When we think of Easter, many of us think of the resurrection of Jesus/Yeshua, bunnies, easter baskets, colored eggs, and sunrise services. Yet, how many actually stop to think where these practices derive from, or if it really has anything to do with the resurrection of Jesus.
A little background
Growing up in a non-Christian home the celebration of Easter, had nothing to do with Jesus, but rather the coloring of eggs, egg hunts, candy filled easter baskets, and meeting a terrifying 8-foot bunny. Getting up early on Easter, like that of Christmas, gifts awaited you, generally within a giant basket brimming with chocolate eggs and bunnies. I think I would even put out some carrots the night before for the Easter bunny, much like you would put out cookies and milk for Santa. So, when I became a Christian, having done these traditions as a non-Christian, it really baffled me into why these same traditions were continuing on for those within the “church”.
Many years later, in my early twenties, I experienced my first celebration of Easter as a Christian, which was very different from that growing up. From the knowledge that I had at the time I believed it to be His resurrection, and I focused on Him apart from the bunnies and eggs. I was in Spain at the time serving out a short temporary duty with my military unit, and the day that Easter happened to fall on was the exact day of my one-year anniversary of not only being sober and delivered from alcohol, but the day I began my walk with Yeshua/Jesus. So, it was very meaningful time for me, as it was a time of remembrance on the new life He gave me, and His sacrifice.
There were a couple of guys that were going to have a small service down in the lobby of the hotel, that we (our squadron) were staying, and I could barely keep it together as I was weeping the whole time. I remember the mocking voices of fellow servicemen that were walking past us, but I did not care at the time, nor did I even fully understand what that was all about. I was very young in my faith and had a lot of growing to do. I also would meet my husband Tony about a week later once we all got back to Italy.
After the little service that we had in the lobby, we ended up coming across an Easter parade, which at the time I thought was a bit eerie. Many of the people in the procession had on these white looking robes which resembled those from the “KKK”. I don’t have any photos but, this is what it looked like:
Pretty disturbing, and just screams occultism.
Years later both my husband and I still recognized Easter as the resurrection of Yeshua/Jesus until we started to be convicted about the name Easter and the traditions that surrounded it. We started calling it “Resurrection Sunday” and became more upset when the elements of eggs and bunnies were being incorporated into church services we attended. Eventually, as I was confronted with the truth on Christmas, Easter followed soon after. We started learning about the biblical feast days, the true holy days upon which Jesus fulfilled, and gained a greater appreciation and understanding of the Scriptures. In 2015, we had decided to try and honor the feasts even if we didn’t do much but at least set time aside to honor Him in that. The following year, in 2016, my born again/sobriety anniversary happened to fall on the first day of Unleavened Bread. It was very symbolic to me, because during Passover and Unleavened Bread, you are to purge the chametz (leaven/sin) from your life, and it was just a full circle moment from the first Easter I had celebrated.
1 Cor 5:7Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. 8Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Now, before I continue and get into the origin of Easter, I want to say that God/Yah is merciful and looks at the intent of our heart. When our heart is pure before Him, He overlooks our ignorance in some areas. However, there comes a time where we are confronted with the truth, and we can no longer claim that ignorance, and will be held accountable.
Deuteronomy 12:30…Do not inquire about their gods, asking, “How do these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise.” 31You must not worship the LORD(YHWH) your God in this way, because they practice for their gods every abomination which the LORD(YHWH) hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.(BSB)
Part I. Let’s Begin with the Name
The name “Easter” only shows up in the New Testament once, within the King James Version (KJV) it reads “Easter” in place of “Passover”, in Acts 12:4, however, this was derived from a false rendering of the Greek word [pascha], which is of Aramaic origin.
Acts 12:4And 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. (KJV)
The word Passover properly denotes not only what happened in the Exodus account, but what Jesus did with His death “passing over” our sins.
