Easter Is A Cover-Up For The Greatest Fraud Of All Time
A Calendar Change which hides the True Day of the Resurrection and the True Seventh-Day Sabbath.
Easter | Pagan Passover
Easter is a worldwide tradition involving many customs that people believe to be Christian.
What is the origin of Lent and sunrise services?
How did rabbits, eggs and hot cross buns become associated with Messiah’s Resurrection?
Is Easter mentioned in the Scriptures?
Did the apostles and early Assembly keep it?
Most people follow along as they have been taught, assuming that what they believe and do is right. They take their beliefs for granted. Most do not take time to prove why they do the things that they do.
Why do you believe what you believe?
Where did you get your beliefs?
Is the source of your religious beliefs the Scriptures—or some other authority?
If you say the Scriptures, are you sure?
What about Easter?
Since hundreds of millions keep it, supposedly in honor of Jesus Christ’s Resurrection, then certainly the Scriptures must have much to say about it. Surely there are numerous verses mentioning rabbits, eggs and egg hunts, baskets of candy, hot cross buns, Lent, Good Friday and sunrise services—not to mention Easter itself.
A Brief Look at Passover
The well-known Old Testament Passover story centers on YAHUAH’s deliverance of Yisrael from Egypt through ten miraculous plagues. These included how the death angel would “pass over” all the houses where the Yisraelites lived. They were instructed to put blood over their doorposts to ensure that only the firstborn of Egypt would die. In this first Passover, it was only the blood of the slain lamb that protected each Yisraelite home. While Egypt suffered the plague of death, the Yisraelite firstborn were delivered by blood. By obeying YAHUAH’s command and by faith in His promise to protect them, they were spared from death.
The Passover account is found in Exodus 12:12-14. Verse 14 states that the Passover ceremony was commanded by YAHUAH to be an annual memorial feast to be kept by YIsrael “forever.” (This command is repeated in Leviticus 23:5.) Exodus 12:15 introduces the seven-day festival called the Days of Unleavened Bread (also repeated in Leviticus 23:6-8), which was to immediately follow the Passover feast each year. This is why Acts 12:3 states, “Then were the days of unleavened bread,” before mentioning the Passover in the next verse. These days were always kept in conjunction with one another.
No other Springtime custom encapsulates these celebrations of new life quite like Easter. From baby animals, to Easter eggs and Easter egg hunts, to sunrise Sunday services and more, Easter is a beloved tradition too many people.
Easter Sunday is the highlight of the Roman Catholic liturgical year when the resurrection of Jesus Christ is celebrated.
According to their Catechism:
Easter is not simply one feast among others, but the “Feast of feasts,” the “Solemnity of solemnities,” just as the Eucharist is the “Sacrament of sacraments” (the Great Sacrament). St. Athanasius calls Easter “the Great Sunday” and the Eastern Churches call Holy Week “the Great Week.” The mystery of the Resurrection, in which Christ crushed death . . . . (Catechism of the Catholic Church, Part 2, Sec. 1, Chapter 2, Article 1, #1169.)
The origins of Easter, however, reveal that it flows directly from ancient paganism. Shortly after the flood, Nimrod reestablished idolatry in the earth. After his death, Nimrod was promoted as the original sun god. His widow, Semiramis, was called the “queen of heaven.” Various cultures continued the idolatry of these original pagans under different names.
To the Egyptians, Semiramis was Isis. To the Babylonians, she was Beltis, consort to the god, Bel. To the Cannaanites she was Astarte. The Assyrians called her Ishtar.
The worship of these goddesses involved occult fertility practices. These degrading rites were practiced even by the YIsraelites when in apostasy. YAHUAH clearly denounced any Yisraelite involvement in these pagan celebrations.
“Do you not see what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger.” (Jeremiah 7:17-18, NKJV)
“And He said to me, ‘Turn again, and you will see greater abominations that they are doing.’ So He brought me to the door of the north gate of . . . [YAHUAH’s] house; and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz.” (Ezekiel 8:13-14, NKJV)
Modern Easter has no basis in the pure religion of Heaven. All of its traditions are pagan.
Rabbits and dyed Easter eggs symbolize fertility.
Hot cross buns were the “cakes” offered to the queen of heaven.
The forty days of weeping for Tammuz are now the 40 days of Lent leading up to Easter.
Sunrise services were performed by pagan priests to honor the sun god.
Celebration of Easter does not honor the death and resurrection of the Saviour. Participation in pagan practices honors Satan.
No amount of renaming it by Christian names can purify Easter of its pagan origins.
Easter is much more than a pagan imposter pretending to be Christian. Lurking behind the pretty facade, Easter is a cover-up for the greatest fraud of all time: a calendar change which hides the true day of the resurrection and the true seventh-day Sabbath.
As the years passed and the first Natsriym died, paganism began to corrupt the once-pure faith. The Church in Rome, greedy of ever greater power, sought ways to increase her influence.
“To conciliate the Pagans to nominal Christianity, Rome, pursuing its usual policy, took measures to get the Christian and Pagan festivals amalgamated, and, by a complicated but skilful adjustment of the calendar, it was found no difficult matter, in general, to get Paganism and Christianity – now far sunk in idolatry – in this as in so many other things, to shake hands. . . . This change of the calendar in regard to Easter was attended with momentous consequences. It brought into the Church the grossest corruption and the rankest superstition . . . .” (Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons, pp. 105-106.)
This change of calendar also changed the day of worship. This is admitted by Roman Catholics who point to it as the sign of their authority.
“Sunday . . . is purely a creation of the Catholic Church.” (American Catholic Quarterly Review, January 1883)
“They [the Protestants] deem it their duty to keep the Sunday holy. Why? Because the Catholic Church tells them to do so. They have no other reason . . . The author of the Sunday law . . . is the Catholic Church.” (Ecclesiastical Review, February 1914)
One Catholic bishop went so far as to state:
“It was the Catholic Church which made the law obliging us to keep Sunday holy. The church made this law long after the Bible was written. Hence said law is not in the Bible. The Cath[olic] Church abolished not only the Sabbath, but all the other Jewish festivals.” (T. Enright, Bishop of St. Alphonsus Church, St. Louis, Missouri, June, 1905, emphasis supplied.)
The Hebrew Yisraelite festival which was outlawed in favor of Easter was Passover. All early Natsariym kept the feasts of YAHUAH as outlined in Leviticus 23. Paganized Christians still wanted to celebrate Easter while apostolic Natsariym, still clinging to a pure faith, observed Passover.
“Since the second century A.D. there had been a divergence of opinion about the date for celebrating the paschal (Easter) anniversary of the Lord’s passion (death, burial and resurrection). The most ancient practice appears to have been to observe the fourteenth (the Passover date), fifteenth, and sixteenth days of the lunar month regardless of the day of the [Julian] week these dates might fall on from year to year. The bishops of Rome, desirous of enhancing the observance of Sunday as a church festival, ruled that the annual celebration should always be held on the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday following the fourteenth day of the lunar month. . . . This controversy lasted almost two centuries, until [the Emperor] Constantine intervened in behalf of the Roman bishops and outlawed the other group.” (Robert L. Odom, Sunday in Roman Paganism, p. 188, emphasis supplied.)
“The point of contention appeared deceptively simple: Passover versus Easter. The issues at stake, however, were immense. The only way to determine when Passover occurs is to use the Biblical Solar calendar . . . ” (eLaine Vornholt & L. L. Vornholt-Jones, Calendar Fraud, p. 49)
“These contentions had agitated the churches of Asia since the time of the Roman bishop Victor, who had persecuted the churches of Asia for following the ’14th-day heresy’ as they called it, in reference to the Passover. . . . The future Easter observance was to be rendered independent of Jewish calculation.” (Grace Amadon, Report of Committee, Part V, Sec. B., p. 17.)
Here is the real significance of Easter. Sunday is kept as a day of worship because of Easter Sunday! It is claimed that the Saviour was resurrected then.
Jewish scholars understand that Christianity stepped free of its Scriptural roots when the pagan Easter was substituted for the true Passover.
“At the Council of Nice [Nicæa] the last thread was snapped which connected Christianity to its parent stock. The festival of Easter had up till now been celebrated for the most part at the same time as the Jewish Passover, and indeed upon the days calculated and fixed by the Synhedrion [Sanhedrin] in Judæa for its celebration; but in future its observance was to be rendered altogether independent of the Jewish calendar.
“[Emperor Constantine stated], ‘For it is unbecoming beyond measure that on this holiest of festivals we should follow the customs of the Jews. Henceforward let us have nothing in common with this odious people; our Saviour has shown us another path. It would indeed be absurd if the Jews were able to boast that we are not in a position to celebrate the Passover without the aid of their rules ([time] calculations).’” (Heinrich Graetz, History of the Jews, The Jewish Publication Society of America, Vol. II, pp. 563-564, emphasis supplied.)
Easter is a cover-up.The truth is, Easter is a fraud. It is not the day upon which the Saviour arose from the grave. Easter is and has always been a pagan holiday celebrating fertility. It was substituted for YAHUAH’s Passover at the Council of Nicæa in the fourth century when the Church of Rome decided to set aside the Priestly Zadokite Hebrew calculation of time.
Now, in this last generation, truth is to be restored. All who wish to express their gratitude for the death of their Saviour will commemorate it on the day upon which He died: Passover. This can only be calculated by the original calendar of Creation the Zadokite Calendar. Any other observance gives honor to Satan, the one who has set himself up in opposition to Heaven.
Today you can choose which day represents your beliefs – Passover or Easter.
You can choose to which power you wish to give honor and worship: the Saviour or His enemy, Satan.
You can choose on which day, calculated by which calendar, you offer that worship.
