The Pagan Origin Of Easter, Tract

[rizen1]

The Pagan Origin Of Easter, Tract

Easter is a day that is honered by nearly all of contemporary Christianity and is used to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The holiday often involves a church service at sunrise, a feast which includes an "Easter Ham", decorated eggs and stories about rabbits.

Those who love truth learn to ask questions, and many questions must be asked regarding the holiday of Easter.
Is it truly the day when Jesus arose from the dead? Where did all of the strange customs come from, which have nothing to do with the resurrection of our Saviour?

The purpose of this tract is to help answer those questions, and to help those who seek truth to draw their own conclusions.
The first thing we must understand is that professing Christians were not the only ones who celebrated a festival called "Easter."

"Ishtar", which is pronounced "Easter" was a day that commemorated the resurrection of one of their gods that they called "Tammuz", who was believed to be the only begotten son of the moon-goddess and the sun-god.

In those ancient times, there was a man named Nimrod, who was the grandson of one of Noah's son named Ham.
Ham had a son named Cush who married a woman named Semiramis.Cush and Semiramis then had a son named him "Nimrod."

After the death of his father, Nimrod married his own mother and became a powerful King.

The Bible tells of of this man, Nimrod, in Genesis 10:8-10 as follows: "And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said, even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad,and Calneh, in the land of Shinar."

Nimrod became a god-man to the people and Semiramis, his wife and mother, became the powerful Queen of ancient Babylon.
Nimrod was eventually killed by an enemy, and his body was cut in pieces and sent to various parts of his kingdom.
Semiramis had all of the parts gathered, except for one part that could not be found.

That missing part was his reproductive organ. Semiramis claimed that Nimrod could not come back to life without it and told the people of Babylon that Nimrod had ascended to the sun and was now to be called "Baal", the sun god.
Queen Semiramis also proclaimed that Baal would be present on earth in the form of a flame, whether candle or lamp, when used in worship.

Semiramis was creating a mystery religion, and with the help of Satan, she set herself up as a goddess.
Semiramis claimed that she was immaculately conceived.
She taught that the moon was a goddess that went through a 28 day cycle and ovulated when full.
She further claimed that she came down from the moon in a giant moon egg that fell into the Euphrates River.

This was to have happened at the time of the first full moon after the spring equinox.
Semiramis became known as "Ishtar" which is pronounced "Easter", and her moon egg became known as "Ishtar's" egg."
Ishtar soon became pregnant and claimed that it was the rays of the sun-god Baal that caused her to conceive.
The son that she brought forth was named Tammuz.

Tammuz was noted to be especially fond of rabbits, and they became sacred in the ancient religion, because Tammuz was believed to be the son of the sun-god, Baal. Tammuz, like his supposed father, became a hunter.
The day came when Tammuz was killed by a wild pig.
Queen Ishtar told the people that Tammuz was now ascended to his father, Baal, and that the two of them would be with the worshippers in the sacred candle or lamp flame as Father, Son and Spirit.
Ishtar, who was now worshipped as the "Mother of God and Queen of Heaven", continued to build her mystery religion.

The queen told the worshippers that when Tammuz was killed by the wild pig, some of his blood fell on the stump of an evergreen tree, and the stump grew into a full new tree overnight. This made the evergreen tree sacred by the blood of Tammuz.

She also proclaimed a forty day period of time of sorrow each year prior to the anniversary of the death of Tammuz.
During this time, no meat was to be eaten.
Worshippers were to meditate upon the sacred mysteries of Baal and Tammuz, and to make the sign of the "T" in front of their hearts as they worshipped.
They also ate sacred cakes with the marking of a "T" or cross on the top.
Every year, on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox, a celebration was made.

It was Ishtar's Sunday and was celebrated with rabbits and eggs.
Ishtar also proclaimed that because Tammuz was killed by a pig, that a pig must be eaten on that Sunday.

By now, the readers of this tract should have made the connection that paganism has infiltrated the contemporary "Christian" churches, and further study indicates that this paganism came in by way of the Roman Catholic System.

The truth is that Easter has nothing whatsoever to do with the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We also know that Easter can be as much as three weeks away from the Passover, because the pagan holiday is always set as the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox.
Some have wondered why the word "Easter" is in the the King James Bible.

