This issue of YAHSHUA'S WITNESS MAGAZINE
 was published for MARCH-APRIL 2008

Return to Magazines INDEX

Inside this issue:

 FROM THE EDITOR

EDITOR:   
Jerry Healan 
   
ASSOCIATE EDITOR:   John McCarty
   
PROOFREADERS:  
Frances Healan, Jerry Healan, John McCarty

OUR COVER: Spring is coming and with it also the Spring holydays/holidays. Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread are the first observances of Yahweh’s Sacred Calendar, while the world observes its traditional Easter with sunrise services, bunny rabbits laying colored eggs, people displaying their new Easter garments and the children’s search for the eggs, etc. Our cover picture highlights the observance of Passover and Unleavened Bread. We trust that our articles entitled "What Leaven Represents" and "Should a New Testament Believer Observe Easter or Passover?" will help to be an eye opener for the observances commanded by Yahweh in His Word and the traditions of paganism that have replaced those commands in the hearts of so many.

For comments or inquiries please write to YEA, P. O. Box 31, Atlanta, TX 75551.

FROM THE EDITOR

TUMULTUOUS TIMES AHEAD

 The reality of this world and life is beginning to sink in. We are very near the end times and things are going to begin to unravel. As most of you know, I am one of those strange people who happens to believe that the Hebrew language is a most important and vital language to look to for revelation. If you have a love for the Greek language as well as a Greek mindset, more power to you. But Scriptures were originally revealed in the ancient Paleo Hebrew and this author believes that the New Testament was also written in Hebrew. How can this be? Because the apostles were Hebrew. They were writing primarily to Hebrews. Our Savior was Hebrew and didn’t bother to speak to Paul in another tongue but Hebrew when He revealed Himself to him. (Acts 26:14).

  Furthermore, when Paul traveled to a new area, he always sought out the Synagogues first, performing the duty that he understood must be done, that is, go to the Jew first and then to the Gentile. (Ro. 1:16; 2:9-10) This is because the Synagogues always had a copy of the Tanakh, the Old Testament in Hebrew, which would be read and studied every Sabbath day. The Jews, like the Christians, have been instrumental in preserving the Scriptures even though they really don’t understand them and they also condemn them to destruction because of their rebellion and disobedience.

  Believe it or not, the ancient Hebrew tongue will open your eyes to modern day happenings if you will allow it. Take, for example, the adversary who came into Yahweh’s congregation. He is identified in Psalms 74:10 as the Tsar! The Tsar who came into the congregation and took over as its Pontifex Maximus (high priest), was none other than Constantine the Great who dictated the changes from the Sabbath to Sunday, from the annual holy days to the holidays, and from Hebrew to Greek. After all, if you convert the Hebrew to other languages like Greek, Latin, English, etc., then you can keep people from seeing what is going on. Identification is very easily lost and the Scriptures can be made to say things differently than what they originally meant.

  So what about today’s world? I can tell you that it would take reams and reams of paper to explain it all, so I certainly won’t be able to explain it in just one page, but I can establish a little foundation. When Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, they were naked and not ashamed (Gen. 2:25). The Hebrew word for “ashamed” is buwsh! It would sound much like the last name of our current President Bush. That Hebrew word (buwsh) not only is interpreted or defined as ashamed, but it also means; to be delayed, to be disappointed, to be confounded, or confused.

  The question I now have to ask is, has President Bush disappointed anyone? Yes! Even those of his own party! Are many ashamed of him now? Absolutely! What is going on in our nation that could also be described by these words? Doesn’t the stock market seem to be more than a little dismayed, confounded and confused? Haven’t many great burgeoning corporations, banks, etc., begun to enter into a period of confusion and decline? Is this a coincidence or has Yahweh been trying to tell those who understand Hebrew that this is the result of having lived as a lawless generation since Constantine?

  You see, even though Christianity proclaims that it loves Yahweh’s law and word on the one hand, they hate it on the other because they proclaim that it is done away. If there is no law, then the result is chaos, confusion, and destruction. That’s right people, life, creation exists by laws that were put into play by the very Word of Yahweh. When He spoke, it came into existence by the very power of His word (Jn. 1:1-3, 10-14). It is currently being upheld by the power of His word (Heb. 1:3). By Him all things consist, being held together (Col. 1:16), by the power of His Word.

  But He will not always allow His creation to continue in lawlessness, rebellion and disobedience to Him, His Word and His commands. The media has also taken the ball and run with it so that there is no lack of lawlessness in our land. I continue to harp on this, but the news media, the movie media, the television media, the radio media, the music media, the drug culture, the medical profession, as well as the Christian media and others are all working together to bring about total lawlessness, which results in total destruction.

  I know that Yahweh is merciful. I have experienced His mercy all of my lifetime (PRAISE HIM!)!!! But the time came when He allowed both Israel and Judah to continue no longer in His promised land, and in His word of promise. He had to horribly chasten and correct them. We are now coming to that same period of time for this world. Destruction for many and slavery for the few survivors is on its way. Did you know that our government, the banking system, and we ourselves have spent ourselves into debt to the tune of about 180 TRILLION dollars?! We can’t even begin to imagine how great these numbers are, but it is a fact that we have sold ourselves into debt so deeply that we have no way of climbing out of the pit.

  Chaos, confusion, correction, destruction are on the way. The dollar is sinking. Other nations and currencies may replace them momentarily, but they also will suffer the pangs of chaos, confusion, degeneration and destruction. Lift up your heads now! Our salvation is on its way! We had to come to these times before Yahweh intervenes by sending His Son Yahshua to intervene in world affairs, and save His own people Judah and Israel from the destructive paths that they have chosen. Times are going to get very hard, but Yahweh’s Word never fails. All will soon be crying out to Him for His mercy and intervention. Why not do so now?  JH

BACK TO TOP

Yahweh commanded Israel, “This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is Yahweh’s Passover,” Ex. 12:2-11.