The choice is yours.
Easter is a Cover-Up for for the Greatest Fraud of all time: A Calendar Change which hides the True Day of the Resurrection and the True Seventh-Day Sabbath.
Abba is the transliteration of the Aramaic word for Father.
It occurs three times in the Renewed Covenant (New Testament). It is always used as a direct address to YAHUAH ELOHIYM The Father.
————————
And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto you; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what you will.
MARQUS (MARK) 14:36
For ye have not received the RUACH of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the RUACH of Adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
ROMAIYM (ROMANS) 8:15
And because ye are sons, YAHUAH has sent forth the RUACH of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
GALATIYM (GALATIANS) 4:6
——————
It is the cry of the RUACH (Spirit) of YAHUAH in the believer.
Historically, this word would be used during New Testament times by a child addressing his or her father. It would have been akin to the modern use of papa.
However, the New Testament writers are careful to avoid too great a familiarity in addressing YAHUAH ELOHIYM. Instead of translating Abba, they transliterate it, so that it takes on special significance in reference to YAHUAH ELOHIYM. Then, Abba is used in conjunction with the word Father – “Abba, Father.” Father is the translation of Abba, but by putting the two together, the address to YAHUAH ELOHIYM is both personalized and kept in the proper tone of respect. The double title has both intimacy and dignity.
By His nature as the Son of YAHUAH ELOHIYM, YAHUSHA had the right to familiarly address His Father. The occasion where we see this is in the Garden of Gethsemane when YAHUSHA struggled with the cup He was to drink. In His human spirit, He desired the cup to be removed. Yet, in His obedience as the Son, He declared, “nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt” (Mark 14:36
And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what you will.
This incident provides a glance into the intimate communion between the Father and the Son. The Son’s faithfulness to obey the most difficult of acts, an act by which the holy Son of YAHUAH ELOHIYM became sin for mankind, was proof of the depth of His love for the Father (John 14:31
But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.
By his union with YAHUSHA The Messiah, the believer enters into the same intimacy with the Father. Instead of the fear of bondage, the believer receives “the Set-Apart Spirit of adoption” (Romans 8:15
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
and enters into “the adoption of sons” (Galatians 4:5
To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
By reason of this sonship, “YAHUAH ELOHIYM hath sent forth the RUACH (Spirit) of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father” (Galatians 4:6)
And because ye are sons, YAHUAH ELOHIYM hath sent forth the RUACH (Set-Apart Spirit) of his Son into your hearts, crying, ABBA, Father.
The legal relationship is created by adoption; the intimacy is assured by the entrance of Messiah YAHUSHA into our hearts. We then cry, “ABBA, Father,” with the RUACH HAQODESH (Set-Apart Spirit) of the Son. As stated in 1John 1:3
That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son YAHUSHA The Messiah.
“Truly our fellowship is with the Father YAHUAH, and with his Son YAHUSHA HA’MASHIACH (The Messiah).”
And it repented YAHUAH that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
If you ask most Christians what REPENT means they will usually reply with one of two responses.
We have all heard the expression Turn or Burn. There was a time in this country when that would have been the response of most Christians.
Today you’re more likely to respond to the question of repentance with a definition that calls for the one considering repentance to turn around and go in the opposite direction.
YAHUAH who never changes has an entirely different concept of Repentance. It is clearly revealed in the Picture and Number language of the two Hebrew words that are most often used to communicate the concept of Repentance and Regret. In this article, we will examine the picture language of the two Hebrew words most often used in Scripture to communicate what the English translations call Repentance.
Curiously the first time the word Repentance is used it has nothing to do with man. Let’s read again the passage from Genesis 6:6.
And it repented YAHUAH that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
The real scary part of the concept of YAHUAH repenting can be discovered in the following verse where in Genesis 6:7 we read the following:
And YAHUAH said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
Let’s explore the meaning of the Picture and Number language of the two words most often translated Repent or Repentance in the English bible.
The first Hebrew word is comprised of two letters. They are the letter Sheen and the letter Beyt.
Sheen – To Consume – To Destroy – Sharp – To press
Teeth
Beyt – House – Tent Dwelling PlaceIt describes what is Inside pictured as aTent / House
The literal translation of this word is to Return or to “Turn About” and it is used to mean Repent.
The two pictures of Sheen and Beyt are connected in a way you may find surprising.
Instead of Turn or Burn, the Hebrew Word Sheen Beyt has the idea of destroying or burning the house. It could literally be translated Burn or Destroy and then Turn Around and leave.
The concept is eloquently simple. If you burn the house down then you cannot return to live there, unless you wish to spend your life living among the charred ashes of death and destruction. Sadly some actually do end up returning to live in the ashes.
To Repent based on the Ideal Picture meaning of Sheen Beyt is to leave the place you were living in never to return. It has been crushed, burned down, demolished and destroyed and there is no reason to return.
Obviously, the spiritual implications of this Picture meaning are not lost on anyone.
But this is not the entire picture that YAHUAH gives us of Repentance.
The first time the word Repentance is used in the Scripture it is not Sheen Beyt but rather it is the four letter Hebrew word Noon Yood Chet Mem.
This 4 letter Hebrew word translated Regret or Repent in Hebrew adds substance and context to the Hebrew word for Repentance that is simply lost in the English translation
Let’s look at each letter of this word and see what picture message emerges.
Picture of Regret and Repentance
Yood– A Mighty Deed or Work done to accomplish a Divine Purpose
Noon – Life & Activity
Chet – A Graciously provided a private place of protection that provides refuge, security, and Peace. A garden sanctuary
Mem – Water that provides life and comes down like the soft rain or a gentle stream. The Word of YAHUAH that is the Living Water.
What is YAHUAH trying to communicate to His Children?
Is it not obvious?
YAHUAH is inviting His Children to come Home. He is beckoning His children to leave the worldly place that is going to ultimately be burned up and destroyed and come to Him for sanctuary, safety, and salvation.
YAHUAH is always surprising us with His kindness. Even the harshest word has a gracious purpose in the lives of those that will put their faith and trust in YAHUSHA Ha-Mashiach.
And so YAHUAH calls after us to Repent. To leave our comfortable home in this world and become pilgrims on a journey that will lead to Eternal Life.
The Translation of the Picture meaning for the Hebrew Word Repent not only has the warning of devastating Fire it also has in it the invitation to drink the Waters of Life provided so graciously for us by the fully accomplished and sufficient atoning work of YAHUSHA.
Repentance is a Wonderful Thing if it is what welcomes you into the Arms of our Savior.
What is the difference between Reincarnation and Resurrection?
The Scripture certainly mentions a resurrection, but this is different from reincarnation (or transmigration) in several ways.
Reincarnation is a rebirth into a new body and a new form of existence that may be entirely different from one’s previous life.
For example, a human could get reincarnated as an animal such as a cow. The cow is a different kind of creature than a human. Even if you come back as another human, you are coming back as a different man or woman than the one you were before. The previous man or woman stays dead, and you are born as a new person with a different body and a distinct identity.
On the other hand, in a resurrection, the human remains a human. Indeed, they remain the same human they were before.
The Scriptural teaching of resurrection is a transformation of the body into an immortal form of the same body. There is a direct relationship between the physical body that dies and the body that physically rises to immortality. The body that dies is the exact body that is raised. It is made new in the sense that it is perfected and no longer subject to frailty and death, but it is still the same body. It is restoring life to the same physical being that has died.
After His resurrection, YAHUSHA said:
“See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have,” (Lk. 24:39).
In this passage, YAHUSHA clearly affirmed the physical nature of his resurrected body. His body was identical to the body that had been killed. YAHUSHA’ essence was not inhabiting another object.
Before His death, YAHUSHA explained to those who would later kill Him:
“YAHUSHA answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ The Yahudiym/Jews then said, ‘It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?’ But He was speaking of the temple of His body,” (Jn. 2:19-21).
In other words, YAHUSHA’ body would be destroyed and then raised.
In agreement with YAHUSHA, the apostle Paul taught that physical resurrection of the body in 1 Corinthians 15 stating:
“So also is the resurrection of the dead It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body,” (1 Cor. 15:42-44).
There is a clear connection between the physical body in the grave and the resurrected, yet transformed, physical body that is raised. The “it” that is sown is the “it” that is raised.
At first glance, Mardi Gras — the New Orleans version of the worldwide Carnival celebrations — seems anything but Jewish. Its quintessential elements, including public masquerade, the imbibing of copious amounts of alcoholic beverages, and second-line parade music aren’t stereotypical territory for the people of the book, outside of a few bar mitzvah parties that went on way too long.
On second glance, however, Mardi Gras — which takes place this year on February 17 — takes on a different cast. A Jewish one.
For one, there is the holiday’s proximity in the calendar to the Jewish festival of Purim. And just as Easter has elements of Passover, and Christmas is basically Hanukkah 2.0, so too does Mardi Gras resemble Purim in more ways than one.
In fact, masquerading, drinking, making noise and all sorts of revelry are essential elements of Purim, one of the only days of the year when Jews are actually encouraged to party like it’s 1999. It’s an upside-down day, much like Mardi Gras, when men dress up as women and vice versa, when the meek are encouraged to be rowdy, when adults are supposed to act like kids, and when you are encouraged to poke fun at sacred cows (to mix a cultural metaphor, which seems appropriate in this case).
Purim of course has its serious legal obligations: Jews are required to hear the public reading of every word of the Megillat Esther, or the Book of Esther. But at the same time, by custom they are urged to interrupt the reading with cheers and boos, noise and music. Every time the name of the evil Haman is read, it is to be blotted out with graggers and kazoos and other noisemakers, which, if you think about it, could be the prototype instruments of New Orleans jazz.