It is because Acts, chapter 12, tells us that it was the evil King Herod, who was planning to celebrate Easter, and not the Christians.
The true Passover and pagan Easter sometimes coincide, but in some years, they are a great distance apart.
So much more could be said, and we have much more information for you, if you are a seeker of the truth.

We know that the Bible tells us in John 4:24, "God is a spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."
The truth is that the forty days of Lent, eggs, rabbits,hot cross buns and the Easter ham have everything to do with the ancient pagan religion of Mystery Babylon.These are all antichrist activities!

Satan is a master deceiver, and has filled the lives of well-meaning, professing Christians with idolatry.
These things bring the wrath of God upon children of disobedience, who try to make pagan customs of Baal worship Christian.
You must answer for your activities and for what you teach your children.

These customs of Easter honor Baal, who is also Satan, and is still worshipped as the "Rising Sun" and his house is the "House of the Rising Sun."
How many churches have "sunrise services" on Ishtar's day and face the rising sun in the East?
How many will use colored eggs and rabbit stories, as they did in ancient Babylon.

These things are no joke, any more than Judgement day is a joke.
I pray to God that this tract will cause you to search for more truth.
We will be glad to help you by providing more information and by praying for you.
These are the last days, and it is time to repent, come out and be separate.

David J. Meyer

 

[stephen]

What you say is true.

But there was a point in the past when those that followed Jesus got together and changed the festival to a Christian celebration. Must have been during times of Christian Revival, and the consequent social blessings which always ensue

Up from the grave he arose, With a mighty triumph o'er His foes. He arose the victor from the dark domain, and He lives forever with his saints to reign...........He Arose.....He arose....Halleujah Christ arose


What could provide a better celebration?

 

[rizen1]

He arose the victor from the dark domain, and He lives forever with his saints to reign...........He Arose.....He arose....Halleujah Christ arose

Praise and glory to our King

 

[Maureen]

I must admit I buy the grandchildren easter eggs only reason because they love chocolate.
I don't buy bunnies or chicks or any other daft easter gimmick.

I love Easter Sunday in church, 'He is risen' He is risen indeed.

I think so long as we keep it in the right perspective, that we are worshipping our King of Glory, with all else erased from our mind, and only concentrating on Him, I think it is a glorious day, wether the date be exact or not, our Saviour rose on the third day. Jesus made it all possible, to Him we humbly bow.
Hallelujah to our King.

 

[rizen1]

When you're constantly in debate with wiccans,pagans and witches online the educated ones will declare "Ishtar's influence on Christianity.


So to separate myself, I tell them they can keep their Ishtar pronouced easter weekend because I'll be celebrating Resurrection weekend...

All well that ends well.

 

[Maureen]

Easter Sunday has a special meaning.
or Resurrection Sunday, whichever one is your way of refering to it.

He said in 3 days He would arise, and arise He did.

I think it is stupid supplying Easter Eggs, I did have a verse I used to attach to them, but I've misled it.
The kids love the chocolate and thats what they look for.

 

[paganmystic]

Sweet thread rizen1, and utterly accurrate.
Ishtar was adapted by the Catholics which I still believe is a hybrid of Baal Worship and early Christianity. Most of the religious denominations where hybrids of religional forms of paganism and early Christianity. That is where most of the twisting of Christianity came from as well as the adaption of so called Christian holidays. Both Easter and Christmas I observes as family and freind gatherings & fellowship and explain them that way.
I have lost friendships because I denounce them as Christian holidays and use these seasons to find more Christ-curious people to teach Judeo-Christian beliefs to. This is the only true form of Christianity since it is a way of life based solely on the Ministry Of Christ and the only true branch of Judaism. If it is not a Jewish feast or festval it is not Christian. All other forms of so-called Christianity contains docturine designed to lead people away from God and Jesus. Good work my sister
be well in the Will of our Lord, agape
Ohh yeah can you send me this thread via e-mail ... use any signature you wish to be seen. thank you very much

 

[Maureen]

I'm sure you've heard of St.Patrick's Day, well what they are doing to his memory makes my blood boil.
He would be outraged to know it.
It is turned into an enormas street party with pubs selling green beer and green stew, everything is green, and people travel for miles to join in.
It's total nonsense, St Patrick came to Ireland to preach the gospel and nothing else, they have trampled his memory under their feet.

