Posted on : 06 Apr, 2006
Subject : When Easter Was Passover
When Easter Was Passover
Would you be surprise to learn that ‘Easter’ was not mentioned in any original Bible manuscripts? In fact, the word ‘Easter’ appears only once in the King James Version of the Bible – in Acts 12:4. It is, in fact, a mis-translation, and it almost didn’t make it! The original word in Greek is pascha, and in Aramaic is paccah [and in Hebrew it is pesach]. In fact in the Geneva Bible – the English Bible that preceded the King James Version, the word ‘Easter’ does not appear. Pascha or paccah was correctly translated in the 1560 English edition as ‘Passover’. It appears 29 times in the New Testament. So why did ‘Easter’ appear in the 1611 King James Bible?
It’s anyone’s guess. No one left a note explaining exactly why. Was it to justify the Church of England for observing Easter Sunday? Was it a ‘mistake’? Was ‘Easter’ placed in the text in order to establish that it was an acceptable word to substitute for Passover?
At Passover
The Scriptures state that the Messiah was crucified at the time of Passover. “I will keep the Passover...with My disciples [Matthew 26:17-30] “On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb was sacrificed, His disciples said to him, ‘Where do You want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the Passover meal?’” At the ‘Last Supper’, Jesus said, “I have longed to eat this Passover with you.” [Mark 14:12-26, Luke 22:7-20]
Anti-Semitism
In councils of Christian bishops in the 4th century, it was decided that the Church would have nothing whatsoever to do with Passover, or with the other Appointed Feasts mentioned in the Bible! The Church became so anti-Semitic, that it rejected all the laws and practices that were commanded by Yahweh in the ‘Old Testament’. So Easter [which the Church had originally kept as Passover] had to be repositioned on the calendar, to keep it from coinciding with Passover. Instead of following the Scriptural calendar, the Church decided that their new holiday, Easter, should occur on the first Sunday after the first full moon following March 21st.
Easter is, in fact, the name of a heathen goddess. She is also known as Ishtar, Oestre, and Ashtoreth. Easter is not the Feminine within Elohim. Easter was [and is] a goddess of people who did not believe in the Bible. [Want to know more? Read Eloah, the Goddess of the Hebrews]
No Calculator Necessary
The Scriptures indicate plainly that the Messiah was three days and three nights in the tomb, between His death on the cross and His resurrection. “No sign will be given to this generation except the sign of the prophet Jonah. As Jonah remained in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and for three nights.” [Matthew 12:40]
A child can ‘do the math’ [or actually knows enough math to be unable to ‘do the math’]. The Catholics and Protestants and most other Christian churches commemorate 3 pm on ‘Good Friday’ as the time of the Savior’s death on the cross, and have a ‘sunrise service’ on Easter Sunday to celebrate the resurrection. Starting with 3 pm Friday, can you find 3 days and 3 nights between then and sunrise Sunday morning? No matter how long you consider a day and a night to be, it’s impossible to find 3 of each of them between Friday afternoon and Sunday morning at sunup!
Let’s Review
Most Christians celebrate the resurrection of their Savior by using the name of a heathen goddess, on the wrong date, denying by the traditions the 3 days and 3 nights in the tomb. Then they tack on Easter bunnies, Easter eggs, and Easter candy.
Famous funny-man, Groucho Marx, once said, in reference to a comment about the Jews, “We’ll ‘pass over’ that.”
But let’s not ‘pass over’ the Scriptural facts:
The Messiah was crucified at Passover.
His lifeless physical body was sealed in the sepulcher for three full days and nights, before He arose at the end of Sabbath.
The apostle Paul plainly said that Christ is our Passover, and instructed the Church – the body of believers – to keep the Passover feast. [1st Corinthians 5:7-8]
Let us obey Yahweh the Father, and give praise and glory to Yahshua the Son, by remembering and participating in Passover, as the Scriptures direct us to do. Let us not associate the name of a goddess of the heathens with the One God of Israel, or pretend that our Savior is honored by dyed eggs or bunny-rabbit lawn ornaments. Let us not pretend that a day and a half is three days. Let us who are serious about serving Elohim not imagine that the Scriptures can be replaced by manmade traditions and by the votes of committees.
David Bruce Clark
Lion of God Ministries
PO Box 33
Oak Grove MO 64075
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