And by the end of the reading, according to the Talmud, you are supposed to have drunk enough schnapps such that you cannot tell the difference between “cursed be Haman” and “blessed be Mordechai,” which a scientific survey found to be equal to the exact level of drunkenness of the average Mardi Gras reveler.
New Orleans’s Mardi Gras celebrations date back to the early 19th century. By mid-century, social organizations, or “krewes,” had begun to form. They were men’s social clubs, like the Temple Brotherhood, that adopted mythologies, secret handshakes, and themes for their costumes. One such organization was Rex, whose king also acts as the official King of Carnival. The first such man thusly honored with the title “Rex” was Louis Solomon in 1872. Solomon, a prominent Jewish businessman, is said to have been a descendant of Haym Salomon, the financier of the American Revolution.
After the Civil War, things got worse for the Jews along with other victims of racial and religious prejudice. With the rise of Jim Crow and anti-immigrant sentiment in the early 20th century, Jews as well as blacks were banned from most of the New Orleans krewes.
Eventually blacks and Jews formed their own krewes. The first African-American krewe, Zulu, was founded in 1909, although its Mardi Gras parade route was confined to black neighborhoods well into the 1960s. Zulu’s approach was a Purim-like grotesquerie, in which participants appropriated the very look and behavior attributed to them by racist Southerners as a kind of mockery or send-up. They dressed according to the worst portrayals of the “savage” African, they wore blackface, and they handed out coconuts and spears to the crowd.
It was supposedly the sight of this cultural subversion in action, as well as the sound of a marching band playing klezmer — the New Orleans Klezmer Allstars — that inspired a young Jewish newcomer to New Orleans named L.J. Goldstein to form the modern-day Krewe du Jieux in 1995. And like the Zulus, they appropriated anti-Semitic iconography for their costumes, wearing fake hooked noses and horns, dressed as bankers and lawyers, and built a float that promoted the “Jieux World Order.” Instead of coconuts, they threw bagels.
And just as the establishment of the first synagogue in town eventually must lead to the establishment of a second, in order that Jews have a place in which they won’t set foot, so too did a group of members split off from the Krewe du Jieux in order to form the Krewe du Mishigas, bringing the secret Jewish history of Mardi Gras to its ultimate and perfect conclusion.
Seth Rogovoy frequently writes about the intersection of popular culture and Jewish themes for the Forward.
This story “The Secret Jewish History of Mardi Gras” was written by Seth Rogovoy.
YAHUAH ELOHIYM is not the author of confusion (I Corinthians 14:33). He never instituted Lent, a pagan observance connecting debauchery to the supposed resurrection of a false Messiah. People who observe Lent may be religious, dedicated and sincere — but they are sincerely wrong! Lent originated in the ancient Babylonian mystery religion, and among the Pagans Lent seems to have been an indispensable preliminary to the great annual festival in commemoration of the death and resurrection of Tammuz!
Let us say right up front that if you already know the origins of Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, the Forty days of Lent and Easter Sunday but still stubbornly insist on observing them, then you show yourself to be nothing but a nominal “Christian” like the Roman Catholics, the Church of England or any one of the majority of Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian Churches who have a name that they live but are dead! (Revelation 3:1). [Note: Not all Baptists observe these pagan practices]
For those real Christian Brethren who have just come to know YAHUAH ELOHIYM and the Messiah and are searching their Scriptures diligently to find whether these things be so (Acts 17:11), we must tell you that you will not find them in the Scriptures. Neither the apostles nor the early Assembly observed these things. So where do they come from?
Shrove Tuesday (or Mardi Gras as it is commonly known) literally means “Fat Tuesday” in French (called “Pancake Tuesday” in England) and is associated with the Roman Catholic custom of Lent. But is it taught in the Scriptures? Would YAHUAH ELOHIYM want Christians to observe it?
The idea behind Mardi Gras or carnival celebrations is that people overindulge before giving up something for Lent, which begins the following day with Ash Wednesday. (Lent is the 40 weekdays from Ash Wednesday to Easter observed by the Roman Catholic, Eastern and some Protestant churches as a period of penitence and fasting.)
Lent was a time of penance, of fasting, of abstinence. Folks abstained from all sorts a good stuff including meat. They also gave up eggs and dairy products. So on Tuesday, the day before the start of the Lenten fast, folks cleared out their cupboards of all the foods they could not have for the next 40 days. They cooked them up and ate like pigs. In essence they feasted before the fast.
Unlike New Year’s, Christmas, Halloween, St. Valentine’s Day and other pagan holidays that are celebrated by the secular, non-religious world, the Lenten season is observed by dedicated religious believers.
From Ash Wednesday to Easter, many solemnly mark their foreheads with ash, “fasting” (or abstaining from certain foods or physical pleasures) for 40 days. This is done to supposedly imitate the Messiah’s 40-day fast in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-2). Some give up smoking. Others give up chewing gum. Still others give up over-eating or cursing. People vow to give up anything, as long as it prepares them for Easter.
People who observe Lent may be religious, dedicated and sincere — but they are sincerely wrong!
Let us examine Lent, its practices and customs, its historic and religious origins, and its true meaning from the Scriptures perspective, not from the “traditions of men” (Mark 7:7-9).
The Purpose of Lent
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia,
“the real aim of Lent is, above all else, to prepare men for the celebration of the death and Resurrection of Christ…the better the preparation the more effective the celebration will be. One can effectively relive the mystery only with purified mind and heart. The purpose of Lent is to provide that purification by weaning men from sin and selfishness through self-denial and prayer, by creating in them the desire to do God’s will and to make His kingdom come by making it come first of all in their hearts.”
On the surface, this belief sounds sincere. However, it does not agree with the Scripture, YAHUAH’s QODESH Word — the only source of true spiritual knowledge and understanding (John 17:17). YAHUAH ELOHIYM, through the apostle Paul, commands Belivers to “continue you in the things which you have learned and have been assured of, knowing of whom you have learned them; and that from a child you have known the holy scriptures, which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith which is in MASHIACH YAHUSHA. All scripture is given by inspiration of YAHUAH, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of YAHUAH may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (II Timothy 3:14-17).
First, understand that the “celebration of the death and Resurrection of Messiah” to which the preceding quote refers is so-called “Good Friday” and “Easter Sunday” — holidays deeply rooted in ancient paganism. They were instituted by mainstream Christianity in order to counterfeit and replace the Passover season.
Second, the Scriptures says that we are purified — cleansed, set apart and made pure in YAHUAH’s sight — by the shed blood of YAHUSHA the Messiah (Hebrews 9:11-14, 22; 13:12). This, along with faith (Acts 15:9) and humbly submitting to and obeying YAHUAH ELOHIYM (James 4:7-10) through His truth and prayer (John 17:17; I Timothy 4:5), makes us clean before YAHUAH ELOHIYM. No amount of fasting, abstaining from physical pleasures or any other form of self-denial can purify us!
Pagan Origins of Lent
Lent was never observed by the Messiah or his apostles. He commanded his disciples to “Go you therefore, and teach all nations…teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20). And Lent or Easter was not one of them!
Alexander Hislop wrote in his book The Two Babylons:
“The festival, of which we read in Church history, under the name of Easter, in the third and fourth centuries, was quite a different festival from that now observed in the Romish Church, and at that time was not known by any such name as Easter…That festival [Passover] was not idolatrous, and it was preceded by no Lent. Lent was not observed by the first century Church! It was first addressed by the church at Rome during the Council of Nicea in A.D. 325, when Emperor Constantine officially recognized that church as the Roman Empire’s state religion. Any other form of Christianity that held to doctrines contrary to the Roman church was considered an enemy of the state.”
Today, Lent is used for “fasting from sin and from vice…forsaking sin and sinful ways.” It is a season “for penance, which means sorrow for sin and conversion to YAHUAH.” This tradition teaches that fasting and employing self-discipline during Lent will give a worshipper the “control over himself that he needs to purify his heart and renew his life.”
However, the Scriptures clearly shows that self-control — temperance — comes from having YAHUAH’s RUACH HA’QODESH (holy spirit) working in the life of a converted mind (Galatians 5:16, 17, 22). Fasting — of and by itself — cannot produce righteous self-control.
Paul warned against using self-denial as a tool to rely on your own will. He called it “will worship.” “Wherefore if you be dead with Messiah from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are you subject to ordinances, (touch not; taste not; handle not; which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body: not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh” (Colossians 2:20-23).
YAHUAH ELOHIYM did not design fasting as a tool for penance, “beating yourself up” or developing will power:
“Is it such a fast that I have chosen? A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to YAHUAH? Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? Is it not to deal your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor that are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you hide not yourself from your own flesh?” (Isaiah 58:5-7).
YAHUAH’s people humble themselves through fasting in order to draw closer to Him — so that they can learn to think and act like Him — so that they can live His way of life in all things. Notice what the prophet Jeremiah wrote: “Thus says YAHUAH, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am YAHUAH which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, says YAHUAH” (9:23-24). Fasting (and prayer) helps Belivers draw closer to YAHUAH ELOHIYM.
Coming from the Anglo-Saxon Lencten, meaning “spring,” Lent originated in the ancient Babylonian mystery religion. “The forty days’ abstinence of Lent was directly borrowed from the worshippers of the Babylonian goddess…Among the Pagans this Lent seems to have been an indispensable preliminary to the great annual festival in commemoration of the death and resurrection of Tammuz” (The Two Babylons).
Tammuz was the false Messiah of the Babylonians — a satanic counterfeit of YAHUSHA the Messiah!
The Feast of Tammuz was usually celebrated in June (also called the “month of Tammuz”). Lent was held 40 days before the feast, “celebrated by alternate weeping and rejoicing.” This is why Lent means “spring”; it took place from spring to early summer.
