The previous posting in this series ended with a hint as to the subject of this posting–the annual celebration of the heathen goddess of fertility whom the Western world calls “Easter.” A number of ancient societies worshiped female goddesses who were either directly or indirectly connected to the sun. Some goddesses were themselves worshiped as the sun. The mother of the sun god, Tammuz, arranged for herself to be worshiped because of her relationship to him. For this reason she came to be known as the “Queen of Heaven.” The Israelites were forbidden to intermingle with heathen nations. Their rebellion against God’s edict resulted in their embracing various pagan gods such as Baal, Molech and Tammuz. Following his early death, his mother Simiramus took over his vacated godship under several names, one of which is Easter. The irony of this situation is that Easter is not mentioned in either the Old or New Testaments. With one exception written about below. If Easter was celebrated by the early church, why was she not mentioned by any of the New Testament writers?

Every year in the spring billions of people calling themselves Christians observe “Easter Sunday” supposedly in honor of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Those same people (the vast majority) also celebrate Christmas in honor of His birth. However, on the day of His resurrection–the most sacred day on the church calendar–the emphasis is on such things as colored eggs, chocolate bunnies, hot cross buns and baby chicks. Try asking a celebrant why Christ’s resurrection is celebrated using those items. Ironically, Christ’s resurrection is barely mentioned, and only during the hour or so on “Easter Sunday.” However, references to Easter will have been seen for several days, even weeks in some instances. Some cities hold public marches and parades in honor of the goddess of reproduction. But no one holds a parade or publicly acknowledges the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Concerning the word “Easter” found in the Bible, there is a mis-translation of the Word “Passover” in the King James Verion of the Scriptures in Acts 12:4. This grave error was caused by the Catholic translators used by the king. That is not the only place where they stopped translating the Scriptures and began interpreting them to match their religious beliefs and customs. God makes it clear that His people are to celebrate Passover at the beginning of His year, and to do so forever (Exo. 12:1-14).

Question: If Jesus meant for His people to observe Easter, why did He not leave explicit instructions on how to do so as He did relative to Passover and His other Holy Days such as the weekly 7th day Sabbath? The same question can be asked about Christmas. Read Jeremiah 10:1-5 for His Words relative to Christmas. The Lord did have something to say about Easter in two places in the Holy Scriptures.

The first mention of the Jews paying homage to the so-called “Queen of Heaven” is found in Jeremiah 7:17-19 where He says to the prophet: “Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather (fire) wood, the fathers kindle a fire and the women knead dough to make cakes for the QUEEN OF HEAVEN. They pour drink offerings to OTHER GODS and provoke Me to anger…. Do they not provoke themselves to their own confusion?” Note that this observance concerns worshiping the queen of heaven (Easter).

The other Scriptural passage relative to Easter was discussed in the previous posting. For clarity I will repeat it here: “And He (God) brought me (Ezekiel) into the inner court of the house of the Lord and behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the alter, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, WORSHIPING THE SUN (RISING) IN THE EAST.” Then He said to me, ‘Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it too slight a thing for the house of Judah to commit the ABOMINATIONS which they commit here, that they should fill the land with violence and provoke me further to anger (Eze. 8:16,17)?

Though this passage of Scripture refers to a time before the arrival of Jesus Christ on earth, millions of professing Christians perform the same ritual in honor of the same heavenly queen each Easter Sunday by standing with their faces toward the rising sun in the east in an expression of worship and adulation. What does this have to do with the resurrection of Jesus Christ? This ritual was borrowed from the Babylonian worship of the sun and his wife, the original goddess we call Easter. This practice, along with all the hoopla connected to it, provokes Almighty God to anger. He expresses His anger through His “voices.” Read The “Voices” of God. Key word–Voices. Obviously, the observance of Easter has no relationship with the worship of the risen Lord. How, then, did Easter with its emphasis on the sun, Tammuz, Simiramus, eggs, bunnies, chicks and hot cross buns become part of traditional Christianity?

In order to understand why those within professing Christendom observe Easter Sunday each year, we need to know from whence the celebration came. I want to thank other people for doing the necessary historical research which makes this explanation possible. The English term (Easter) refers to Estre, a Teutonic goddess of the rising light of day and the spring season which features the beginning of God’s year. The Babylonian name for this goddess was “Ishtar.” Among the Phoenicians she was called “Astarte” who was the wife of the sun god, Baal, the worship of whom God repeatedly condemns as the most pagan form of idolatry. It was Baal who convinced the Israelites to sacrifice their children to him, which they did under the leadership of King Solomon whose pagan wives brought the practice with them when they married him.

This goddess is actually Simiramus, the mother and wife of Nimrod, the mighty warrior who placed himself before (against) God (Gen. 10:8,9). Nimrod and Simiramus were the founders of the Babylonian religion. It was because Simiramus was the wife of the sun god that she became known as the Queen of Heaven. One so-called Christian church still honors its own “queen of heaven.”

Historical research reveals the origin of the colored eggs and hot cross buns associated with Easter Sunday observance. The various Babylonian religions are characterized as “mystery” religions. See Revelation 17:1-5 where we find the woman on the beast being called “mystery, Babylon.” Died eggs and hot cross buns were sacred to many ancient civilizations. In Egyptian Belief and Modern Thought it is written, “The Mystic egg of Babylon, which hatched Ishtar of (the planet) Venus, fell from heaven into the Euphrates (River).” Legend has it that birds sat on the giant egg until it hatched and out came Ishtar. Dyed eggs were sacred Easter offerings in Egypt, as they still are in China and Europe.” Easter (meaning spring) was the season of birth for both earthly and heavenly entities.

We will end this series by examining God’s Word relative to the Passover versus Easter argument. Just before his death the Apostle Paul wrote about CHRIST’S COMMAND CONCERNING THE OBSERVANCE OF PASSOVER: “For I have received of (Words from) the Lord which I also spoke to you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which He was betrayed took bread and, after giving thanks, broke it and said, ‘Take, eat, for this is (symbolic of) My body. Do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same manner He took the cup (of wine) and, after drinking from it, said, ‘This cup (of wine) is (symbolic of) the New Testament in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you show (memorialize) the Lord’s death until He returns.”

Many millions of church people focus on the birth and resurrection of Christ–NEITHER OF WHICH IS COMMANDED IN THE HOLY BIBLE. Only a tiny number of true saints obey HIS COMMAND TO COMMEMORATE HIS DEATH. Commemorating His birth and resurrection are heathen in origin and have no place in the Christian church. As Paul tells us, we are to remember His death. L.J.