Here's an interesting fact: Easter and the Feast of First Fruits are on the same day this year. But the former is pagan while the latter is what Yahweh commanded. Even if Easter wasn't pagan, God is very specific in Deuteronomy 12 that we are to serve him only as he commanded us to serve him. Deuteronomy 12 also forbids claiming pagan holidays for God. And in fact, it forbids claiming any pagan practice or tradition for God.
Before we get into the pagan origins of Easter and the surrounding traditions, let's talk a bit about the Feast of First Fruits, and how our Lord Yeshua fits into this biblical holy day. The Feast of First Fruits was instituted by Yahweh in Leviticus 23:9-14. On that day, the first fruits of all of the crops are to be presented as an offering to Yahweh. This is to happen the day after the Sabbath that comes after the Passover. All the first fruits of the field are set apart to Yahweh.
Yeshua, having died to pay the penalty for our sins, and having risen from the dead, is the first fruits of those who will be raised at the resurrection of the righteous (1 Corinthians 15:20-23). Yeshua is the first fruits of the redeemed. This is why, as mentioned in my previous post, Yeshua rose at the very start of the Feast of First Fruits (that is, what we would call Saturday evening, which is the end of the Sabbath). Yahweh does nothing by accident! First Fruits points us directly to Yeshua. So does Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Sabbath, etc. Every one of Yahweh's appointed times points directly to our Lord and Savior, Yeshua the Messiah!
Even the very word "Easter" is pagan in origin, being derived from the name of the Proto-Germanic goddess of fertility, which also traces all the way back to the Babylonian fertility goddess, Ishtar. It's just a chain of cultures pronouncing the name of the same false god slightly differently from the other cultures. Same name, same false god, but different language and pronunciation. Now if even the name is of pagan origin, then what about the rest of the celebration and its various traditions? Also, in Exodus 23:13, Yahweh makes it clear that these names are never, ever to be spoken of!
Things get even worse for this "holiday". Because historically, Easter and Passover have sometimes been portrayed as being the same thing. Considering the fact that Passover is when Yeshua died while Easter is supposedly when he rose from the dead, it should be clear that they are definitely not the same thing. The timing of the two days are also based on different calendars, with the exception that Easter is sometimes moved if it lands on the same day as Passover. Passover is a feast of remembrance of Yahweh's judgement passing over the Israelites when they were in Egypt. Yahweh later used this to symbolize his judgement passing over those who believe in Yeshua. Easter, on the other hand, is all about satisfying the desires of the flesh under the pretense of remembering Yeshua's resurrection.
Also, there is also no link between the word "Easter" and language-specific variants for the Hebrew word "pasakh". But the variants of "pasakh" do follow the same pattern: Different pronunciations of the same thing: Passover!
What about the eggs and rabbits? Those are symbols of fertility. The pagans worshiped fertility itself rather than the One who made mankind fertile. These obviously have nothing to do with the resurrection of Yeshua. And their pagan origins means we should not be using them in remembrance of Yeshua, as per Deuteronomy 12. Yet for some reason, every year, Christians everywhere hold "egg hunts" for the children.
And if you think the connections couldn't get any worse, the red Easter egg represents the blood of the infants that were burned alive on the altars of the pagan gods! They would then dip eggs into the blood of these infants. The pagans were just that evil! The Church has "Christianized" this to represent the blood of Yeshua instead. This is obviously not acceptable in the eyes of Yahweh.
The timing of the holiday also has pagan roots. The Sunday after the first Full Moon after the Spring Equinox. Let's just say that the pagans love their full moon! The pagans also love the Spring Equinox and Winter Solstice. And let's not forget that Sunday got its name because the pagans honor their sun gods by naming the first day of the week after the sun. Whoever observes Sunday as the Sabbath worships the sun, not God.
The only thing about Easter where the pagan connections are merely a coincidence (if you can call it that) is the pagan stories of their gods being resurrected by other gods at this time of year. That tells us why the pagan "converts" to "Christianity" decided to celebrate Yeshua's resurrection on this day rather than the Feast of Frist Fruits. However, the pagan stories are nothing like the historical resurrection of Yeshua. I'll leave you with "Truth or Tradition" by Pastor Jim Staley (from before his fall), and the more accurate "The Christmas Question" by 119 Ministries.
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