Romans 3:25whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed
The etymology of the word “Easter” does not express this, as I will go into here momentarily. Nowhere else in Scripture can it be validated that Passover changed to Easter, and has been corrected in other Bible translations to reflect the correct rendition:
Acts 12:4He arrested him and put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out to the people after the Passover. (BSB)
From Barnes Commentary:
Intending after Easter – There never was a more absurd or unhappy translation than this. The original is simply after the Passover (μετὰ τὸ πάσχα meta to pascha. The word “Easter” now denotes the festival observed by many Christian churches in honor of the resurrection of the Saviour. But the original has no reference to that, nor is there the slightest evidence that any such festival was observed at the time when this book was written. The translation is not only unhappy, as it does not convey at all the meaning of the original, but because it may contribute to foster an opinion that such a festival was observed in the time of the apostles. The word “Easter” is of Saxon origin, and is supposed to be derived from “Eostre,” the goddess of Love, or the Venus of the North, in honor of whom a festival was celebrated by our pagan ancestors in the month of April (Webster). Since this festival coincided with the Passover of the Jews, and with the feast observed by Christians in honor of the resurrection of Christ, the name came to be used to denote the latter. In the old Anglo-Saxon service-books the term “Easter” is used frequently to translate the word “Passover.” In the translation by Wycliffe, the word “paske,” that is, “Passover,” is used. But Tyndale and Coverdale used the word “Easter,” and hence, it has very improperly crept into our King James Version.
So, where does the word “Easter” come from?
When we look at words, we can generally understand their meaning by looking at the root word. The root word of Easter is “east”. Think also of the word “Nor’easter” which is a strong storm with winds coming from the northeast. You have “nor” for north and “easter” for east.
Now, looking at the etymology (which is the study of words and their meaning) of Easter this is what I have found:
From an etymology page regarding the word “Easter”:
Easter (n.)
Old English Easterdæg, “Easter day,” from Eastre (Northumbrian Eostre), from Proto-Germanic*austron-, “dawn,” also possibly the name of a goddess whose feast was celebrated in Eastermonað (the Anglo-Saxon month corresponding with April), from*aust- “east, toward the sunrise” (compare east), from PIE root *aus-(1) “to shine,” especially of the dawn.
From Wikipedia:
Etymology
The theonyms *Ēastre (Old English) and *Ôstara (Old High German) are cognates – linguistic siblings stemming from a common origin. They derive from the Proto-Germanic theonym *Austrō(n),[4][5] itself a descendant of Proto-Indo-European (PIE) *h₂ews-reh₂ (cf. Lithuanian auš(t)rà, ‘dawn, daybreak’), extended from the PIE root *h₂ews-, meaning ‘to shine, glow (red)’.[6][5] The modern English east also derives from this root, via the Proto-Germanic adverb *aust(e)raz (‘east, eastwards’), from an earlier PIE *h₂ews-tero- (‘east, towards the dawn’).[5]
The Old English Ēostre is therefore a distant cognate of numerous other dawn goddesses attested among Indo-European-speaking peoples, including Uṣás, Ēṓs, and Aurōra. In the words of the Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, “a Proto-Indo-European goddess of the dawn is supported both by the evidence of cognate names and the similarity of mythic representation of the dawn goddess among various Indo-European groups.[…]
So, based on not only the root word, but the etymology we can surmise that Easter derives from “dawn, daybreak, from the east”, and has connections with many dawn goddesses that were worshipped around the world. What I find interesting, is how this closely relates to the Phoenician goddess Astarte, which is equivalent to Asherah. In the Greek it would be Aphrodite, and the Roman Venus.
Ellicot’s commentary on Ashoreth:
(5) Ashtoreth (or, Astarte).–The goddess of the Zidonians, and possibly the Hittites, corresponding to Baal, the great Tyrian god, and representing the receptive and productive, as Baal the active and originative, power in Nature. As usual in all phases of Natureworship, Ashtoreth is variously represented, sometimes by the moon, sometimes by the planet Venus (like the Assyrian Ishtar, which seems a form of the same name)–in either case regarded as “the queen of heaven.” (See Jeremiah 44:17; Jeremiah 44:25). There seems, indeed, some reason to believe that the name itself is derived from a root which is found both in Syriac and Persian, and which became aster in the Greek and astrum in Latin, and has thence passed into modern European languages, signifying a “star,” or luminary of heaven. With this agrees the ancient name, Ashteroth-Karnaim (or, “the horned Ashteroth”)of a city in Bashan (Genesis 14:5; Deuteronomy 1:4; Joshua 13:12).
Asherah, was a goddess of fertility and is known by many names and variations of names such as Astarte/Ishtar, “Queen of Heaven”, “lady of the serpent” and “lady of the sea”.
