.
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Queen Semiramis also proclaimed that Baal would
be present on earth in the form of a flame, whether
candle or lamp, when used in worship. Semiramis
was creating a mystery religion, and with the help of
Satan, she set herself up as a goddess. Semiramis
claimed that she was immaculately conceived. She
taught that the moon was a goddess that went
through a 28 day cycle and ovulated when full. She
further claimed that she came down from the moon
in a giant moon egg that fell into the Euphrates
River. This was to have happened at the time of the
first full moon after the spring equinox. Semiramis
became known as "Ishtar" which is pronounced
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"Easter", and her moon egg became known as
"Ishtar's" egg."Ishtar soon became pregnant and
claimed that it was the rays of the sun-god Baal that
caused her to conceive.(Meyer, 2011).
The Romans believed that all life
proceeded from an egg, so the egg came to
symbolize birth and rebirth. Christians
regarded eggs as the seeds of life and attributed
them with the symbol of Jesus' resurrection.
Easter was once celebrated by giving colored
eggs to children and later evolved to hiding
them in the grass, where they had supposedly
been laid by a hare. Children referred to this
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Easter mascot as the "Easter Hare," which later
became known as the "Easter Bunny" (Aristotle
Internet. 2002-2009).
Easter Rabbits
There are no bible verses that refer to an
Easter bunny or rabbit as a religious symbol.
However, Tammuz is mentioned in the bible.
Legends about Semiramis, a known worshipper
of Baal, also referred to as Ostara and her son
Tammuz . Tammuz was known to have a
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fondness for rabbits and was killed by a wild
boar. The son that she brought forth was
named Tammuz. Tammuz was noted to be
especially fond of rabbits, and they became
sacred in the ancient religion, because Tammuz
was believed to be the son of the sun-god, Baal.
Tammuz, like his supposed father, became a
hunter. (Meyer, 2011).
Ezekial 8:12-14
12. Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast
thou seen what the ancients of the house of
Israel do in the dark, every man in the
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chambers of his imagery? For they say, The
Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath forsaken the
earth.
13. He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again,
and thou shalt see greater abominations that
they do.
14. Then he brought me to the door of the gate
of the Lords house which was toward the
north; and, behold, there sat women weeping
for Tammuz.
The rabbit has traditionally represented
fertility in many pagan religions and can be
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attributed to the breeding practices of the
rabbit. The rabbit was used in early Easter
celebrations to symbolize fertility, perhaps
because these animals give birth to multiple
offspring at a time. Anglo-Saxon mythology says
that Ostara changed her pet bird into a rabbit to
entertain a group of children, and the rabbit
laid brightly colored eggs for them. (Aristotle
Internet. 2002-2009).
Easter Ham
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Ham is one of the most widely used meats used
to celebrate Easter dinner in Christian households as
a holiday meal that is supposed to be eaten in
celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The
traditional holiday ham is a meat that is specifically
identified as an unclean meat by the Lord in
Leviticus 11:1-8. When the Lord spoke to Moses
and Aaron He specified which animals that people
can eat. The animals were divided as clean and
unclean. The Lord specifically tells them NOT to
eat unclean meat and identifies Swine (hogs and
pigs) as one of the unclean meats because they do
not chew the cud.
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Leviticus 11:1-8 (KJV)
1.And the Lord spake unto Moses and to Aaron,saying unto them,
2.Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Theseare the beasts which ye shall eat among all the
beasts that are on the earth.
3.Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is cloven-footed, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts,
that shall ye eat.
4.Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them thatchew the cud, or of them that divide the hoof: as
the camel, be he cheweth the cud, but divideth
not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.
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5.And the coney, because he cheweth the cud, butdivideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.
6.And the hare, because he cheweth the cud, butdivideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.
7.And the swine, though he divide the hoof, andbe cloven-footed, yet he cheweth not the cud;
he is unclean to you.
8.Of their flesh shall ye not eat, andtheir carcassshall ye not touch; they are unclean to you.
Jeremiah 10:1-3
1. Hear ye the word which the Lord speaketh unto
you, O house of Israel;
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associated with the death and resurrection of Jesus
Christ.
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References
Aristotle. (2000 2009). Origins of easter. Aristotle Internet.
http://home.aristotle.net/easter/origins/
Blank, W. (2011). The Holy day calendar. Daily Bible Study.
http://www.keyway.ca/m2c.htm
Meyer, D. J. The pagan origin of Easter. Last trumpet ministries international. Retrieved May 1, 2011.
http://www.lasttrumpetministries.org/tracts/tract1.html
Pack, D. (2011).Video.Easter exposed-what God says. The restored church of God.
http://www.thercg.org/landing/holidays.html?s_kwcid=TC-4107-5641387640-e-286273730#c
Pack, D. (2004). The true origin of Easter. The restored church of God.
http://www.thercg.org/books/ttooe.html#c
Sharon.(1998-2011).Hot Cross Buns.DLTK sites.http://www.dltk-holidays.com/easter/hotcrossbuns.htm
Photos: Microsoft Office 2007 Clipart
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