The Scriptures records ancient Yahudah (Judah) worshipping this false Messiah: “Then He brought me to the door of the gate of YAHUAH’S house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz” (Ezekiel 8:14-15). This was a great abomination in YAHUAH ELOHIYM’s eyes!
But why did the church at Rome institute such a pagan holiday?
“To conciliate the Pagans to nominal Christianity, Rome, pursuing its usual policy, took measures to get the Natsariym (True Believers) and Pagan festivals amalgamated, and, by a complicated but skillful adjustment of the calendar, it was found no difficult matter, in general, to get Paganism and Christianity — now far sunk in idolatry — in this as in so many other things, to shake hands” (The Two Babylons).
The Roman church replaced Passover with Easter, moving the pagan Feast of Tammuz to early spring, “Christianizing” it. Lent moved with it.
“This change of the calendar in regard to Easter was attended with momentous consequences. It brought into the Assembly the grossest corruption and the rankest superstition in connection with the abstinence of Lent” (The Two Babylons).
Before giving up personal sins and vices during Lent, the pagans held a wild, “anything goes” celebration to make sure that they got in their share of debaucheries and perversities — what the world celebrates as Mardi Gras today.
Pagan Abomination Masked as Christianity!
YAHUAH ELOHIYM is not the author of confusion (I Corinthians 14:33). He never instituted Lent, a pagan observance connecting debauchery to the supposed resurrection of a false Messiah.
YAHUAH ELOHIYM commands His people to follow Him — not the traditions of men. YAHUAH’s ways are higher, better than man’s (Isaiah 55:8-9). Men cannot determine for themselves right from wrong or how to properly worship YAHUAH ELOHIYM. Why? Because “the heart [mind] is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9), and “the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps” (10:23). YAHUAH ELOHIYM designed us and gave us life. He knows how we are supposed to worship Him.
To be a Natsariym (True Believer) and properly serve YAHUAH ELOHIYM, you must live “by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of YAHUAH” (Matthew 4:4), recognizing that His QODESH (holy ) Scriptures “cannot be broken” (John 10:35).
YAHUAH ELOHIYM commands Belivers to flee from the pagan traditions and customs of this world (Revelation 18:2-4), currently led and deceived by Satan the devil (II Corinthians 4:4; Revelation 12:9).
Lent may seem like a sincere, heartfelt religious observance. But it is deeply rooted in pagan ideas that counterfeit YAHUAH’s plan.
YAHUAH ELOHIYM hates all pagan observances (Jeremiah 10:2-3; Leviticus 18:3, 30; Deuteronomy 7:1-5, 16). They cannot be “Christianized” or made clean by men. That includes Lent.
If you are a true Believer you would say with David — “Through thy prcepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way”! (Psalm 119:104).
This precious book that we love, is called “Scriptures” whenever the book is spoken of as a whole. This was the name given to it by YAHUSHA and His disciples, and once by Daniel 10:21.
We find it designated as such in 54 places, of which, 53 appear in the New Testament. “Scripture” was the word used by Luther as a designating title for his German translation of the Scriptures. It is true that parts of Scripture, or individual books, are called “books” or “scrolls”, which are biblos or biblion in Greek. But biblos or biblion both only refer to individual books or sections of the Scriptures, and is nowhere used to designate the complete writings as the Scriptures.
This word for the Scriptures, was first used in 400 C.E.217 Thus, this designation for the Scriptures was a later introduction. Why then was the Scriptural designation for the complete book, namely “Scriptures”, substituted with the Hellenized word, “Bible”?
The common story that has been told us, is that biblion, or plural biblia, denotes any kind of written document, originally written on papyrus. This Egyptian papyrus reed came from Egypt and was imported through the Phoenician seaport Gebal, which the Greeks called Byblos or Byblus. This seaport Byblos was the home of the Phoenician Sun-deity, according to S.H. Langdon, Mythology of All Races, vol. V. p. 351.
This seaport or city was also known to be a city which was founded by Baal Chronos, as well as the real seat of Adonis, where a large temple of Adonis once stood. The Isis and Osiris cult, both Sun-deities, also became popular in this city later on. Further evidence was found when we read that, “The Sun-god is associated with the ‘Lady of Byblos’ in a letter from Tell el-Amarna (116:65, Kn.).
W.H. Roscher in his Ausfuhrliches Lexikon der Griechischen und Romishen Mythologie, vol. 1, pp. 839-840, states that this ancient city Byblos in Phoenicia, as well as the city Byblis, in Egypt, was named after the female deity BYBLIS, also called BYBLE, also called BIBLIS! This female deity was the grand-daughter of Apollo, the well-known Greek Sun- deity! As we can see the Scriptures, which we so dearly love and cherish, has been given a name derived from the female deity who was the grand-daughter of the Sun- deity, Apollo.
Pagan worship was generally known to have some sensuality to draw the carnal minds of the masses. And here again, we find that this female deity, Biblis, was described as nymph (Gilbert Meadows, An Illustrated Dictionary of Classical Mythology, as well as Edward Tripp, Crowell’s Handbook of Classical Mythology, both under “Byblis”).
We then understood the great sign given to John in Revelation 12, the Sun-clothed woman. Indeed, the faith of the New Testament, originating from the pure Hebrew Faith, had become clothed with Sun-worship.
Because the Christian Church had rejected the Eternal Covenant, the Ten Living Words, just like Old Testament Israel so often did (as described in Acts 7:38 – 42), therefore the same verdict came upon us: “The Mighty One turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven …”
The Christian Church is mixed and fused with sun-worship, to such an extent, that Yahuah gave her up to receive the name derived from CIRCE, the daughter of the Sun- deity, and that her most precious heritage, the Scriptures, became clothed with a cover on which is a name derived from the grand-daughter of the Sun-deity Apollo, namely : BYBLE or BYBLIS or BIBLIS.
It is from this Sun-clothed woman that the Body of The Messiah, the pure Messianic Faith, the man-child, must be delivered from, Revelation 12:5. This man-child is the True Faith, the Body of The Messiah, because the The Messiah was born from a virgin and not from a woman. The woman shall be taken to the wilderness where she is to be fed (spiritual food, spiritual truths). This passage in Revelation 12 reminds of Ezekiel 20 : 35 – 37, a prophecy for the end-time, “‘And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I plead my case with you face to face. Just as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will plead my case with you, says the Sovereign Yahuah . ‘
I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the Covenant.'” This same prophecy is given in Hosea 2: 14-17, “Therefore, behold, I will lure her and bring her to the wilderness and speak to her heart … For I will take away the names of the Baals (Lord) out of her mouth, and they shall no longer be remembered by their name.
The word “Bible” almost identically resembles the name of this female deity, Byble, and less resembles the Greek biblos, biblion, or biblia as are quite a number of other Greek word in the Greek New Testament which are derived from, or, later given to, idol names.
It is not accepted that the New Testament was originally written in Greek. We have may authorities, based upon evidence, that the original New Testament – the majority of it, if not all of it was written in Hebrew and or Aramaic. Hebrew was the only heavenly language spoken from Sinai, and all of Israel heard and understood it.
Again , in the New Testament we read how Yahusha spoke to the apostle Paul on the road to Damascus in the Hebrew language, Acts 26: 14. On the other hand, Greek, like all the languages of the nations, was a pagan language, its vocabulary being in existence long before the good news of the Kingdom of Yahuah reached them. Like all the languages of the pagan nations, its vocabulary consisted of many names of their deities. The reason? They were not guided by the Law of Yahuah that prohibited His people, “Make no mention of the names of other mighty ones, nor let it be heard from your mouth,” Exodus 23;13.
Even after the Greeks and other pagan nations heard the good news, and accepted the Mashiach, the majority of them were anti-Hebrew/Jew, some little and some much, and therefore did not have the same reverence for the Law that was given in the Tanakh, as was expected from Israel, and from us too. Secondly, in their enthusiasm to win converts, they did compromise much. This is called “syncretism”.
We can list a few of these names of pagan deities which are to be found in the Greek New Testament:
Hades
The Greeks had a supreme deity Hades. He or she was also known as the deity of the underworld, and also as a Sun-deity. The word hades also became used for “grave”. In the King James Version this word was only once correctly translated as “grave” 1 Corinthians 15: 55. The word hades: It was, and still is, the name of a pagan idol, and appears in the Greek of the Greek New Testament.
In 11 places it was incorrectly translated as “hell”. This was a sad mistake, because it gives the wrong idea of the state of the dead. Dr. Bullinger The Companion Bible, appendix, states, “‘The grave’ therefore, is obviously the best rendering … The rendering ‘the grave’ exactly expresses the meaning of Hades.” However, there is another Greek word that has been rendered “hell” in English translation. That word is the Greek word gehenna. In the King James Version the word “hell”, in twelve places, is a rendering of gehenna. This is much better, for indeed, the “burning rubbish heap”, gehenna, is the place that awaits the unrepentant sinners, the unrepentant lawless, those who willfully transgress the Law of Yahuah.
Yahusha said in Matthew 13:41 – 42, “The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His Kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness and will cast them into the furnace of fire.” He said the same in Matthew 7:22-23, about those who possess Gifts of the Spirit, but still practice lawlessness, “And I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'”
Charis
In the Hebrew of the Old Testament we find a very common word Chen, which simply means: favor. This word Chen was correctly rendered “favor” in the Old Testament . However, when this same word is used in the Greek of the New Testament, we find the word charis. This word was also known as grace, better known in its Latin form gratia.