Jer 7:18The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
(18) The queen of heaven.–The goddess thus described was a kind of Assyrian Artemis, identified with the moon, and connected with the symbolic worship of the reproductive powers of Nature. Its ritual probably resembled that of the Babylonian Aphrodite, Mylitta, the mother-goddess, in its impurities (Herod. i. 199; Bar 6:43), and thus provoked the burning indignation of the prophet here and in Jeremiah 44:19; Jeremiah 44:25. The word rendered “cakes,” and found only in connection with this worship, was clearly a technical term, and probably of foreign origin. Cakes of a like kind, made of flour and honey, round like the full moon, and known, therefore, as selence or “moons,” were offered, like the Minchah or meat-offerings in the Mosaic ritual, the Neideh in the Egyptian worship of the goddess Neith, at Athens to Artemis, and in Sicily to Hecate (Theocr., Idylls, ii. 33). The worship of Ashtoreth (Milton speaks of her as “Astarte, Queen of Heaven, with crescent horn “), though of kindred nature, was not identical with that of the Queen of Heaven, that name signifying a star, and being identified with the planet Venus. A various reading gives, as in the margin, “the frame of heaven.”
In my studies I later came across an article that articulated a lot of what I had researched within my conclusions of the name Easter:
“Easter-in the Hebrew Bible” by Christopher Eams (Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology)
“Eōstre is a development of the Greek spring goddess and “goddess of the dawn,” Eos. Both names are derived from the Proto-Indo-European etymological root and “primal” dawn goddess, Hausos. It is from this root that we get not only the Greek Eos, Baltic Aushtra and later Germanic Eōstre in the West, but also the Vedic dawn goddess Ushas in the East.
In such manner, names and traditions are carried throughout history from this early center of human civilization—the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Study of the Germanic and Norse pantheons of gods and goddesses show close resemblance and derivation from the pantheons worshiped and transmitted across Italy, Greece, Egypt, the Levant and Mesopotamia. These pantheons typically do not generate in a vacuum, but are derivative of earlier gods and goddesses.
The Phoenician goddess Astarte (Ashtoreth) is herself a derivation of the chief goddess of the Babylonians and Assyrians, who called her Ishtar. This was likewise a “dawn” goddess, due to her mythological association with the “dawn” star, the planet Venus (and yes, the goddess Venus is the Roman equivalent). The Greeks worshiped her as the famous goddess Aphrodite (a goddess that scholars likewise trace back to the Proto-Indo-European dawn goddess, Hausos). The Egyptian equivalent was Isis.
Hausos, Ushas, Isis, Ishtar, Aushtra, Ashtoreth, Astarte, Eástre, Eostre, Eos: the similarities in name are immediately apparent. But even more remarkable are the similarities in religious motifs.”
Part II. Easter Traditions
There are many traditions that surround Easter. Most notably are those that include an Easter Bunny, egg hunts, and church sunrise services. But why are these done, and much like the traditions of Christmas, why do we see both Christians and non-Christians alike partaking in them? If Easter was only about the resurrection of Jesus/Yeshua, then why do we have witches, pagans and unbelievers partaking in these traditions and celebrating Easter?
Sunrise Services
Again, with the knowledge that Easter derives from “dawn, daybreak, from the east”, then holding a sunrise service I suppose would be fitting. Such practices are quite common for the celebration of the spiring equinox such as the pagan festival Ostara.
This is from a Spirituality and Health article
“Sit facing the east, where the sun rises. Close your eyes and take some deep breaths, imagining a circle of protection around yourself. Invite in energies that are healing and loving, and filter out anything that is not. Take a moment to acknowledge the land you are on, your particular place in the world, the air you are breathing, the earth beneath you, and your relationship with this place.”
Not only is this a common practice for such a pagan festival, but facing east, as the rising of the sun, also promotes sun-worship. Sun worship was quite a common problem throughout the bible, which I will get to in a moment. However, I want to bring your attention to a source from a catholic website:
“The word “Easter” comes from Old English, meaning simply the “East.” The sun which rises in the East, bringing light, warmth, and hope, is a symbol for the Christian of the rising Christ, who is the true Light of the world”
In this description, they associate the rising of the sun, which rises from the East as Jesus. Now, I am aware that in the scriptures Jesus is called “The Sun of Righteousness” (Malachi 4:2) and we have allegory in comparing Jesus to the sun in that it it’s brightness and light outshines the darkness. However, there is a difference with allegory, and actually giving honor and worship to the sun, or even the moon and the stars, which is very common in pagan worship and the occult. This is why it is prohibited in the bible:
Deut 4:19And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them…
Also, there is always a counterfeit, a false light which appears as light, but is darkness.
