What I enjoyed most with these walks was having the chance to talk freely about anything on my heart, and my Dad would listen. He’d share his thoughts as well, but for the most part, I recall being the one sharing mine.

This pastime had a profound impact on my life. I felt the most loved at these times. I felt heard. I felt valued.

I don’t know if my Dad felt loved in this same way of being heard or if he felt loved by being spoken to so freely. I imagine both were true. However, I do know he rarely shut me down, and he always seemed eager to hear my thoughts. And as a result, I always felt welcome to share with him anything and everything.

This regular heart-inspired exchange modeled for me a relationship I share with my heavenly Father. Through my Dad I learned that I matter to Abba, my heavenly Father, that the passions of my heart mean something, and that there is an intrinsic value to my being. My Dad taught me the love of the Father in heaven.

Looking back over my adult years, it’s so easy to see the similarities between my father and I…the similar path we have taken.

• We shared a passion for the One who made us and His Word. He taught me to read daily and to test everything in Scripture. 
• We worked together in business.  He mentored me and groomed me in entrepreneurship.
• We shared in political engagement. He taught me to speak out in public, and to engage in the community around me. He taught me to promote the values I hold through both my words and deeds.
• We shared in writing our thoughts down. He taught me to take what’s inside my heart and mind and put it in a format where others can get to know what makes me tick.

These shared experiences demonstrate to me that when we walk with our heavenly Father in loving devotion, His ways become our ways. I feel so incredibly blessed to have had this relationship here on earth.

“If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them.’ Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams: for YHVH your God proveth you, to know whether ye love YHVH your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Ye shall walk after YHVH your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.” Deuteronomy 13:1-4

As stated in Part 1 on this series, “Warning from Deuteronomy 13:1-4“, a problem I see in Protestant Christianity here in the West is that we are taught to regard the New Testament higher than the Old Testament. We are taught who God is and what he expects of us as his children through the lens of the New Testament and the doctrines of man.

Unfortunately, in doing so we hear that the commandments of God have either changed or been put away in part, despite the fact that Matthew 5:17-18 records Jesus (Yeshua) as saying,

“Think not that I came to destroy/weaken the law or the prophets: I came not to destroy/weaken, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all things be accomplished.”

Since the teaching in Western Christianity/Catholicism is that the law of the Old Testament has been put away or does not apply to the believer in Jesus (Yeshua), we do not recognize that the warning of Deuteronomy 13:1-4 applies to the Christian believer. We don’t make the connection that the very prophets warned about, who are saying, ‘Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them.‘ are the priests/preachers in Catholicism & Protestant Christianity that promote Sunday Sabbath, Christmas & Easter!

EASTER

What does Scripture say about Easter?

There is NO reference in Scripture regarding “Easter”. However, the King James Version of the Bible uses “Easter” in one verse, Acts 12:4:

“And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.”

The Greek word translated here as “Easter” is:

G3957
pascha
pas’-khah
Of Chaldee origin (compare [H6453]);

The Hebrew word referred to here is:

H6453
pesach
peh’-sakh

The Greek word, “pascha” is translated as “Passover” in the KJV (New Testament) 28 times and once as “Easter”. The Hebrew word, “pesach” appears in the KJV (Old Testament) 49 times and is always translated as “Passover”.

What does Scripture say about Passover?

The first mention of Passover is in Exodus 12.

“And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt saying, 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 the LORD’s passover.

“For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

“And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever. 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.

“Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover. And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.

“And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the LORD will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service. And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped.”

Then, the LORD (YHVH) gave restrictions concerning the Passover at the end of the same chapter.

“And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof: But every man’s servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof. A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat thereof. In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof. All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof. One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.”

Here we see that a “stranger shall not eat thereof“. However, if a stranger that sojourneth among you wishes to partake of the passover, he is to “let all his males be circumcised” and “he shall be as one that is born in the land“.

Then in Leviticus 23, it says:

“These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons. In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD’s passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: 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 the LORD seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.”

NOTE: Passover is referred to as the LORD’s [YHVH's] Passover in both of these chapters (Exodus 12 and Leviticus 23). 

In Numbers 9:1-14, it says:

“And the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying, Let the children of Israel also keep the passover at his appointed season. In the fourteenth day of this month, at even, ye shall keep it in his appointed season: according to all the rites of it, and according to all the ceremonies thereof, shall ye keep it.

“And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, that they should keep the passover. And they kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at even in the wilderness of Sinai: according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel.

“And there were certain men, who were defiled by the dead body of a man, that they could not keep the passover on that day: and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day: And those men said unto him, We are defiled by the dead body of a man: wherefore are we kept back, that we may not offer an offering of the LORD in his appointed season among the children of Israel? And Moses said unto them, Stand still, and I will hear what the LORD will command concerning you.

“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the passover unto the LORD. The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it: according to all the ordinances of the passover they shall keep it. But the man that is clean, and is not in a journey, and forbeareth to keep the passover, even the same soul shall be cut off from among his people: because he brought not the offering of the LORD in his appointed season, that man shall bear his sin.

“And if a stranger shall sojourn among you, and will keep the passover unto the LORD; according to the ordinance of the passover, and according to the manner thereof, so shall he do: ye shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger, and for him that was born in the land.”

After being in the wilderness forty years, Moses reminds the next generation (before they enter the promised land) of the instructions that were given the first year their parents were brought out of Egypt. We read in Deuteronomy 16:1-8:

“Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the LORD thy God: for in the month of Abib the LORD thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night. Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the LORD thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the LORD shall choose to place his name there. 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.

“Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee: But at the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to place his name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt. And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place which the LORD thy God shall choose: and thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents. Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread: and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the LORD thy God: thou shalt do no work therein.”

After the children of Israel left the wilderness and entered the Promised Land, we read in Joshua 5:1-12

“And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel.

“At that time the LORD said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time. And Joshua made him sharp knives, and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins.

“And this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise: All the people that came out of Egypt, that were males, even all the men of war, died in the wilderness by the way, after they came out of Egypt. Now all the people that came out were circumcised: but all the people that were born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt, them they had not circumcised. For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people that were men of war, which came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: unto whom the LORD sware that he would not shew them the land, which the LORD sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that floweth with milk and honey. And their children, whom he raised up in their stead, them Joshua circumcised: for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them by the way. And it came to pass, when they had done circumcising all the people, that they abode in their places in the camp, till they were whole.