They speak of 'drowning your shamrock' that means getting drunk.
it's horendous.
What a mockery has been made of this man's trials to bring the gospel and reach people for Christ.

 

[Janette]

Can't let this mess go unpoked

Ok I cannot help but clear this up because it's both historically and biblically inaccurate.

Now for this messy tract....

The first thing we must understand is that professing Christians were not the only ones who celebrated a festival called "Easter." [/B]

"Ishtar", which is pronounced "Easter" was a day that commemorated the resurrection of one of their gods that they called "Tammuz", who was believed to be the only begotten son of the moon-goddess and the sun-god.

To pick nits, Ishtar is pronounced "Ish-tar" and any similarity it has to "Easter" is accidental or anachronistic (like the modern pagan Ostara).

Tammuz was her lover, and he was killed and resurrected (every year) but it was just a matter of him going to the land of the dead and coming back in a myth very similar to the Greek myth of Persephanie.

The reason so many pagan cultures have a death-resurrection cycle in their mythology is beause Satan has *always* known how Christ would come into the world to save it and has *always* wanted to pervert that sacred truth. Mucking things up with 1000 similar legends was a pretty valid attempt..."Everyone has a savior god, you're not special."

Interestingly, Tammuz is also the name of a Hebrew month...specifically the month where the folks in the wilderness took leave of their senses and started worshipping a golden calf.

In those ancient times, there was a man named Nimrod, who was the grandson of one of Noah's son named Ham. Ham had a son named Cush who married a woman named Semiramis. Cush and Semiramis then had a son named him "Nimrod."

With the single exception of the *direct* quotes from Genesis, the rest of this stuff about Nimrod is largely bunk and besmirches a man and king of Godly lineage of whom *nothing* negative is spoken in the entire Bible. The poor guy is only mentioned 3 times, we don't know who his mother or wife was, and we're not even sure he was "in control" for the one bad thing that happened on his watch.

Semiramis the Queen is a barly known but actual historical figure who lived *after* Assur who lived a good deal of time after Nimrod (she was alive in the Greek historical period). She wasn't Nimrod's mother because she wasn't born yet when he was alive, and he certainly didn't marry her.

The *one* historical inscription apparently written *by* her (as opposed to all the legends surrounding her), talks about how she did what "only men do" in that she ruled, warred, and rebuilt the "twice fallen" Assyria-Babylon. Most of the legends around her list her off as an ancient Elizabeth I who didn't marry anyone.

After the death of his father, Nimrod married his own mother and became a powerful King.

This is Oedipal rubbish. Nimrod was by no means perfect, but let's not casually charge a biblical patriarch with incest unless it's true.

Nimrod's claim to fame was founding many empire-cities...including the first Babylon. It is *assumed* that he was still in control of the city by the time they built the infamous tower of Babel, but we cannot be certain of that because the wording of the event implies possible mob-rule at that point.

Nimrod became a god-man to the people and Semiramis, his wife and mother, became the powerful Queen of ancient Babylon. Nimrod was eventually killed by an enemy, and his body was cut in pieces and sent to various parts of his kingdom.
Semiramis had all of the parts gathered, except for one part that could not be found.

Uh no. In addition to Nimrod and Semiramis having no historical or biblical connection, this cut-up-the body myth actually refers to the *Egyptian* god Osiris who was resurrected by his goddess-wife Isis. There is no such myth around Nimrod.

Queen Semiramis also proclaimed that Baal would be present on earth in the form of a flame, whether candle or lamp, when used in worship.

Actually one of about 3 historical references (as in actual tablets from the library at Nineveh excavation which were translated) refer to the Warrior-Queen (assumed to be Semiramis) who was all about closing the bloody temples of Baal and putting an end to things like the child sacrifice that particular "god" demanded.

The rest of this tract is right off the pages of some gnostic mystery cult crap - and while those who worship such nonesense have tried to claim Semiramis as their champion because it's an "historical" name that would lend them stolen credence - what archaeological history has found so far disagrees. The rest of this is anachronistic "we are going to claim Easter is pagan" stuff that has no basis in known archaeological or historical data about the religion of Babylon (or Assyria or Sumeria or even Akkadia).