♦2 Cor 11:14And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.
♦Luke 11:34The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness. 35Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. 36If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light.”
While I am not going to get into it much here, but those who know anything about the Catholic religion, is that there is a lot of sun worship surrounding their practices, to include the Catholic mass.
Sun worship is considered an abomination to Yahweh:
Ezek 8:15Then He said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Turn again, you will SEE GREATER ABOMINATIONS THAN THESE.” 16So He brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house; and there, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the Lord and THEIR FACES TOWARD THE EAST, AND THEY WERE WORSHIPPING THE SUN TOWARD THE EAST.
They were seen turning their backs to the temple of Jehovah, i.e. the sanctuary. The very act was symbolical of their apostasy (2 Chronicles 29:6; Isaiah 1:4; Jeremiah 7:24). And they did this in order that they might look to the east and worship the rising sun. That, and not the temple (Daniel 6:10), was the Kiblah of their adoration. The sun worship here appears to have had a Persian character, as being offered to the sun itself, and not to Baal, as a solar god. Of such a worship we have traces in Deuteronomy 4:19; Deuteronomy 17:3; Job 31:26; 2 Kings 23:5, 11.
So, here, in the inner court you have sun worship taking place, between the porch and the altar facing toward the east, bowing, so they had their backsides along with their rears up to the Holy Place.
Deut 17:2“If there is found among you, within any of your gates which the Lord your God gives you, a man or a woman who has been wicked in the sight of the Lord your God, in transgressing His covenant, 3who has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, either the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded,
When you attend a sunrise church service, everyone is gathering to the East to watch the sun rise. Now, is there anything wrong with watching the sun rise, no, but it seems to me that going and doing this particular practice with a festival that is named after a goddess of the dawn, it takes on the role of pagan worship.
Bunnies and Eggs: Symbols of Fertility
The mythical rabbit that lays eggs at the time of Easter has found itself on par with the mythical Santa, elves and reindeer during Christmas. These creatures having found themselves to be incorporated with the majority of Easter celebrations, have nothing to do with the death, burial or resurrection of Christ, but rather fertility rites associated with the celebration of the spiring equinox.
Traditionally bunnies, along with eggs symbolize fertility, and this is why the symbol for one of the largest pornographic magazines is of a Playboy “bunny”. The symbolism behind bunnies is that they are highly fertile and are constantly reproducing. I find it almost blasphemous that these symbols are associated with the resurrection of Christ and re-birth of a new life in Christ.
From an article on the Easter Bunny by Britannica.com:
“The tradition of a rabbit that brings or hides decorated eggs and candy for children has its roots in much earlier societies. Since Neolithic times (roughly 10,000–3000 BCE) the hare has been linked with various religious rites. In Europe the animal has been found in ritual burials beside Neolithic human remains. Archaeologists believe these hares represented rebirth.
Andraste was one of several ancient female deities who were associated with the hare; another was a hybrid goddess who melded Andraste with Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt. These warrior goddesses’ affiliation with the hare may have arisen because of hares’ aggressive mating behavior in the spring, leading to the expression “mad March hare.” During this time, males and females show an inclination for “boxing,” which also occurs for territorial reasons between rival males. In ancient Greece hares were associated with Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and her son Eros, for whom the hare was a symbol of unquenchable lust, probably because of the animal’s famously prolific breeding habits.
By the 13th century, folk customs such as the decorating of eggs, which symbolize new life emerging from the eggshell just as Jesus’ Resurrection symbolizes rebirth, had been incorporated in Easter celebrations. It was English and German folk traditions, however, that brought together Easter and the hare. English accounts from the 17th century report hunting for the Easter hare and eating its meat as part of the holy day’s feast. German records of the same era describe children hunting for eggs hidden by the Easter hare (Osterhase).
German immigrants to Pennsylvania in the 18th century are credited with bringing to the United States the tradition of an Easter hare that lays and hides eggs. German children would also make nests for the Easter hare to lay its eggs.”