“And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day.

“And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho. And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day. And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.”

Skipping forward to the time of the New Testament, we see the Passover is being celebrated. In Luke 2:41, it says,

“Now his [referring to Jesus'/Yeshua's] parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover.”

In John 2:13, we read,

“And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.”

Here we see the Passover referred to as the “Jews’ passover”, however there is no mention in any of the previous Scriptures that it is a “Jewish” holiday, so what could this reference mean in light of all previous Scripture? The Greek word translated as “Jews’” is “Ioudaios”.

G2453
Ioudaios
ee-oo-dah’-yos
From G2448 (in the sense of G2455 as a country); udaean, that is, belonging to Jehudah: – Jew (-ess), of Juda.

G2448
Iouda
ee-oo-dah’
Of Hebrew origin [H3063] or perhaps [H3194]; Judah (that is, Jehudah or Juttah), a part of (or place in) Palestine: – Judah.

H3063
yehu^da^h
yeh-hoo-daw’
From H3034; celebrated; Jehudah (or Judah), the name of five Israelites; also of the tribe descended from the first, and of its territory: – Judah.

This is referring to those who are either from/in the land of Judah or the tribe of Judah. It is not referring to a “religion” as we think of today (Judaism). 

Scripture indicates that the Passover is the LORD’s Passover (Exodus 12:11; Leviticus 23:5). It is for the children of Israel (aka Jacob) *and* the stranger who sojourns among them who has been circumcised. It is not for only those from/in the land of Judah or specifically from the tribe of Judah. Mention of “the Jews’ Passover” in the gospel of John tells me that the people who were keeping the LORD’s Passover in this account were from/in the land of Judah and/or specifically from the tribe of Judah.

NOTE: Circumcision is a physical act according to the Old Testament. We see it done in Genesis with Abraham and his offspring. It is an instruction given pertaining to the Passover and a commandment for baby boys to be circumcised at 8 days old. We also see it referenced in Joshua 5 (previously quoted) after the children of Israel entered the Promised Land. This will be discussed further in another post.

The Passover during the time of Jesus’ death is referenced in all four gospel accounts: Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22, and John 11-19. It is referred to in a letter written by Paul to believers in Corinth (1 Corinthians 5:7). He tells the Corinthians to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread with the understanding that Christ is the Passover that was sacrificed for us.

“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 Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 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 Christ 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.”

Then in another letter to the Hebrews, the author refers to the Passover when giving an account of Moses’ faith. Hebrews 11:28 says,

“Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.”

But then, after Jesus’ death and resurrection, “Passover” is referred to as “Easter” in the KJV in Acts 12:4. Why?

“Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.) And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people. Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.”

We see in verse 3 that it was “the days of unleavened bread”, so naturally it was the time of Passover, but verse 4 seems to indicate a separate holiday was going on, Easter.  Hmm.

As previously mentioned, this separate holiday, known as “Easter”, is NOT what the original text says. The original text clearly states it is “Passover” that is being celebrated at this time.

What does Christianity say about Easter?

According to the Roman Catholic church, which is the “mother” of Protestant Christianity in the West, Easter is:

“The greatest and oldest Christian feast, which celebrates Christ’s Resurrection from the dead. Easter is the ‘feast of feasts,’ the solemnity of solemnities, the ‘Great Sunday.’ Christians prepare for it during Lent and Holy Week, and catchumens usually receive the Sacraments of Christian Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist) at the Easter Vigil (1169; cf. 647).” [taken from the glossary of The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Edition]

Scripture doesn’t teach this; it is a doctrine of man.

According to the Vatican, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, in “Part 1: The Profession of Faith, Section 2: The Profession of the Christian Faith, Chapter 2: I Believe in Jesus Christ, the Only Son of God, Article 3, Paragraph 3: The Mysteries of Christ’s Life” it says,

“…’All that Jesus did and taught, from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven’,171 is to be seen in the light of the mysteries of Christmas and Easter.”

The quote (171) is referencing Acts 1:1-2:
 
“In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.”

SOURCE: http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p122a3p3.htm

The Catechism refers to “the mysteries of the Incarnation (conception and birth) and Paschal mystery (passion, crucifixion, death, burial, descent into hell, resurrection and ascension)” as “the mysteries of Christmas and Easter.”

It is interesting to note that the terms “Christmas” and “Easter” do not originate in Scripture. These are terms that have been designated outside of Scripture to define events described in Scripture.

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, in “Part 1: The Profession of Faith, Section 2: The Profession of the Christian Faith, Chapter 2: I Believe in Jesus Christ, the Only Son of God, Article 5, Paragraph 2: On the Third Day He Rose from the Dead” it says,

“639 The mystery of Christ’s resurrection is a real event, with manifestations that were historically verified, as the New Testament bears witness. In about A.D. 56 St. Paul could already write to the Corinthians: “I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. . .”491 The Apostle speaks here of the living tradition of the Resurrection which he had learned after his conversion at the gates of Damascus.492″

491 1 Cor 15:3-4.
492 Cf. Acts 9:3-18.

SOURCE: http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p122a5p2.htm

Christianity recognizes and teaches that Jesus Christ rose from the dead, “a sign and wonder that has come to pass”, but then uses this sign/wonder to lead the people of YHVH away from service to Him through the annual observance of His Passover (and other feasts) and towards the service of other gods through the Mystery of Easter. Read on…

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Ed., Part 2: The Celebration of the Christian Mystery, Section 1: The Sacramental Economy, Chapter 1: The Paschal Mystery in the Age of the Church, Article 1: The Liturgy – Work of the Holy Trinity” It says:

“1096 Jewish liturgy and Christian liturgy. A better knowledge of the Jewish people’s faith and religious life as professed and lived even now can help our better understanding of certain aspects of Christian liturgy. For both Jews and Christians Sacred Scripture is an essential part of their respective liturgies: in the proclamation of the Word of God, the response to this word, prayer of praise and intercession for the living and the dead, invocation of God’s mercy. In its characteristic structure the Liturgy of the Word originates in Jewish prayer. The Liturgy of the Hours and other liturgical texts and formularies, as well as those of our most venerable prayers, including the Lord’s Prayer, have parallels in Jewish prayer. The Eucharistic Prayers also draw their inspiration from the Jewish tradition. The relationship between Jewish liturgy and Christian liturgy, but also their differences in content, are particularly evident in the great feasts of the liturgical year, such as Passover. Christians and Jews both celebrate the Passover. For Jews, it is the Passover of history, tending toward the future; for Christians, it is the Passover fulfilled in the death and Resurrection of Christ, though always in expectation of its definitive consummation.”

