014 A Little Passover History
Welcome to The Watchman Speaks. I’m your host, Lonnie Richardson.
On this episode I’d like to address a couple of things to add some clarity just so we’re all on the same page.
First thing is that I want to be adamant that what I share with you in regard to God’s time, the months of His Ecclesiastical Calendar, and the Feasts have nothing to do with obtaining salvation. Salvation is acquired through faith in Jesus Christ and the precious blood that was spilled on a cross as the Sacrificial Lamb of God for all mankind. Observing God’s time, the months of the Ecclesiastical Calendar, or the Feasts will not save you. They do not provide salvation or improve your standing before God whether you observe them or not. However, I believe that they have everything to do with obedience to God’s Word or His instructions.
What’s that? We do not have to obey the law because we are under grace?
I’ve already covered, several times, what Paul wrote about the Gentile nations being a wild olive branch grafted into the place of a natural branch that was broken off. A wild olive branch being a gentile, that’s me, and the natural branch that was broken off being the Jew that did not receive Jesus as the Messiah. How we gentiles, as grafted branches should not be arrogant against the natural branches or the Jews who have received Jesus as Messiah. And to remember that we as the grafted in branch does not support the root, the root being Jesus, but rather Jesus who supports us. A Jewish Root.
We would do well to remember as well that the Church Established in the Book of Acts was Jewish Church not to mention that in the Book of Hebrews we are told about the Discipline of the Lord and how if we do not accept that discipline of the Lord then we are not Children of God but illegitimate children. Those of you who know the King James know that the King James calls the illegitimate child a bastard.
Saved, unsaved, under grace, under law, God has a standard that He expects us to live by. If there was no standard there would be no sin. If there was no standard to uphold then what need would we have for the Discipline of the Lord? IF we are obedient to the standard then we escape that discipline.
What I present here is not a means of salvation. It is a means of sharing knowledge and wisdom that lead to added blessings through the form of Bible Study. When I say Bible study I’m talking about what God actually said instead of what man says about God.
Now that I have that out of the way, I want to discuss a little historical information that I have for you in regard to Passover and Easter.
Is Easter mentioned in the Bible? Yes, in a matter of speaking it is. However, I have only found it in the King James Version in Acts 12:4. If we look at Acts 12:4 closely and read verses 1-3 we find the following account.
In verse 1 of Chapter 12 the evil king Herod was persecuting the Christians of the church. Actually, he was slaughtering them, Christian Jews. In verse 2 Herod had James, the brother of John, executed. James, in case you didn’t know, James was the pastor or overseer of one of the church congregations. Verse 3 tells us that it was during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Which is the time that we are approaching, immediately after Passover. Verse 4, Herod had Peter arrested and, in the King James, stated that he was waiting until after Easter to bring him out before the people.
There’s just one problem with that. The Greek word for “Easter” is “pesach” or “phashah” and is derived from the Hebrew word “pesah” which means Passover. By the time that the King James Bible was translated and published in 1611, Easter had been firmly established by the church, the gentile controlled church that is the Roman Catholic Church. The translators of the King James Version did not wish to nor could they, translate “Pesah” to Passover because of the Jewish implications.
How do I know that? Constantine, the 4th Century emperor of Rome was, for lack of a better term, the oversight committee at the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. He had legalized Christianity and the church bought into it. They could now attend church and not be fed to the lions. There were some caveats however. Constantine had no issues with Christians celebrating the resurrection of Christ. However, he did have issues with Passover because he had issues with the Jews, he was prejudiced. Constantine declared, “This irregularity (observing Passover) must be corrected!” He further declared that the resurrection be celebrated on “the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox.” Fine and dandy. That just happens to be the date of the spring pagan festival for the fertility goddess Ishtar known as Eastre! Therefore, we have Easter.
But the battle continued afterwards as many churches resisted Constantine’s edict. In the 6th century Emperor Justinian sent Roman legions throughout the Roman Empire to wipe out the “heresy” of Passover. Thousands of men, women, and children were massacred for refusing to stop celebrating Passover.
The Council of Antioch (A.D. 345), “If any bishops, presbyters, or deacon will dare, after this decree, to celebrate Passover, the council judges them to be anathema (cursed) from the Church. This council not only deposes them from ministry, but also any others who dare to communicate with them.” That’s the church cursing Christians who would celebrate Passover!
The Council of Laodicea (A.D. 365) “It is not permitted to receive festivals which are by Jews.”
This is a broader stroke outlawing not only Passover but the Feast of Unleavened Bread, The Feast of First Fruits, The Feast of Weeks (Pentecost), The Feast of Trumpets, and the Feast of Tabernacles.