Again from Britannica.com on Easter Eggs:
“The egg was a widely used premodern and pre-Christian symbol of fertility and restoration. European “Pagans” (a term used to refer to people who practiced a variety of non-Christian traditions) viewed eggs as a symbol of the regeneration that comes with springtime. Early Christians borrowed this image and applied it not to the regeneration of the earth but rather to Jesus Christ. This was also extended to the new life of the faithful followers of Christ.
The tradition of dyeing and decorating Easter eggs is ancient, and its origin is obscure, but it has been practiced in both the Eastern Orthodox and the Western churches since the Middle Ages. The church prohibited the eating of eggs during Holy Week, but chickens continued to lay eggs during that week, and the notion of specially identifying those as Holy Week eggs brought about their decoration. The egg itself became a symbol of the Resurrection. Just as Jesus rose from the tomb, the egg symbolized new life emerging from the eggshell. In the Orthodox tradition, eggs are painted red to symbolize the blood that Jesus shed on the cross.”
The symbolism of eggs is consistently associated with rebirth and renewal and has been associated in many cultures that predates it merging with Easter. For example, the Egyptian spring equinox celebration Sham El-Nessim, boils and paints eggs to represent rebirth:
From the Middle East Eye:
“Another tradition during Sham el-Nessim is painting and decorating boiled eggs using dye. Typically, families will boil the eggs the night before, and spend the day adorning them with various designs. The use of eggs symbolises rebirth and renewal. Some people choose to write wishes on the eggs and hang them on trees or their houses, in the hopes that they will come true.”
Part III. Quartodeciman, Constantine and Firstfruits
Several years ago, I had begun a study into early church history, specifically pertaining to Passover and came upon what is known as the “Quartodeciman controversy.” This controversy arose during the second century in which the churches in Rome wanted to have a fixed date on a Sunday which separated itself from Passover, calling it instead “the resurrection of our Saviour”. Those who opposed this were referred to as “Fourteenthers” or Quartodecimani, because of holding their celebration on the fourteenth day of Nisan.
According to Scripture, the Passover was commanded to be observed on the 14th of Nisan/Abib with the Feast of Unleavened Bread following on the 15th, and the first-fruits sheaf offering happening the morning after the weekly Sabbath. (Leviticus 23:4-14)
This is what Jesus fulfilled during His death, burial and resurrection, as He was crucified on the 14th of Nisan, buried/in the ground during Unleavened Bread on the 15th and raised from the dead on Firstfruits which would have been the end of Nisan 17.
Since Jesus commanded us to honor His death during the Passover meal by saying “Do this in Remembrance…”(Luke 22:19) Those who held to the tradition of honoring Passover on the 14th of Nisan, regardless of what day it fell on, refused a fixed date change.
According to Eusebius the controversy is as follows:
“For the parishes of all Asia, as from an older tradition, held that the fourteenth day of the moon, on which day the Jews were commanded to sacrifice the lamb, should be observed as the feast of the Saviour’s passover. It was therefore necessary to end their fast on that day, whatever day of the week it should happen to be. But it was not the custom of the churches in the rest of the world to end it at this time, as they observed the practice which, from apostolic tradition, has prevailed to the present time, of terminating the fast on no other day than on that of the resurrection of our Saviour. 2. Synods and assemblies of bishops were held on this account, and all, with one consent, through mutual correspondence drew up an ecclesiastical decree, that the mystery of the resurrection of the Lord should be celebrated on no other but the Lord’s day, and that we should observe the close of the paschal fast on this day only.”
However, two centuries later, during the council of Nicea, in 325AD, it had been decreed for this official date change, which became a true separation between Passover and Easter.
From Christianity.com:
“Constantine did not want Easter to be celebrated on the Jewish Passover. He said it was a Christian “duty to have nothing in common with the murderers of our Lord” (ignoring the fact that Christ’s execution was a joint effort of Jews and Gentiles).
“The Council of Nicea accordingly required the feast of the resurrection to be celebrated on a Sunday and never on the day of the Jewish Passover. Easter was to be on the Sunday after the first full moon following the Spring equinox.”