Most Christian scholars acknowledge that rabbits became associated with the Easter holiday because a Pope (I forget which one, look it up) declared that for the sake of those living in areas where fish could not be depended upon as an alternative to meat for fasting purposes - bunnies would now be considered um...land-fish. While it's true that some pagans honor the rabbit as a sacred symbol, it's silly to "worry" about this unless you are worshipping rabbits. Pagans worship Air and Water as holy elements too -- try to disassociate yourself completely from those for a few days and you'll see what I mean.

The Easter Egg as we know it today most likely originated with the proto-Russian peoples of Ukrania. Their primary meat-source (due to lack of really decent farmable land for crops let alone cattle) was chickens. As such, eggs were a staple. Since these folks didn't *have* much in the way of meat to give up for lent, they primarily gave up dairy products. Eggs were not eaten during the fasting times and so eggs became "one more thing" to look forward to at the Easter feast. Coloring egg shells was an utterly secular (as in no pagan symbolic decorated egg has EVER been found) hobby and when these folks went Christian, their art went Christian too...including the eggs.

If you'd like to see some truly spectacular art, look up Ukranian Easter Eggs. Each color is layered on from lightest to darkest with thin liquid wax being poured over the parts you want to "keep" then the wax is wiped away leaving the design. It takes upwards of 20 hours to do some of the better eggs, and tradition demands you do it in a sitting (an act once started for the Lord must be done to completion you see...). Again, it's true some pagans have a liking of eggs...but see the whole Air reference above.

The whole cross covered cakes and 40 day mourning period have absolutely no basis in anything known of Babylonian religion. However, modern Satanic mystery cults and "Black Masses" deliberately pervert such Christian symbols and practice, which may be what the authors were thinking of.

The truth is that Easter has nothing whatsoever to do with the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

There are a lot of Christians gathering this coming Sunday to celebrate the resurrection of Christ who would probably disagree....

The *truth* is that if you try to disassociate yourself from everything on Earth that the Devil has tried to touch or corrupt you will have to *leave* the Earth entirely to him because he's had his dirty demonic fingers in everything since the beginning of time.

Pagans sing - so no music for Christians.
Pagans dance ....
They eat...
They drink...
They have sex....
They work jobs...
They go to (and make) movies...
The list just goes on and on. We can't give up everything they've messed up or we'll have to give up our *lives*

Everything on earth including Easter customs are only as good or bad as the hearts of the people behind them.

We also know that Easter can be as much as three weeks away from the Passover, because the pagan holiday is always set as the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox.

Yeah ... this was done because the Catholics were hoping they'd get more converts if they pushed Easter closer to the equinox ("see ...you pagans aren't wrong you're...slightly mistaken...this is what the holiday really means...") It was also done because the Equinox is *roughly* the same day every year but the Passover, being determined by lunar progression, moves around a good bit. The easiest fix for this is to simply return to the Biblical calendar if the Catholic one makes you twitchy.

Some have wondered why the word "Easter" is in the the King James Bible.

Nah I don't wonder. I have faith it's supposed to be there and that God wasn't "asleep that day" when it was put in...but let's take a look...

It is because Acts, chapter 12, tells us that it was the evil King Herod, who was planning to celebrate Easter, and not the Christians.

This is also bunk. There's nothing anywhere in the passage that would allow anyone to infer this. There's no indication that Herod - a *Jewish* (if corrupt) king, was planning to make with the festival of Ishtar (which falls roughly in July...) and Easter as Ostara would have been unknown to him as he'd likely had zero contact with the ancient Celts who *did* have a holiday around that time of year.

First, the word "Easter" appears *only* in Acts 12:4. The word translated is "Pascha" which means "Passover." Everywhere else in the Bible that Pascha appears it is translated as Passover.

Before you go saying "Easter is bad/pagan" you must either decide if the Bible is "corrupt" for having that one "mistranslated" word, or if the word "Easter" is "ok" because it is used in the Bible by a biblical (as in one of the good guys) author. I don't believe any part of the Bible *can* be corrupt, therefore if God inspired some author to write "Easter" there must have been a reason and a need to do so.

