Let's find out what people are really worshipping on Easter!

In part 1 we defined Easter and Passover and the true events that occurred during Yeshua's victory over death. If you haven't read that Teaching, you can find it here.

In summary, the thinking that Yeshua died on Friday evening and rose again on Sunday morning is not logical as it contradicts what He said - That He would be dead in the tomb for 3 days and 3 nights. The modern way of thinking does not come close to 3 days and 3 nights. However, people believe that way of thinking because it is said in the Bible that Yeshua rose on the day after the Sabbath (A Saturday). Why do I say that the Sabbath was on a Saturday? Read here. Why do I call Jesus by the name Yeshua? Read here.

To reconcile this, we first established how days were measured according to God's calendar - Days were measured from sundown to sundown and then discovered Yeshua died on Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread - Which meant that TWO Sabbaths took place. Applying these two facts revealed to us that Yeshua was crucified on a Wednesday and rose again on Saturday sundown, which was considered Sunday.

Please read that Teaching! It truly opens your eyes and makes you realize it should be called "Good Wednesday" instead of "Good Friday".

However, there is still another major flaw in today's Easter celebrations, and again, it has to do with the calendar. Something doesn't add up.

But now that we know and accept the timeline of events around the crucifixion, and we know we established the correct version according to Scripture - We can move on and dig a bit deeper into Easter.

Why Don't Easter and Passover Dates Lineup?

We know that Easter and Passover are directly linked. We know Yeshua died over Passover. In 2024, these are the dates to celebrate Easter and Passover:

• Passover - 22nd April
• Easter - 31st March

But why is this? Yeshua died on Passover itself, so surely Easter should start on the 22nd of April?

And if we look back at some other years, we see the same trend:

2023 Passover & Easter dates:

• Passover - 5th of April
• Easter - 9th April

1997 Passover & Easter dates:

• Passover - 21st of April
• Easter - 30 March

Let's find out why these dates are not aligned.

Roman Influence

In the year 325 AD, it was decided by the Council of Nicaea, called together by Emporer Constantine (who was also the one who made Christmas on the 25th of December, their pagan Roman sun god Sol Invictus celebration day AND changed the Sabbath from a Saturday to a Sunday because that was the Roman's day of sun worship) of the Roman Empire, that Easter would fall on the first new moon after the spring equinox, and NOT after Passover and according to God's calendar, so that they could still practice their pagan traditions. A nice summary of the power struggle over this change can be read on another website here.

Where does the word "Easter" Originate From?

Based on research, there are a few theories, but they are all equally pagan. It is mostly agreed that the word Easter is derived from the goddess Eostre. Eostre is the Germanic goddess of dawn who is celebrated during the Spring Equinox. In Norse mythology, they have a similar goddess, who represents fertility and rebirth. The Celtics also have the same goddess, who also represents dawn, light, and rebirth.

The rabbit is the symbol of Eostre in these pagan cultures. The rebirth theme is then tied into rabbits, who breed like crazy. This is why the Easter Bunny seems to be a thing in modern times. It comes back to pagan gods and their symbols.

In a similar fashion to Christmas, the Romans decided they wanted to amalgamate all these pagan practices, and Christianity, into one - called Easter. Since Eostre was prevalent in so many cultures and signified a rebirth, The Romans saw some similarities in Yeshua's story:

Yeshua:

• Crucified close to the Spring Equinox
• Had a "Rebirth" of His own when he rose from the dead
• People celebrated this time.
• He had many followers

Eostre:

• Celebrated on the Spring Equinox
• Represents dawn (of Spring) and fertility
• People celebrated this time.
• Eostre was celebrated in many cultures.

And just like that, we now have one day to celebrate all these pagan gods and Yeshua. One day which now includes incorrectly declaring His death on a Friday, and incorporating easter eggs and bunny rabbits to please Eostre / fertility side of things.

Is "Easter" Found in the Bible?

Yes, but actually no. Only in the KJV version will you see the word Easter:

Act 12:4 And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.

Let's analyze the word "Easter" here:

G3957 - πάσχα páscha, pas'-khah; of Chaldee origin (compare H6453); the Passover (the meal, the day, the festival or the special sacrifices connected with it):—Easter, Passover.

It is referring to Passover, which the later English Bibles correctly use. Here is the NIV version:

Act 12:4 After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.

All the original texts (Hebrew and Greek) contain the word "Passover". So, no this word does not exist in the Bible, further hinting at its pagan roots.

What did the Early Church Do?

One of the best ways to analyze how we should be living is to observe how the early church behaved. Easter only became a thing in 325 AD after the Roman Empire united Yeshua's crucifixion and the goddess Eostre together. So what happened before?

1) Before Yeshua came - Everyone celebrated God's Appointed Feasts:

• The Sabbath
• Passover & The Festival of Unleavened Bread
• First Fruits (The day after the last day of Unleavened Bread)
• Festival of Weeks
• Festival of Trumpets
• Day of Atonement
• Festival of Tabernacles

2) When Yeshua came - Everyone continued to celebrate God's Appointed Feasts

• Yeshua became our Passover lamb!
• Yeshua observed all sabbaths & other festivals and never taught otherwise.

