THE MYTH OF EASTER AND GOOD FRIDAY CELEBRATIONS! TRUTH OR DECEPTION…

“For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.” (2 Corinthians 13:8, KJV).

The life of the believer is not based on assumptions or traditions but the word of God. We relate to God strictly by His word. Any interaction with Him outside His word is a waste of time and is unacceptable to Him no matter how genuine our motives may be. Thus, the truth of God’s word is incontestable and infallible. It is the guiding light and regulatory principle of our lives as believers. Matthew 15:6 emphatically says that “…Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition”. Adhering to the traditions, lore and customs of men in the worship of God makes the word of God impotent to produce results in our lives! The celebration of Easter as is widespread in Christianity today, has no scriptural basis or divine foundations. Easter was a pagan festival observed long before Christ. It comes from the word “Ishtar”, which is the name of the Babylonian moon goddess. Acts 19:27-28 says, “So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth. And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.” Diana is another name for Ishtar and it was not only Asia that worshipped her, but the whole world. This Ishtar gave birth to a son named Tammuz. When Tammuz died, a festive season, which was named Ishtar, was instituted to commemorate his death on a Friday and his alleged resurrection on a Sunday. It is from this celebration that Easter was derived and integrated into the church. Easter was therefore never celebrated by the Apostles or the early Church and there is no word like “Easter” mentioned in the Bible. The Greek word “pascha” translated in the King James Version as “Easter” in Acts 12:4 is an absurd, demeaning and inappropriate translation. The correct translation should rather have been “Passover”. Thus, the word should not have been Easter but Passover which is one of the seven feasts of the Lord celebrated by the Jews.

Imagine a cross section of Christians having a convention with the title, “Voodoo Celebration”. Surely, this will disgust the entire body of Christ and will hit the headlines of many national newspapers. Unfortunately however, many comfortably partake in Easter services and convene in the name of Easter with unrepentant excuses, feigning religiosity that, such a pathetic title in their so called honour of Christ, is equally Christian. How unfortunate. “Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.” (Revelation 2:20).

“Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.” (Revelation 2:20). As can be seen in the scripture above, Jesus in his letters to the seven churches, took time to address his displeasure of introductions into the church, from the teachings and seductions of Jezebel who is the wife of Ahab, who also is the goddess Ishtar the wife of Baal – being the deitic representation of Ahab, among the Assyrians and Babylonians. Evidentially, Jesus was against such permeations into his church. Unfortunately, many in church today want to give human reasons for justifying such ungodly celebrations, whereas the one to whom they claim it is being done in honour of, dislikes it. How can one be honnoured with what he detests? Selah- think about it. “And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.” Luke 22:19 If anybody in the church of Jesus Christ would want to remember his death, Jesus himself commanded on how he should be remembered. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. (1Corinthians 11:26). The communion is the ordinance by which we remember and show the death of Jesus and not by an emotional, sensual and idolatrous festivity. Deception will always find people out and betray their hearts. Among those who claim to celebrate Easter, remembering Jesus’ death, they don’t even take the communion in church or at home, but rather wear black cloths – forgetting that Jesus is not dead but alive. They colour eggs, prepare Easter cakes and have wild church conventions and parties which are all evidences of how the goddess Ishtar is worshipped during such festive seasons. How heartbreaking.

Easter is an idolatrous tradition and custom borrowed from an ancient Jezebelic cult system that has been pathetically introduced into the church and it is inconsistent with the spirit and canon of scripture. One aspect of this falsity is that Jesus died at twilight on Friday and rose up on Sunday dawn. Jesus said in Matthew 12:40 that, “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth”. Take note, Jesus said he will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights just as Jonah also was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale. The reality of scripture shows that in Hebraic tradition, the day begins from 6pm. Thus, evening and morning constitute a day because the evening is the beginning of a new day and not the morning. This is affirmed in Genesis 1:5 which says, “And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.” thus in reckoning the days and nights, Jesus, who was a Jew, was speaking in accordance with the Jewish custom. If we calculate the number of days that Jesus was in the tomb per the popular stance that he died on a Friday, then Jesus would have been in the tomb for only two days and not three, according to the Jewish calendar.

Friday: 3pm – 6pm = 1 day Saturday: 6pm – 6am = 1 night (Remember, a new day on the Jewish calendar starts from 6pm.) Saturday: 6am – 6pm = 2days Sunday: 6pm – dawn = 2 nights

So, Jesus could not have died on a Friday. This stance defeats the very foundation of scripture. Exodus 12:3, 6 states that, “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 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.” The 10th day of Nissan was the day that the whole of Israel had to get their lamb, to be crucified on the 14th of Nissan. This was the same day Jesus made an entrance into Jerusalem on a donkey. This day was a Sunday and hence is popularly called the “Palm Sunday”. His entrance into Jerusalem marks his selection as the lamb for our Passover sacrifice. On the fourteenth day of the month, which fell on a Thursday, he was crucified.

John 19:31 says, “The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (FOR THAT SABBATH DAY WAS AN HIGH DAY,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.” The Jews celebrated seven feasts in the course of the year and the Passover was one of those feasts. Any day on which the seven feasts of the Lord fell, was named a high day and that day was also called a Sabbath. A high day meant a great day. The day of the crucifixion was the Passover; which was a special Sabbath, a high day. Thus, contrary to the popular assertion that Jesus was crucified on a Friday, he was actually crucified on a Thursday. To show this truth by simple mathematical calculation;

Thursday: 3pm – 6pm = 1 day Friday: 6pm – 6am = 1 night Friday: 6am – 6pm = 2 days Saturday: 6pm – 6am = 2 nights Saturday: 6am – 6pm = 3 days Sunday: 6pm – dawn = 3nights

Interestingly, we have it exactly as Jesus said: 3 days and 3 nights concurrently – “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth”. (Matthew 12:40). The lie of a Good Friday was borrowed from Pagan sources premised on Ishtar celebrations. It has never been a Good Friday but a high Sabbath Thursday, which is the Passover. Finally, it is important to know that, it is possible to think to worship God and be stuck to the service of idols no matter how genuine your motives might be. “They were worshipping the Lord and at the same time serving their own gods in accordance with the practices of the nations from which they had been deported.” (2 Kings 17:33, NET). In addition, offering to God what He never asked for is to be brought under the same inspirations as Cain in the Bible. God utterly rejected his offering, even though Cain, had God in view as his object of worship. Many Christians today may object to the celebration of Easter, as idolatrous to them, since in their heart of hearts, it is Jesus they are honouring. However, RIGHT MOTIVES DON’T JUSTIFY WRONG ACTIONS. Give yourself to the truth of the word for therein is life and throw away the lies and deception of men which make the word of God of null effect! Shalom.

Matthew 15:9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.