SOURCE: http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p2s1c1a1.htm

The Catechism claims “Christians and Jews both celebrate the Passover“, however Christians are not taught to celebrate Passover as clearly laid out in Scripture, but rather through other means.

“1164 From the time of the Mosaic law, the People of God have observed fixed feasts, beginning with Passover, to commemorate the astonishing actions of the Savior God, to give him thanks for them, to perpetuate their remembrance, and to teach new generations to conform their conduct to them. In the age of the Church, between the Passover of Christ already accomplished once for all, and its consummation in the kingdom of God, the liturgy celebrated on fixed days bears the imprint of the newness of the mystery of Christ.”

“1170 At the Council of Nicaea in 325, all the Churches agreed that Easter, the Christian Passover, should be celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon (14 Nisan) after the vernal equinox. Because of the different methods of calculating the 14th day of the month of Nisan, the date of Easter in the Western and Eastern Churches is not always the same. For this reason, the Churches are currently seeking an agreement in order once again to celebrate the day of the Lord’s Resurrection on a common date.”

SOURCE: http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s1c2a1.htm

Scripture teaches the LORD’s Passover is to be done on the 14th day of the 1st month, not on the day of the sun. Also, Passover is not about the resurrection, it is about the death of the Lamb of God, the blood on the doorposts being the sign to be passed over. However, “Easter, the Christian Passover” is taught to be about “the Lord’s resurrection”. If the Christians and Jews are both celebrating “Passover” as the Catechism claims, then why aren’t the focus of their celebrations the same?

According to the teaching of the Catholic Church, the “mother” of Protestant Christianity, the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1) referred to in Scripture as the Day of Firstfruits (Numbers 28:26) or Feast of Weeks (Exodus 34:22, Deuteronomy 16:10,16), although it is *not* directly tied to Passover in Scripture, is taught to be the end of “the seven weeks of Easter”.

“731 On the day of Pentecost when the seven weeks of Easter had come to an end, Christ’s Passover is fulfilled in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, manifested, given, and communicated as a divine person: of his fullness, Christ, the Lord, pours out the Spirit in abundance.122″

122 Cf. Acts 2:33-36.

SOURCE: http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p1s2c3a8.htm

But where did “Easter” come from? Did it originate with the Catholic Church?

Here are some quotes compiled by David C. Pack in a booklet entitled, “The True Origin of Easter“:

“Since Bede the Venerable (De ratione temporum 1:5) the origin of the term for the feast of Christ’s Resurrection has been popularly considered to be from the Anglo-Saxon Eastre, a goddess of spring…the Old High German plural for dawn, eostarun; whence has come the German Ostern, and our English Easter” (The New Catholic Encyclopedia, 1967, Vol. 5, p. 6).

“The fact that vernal festivals were general among pagan peoples no doubt had much to do with the form assumed by the Eastern festival in the Christian churches. The English term Easter is of pagan origin” (Albert Henry Newman, D.D., LL.D., A Manual of Church History, p. 299).

“On this greatest of Christian festivals, several survivals occur of ancient heathen ceremonies. To begin with, the name itself is not Christian but pagan. Ostara was the Anglo-Saxon Goddess of Spring” (Ethel L. Urlin, Festival, Holy Days, and Saints Days, p. 73).

“Easter—the name Easter comes to us from Ostera or Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring, for whom a spring festival was held annually, as it is from this pagan festival that some of our Easter customs have come” (Hazeltine, p. 53).

“In Babylonia…the goddess of spring was called Ishtar. She was identified with the planet Venus, which, because…[it] rises before the Sun…or sets after it…appears to love the light [this means Venus loves the sun-god]…In Phoenecia, she became Astarte; in Greece, Eostre [related to the Greek word Eos: “dawn”], and in Germany, Ostara [this comes from the German word Ost: “east,” which is the direction of dawn]” (Englehart, p. 4).

SOURCE: http://rcg.org/books/ttooe.html

I have read various articles discussing the pagan practices surrounding Easter Eggs and the Easter Bunny, and I find them all disturbing, but when I was growing up, I never considered them a part of the Christian celebration of Easter. You can read more about some of these customs in the previously mentioned article, “The True Origin of Easter.”

However, there is one custom in particular I did practice as a Christian. I attended Sunrise Service on Easter morning. That is, until I read the following passage in Ezekiel 8:9-18:

“And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here. So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about. And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up.

“Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, the LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth. He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do.

“Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD’s house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these.

“And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD’s house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east. Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose. Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.”

It wasn’t until later that I heard the “women weeping for Tammuz” is a reference linked to the 40 days of Lent. However, verse 16 is what caught my attention, “…their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.”

After reading through many, many pages of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, I see so many references to Christ and the “sun” and the honor given to the “day of the sun” to replace the LORD’s Sabbath. It makes me cringe.

Personally, I don’t care to dig any deeper to find what “other gods” this teaching of man is pointing to. The fact that it is steering me away from the one true God, YHVH – the God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob, is enough to know I must reject their teaching.

I pray those who read this and are still submitting to the teaching that says, “Easter replaces Passover” repent and turn to the Father and His ways. Heed the warning of Deuteronomy 13:1-4. Serve the One who delivered you out of Egypt. Time is short, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.

“If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them.’ Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams: for YHVH your God proveth you, to know whether ye love YHVH your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Ye shall walk after YHVH your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.” Deuteronomy 13:1-4

However, when we started keeping the seventh day Sabbath set apart, we automatically switched to an “evening-to-evening reckoning” because for some reason we had it in the back of our minds that a whole “Biblical day” began in the evening when the sun went down. I think it’s because of the verses in Genesis 1 that say, “And there was evening and there was morning – the [#] day.” Thereafter, we started paying more attention to sundown on Friday & Saturday nights for the start/end of our day.