  Furthermore, He continued, “And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to Yahweh throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever. 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. And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh 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. 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. 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. Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land. Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread,” Ex. 12:14-20.

  What is the significance to this ritual? Yahweh had commanded the Israelites to take a lamb of the first year out of the sheep or the goats and to kill it in the 14 th day of the month at even. This animal was called the Passover lamb. Why did He command this? Because He was going to deliver His people Israel from bondage to Egypt by slaying all of the firstborn of Egypt from the house of Pharaoh to the lowest and most common servant, even down to the beasts, the animals themselves. The Passover lamb was to be substituted for the Israelites firstborn so that no harm would come upon them.

  Yahweh reiterated this command several times, but He especially commanded it in the book of Leviticus, chapter 23, “These are the feasts of Yahweh, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons. In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is Yahweh’s Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto Yahweh: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto Yahweh seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein,” vv. 4-8.

   THE TYPES

     The Passover lamb of old was only a type of the true Passover Lamb, Yahshua the Messiah. The Apostle Paul writes, “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even the Messiah our Passover is sacrificed for us,” 1 Cor. 5:7.

  You see, whether you believe it or not, we are all enslaved, in bondage to the flesh and the god of this world. The god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4) is the prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2). Egypt was a physical type of the world in which we live today. Pharaoh was a type, a representative of the present god of this world who leads all into disobedience and rebellion against Yahweh. If we are to be delivered from this great leader of rebellion and disobedience, we must come to Yahshua, the Passover Lamb, Who will soon intervene to deliver His people from this world and its rule into the promise of Yahweh, that is, the coming kingdom of heaven.

  The coming kingdom of heaven is a time of blessedness, peace, tranquility, righteousness and plenty that the world has truly really never experienced. While there may be many skeptics and scoffers who doubt that such will ever take place, the fact of the matter is that Yahweh’s word is sure and true. It will take place in His own chosen time and it will take this present evil world by storm and surprise.

  Notice what the Prophet Jeremiah is inspired to declare about this time of deliverance, “Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Yahweh, that it shall no more be said, Yahweh liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; But, Yahweh liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers,” 16:14-15.

  While the Passover lamb of old was utilized to deliver the children out of Egypt, the fact of the matter is that it was powerless to deliver those who had died from the grave. Through the all powerful Passover Lamb, Yahshua the Messiah, even the graves of His people will be opened and they will be restored to their inheritance and kingdom. What a fantastic and powerful testimony! That is why it says that the deliverance from ancient Egypt will be forgotten! Through the greater Passover Lamb, Yahshua the Messiah, there will be total and complete deliverance, not only for the living, but also for the dead!

  THE UNLEAVENED BREAD

     The unleavened bread is a type of Yahshua in His affliction. (Review our article entitled “The Afflicted Messiah” that appeared in Yahshua’s Witness Magazine Mar. – Apr. 2007, pp. 14-23.)

  Yahshua declared that He was the true bread from heaven, “They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work? Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Then Yahshua said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of Elohim is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. Then said they unto him, Master, evermore give us this bread. And Yahshua said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst,” Jn. 6:30-35.

  While the reference is primarily to the manna, the fact of the matter is that just as the Passover lamb was a type of Him, so was the unleavened bread. It represented Him in His affliction for Yahweh commanded, “Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover unto Yahweh thy Elohim: for in the month of Abib Yahweh thy Elohim brought thee forth out of Egypt by night. Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the Passover unto Yahweh thy Elohim, of the flock and the herd, in the place which Yahweh shall choose to place his name there. 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. 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,” Dt. 16:1-4.

  Leaven puffs up, but bread dough that has no leaven is flat, typifying humility and meekness. Yahshua came as the most humble and afflicted of servants, “Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider. Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of Yahweh revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of Elohim, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and Yahweh hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased Yahweh to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of Yahweh shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities,” Isa. 52:13-15; 53:1-11.

   LEAVEN IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

    What do the Scriptures reveal concerning the meaning of leavened bread or leaven? We must look into the Prophets, Psalms and the New Testament for the answer.

  The Prophet Hosea is inspired to write, “When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria: for they commit falsehood; and the thief cometh in, and the troop of robbers spoileth without. And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness: now their own doings have beset them about; they are before my face. They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies. They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened. In the day of our king the princes have made him sick with bottles of wine; he stretched out his hand with scorners. For they have made ready their heart like an oven, whiles they lie in wait: their baker sleepeth all the night; in the morning it burneth as a flaming fire. They are all hot as an oven, and have devoured their judges; all their kings are fallen: there is none among them that calleth unto me. Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned,” Hos. 7:1-8.

  Look at all of the things revealed here to be associated with leaven; iniquity, wickedness, falsehood, thievery, robbery, adultery, lies, drunkenness, scorners, etc.

  The Prophet Amos decrees, “Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink. The Sovereign Yahweh hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks. And ye shall go out at the breaches, every cow at that which is before her; and ye shall cast them into the palace, saith Yahweh. Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years: And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings: for this liketh you, O ye children of Israel, saith The Sovereign Yahweh,” 4:1-5.

  Once again the oppression of the poor, crushing of the needy, drunkenness and transgression are associated with leaven by the Prophet Amos.

  The Psalmist pleads, “Deliver me, O my Elohim, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man,” Psa. 71:4.

  Interestingly, “cruel man” is translated from the Hebrew word chamets, which is the very word for leaven! Notice that the hand of the wicked and unrighteous are associated with the leaven (chamets) of the cruel man.

  The Psalmist Asaph professes, “Truly Elohim is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped. For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish. They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth. Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them. And they say, How doth Elohim know? and is there knowledge in the most High? Behold, these are the unrighteous, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches. Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning. If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children. When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; Until I went into the sanctuary of Elohim; then understood I their end. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Yahweh, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image. Thus my heart was grieved (chamets), and I was pricked in my reins. So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee,” Psa. 73:1-22.