From the English word “grace”, “charismatic” and “charity” have come to us. Why was the generally accepted rendering “favor” (unmerited favor) not extended into the New Testament as well? The New Testament is based on the Old Testament is it not? The New Testament is but a continuation of the Old Testament. Its authors were Hebrews, they spoke Aramaic and or Hebrew, just like the authors of the Old Testament. Why then was a foreign Greek word introduced which was unashamedly adopted from (or identified with) the name of a female deity? Yes, any dictionary or encyclopedia will verify this. This Greek deity’s name Charis, is found in the Greek New Testament, no less than 127 times, translated as “grace” in the English translations instead of “favor”, as it should have been, and as has correctly been done, indeed, in 6 places in the King James Version’s New Testament, namely, Luke 1:30, Luke 2:52, Acts 2:47, Acts 7:10, Acts 7:46, and Acts 25:3.
Who was this Charis? She was the wife of Hephaistos the fire-deity. She is identified with Aphrodite, both being names for the glistening dawn similar to the Sanskrit Ushas, the Dawn deity of the Indians, similar to the Greek Eos and daughter of Zeus and in the plural form, Charites, we find the commonly known “Three Charites” or “Three Graces”, three pretty young female deities, either stark naked or else very scantily dressed, being the three daughters of Helios, the Sun-deity.
HOLY
The Hebrew word Qodesh and the equivalent Greek word hagios, together with their derivatives, have been translated with one of three words, or derivatives, in our older English versions, namely: holy, hallowed, or sanctified. Another word is also used in modern versions, and generally in ecclesiastical literature, namely: sacred.
Most of us have the idea that this word has the meaning of piety, or being pious, or to be devout. However, this conception is refuted when we read in Isaiah 66:17 of the idolatrous people “who sanctify (qadash) themselves and purify themselves, to go to the gardens after an idol in the midst, eating swine’s flesh and the abomination and the mouse ….”
This refutation of the incorrect idea that “holy” means “to be pious”, is further confirmed by the shocking discovery that one of the Hebrew words for a harlot (whore) is qedeshah, a derivative of qadash! Likewise, a male prostitute (or sodomite) is called a qadesh in Hebrew. This then causes us to seek for the real meaning of the word qodesh (its verb being qadash) and its Greek equivalent hagios.
The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, vol. 2, p. 817, summarizes what most authorities say about Qodesh and hagios, “. . . the meaning of ‘separation’ is paramount … the more elemental meaning seems to lie with ‘separation’.” The same dictionary, in vol. 4, p.210, says, “The basic sense of the Hebrew root qadash, as of its Greek equivalent in the Bible—hagios, seems to be ‘separateness’.” Likewise, Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words repeatedly emphasizes the fact of the fundamental meaning of the word to be: “separation” (see under “holiness” and “sanctification”).
With the discovery of the true meaning of this word, namely, separate and separation, we can now understand why Qodesh is used in a positive sense, a good sense, and that it can equally be used in a negative and evil sense. Someone is, or something is separated unto Yahuah, or he/it is separated unto evil. Thus, the word Qodesh applies to both.
Why then, if the Hebrew word (Q) Kodesh as well as the Greek hagios both mean “separation”, why has the word “holy” been used instead? Is it possible that the father of all lies, the Great Deceiver, had cunningly proceeded with his master plan of bringing idolatrous worship into True Worship? Has the “Mystery Man” behind “Mystery of Lawlessness” and “Mystery Babylon” been active again?
(see Jeremiah 16:19-21, Isaiah 25:7, Isaiah 30:28, Revelation 17:2,4,5, as well as 2 Thessalonians 2:7). Indeed, we do find evidence of his veiled, his hidden, his mysterious work.
In The Oxford English Dictionary, vol. 5, p. 345, under “Holy”, we read, “. . . the primitive pre-Christian meaning is uncertain . . . Its earlier application to heathen deities is found in ON [Old Norse].” Likewise, we read in the big Netherland’s Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal, vol. 6, p. 455 (I translate), “An explanation of the original meaning, that makes it clear as to how this adjective has obtained the meaning of the Latin sanctus, has not yet been given For speculations, see e.g. KLUGE, FRANCK AND MURRAY.”
—
But we did discover the origin of the word “holy”. In G. Jobes, Dictionary of Mythology Folklore and Symbols, p. 781, we read, “HOLY: In practically all languages, the word for holy has been derived from the divinely honored sun.”
We found confirmation in Forlong’s Encyclopedia of Religions, as follows, “HOLI: The Great Hindu spring festival .. . held in honor of Krishna, as the spring sun-god . . . a personified woman called Holi . . . Holi had tried to poison the babe Krishna ….” Further revealing evidence was yet to come. In Strong’s Concordance, in the Greek Lexicon No. 1506, we found the following: “heile (the sun’s ray)”—this is pronounced: heilei.
This form is almost identical to the German and Dutch equivalent of the English “holy”. The meaning of “halo”, the ring on top of a saint’s head, now became clear to us. And this was confirmed in J.C. Cooper, An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Traditional Symbols, p. 112, “NIMBUS, HALO, or AUREOLE: Originally indicative of solar power and the sun’s disk, hence an attribute of Sun-gods.”
The truth of this most disturbing find stunned us. We simply could not handle it. Gradually we came to understand. The Great Deceiver will not make the mistake of diverting the worship towards himself. By just diverting it to the innocent sun, haSatan would succeed in his master plan by firstly veiling, and then bringing into the Temple the “wicked abomination”, as Elohim had called this Sun-mixed worship Ezekiel 8:9-16.
It is well known how pictures of our Messiah, of Mary, and of a great number of saints were adorned with a sun-disc (nimbus), or halo, or sun-rays, thereby identifying him/her with the Sun-deity, or even only being taken as blessed by the Sun-deity. With the word “holy” being applied to the Spirit of Yahuah, called in Hebrew Ruach ha Qodesh the enormous challenge was put to us:
Can we continue to use the word “Holy Spirit”? Ruach ha Qodesh simply means: “The Spirit of Separation”. Can we continue bringing homage to the Sun, once the truth has been revealed to us, and be found guilty of participating in the “wicked abominations” of Ezekiel 8:9-16?
In the Scriptures we are warned of Job’s similar predicament in Job 31 :26-28, in which Job warns us of this “an iniquity worthy of judgment, for I would have denied Elohim who is above.” Have we not been warned in Jeremiah 10:2, “Do not learn the way of the Gentiles; do not be dismayed (awed) at the signs of heaven for the Gentiles are dismayed (awed) at them.”? Can we ignore the disastrous result of Israel’s disobedience to the Law which caused Elohim to have “turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven,” Acts 7:42? We who have entered into the New Covenant, having the Law of Yahuah written into our hearts (Hebrews 8:10 and 10:16), can we delight in His Law, His Words?
Do we accept His warning which comes to us in Deuteronomy 4:19, “And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you fee driven to worship them and serve them, which Yahuah your Elohim has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage”? If it has been revealed to US having been led by the Spirit of Truth, that the word “holy” has been derived from the divinely honored sun can we ignore it?
In direct contrast to this “sun-origin” of the word “holy”, the Hebrew Qodesh and the Greek hagios have nothing to do with the sun or sun-rays at all The Spirit of Truth put the challenge before us: If we love Him Who first loved us, we will worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. If we love the Spirit of Yahuah, we will call Him: The Spirit of Separation, and not “the spirit of the sun”. The former is the truth, the latter is a lie if it is meant to be a translation of Ruach ha Qodesh. If the term “spirit of the sun” is devoid of all Scriptural truth how much more is the term “spirit of the divinely honored sun”?—or “the spirit that solarizes”, or “the solarized spirit”?
HALLOWED
Identical to the above is another derivative of this word originating from the “divinely honored sun.” In our versions the word “hallowed” is also a translation of qodesh or qadash, and hagiazo. The word is also found in “halloween” or “Hallow-even”, an old pagan British festival which was adopted by the church.
The great Sun-image of the Krom-druach was specially worshiped at this season. Here again, this word “hallowed” in our versions should be “koshered” to read: “separated”.
SACRED
Although this word is not found in the King James Version, it has been used in some instances in the more recent English versions (e.g. Moffatt’s Translation, NIV, GNB, NASB) to translate the Hebrew qodesh and the Greek hagios. In the literature and preaching of the churches, however, it is frequently used, as well as in the word “sacrament”. Much of the English language, which is one of the Indo-European languages, viz. Sanskrit.
Similarly, the English word “sacred” can be traced back to the Sanskrit “Sakra”. What or who was “Sakra”?
Larousse, World Mythology, pp. 229, 233, reveals to us that Indra was one of the 12 forms of the Sun-deity, and that he was also known as: “Sakra”. This startling information is found in other sources too.120 In this deity, and in the twelfth form, he is called: Mitra, the origin of the later Persian and Roman Mithra or Mithras, who at first was only associated with the Sun-deity, but later on became the Sun-deity himself as Sol Invictus, the unconquered Sun-deity.
SANCTIFIED
Another word that translates the Hebrew qodesh and the Greek hagios, is the word “sanctified”, which, according to the dictionaries, originates from the Latin sanctus. According to Pauly-Wissowa, Real encyclopaedie, under “Sanctus”, the primary meaning and origin is not certain. However, this article quotes a source mentioning Santus as a deity, named deus sanctus, and also states that Sanctus was often used as an epithet or surname of deities (See also this same book’s entry: “Sancus”).
Augustine in his City of God, reveals to us that the Sabine chief deity, Sancus, was called by some: Sanctus. In the Real encyclopaedie, under “Sancus”, we read of a statue of Sancus, representing an archaic type of Apollo, the great Sun-deity of the Greeks. At the end of the article it states that, originally, Semo Sancus was Jupiter itself. Another cognate form Sancius was also identified as Jupiter.