After about a year and a half, someone posed the question on a blog I frequent, “When does the day begin: sunrise or sunset?” The author was putting forth the idea that Scripture taught it began at sunrise, not sunset. Needless to say, he was swimming upstream, as most of the readers commenting believed the contrary.

This caused me to dig a little deeper into the subject.

It Just Ain’t Natural

I had to admit, the whole evening-to-evening reckoning seemed very unnatural because to me it felt like I was splitting up two different days to come up with one new day…stopping one day at about 6:00 pm, calling that the beginning of a new day, then eating dinner and doing whatever after-dinner activities we did until bedtime, then going to bed at night, waking the next morning and going through the next day until about 6:00 pm again, calling that the end of the day, even though I’d still be awake for many more hours.

But I chalked all this up to getting used to changing from the “world’s way” to the “Biblical way”. I kept telling myself it was uncomfortable because it was new.

As I started digging deeper into Scripture and praying continually about the subject, I found myself seeing all sorts of references that the morning was the beginning of the day, but I couldn’t use that as my definitive defense, because even with the evening-to-evening reckoning, folks contend that a day can also begin in the morning…”it depends on the context.”

It was very frustrating because I could argue the objections away, where folks claim Scripture says the day begins in the evening, since depending on how you read it, it could also mean it begins in the morning. But these arguments were not conclusive one way or the other. So I was left with, “let’s just agree to disagree.” That is, until I went back to the beginning (Genesis) and a light bulb was turned on in my understanding.

Genesis 1:3-5 says,

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

Scripture defines the “light” that has been separated from “darkness” as “day”, and the “darkness” that has been separated from “light” is called “night”. The Hebrew words for “separated from” are “badal beyn”.

When I looked up this phrase to see where else in Scripture this appears, I had an a-ha! moment. Another way to translate these words is “make a distinction between”.

The other items that are “badal beyn” are: the waters above the firmament and the waters beneath the firmament, day and night, the holy and the unholy/profane, the clean and the unclean, the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place, God and sin. Do you see what I was seeing? None of these things would ever be considered rolled together and called one or the other. For example, we would never combine the holy and the unholy and call it all holy. Why not? Because Scripture says there is a distinction between the two. Either its holy or its not, it can’t be both.

This was huge in my mind. For one thing, I no longer considered “night” as a part of the day. Night stood alone. Why? Because Scripture said so.

But what about, “And there was evening, and there was morning – the first day”?

And There Was Evening… 

First of all, we have to recondition our minds to see that this is not saying, “And there was night, and there was day…” or “And there was darkness, and there was light…”. Evening and morning are totally different words (Hebrew: ereb and boqer) than night (layil), day (yom), darkness (choshek), and light (or).

Secondly, the phrase translated as “the first day” in this verse is “yom echad” in Hebrew. “Echad” does not mean “first”. There is another Hebrew word translated as “first” in Scripture, it is “rishone”. “Echad” means “one” denoting something as being a unit. This phrase can be translated more accurately as “one day” or “day one”.

It is my current understanding that this part of the verse is telling us that the evening and morning are one with day, leaving the night to stand alone. I certainly could be wrong in this understanding and am open to hear other thoughts and teaching on this. However, I cannot believe that this is saying the day includes the night. Here’s why:

• The author just got done saying the light and darkness is separated, a distinction has been made between the two, they are separate.
• The author has defined the light as day and the darkness as night. He did not say the light plus darkness is day.
• A few “days” later, lights/luminaries are put in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night (make a distinction between the two). There’s a greater light to govern the day and a lesser light to govern the night.

So now, where does that leave us on the subject of when the day begins? Clearly according to Scripture, the day does not include the night because they are “badal beyn”. The most logical conclusion that I can find is that the day begins in the morning and ends in the evening, and then there is night. When morning comes, a new day begins.  So simple that a child can understand.

What do you think?

“If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them.’ Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams: for YHVH your God proveth you, to know whether ye love YHVH your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Ye shall walk after YHVH your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.” Deuteronomy 13:1-4

A problem I see in Protestant Christianity here in the West is that we are taught to regard the New Testament higher than the Old Testament. We are taught who God is and what he expects of us as his children through the lens of the New Testament and the doctrines of man.

Unfortunately, in doing so we hear that the commandments of God have either changed or been put away in part, despite the fact that Matthew 5:17-18 records Jesus (Yeshua) as saying,

“Think not that I came to destroy/weaken the law or the prophets: I came not to destroy/weaken, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all things be accomplished.”

Since the teaching in Western Christianity/Catholicism is that the law of the Old Testament has been put away or does not apply to the believer in Jesus (Yeshua), we do not recognize that the warning of Deuteronomy 13:1-4 applies to the Christian believer. We don’t make the connection that the very prophets warned about, who are saying, ‘Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them.’ are the priests/preachers in Catholicism & Protestant Christianity that promote Sunday Sabbath, Christmas & Easter.

SUNDAY SABBATH

What does Scripture say about the Sabbath day?

“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is a sabbath unto YHVH thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days YHVH made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore YHVH blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” – Exodus 20:8-11

“And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it; because that in it he rested from all his work which God had created and made.” – Genesis 2:2-3

“And YHVH spake unto Moses, saying, speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily ye shall keep my sabbaths: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am YHVH who sanctifieth you. Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that profaneth it shall surely be put to death; for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to YHVH: whosoever doeth any work on the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.” – Exodus 31:12-17

“Six days shall work be done: but on the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation; ye shall do no manner of work: it is a sabbath unto YHVH in all your dwellings.” – Leviticus 23:3

“Observe the sabbath day, to keep it holy, as YHVH thy God commanded thee. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is a sabbath unto YHVH thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy man-servant and thy maid-servant may rest as well as thou. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and YHVH thy God brought thee out thence by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm: therefore YHVH thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.” Deuteronomy 5:12-15

In every instance here the Sabbath is referred to as the “seventh day”. It is not once referred to as the “first day”, “eighth day” or even the “Lord’s day”. Scripture indicates the children of Israel are to “observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant”. Nowhere in Scripture does it indicate this “perpetual covenant” will change or cease to exist.

What does Christianity say about the Sabbath day?

