You don’t have to go far to find out the true meaning of Easter. In fact, if you look up Easter in a Webster’s Dictionary the first line will say, “Easter is a name of an old Teutonic goddess of Spring.” Today Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday on or after the first full moon that follows the vernal Equinox. Around the world various pagan rituals were exercised in celebration of the return of the sun. In Germany, for example, they worshiped Ostara, the Germanic fertility Goddess, on this day. The English word for Easter was derived from her name.
Let’s look at some of the symbols that are associated with Easter today. The Easter Bunny is not a modern invention. The symbol originated with the pagan festival of Eastre. The goddess Eastre was worshiped by the Anglo-Saxons through her earthly symbol, the rabbit. And what about Easter eggs? The Druids used the egg as the sacred emblem of their order. In China, dyed or painted eggs are used on “sacred” heathen festivals. In the idolatry of ancient Egypt and Greece, eggs were used in their religious rites. And the list goes on and on. There is no doubt that this celebration has pagan roots and has nothing to do with Jesus.
But can we find Easter in the Bible? Turn in your King James Bible to Acts 12:1-4
1 Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church.
2 And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.
3 And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.)
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.
There in verse 4 the most evil Herod waited until his pagan celebration of Easter to deliver Peter to the people. Now if Herod is celebrating Easter do you think you should be? Some say that the word Easter in this verse is mistranslated and that it should say passover. This is not true and I can prove it with scripture. If you look in verse 3 the Bible tells us that during this time it was the days of unleavened bread. Let’s read Numbers 28:16-17
16 And in the fourteenth day of the first month is the passover of the LORD.
17 And in the fifteenth day of this month is the feast: seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten.
According to scripture if it is the days of unleavened bread then the passover has already taken place. If this verse was mistranslated then Herod would be keeping Peter for an entire YEAR. The King James is the only Bible that gets this right. Go ahead and look it up for yourself.
Here is a quote from Alexander Hislop from his book The Two Babylons, “The term Easter is of pagan origin. It bears its Chaldean origin on its very forehead. Easter is nothing else than Astarte, one of the titles of Beltis, the queen of heaven.” THIS is the celebration that Herod was keeping. Why would he care anything about the Jewish passover?
Now you have a choice with the facts before you. Will you ignore the truth and continue in a pagan tradition, or will you trust God’s word and follow him?
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