The morning of April 21^st 2019 perhaps as many as 2 billion people who profess Christianity will rise early to attend sunrise services to begin their annual Easter celebration. They will do this in spite of the fact that there is no Biblical example of Jesus or his early Church ever celebrating the Easter Holiday. Nowhere in the New Testament of the Bible is there a command or an example of this practice to follow. Where then did this practice begin and what are its origins?

Easter’s origin is ancient, predating Jesus’s human birth by 2200 years. Following the flood Noah’s sons and their wives began repopulating the earth. One of Noah’s sons was Ham who begat Cush who in turn begat Nimrod, Noah’s great grandson Nimrod became a powerful leader but did not follow in the footsteps of his great grandfather and never found grace in the eyes of God. He built the cities of Asshur, Babel, Calla, and Ninevah along with some others. All of these cities were known for their evil perverted lifestyles. Upon Nimrod’s death Semiramis, his wife, promoted him as a deity and started a religion in his name which eventually became known as Baal the Sun God. Those who worshiped him practiced unspeakable evil such as human sacrifice, demon worship, idolatry, etc.

Where Easter comes into the picture stems from the birth of Tammuz, Semiramis’s illegitimate son. Semiramis was successful in convincing her followers that Tammuz was the rebirth of Nimrod. They saw him as the savior they had been waiting for and began worshiping him and Semiramis herself as the God of fertility. She became known as Ishstar (pronounced Easter). In your Bible she is referred to as Ashtoreth.

Easter’s origin itself comes from the death of Tammuz who was supposedly killed by a wild boar. As the legend goes,  through the power generated by the tears of Semiramis, Tammuz was resurrected as vegetation appearing on earth. The traditional bunny and eggs have long been associated with fertility and Ishtar. Babylonians believed that an egg fell from heaven into the Euphrates River and when it hatched it was Queen Astarte, another name for Semiramis.

While Jesus during his human lifetime never mentioned this pagan worship in particular, he did as Lord of the Old Testament.

He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do. Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD’S house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these. 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. 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. 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. (Ezekiel 8:13-18)

Sunrise services recorded in the Bible nearly 600 years before Jesus’s human birth. The lord did not take kindly to this practice and promised to take no pity on those participating in the abomination.

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. Do they provoke me to anger? saith the LORD: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces? 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 fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched. (Jeremiah 7:18-20)

Though all don’t practice baking Hot Cross Buns for Easter, many do. This is a form of idol worship that God abhors and has not been silent about the penalty we will pay for the practice.

Many ministers and pastors have been schooled about Easter’s origins but maintain they observe this holiday to honor Jesus and that makes it OK. They may believe this practice is OK but their Bibles instruct otherwise.

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; 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. 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. What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it. (Deuteronomy 12:29-32)

 The word Easter does occur once in the New Testament in Acts 12:4 but it is a mistranslation of the Greek word “pascha” which means Passover. The word occurs 29 times in the New Testament and is translated correctly (Passover) 28 times.

I believe those who identify as Christians and celebrate Easter do so with all sincerity because most churches teach that Easter replaced Passover. What did Jesus teach? Beginning in the 13^th chapter of John we find Jesus washing his disciples feet prior to the Passover meal. Following this exercise he said this:

If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. (John 13:17)

 Jesus observed the Passover with his disciples before his arrest in the following manner:

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom. (Matthew 26:26-29)

 This was a new instruction by Jesus for all future Passover observances Jesus became the sacrificial lamb, so killing a lamb for Passover would be done away with in the future as would all other sacrifices.

The original Passover occurred in Egypt when god gave instructions on how to observe it for the specific purpose of ensuring the death angel would passover the homes of those who had sprinkled blood of the lamb on their door posts. We find the record in Exodus 12.

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: And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD’S passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever. (Exodus 12:3-14)

 Please note that God declared this day to be a memorial and made it law to observe it forever. We should not take God’s law lightly. It becomes obvious that Passover was a symbolic precursor to the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins. An unblemished lamb was taken into each house 4 days before it was killed. Jesus rode into Jerusalem 4 days before he was sacrificed.

It should also be noted that the disciples of Jesus continued to observe the Passover in the manner Jesus instructed throughout their lives. Paul said this about the Observance:

Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Corinthians 5:7-8)

 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

 Paul was very clear that Passover symbolized Jesus’s death not his resurrection. Paul and the other apostles as stated earlier observed Passover throughout their lives. They taught the practice to the churches in Asia minor, unfortunately The Roman Church eventually hijacked the Churches of Asia Minor and replaced their observances with pagan practices which continue to be practiced to this day.

The Catholic encyclopedia points out that Jesus and his apostles observed the sabbath law and all the Holy day and festivals of Leviticus 23 including Passover and they never celebrated Easter (New Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 5, 1967, page 867,  Early Christian Feasts).

The following are facts:

Easter is not found in scripture.

Easter was not an institution of God.

Easter was not sanctioned by Jesus.

Easter was not part of the teaching of the apostles.

Easter was never observed in the early Church.

Jesus never taught anyone to memorialize his resurrection.

Jesus did teach his followers to memorialize his death.

Jesus was not resurrected Sunday morning.

Will we follow Jesus teaching or will we face this.

And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Matthew 7:23)

Observe Passover starting at sunset April 18th!