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HIS
SERVANTS' MINISTRY, Inc.
www.judgmentcoming.org
Welcome
to our Web Site!
Is
Easter a Pagan Holiday?
YES,
absolutely! It takes a not thinking "Christian" to go along with the evil, blasphemous
and idolatrous traditions of Easter. "Easter"
traditions have NOTHING at all to do with
the resurrection of our precious Saviour
and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Some times the
Truth hurts, and everything I say in this
article is true as far as I am concerned.
I know that Jesus would not soften it
up, so I won't either!
Below
is an email we sent to our pastor several
years ago.
Dear
Pastor,
We
love you dearly, more than you know. While
sitting in church this morning, looking
over the program of this extremely special
day, we both noticed something wonderful:
you referred to this day as Resurrection
Sunday, NOT Easter. We both felt really
good about that. Then as the program started,
you announced an "Easter" egg
hunt directly following the service.
How
can you follow such a remarkable service
with idolatry? As I sat there, I knew
I had to do something. The Lord made me
quite miserable. I knew I had to say something
to you. If I did not say something, one
day when I stand before the Almighty Judge,
He would certainly ask me why I didn’t.
On
our way home, Paul and I discussed sending
you an e-mail. The first thing he said
was: "Make sure you tell him how
Easter got its name."
Please
check out what is said below. You are
an educated person, and it would be easy
to check out if this is true or false.
We are sending this to you because we
love you and care about you. Paul and
Connie
Ashtoreth
was the mother goddess of love, war, and
fertility. She was also called Astarte
or Ishtar (Easter). Ishtar was a goddess
that symbolized reproductive power. She
was a mistress of the god Baal. She was
a goddess of fertility, sex, light and
spring. She supposedly had rabbits that
laid eggs. Sound familiar? Easter egg
hunts are sending a terribly wrong message
to our children.
Ashtoreth
(Ishtar) can be traced back to the days
of the Babylonians and Chaldeans, who
lived thousands of years BEFORE Jesus’
birth. These pagan nations kept a spring
festival in honor of the goddess Ashtarte
(Ishtar), the goddess of spring and rebirth.
The historian, Alexander Hislop, in his
"The Two Babylons" states very
plainly that Easter "is not a Christian
name." It wears its Chaldean origin
on its very forehead. Easter is nothing
but ISHTAR.
A
TRUE Christian should NOT be associated
with "Easter." It is a terrible
insult to our precious Saviour and Lord.
This blessed and holy day should be called
Resurrection Day, NOT Easter.
Exodus 20:1-6 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. (KJV)
1
Samuel 7:3 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.
(KJV)
1
Samuel 12:10 And they cried
unto the Lord, and said, We have sinned,
because we have forsaken the Lord, and
have served Baalim and Ashtaroth: but
now deliver us out of the hand of our
enemies, and we will serve thee. (KJV)
1
Kings 11:5 For Solomon went
after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians,
and after Milcom the abomination of the
Ammonites. (KJV)
1
Kings 11:33 Because that they
have forsaken me, and have worshipped
Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians,
Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom
the god of the children of Ammon, and
have not walked in my ways, to do that
which is right in mine eyes, and to keep
my statutes and my judgments, as did David
his father. (KJV)
2
Kings 23:13 And the high places
that were before Jerusalem, which were
on the right hand of the mount of corruption,
which Solomon the king of Israel had builded
for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians,
and for Chemosh the abomination of the
Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination
of the children of Ammon, did the king
defile. (KJV)
Judges
2:13 And they forsook the
Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.
(KJV)
Ashtoreth
was the mother goddess of love, war, and
fertility (she was also called Astarte
or Ishtar). Temple prostitution and child
sacrifice were a part of the worship of
these Canaanite idols.
Judges
10:6 And the children of Israel
did evil again in the sight of the Lord,
and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and
the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon,
and the gods of Moab, and the gods of
the children of Ammon, and the gods of
the Philistines, and forsook the Lord,
and served not him. (KJV)
Jeremiah
44:17 But we will certainly
do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of
our own mouth, to burn incense unto the
queen of heaven, and to pour out drink
offerings unto her, as we have done, we,
and our fathers, our kings, and our princes,
in the cities of Judah, and in the streets
of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of
victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.
(KJV) The Queen
of Heaven was another name for Ishtar,
the Mesopotamian goddess of love and fertility.
After the fall of Jerusalem, the refugees
from Judah who fled to Egypt continued
to worship her.
1
Cor. 6:9 Know ye not that
the unrighteous shall not inherit the
kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither
fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers,
nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves
with mankind, (KJV)
1
Cor. 10:14 Wherefore, my dearly
beloved, flee from idolatry. (KJV)
1
John 5:21 Little children,
keep yourselves from idols. Amen. (KJV)
Ishtar
was the principal goddess of the Babylonians
and Assyrians. Worshiped by the Sumerians
as Inanna and by the Phoenicians as Astarte.