Council of Agde, France (A.D. 506) “Christians MUST NOT take part in Jewish festivals.”
Council of Toledo X (7th century) “Easter must be celebrated at the time set by the decree of Nicea.”
If you want to go back further than I have already gone, the Roman ruler Domitian, who ruled from A.D. 81-96, had members of his own family executed for wearing a garment in a similar fashion that the Jews would have worn a prayer shawl.
Don’t tell me that antisemitism was not prevalent during the early stages of the church and its functioning. Herein, we have the reason, in part or in whole, that any time I quote from the Old Testament someone will rise and say, “Yeah, but that’s for the Jews.” No, it is not. That’s for everyone! The reason that it is for the Jew is that it the Jew was hammered out by the gentiles of the church since the first century of the church was completed.
Now consider the revival aspects of the Passover.
2 Chronicles Chapters 29 and 30, Hezekiah had the temple re-opened, cleansed, and re-established worship and offerings. He tore down the idols and mandated the tithe. It is a beautiful picture of the revival of people and a nation. This occurred during the month of Passover, But so hungry were the people of God that they celebrated the Passover in the second month. However, the priests went into the temple on the first day of the first month to begin the consecration and cleansing.
Then consider 2nd Kings chapters 22-23 when Josiah was king. A torah scroll was found and read to Josiah. He rent his clothes, tore down the idols, smashed the quarters of the male prostitutes (homosexuals) and re-established the Passover. Again, a people, a nation returned and were revived to their God.
Now if you’re wondering about the people celebrating Passover in the second month then I direct you to the Book of Numbers 9:1-14.
Moses and the people of Israel were to celebrate the Passover. However, some men were unclean due to a death in their family and could not participate. God allowed them a time of cleansing and allowed them to participate in the Passover on the fourteenth day of the second month of Iyar. In Hezekiah’s situation, the temple and the people had to be consecrated and cleansed because of the actions of Hezekiah’s father who reigned before him. Therefore, their celebrating the Passover in the second month was permitted.
Either way, in the examples of Hezekiah and Josiah, they are beautiful pictures of a people, a nation, turning to God. That, my friends, is what is known as revival. And, it was brought about by the re-establishing of Passover.
In Exodus 12 the Passover lamb was to be selected on the tenth day of the first month. Jesus entered Jerusalem on the tenth day of the first month, as prophesied, riding on a donkey. The Passover lamb in Exodus had to be kept and inspected for blemishes. Jesus was approached by the Pharisees, the Sadducees, Herodians, and teachers of the day who tested Him with questions, attempting to trap Him and discredit him. But He was without blemish. On the fourteenth day of the first month the Passover Lamb in Exodus was slaughtered and eaten. On the fourteenth day of the first month Jesus established the Lord’s Supper or Communion and was crucified.
During the early Passover Days, at the ninth hour (3 P.M.) a priest would slice the throat of the sacrificial lamb and declare, “It is finished!” When Christ was crucified in the ninth hour He declared, “It is finished!”
You know, the prophet Elijah Challenged the Baal Worshippers of the day. Elijah challenged the priests and prophets of Baal. 1st Kings 18:21
21. Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him a word.”
If you continue reading the account in 1st Kings 18 you’ll see that the God of Elijah bested the priests of Baal. After preparing the altar that had been torn down Elijah cut up the ox and placed it on the altar. He had people soak the ox and the wood with water. Then, Elijah prayed. It is a prayer that is haunting.
36. “O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and I have done all these things at Your word.”
37. “Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that You, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back again.”
38. Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
Immediately thereafter, Elijah had the prophets of Baal seized and taken to the brook Kishon where he slaughtered them there.
Now I want to ask you a question. “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” Whom will you follow?
Here is another question. And I’m not trying to be judgmental here. I’m asking a simple question. I’m not looking for an answer. I’d like you to give it some consideration. All I ask is that you don’t lie to yourself.
How can a Christian in good conscience and faith claim to be a disciple of Christ who allowed Himself to be crucified in your rightful place and give His blood as the cleansing agent for your sins not recognize and observe Passover that is representative of His death? Instead, you celebrate Easter at the command of a Roman Emperor, Constantine, who was a pagan and claimed Christianity as the official religion of Rome?
Now there are some who say that Constantine surrendered all to Jesus on his deathbed. I don’t know that he did, and I don’t know that he didn’t. I pray that he did. But if he did, he did so too late to correct all the misleading that he did to the church. Certainly, all the edicts issued by the councils of the Roman Catholic Church saw to that.