I personally think that God wanted it known that the event recorded in this part of Acts occured after *Easter* (meaning the first Sunday on or after the first full moon of Passover/or after the Vernal Equinox for the Catholics and secular calendars *sigh*) as opposed to being after "Pascha" (which is a word that could mean *any* day during the Passover feast duration).

Now why did Herod want to wait until "after Easter" to bring Peter before the people? Because it would strip the sacredness out of the Resurrection day if the leader of the chruch was imprisoned on it. But of course the Angel came and got Peter out "that night."

In other words, Peter was *saved* from prison by an Angel of the Lord at a time *very* significant to early Christians - specifically - but that had no added significance (Passover being...over) to unbelieving Jews. It's like God was signing the event by timing with "Easter is real, the resurrection is real, salvation is real, Jesus is real!"

The true Passover and pagan Easter sometimes coincide, but in some years, they are a great distance apart. So much more could be said, and we have much more information for you, if you are a seeker of the truth.

I haven't seen enough truth so far to want any further information from the authors of this tract.

It works like this:

There is absolutely no valid *biblical* basis for *any* of the human traditions around Easter, except holy communion, and that wasn't reserved for that holiday. If you want to celebrate Passover (Pascha) then by all means contact your local synogogue. As near as scholars can tell, all of the Jewish disciples continued to practice all Jewish holidays after becoming Christian because...those were their holidays. For Gentiles, this is not the case, and you're welcome to read up in the Bible on the many strong arugments between Peter and James and Paul about this issue.

But...before you go scragging Easter wholesale, keep in mind that it's the one day of the year (moreso than Christmas for some) that tends to bring wayward people into a church or at least into contemplation about their relationship with God.

We don't get the right to make something universally unclean because some pagan dolt somewhere dirtied it with Satanic leanings. Our Lord told us (through Peter) *not* to "make unclean" what He had rendered clean.

Do we still not understand the full scope of Christ's death and resurrection? He was not redeeming only us, but all of Creation. We have not yet seen the final purification enacted, but it's prophecied and it's coming - probably sooner than we think. On a spiritual level though, it's over and done, the Devil is wholly defeated, and all else is redeemed. We're just waiting for linear time to catch up but the bill's been paid.

There is a difference between warning against an obvious Satanic taint (like a rap song that glorifies rape and murder) and a sweeping generalization (like saying all music and dance is pagan and therefore bad). I've seen very little in non-secular Easter festivities that would "take away" from God in any way. I have yet to meet anyone who cracks open an Easter egg and says "and we'd also like to thank the goddess Ishtar for the egg thing." To the Christian, it's an egg and a bunny..and that's it. If you've got "this may be more than an egg/bunny" thoughts in your brain the problem isn't with the egg or the bunny!

We know that the Bible tells us in John 4:24, "God is a spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."

EXACTLY! -- In spirit! What spirit do you think those Ukranian artisens had in their hearts when they poured over those icon eggs for hours and hours so they could place a work of beauty and dedication before the altar of the Lord on Sunday? What spirit of Compassion moved a Pope to tell his people (who should have been under no "prescribed" fasts at all) to at least eat rabbit before they all starved and died for lack of fish? What spirit of Mercy allowed a most sacred day to be "standardized" and "secularized" and later even correlated to days of pagan hedonism just so a few of those pagans would stop to say "hrm...maybe it's not so different...tell me what *your* savior-god person had to say..." ?

Stop worrying. God is greater. There's nothing on the earth dirty enough to mess Him up or weaken or corrupt Him. When the last days are done, those who need it will be instructed in Godly worship. There will be *no* temples (check the Bible) because the Temple will live among us in the Person of Jesus Christ. It will all go away. In the meantime, educate your children about the *dividing lines* between Godly worship, Biblical doctrine, and mortal tradition and be done with it.

These are all antichrist activities!

No these are all mortal traditions. That's not the same as idolatry which is a *knowing* worship of something or someone besides our Lord. Trust me, you *know* if God is first in your life or not. If you've replaced it with paganism or money...or bunnies...you know it. It doesn't happen by accident.

 

[Janette]

Good day gone really bad.

