Today, many in the world of Christianity celebrate Easter. The purpose of this article is to state some interesting facts about Easter and some of the ways people celebrate it. Let me be clear from the outset, I believe every day is Resurrection Day if you are born again. We should not pick out just one day to celebrate the Lord Jesus Christ conquering death, hell and the grave.
Consider the following:
1. Nowhere in the Bible are we instructed to celebrate the resurrection as a special day.
2. The early church did not celebrate Easter until the middle of the 2nd century.
3. We are not to adopt the customs of pagans and bring them into the church. See Deuteronomy 12:4; 18:9. "When you enter the land which Yahweh your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the abominations of those nations."
4. In America, Easter was not generally celebrated until after the Civil War in the late 1800s. The Puritans and Pilgrims did not celebrate Christmas or Easter as a general rule.
We need to make an honest search to inquire about the customs of those who actions we have brought into the church. Below are some "Easter Errors:"
1. Easter has ancient roots. It predates Christianity and was a widely observed pagan celebration of fertility and the sun's rebirth. After a long cold winter, pagans ushered in spring observing the identical customs the church observes today in its Easter traditions.
2. The word "Easter" is actually the proper name of a pagan god. Its name derives from Eostra, a Teutonic goddess of spring. Her festival was celebrated at the time of the vernal equinox (means "equal night" because the daylight hours and night hours are the same).
3. Another reference work states: "Easter is nothing else than Astarte, one of the titles of Beltis, the queen of heaven, whose name is identical as pronounced by the people of Nineveh. Easter is a modern form of Ishtar, Eostre, Ostera, or Astarte.
4. The egg was a sacred symbol among the Babylonians. The ancient Egyptians, in one of their creation myths, believed the universe was created from an enormous egg. In Rome, pregnant women wore eggs around their necks to ward off evil. As far back as 722B.C., the Chinese were decorating eggs for their spring festival. So how did the eggs become part of our religious practice? The answer is simple. When Christianity reached the Teutons (ancient northern European tribe), the old pagan traditions were ingrained into the hearts of the people. The Catholic Church adopted the pagan customs and incorporated them into the church's liturgy. The church mingled the abominable practices of idolatrous spring festival worship with the purity and truth of Christianity.
5. The rabbit has long been a heathen symbol of fertility since they multiply rapidly. The rabbit is associated with the moon in the legends of ancient Egypt and other peoples. The rabbit was the animal of ancient times associated with Eostre and was a symbol of fertility.
6. What about wearing new clothes? Tradition states one should wear new clothes at Easter. The pagans considered it unlucky not to wear some new article of clothing or personal adornment on Easter. Since the earth seemed to put on "new garments" in the spring, it was considered lucky to wear something new at spring festivals.
7. The Easter Lily is used to decorate churches worldwide. However, the "Easter Lily" has long been revered by pagans of various lands as a holy symbol associated with the reproductive organs. It was considered a phallic symbol!
8. Regarding the 40-day period known as Lent, this forty-day abstinence period was directly borrowed from the worshippers of the Babylonian goddess. It is still observed by the Yezidis or pagan devil-worshippers of Koordistan, who inherited it from their early masters, the Babylonians. Lent is not in the Holy Scriptures, nor did the early church practice it.
9. The Easter sunrise service is a modern reenactment of an ancient sun worship ritual. The early church did not hold sunrise services at Easter. Easter Sunday was observed no differently from any other Sunday.
Deuteronomy 12:32 states: "What thing soeverI command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it." Easter is an unscriptural addition to the church and the Bible. Let me contrast Easter pagan practices with the rainbow. The rainbow belonged to God's people. It was a reminder of God's promise. However, in our day, homosexuals have adopted the symbol for themselves. We don't abandon the rainbow because it was a practice belonging to us first. To the contrary, Easter practices were borrowed from the pagans. You can't "Christianize" them. To that one who might argue, "But what about all the good that comes from people celebrating Easter with the bunnies and eggs?" My response is that it is better to obey God than man.
"When you enter the land which Yahweh your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the abominations of those nations." (Deuteronomy 18:9) God has instructed us to not imitate the practices of the pagan nations, but that is exactly what the church has done.
I leave you with one Scriptural admonition: "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you." (2 Cor. 6:17)
For me and my house, we will choose to celebrate every day as Resurrection Day!
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