About Easter
I remember growing up observing Easter and looking for Easter eggs. Then learning later that Easter was about Jesus being raised from the dead after hanging on the Cross. As I came to know the Bible, I started wondering, "How did we get the term Easter and the traditions that came from it?". After all, the word Easter was not in my Bible. Since the whole event happened during Passover, why doesn't it fall during Passover now? After doing a little research, I was actually very surprised at what I found.
The term "Easter" actually has NOTHING to do with the Biblical account of Jesus'
Resurrection. The name "Easter" actually came from a pagan goddess of fertility,
Ishtar.
My English name only means what it does here in an English speaking country. If I go to a
country further south, my name will be spelled, and sound different. If I go North, it will be
even more different. Same if I go to country's further East or West.
Remember that the name of Jesus is the English transliteration of his Greek
name "Iesous", which was transliterated from his real Hebrew name "Yeshua".
In other words, they took the original Hebrew letters of his Hebrew name and
replaced them with the related Greek letter. And from Greek, they put in English
letters to give the English version of his name.
Easter is the English
transliteration for Ishtar. Ishtar is more familiar in the regions of Assyria.
The Phoenician name is Ashtoreth, which you will find in our Bible.
Jesus (English), Iesous (Greek), Yeshua (Hebrew);
Easter (English), Ishtar (Assyrian), Ashtoreth/עשתרת (Phoenician);
From those original Semitic letters you come up with the same names, just in
different versions.
.1 Kings 11:30-33
Then Ahijah took hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it into twelve pieces. 31 And he said to
Jeroboam, "Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: 'Behold, I will tear the
kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to you 32(but he shall have one tribe for the sake
of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel),
33 because they have forsaken Me, and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the
Moabites, and Milcom the god of the people of Ammon, and have not walked in My ways to do what is right in My
eyes and keep My statutes and My judgments, as did his father David.
NKJV
Ishtar (Ashtoreth) goes back to the Great grand son of Noah, Nimrod. You can
find the story on many other web sites. But the basics of the story are;
1. Nimrod married Semiramis. Nimrod died, and his wife Semiramis deified him
as the sun god Baal.
2. Semiramis had a child being "supernaturally" conceived and declared that it was
Nimrod reborn. The child was named Tammuz. Not only was Tammuz worshiped, but Semiramis was worshiped
as the Mother of a
"God". So began the life of a goddess of fertility.
3. Tammuz was killed by a wild boar, which is how the Easter ham is derived.
4. Rabbits and eggs are associated with fertility or "new life".
How Ishtar (Easter) became incorporated with the Resurrection of Jesus is disputed, but there are two
ways that people believe it came to be;
1. Constantine came to know Jesus but still followed other Gods. Wanting unity
among the people, he chose to incorporate Jesus
resurrection with Ishtar and allowed everyone to observe as they chose to.
2. The early Church wanting to draw people away from Pagan worship, Keeping the name
(and practices) of Ishtar (Easter as we know it today), but put the focus on the Resurrection (New life)
of Jesus.
Ex 23:13
...... Do not invoke the names of other gods;
do not let them be heard on your lips.
NIV
Two responses that are typical when people hear this information;
1. The fear of losing their tradition;
2. A repentant heart.
Every year we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus with a Pagan name and Pagan
practices. We do it unknowingly and innocently.
Below are a couple of scriptures I hope you consider.
Mark 7:6-7
'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 7 They
worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'
NIV
John 4:24
God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit
and truth.
NKJV
Most Christians view Easter as a day to remember the risen savior. We are taught that eggs represent new life. We have easter
egg hunts for our kids and have easter baskets filled with candy. We don't even
know who this "Ishtar" is. If you struggle with this issue, wait until the Holy
Spirit moves you to act differently.
For those of you who felt cut to the heart with this new information, simply
repent. And what we did in ignorance will be forgiven as far as the east is from
the west. Amen!
Below are some links to other sites that tell the story in more detail. I want to encourage you to read these accounts and decide for your self.
The bible teaches that the biblical feast of Passover was all about the Messiah that would be sacrificed for the redemption of His people (including Gentile believers). Passover was about his suffering and death. But the biblical feast of First fruits was all about His being the first to be resurrected of many brothers.
1 Cor 5:7-8
Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was
sacrificed for us. 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the
unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
NKJV