Although we have fewer witnesses here than in the case against the words “holy”, “sacred” and “hallow”, we still have enough evidence that “Sancuts was the name of a pagan deity, even identified with Jupiter and Apollo. Another “wicked abomination”, in the form of the words “sanctified” and “sanctuary”, had been fused with the pure Messianic Faith, and we must eliminate them.
GLORY
No fewer than 25 Hebrew words are rendered by doxa in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament. Of these 25 words, 7 are more common, the most important being kabad. This Greek word doxa of the Greek translation of the Old Testament, and the doxa of the New Testament, are usually rendered “glory” in the English versions, a translation of the Latin Gloria. If we first look at the Hebrew Old Testament, we find that kabad has usually been rendered “honor” when applied to man, but rendered “glory” when applied to our Heavenly Father. Why were they so keen to apply the word “glory” to our Mighty One? What is the meaning of the word “glory”?
Funk & Wagnalls, New Standard Dictionary of the English Language, under “glory”, gives the religious symbolic meaning, “In religious symbolism, the complete representation of an emanation of light from the person of a sanctified being consisting of the aureole and the nimbus;” and further on, “The quality of being radiant or shining; brilliancy brightness; luster; as the glory of the sun;” and further on, “A sunburst; any ring of light; a halo.”
John Ogilvie The Comprehensive English Dictionary, under “glory”, explains it as, “splendour, as of the sun.” Similar statements are made by The Oxford English Dictionary and Webster’s New International Dictionary. The latter states, “glory is the general term for the aureola and the nimbus”—aureola being the halo or ring round the sun, and nimbus being the sun-disc.
This meaning, as well as the word itself, would be acceptable if the commonly used Hebrew words of the Old Testament, and the Greek word doxa, have had the same meaning of Sun-radiance or circles of light. However, we do not find any trace of sun- radiance or emanation of light in any of these Hebrew words, nor in the Greek doxa. Once more we are rudely awakened to the fact of the adoption of Sun-worship into the Church, the fusion of Sun-worship and the Messianic Faith. In the dictionaries, encyclopedias and ecclesiastical books, we find many illustrations of our Savior, the Virgin, and the saints, encircled with radiant circles or emanations of light around them.
What are the meanings then of the Scriptural Hebrew words? Kabad means honor, dignity or esteem in its figurative sense, as well as weight, in its literal sense. Pa’ar means repute. Halal means praiseworthiness or praise.
Adar and hadar means to make great. Tipharah means repute. Shavak means to esteem. The Greek word doxa simply means opinion, estimation, esteem, repute or dignity, coming from the verb dokeo, which means “to seem”.
Thus, the ecclesiastical symbolic meaning of the word “Glory”, being that of radiance or emanation of light as from the sun, is totally un-Scriptural. It is strong evidence of the Church’s solarization of our Messiah and of His Father. The Church identified Elohim with the Sun deity, which was the prevailing deity of the Roman emperors, the Roman capital and its empire.
However, not only does the concept of “glory” stem from Sun-worship, but we also find proof of “glory” as having been a Roman goddess, discovered in the form of an icon personified by a woman, the upper part of her body almost naked, holding a circle on which are the zodiac signs. Pauly-Wissowa also defines Gloria as a personification of fame, the word being found very frequently on the coins of Constantine and his successors. Besides the frequent occurrence of the word Gloria on the coins, the image of this goddess is found on two coins, one of Constantius II and one of Constantine II.
We should therefore eliminate the word “glory” from our religious vocabulary for three reasons:
1) We have been commanded in Exodus 23:13 to “make no mention of the names of other mighty ones, nor let it be heard from your mouth”—especially in our worship, applying these names to the One we love, and His Son.
2) The concept of the word “glory” in religious symbolism, as we read in Funk & Wagnalls Dictionary, is that of the emanation or radiance of light, as of the sun. This is proof of the solarization of our beloved Savior, identifying Him, as well as His Father, with the Sun-deity.
3) The Hebrew words, as well as Greek word doxa, do not carry the meaning of sun-radiance or sunlight at all. Therefore the word “glory” is an incorrect rendering of those words.
What then should we use instead of the word “glory”? Simply what the Hebrew words and the Greek word mean: “esteem”, or “high esteem” or “repute”. These words carry the meaning of the Scriptural words and do not stem from the names of deities as far as we know, and should be used wherever our versions have “glory”.
AMEN
The Hebrew of the Old Testament reveals to us that the Scriptural Hebrew word (which means: so be it, or verily or surely) is “Amein” and not “Amen”.
Likewise, the Greek equivalent in the Greek New Testament is also pronounced: “Amein”.
Anyone can check on this in Strong’s Concordance, No. 543 in its Hebrew Lexicon, and No. 281 in its Greek Lexicon, or in Aaron Pick’s Dictionary of Old Testament Words for English Readers. Why then, has this Scriptural word “Amein” been rendered as “Amen” in our versions? Again we can see how the pagans have been made welcome, been conciliated, by adopting the name of pagan deity into the Church.
The Egyptians, including the Alexandrians, had been worshiping, or been acquainted with, the head of the Egyptian pantheon, Amen-Ra, the great Sun deity, for more than 1 000 years, B.C.E. Before this deity became known as Amen-ra, he was only known as Amen among the Thebians.
This substitution of “Amen” for “Amein” was greatly facilitated by the fact that this Egyptian deity’s name was pelt in Egyptian hieroglyphic language with only three letters: AMN, just as we find a similar poverty of vowels in the Scriptural Hebrew, which prior to its vowel-pointing by the Massoretes, also only spelt its AMEIN as : AMN.
However, with the vowel-pointing by the Massoretes the Scriptural word has been preserved for us as AMEIN. On the other hand, the Egyptian deity AMN is rendered by various sources as AMEN, or AMUN, or as AMON. However, the most reliable Egyptologists and archaelogsits, such as Sir E.A. Wallis Budge, Dr. A.B. Cook, Prof. A Wiedemann, Sir W.M.F. Petrie, and A.W. Shorter, as well as some authoritative dictionaries, all render the name of this Egyptian deity as AMEN.
This AMEN was originally the Theban “hidden god who is in heaven” “the hidden one, probably meaning hidden sun”. Funk and Wagnalls, Standard College Dictionary, describes it, “AMEN: In Egyptian mythology, the god of life and procreation … later identified with the Sun-god as the supreme deity, and called ‘Amen-Ra’.” James Bonwick, Egyptian Belief and Modern Thought, repeatedly and frankly calls the Sun- deity of Egypt by its correct name: AMEN. He states on pp. 123-125, “AMEN … is in a sense, the chief deity of Egypt – supreme divinity. Whatever else he be, he must be accepted as the Sun … the hidden god, the solar aspect is clear … there is the disk of the Sun … the Sun Amen … His identification with Baal … establishes him as a solar deity ….” Smith’s Bible Dictionary expresses AMEN as, “an Egyptian divinity … He was worshiped … as Amen-Ra, or ‘Amen the Sun’.” Herodotos recorded for us how the Greeks identified their Zeus with Amen-Ra.
Yahusha calls Himself “the Amein” in Revelation 3:14. Substituting a title or name of Yahusha with the name of of the great hidden Sky-deity or the great Sun-deity of the Egyptians, Amen, is inconceivable! The difference is subtle, but it is there. By ending our prayers “Amen” instead of “Amein”, one could very well ask: Have we been misled to invoke the name of the Egyptian Sun-deity at the end of our prayers?
GOD – GAD – GUD
A prophecy for the end-time is given in Isa. 65:11 wherein our Mighty One warns of the apostasy of His people, “But you are those who forsake Yahúah who prepare a table for Gad, and who furnish a drink offering for Meni.” Revised Authorized Version.
All commentators agree that Gad is a pagan deity, and so is Meni. Gad is usually interpreted as the well-known Syrian or Canaanite deity of “Good Luck” or “Fortune”, and Meni the deity of “Destiny”. This Gad is written in the Hebrew as GD, but the Massoretes afterwards vowel – pointed it, adding an “a”, to give us “Gad”. However, we find other references in Scripture to a similar deity, if not the same one, also spelt GD in the Hebrew text but this time vowel – pointed to read “Gawd” or “God”, in Jos. 11:17, 12:7, 13:5, where we find: “Baal-Gawd” or “Baal-God”, according to the vowel – pointed Massoretic Hebrew text.
This Baal – Gawd or Baal – God was obviously a place named after their diety. The astrologers identified Gad with Jupiter, the Sky-deity or the Sun-deity. Other sources of research also testify of “Gad” being the Sun-deity. Rev. Alexander Hislop wrote, “There is reason to believe that Gad refers to the Sun-god … The name Gad … is applicable to Nimrod, whose general character was that of a Sun-god … Thus then, if Gad was the ‘Sun divinity’, Meni was very naturally regarded as ‘The Lord Moon.’ “
Keil and Delitzsch, Commentaries on the Old Testament, comments on Isa. 65:11, “There can be no doubt, therefore, that Gad, the god of good fortune, …is Baal (Bel) as the god of good fortune. … this is the deified planet Jupiter …Gad is Jupiter … Mene is Dea Luna … Rosenmuller very properly traces back the Scriptural rendering to this Egyptian view, according to which Gad is the Sungod, and Meni the lunar goddess as the power of fate.”
Isa. 65:11 tells us than that Yahúah’s people have forsaken Him and in the end-time are found to be serving Gad, the Sun-deity of “Good Luck”, and Meni, the Moon-deity of “Destiny”.
