Posted on 04/03/2007 6:31:28 AM PDT by DouglasKC
Every spring, the anticipation and excitement of Easter is electrifying for many people. Churches prepare elaborate Easter programs that illustrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Parents take time to color Easter eggs and hide them so their children can hunt for them.
It's typical for TV movies this time of year to depict Easter as an enjoyable occasion of renewed happiness. Television advertisements and commercial businesses also get very involved with Easter as they offer colorful Easter baskets, Easter costumes and chocolate rabbits to celebrate this great religious event.
Many churches advertise outdoor Easter sunrise services, with any and all invited. Weather permitting, the Easter celebration is visually reinforced by watching the sun rise in the east.
But what do bunnies and colored eggs have to do with Jesus' resurrection?
And if this celebration is so important, why didn't Jesus teach His apostles and the early Church to observe it? The books of the New Testament were written over a span of decades after Jesus Christ's death and resurrection, yet nowhere do we see so much as a hint of any kind of Easter celebration.
So where exactly did Easter and its customs come from? Why do hundreds of millions of people celebrate the holiday today?
Can we find Easter in the Bible?
Easter is considered the most important religious festival in today's Christianity. "The Easter feast has been and still is regarded as the greatest in the Christian church, since it commemorates the most important event in the life of its Founder" (The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 1986, Vol. 2, "Easter"). Given its popularity, one would think that surely this observance is found in God's Word.
Some cite Acts 12:4 as authority for celebrating Easter. But there's a problem in that Easter isn't really mentioned there at all. The King James Bible translators substituted "Easter" for the Greek word Pascha, which means "Passover." "The word [Easter] does not properly occur in Scripture, although [the King James Version] has it in Acts 12:4 where it stands for Passover, as it is rightly rendered in RV" (ibid.).
The vast majority of Bible translations recognize this error in the King James Version and rightly translate the word as "Passover" in Acts 12:4. The truth is, "there is no trace of Easter celebration in the [New Testament]" (ibid.)
Where did Easter come from?
If Easter isn't found in the Bible, where exactly did it come from? And just exactly what does the name Easter mean?
It's important to review credible historical sources to understand the celebration's true history. For example, The Encyclopaedia Britannica tells us: "At Easter, popular customs reflect many ancient pagan survivals—in this instance, connected with spring fertility rites, such as the symbols of the Easter egg and the Easter hare or rabbit" (15th edition, Macropaedia, Vol. 4, p. 605, "Church Year").
In the ancient world of the Middle East, people were far more connected to the land and cycles of nature than we are today. They depended on the land's fertility and crops to survive. Spring, when fertility returned to the land after the long desolation of winter, was a much-anticipated and welcomed time for them.
Many peoples celebrated the coming of spring with celebrations and worship of their gods and goddesses, particularly those associated with fertility. Among such deities were Baal and Astarte or Ashtoreth, mentioned and condemned frequently in the Bible, whose worship typically included ritual sex to promote fertility throughout the land.
It was only natural to the peoples of the ancient Middle East to incorporate symbols of fertility—such as eggs and rabbits, which reproduce in great numbers—into those pagan celebrations for their gods. As The Encyclopaedia Britannica notes above, Easter eggs and the Easter rabbit are simply a continuation of these ancient spring fertility rites.
Nineteenth-century Scottish Protestant clergyman Alexander Hislop's work The Two Babylons is still considered a definitive work on pagan customs that survive in today's religious practices.
On Easter, he wrote: "What means the term Easter itself? It is not a Christian name. It bears its Chaldean origin on its very forehead. Easter is nothing else than Astarte, one of the titles of Beltis, the queen of heaven, whose name, as pronounced by the people of Nineveh, was evidently identical with that now in common use in this country. That name, as found by [early archaeologist Sir Austen Henry] Layard on the Assyrian monuments, is Ishtar" (1959, p. 103).