3) After Yeshua - The Early Church - They continued to celebrate all the festivals.

• This is well documented, for example, Paul told the Corinthian Church to keep the festival of Unleavened Bread.

Does it Matter that we celebrate Easter when we know Who it is about?

I believe it does - God Himself said these words:

Deu 12:1 These are the decrees and laws you must be careful to follow in the land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors, has given you to possess—as long as you live in the land.

Deu 12:4 You must not worship the LORD your God in their way.

By conforming to this mix of pagan worship and Christian worship, you are essentially worshipping the Lord according to the World, and not how God instructed.

Even worse is how disconnected "Easter" is from what happened. Including Part I, Here is a final summary of why this holiday is so far away from God:

REAL: Yeshua died on Passover.

FAKE: Easter is celebrated on a completely different day.

REAL: Yeshua represented the Passover lamb.

FAKE: Easter is represented by a Pagan goddess representing dawn, fertility, and rebirth.

REAL: Yeshua died on a Wednesday and rose on a Sunday (3 days and 3 nights) as He said He would.

FAKE: Yeshua died on Friday evening and rose on Sunday Morning (About 1.5 days)

REAL: Christians celebrated God's Appointed Feasts

FAKE: The World celebrates pagan holidays such as Christmas and Easter

REAL: Passover meals, Unleavened Bread, Sabbaths and special Sabbaths

FAKE: Chocolate eggs, Easter Bunny.

There are so many fake things in this World, but God is not. Choosing to truly follow Him and His ways is the most liberating choice you can make. I encourage you to meditate especially on this verse:

Deu 12:4 You must not worship the LORD your God in their way.

Don't be like the World. Study the Word and understand what Yeshua did for us on the cross. He gave us eternal life and paid the price of sin by being the Passover lamb so death would not come to our door. But following Him properly requires you to understand how he told us to live. If you want to understand this, please read our series on Old Covenant vs New Covenant and learn how to truly follow God by walking in obedience to what He taught.

So then what can you do? (practically speaking):

• Celebrate Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread! It is a fun feast to have! Taking the day off for the Special Sabbath, cooking, or more importantly barbequing some lamb and having a feast with family and friends while singing praises and praying to Yehovah and thanking Yeshua for dying for our sins so that we may have a relationship with Him! And then baking bread together as a family! What a fond memory to have with your children too, making fun shapes with cookie cutters in the bread dough! And let's not forget communion!
• Stop celebrating Yeshua's death and resurrection on the Spring Equinox, as this is reserved for the pagan goddess Eostre. God set an appointed festival and that is Passover!
• Stop celebrating with easter bunnies and easter eggs. Teach your children and family about the resurrection and make a new kind of "easter egg hunt", for example, with characters in the Bible, or collecting stones and then getting a prize! Be creative! Children still love having fun even if it is biblical! Start new traditions with your family that will be loved every year.
• If your church is pushing an easter bunny agenda (eg: pictures of easter bunnies at kids' church etc.), start a conversation/discussion around the topic as to why your church deemed it necessary to participate in worldly activities when Christ says we are to be SET APART from the world.
• Studying and knowing your Bible deeply, researching the history, and knowing the culture and context behind scripture is so key in building your foundations in wisdom and knowledge of God's Word, that way you won't be easily persuaded/swayed by those who take verses out of context or don't know their Bibles very well or only get their "spiritual guidance/infilling" on a Sunday from a pastor.
• Tell others about the knowledge you know or have discovered. For example - Let people know that Yeshua died on a Wednesday! He said 3 days and 3 nights. Make people do the maths in their head - Is Friday evening to Sunday morning 3 days and 3 nights? Questioning and discussing is not wrong, we are called to test everything against the Word of God and see if it stands.

Conclusion

In part II, we unpacked the origins of Easter to see if it had any place in Christianity instead of Passover. We started off by examining the disconnect between the celebration dates of Passover and Easter. We found that the Roman Empire changed the date of Passover to match the Spring Equinox.

Digging deeper into the meaning of Easter, we found that it has its roots in the goddess Eostre, who exists in many cultures including Germanic and Norse mythology. Eostre symbolizes dawn, spring, fertility, and rebirth. Eostre was also celebrated on the Spring Equinox, the same date the Romans chose for the New Passover. The name chosen for this new festival was Easter. It now included Yeshua's crucifixion and Eostre in one holiday. This was by the design of the Roman Empire so they could still practice their pagan traditions.

Easter bunnies and chocolate eggs are a derivative of Eostre as she is represented by a rabbit, who signifies fertility and the eggs represent the rebirth element. Since Yeshua also had a "rebirth", it made sense for the Romans to package this celebration together.

We checked if "Easter" was found in the Bible - which it was not - and then examined how the early Church behaved - where we saw that they always observed all of God's commands, including the feasts.

In summary, we laid out a comparison of the real and fake elements of easter vs Passover and highlighted an important verse in Deuteronomy where God says to not worship Him in worldly ways, which is what happens today. Finally, we set out some practical steps to follow Him properly.

Have a blessed day and see you in the next one!