According to the Roman Catholic Church, which is the “mother” of Protestant Christianity in the West, the Sabbath day changed from the seventh day of the week to the “Lord’s Day”, which according to that institution is the first day of the week. Scripture doesn’t teach this; it is a doctrine of man.

According to the Vatican, The Catechism of the Catholic Church, in Part 3: Life in Christ, Section 2: The Ten Commandments, it lists the commandment  referenced in Exodus 20:8-11 and Deuteronomy 5:12 under “A Traditional Catechetical Formula” as “3. Remember to keep holy the LORD’S Day.” as opposed to the Sabbath day.

SOURCE: http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/command.htm

The Catechism recognizes the Sabbath Day from Scripture in “Part 3: Life in Christ; Section 2: The Ten Commandments; Chapter 1; Article 3: The Third Commandment” under Roman Numeral I. Then it mentions “The Lord’s Day” under Roman Numeral 2 citing: Psalm 118:24,

“This is the day which the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

However, this Psalm gives no indication as to which day is the day that the LORD has made or the fact that it pertains to only one day of the week, but it is used nonetheless to set the stage for the Lord’s Day.

Then under the heading “The day of the Resurrection: the new creation”, it states:

“2174 Jesus rose from the dead “on the first day of the week.”104 Because it is the “first day,” the day of Christ’s Resurrection recalls the first creation. Because it is the “eighth day” following the sabbath,105 it symbolizes the new creation ushered in by Christ’s Resurrection. For Christians it has become the first of all days, the first of all feasts, the Lord’s Day (he kuriake hemera, dies dominica) Sunday:

‘We all gather on the day of the sun, for it is the first day [after the Jewish sabbath, but also the first day] when God, separating matter from darkness, made the world; and on this same day Jesus Christ our Savior rose from the dead.’106″

The first two footnotes (104 & 105) are referencing Apostolic Writings (Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:1-2, Luke 24:1, and John 20:1). This last statement(106) is citing St. Justin, I Apol. 67:PG 6,429 and 432.

SOURCE: http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s2c1a3.htm

Hmm, it says, “we all gather on the day of the sun…”

According to Wikipedia,

“Sol Invictus (“Invincible Sun”) was the official sun god of the later Roman empire.  In 274 Aurelian made it an official cult alongside the traditional Roman cults. Scholars disagree whether the new deity was a refoundation of the ancient Latin cult of Sol,[1] a revival of the cult of Elagabalus[2] or completely new.[3] The god was favored by emperors after Aurelian and appeared on their coins until Constantine.[4] The last inscription referring to Sol Invictus dates to 387 AD[5] and there were enough devotees in the 5th century that Augustine found it necessary to preach against them.[6]”

“One day of the week was named after Sol, the sun. In honor of the Sun god, many merchants elected to pay their workers weekly upon this day. However, the Roman observance was quite different from that of the Jewish observance of Saturday or the Christian Sabbath. The first Sunday closing law was enacted by Constantine in 321 AD, and refers to the “day of the sun”. It forms the basis of subsequent Christian legislation in this area.[38]”

FOOTNOTES:
1.^ See S.E.Hijmans, “The sun that did not rise in the east”, Babesch 71 (1996) p.115–150
2.^ See Gaston Halsberghe, “The cult of Sol Invictus”, Leiden: Brill, 1972
3.^ As Hijmans states (p.115): “Scholars have consistently postulated a clear distinction between the Republican Sol Indiges and the Imperial Sol Invictus.” and p.116 “We should keep in mind, however, that most scholars agree that this cult[Sol Indiges] was never important, and that it had disappeared altogether by the beginning of the second century AD”
4.^ Halsberghe, “The cult of Sol Invictus”, p.155: “Up to the conversion of Constantine the Great, the cult of Deus Sol Invictus received the full support of the emperors. The many coins showing the sun god that these emperors struck provide official evidence of this.” and p.169 “the custom of representing Deus Sol Invictus on coins came to an end in AD 323.”
5.^ Halsberghe, “The cult of Sol Invictus”, p.170 n.3: “CIL VI, 1778, dates from AD 387,”
6.^ Halsberghe, p.170, n.4: “Augustine, Sermones, XII; also in Ennaratio in Psalmum XXV; Ennaratio II, 3.”
38.^ On the venerable Day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country, however, persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits; because it often happens that another day is not so suitable for grain-sowing or for vine-planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost. (Given the 7th day of March, Crispus and Constantine being consuls each of them for the second time [A.D. 321].) — Source: Codex Justinianus, lib. 3, tit. 12, 3; trans. in Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Vol. 3 (5th ed.; New York: Scribner, 1902), p. 380, note 1.

SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sol_Invictus

Let me go back to the Catechism. The very next statement under the following heading, “Sunday – fulfillment of the sabbath”, says:

“2175 Sunday is expressly distinguished from the sabbath which it follows chronologically every week; for Christians its ceremonial observance replaces that of the sabbath. In Christ’s Passover, Sunday fulfills the spiritual truth of the Jewish sabbath and announces man’s eternal rest in God. For worship under the Law prepared for the mystery of Christ, and what was done there prefigured some aspects of Christ:107

‘Those who lived according to the old order of things have come to a new hope, no longer keeping the sabbath, but the Lord’s Day, in which our life is blessed by him and by his death.108′”

The first footnote (107) references an Apostolic Writing, 1 Corinthians 10:11, which says,

“Now these things happened unto them by way of example; and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come.”

Unfortunately, this letter to the Corinthians is being used to justify a doctrine of doing away with the Sabbath day and embracing a new, Lord’s Day in its stead despite the fact there is absolutely nothing in this letter indicating the Sabbath day has been replaced.

The second footnote (108) references St. Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Magn. 9,1:SCh 10,88.

IN CONCLUSION

Deuteronomy 13:1-4 says,

“If there arise in the midst of thee a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and he give thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or unto that dreamer of dreams: for YHVH your God proveth you, to know whether ye love YHVH your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Ye shall walk after YHVH your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.”

Scripture clearly teaches the commandment of YHVH is to remember the Sabbath day and keep it set apart/holy. Exodus 20:8-11, Exodus 31:12-17, Leviticus 23:3, and Deuteronomy 5:12-15 all identify the Sabbath day as the “seventh day”. The Roman Catholic Church, along with her daughter, Protestant Christianity, recognizes this as true, BUT…

Christianity teaches, “Jesus rose from the dead ‘on the first day of the week.’” Jesus’ resurrection is indeed a sign or wonder that has come to pass.