The name Easter, then, comes not from the Bible. Instead its roots go far back to the ancient pre-Christian Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar, known in the Bible as Astarte or Ashtoreth.
Ancient resurrection celebrations
What did worship of this goddess Ishtar involve? "Temples to Ishtar had many priestesses, or sacred prostitutes, who symbolically acted out the fertility rites of the cycle of nature. Ishtar has been identified with the Phoenician Astarte, the Semitic Ashtoreth, and the Sumerian Inanna. Strong similarities also exist between Ishtar and the Egyptian Isis, the Greek Aphrodite, and the Roman Venus.
"Associated with Ishtar was the young god Tammuz [mentioned in Ezekiel 8:14], considered both divine and mortal . . . In Babylonian mythology Tammuz died annually and was reborn year after year, representing the yearly cycle of the seasons and the crops. This pagan belief later was identified with the pagan gods Baal and Anat in Canaan " (Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 1995, "Gods, Pagan," p. 509).
Alan Watts, expert in comparative religion, wrote: "It would be tedious to describe in detail all that has been handed down to us about the various rites of Tammuz . . . and many others . . . But their universal theme—the drama of death and resurrection—makes them the forerunners of the Christian Easter, and thus the first 'Easter services.' As we go on to describe the Christian observance of Easter we shall see how many of its customs and ceremonies resemble these former rites" (Easter: Its Story and Meaning, 1950, p. 58).
He goes on to explain how such practices as fasting during Lent, erecting an image of the deity in the temple sanctuary, singing hymns of mourning, lighting candles and nighttime services before Easter morning originated with ancient idolatrous practices (pp. 59-62).
Another author, Sir James Frazer (1854-1941), knighted for his contributions to our understanding of ancient religions, describes the culmination of the ancient idolatrous worship this way: "The sorrow of the worshippers was turned to joy . . . The tomb was opened: the god had risen from the dead; and as the priest touched the lips of the weeping mourners with balm, he softly whispered in their ears the glad tidings of salvation.
"The resurrection of the god was hailed by his disciples as a promise that they too would issue triumphant from the corruption of the grave. On the morrow . . . the divine resurrection was celebrated with a wild outburst of glee. At Rome, and probably elsewhere, the celebration took the form of a carnival" (The Golden Bough, 1993, p. 350).
A new celebration with ancient idolatrous roots
In various forms, worship of this god under the names Tammuz, Adonis and Attis, among others, spread from the outer reaches of the Roman Empire to Rome itself. There a truly remarkable development took place: Early Catholic Church leaders merged customs and practices associated with this earlier "resurrected" god and spring fertility celebrations and applied them to the resurrected Son of God.
The customs of the ancient fertility and resurrection celebrations weren't the only ones morphed into a new "Christian" celebration, but they are among the most obvious. After all, many historians readily admit the origin of the name Easter and the ancient fertility symbolism of rabbits and decorated eggs (which you can verify yourself in almost any encyclopedia).
Frazer observes: "When we reflect how often the Church has skilfully contrived to plant the seeds of the new faith on the old stock of paganism, we may surmise that the Easter celebration of the dead and risen Christ was grafted upon a similar celebration of the dead and risen Adonis" (p. 345).
He goes on to note that the desire to bring heathens into the Catholic Church without forcing them to surrender their idolatrous celebrations "may have led the ecclesiastical authorities to assimilate the Easter festival of the death and resurrection of their Lord to the festival of the death and resurrection of another Asiatic god which fell at the same season . . . the Church may have consciously adapted the new festival [of Easter] to its heathen predecessor for the sake of winning souls to Christ" (p. 359).
Surprisingly, the celebration of Easter didn't finally win out until A.D. 325, nearly 300 years after Jesus Christ's death and resurrection!
As the Catechism of the Catholic Church explains in the section titled "The Liturgical Year," "At the Council of Nicaea in 325, all the Churches agreed that Easter . . . should be celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon . . . after the vernal equinox" (1995, p. 332).