  Notice that the Psalmist almost went the way of the foolish and wicked until he went to the house of Elohim. Then he understood that even though they seem to prosper and do well, their ultimate end is destruction from the hand of Yahweh. When he realized these things, then his heart was “grieved.” This word grieved” is translated from the Hebrew word chamets or leaven. Thus, we can determine that grief is associated with leaven. In other words, his heart was being leavened with the evil of the wicked until corrected by Yahweh.

   LEAVEN IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

     In Matthew chapter 16, the Pharisees and Sadducees came to Yahshua desiring him to show them a sign from heaven, but he rebuked them firstly by saying that they were a wicked and adulterous generation and secondly by declaring that the only sign that he would give them was the sign of Jonah who was three days and three nights in the belly of the great whale. (Mt. 16:1-4).

  Later, Yahshua warned his disciples to take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. The disciples hadn’t taken any bread with them and were confused to think that they had taken no bread to eat, but he corrected them by saying that it wasn’t because they had no bread, but they needed to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees (Mt. 16:5-11). “Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees,” v. 12.

  The Pharisees had wrested control over the common people and were teaching them the tenets of what has become modern day Orthodox Rabbinic Judaism. Another form of modern day Judaism has descended from the Sadducees, which is called Karaite Judaism. This ministry would be remiss if it didn’t warn you of the leaven that is extant in both of these movements along with much of the subsequent Jewish movements that are also influenced by them.

  The book of Mark adds a little information that Matthew fails to reveal. In Mark Yahshua is quoted as saying, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod,” 8:15.

  What can this mean? The leaven of Herod would have been the doctrine of the Herodians. Herod was made king of the land of Canaan by Augustus Caesar, his cousin. His father was an Edomite and his mother was of Ishmael. There were those who promoted him as king over Israel, which is fallacious since the true King is Yahshua, who is of Judah, specifically King David. Herod practiced Judaism in the Jerusalem area, but he also built the city in the north named Caesarea, which was named after Caesar and had a temple built therein, which was dedicated to the worship of Caesar as a god.

  This should enlighten us concerning the leaven of Herod. Herod’s king was Caesar. Caesar was worshipped as the son of god. When Constantine Caesar entered into the New Testament Assembly, he took over as its Pontifex Maximus or great high priest and mediator between heaven and earth. Through his edicts the faith began to be transformed and corrupted into modern day Christianity.

  The doctrine of the Herodians, therefore, was the doctrine that he was the rightful king over the Jews due to his being placed there by a still greater king, Caesar. In other words, Caesar was the ultimate king and whoever he appointed as their sub-king or leader had the authority of heaven. Constantine gave honor and esteem to another deity rather than Yahweh and another savior rather than Yahshua.

  Thus, we should avoid the leaven, that is, the doctrines of Rabbinic Judaisim (Pharisees), Karaite Judaism (Sadducees) and Christianity (Herodians).

   THE APOSTLE PAUL

    The Apostle Paul revealed more about what leaven represents when he wrote to the Corinthians, “It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, In the name of our Sovereign Yahshua the Messiah, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Sovereign Yahshua the Messiah, To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Sovereign Yahshua. Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even the Messiah our Passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth,” 1 Cor. 5:1-7.

  Look at what Paul associates with leaven. Firstly, he declares that they are “puffed up” which is what leaven does to dough. Being puffed up also has to do with vanity. But he is also associating fornication that is not so much as named among the Gentiles (non-Hebrew unbelievers). He also associates it with malice and wickedness.

   HOW LEAVEN WORKS

     A look into the Hebrew words for leaven, as well as the way leaven works is also very revealing. There are two key Hebrew words to deal with. The Hebrew word for leaven is seor, while the Hebrew word for leavened bread is chametz. Seor is defined as; barm or yeast cake (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance). It is simply the agent utilized to cause bread (primarily) to rise.

  Chametz is the Hebrew term for leavened bread. It is defined as; ferment, (figuratively) extortion. Chametz comes from the primitive root word chamets (#2556 in Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance). Chamets is defined as; a primitive root; to be pungent; i.e. in taste (sour, i.e. literally fermented, or figuratively, harsh), in color (dazzling). This is the word from when the idea of the “cruel man” and the “grieved heart” is derived in the Psalms referred to above.

  The word “ferment” comes from fervere which means to boil or become agitated. To “extort” means to get (money, etc.) from someone by violence, threats, misuse of authority, etc. (Webster’s New World Dictionary) The term extortion is often used metaphorically to refer to usury or to price-gouging.

  To be “pungent” or “sour” has to do with being made acid or rank by or as by fermentation. Sour usually implies an unpleasant sharpness of taste and often connotes fermentation or rancidness (Webster’s New World Dictionary).

  A look into the word “harsh” is quite revealing; Harsh adj. [ME. harsk, akin to G. harsch, rough, raw < IE. base *kars, to scratch, comb., whence L. carduus, thistle, carrere, to card (wool)] 1. unpleasantly sharp or rough; specif., a) grating to the ear; discordant b) too bright or vivid to the eye; glaring c) too strong to the taste; bitter d) not smooth to the touch; coarse  2. unpleasantly crude, abrupt, or strained so as to be offensive to the mind or feelings [the harsh realities of death]  3. rough, crude, or forbidding in appearance [beneath his harsh exterior]  4. excessively severe; cruel or unfeeling [a harsh punishment] − SYN. See ROUGH (Webster’s New World Dictionary).

  Finally, “dazzle” is defined as; 1. to overpower or dim the vision of with very bright light or brilliant qualities, display, etc. —vi. 1. to be overpowered by glare. 2. to arouse admiration by brilliant display (Webster’s New World Dictionary).

  Dazzle is defined as, 1. to overpower or dim the vision of with very bright light or moving lights 2. to confuse, surprise, or overpower with brilliant qualities, display, etc.—vi. 1. to be overpowered by glare 2. to arouse admiration by brilliant display.

  Isn’t this the technique that modern day movies, musicians, advertizers, and even the media utilize to obtain and keep the attention of their viewers, who could also be called their worshippers as many of them, especially the rich and famous are called icons, idols, etc.?