Furthermore, a commonly-held doctrine of Christianity states, “Because it is the ‘first day,’ the day of Christ’s Resurrection recalls the first creation. Because it is the ‘eighth day’ following the sabbath, it symbolizes the new creation ushered in by Christ’s Resurrection. For Christians it has become the first of all days, the first of all feasts, the Lord’s Day (he kuriake hemera, dies dominica) Sunday — We all gather on the day of the sun…” and “Sunday…for Christians its ceremonial observance replaces that of the sabbath.”

This teaching not only dictates disobedience to the commandments of God, even though obedience to him is how we demonstrate our whole-hearted love for him, but it also puts forth another god, which we have not known, and his set-apart/holy day to serve him.

History informs us that “The day of the sun” or “Sunday” is named for Sol Invictus, the Roman sun god, and Roman Emperor Constantine in an edict in 321 AD says, “On the venerable Day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed…”

Many religious leaders within Christianity with its doctrine of man, have clearly led the people of God after other gods, to serve them instead of the one true God. Scripture teaches us that we are not to hearken unto their words, for YHVH our God is proving/testing us, to know whether we love YHVH our God with our whole heart and soul.

“Walk after YHVH your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice…serve him, and cleave unto him!”

Time is short, folks.

And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.  And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. – Genesis 1:3-4

Here we see God calling light into existence. He saw that it was good and he divided the light from the darkness. He separated the light from the darkness. He distinguished between the light and the darkness. He made a distinction between the light and the darkness. The action described here in Hebrew is “badal beyn”. When we look in Scripture to see what else has been “badal beyn”, we find the following:

>> The waters under the firmament / the waters above the firmament

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.  And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.  – Genesis 1:6-7

>> The day / the night

And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years:  – Genesis 1:14

>> The light / the darkness

And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.  – Genesis 1:4

…and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.  – Genesis 1:18

>> The holy place / the most holy
>> That which was holy / that which was common

And thou shalt hang up the veil under the clasps, and shalt bring in thither within the veil the ark of the testimony: and the veil shall separate unto you between the holy place and the most holy.  – Exodus 26:33

He measured it on the four sides: it had a wall round about, the length five hundred, and the breadth five hundred, to make a separation between that which was holy and that which was common.  – Ezekiel 42:20

>> The holy / the common
>> The unclean / the clean
>> The beast that may be eaten / the beast that may not be eaten
>> Unclean fowl / the clean

and that ye may make a distinction between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean;  – Leviticus 10:10

to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the living thing that may be eaten and the living thing that may not be eaten.  – Leviticus 11:47

Ye shall therefore make a distinction between the clean beast and the unclean, and between the unclean fowl and the clean: and ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast, or by bird, or by anything wherewith the ground teemeth, which I have separated from you as unclean.  – Leviticus 20:25

Her priests have done violence to my law, and have profaned my holy things: they have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they caused men to discern between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. – Ezekiel 22:26

>> You / your God

but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, so that he will not hear.  – Isaiah 59:2

For the longest time, I never paid much attention to the action of dividing/separating the light from the darkness in Genesis 1:4, but when I started studying Scripture to find out about when the day begins, this jumped out at me. At first I didn’t look up the Hebrew word for dividing/separating, I just read the verse and noted that this action is mentioned in several verses there in the first chapter.

It wasn’t until I looked up the Hebrew and sought out where else in Scripture this action is mentioned that I realized its significance.

Scripture clearly says, after the distinction between light and darkness was made, Elohim called the light “day” and the darkness he called “night”.

And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.  – Genesis 1:5a

Then a few verses later, we find that Elohim put lights in the firmament of heaven to make a distinction between the day and the night. A greater light, which we know to be the sun, was to govern/rule over the day, and a lesser light, the moon, to govern/rule over the night.

And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years:  and let them be for lights in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.  And God made the two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.  And God set them in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.  – Genesis 1:14-18

This tells me there is a distinction between day and night, according to Scripture. I do not see anything in Scripture where this distinction between the two is removed and the whole day plus night is called day. Needless to say, there are many who insist the day includes the night, however that is not what Scripture says.

If I am in error, please somebody reprove me from Scripture.

This season wreaks of commercialism and I didn’t want any part of it. But year after year I’d put up a tree out of a sense of obligation and decorate it. I’d buy Christmas presents (on a very small scale), attend Christmas gatherings, eat lots of Christmas cookies, listen to Christmas music and watch lots of Christmas movies.

Then I’d remind myself that the real reason for the season was Jesus. I’d go to church, participate in the Christmas programs, go caroling, and read the Biblical account of Christ’s birth in Scripture — all with the hope of finding peace, joy and love during this horribly depressing, worldly holiday.

Then last year I chose not to celebrate the holiday. This was after a year of starting to keep the seventh day Sabbath set apart. I had spent the year studying the holy days in Leviticus 23 and started keeping them as best I could according to Scripture.

I started seeing the richness in these feasts and how *they* were truly all about Jesus. I saw how Jesus kept these festivals and Paul encouraged the gentile-turned believers to also keep the feasts. While I tried to share this with others, it was like nobody was interested.

During that year I started taking a deeper look at Easter and Christmas. I discovered that not only was Jesus *not* born on December 25th, but this day marks the birth of other gods in ancient history. Then I started looking into the origins of the Christmas tree and how Christmas even began as a Christian holiday, and I found it all rather disturbing.

The reason I found it all disturbing was because I had already purposed in my heart that I would love the LORD my God with my *whole* heart, mind and strength. Jesus said this was the first and greatest commandment. When I went back to Deuteronomy to see the context of this command, I found the way to do this was to obey all his commands.

The first of the Ten Commandmants is to have no other gods in his face. Well, Christmas is clearly about other gods.

Scripture also teaches that we are not to worship God in the manner of the heathen. The story of the golden calf demonstrates this. While others may not see Christmas as a picture of the golden calf, I do. Out of love for my God, I choose to have nothing to do with Christmas.

I understand not everyone feels the same as I do, and I’m okay with that. But I, personally, don’t want to have *any*thing to do with Christmas anymore. That is why I’m now done with Christmas.