She was worshipped as the compassionate
mother of all life, who brought fertility
and relief from sickness. She was also
worshipped as the lustful goddess of sexual
love and war.
Fertility
rites are ceremonies of a witchcraft-religious
nature performed to guarantee the succession
of life. From earliest time humans have
performed these rites in an attempt to
control the circumstances. Defined as
invocations, incantations, prayers, hymns,
processions, dances, and sacred dramas,
these ritual activities were believed
to be closely connected with the processes
of nature. The basis for such rites was
usually a belief that the principle of
life and fertility was one and essential.
Sacred
marriages frequently have formed part
of the fertility ritual; the effectiveness
of this symbolic union at times depended
on the chastity of the participants. Ritual
prostitution, human and animal sacrifice,
and displays of ghost symbols were also
sometimes believed to stimulate fertility.
In a number of ancient societies the role
of the god was combined with that of the
king, and the fertility of the land and
people was linked with the king’s state
of perfection and purification.
Tammuz
was the Accadian sun-god (Adonis of the
Greeks), and was the husband of the goddess
Ishtar. In the Chaldean calendar there
was a month set apart in honor of this
god, the month of June to July, the beginning
of the summer solstice. At this festival,
which lasted six days, the worshippers,
with loud lamentations, bewailed the funeral
of the god, they sat "weeping
for Tammuz" (Ezekiel 8:14).
Let
us celebrate Resurrection Day gratefully
with praise and worship of our Saviour
and Lord, Jesus Christ, NOT buying Easter
baskets for our children and having Easter
egg hunts. To do this is NOT in any way,
worshipping our Saviour! It is going along
with the world. It is worshipping Ishtar,
the Queen of Heaven, a detestable goddess.
Our Holy and Almighty God cringes when
you go along with idolatrous practices
of the heathen.
As
is with nearly all "Christian"
holidays, Resurrection Day is no longer
a spiritual holiday. It has in fact been
taken over by unbelievers and is a day
simply for greedy merchants to make money.
But, the divided nature of what the world
knows as "Easter" and its symbols,
is really not a modern invention.
Since
its origin as a holy celebration in the
second century, "Easter" has
never failed to show its non-religious
side. In the truth of reality, "Easter"
started as a pagan festival.
The
ancient Saxons celebrated the return of
spring with an hilarious celebration observing
their goddess of spring and rebirth, Eastre.
When the second-century Christian missionaries
come across the tribes of the north with
their pagan celebrations, they tried
to convert them to Christianity. They
did so, however, in a very underhanded
manner.
Early
Christian converts would have been killed
if they tried to celebrate their holy
days with observances that did not coincide
with celebrations that already existed.
The missionaries simply decided to spread
their religious message slowly
throughout the people, by allowing them
to continue to celebrate pagan feasts,
but to do it in a Christian way.
Since
the devil was in charge of all this evil
idolatry, the pagan festival of Eastre
took place at the exact same time of year
as Christians observed the Resurrection
of Christ. It just made sense, for that
reason, to alter the festival, and make
it a Christian celebration as converts
were slowly won over. The early name,
Eastre, was eventually changed to its
modern spelling, "Easter".
WHY
Is The Date of Easter Always Different??
Prior
to A.D. 325, Easter was celebrated on
different days of the week: Friday, Saturday,
or Sunday. In that year, the Council of
Nicaea was convened by emperor Constantine.
They decided that "Easter" should
be celebrated on the first Sunday that
occurs after the first full moon. The
"full moon" in the rule is the
ecclesiastical full moon, which is defined
as the fourteenth day of a tabular lunation,
where day 1 corresponds to the ecclesiastical
New Moon. It does not always occur on
the same date as the astronomical full
moon. The ecclesiastical "vernal
equinox" is always on March 21. Therefore,
Easter must be celebrated on a Sunday
between the dates of March 22 and April
25.
The
Lenten Season . . . What is it? Why is
it?
Lent
is the 46 day period just before "Easter"
Sunday. It begins on Ash Wednesday. Mardi
Gras (French for "Fat Tuesday")
is a celebration, sometimes called "Carnival,"
and it is practiced around the world,
on the Tuesday just before Ash Wednesday.
WHY is it? It was planned so people could
"get it all out" (go hog wild)
before submitting to the sacrifices of
Lent. New Orleans, with all its voo doo
and witchcraft is the focal point of Mardi
Gras celebrations in the United States.
The
highlight of the year for Christians is
Resurrection Day, the day when our Lord
rose from the dead. Lent is a 40 day season
of preparing for "Easter." WHY
40 days? Because, Jesus fasted and was
tempted in the wilderness for 40 days.
Lent, then, is supposedly a time of fasting,
prayer, resisting temptation and repentance.
Lent is NO required anywhere in the Bible!
NO where does our Lord Jesus tell us to
observe Lent; but it is a tradition, which
Christians (especially Catholics) have
practiced for almost 2000 years.
