Where Did Peter Cottontail Come From?
Candy, eggs, rabbits, ham ... and the risen Savior?
The church extols the fact that Jesus fulfilled the shadow pictures or intent of the Spring feasts. The preachers and teachers quote the writings of the Apostles in stating He is the true Passover Lamb, the First Fruits of the resurrected, and that the Holy Spirit came to reside with believers on Pentecost (Feast of Weeks). These are the ‘moedim’ (mo-e-deem’) or appointed times claimed by God as His. These are not Hebrew, Israelite, or Jewish feasts (Leviticus 23:2, 4). They belong to our God, the Creator, Most High, Elohim.
The church teachers still claim those same feasts are ‘for the Jews’, not the church, and instead celebrate Easter, calling it the resurrection day of our Lord. Is it? Should we follow them? The Apostles?
Is Easter ever mentioned in the Bible?
If one searches ‘Easter in the Bible’ there are many results. One of many that caught my eye is found here (https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Bible-Verses-About-Easter/). Of the many verses claimed to refer to Easter on the site, only one actually has the name ‘Easter’ in it.
“And when he [Herod] had apprehended him [Peter], 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.” (Acts 12:4, KJV)
But, once again, that is not a correct translation of the Greek. When one uses an inter-linear Bible translation (http://biblehub.com/interlinear/acts/12.htm), verse 3, states ‘the days of Unleavened’ referring to the feast of Unleavened Bread and verse 4, we find the word Pascha. Pascha (πάσχα) is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew pesach and Aramaic pascha, meaning Passover. This is a direct reference to the feasts of God observed by the Jews. The KJV can no longer claim to be ‘the inerrant Word’.
So, where did Easter originate and when in church history did this festival become Resurrection Day?
Semiramis, Ishtar, Astarte, Ashteroth, Eastra ... Easter
For better understanding, please read the article entitled 'Nimrod and Semiramis'.
There are some who deny Semiramis, Ishtar and Ashteroth/Asherah are the same goddess; however, there are more similarities than differences between the goddesses ... from their titles as 'queen of heaven' to their attribute as fertility goddesses. The Sumerian goddess, Semiramis, was Ishtar in Babylon. The Canaanites called her Astarte, and she was Aphrodite and Venus in the Greek and Romans pantheons.
The festival for the fertility goddess was always observed in conjunction with the Spring equinox, a time of rebirth. of Gaia (mother earth). Most historians and Biblical scholars, agree that Easter was originally a pagan festival. “The word Easter is of Saxon origin, Eastra, the goddess of spring, in whose honour sacrifices were offered about Passover time each year. By the eighth century Anglo–Saxons had adopted the name to designate the celebration of Christ’s resurrection.” (New Unger’s Bible Dictionary)
The ancient origins of Easter
Additional connections between this festival and Semiramis are found in the story of the Mesopotamian queen. Some time after Nimrod's death, Semiramis became pregnant. The story that she had become pregnant by the rays of the sun-god was provided to explain the widowed queen's condition. She named her son Tammuz, and proclaimed him the reincarnation of Nimrod.
Later, Semiramis claimed that she had died and when she arrived in heaven, her husband and sun-god, Nimrod, sent her back to the earth in an egg. The egg, she said, landed in the Euphrates River where it opened. Upon exiting the egg, Semiramis observed a bird which she changed into an egg-laying rabbit to prove her new divinity. Welcome the Cadbury bunny!
Meanwhile, Tammuz was growing into manhood. Like his father, Tammuz was a great hunter. While boar hunting around his 40th year, Tammuz was gored by a boar and died. Each year after Tammuz' death, ham was eaten in his honor at the fertility festival.
All of these events became ensconced in the Spring fertility festival of polytheistic cultures, and eventually found their way into Roman-Catholicism. Christianity kept them even after the Protestant revolt.
There was a more horrific side to the fertility festival for Semiramis (by all her goddess names). Each year priests of Ishtar would impregnate virgins on the altar. The following spring, the three-month-old babies were sacrificed and eggs were dipped in the blood at sunrise.
The Bible directs no one, Jew or Christian, to observe the equinoxes. Quite the opposite! Honoring these alignments is wholly pagan.
Through modern science it has been confirmed that the last supper was not a Passover dinner. Jesus was crucified on Wednesday and at the very hour the final Passover lamb was slaughtered and the High Priest would proclaim, "It is finished!", Jesus made the same proclamation. If one learns how this Feast was observed, its intricacies and fulfillment by Jesus are stunning! Count three nights and days and Jesus would not have risen on Sun-day.