Up until this time, many believers had continued to commemorate Jesus' death through the biblical Passover as Jesus and the apostles had instructed (Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26). Now, however, with the power of the Roman Empire behind it, the Catholic Church enforced its preference for Easter. Those who wished to continue to observe the biblical Passover had to go underground to avoid persecution.
Would Jesus Christ celebrate Easter?
The record of the New Testament is clear: The faithful members of the early Church continued to observe all that the apostles taught them, as they were taught by Jesus Christ. The record of history is equally clear: In later centuries new customs, practices and doctrines were introduced that were quite foreign to the original Christians, forming a new "Christianity" they would scarcely recognize.
So a key question is, should a Christian follow what Jesus taught or what later religious teachers taught?
It's always a good idea to ask the question, what would Jesus do?
If Jesus were in the flesh today, would He celebrate Easter? The simple answer is No. He does not change. "Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, and forever," as Hebrews 13:8 tells us (emphasis added throughout). Jesus never observed Easter, never sanctioned it and never taught His disciples to celebrate it. Nor did the apostles teach the Church to do so.
Today, Jesus would observe the biblical Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread as Scripture teaches and as He practiced and taught (John 13:15-17; 1 Corinthians 5:7-8). In fact, He specifically said that He anticipated observing the Passover with His true followers "in My Father's kingdom" after His return (Matthew 26:26-29).
The feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread have deep meaning to Christ's true disciples. They reveal aspects of God's plan for the salvation of humanity—commemorating the fact that Jesus died for us and lives in us and for us (1 Corinthians 11:26; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:3-4).
Should you observe Easter?
If you want to be a true disciple of Christ Jesus, you need to carefully examine whether your beliefs agree with the Bible. It is not acceptable to God to merely assume that He approves of or accepts non-biblical celebrations, regardless of whether they are done for proper motives.
The fact is that God says, "Learn not the way of the heathen"—those who don't know God's truth (Jeremiah 10:2, King James Version).
His Word gives us explicit instructions regarding worshipping Him with practices adopted from pagan idolatry: "Do not inquire after their gods, saying, 'How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.' You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way; for every abomination to the Lord which He hates they have done to their gods . . . Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it" (Deuteronomy 12:30-32).
Jesus Christ now commands everyone to repent of following all man-made religious traditions: "Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30; compare Matthew 15:3).
Will you honor Christ's lifesaving instructions so that God can bless you? He said: "If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor" (John 12:26).
God wants you and me to obey His life-giving Word. When we do, we can serve Christ as His ambassadors on earth. There is no greater calling on earth and throughout time. For your ongoing happiness and security, turn to God now and seek His complete and perfect way. GN
The same way one eats the body and blood of the Lord.
Every Biblical ritual, from the original Passover to the shortened version called the Lord's Supper to Immsersion (Baptism) is created so that we can physically act out a spiritual reality. For example, Paul explains Immersion thusly:
Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised Him from the dead. (Col. 2:12)That is, when baptized, we symbolically "die" to our old lives, are buried with the Messiah, and are raised together with Him into a whole new life to be lived in His Spirit. So far, so good, right?
Now, knowing the symbolic meaning of baptism, do we then read that back into every reference to baptism made by the Apostles in such a way as to preclude the physical enactment of the ritual? Of course not. Why then should we suppose Paul to be speaking of keeping the Passover only spiritually, not also physically, in 1 Co. 5?
The matter at hand I was addressing was the one you brought up about rabbits, eggs, trees, etc. You brought it up and I addressed it with the Catechism, so it is a little more than disingenious for you to claim it is irrelevent. The Church does not use those things in the practice of the faith, therefore you cannot use those things in an attempt to disparage the Church as pagan.
Like the ones where I point out that co-opting pagan holidays and symbols was probably done with the best of intentions, as a bridge to evangelizing the pagan culture around them?
The Catechism has demonstrated that the Church did not co-opt pagan symbols. You have already admitted the Church did not co-opt a pagan holiday.