  What we have found in these definitions certainly goes hand in hand with the descriptions that we have found in the Scriptures concerning leaven typifying the works of sin and wickedness.

   PARABLES OF THE KINGDOM

    Yahshua came speaking in parables in order to keep the people of his day blinded to the realities of the kingdom. Only his chosen disciples were to be given the understanding of the parables. In Matthew chapter thirteen, he gives four parables. The first parable was of a man sowing seeds some of which fell by the wayside where the birds came and ate them up, others fell in stony places and the seeds did spring up, but perished because they had nothing to support their root system. Others fell among thorns which choked them but others fell on good ground and bore fruit unto the kingdom. Yahshua explained this parable for all to be able to hear and understand.

   Yahshua explained to his disciples that the seeds are the word of the kingdom of heaven. Those that fell by the wayside heard the good news of the kingdom of heaven, but couldn’t understand it. The wicked one, therefore, came and took what they had heard away from them. Others heard it and received it gladly, but have no depth of root in themselves to endure the hardships and troubles that come because of the good news of the kingdom. Still others desired the cares of this world and life, which causes one to become unprofitable. But the seeds that fall into the good soil bring forth much fruit for the kingdom.

  He then put forth another parable of the kingdom wherein a man sowed good seed in his field, but an enemy came and sowed the seeds of tares among his wheat. The tare and the wheat both look alike until the time for the fruit to be borne. The wheat will bear fruit for the kingdom, while the tare will bear nothing.

  The next parable is about the mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds, but eventually grows into a great tree so that even the birds of the air can lodge in its branches.

  Notice that each of these parables is about the kingdom of heaven in its relationship to the earth. The final parable that Yahshua gives is this, “The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened,” Mt. 13:33.

  When we look at the preceding parable about the mustard seed and measure it with this final one, it appears as if the two go hand in hand in explanation about the growth of the kingdom, but what about the second parable where the enemy sows tares in the field? What can we learn about this last parable? We have already searched the Scriptures and actually found nothing good about leaven. We have only been able to find it in association with the works of sin, evil, unrighteousness and wickedness. Let’s see if we can figure out each of these parables, because a parable is given to hide certain meanings and we must search it out as carefully as we can by comparing Scriptures with Scriptures.

   FIGURING IT ALL OUT

     The first parable is explained by Yahshua to his disciples. The next parable reveals the insidiousness of the enemy. He sows tares among the wheat and both are allowed to grow together. Thus, in the earthly kingdom of heaven, we have the good, the righteous, the fruitful and we have the evil who are only there to sap the strength of the good, grow up among them and crowd them out. Whether you realize it or not, this has taken place in the body of the Messiah.

  Psalms 74 is a very revealing Psalm, “O Elohim, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture? Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt. Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary. Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their ensigns for signs. A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees. But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers. They have cast fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground. They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the meeting places of Elohim in the land. We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knoweth how long. O Elohim, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever? Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck it out of thy bosom,” vv. 1-11.

  Notice that! It says that the enemy (tares) has done wickedly in the sanctuary. Yahweh’s enemies roar in the midst of His congregation. They have cast fire into His sanctuary. The enemy is blaspheming His name which has caused His right hand to be withdrawn.

  Yahshua is Yahweh’s right hand (Psa. 110:1-5; Heb. 1:13; Eph. 1:20). Who is the enemy, the adversary that blasphemes His name? The psalm identifies him. The Hebrew word for adversary in verse ten is TSAR! One of the most important titles for Constantine, called the great, was TSAR! He entered into the New Covenant Assembly and took over as its Pontifex Maximus (High Priest and mediator) and began to issue the edicts of sun (fire) worship. The signs of Yahweh’s people were the seventh day Sabbaths and the annual holy days. He changed them to Sunday and the annual pagan holidays (more fire worship). He and his cohorts who have followed him, including King James, have blasphemed Yahweh’s name, authority, seal, and power.

  The tares have been sown among the wheat and have been in the process of crowding the wheat out of existence ever since. Constantine is the little horn of Daniel 8 who magnifies himself to the prince of host, casts the (spiritual) sanctuary and the truth to the ground through the transgression of desolation and practices and prospers seemingly as the true faith.

   THE MUSTARD SEED

    The mustard seed is the third parable that we need to briefly deal with. It is so small in the beginning, but grows into a great tree wherein even the birds lodge in its branches.

  What event in the Scriptures do we have available that this parable is likened unto? Once again, we must go to the book of Daniel chapter 4. Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that troubled him. When none of his astrologers and magicians could explain it, he called for Daniel and explained, “Thus were the visions of mine head in my bed; I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great. The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth: The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all: the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it. I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven; He cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches: Nevertheless leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth: Let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him,” vv. 10-16.

  In Daniel chapter two, Nebuchadnezzar is revealed to posses the title “king of kings” (v. 37). This is the same title that Yahshua will be given in the very near future (Rev. 17:14; 19:16). Furthermore, Nebuchadnezzar is given the heart of a beast, which identifies him with the first beast of Daniel chapter 7. That beast is like a lion with eagle’s wings. The lion is king of beasts while the eagle is king of birds, thus the title “king of kings.”

  In Daniel chapter 2 a great dreadful and terrible image is revealed to Nebuchadnezzar, which is a microcosm or thumb nail sketch of the history of the ruling kingdoms of the world and their pagan idolatrous religions. The rulership of these kingdoms begins with Nebuchadnezzar and ends with the fourth kingdom (Rome) whose legs are iron and feet part of iron and part of clay. The ten toes of the image is part of iron and part of mirey clay.

  The rule of these kingdoms and their idolatrous worship continues until a stone is cut out without hands that will smite the image on its toes and then grow into a great mountain or  kingdom that will fill all of the earth. That stone, of course, is the Messiah Yahshua.