Interestingly enough in Adam Clarke’s Commentary (1762-1832) from Acts 12:4, he mentions not only this change, but in agreement with Barnes commentary above found the translation of Easter to be most unpleasant:
Intending after Easter to bring him forth – Μετα το πασχα, After the passover. Perhaps there never was a more unhappy, not to say absurd, translation than that in our text. But, before I come to explain the word, it is necessary to observe that our term called Easter is not exactly the same with the Jewish passover. This festival is always held on the fourteenth day of the first vernal full moon; but the Easter of the Christians, never till the next Sabbath after said full moon; and, to avoid all conformity with the Jews in this matter, if the fourteenth day of the first vernal full moon happen on a Sabbath, then the festival of Easter is deferred till the Sabbath following. The first vernal moon is that whose fourteenth day is either on the day of the vernal equinox, or the next fourteenth day after it. The vernal equinox, according to a decree of the council of Nice, is fixed to the 21st day of March; and therefore the first vernal moon is that whose fourteenth day falls upon the 21st of March, or the first fourteenth day after. Hence it appears that the next Sabbath after the fourteenth day of the vernal moon, which is called the Paschal term, is always Easter day. And, therefore, the earliest Paschal term being the 21st of March, the 22d of March is the earliest Easter possible; and the 18th of April being the latest Paschal term, the seventh day after, that is the 25th of April, is the latest Easter possible.
The term Easter, inserted here by our translators, they borrowed from the ancient Anglo-Saxon service-books, or from the version of the Gospels, which always translates the το πασχα of the Greek by this term…Other examples occur in this version. Wiclif used the word paske, i.e. passover; but Tindal, Coverdale, Becke, and Cardmarden, following the old Saxon mode of translation, insert Easter: the Geneva Bible very properly renders it the passover. The Saxon Earten, Eartne, Eartno, Eartna, and Eartnon are different modes of spelling the name of the goddess Easter, whose festival was celebrated by our pagan forefathers on the month of April; hence that month, in the Saxon calendar, is called Easter month. Every view we can take of this subject shows the gross impropriety of retaining a name every way exceptionable, and palpably absurd.
To those who were not present at the council of Nicea, Constantine wrote a letter, to which as you will see was not only founded on racism and hate, but completely disconnected from the Scriptures.
Here is a sampling from that letter:
On the Keeping of Easter.
From the Letter of the Emperor to all those not present at the Council.
(Found in Eusebius, Vita Const., Lib. iii., 18–20.)
When the question relative to the sacred festival of Easter arose, it was universally thought that it would be convenient that all should keep the feast on one day; for what could be more beautiful and more desirable, than to see this festival, through which we receive the hope of immortality, celebrated by all with one accord, and in the same manner? It was declared to be particularly unworthy for this, the holiest of all festivals, to follow the custom [the calculation] of the Jews, who had soiled their hands with the most fearful of crimes, and whose minds were blinded. In rejecting their custom,113 we may transmit to our descendants the legitimate mode of celebrating Easter, which we have observed from the time of the Saviour’s Passion to the present day [according to the day of the week].
We ought not, therefore, to have anything in common with the Jews, for the Saviour has shown us another way; our worship follows a more legitimate and more convenient course (the order of the days of the week); and consequently, in unanimously adopting this mode, we desire, dearest brethren, to separate ourselves from the detestable company of the Jews, for it is truly shameful for us to hear them boast that without their direction we could not keep this feast. How can they be in the right, they who, after the death of the Saviour, have no longer been led by reason but by wild violence, as their delusion may urge them? They do not possess the truth in this Easter question; for, in their blindness and repugnance to all improvements, they frequently celebrate two passovers in the same year. We could not imitate those who are openly in error. How, then, could we follow these Jews, who are most certainly blinded by error? for to celebrate the passover twice in one year is totally inadmissible. But even if this were not so, it would still be your duty not to tarnish your soul by communications with such wicked people [the Jews]. Besides, consider well, that in such an important matter, and on a subject of such great solemnity, there ought not to be any division. Our Saviour has left us only one festal day of our redemption, that is to say, of his holy passion, and he desired [to establish] only one Catholic Church.
From this, it is clear that there was an agenda by Constantine, as well as those who supported this, to completely remove the association of Passover from that of Jesus because of the distain of the Jews. To even go as far as to mock God’s word at the mention of the “two-Passovers” calling it “totally inadmissible” when this was originally instruction from God on such within Numbers 9:6-13. Those which could not attend the first Passover on the 14th of the month, due to being ceremonially unclean, could do so on the following month.
Numbers 9:6Now there were certain men who were defiled by a human corpse, so that they could not keep the Passover on that day; and they came before Moses and Aaron that day. 7And those men said to him, “We became defiled by a human corpse. Why are we kept from presenting the offering of the Lord at its appointed time among the children of Israel?”