The sin was in deliberately changing the date just to shove away the Jews, and in demanding that Jews "uncircumcise" to enter the Body of a Circumcised Messiah.
You've not shown this.
I think we know why you still won't respond to me about my question regarding your accusation regarding the egg.
You addressed it by the lack of mention in the Catechism--thus committing the absence of evidence argument that you accused me of. And given that I've shown (and you've not disputed) that the Catechism isn't a source that even attempts to address the issue, it's not the least bit disingenuous for me to point out that it's every bit as relevant to the discussion as The Cat in the Hat.
The Church does not use those things in the practice of the faith, therefore you cannot use those things in an attempt to disparage the Church as pagan.
While I could indeed point out areas in which the RCC is pagan-like in its theology and practices, I've not done so in this thread for two reasons: 1) Like the Catechism, my opinion on saint-veneration is irrelevant to the conversation at hand, and 2) this is not an issue I consider to be relevant to the RCC and/or EOC alone: Protestants celebrate the Resurrection on Easter day with eggs too.
You seem to have a bit of tunnel-vision on the use of the term "Church" or "Ekklesia." Unlike you, I do not automatically associate either term with the RCC (or the EOC)--rather, I refer to the Body of believers that transcends denominational bounds, united in faith in the Messiah Yeshua (regardless of whether they call Him Yeshua, Jesus, Iesous, or whatever transliteration is your choice) and in the sealing of the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, when I criticize the Church as a whole for a historical error or sin (particularly against the Jewish people), I am not pointing my finger at your particular denomination from afar, or anyone else's denomination, but including all of our (including my own) physical and spiritual ancestors!
The Catechism has demonstrated that the Church did not co-opt pagan symbols.
Your argument from silence is unzipped. You might want to see to that, since you've not "demonstrated" anything from the Catechism.
You have already admitted the Church did not co-opt a pagan holiday.
No, I've admitted that the etymological ("family tree" of the word) connection between Easter and Ishtar doesn't work because of a several-century gap between the change of the date and the use of the word Easter to describe the holiday. In other words, I've ceded the argument on one piece of evidence. I've also said that I'd do some digging on other parts (like the rabbits). I've maintained the matter of the symbolism of the eggs.
On the other hand, no one has argued about the Saturnalia origin of Christmas, and Campion ceded (in post #164) that there were in fact some pagan elements (like mistletoe and the Yule log) of the traditional Christmas celebration that he couldn't explain away.
Now, I think I've been a good sport about ceding arguments that I've been corrected factually on. Let's see how you do: I documented back in post #107 that Constantine and the Council of Nicea did indeed add letters to the Council's decisions commanding the eastern churches to no longer keep Passover on the correct date, which they had been doing, for the express purpose of separation from and exclusion of the Jews.
Now, are you willing to concede that the Church by a mere council of men changed a date that God Himself commanded, even though approximately half of then-existent Christendom, including many venerated fathers like Polycarp and Irenaeus, understood and practiced the keeping of Pesach on the Biblically-mandated date? If you do, the next question we can then address is why they chose the date (or rather, the calculation method) that they did.
You've not shown this.
By simple definition, changing any of God's Appointed Times, whether Passover, Sabbath, or any other Feast, would exclude Jewish believers from participating unless they became "uncircumcised" (non-Jewish) and rejected the Torah that the Apostles were scrupulous to keep (see Acts 21 again). Moreover, you can see here a number of confessions forced upon Jews who wished to be believers in the Messiah. The fact that Jewish believers have been forced for nearly twenty centuries to give up all Jewish practice in order to be accepted by the Christian Ekklesia is no historical secret.
I think we know why you still won't respond to me about my question regarding your accusation regarding the egg.
I actually did, albeit to another (Campion) in post #188. I forgot to give you the reference in my last post; sorry for the confusion.
I'm assuming you're referring to the wave sheaf offering in Leviticus 23:11...correct? The Feast of FirstFruits is another name for The Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost, which occurs much later.