I'm sure you've heard of St.Patrick's Day, well what they are doing to his memory makes my blood boil.
He would be outraged to know it.
It is turned into an enormas street party with pubs selling green beer and green stew, everything is green, and people travel for miles to join in.
It's total nonsense, St Patrick came to Ireland to preach the gospel and nothing else, they have trampled his memory under their feet.

They speak of 'drowning your shamrock' that means getting drunk.
it's horendous.
What a mockery has been made of this man's trials to bring the gospel and reach people for Christ.

Yes now *here* I will say I think we've seen something get wholly off track. There's nothing of St. Patrick left in "St. Patrick's Day" -- at least around here. I never did understand why a day that's supposed to commemorate the efforts of a *monk* to bring Gospel to heathens ended up being ...a pretty heathen party. I purposely avoid all bars and most restaraunts on this day because I have no wish to be around people who have taken any given day as a day of license to be foolish.

 

[rizen1]

Whether you agree with this tract or not.. there is pagan origins of 'easter' when I say this I don't mean Jesus on the cross....


I know pagans that celebrate easter..which has nothing to do with our celebration.

This was not to tell people not to think about the cross this weekend, but to choose whose festival are we celebrating, and to be aware of the history.

I look forward to resurrection weekend.

The purpose of this tract is to help answer those questions, and to help those who seek truth to draw their own conclusions.
The first thing we must understand is that professing Christians were not the only ones who celebrated a festival called "Easter."

This talks about the word Easter in the bible.

QUESTION: Isn't "Easter" in Acts 12:4 a mistranslation of the word "pascha" and should it be translated as "passover"?

ANSWER: No, "pascha" is properly translated "Easter" in Acts 12:4 as the following explanation will show.

EXPLANATION: The Greek word which is translated "Easter" in Acts 12:4 is the word "pascha". This word appears twenty-nine times in the New Testament. Twenty-eight of those times the word is rendered "Passover" in reference to the night when the Lord passed over Egypt and killed all the firstborn of Egypt (Exodus 12:12),
thus setting Israel free from four hundred years of bondage......

Easter, as we know it, comes from the ancient pagan festival of Astarte. Also known as Ishtar (pronounced "Easter"). This festival has always been held late in the month of April. It was, in its original form, a celebration of the earth "regenerating" itself after the winter season. The festival involved a celebration of reproduction. For this reason the common symbols of Easter festivities were the rabbit (the same symbol as "Playboy" magazine), and the egg. Both are known for their reproductive abilities. At the center of attention was Astarte, the female deity. She is known in the Bible as the "queen of heaven" (Jeremiah 7:18; 44:17-25). She is the mother of Tammuz (Ezekiel 8:14) who was also her husband! These perverted rituals would take place at sunrise on Easter morning (Ezekiel 8:13-16). From the references in Jeremiah and Ezekiel, we can see that the true Easter has never had any association with Jesus Christ.......

To unravel the confusion concerning "Easter" in verse 4, we must consult our FINAL authority, THE BIBLE. The key which unlocks the puzzle is found not in verse 4, but in verse 3. (Then were the days of unleavened bread... ") To secure the answer that we seek, we must find the relationship of the passover to the days of unleavened bread. We must keep in mind that Peter was arrested during the "days of unleavened bread" (Acts 12:3).

Our investigation will need to start at the first Passover. This was the night in which the LORD smote all the firstborn in Egypt. The Israelites were instructed to kill a lamb and strike its blood on the two side posts and the upper door post (Exodus 12:4, 5). Let us now see what the Bible says concerning the first passover, and the days of unleavened bread.

Exodus 12:13-18: "And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
14 And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.
15 Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.
16 And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you.
17 And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever.
18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even."

Here in Exodus 12:13 we see how the passover got its name. The LORD said that He would "pass over" all of the houses which had the blood of the lamb marking the door.

After the passover (Exodus 12:13, 14), we find that seven days shall be fulfilled in which the Jews were to eat unleavened bread. These are the days of unleavened bread!

In verse 18 we see that dates for the observance were April 14th through the 21st. This religious observance is stated more clearly in Numbers 28:16-18:

"And in the fourteenth day of the first month is the passover of the LORD.
17 And in the fifteenth day of this month is the feast: seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten.
18 In the first day shall be an holy convocation;ye shall do no manner of servile work therein:"
In verse 16 we see that the passover is only considered to be the 14th of the month. On the next morning, the 15th begins the "days of unleavened bread."

