Bunnies and eggs reflect the real Easter after all.
“Domestic rabbit [with brush in mouth] and 3 easter eggs from Germany”
Photo by Gerbil under CCA-SA
What do eggs and rabbits have to do with the Resurrection, anyhow? Why do non-Christians observe Easter?
28 Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the Lord thy God.
29 When the Lord thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land;
30 Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.
31 Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God: for every abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.
32 What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.
It never ceases to amaze me. If the Bible says “remember”, most people try to forget. If Jesus says He did not come to abolish the Law, most will say He abolished the Law. Likewise, when the Bible says to not add to the Law, people will add to it, and when the Bible says to not take away from it, people will disregard the ones they don’t like. They call Jesus “Lord”, which means “Master”, but they will not obey the word of God.
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
~ Mt 7:21
It should be reasonable enough to point out Deuteronomy 12 and the prohibition against worshiping God in the manner of the pagans and then show the pagan origins of Easter and expect someone who claims to obey God to instantly modify their behavior. Alas! That is not true. They value their traditions over the commandments of God.
7 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”
9 And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe[b] your own traditions!
29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
~ Ac 5:29
What is fascinating is that it just isn’t that hard to find. Just type “easter pagan origins” into a Google search box, and you get about 325,000 pages. For example, here is some information about the name “Easter” from the “Holidays on the Net” website:
Scholars, accepting the derivation proposed by the 8th-century English scholar St. Bede, believe the name Easter is thought to come from the Scandinavian “Ostra” and the Teutonic “Ostern” or “Eastre,” both Goddesses of mythology signifying spring and fertility whose festival was celebrated on the day of the vernal equinox.
Traditions associated with the festival survive in the Easter rabbit, a symbol of fertility [So, why give these things to children?], and in colored easter eggs, originally painted with bright colors to represent the sunlight of spring [sun worship], and used in Easter-egg rolling contests or given as gifts.
The Christian celebration of Easter embodies a number of converging traditions …
~ Holidays on the Net, “The Story of Easter“
Even more illuminating is the entry from ReligiousTolerance.org:
Origins of the name “Easter”:
The name “Easter” originated with the names of an ancient Goddess and God. The Venerable Bede, (672-735 CE.) a Christian scholar, first asserted in his book De Ratione Temporum that Easter was named after Eostre (a.k.a. Eastre). She was the Great Mother Goddess of the Saxon people in Northern Europe. Similarly, the “Teutonic dawn goddess of fertility [was] known variously as Ostare, Ostara, Ostern, Eostra, Eostre, Eostur, Eastra, Eastur, Austron and Ausos.” 1 Her name was derived from the ancient word for spring: “eastre.” Similar Goddesses were known by other names in ancient cultures around the Mediterranean, and were celebrated in the springtime. Some were:
- Aphrodite from ancient Cyprus
- Ashtoreth from ancient Israel
- Astarté from ancient Greece
- Demeter from Mycenae
- Hathor from ancient Egypt
- Ishtar from Assyria
- Kali, from India
- Ostara a Norse Goddess of fertility.
~ ReligiousTolerance.org, “Easter – Its Pagan origins”
I bolded the most important ones.
11 But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites:
2 Of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love.
3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.
4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.
5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
6 And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father.
…
31 And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee:
32 (But he shall have one tribe for my servant David’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel:)
33 Because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father.
11 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim:
12 And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to anger.
13 And they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.
14 And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies.
15 Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed.
6 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the Lord, and served not him.
~ Jdg 10:6
3 And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.
~ 1Sa 7:3
Easter is nothing less than syncretism: the blending of religious traditions from various religions.
Easter is a religious holiday, but some of its customs, such as Easter eggs, are likely linked to pagan traditions. The egg, an ancient symbol of new life, has been associated with pagan festivals celebrating spring….
~ History.com, “Easter Symbols and Traditions“
The name “Easter” has its roots in ancient polytheistic religions (paganism). On this, all scholars agree. This name is never used in the original Scriptures, nor is it ever associated biblically with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ….
The rabbit is well known as a sexual symbol of fertility. In various parts of the world, religions which developed from Babel also associate the rabbit with periodicity, both human and lunar (Egypt, China, etc.). As you may remember, the Mother Goddess Semiramis (Easter) is associated with the Moon. In other words, the Easter bunny symbolizes the Mother Goddess. Annual Spring time fertility rituals are associated worship of the Mother Goddess and Tammuz [we’ll see this name again], the reincarnation of her husband Nimrod.
…”The egg was a sacred symbol among the Babylonians. They believed an old fable about an egg of wondrous size which was supposed to have fallen from heaven into the Euphrates River. From this marvelous egg – according to the ancient story – the Goddess Astarte (Easter) [Semiramis], was hatched. And so the egg came to symbolize the Goddess Easter.”
~ ChristianAnswers.Net, “Where did “Easter” get its name? Where did the concept of an Easter egg and bunny originate?“
You are probably well aware of pagan sun worship as well. In fact, it is very likely that “Sunday” gets its name from the “venerable Day of the Sun”, so named by Constantine. So, what about Easter Sunrise Services?
12 Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, the Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath forsaken the earth.
13 He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do.
14 Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord‘s house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz [most pagansim originated with Bablyon, which held a festival for Tammuz near 25 December each year].
15 Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these.
16 And he brought me into the inner court of the Lord‘s house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.
17 Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose.
18 Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.
The reason it is so easy for non-Christians to celebrate Easter is because almost none of it is rooted in true Christianity!
How much original material have I written during this post? Very little. I intentionally pulled material from various sources to show I am not making this stuff up. It is very easy to find on the Internet using a search engine like Yahoo! or Google.
What Did Jesus Say to Do?
Where did Jesus command us to celebrate his resurrection? What about Peter? What about Paul? What did the early Church do?
The early Church commemorated Jesus’ death (1Co 11:26) rather than His resurrection. He was the Passover lamb. He said, “This do in remembrance of me” (Lk 22:19). Do what? Eat the bread and drink the wine (vv15-20). When should we do it? On the anniversary of “the same night in which he was betrayed” (1Co 11:23) — IOW, once a year at Passover.
Nowhere does the Bible say to memorialize His resurrection. By replacing Passover with Easter, one is guilty of adding to and taking away from God’s Law!
…”Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.”/p>
~ Mt 15:6b
—
Sources:
- Holidays on the Net, “The Story of Easter“, Easter on the Net
- ReligiousTolerance.org, “The Pagan origins of Easter“
- History.com, “History of Easter“
- Holidays on the Net, “Easter Eggs“, Easter on the Net
- History.com, “Easter Symbols“
- ChristianAnswers.Net, “Where did ‘Easter’ get its name? Where did the concept of an Easter egg and bunny originate?“
- Final Events, “Venerable Day of the Sun“