The Cat in the Hat has just as much to do with our practice of the Catholic faith as does your list of items. The Catechism is a statement of the Church’s faith and of Catholic doctrine. That you cannot find your list of items in the Catechism is hardly an absence of evidence. But for those who really wish it to be true, there will be no convincing.
While I could indeed point out areas in which the RCC is pagan-like in its theology and practices, I've not done so in this thread for two reasons
Yes, it is probably best that you leave that alone. Pagan-like practices can be found in everyone’s practice of the faith, including yours.
Protestants celebrate the Resurrection on Easter day with eggs too.
There is nothing any more damning there than your use of beitzah (roasted egg) in your celebrations. In the Seder meal the egg symbolizes the cycle of life and the hope for a future, among other things. What were you saying about pagan-like? What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
You seem to have a bit of tunnel-vision on the use of the term "Church" or "Ekklesia."
Yes, I am speaking only about the practices of my Church. I’m sorry you have a problem with that.
I am not pointing my finger at your particular denomination from afar, or anyone else's denomination, but including all of our (including my own) physical and spiritual ancestors!
But not yourself. How convenient.
Your argument from silence is unzipped. You might want to see to that, since you've not "demonstrated" anything from the Catechism.
That you can’t find in the Catechism what you oh so want to be there, is plenty of demonstration.
No, I've admitted that the etymological ("family tree" of the word) connection between Easter and Ishtar doesn't work because of a several-century gap between the change of the date and the use of the word Easter to describe the holiday.
Then I advise you to educate your co-religionists here on FR.
I've maintained the matter of the symbolism of the eggs.
Me, too. The symbolism is no more pagan than your use of the egg as a symbol of the cycle of life and the hope for a future.
On the other hand, no one has argued about the Saturnalia origin of Christmas
It does not surprise me that celebration of Christ’s birth is pagan is your eyes.
Campion ceded (in post #164) that there were in fact some pagan elements (like mistletoe and the Yule log)
Neither of which have a part in the practice of the Catholic faith.
Now, are you willing to concede that the Church by a mere council of men changed a date that God Himself commanded
A council didn’t change what was already in practice.
By simple definition, changing any of God's Appointed Times, whether Passover, Sabbath, or any other Feast, would exclude Jewish believers from participating unless they became "uncircumcised" (non-Jewish) and rejected the Torah that the Apostles were scrupulous to keep (see Acts 21 again).
We celebrate everyday of the week, so they should be able to find a day in there somewhere that suits them.
No --- The Feast of First Fruits was the third feast of the year and always occurred on the next day after that Sabbath that followed Passover, aka the first day of the week [Sunday].
The Feast of Weeks was the fourth feast and took place seven Sundays later.
This is the reason that most Churches gather for worship on Sunday --- and as you can see, it is perfectly scriptural and reasonable. After all it is the day of arising from rest, the day of new beginnings, the day of the third and fourth feasts, the day of the Resurrection and Pentecost. One would hope that it would be important to Christians.
To call Sunday worship a pagan practice is absolutely ridiculous. Can anyone give me a good reason why it shouldn't be just holy to Christians as Saturday is to Jews?
The Hebrew Festivals of the Lord followed a lunar cycle (not weekly) and the Sabbath in question (beginning the count of the "Omer") was the 15th day of Nisan/Abib.
One of the problems that arise with English speaking folks is the misunderstanding of the Hebrew term, Shabbat. It has several meanings: "A day of rest" (including a "Holiday" such as the First Day of Passover as in [Leviticus 23:11] or Yom Kippur), or "the seventh day of the week" (Sabbath in English), or a "week of seven days", or a "period of seven years" (a "week of years" as it were). The meaning depends on the context. In [Leviticus 23:16] it is seven weeks from after the First Day of Passover.