Deuteronomy 16:1-8: "Observe the month of Abib (April), and keep the passover unto the LORD thy God: for in the month of Abib the LORD thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.
2 Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the LORD thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the LORD shall choose to place his name there.
3 Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction: for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life.
4 And there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all thy coast seven days; neither shall there any thing of the flesh, which thou sacrificedst the first day at even, remain all night until the morning.
5 Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee:
6 But at the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to place his name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt.
7 And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place which the LORD thy God shall choose: and thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents.
8 Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread: and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the LORD thy God: thou shalt do no work therein."

Here in Deuteronomy we see again that the passover is sacrificed on the first night (Deuteronomy 16:1). It is worth noting that the passover was to be celebrated in the evening (vs.6) not at sunrise (Ezekiel 8:13-16).

In II Chronicles 8:13 we see that the feast of unleavened bread was one of the three Jewish feasts to be kept during the year.

II Chronicles 8:13: "Even after a certain rate every day, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts, three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles."

Whenever the passover was kept, it always preceded the feast of unleavened bread. In II Chronicles 30 some Jews who were unable to keep the passover in the first month were allowed to keep it in the second. But the dates remained the same.

II Chronicles 30:l5,21: "Then they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the second month: and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought in the burnt offerings into the house of the LORD. And the children of lsrael that were present at Jerusalem kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness: and the Levites and the priests praised the LORD day by day, singing with loud instruments unto the LORD."

Ezra 6:19,22: "And the children of the captivity kept the passover upon the fourteenth day of the first month. And kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy: for the LORD had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel."

We see then, from studying what the BIBLE has to say concerning the subject that the order of events went as follows:
On the 14th of April the lamb was killed. This is the passover. No event following the 14th is ever referred to as the passover.
On the morning of the 15th begins the days of unleavened bread, also known as the feast of unleavened bread.
It must also be noted that whenever the passover is mentioned in the New Testament, the reference is always to the meal, to be eaten on the night of April 14th not the entire week. The days of unleavened bread are NEVER referred to as the Passover. (It must be remembered that the angel of the Lord passed over Egypt on one night, not seven nights in a row.

Now let us look at Acts 12:3, 4:

"And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.) And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people."

Verse 3 shows that Peter was arrested during the days of unleavened bread (April 15-21). The Bible says: "Then were the days of unleavened bread." The passover (April 14th) had already come and gone. Herod could not possibly have been referring to the passover in his statement concerning Easter. The next Passover was a year away! But the pagan holiday of Easter was just a few days away. Remember! Herod was a pagan Roman who worshipped the "queen of heaven". He was NOT a Jew. He had no reason to keep the Jewish passover. Some might argue that he wanted to wait until after the passover for fear of upsetting the Jews. There are two grievous faults in this line of thinking.

First, Peter was no longer considered a Jew. He had repudiated Judaism. The Jews would have no reason to be upset by Herod's actions.

Second, he could not have been waiting until after the passover because he thought the Jews would not kill a man during a religious holiday. They had killed Jesus during passover (Matthew 26:17-19, 47). They were also excited about Herod's murder of James. Anyone knows that a mob possesses the courage to do violent acts during religious festivities, not after.

In further considering Herod's position as a Roman, we must remember that the Herods were well known for celebrating (Matthew 14:6-11). In fact, in Matthew chapter 14 we see that a Herod was even willing to kill a man of God during one of his celebrations.

It is elementary to see that Herod, in Acts 12, had arrested Peter during the days of unleavened bread, after the passover. The days of unleavened bread would end on the 21st of April. Shortly after that would come Herod's celebration of pagan Easter. Herod had not killed Peter during the days of unleavened bread simply because he wanted to wait until Easter. Since it is plain that both the Jews (Matthew 26:17-47) and the Romans (Matthew 14:6-11) would kill during a religious celebration, Herod's opinion seemed that he was not going to let the Jews "have all the fun." He would wait until his own pagan festival and see to it that Peter died in the excitement.
Isn't "Easter" in Acts 12:4 a mistranslation?</P>