Now, you may say, “Lonnie, we celebrate Easter to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus!” Hey, I get it. I’m all about the resurrection of our Lord and Savior. Without that resurrection the sting of death still has its sting. Glory be unto God for the resurrection! Without the resurrection of Christ, I have no resurrection to look forward to. But before there is a resurrection there must be a death. Blood has to be spilled. Redeeming blood. What came first? The blood or the resurrection?
Just let me share a little additional information with you about Easter. Easter is an assimilated name for the goddess Ishtar, a pagan god. In the Bible she is known as Ashtoreth or, in the pleural form, Ashtaroths. Cultic poles were erected displaying her naked, with weapons of war. She was known in other cultures as Isis, Venus, Aphroditie, Ishtar, Dianna, and the list goes on. Some say that she was the mother of another god, Tammuz. Tammuz is a Babylonian god and a month of the Jewish Civil Calendar is named Tammuz. It has historically been a sad month for the nation of Israel. I’ll get to that in time to come. Some say that Tammuz was Ishtar’s lover, an incestuous relationship. Some say that Tammuz was killed by a wild pig while others say that Tammuz was killed by Ishtar in a fit of rage. “Easter” was the time of celebration of the resurrection of Tammuz. It was on the Sunday after the full moon of the vernal equinox. The same day that Easter is currently celebrated.
Easter is a transliteration of Ishtar. She was the goddess of fertility, sexuality, war, and strong drink. She was the goddess of prostitution and homosexuality. There are written accounts of Tammuz being especially fond of rabbits which became sacred in ancient religions because Tammuz was the son of Baal. Ishtar claimed that the rays of the sun impregnated her, a form of immaculate conception. Another of Ishtar’s claims is that she descended from the moon as a giant moon egg that fell into the Euphrates River. Hence the egg of Easter was incorporated and the coloring of the eggs were reminiscent from rolling eggs in the blood of massacred children sacrificed by these ancient religions.
I can’t make this kind of stuff up. If you think that I’m lying to you. Go do your homework. Prove me wrong and I’ll make a public apology.
Those are just some of the milder implications associated with the name “Easter”. There are many more, but I won’t mention them here.
As I have said, I have absolutely no problem recognizing and observing the resurrection of my Lord and Savior. However, anything with “Easter” stamped on it I tend to circumvent. That’s just me. All I want to do is present you with historical facts and you can decide for yourselves. Again, as I have said, I want to be very clear, I have absolutely no problem celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Yeshua Ha-Mashiach. Without that resurrection, without Jesus overcoming death, hell, and the grave, I wouldn’t have much to look forward to when He returns and establishes His Father’s kingdom.
However, before there could be a resurrection there had to be a death. Usually, death is not something celebrated in western cultures, but it is not unheard of. Actually, there are celebrations for the dead all around the world. The oldest that I know of is Passover. It was once remembered for the nation of Israel leaving bondage in Egypt. Now, it is still that remembrance but more so still, the remembrance of the death of my Lord and Savior who sanctified me, delivered me, and redeemed me giving me joy. AND in his death and resurrection I have the promise of an inheritance in His kingdom when He returns!
Now, am I saying that if you talk to your children about the Easter Bunny, dye eggs, and hunt Easter eggs that you are bad parents or condemned to hell? No, I’ve never said that. What I’m saying is that I think it is unwise to ignore The Passover altogether. What I’m saying is that I had questions and went searching for the truth. This is what I’ve found.
I’m saying that what I found bothered me to the extent that we no longer do those things at my house. It might well be that what I have presented here doesn’t bother you at all. That’s fine. You’ll not hear me judging or condemning you.
At our house we celebrate Passover, the death of our Lord and Savoir, as He began fulfilling the promises of Exodus Chapter 6 that were made to the people of Israel, only now those promises are for the world. We celebrate the resurrection gloriously with great joy. Indeed, it is a festive occasion that we look forward to every year. We celebrate because we believe we have something worth celebrating, not because we feel as though we have to. We celebrate in joyful obedience to what God said.
The word and edicts of man has led the church astray. Would you re-establish the Passover, as Hezekiah and Josiah did, in your home this year? I challenge you to do so. Who knows? Maybe, just maybe, revival would break out in your home, across your neighborhood, throughout your city and county. I’d like to see that. Just as it was in the case of Joshua as Israel entered into the promised land, as it was for King Hezekiah, for king Josiah, It might be the catalyst that sparks a move of God across a nation or the earth. Historically, The Passover has been a time of the people returning to God.
I am The Old Watchman, Ezekiel. I’ve told you the truth. You have been warned.
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