In [Leviticus 23:15] the word is "Shabbatot" and in verse 16 it is "Ha-Shabbat". In verse 11 the phrase "The morrow after the Sabbath" also has "Ha-Shabbat" too. When you read a translation directly from the Hebrew such as this you will see that verse 15 speaks of "the day of rest" while the KJV, for instance....says Sabbath. The Hebrew goes on to say "when seven weeks are complete" while the KJV says "seven Sabbaths shall be complete". In verse 16 the Hebrew says "after the seventh week" while again, the KJV incorrectly renders this a "After the seventh Sabbath".
The KJV translators, as well as others, had difficulty in separating the Hebrew terms for Sabbaths....Shabbatot for an annual Sabbath such as Unleavened Bread(Passover(2), First Fruits(Pentecost), Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles(2). Seven annual Sabbaths called Shabbatot in the Hebrew...or special Sabbaths as referred to in [John 19:31].
[Joshua 5:10-12] And the sons of Israel encamp in Gilgal, and make the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month, at evening, in the plains of Jericho and they eat of the old corn of the land on the "morrow of the Passover", unleavened things and roasted [corn], in this self-same day. And the manna doth cease on the morrow in their eating of the old corn of the land, and there hath been no more manna to the sons of Israel, and they eat of the increase of the land of Canaan in that year.
The only way the Israelites could have eaten the produce of Canaan on "The Day After Passover" would be...... if the first day of Passover was the Sabbath referred to in [Leviticus 23:11-15].
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We are so blessed at our little church. Our parish celebrates the mass every day of the week (thrice on Sundays). In addition, the Office (the Liturgy of the Hours) is prayed daily.
Holy Thursday... and so it begins.
The most Holy days of the year, and we are not to celebrate?
If not this Easter Triduum then what?!
How silly and meaningless this article is.
Wrong --- the "Sabbath" in question is the Saturday, that seventh day of the week, that day of rest that followed Passover. The word "sabbath", that God clearly defined for Moses and the children of Israel over a dozen times in the Law, meant the seventh day of the week, the day of rest. Show me chapter and verse where God ever redefined this word.
Feast of First Fruits according to the Law was Resurrection Sunday [the next day after the sabbath per Leviticus 23:11], and the Feast of Weeks was Pentecost Sunday 7 weeks later, according to the Law of Moses.
We are not talking tradition here, Pharisaical or otherwise, we're talking about what those plain words of Moses mean, not what some Jews imagined that they meant.
Show me where the day after Passover was called a "sabbath" in the Law. It isn't. It is called a "quodesh miqra"--- a holy convocation. The Jews were commanded to "rest" on the sabbath day, the seventh day of the week, but on days of holy convocation, like the day after Passover, they were days of gathering together as the word "miqra" clearly means in Hebrew. There is no escaping its clear meaning and its differentiation from the "sabbath".
[Joshua 5:10-12] And the sons of Israel encamp in Gilgal, and make the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month, at evening, in the plains of Jericho and they eat of the old corn of the land on the "morrow of the Passover", unleavened things and roasted [corn], in this self-same day. And the manna doth cease on the morrow in their eating of the old corn of the land, and there hath been no more manna to the sons of Israel, and they eat of the increase of the land of Canaan in that year. The only way the Israelites could have eaten the produce of Canaan on "The Day After Passover" would be...... if the first day of Passover was the Sabbath referred to in [Leviticus 23:11-15].
Not if Nisan 14 was on Friday, right? That would make Saturday both the sabbath and a holy miqra, and then the next day the Feast of First Fruits when they began to eat of the new harvest. They ate of the old corn until the sabbath was over and until the Feast of First Fruits began on Sunday. Surely you see the symbolical significance of this feast as relates to the Resurrection and the start of a New Covenant.
Too many people have gotten stuck on celebrating Passover and Saturday as the be-all and end-all of all holiness when it is anything but. God has moved on.
