A closer examination at Easter will reveal its proper origin and hopefully dismiss the false notion that many sincere Christians have about this holiday.

First, let me say I in no way make a big deal about these “days” when talking with lost souls, as it would seem silly to get bogged down in non essentials, while the big picture of why Jesus died on a cross gets pushed to the side. Many times this is done and it obscures the main issue for a non believer. Keeping it simple is a good motto to remember when dealing with the natural man.

Notwithstanding this truth, the fact about Easter’s origins is not Christian at all but rather pagan! While a lost soul may not be able to appreciate the spiritual importance of just why there is so much misunderstanding about Ea4\er it is important that a child of God understands what he or she believes and why. The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ represent the single most important doctrines for one to believe in order to call oneself a Christian that much is certain, but just how this gets incorporated into Easter is an amazing assimilation process to help “blur the lines” for a true believer.

The only time the word Easter appears in the Bible occurs in the Book of Acts, in chapter 12, verse 4. This also only appears in the King James Bible, no other version states Easter … they all read Passover! In verse 3 the Bible says, “the days of unleavened bread”, clearly a Jewish designation and also setting the time when the days of unleavened bread occur, afterPassover!But the text also says, “after Easter … “ King Herod was going to, “… bring him forth to the people.” Well, that makes perfect sense, a pagan, Roman ruler observing a pagan holiday, Easter! Named after the ancient goddess Ishtar, Astarte, or Ashtoreth, depending on whose mythology you read. It begs the question, why would Herod observe a Jewish feast day when he wasn’t Jewish? The answer is obvious, he didn’t.

The fact that many times Easter and Passover fall near each other during the year is the simple explanation for this verse to read as it does. Easter signifies the Roman observance while the days of unleavened bread clearly signify the Jewish or early Christian observance. Herod had just killed the apostle James and Peter was his next target. The thought that he would be celebrating Peter’s holiday is too funny to actually give a credible answer.

Ishtar was an ancient, pagan, Babylonian goddess of fertility and thus the incorporation of bunny rabbits, (known to reproduce very quickly!), has worked its way into the Easter Holiday, as it rightly should!! Easter did not come about as a holiday after the resurrection of Jesus but rather centuries before!! The Babylonian empire was the first of four world empires recognized in the Bible. It was Babylon, Medio/Persia, Greece and finally Rome. Babylon ruled the world for a couple of hundred years, ending approximately in 516 BC when the Medes, under Darius, overthrew Belshazzar, king of Babylon. Ishtar had already been idolized for centuries.

Remember, Jesus opens the eyes of the blind, (Jn.9:14, 25), while Satan blinds the minds of the unbeliever, (2 Cor. 4:4), to keep them in that state … the state of deception! Jesus saves but Satan slays! The Bible tells us that the, “… wages of sin is death; but the gift of Godis eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The most important decision for anybody to make is to trust Jesus Christ for the salvation of their immortal soul. The resurrection from the dead by Jesus Christ has never been equaled nor ever will be. It was the exclamation point put on the crucifixion giving Jesus’ words and· teaching the supreme authority for which man must heed. It remains a choice for man to make but their fate rests upon it. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:” (Jn. 11 :25)