Let me first explain, my reason for sharing this now is simply to inform folks of where our heart has been and is today concerning our fellowship with those whom we attended church for over three years.

When we first started attending this particular church, we were looking for a church close to home that was Biblically-based and allowed for the move of the Holy Spirit. The first day we attended, we felt right at home with the praise & worship, and we liked the fact that the message was centered on Scripture.

We also felt very welcome by the members we met that day. We were invited back to a Wednesday night meal, and we went. At the time I was pregnant and had two small children and a preteen, and clearly this church welcomed children.

We decided right away this is where we would remain. We became involved immediately. About a year later we decided to formally join as members, which was a shock to most people because so many thought we were members already.

We did not take our commitment to membership lightly…in fact, we never imagined not being there any longer.

There were times when we didn’t always agree or like what was happening (or not happening) at this church, but we didn’t feel that was reason enough to end our commitment. In fact, I felt very strongly that we were there for a reason and that God did not want us to leave.

During the winter of 2009/2010 my husband and I started feeling convicted about not keeping the sabbath day holy. At the time the Pastor and his wife were on a sabbatical leave, so we were not able to discuss our conviction with them right away. But we as a family decided to start setting the 7th day apart by not doing any of our regular work on that day. We continued to attend church on Sundays and Wednesdays, and I continued to go to the Ladies’ Bible Study on Thursday mornings. We didn’t really share with anyone about our sabbath-keeping practice at first…we were just doing it for ourselves. We spent the time reading/studying the Bible, praying and worshiping with our family. It was wonderful.

After the pastor and his wife came back from their leave we met with them and discussed what we felt God had laid on our hearts concerning his Sabbath day. Since this topic came out of the blue to them, we agreed to get together again to discuss it further. Meanwhile, we continued to keep the Sabbath day set apart and fellowshiped on Sundays at that church.

Easter was quickly approaching and my husband and I had reservations about celebrating Easter, but we were interested in learning more about Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, especially since they were Biblical holidays and Jesus is considered to be the Passover Lamb. When Easter Sunday came and went, and we were not in church that day, many folks were concerned and expressed their concern over our absence.

When my husband explained to the Pastor as to why we chose not to celebrate Easter but rather the Passover & Feast of Unleavened Bread, he had a hard time understanding our position. There was a bit more discussion on the Sabbath day, but it was clear we did not agree.

During this time I started posting some of my thoughts on my Facebook page, particularly that Jesus never declared unclean animals as clean to eat. There was some healthy discussion including Scripture that occurred back and forth…pro and con regarding my initial statement.

This exchange led the Pastor to warn me about “teaching” on Facebook. I considered what he had to say, and although we thought his warning was a bit uncalled for (in his position as a pastor) as I was not doing anything wrong (or sinful), I was mindful of his advice (in his position as a friend). My desire was not to “teach” anyone, but rather it was to discuss particular issues. Those who chose to engage or disengage in the discussion were welcome…but it was completely optional. It was on my personal FB page and those who could read the discussion were only those who were on my personal friends list.

Time passed. We continued to attend each of the various services, however we still continued to have questions and thoughts that conflicted with the predominant teaching in Christian circles, let alone at that church. I became very frustrated because I felt like I was being avoided. I wanted to talk about the Bible to anyone willing to talk to me, but had a very difficult time finding anyone in leadership willing to do so.

During one of the ladies’ Bible study meetings I was very transparent in my feelings. There was concern expressed by someone that we might be leaving that church. I told everyone there I had absolutely no intention of leaving, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I was asked to leave. The reaction to my statement was laughter and disbelief…they didn’t think I was serious and never expected that anyone would do such a thing.

Toward the end of the summer we took an extended vacation (5 weeks). We drove cross country to Oregon to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles (an 8-day festival) with other believers who recognized Jesus as the Messiah and kept the seventh day Sabbath set apart. We also stopped off at our home in Tulsa, OK on both legs of the trip to visit my husband’s family and take care of issues concerning our home there.

When we returned, people seemed happy to see we were back, but nobody expressed an interest in hearing about our trip. I took the opportunity to share a little bit about the Feast in Sunday School, but I was surprised that folks were not interested in hearing about it. I didn’t say another word about it.

Shortly after, we discovered the church was doing another trunk-or-treat outreach on the weekend of Halloween. My husband and I had reservations the year before about the church being involved with Halloween, and although I expressed my concern to several ladies in leadership earlier that year, we never discussed our concern with the Pastor. So I wrote a letter to the Pastor and copied the Deacons and Elder expressing our concern with the church having an outreach event linked to Halloween, specifically, addressing the wickedness of Halloween. The Pastor appreciated our concern and said there were others who expressed concern as well and these concerns would be addressed following the event.

Unfortunately that email triggered a series of emails between various individuals (within leadership) and my husband and I. A question was asked of us by a deacon to the effect of whether we would persist in raising concerns over issues that didn’t sit well with us…or something to that effect. I imagine the message that was attempting to be conveyed had the purest of intentions, but I perceived it as antagonistic. I responded by saying I felt an obligation to address my concerns with leadership when I felt Spirit-led to do so.

I believe given the forum of communication (email/letter), there were things written by all those parties who chose to write something that may not have been received in the manner the sender had intended them to be. In retrospect, I wish we all had the opportunity to discuss in person the various issues that were raised directly/indirectly in the emails with all those involved in the exchange, but that did not happen. Instead, I felt further alienated.

When it became clear to me that I was not going to find anyone willing to discuss my thoughts/questions concerning Scripture at church (specifically amongst the leadership), I started blogging about it on my own personal website. I had already determined I would not take on any leadership position at church, especially given the difference between what I was seeing in  Scripture and what the leadership was teaching. Plus, I wasn’t interested in hijacking any discussions either in a Sunday School setting or Bible Study knowing there might be newcomers in the faith present.

Between what was written in the email/letter exchanges and a series of posts I made on my blog between October 20 – November 7, 2010, the pastor and elder showed up at our home on a Saturday with a document in hand. The document was a written dissertation entitled, “The Covenant and the Law.” We were told this paper explained the doctrine espoused by that particular church concerning the Old Testament Law and the New Testament believer. I appreciated receiving the paper and was very interested in reading it. I asked if we could discuss it after reading through it. We were told it was not open for discussion.