  The parable of the mustard seed is a parable of the time when Yahshua’s kingdom will be planted in Jerusalem and His kingdom, beginning as the smallest of kingdoms, will grow to fill all of the earth.

   THE WOMAN

    Now we can come to the parable of the woman who hides leaven into three measures of meal until the whole of it is leavened. What would the three measures of meal represent? Noah had three sons of whom all of the races of mankind have descended, they are Shem, Ham and Japeth. The good news of the kingdom was to go to all the world as a witness, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen,” Mt. 28:19-20. Therefore, the good news is to go forth to the descendants of the three sons of Noah.

  But what about the woman? What does she typify? Israel was, in effect, the wife of Yahweh. Yahshua came for the purpose of restoring his bride, Israel. His disciples understood this, therefore, they asked him, “When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Master, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” Acts 1:6.

  The Prophet Zechariah is shown a prophecy, “Then the angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth. And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth. He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth. And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah. And he said, This is wickedness. And he cast it into the midst of the ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof. Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork: and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven. Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah? And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar: and it shall be established, and set there upon her own base,” Zech. 5:5-11.

  The woman is the wife of Yahweh that was taken into the land of Shinar or Babylon which was Judah. But the women of Israel fared no better, “Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink. The Sovereign Yahweh hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks. And ye shall go out at the breaches, every cow at that which is before her; and ye shall cast them into the palace, saith Yahweh. Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years: And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings: for this liketh you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Sovereign Yahweh,” Amos 4:1-5.

  Furthermore, the assembly, the body and bride of the Messiah is likened to seven assemblies in Revelation chapters one through three. They are likened to seven candlesticks in chapter one (11-20).

  In chapter two, He begins to give messages to each of the seven assemblies. In chapter two he warns the first assembly (Ephesus) that she has fallen because she has left her first love (vv. 4-5). The second assembly (Smyrna) is basically persecuted out of existence. The third assembly (Pergamos) dwells where Satan’s throne is and he warns, “But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate,” vv. 14-15.

  Wouldn’t this be the beginning of the introduction of leaven into the assembly?

   THE RECIPE

    The assembly is, at first, like an unleavened lump of dough. This would be the state of Ephesus. But the problem is that she has left her first love, therefore, a very important ingredient is found missing. What a baker does is knead the dough adding the proper moisture and getting it ready for the introduction of the leaven. This would be the beatings, incarcerations and persecutions of the Smyrna Assembly. Then the leaven is introduced. Pergamos begins this.

  When we get to the fourth stage, the Assembly of Thyatira, a prophetess named Jezebel (similar to Jezebel, the wife of Ahab, king of Israel) is allowed to seduce Yahshua’s servants to commit fornication, and eat things sacrifices unto idols. The lump is now fully leavened.

  The next Assembly is Sardis who has a name as if she were alive, but is dead. The lump is allowed to sit while the leaven permeates totally. Total leaven sin, wickedness, adultery, fornication, etc., brings total death and destruction.

  There is a group of believers who are allowed to become unleavened which causes them to love their fellow man and to proclaim the truths concerning Yahshua. This is the Philadelphian Assembly.

  The final assembly is lukewarm, rich in physical goods, but poor in the spirit. She is naked, meaning that she is practicing outright idolatry without her true covering, Yahshua the Messiah. She is blind and simply can’t see her spiritual impoverishment.

  Yahshua is shown to be outside this assembly for He stands at the door and knocks. The problem is that, in accordance with his parable in John ten, He is the door. Thus, this assembly has embraced another door rather than the true door.

  When Yahshua returns, who is Elohim and a consuming fire, the unleavened, the true seed, the wheat, will be preserved, while the leavened, the tares, will be gathered and burned. Remember the lot or fate of the harlot of Revelation 17-18.

   BECOMING UNLEAVENED

     How do we become unleavened? Paul advised the Corinthians, “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even the Messiah our Passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth,” 1 Cor. 5:7-8.

  “Sincerity” is translated from the Greek word heilikrineia, which is defined as, clearness, i.e. (by implication) purity (figuratively). It comes from another Greek word, heilikrines, which is defined as, from heile (the sun's ray) and 2919; judged by sunlight, i.e. tested as genuine (figuratively). (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance)

  If we are to be cleansed, then we must be examined by Yahweh’s light. The Psalmist asks and answers, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word,” Psa. 119:9.

  John reveals that Yahshua is the word, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Elohim, and the Word was Elohim. The same was in the beginning with Elohim. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made…. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth,” Jn. 1:1-3, 14.

  Furthermore, Yahshua is the light, “In him was life; and the life was the light of men,” Jn. 1:4. “For Yahweh so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For Yahweh sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of Elohim. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in Yahweh,” Jn. 3:16-21.

  Yahshua is also the truth, “Yahshua saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me,” Jn. 14:6.

  Yahshua is the word, the light, the truth through whom we must become unleavened. He is our Passover sacrificed for us. We are cleansed in his blood. This is the unleavened of sincerity and truth.

   UNLEAVENED BREAD

     For one seven day period out of the year, we are commanded to eat unleavened bread (Lev. 23:4-8). Paul says for us to keep the feast (1 Cor. 5:7-8). The first day of this feast is holy and the seventh day is holy. This feast is associated with the Passover, thus it begins with the afflicted and sacrificed Lamb of Elohim, Yahshua the Messiah, who is also the true bread from heaven, the bread of affliction. It is begun in holiness, cleanness, purity, for Yahshua is the Lamb without blemish (1 Pet. 1:19) who did no sin (1 Pet. 2:22), setting an example for us that we should walk in his steps (1 Pet. 2:12).

  As we eat the unleavened bread for seven days, we must realize and think of the bread typifying his flesh (Jn. 6). There are seven days in a complete week. The seventh day brings about rest. The seventh day of unleavened bread is also a holy day and a rest day, typifying his ability to unleaven us every day of the week and for all time. The seven days also typify the seven thousand year period of Yahweh’s plan of salvation. Each day represents a thousand years (2 Pet. 2:8).