In
many languages, "Lent" actually
means "fast." That is where
the custom (tradition) of giving up
something for Lent originated.
Lent
actually is 46 days, not 40 days. WHY?
Because the 40 days of Lent are supposed
to be days of fasting (discipline and
self-restraint). But Sunday, the Lord's
Day, should never be a day of fasting,
but a day of celebration! So each Sunday
people put off their Lenten disciplines
and celebrate. Lent is 40 "fasting"
days spread out over a total of 46 days
beginning on Ash Wednesday.
The
Cross
The
Cross is the symbol of the Crucifixion
of Christ, NOT His Resurrection. However,
at the Council of Nicaea, in A.D. 325,
Constantine decreed that the Cross was
the official symbol of Christianity. The
Cross is not only a symbol of Easter,
but it is considered the "sign"
of Christianity. What really disturbs
me is the 'cross' is blatantly displayed
by people who do not show any sign whatsoever
of being "disciples" of Christ!
A TRUE disciple of Christ is someone who
walks with Him daily, imitates Him daily,
and has a close fellowship with Him.
It
is good that we remember Jesus' death,
but it is far better that we remember
His resurrection! He lives! Jesus lives!
He is NOT dead! He arose!
The
So-Called "Easter Bunny"
The
Easter Bunny is not something new. This
dreadful and evil symbol started with
the pagan festival of Eastre. The goddess,
Eastre, was worshipped by the Anglo-Saxons
through her earthly symbol, a rabbit.
The
Easter Egg
As
with "Easter" and the Easter
Bunny, the "Easter Egg" goes
back a long way, long before "Easter"
became a "Christian" holiday.
The exchange of eggs in the springtime
is a custom that was centuries old when
Easter was first celebrated by Christians.
From
the earliest of times, the "egg"
was a symbol of rebirth in most societies.
Eggs were often wrapped in gold leaf or,
if you were poor, they were colored by
boiling them with the leaves or petals
from certain flowers.
Today,
people (supposed Christians) still follow
this idolatrous custom. Children hunt
colored eggs and place them in "Easter"
baskets. Too, today, "Easter"
eggs are made of chocolate candy, marshmallows
or plastic.
All
I ask is that you seriously consider what
I have said here. Most "Christians"
won't even finish this article because
they will think I am some kind of a "religious
fanatic." My friend, I am a fanatic
. . . a fanatic about my Lord Jesus. We
must turn away from worldly customs, turn
away from idolatrous practices. ALL people
will one day stand before the Almighty
Judge! If you say you are a Christian,
and follow these idolatrous customs, HOW
will you explain that to Jesus??? Excuses
won't work at the Judgment! Those entrusted
with the Gospel are watchmen.
Isaiah
21:6 For thus hath the Lord said
unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare
what he seeth. [KJV] WHAT
do I see? I
see the wrath of God coming down on many
people.
Ezekiel 33:6 But
if the watchman see the sword come, and
blow not the trumpet, and the people be
not warned; if the sword come, and take
any person from among them, he is taken
away in his iniquity; but his blood will
I require at the watchman's hand.
[KJV] I am blowing
the trumpet. I am warning you of the wrath
of God to come. Ezekiel was the
"watchman" for Israel. Today,
anyone who brings God's Word is a "watchman"
to God's people.
Jeremiah
51:45 My people, go ye out of the
midst of her, and deliver ye every man
his soul from the fierce anger of the
Lord. [KJV]
John 15:19 If ye were of the world,
the world would love his own: but because
ye are not of the world, but I have chosen
you out of the world, therefore the world
hateth you. [KJV] Jesus'
Words.
Ephes. 5:11 And have no fellowship
with the unfruitful works of darkness,
but rather reprove them. [KJV]
2
Thes. 3:6 Now we command you, brethren,
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that ye withdraw yourselves from every
brother that walketh disorderly, and not
after the tradition which he received
of us. [KJV]
Rev. 18:4 And I heard another
voice from heaven, saying, Come out of
her, my people, that ye be not partakers
of her sins, and that ye receive not of
her plagues. [KJV]
Please
check out some of the many web sites on
Easter/Ishtar.
See what others have to say on this idolatrous custom.
Click
on a Topic:
FALSE DOCTRINE
False Catholic Doctrine
Catholics vs Evangelicals
False Catholic Teaching
Christmas
Copeland's Heresy
Easter
False & True Teaching
Word-Faith . . . Is It Biblical
Home Page
See web sites exposing Pagan holidays:
* http://www.eliyah.com/paganexp.html
* http://godkind.org/pagan-holidays.html
http://www.goodnewsaboutgod.com/studies/holidays2.htm
http://www.essortment.com/all/christmaspagan_rece.htm
http://bibletools.org/index.cfm/
http://www.exposingsatanism.org/christmas.htm
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/5743/pagan8.html
http://www.truechristianity.com/christian/christmas.htm
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