The Bible refers to “Ishtar” as the goddess of Astarte or Ashtoreth – the false goddess of fertility that was worshipped by the pagans in Mesopotamia and Syria.
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- Most of the Easter symbols had their origin in the pagan spring festivals held in Europe, where “Pantheism” or the worship of “nature” still exists.
- The “rabbit” or “hare” was a well-known symbol of sexual pleasure and fertility.
- The “Egg” was a sacred symbol among the Babylonians, who believed a giant egg fell from heaven into the Euphrates River, and the goddess of Astarte (Easter) was hatched.
- Connect the celebration of Ishtar – the rebirth of nature, with rabbits – the symbol of fertility. and we have the origin of the Easter Bunny that “lays eggs”!
To counter-balance the commercialization of the resurrection, the leaders of the Church added:
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- Lent – the 40-day season of prayer, urging Christian to annually repent of their sins in preparation for the Lord’s resurrection.
- Palm Sunday, remembering the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey and was given the reception of a King.
- Maundy-Thursday, or Holy Thursday, drawing attention to the night of the Lord’s last supper with His disciples.
- Good Friday, the day He was crucified.
- Sunday at sunrise as the day and time of His resurrection.
All this was great, as far as religious services go. The only problem was, they were not according to the timeline of Holy Scripture.
Since I learned this truth in 1995, I have tried to open the eyes of God’s people to the historical narrative of our Lord’s final week on this earth, showing how each event of Christ’s humiliation is prophetically connected to, and therefore in fulfillment of the Old Testament Scriptures regarding the Messiah.
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- We have been taught for centuries that Jesus was crucified on “Good Friday,” laid in the tomb Friday evening, and arose from the dead at sunrise on Sunday morning.
- This tradition has been so firmly implanted in the minds of Christians, the first time I preached the truth about this timeline, many people, including many pastors, challenge me because I differed from what they had always heard.
- Tradition had supplanted truth in their minds!
Thankfully, since some preachers are now studying the Scriptures for themselves, rather than taking the religious views, I’m getting calls of apology because people are beginning to see, regardless of how the time is divided, you can’t get three days and three nights from Friday evening to Sunday morning, and yet that is the very sign Jesus said would prove He was Who He said He was, and that He had come to do what He had said He had come to do, for the reason He said He had come to do it, and for all who would believe in Him.
Join us tomorrow as we continue our journey “From Gethsemane to Golgotha to Glory!”