When God says that you have circled this mountain long enough, it is time to move on, then you move on. To do otherwise is sin. To make an idol out of "Saturday" and "Passover" when God has moved on to the "next day" and the "Feast of First Fruits" is a bit stubborn. Life moves on after the Passover and the Saturday Sabbath and it rose from the dead after Passover and the Saturday Sabbath.
Sabbatarians brag about keeping their sabbath Saturdays, but how are they doing with their holy miqra Sundays. Most people who go to church on Sunday also rest on Saturday, thus they are not only keeping the Sabbath day holy, but they are also keeping the holy miqra of First Fruits holy on Sunday.
When are the Sabbatarians [Saturday worshippers] going to start keeping the whole Law that they keep trying to wrap around the nexts of everyone else??? Are any of them going to gather together this Sunday to honor the Feast of First Fruits, aka the day of the Resurrection of the Messiah, or are they going to remain willfully disobedient???
Wrong --- the "Sabbath" in question is the Saturday,
There is a detailed study of the Feasts if you click here
Baruch HaShem Yah'shua HaMashiach who has become our salvation !
Christians Who Don't Celebrate Easter: What Do They Know?Bupkis.
[Leviticus 23:6-7] And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD; seven days ye shall eat unleavened bread. In the first day ye shall have a holy convocation; ye shall do no manner of servile work. And....to you, this is not designated as a day of rest? (Passover....or the Day of Preparation, being the 14th)
A Holy Convocation is a Sabbath...a day of rest(Hebrew/Shabbatot). The Apostle [John 19:31] thought it so also, as he designated it here.....as such.
Feast of First Fruits according to the Law was Resurrection Sunday [the next day after the sabbath per Leviticus 23:11], and the Feast of Weeks was Pentecost Sunday 7 weeks later, according to the Law of Moses.
As pointed out earlier...the next day of rest after the 14th would be the 15th. [Leviticus 23:15-16] And ye shall count unto you from the morrow "after the "DAY OF REST"(not called a Sabbath here), from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the waving; seven weeks shall there be complete. Even unto the morrow after the seventh week shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall present a new meal offering unto the LORD.
We are not talking tradition here, Pharisaical or otherwise, we're talking about what those plain words of Moses mean, not what some Jews imagined that they meant.
[Romans 3:2] What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision. Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.
You know.....we could go on like this forever. You are not going to convince me.....and I suppose I'll not convince you. It matters not to our salvation....so let's agree to disagree.
I'm trying to understand what you're talking about from a biblical viewpoint. Where do you see in the bible a reference to a "Feast of First Fruits" and what are the requirements of this feast? Are you referring to this?
Lev 23:10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:
Lev 23:11 And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.
Lev 23:12 And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf a he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD.
Lev 23:13 And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savor: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of a hin.
Lev 23:14 And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
Technically, I don't believe this is a separate feast. It is a ceremony that fell within the feast of unleavened bread.
Let's get this established before we move on, okay?
It doesn’t take a journalist to make a celebration of fertility gods (aka Easter) look bad.
It is an idolotrous celebration.
And no, you can’t baptize a pagan holiday and make it holy.
Period.
End of discussion.
We remember the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ each Lord’s day when we partake of the Lord’s supper. In a religious context, this coming Lord’s day holds no more importance than any other. They are all wonderful times to study the Bible, sing praises to God, remember the sacrifice of our Savior, and to enjoy the fellowship of our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Concise truth.
Lev 23:10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: Lev 23:11 And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. Lev 23:12 And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf a he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD. Lev 23:13 And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savor: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of a hin. Lev 23:14 And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations.
Just as the Crucifixion and the Resurrection are separate events, so Passover and First Fruits are also separate. Can one be kept on its proper day and not the other? Aren't all the feasts important.
I'm not intending to pass it over, and I'll get to it's significance. But first I'm trying to establish something. It's not called a "feast" in the bible. It's not called "holy", there is no commanded gathering and it's not considered a sabbath within scripture. It's a ceremony that falls withing another feast period. Do you concur?
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