  We are to eat no leavened products during this seven day period. Leaven is to be put out of all our dwellings. This typifies our putting sin out of our lives by the power of the blood of the Lamb and the eating of his flesh. Seven is the number for spiritual perfection and completion, thus, in Yahshua, the Passover Lamb, the true bread from heaven, the bread of affliction, we have the ability to be forgiven of our sins and to become unleavened for all eternity.

  Leavening typifies sin, wickedness, unrighteousness and all things that go with it. To be unleavened typifies purity, cleanness, righteousness without which we will not see our Heavenly Father. We can serve Yahweh (purity, unleaven) or we can serve the flesh (sin, leaven), what will your choice be?

BACK TO TOP

SHOULD A NEW TESTAMENT BELIEVER OBSERVE

The preponderance of those who embrace the New Testament Scriptures and the Messiah of that New Testament observe Easter during March or April of each year. A minority of believers, however, observe the Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread. Which is right? Which is truly according to Scripture?

By Jerry Healan

During the Easter observance, the Scriptural account of the resurrection of the Savior is the supreme focus. However, why is this period called Easter and where did this term Easter come from? “The English term, according to the Ven. Bede (De temporum ratione, I, v), relates to Estre, a Teutonic goddess of the rising light of day and spring…” (The Catholic Encyclopedia Electronic Version) “The name Easter comes from the Anglo-Saxon Eostre, a goddess of light or spring whose festival was celebrated in April.” (The World Book Encyclopedia, p. 2088) “The name Easter, like the names of the days of the week, is a survival from the old Teutonic mythology. According to Bede (De Temp. Rat. C. xv.) It is derived from Eostre, or Ostâra, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring, to whom the month answering to our April, and called Eostur-monath, was dedicated.” (Encyclopedia Britannica 14th edition, vol. 7, p. 858) “Then look at Easter. 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 was found by Layard on the Assyrian monuments, is Ishtar. The worship of Bel and Astarte was very early introduced into Britain, along with the Druids, ‘the priests of the groves’.” (The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop, p. 103)

  Do you get the impact of all of these statements? Easter is a name associated with a pagan goddess! It is a name which is associated with Teutonic mythology which reaches further back to Nineveh and Babylon! It is the name of the “Queen of heaven!”

   ISHTAR

     The name “Easter” comes from the name of the Babylonian and Assyrian goddess Ishtar. Here is what the Encyclopedia Britannica says about Ishtar, “...the chief goddess of Babylonia and Assyria, the counterpart of the Phoenician Astarte (q.v.) The earliest written form of the name is Ash-dar, an Accadian rendering of the older Sumerian Innīni, ‘Lady of Heaven.’ Ishtar was the Semitic deity identified with the Sumerian Venus. For this reason Asdar, Ishtar, is undoubtedly the same deity as the south Arabian Athtar, god of the planet Venus. At all events it is now generally recognized that the name is Semitic in its origin. Where the name originated is likewise uncertain, but the indications point to Erech, where we find the worship of a great Sumerian mother-goddess having no association with a male counterpart flourishing in the oldest period of Babylonian history. She appears under various names, among which are Nanā, Innanna, Ninā and annuit. As early as the days of Khammurabi we find these various names which represented originally different goddesses, though all manifest as the chief trait the life-giving power united in Ishtar. Even when the older names are employed it is always the great mother-goddess who is meant. Ishtar is the one goddess in the pantheon who retains her independent position despite and throughout all changes that the Babylonian-Assyrian religion undergoes.” (14th edition, vol. 12, p. 707)

  Since Astarte is the same principal goddess, let’s see what is said about her under this name, “A Semitic goddess whose name appears in the Bible as Ashtoreth. She is everywhere the great female principle answering to the Baal of the Canaanites and Phoenicians and to the Dagon of the Philistines. She had temples at Sidon and at Tyre (whence her worship was transplanted to Carthage), and the Philistines probably venerated her at Ascalon (1 Sam. Xxxi. 10). Solomon built a high-place for her at Jerusalem which lasted until the days of King Josiah (I. Kings xi. 5; II. Kings xxiii. 13), and the extent of her cult among the Israelites is proved as much by the numerous biblical references as by the frequent representations of the deity turned up on Palestinian soil. The Moabites formed a compound deity, Ashtar-Chemosh and the absence of the feminine termination occurs similarly in the Babylonian and Assyrian prototype Ishtar. The old South Arabian phonetic equivalent ‘Athtar’ is, however, a male deity. Another compound, properly of mixed sex, appears in the Aramaean Atargatis (‘At[t]ar-‘athe), worn down to Derketo, who is specifically associated with sacred pools and fish (Ascalon, Hierapolis-Mabog).

  “As the great nature-goddess, the attributes of fertility and reproduction are characteristically hers, as also the accompanying immorality which originally, perhaps, was often nothing more than primitive magic. As patroness of the hunt, later identification with Artemis was inevitable. Hence the consequent fusion with Aphrodite, Artemis, Diana, Juno and Venus, and the action and reaction of one upon the other in myth and legend. Her star was the planet Venus, and classical writers give her the epithet Caelestis and Urania. Robertson Smith argues that Astarte was originally a sheep-goddess, and the points to the interesting use of ‘Astartes of the flocks’ (Deut. Vii. 13) to denote the offspring. To nomads, Astarte may well have been a sheep-goddess, but this, if her earliest, was not her only type, as it clear from the sacred fish of Atargatis, the doves of Ascalon (and of the Phoenician sanctuary of Eryx), and the gazelle or antelope of the goddess of love (associated with the Arabian Athtar). (Encyclopedia Britannica, 14th Edition, Vol. 2, pp. 570-571)

 WORSHIPPING OTHER ELOHIM

     Ishtar or Easter was equivalent to Astaroth, Ashtoreth and Astarte. Let’s see what Yahweh’s word has to say about the worship of these pagan deities, “And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of Yahweh, and served Baalim: and they forsook Yahweh Elohim of their fathers, Which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other elohim, of the elohim of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked Yahweh to anger. And they forsook Yahweh, and served Baal and Ashtaroth,” Judg. 2:11-13.

