Acts 13:29-30 "When they had carried out all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb. (30) "But God raised Him from the dead..."

The celebration of the ressurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is quickly approaching on a day the world calls "Easter".  Churches across America and the world will have special "Easter" services, luncheons, and egg hunts for the kids.  They'll decorate their tables with "Easter Bunnies" and meticulously painted hard-boiled eggs.  The mission of this blog is to inform all those who are unaware of the pagan roots of "Easter" and all its trappings.  Many Christians continue to participate in pagan traditions because they remain unaware of their origins.  I pray that all who read this blog will do further research and will carefully consider those activities in which they participate and teach their children, being sure that all their celebrations honor the Lord Jesus rather than the devil.

First, the name "Easter"...from whence did it come?  The actual word "Easter" is from the name "Eastre", who was an Anglo-Saxon goddess of Spring in 2nd century Europe.  A fertility festival was held in her honor yearly at the vernal equinox, which is the moment when the sun passes through the vernal equinox, around March 21st, marking the start of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere.  These festivals were focused on fertility because these pagans believed that at the time of the equinox, the male and female energies were balanced.  I won't go into any details about the ways they celebrated in these festivals.

Secondly, the "Easter Bunny"...where did he originate?  All the marketing in America pictures the "Easter Bunny" as an innocent little fuzzy bunny with a basket of eggs but the "Easter Hare" was actually associated with the moon goddess Semiramis (Easter), being considered her sacred animal.  The "Easter Hare" was beleived to be a rabbit spirit.  Because of the frequent multiple births of rabbits, they represented well the fertility focused upon in all these pagan celebrations.

Lastly, the "Easter Egg"...what was its origin?  The egg represented both the moon god and the moon goddess.  Babylonians believed that a huge egg fell from the sky into the Euphrates River.  They also believed that the goddess Astarte (Easter) [Semiramis] hatched from this huge egg.  The egg came to represent her in this way.  Don't laugh!  People actually believed this stuff!  It's only by God's grace that you and I see it as farce!    Pagans of Rome and Greece believed that the egg was a symbol of rebirth, fertility, and abundance.  The tradition of colored eggs was begun by the pagans in Germany.  They believed in a hare named "Oschter Haws" who would lay colored eggs in nests to please children when they awoke on Easter morning.  This German folklore was brought to America when Germans settled in Pennsylvania and has since been woven into our modern culture.

Some will try to "Christianize" these types of pagan holidays because they're "fun for the kids".  They'll do the same with Halloween, Santa Claus, and the tooth fairy.   Fact is,  once we know that the origin of any activity is demonic, we should separate ourselves from it entirely and have no dealings with such things.  We don't want to teach our children pagan traditions associated with fertility gods.  We want to teach them that God came to earth as a man, died on a cross, was buried in a tomb, and rose from the dead three days later triumphant over death and sin.  There should be no mixing of a rabbit spirit, a huge egg in the Euphrates River, or a fertility goddess with the purity of the only Sovereign, Jesus Christ!  Our celebration of Jesus' ressurrection should be holy, pure, and completely focused upon His power, His sacrifice, His authority, His control, His love, His mercy, His forgiveness, and our total unworthiness.

This passage of Scripture is written in the context of marriage within the family of God as opposed to marriage between Christians and unbelievers.  However, I think this Scripture applies well to separating oneself from all things considered evil for they can all become idols and detract glory from God.  Participating in pagan rituals on the day we celebrate Jesus' ressurrection definitely detracts glory from Him.  This should never be!

 everything we do. May our activities be pleasing in His sight.