8And Moses said to them, “Stand still, that I may hear what the Lord will command concerning you.”
9Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10“Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘If anyone of you or your [d]posterity is unclean because of a corpse, or is far away on a journey, he may still keep the Lord’s Passover. 11On the fourteenth day of the second month, at twilight, they may keep it. They shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 12They shall leave none of it until morning, nor break one of its bones. According to all the [e]ordinances of the Passover they shall keep it. 13But the man who is clean and is not on a journey, and ceases to keep the Passover, that same person shall be cut off from among his people, because he did not bring the offering of the Lord at its appointed time; that man shall bear his sin.
So, what I found interesting, and even to this day is the focus shift from the death of Jesus to His resurrection, while completely disregarding not only Passover, but changing His resurrection from Firstfruits to Easter.
Firstfruits
1 Cor 15:20But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the FIRSTFRUITS of those who have fallen asleep.
Usage: the first-fruits, the earliest crop of the year, hence also met., for example, of the earliest converts in a district; there is evidence in favor of rendering in some passages merely by: sacrifice, gift.
From my blog: “Barley Harvest, First-Fruits, and Ezekiel’s Dead Bones“
Yeshua/Jesus was resurrected from the dead during the Feast of Unleavened Bread on first-fruits, as the sheaf offering. This is why He is called our “First-fruits”(1 Cor 15:20). This is in regards to the first fruit offering of the ripe barley harvest, which happens during the Feast of Unleavened Bread:
Leviticus 23:10“Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘When you enter the land that I am giving you and you reap its harvest, you are to bring to the priest a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest. 11And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD(YHWH) so that it may be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. 12On the day you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a year-old lamb without blemish as a burnt offering to the LORD(YHWH), (BSB)
The Feasts of YHWH were based around the harvest cycles, with the barley harvest during Passover/Unleavened Bread and then 50 days later would be Shavout, which means Feast of Weeks, or Pente-cost as in 50, referring to 50 days. For they were to count what is called the Omer which was a total of 49 days(7*7=49 days), with Pentecost (Shavuot) being on the 50th day, was a total of 7(completed Sabbaths) weeks. The Omer was counted beginning from the day of which the sheaf of First-Fruits is waved during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.(Lev 23:15/Deut 16:9)Then the Feast of Pentecost is the First-fruits of the Wheat Harvest.(Ex 23:16, Num 28:26)
♦Lev 23:15‘And from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, you shall count for yourselves: seven completed Sabbaths. 16‘Until the morrow after the seventh Sabbath you count fifty days, then you shall bring a new grain offering to יהוה.(ISR 98)
♦Deut 16:9“Count seven weeks for yourself. Begin to count seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the grain. 10“And you shall perform the Festival of Weeks to יהוה your Elohim, according to the voluntary offering from your hand, which you give as יהוה your Elohim blesses you.(ISR 98)
Many may be familiar with the term ‘On the first day of the week’, well, the underlying Greek is ‘Mia Ton Sabbaton’, which means one of the Sabbaths. This is in regards to counting the omer, or the first of 7 Sabbaths, a total of 50 days leading up to the Feast of Pentecost. The Omer was being counted as you can see in the gospels: Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:2, Luke 24:1, John 20:1, which had then culminated in Acts 2:1, for the Feast of Pentecost, of which the Spirit was poured out.
Acts 2:1And when the Day of the Festival of Weeks had come, they were all with one mind in one place. 2And suddenly there came a sound from the heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.(ISR 98)
The barley harvest is referenced all throughout Scripture, and is ripened before wheat. Once the barley harvest was complete, then the wheat would be ready, and this is shown within the Scriptures.
There is a total of 50 days between firstfruits(barley) and Shavout(wheat), which would have the firstfruits of the wheat harvest in full ripeness by that time. In Leviticus 23:10 the Israelite is instructed to …”bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest”. The first grain to mature, is barley and also why Yeshua would be the first to rise and the fulfillment of Firstfruits.
Changing the understanding and meaning of Christ’s resurrection from Firstfruits to Easter, really diminishes the fullness and understanding of scripture and what Jesus did by fulfilling it. It is taking something holy, prophetic and approved by Yahweh and profaning it.
Replacing the truth with a lie.