  “And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of Yahweh, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the elohim of Syria, and the elohim of Zidon, and the elohim of Moab, and the elohim of the children of Ammon, and the elohim of the Philistines, and forsook Yahweh, and served not Him,” Judg. 10:6.

  Notice it! The worship of Baal and Ashtaroth (Ishtar) has to do with the worship of all of the deities of the other nations. Isn’t that the gist of the idea that we get from reading the articles in the Encyclopedias, etc.? Ishtar was found to be equivalent to all the other goddesses and certain male gods.

  When the deities of the other nations are served, Yahweh is forsaken and not being served. It is also the committing of evil in the sight of Yahweh.

  “But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; of the nations concerning which Yahweh said unto the children of Israel, ‘Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their elohim:’ Solomon clave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other elohim: and his heart was not perfect with Yahweh his Elohim, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Ziodonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of Yahweh, and went not fully after Yahweh, as did David his father. Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their elohim,” 1 Ki. 11:1-8.

  Even the great king Solomon fell prey to the worship of these pagan foreign deities. He no longer was serving Yahweh his Elohim, but was serving the deities of the other nations. Such worship is shown to be an abomination to Yahweh. It stirs up His anger. Time after time He sold Israel into the hands of their enemies because of their worship of these forbidden deities.

   THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN

     Ishtar was also known as the “Lady or Queen of Heaven.” Yahweh told Jeremiah, “Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other elohim, that they may provoke me to anger. Do they provoke Me to anger? Saith Yahweh: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces?” Jer. 7:17-19.

  Alexander Hislop has this to say, “The hot cross buns of Good Friday, and the dyed eggs of Pasch or Easter Sunday, figured in the Chaldean rites just as they do now. The ‘buns,’ known too by that identical name, were used in the worship of the queen of heaven, the goddess Easter, as early as the days of Cecrops, the founder of Athens—that is, 1500 years before the Christian era. ‘One species of sacred bread,’ says Bryant, ‘which used to be offered to the gods, was of great antiquity, and called Boun.’ Diogenes Laertius, speaking of this offering being made by Empedocles, describes the chief ingredients of which it was composed, saying, ‘He offered one of the sacred cakes called Boun, which was made of fine flour and honey’.” (The Two Babylons, pp. 107-108)

  “Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other elohim and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying, As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of Yahweh, we will not hearken unto thee. But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil. But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine. And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men? Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people which had given him that answer, saying, The incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land, did not Yahweh remember them, and came it not into his mind? So that Yahweh could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day. Because ye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned against Yahweh, and have not obeyed the voice of Yahweh, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil is happened unto you, as at this day. Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women, Hear the word of Yahweh, all Judah that are in the land of Egypt: Thus saith Yahweh of hosts, the Elohim of Israel, saying; Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hand, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her: ye will surely accomplish your vows, and surely perform your vows. Therefore hear ye the word of Yahweh, all Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt; Behold, I have sworn by my great name, saith Yahweh, that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, the Sovereign Yahweh liveth. Behold, I will watch over them for evil, and not for good: and all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them,” Jer. 44:15-27.

  Why have the Jewish people suffered so much down through the ages? Why are they suffering so much today? Why do they have the name of their Elohim taken out of their mouth? However, they are not the only ones who have suffered down through the ages. They are not the only ones who have had the name of the Creator Yahweh taken out of their mouth. They are not the only ones who have gone back into Egypt. There are many groups and movements which exist today who can prove that the Anglo-Saxon, Celtic peoples have descended from the ten northern tribes of Israel. Both Israel and Judah were cast out of the promised land of Canaan because they turned back to the elohim of Egypt and also turned to the elohim of the nations around them.

  Easter, the goddess of the Teutonic peoples, is none other than Ishtar, the Queen of Heaven! The descendants of Israel are still hopelessly caught up in the worship of the deities of the nations that were around them. Yahweh, their Creator and Elohim is still not being served. Do you think His attitude of anger and wrath has changed? Doesn’t He promise to pour out His wrath on the nations in the latter days? “For the wrath of Yahweh is revealed from heaven against all impiety, and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness,” Ro. 1:18. Why will He do so? “Because that which may be known of Yahweh is manifest in them; for Yahweh hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Headship; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew Yahweh, they glorified him not as Elohim, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible Elohim into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things,” Ro. 1:19-23. Because of Israel’s, Judah’s and the world’s unrepentant attitude!

   EGGS AND RABBITS

     Easter is observed with the tradition of Easter eggs, Peter Rabbit, etc. Where did this tradition come from? “The sending of Easter eggs is a custom thought to have originated with the Persians, the eggs being symbols of new life. Coloring them red typifies the blood of redemption; other colors have no special significance. Another custom, the presence of the Easter ‘rabbit’ in the festivities, may be traced to the old belief that rabbits lay eggs on Easter Eve. This superstition is thought by some authorities to be of Teutonic origin, and is the basis of many stories for children.” (The World Book Encyclopecia, article “Easter”, p. 2088)

  “Because the use of eggs was forbidden during Lent, they were brought to the table on Easter Day, coloured red to symbolize the Easter joy. This custom is found not only in the Latin but also in the Oriental Churches. The symbolic meaning of a new creation of mankind by Jesus risen from the dead was probably an invention of later times. The custom may have its origin in paganism, for a great many pagan customs, celebrating the return of spring, gravitated to Easter. The egg is the emblem of the germinating life of early spring. Easter eggs, the children are told, come from Rome with the bells which on Thursday go to Rome and return Saturday morning. The sponsors in some countries give Easter eggs to their god-children. Coloured eggs are used by children at Easter in a sort of game which consists in testing the strength of the shells (Kraus, Real-Encyklop die, s. v. Ei). Both coloured and uncoloured eggs are used in some parts of the United States for this game, known as "egg-picking". Another practice is the "egg-rolling" by children on Easter Monday on the lawn of the White House in Washington.” (The Catholic Encyclopedia, Electronic version)