As pointed out above, this Gad (GD with and “a” vowel – pointing) is probably the same deity as we read of in the book of Joshua, GD with a vowel-pointing of “aw” or “o”, Massoretes cannot always be relied on, but we can rely on the Hebrew Scriptures before the vowel-pointing was done. It could well be that the GD of Isa. 65:11 is the same as the “Gawd” or “God” of the book of Joshua. But, let us not try to establish a fact on an assumption. Let us rather do some research on the word “God”.
The word God (or god), like the Greek Theos (or theos) is used in our versions as a title, a generic name, usually. It translates the Hebrew The Mighty One (or The Mighty One), El (or el), and Eloah. However, in quite a few places it is used as a name whenever it is used as a substitute for the Tetragrammaton, the Name of our Father, e.g. Matthew 4:4 etc.
If the word God is then used as a substitute for the Name, it must be accepted that the word God has become a name again. How and when did this title or name become adopted into our modern languages? Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th edition, says, “GOD – the common Teutonic word for a personal object of religious worship … applied to all those superhuman beings of the heathen mythologies.
The word ‘god’ on the conversion of the Teutonic races to Christianity was adopted as the name of the one Supreme Being ….” Webster’s Twentieth Century Dictionary, Unabridged, 1st edition, says, “The word is common to Teutonic tongues … It was applied to heathen deities and later, when the Teutonic peoples were converted to Christianity, the word was elevated to the Christian sense.”
James Hastings, Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, vol. 6, p. 302, reads, “After the conversion of the Teutons to Christianity the word came to be applied also to the Christian Deity … Its etymology and its original meaning are obscure, and have been much debated.” J.G.R. Forlong, Encyclopedia of Religions, on “God”, says, “It is remarkable that philologists are unable to decide the origin of this familiar Teutonic word.”
Once again, we are strongly suspicious of the rulers of darkness or the Prince of Darkness, having succeeded, once again, in hiding yet another work of darkness. There is much confusion in the European languages between the words gud (good) and god.
The Scandinavian languages, like the old Anglo-Saxon, called god gud and called gud (good) god. Calling good god and god gud is bad enough to confuse us. Even worse is that the Old Nether lands languages regarded god as an idol and gud as the correct deity! Jacob Grimm recorded this for us, as well as Julius Pokorny and Jan de Vries.
This inconsistency of spelling confuses us, as it must have confused the people in those early centuries who were still completely or partially ignorant of the True Mighty One and His Name. Jacob Grimm asserts that this was done because of fear, “Such a fear may arise from two causes: a holy name must not be abused, or an unholy dreaded name, e.g., that of the devil, has to be softened down by modifying its form”, and then gives examples.
Other modifying its form”, and then gives examples. Other scholars have explained that the names of national deities were either hid, or modified, in order to prevent their enemies getting hold of these names -enemies who might use it as a magic word against them. Another reason for this changing of spelling of idols’ names was the ritual of abrenuntiatio, i.e. a solemn renouncing of the names of major deities, whenever a pagan became converted to Christianity. One of the three major idols of the Teutonic tribes was called Saxnot. It is well documented how this name was renounced and later on came back in a disguised form, Saxneat. We even found that some idols’ name were spelt 17 different ways.
We found further evidence that “gott” or “god” was not only a title, but used as a name too, amongst the Teutonic tribes. Simrock discovered songs wherein “Gott” was used as a beiname for the deity Odin. In German, beiname means: surname (or epithet, or appellation).
We further found “Goda” as a proper name of an idol. Moreover, the same author relates how Wodan, “the name of the highest god” , also called Wotan and Odan, was also called Godan. The Teutonic masculine deities each had its female consort or counterpart. Thus we read that this deity’s female consort was frau Gode. It is commonly known that our Wednesday was named after Wodan or Wotan. In Westphalian we find this day being called Godenstag.
If the Teutonic pagans called all their idols by the generic name “gott” or “god”, shall we continue to call the One that we love by the same generic name/title/or name? Why do we not translate the title The Mighty One (or El or Eloah) with it proper meaning: Mighty One or Mighty? Also, in those places where “God” has become a substitute name for “Yahúah “, shall we continue to invite the wrath of The Mighty One by doing this? He has commanded us that we should not destroy His Name (Deut. 12:3c and 4, KJV or RSV).
He is sorely displeased with those who have forgotten His Name for Baal (Jer. 23:27), remembering that Baal really was the Sun-deity. “Therefore My people shall know My Name,”Isa. 52:6. “Yahúah ‘s voice cries to the city – wisdom shall see Your Name,” Yahúah.
“For The Mighty One will save Zion … and those who love His Name shall dwell in it,” Ps. 69:35-36. Also read Isa. 56:6-7. If we love Him, we will love His Name. If we love His Name, we will not destroy it (Deut. 12:3c and 4), we will not forget it (Jer. 23:27), we will not substitute it with a title, a generic name, or a name, which had been used for a pagan deity (Exod. 23:13).
Also, and even more applicable to this present study, we will stop substituting His Name with Baal (Jer. 23:27 and Hos. 2:16) – that great Sun-deity, also known as Bel, who was the primary deity of Babylon – whether “Baal” applies to the name of the Sun-deity, or whether “Baal” became a title. We are to stop substituting His Name with anything that pertains to a Sun-deity, or even only a title with an idolatrous origin, notwithstanding attempts to justify the “changed meaning of the word”.
There is not a single text in all Scripture which prohibits us from calling Him by His Name. They called upon His Name right back in Gen. 12:8 and 13:4, and as “Abraham” again in Gen. 21:33. Abraham called the place in Moria “Yahúah Yireh”, Gen. 22:14. Isaac called upon the Name Yahúah , Gen. 26:25. Jacob used the Name, Gen. 28:16. Leah used it, Gen. 29:33 and 35.
Moses proclaimed the Name of Yahúah , Deut. 32:3. David declared Yahúah’s name, Psalms 22:22, and so did our Messiah, Heb. 2:12, John 17:6 and 17:26. Finally, Yahusha promised to do it again, John 17:26b, which is that which is now happening.
THE LORD
The title of ‘the Lord’, by its origin and implication is totally blasphemous and of Pagan origin. The whole of Christianity is guilty through the lack of use of bringing the Name of YHUH to nothingness.
How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions of their own minds? 27 They think the dreams they tell one another will make my people forget My Name, just as their ancestors forgot My Name through Baal (JESUS) worship. Jeremiah 23:26,27
And in that day, declares YHUH, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘The Lord.’ For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. Hosea 2:16-17
“Baal” in the dictionary is Hebrew and means “The Lord”. So since JESUS is LORD does this tells us who JESUS (Christ) really is, “BAAL”?
Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons inYour name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness (Breaker of the Torah – 10 Commandments and Sabbaths)!’ Matthew 7:22-23
Webster’s: Ba’al (Ba’al; Heb, ba’al, Lord, possessor) 1.) A very common name for god among the phoenecians. The word is also used of the master or owner of a house (Exodus. 22:7, Judges 19:22); of a landowner (Job 31:39); of an owner of cattle (Exodus 21:28, Isaiah 1:3), etc. The word is often used as a prefix to names of towns and men, eg., Ba’al(Lord)-Gad (God), Ba’al-Hanan, etc.
Baal ( /ˈbeɪl/ bayl; sometimes spelled Bael, Baël (French), Baell) is one of the (7) seven princes of Hell. He is mentioned widely in the Old Testament as the primary pagan idol of the Phoenicians, often associated with the pagan goddess Ashtaroth.
Wikipedia: Baal (Biblical Hebrew בעל, pronounced [ˈbaʕal], usually spelled Baal in English) is a Northwest Semitic title and honorific meaning “master” or “lord” that is used for various gods who were patrons of cities in the Levant and Asia Minor, cognate to Akkadian Bēlu. A Baalist or Baalite means a worshipper of Baal.
“Baal” can refer to any god and even to human officials. In some texts it is used for Hadad, a god of the rain, thunder, fertility and agriculture, and the lord of Heaven. Since only priests were allowed to utter his divine name, Hadad, Ba‛al was commonly used. Nevertheless, few if any Biblical uses of “Baʿal” refer to Hadad, the lord over the assembly of gods on the holy mount of Heaven, but rather refer to any number of local spirit-deities worshipped as cult images, each called Baʿal and regarded in the Hebrew Bible in that context as a “false god”
Baal is a title meaning “lord” that was applied to a number of West Semitic gods.
Baal is a Christian demon. According to Christian demonology, Baal was ranked as the first and principal king in Hell, ruling over the East. According to some authors Baal is a Duke, with (66) sixty-six legions of demons under his command. The term “Baal” is used in various ways in the Old Testament, with the usual meaning of master, or owner. It came to sometimes mean the local pagan god of a particular people, and at the same time all of the idols of the land. It is also found in several places in the plural Baalim, or Baals Judges 2:11, 10:10.
There were many variations in which BAAL is known, such as the Sun God (Sunday God), the God of fertility (Easter), and Beelzebub, or the lord of flies”.
During the English Puritan period, Baal was either compared to ha Satan or considered his main assistant. “Baʿal” can refer to any god and even to human officials; in some texts it is used as a substitute for Hadad, a god of the rain, thunder, fertility and agriculture, and the lord of Heaven.
Suffice it to say, the Greek language was a human language, the vast majority of its vocabulary was formed when the Greeks were still a pagan nation, having the names of their numerous deities freely used in various applications. This was not only the case with the Greeks, but also with all other non-Hebrew nations who did not have the Law of Yahuah to mold their languages. However, in the period before the Messiah came, the Greek language and customs were regarded as typical of, and even synonymous with, the pagan nations, especially because of the most severe oppressive occupation of Israel by the Antiochus. It is therefore not surprising to read of the Talmud regarding the Greek language as being unclean. “The first part of the Talmud, the Mishna, emphatically declared it was worse for a Jew to learn Greek than to eat swine flesh.