For another perspective, read this article: http://adventofdeception.com/spring-fertility-worship-easter-holi/
The church extols the fact that Jesus fulfilled the shadow pictures or intent of the Spring feasts. The preachers and teachers quote the writings of the Apostles in stating He is the true Passover Lamb, the First Fruits of the resurrected, and that the Holy Spirit came to reside with believers on Pentecost (Feast of Weeks). These are the ‘moedim’ (mo-e-deem’) or appointed times claimed by God as His. These are not Hebrew, Israelite, or Jewish feasts (Leviticus 23:2, 4). They belong to our God, the Creator, Most High, Elohim.
The church teachers still claim those same feasts are ‘for the Jews’, not the church, and instead celebrate Easter, calling it the resurrection day of our Lord. Is it? Should we follow them? The Apostles?
Is Easter ever mentioned in the Bible?
If one searches ‘Easter in the Bible’ there are many results. One of many that caught my eye is found here (https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Bible-Verses-About-Easter/). Of the many verses claimed to refer to Easter on the site, only one actually has the name ‘Easter’ in it.
“And when he [Herod] had apprehended him [Peter], 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.” (Acts 12:4, KJV)
But, once again, that is not a correct translation of the Greek. When one uses an inter-linear Bible translation (http://biblehub.com/interlinear/acts/12.htm), verse 3, states ‘the days of Unleavened’ referring to the feast of Unleavened Bread and verse 4, we find the word Pascha. Pascha (πάσχα) is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew pesach and Aramaic pascha, meaning Passover. This is a direct reference to the feasts of God observed by the Jews. The KJV can no longer claim to be ‘the inerrant Word’.
So, where did Easter originate and when in church history did this festival become Resurrection Day?
Semiramis, Ishtar, Astarte, Ashteroth, Eastra ... Easter
For better understanding, please read the article entitled 'Nimrod and Semiramis'.
There are some who deny Semiramis, Ishtar and Ashteroth/Asherah are the same goddess; however, there are more similarities than differences between the goddesses ... from their titles as 'queen of heaven' to their attribute as fertility goddesses. The Sumerian goddess, Semiramis, was Ishtar in Babylon. The Canaanites called her Astarte, and she was Aphrodite and Venus in the Greek and Romans pantheons.
The festival for the fertility goddess was always observed in conjunction with the Spring equinox, a time of rebirth. of Gaia (mother earth). Most historians and Biblical scholars, agree that Easter was originally a pagan festival. “The word Easter is of Saxon origin, Eastra, the goddess of spring, in whose honour sacrifices were offered about Passover time each year. By the eighth century Anglo–Saxons had adopted the name to designate the celebration of Christ’s resurrection.” (New Unger’s Bible Dictionary)
The ancient origins of Easter
Additional connections between this festival and Semiramis are found in the story of the Mesopotamian queen. Some time after Nimrod's death, Semiramis became pregnant. The story that she had become pregnant by the rays of the sun-god was provided to explain the widowed queen's condition. She named her son Tammuz, and proclaimed him the reincarnation of Nimrod.
Later, Semiramis claimed that she had died and when she arrived in heaven, her husband and sun-god, Nimrod, sent her back to the earth in an egg. The egg, she said, landed in the Euphrates River where it opened. Upon exiting the egg, Semiramis observed a bird which she changed into an egg-laying rabbit to prove her new divinity. Welcome the Cadbury bunny!
Meanwhile, Tammuz was growing into manhood. Like his father, Tammuz was a great hunter. While boar hunting around his 40th year, Tammuz was gored by a boar and died. Each year after Tammuz' death, ham was eaten in his honor at the fertility festival.
All of these events became ensconced in the Spring fertility festival of polytheistic cultures, and eventually found their way into Roman-Catholicism. Christianity kept them even after the Protestant revolt.
There was a more horrific side to the fertility festival for Semiramis (by all her goddess names). Each year priests of Ishtar would impregnate virgins on the altar. The following spring, the three-month-old babies were sacrificed and eggs were dipped in the blood at sunrise.
The Bible directs no one, Jew or Christian, to observe the equinoxes. Quite the opposite! Honoring these alignments is wholly pagan.
Through modern science it has been confirmed that the last supper was not a Passover dinner. Jesus was crucified on Wednesday and at the very hour the final Passover lamb was slaughtered and the High Priest would proclaim, "It is finished!", Jesus made the same proclamation. If one learns how this Feast was observed, its intricacies and fulfillment by Jesus are stunning! Count three nights and days and Jesus would not have risen on Sun-day.
For another perspective, read this article: http://adventofdeception.com/spring-fertility-worship-easter-holi/
http://adventofdeception.com/spring-fertility-worship-easter-holi/
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