  “The Easter Rabbit lays the eggs, for which reason they are hidden in a nest or in the garden. The rabbit is a pagan symbol and has always been an emblem of fertility (Simrock, Mythologie, 551). ” (The Catholic Encyclopedia, Electronic version)

  “Easter, a Christian festival, embodies many pre-Christian traditions. The origin of its name is unknown. Scholars, however, accepting the derivation proposed by the 8th-century English scholar St. Bede, believe it probably comes from Eastre, the Anglo-Saxon name of a Teutonic goddess of spring and fertility, to whom was dedicated a month corresponding to April. Her festival was celebrated on the day of the vernal equinox; traditions associated with the festival survive in the Easter rabbit, a symbol of fertility, and in colored easter eggs, originally painted with bright colors to represent the sunlight.” (Funk & Wagnells New Encyclopedia 1988 Edition, pp. 432-434)

  “The origin of the Pasch eggs is just as clear. The ancient Druids bore an egg, as the sacred emblem of their order. In the Dionysiaca, or mysteries of Bacchus, as celebrated in Athens, one part of the nocturnal ceremony consisted in the consecration of an egg. The Hindoo fables celebrate their mundane egg as of a golden colour. The people of Japan make their sacred egg to have been brazen. In China, at this hour, dyed or painted eggs are used on sacred festivals, even as in this country. In ancient times eggs were used in the religious rites of the Egyptians and the Greeks, and were hung up for mystic purposes in their temples. From Egypt these sacred eggs can be distinctly traced to the banks of the Euphrates. The classic poets are full of the fable of the mystic egg of the Babylonians; and thus its tale is told by Hyginus, the Egyptian, the learned keeper of the Palatine library at Rome, in the time of Augustus, who was skilled in all wisdom of his native country: ‘An egg of wondrous size is said to have fallen from heaven into the river Euphrates. The fishes rolled it to the bank, where the doves having settled upon it, and hatched it, out came Venus, who afterwards was called the Syrian Goddess’ — that is, Astarte. Hence the egg became one of the symbols of Astarte or Easter; and accordingly, in Cyprus, one of the chosen seats of the worship of Venus, or Astarte, the egg of wondrous size was represented on a grand scale.

  “The occult meaning of this mystic egg of Astarte, in one of its aspects (for it had a twofold significance), had reference to the ark during the time of the flood, in which the whole human race were shut up, as the chick is enclosed in the egg before it is hatched. If any be inclined to ask, how can it ever enter the minds of men to employ such an extraordinary symbol for such a purpose, the answer is, first, The sacred egg of Paganism, as already indicated (p. 108), is well known as the ‘mundane egg,’ that is, the egg in which the world was shut up. Now the world has two distinct meanings—it means either the material earth, or the inhabitants of the earth. The latter meaning of the term is seen in Gen. xi. 1, ‘The whole earth was of one language and of one speech,’ where the meaning is that the whole people of the world were so. If then the world is seen shut up in an egg, and floating on the waters, it may not be difficult to believe, however the idea of the egg may have come, that the egg thus floating on the wide universal sea might be Noah’s family that contained the whole world in its bosom. Then the application of the word egg to the ark comes thus: — The Hebrew name for an egg is Baitz, or in the feminine (for there are both genders), Baitza. This, in Chaldee and Phenician, becomes Baith or Baitha, which in these languages is also the usual way in which the name of a house is pronounced. The egg floating on the waters that contained the world, was the house floating on the waters of the deluge, with the elements of the new world in its bosom. The coming of the egg from heaven evidently refers to the preparation of the ark by express appointment of God; and the same thing seems clearly implied in the Egyptian story of the mundane egg which was said to have come out of the mouth of the great god. The doves resting on the egg need no explanation. This, then, was the meaning of the mystic egg in one aspect. As, however, everything that was good or beneficial to mankind was represented in the Chaldean mysteries, as in some way connected with the Babylonian goddess, so the greatest blessing to the human race, which the ark contained in its bosom, was held to be Astarte, who was the great civiliser and benefactor of the world. Though the deified queen, whom Astarte represented, had no actual existence till some centuries after the flood, yet through the doctrine of metempsychosis, which was firmly established in Babylon, it was easy for her worshippers to be made to believe that, in a previous incarnation, she had lived in the Antediluvian world, and passed in safety through the waters of the flood. Now the Romish Church adopted this mystic egg of Astarte, and consecrated it as a symbol of Christ’s resurrection. A form of prayer was even appointed to be used in connection with it, Pope Paul V. teaching his superstitious votaries thus to pray at Easter: — ‘Bless, O Lord, we beseech thee, this thy creature of eggs, that it may become a wholesome sustenance unto thy servants, eating it in remembrance of our Lord Jesus Christ, &c.’” (The Two Babylons, pp. 109-110)

  There you have it! The admission of the Catholic Church and secular scholars is that the rabbits and eggs associated with Easter come directly from paganism. Isn’t it amazing that the two most important feast observations of Christianity (Christmas and Easter) are not only associated with paganism, but are observed with lies! The fact of the matter is that the Savior WAS NOT born on Dec. 25th (order our free tract entitled “Just Whose Birthday Is Dec. 25th?”). It is also a fact that there is no such creature as Santa Claus (Order our free tract entitled “Just Who Is Santa Claus?”). The truth of the matter concerning Easter is that it is associated with paganistic idolatry. The truth of the matter is that the Savior WAS NOT resurrected on Easter Sunday morning. The other outright lie is that rabbits lay eggs.

  Shame on parents for continuing traditional lies to their children. When parents raise their children taking delight in lying to them, even though it seems like fun and the right thing to do (but lies are not right) the result is children who are raised in a world of lies who feel that they are always expect to lie and justify themselves in doing so. 

Continued on the next page

BACK TO TOP

 Return to Magazines INDEX