The prophecy for the end-time comes to us clearly in Zephaniah 3:9, “For then will I change to the peoples a pure lip, that all of them may call upon the Name of Yahuah, to serve Him with one consent,” Hebrew text. It is well known that a “pure lip” is a Hebrew idiom for the Hebrew language. In that day all the peoples of the world will know Him by the One Name Zechariah 14:9 which He revealed to Israel, and which His Son, Yahusha, made known to His disciples, John 17:6.
Yahusha also promised to make it known to us too, John 17:26. Calling on the Name of Yahuah ” causes Him to send His Ruach, the Ruach of Separation, the Ruach of Truth, the Ruach that washes away the filth of the daughters of Zion, Isaiah 4:4.
Our Messiah has begun to separate and to cleanse His assembly with the washing of water by the Word Ephesians 5:26 – even cleansing His assembly from these names of pagan idols: Hades, Charis, Grace, Holy, Glory, Hollowed, Sacred, Sanctified, Amen and Biblis or Byblis or Byble!
I will cut off the names of the idols from the land,” Yahuah said in Zechariah 13:2.
A leavening agent (sometimes just called leavening or leaven) is a substance used in doughs and batters that causes them to rise. In the presence of moisture, heat, acidity, or other triggers the leavening agent reacts to produce gas (often carbon dioxide) that becomes trapped as bubbles within the dough. When a dough or batter is baked, it “sets” and the holes left by the gas bubbles remain. This is what gives breads, cakes, and other baked goods their soft, sponge-like textures.
During the Feast of Unleavened Bread, YAHUAH commands that no leavening be eaten or found on our premises: “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 Ysra,ĕl, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land. You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread,” Shemoth (Exodus) 12:19-20.
Below are leavening agents found in a variety of foods that must be used up or removed by the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Incidentally, it is not acceptable to remove leavening from your property if you just bring it back once the Feast is over. The lesson is to remove leavening entirely from our lives, which represents that which promotes corruption. To bring it back at the end of the Feast subverts the whole purpose of the lesson.
Commonly used leavening agents include:
· Yeasts, including:
· baker’s yeast
· active dried yeast
· baking powder
· cream of tartar (potassium bitartrate)
· sourdough
· ammonium carbonate
· ammonium bicarbonate
· Potassium carbonate
· Potassium bicarbonate
· Dipotassium carbonate
Leavening agents are also in:
· Preparation H (has yeast)
· Cat and dog foods with yeast
· Toothpastes with baking soda
False Leaven
Below are foods or ingredients not leavened, although some people mistaken them for leavening or leavened food. They pose no problem Biblically speaking:
Puffed cereals Some food products are “puffed up” by mechanical means but cannot be used as a contact spreading agent. They are just puffed up by air and are not chemically leavened. They include: popcorn, beaten eggs, and air puffed cereal like puffed rice or wheat.
Brewer’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) is an inactive yeast, meaning the yeasts have been killed and have no leavening power. It is the yeast remaining after beer making. It is used as a nutrient supplement to increase the intake of B vitamins. Brewer’s yeast comes powdered (the most potent form), in flakes (best for health shakes), and in tablets.
Yeast extract, autolyzed yeast extract When yeast cells die, they automatically break up, a process called autolysis in which the yeasts’ digestive enzymes break their proteins down into simpler compounds. What remains is a collection of protein, fats, vitamins, minerals, and monosodium glutamate (MSG), a flavor enhancer.
Soda pop Although its name says “soda,” soda pop is not leavened as if with bicarbonate of “soda.” It is made with water that has been infused with carbon dioxide in a non-leavening process.
How Is Unleavened Bread Significant In The Scriptures?
Unleavened bread is bread that is made without leaven, which is another word for yeast. Yeast makes bread rise, so when bread is unleavened, it remains flat and dense. The Yisraelites ate unleavened bread as part of the Passover celebration. It was symbolic of the haste with which the Yisraelites fled Egypt during the Exodus—they left so quickly that the bread did not have time to rise. YAHUAH instructed them to commemorate the event by eating unleavened bread: “You shall eat no leavened bread with it. Seven days you shall eat it with unleavened bread, the bread of affliction—for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste—that all the days of your life you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 16:3). Other verses that command the eating of unleavened bread are found in Exodus 12:8; 29:2; and Numbers 9:11.
Leaven is also a symbol of sin, and the way sin spreads through its host, affecting the entire organism. Even a small amount of leaven is sufficient to affect an entire lump of dough, and likewise, a little sin will affect an entire Assembly, nation, or the whole of a person’s life (Galatians 5:9). Sin starts out small, in the thoughts, and then affects the will and the actions, and leads eventually to spiritual death (James 1:14-15). Paul warns the Corinthians that “a little leaven leavens the whole lump” and exhorts them to “cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Messiah, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:6-7).
Now, once a lump has been leavened, it is not possible to cleanse out the leaven, because it has permeated the dough. What Paul is asking the Corinthians to do in “cleansing out the old leaven” is impossible, for sin cannot be eliminated by human effort or obedience to the law. The law was given to make us aware of sin (Romans 3:20; Romans 7:7). The law is not meant to discourage us, but to encourage us toward Messiah, who is the propitiation for our sins. His sacrifice on the Stake paid for our sin and made it possible for us to remove the leaven from the lump, as Paul puts it. Another word for this is sanctification (Hebrews 10:10, 14). As we come into the light, and confess that we are indeed stained by sin, He is “faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
Thankfully, unleavening is His work, not ours (Ephesians 2:8-10). The Scriptures teaches that we do not have the power to remove sin. It has permeated us completely, from birth, because—despite future good or evil actions—every person is born in sin simply because we are members of Adam’s race. The first Adam brought this death to humanity, but the second Adam (YAHUSHA HA’MASHIACH) brought life (1 Corinthians 15:22).
And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake matstsah, and they did eat. BERE’SHIYTH (GENESIS) 19:3
And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and matstsah; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. SHEMOTH (EXODUS) 12:8
Seven days shall ye eat matstsah; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eats chamets from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Yisrael. SHEMOTH (EXODUS) 12:15
In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, ye shall eat matstsah, until the one and twentieth day of the month at evening. SHEMOTH (EXODUS) 12:18
Seven days shall there be no chamets found in your houses: for whosoever eats that which is with chamets, even that soul shall be cut off from the assembly of Yisrael, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land. SHEMOTH (EXODUS) 12:19
Seven days you shall eat matstsah, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to YAHUAH. SHEMOTH (EXODUS) 13:6
Matstsah shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no chamets be seen with you, neither shall there be leaven seen with you in all your quarters. SHEMOTH (EXODUS) 13:7
You shall guard the Feast of Matstsah: (you shall eat matstsah seven days, as I commanded you, in the time appointed of the month Aviyv; for in it you came out from Mitsrayim: and none shall appear before me empty:) SHEMOTH (EXODUS) 23:15
And matstsah, and matstsah cakes tempered with oil, and matstsah wafers anointed with oil: of wheaten flour shall you make them. SHEMOTH (EXODUS) 29:2
And one loaf of bread, and one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer out of the basket of the matstsah that is before YAHUAH: SHEMOTH (EXODUS) 29:23
The את eth-Feast of Matstsah shall you guard. Seven days you shall eat matstsah, as I commanded you, in the time of the month Aviyv: for in the month Aviyv you came out from Mitsrayim. SHEMOTH (EXODUS) 34:18
And if you bring an oblation of a meat offering baken in the oven, it shall be matstsah cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or matstsah wafers anointed with oil. VAYIQRA (LEVITICUS) 2:4
And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Matstsah unto YAHUAH: seven days ye must eat matstsah. VAYIQRA (LEVITICUS) 23:6
The fourteenth day of the second month at evening they shall keep it, and eat it with matstsah and bitter herbs. BEMIDBAR (NUMBERS) 9:11
And in the fifteenth day of this month is the feast: seven days shall matstsah be eaten. BEMIDBAR (NUMBERS) 28:17
You shall therefore sacrifice the Pecach unto YAHUAH ELOHAYKA, of the flock and the herd, in the place which YAHUAH shall choose to place his name there. DEVARIYM (DEUTERONOMY) 16:2
Six days you shall eat matstsah: and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to YAHUAH ELOHAYKA: you shall do no work therein. DEVARIYM (DEUTERONOMY) 16:8
And the woman had a fat calf in the house; and she hasted, and killed it, and took flour, and kneaded it, and did bake matstsah thereof: SHEMU’EL RI’SHON (1 SAMUEL) 28:24
Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of YAHUAH in Yerushalayim, but they did eat of the matstsah among their brethren. MELEKIYM SHENIY (2 KINGS) 23:9
In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the Pecach, a feast of seven days; matstsah shall be eaten. YECHEZQ’EL (EZEKIEL) 45:21
And as they did eat, YAHUSHA took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body. MARQUS (MARK) 14:22
And he took את eth-the bread, and gave thanks, and broke it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. LUQAS (LUKE) 22:19
YAHUSHA answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a morsel, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Yahudah Iyshqiryot, the son of Shim’on. YAHUCHANON (JOHN) 13:26
And after the morsel Satan entered into him. Then said YAHUSHA unto him, That you do, do quickly. YAHUCHANON (JOHN) 13:27
He then having received the morsel went immediately out: and it was night. YAHUCHANON (JOHN) 13:30
Therefore let us keep the Feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the matstsah of sincerity and truth. QORINTIYM RI’SHON (1 CORINTHIANS) 5:8
The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the fellowship of the blood of HA’MASHIACH? The bread which we break, is it not the fellowship of the body of HAMASHIACH? QORINTIYM RI’SHON (1 CORINTHIANS) 10:16
Truthers Journal 