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We do not want to use tradition to filter truth. Rather we must approach filter tradition with the truth! As we uncover the truth about Easter, we will discover the unfortunate truth that it is pagan and that the church is following pagan customs that we must, of necessity, disavow and leave behind.
As part of the Commonwealth of Israel (Eph 2:11-19), scripture is clear, we are not to assimilate pagan ways into our walk and observances (Deut 12:30-31). In fact, we are instructed to not even allow the names of pagan deities to leave our lips (Exodus 23:13). This challenge is impossible in our day as our society has become so enculturated and steeped in paganism. For example, January is named after the pagan god Janus. The days of the week all point to celestial bodies and gods, a day for the sun and the moon, a day for Saturn. Tuesday is named for the god Tyr, the Norse god of war; Wednesday, Woden's day, also a god of war as well as the god of learning, poetry, and magic. Thursday is named after his son Thor. And the goddess Frigg's day is Friday. We cannot get away from this if we want to communicate in our society today. In Hebrew, the days are numbered; first, second, third, etc. Only Shabbat is named. My point is to show how deeply our culture is immersed in paganism.
Our great God has given us a feast day cycle to observe and that cycle has been usurped by man and his vain imaginings. We are called to observe the feast of The Lord, First Fruits being among them. This is why we meet on this day. As written in Num 28:26 "In the day of the First Fruits, when you offer a grain offering of new grain to the Lord in your Feast of Weeks, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work." As a set apart people, we gather for this reason and do not observe Easter.
Bunny's, colored eggs, jellybeans, chocolate, new clothes and sunrise services are the apex of the Easter tradition for many. What does all this have to do with the Resurrection of The Messiah? How does the Feast of First Fruits correlate with these observances? It doesn't!
A look into these customs proves only one thing: they are all pagan. If you are a follower of the True God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, once you understand the truth of these matters, then you are by necessity, required to lay aside these pagan observances as God instructs. We must change our world view and observances as we grow in our walk with the Almighty.
According to Webster, Easter is the prehistoric West Germanic name of a pagan spring festival. Dictionary.com notes it is the name of a goddess and her festival. Putting it together, Easter is the name of a pagan fertility goddess and the observance of her festival. Depending on the culture, she is also known as Astarte, Athena, Diana, Ostara, Asherah, Isis and many others. Venerable Bede, the seventh century theologian noted that Easter is just another name for Beltis or Ishtar of the Babylonians. Worship of the fertility goddess can be traced back to Hathor, the cow goddess of Egypt. Bede further notes; "The heathen Anglo-Saxons called the fourth month Esturmonath after their goddess Eostra." The name of the festival was transferred to the celebration of Christ's resurrection when Anglo-Saxon and German heathens converted to Christianity.
What we see here is that the observance of Easter was celebrated long before Christianity came along. It involved the rights of spring when the pagans believed mother earth was impregnated by the sun. To the Norse, Eostre was goddess of the dawn and sunrise was thought to be the time of impregnation, thus the observance of services at that time. Symbols of fertility were used such as eggs and rabbits. Brightly colored eggs were rolled in the fields hoping to imbue fertility.
Catholic Cardinal John Henry Newman wrote in The Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, published in 1878; "The rulers of the church from early times were prepared, should the occasion arise, to adopt, to imitate, or to sanctify the existing rites and customs of the population…The use of trees,…holy water, holy days and seasons, use of calendars, processions, blessings on the fields, the ring in marriage, chants-are all of pagan origin, and sanctified by adoption into the church". How is that for putting a scriptural spin on pagan customs?
During the Nicaean Council in 325, presided over by Constantine, the date for the observance of Passover, and thus, the crucifixion was officially changed from the Biblically prescribed time to what is now Easter. Isn't it interesting how we have grown up in a world that can explain away how to accurately count? Messiah was to be in the tomb three days and nights, it was the sign He was Messiah, the "sign of Jonah." Yet from Good Friday to Easter Sunday, no matter how you slice it or dice it, you cannot get three days and three nights. This should be a red flag that something is wrong. It is notable that Constantine four years earlier changed observance of the Sabbath from the seventh day to the first day of the week to honor the "invincible sun god" as noted in his decree: "All judges and city people, and the craftsman shall rest on the venerable day of the sun." It is evident that Constantine, while calling himself a Christian, was really a sun worshiper.
Ultimately, we have inherited nothing but falsehood, futility, and things of no profit. (Jer 16:19)
Let me encourage you to be strong and act, for our observances were changed long ago by men, who for their own power and glory, usurped the decrees and proclamations of The Almighty and it continues today. If indeed you are a follower of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, then you must opt out of, and no longer participate in these useless rituals, instead finding fulfillment and true meaning in the Feasts of the Lord.
This brings us to the Feast of First Fruits. Passover is a memorial of Yeshua' s (Jesus) death, First Fruits is a memorial of His resurrection.
1 Corinthians 15:20 & 23 confirm the fact that Yeshua is Yahweh's (God) first fruits, the first to be raised from the dead. We are those who have not seen, yet believe. What is our response to such a wonderful redemption as this?
First fruits are a sign of promise, a pledge of the future. We are called to first fruits living. This means returning to God the best of His blessing to us. First fruits living is pivotal to our mindset and allows the Almighty to release His power in our lives and in the lives of those we touch thus impacting society. It is action. The action of organizing our lives and our observances in a manner as directed by God. Accordingly, people see through our first fruits living that there is a promise of something greater to come.
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Mark Ostrowski serves as Pastor at Lev Y'shua Messianic Congregation. He can be reached at shalom@levyshua.org. The congregation gathers every Saturday at 1 p.m. in Belleville. For more info see www.levyshua.org.