My husband was not happy that the elders chose to hand us a peice of paper written by someone else in order to defend their faith rather than bringing out their Bibles to state their position themselves. Personally, I was just happy to have something to read to help me understand why they believe what they believe. After having read the document however, I was very disappointed with the premise used to form their doctrine. The writings of Paul and the author of Hebrews were used as the basis for dismissing what Jesus plainly said. Basically, since these other authors said such and such, Jesus couldn’t possibly have meant what he said when he said what he did. My position is: since Jesus said what he said, what these other authors wrote can’t possibly mean what we’ve been taught they mean. Unfortunately as far as the leadership was concerned this was not open for discussion.

So since I wasn’t able to discuss it with the leadership, I blogged about my own thoughts on what I read on my own personal blog. That was November 15th. I blogged a few more things over the course of the next week. Then the pastor showed up at my husband’s office. He told my husband that if I continued to write what I was blogging about that we weren’t welcome back at the church.

I believe the concern he expressed was that I was guilty of “false teaching”. But again, Scripture was not used to reprove us. Instead, we were just told to stop.  After he left, my husband promptly told me to *not* stop writing. He was personally offended that we were being told to be quiet or don’t come back.

I didn’t know what to think. I was shocked. All the while we just wanted to sit down with somebody to discuss Biblical issues and nobody in leadership was willing to do so.

Instead we were handed our hat after 3+ years of faithful service. We were never reproved from Scripture. In essence we were told this is what the church believes, if we couldn’t accept that, then this wasn’t the place for us.

I really struggled…I can’t begin to tell you how much I struggled. I was shocked. I was hurt. I felt this was all handled unjustly, and I felt betrayed…by those I trusted, loved and thought loved me. If we were truly in error, then why didn’t our friends take the time to help us understand our error using Scripture?

I didn’t want to leave that way. I didn’t want people to think we abandoned them. I cared about the people at that church. We considered bringing this to the attention of the body, but we didn’t want to be responsible for a “church split”.

Several months later I tried to see if there might have been a misunderstanding, maybe we mistook what the pastor had said to my husband. So, my husband and I met with the pastor and his wife to discuss what ultimately happened. But clearly there was no misunderstanding, they confirmed that we were not welcome there any longer given our new understanding of Scripture.

Early on I was accused of bringing division to the body, but it wasn’t me that was causing the division.  I was bringing up controversial subjects from the Bible. I wouldn’t settle for the doctrinal company line. I wanted answers from the Bible…answers that cleared up questions. Not answers that created more questions. When I started studying Scripture more on my own and discussing it with my husband, we were getting our questions answered…they weren’t the same answers coming from church, but they sure answered a whole lot of other seeming contradictions in Scripture.

Do we have it all figured out? No. Do we think we’re 100% right? No. Are we humble enough to recognize that we don’t have it all figured out? Yes. Are we humble enough to allow the authority of Scripture to stand in our lives, even if it means forsaking the religious authorities. Absolutely.

We believe the Holy Spirit was given as a counselor and a comforter, to lead us into Truth. We believe the Holy Spirit is real and he speaks today to those who will yield to him, and we must be careful to not quench the Spirit. We also believe the Word of God is living and active, powerful and rich. There is so much it has to say to us, if we’ll just take the time and energy to read and study it for ourselves. We cannot afford to leave it to the religious authorities to tell us what is truth and what is not, especially if they are unwilling to challenge their own doctrines and test it out against Scripture.

I pray that the folks at that church recognize who it is they serve. As for me and my house, we serve YHVH, the God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob, and our master is the Messiah Jesus, spoken of in Scripture, the Son of God. Paul said if a man preaches another Jesus or another gospel that does not line up with the Law and the Prophets (which is what Paul preached from), then we are not to follow that man. This requires knowing what the Law and the Prophets say. The God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament. If what we read in the New Testament seems to contradict the Old Testament, then we are not understanding something correctly. The enemy is real…he does not want us to know the truth…he seeks to steal, kill and destroy. He is a deceiver and masquerades as an angel of light. I believe it would behoove us all to continually seek the truth in all matters. Our future is at stake.

I love the folks at that church. That is why I’ve chosen to write about all this. I’m not looking for anyone to take sides. I’m not looking for things to go back to the way they were. I have forgiven those who’ve hurt me in the past, and I have sought reconciliation for those I may have hurt as well. My prayer is that all who are His will hear and obey His voice. My biggest reason for writing was that I wanted folks to know why we are no longer attending the church we committed to as members. We didn’t switch churches. We didn’t move. We didn’t cease believing in God or the Messiah. We didn’t seek to pursue works for salvation. Instead we chose to keep all of the 10 commandments, strengthen our relationship with our Heavenly Father and His Son by studying to show ourselves approved and doing the will of the Father.

We’re still at our same address. We have lots of farm animals and still have our wallpaper business. Our kids are growing fast and we’d love to maintain relationships. Folks are welcome to call, write or visit us anytime. We have no problem sharing our thoughts on the Biblical issues that were raised, but we’re also happy to just fellowship apart from all of that. We are not interested in gossip. We encourage folks to seek the other sides to our story to get a well-rounded understanding before establishing an opinion about what all happened. All in all, we don’t want the people we’ve come to love and care about to think we abandoned them…or our faith.

“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.’”

Paul was referencing this passage in the Torah/Law:

Deuteronomy 21:22-23 “If a man guilty of a capital offense is put to death and his body is hung on a tree, you must not leave his body on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must not desecrate the land YHWH your God is giving you as an inheritance.”

I was also very familiar with the death and burial of Jesus/Yeshua. Each of the gospel accounts indicated he was hung on a tree, taken down at sunset and buried in a tomb.

But something I did not notice before in the Prophets concerning the Israelites being taken into the promised land was what specifically happened to each of the kings of the areas that were destroyed/conquered.

Joshua 8:2 “You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king…”

The Bible doesn’t directly tell us what happened to the king of Jericho, but it does tell us what happened to the king of Ai.

Joshua 8:29 “He hung the king of Ai on a tree and left him there until evening. At sunset, Joshua ordered them to take his body from the tree and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And they raised a large pile of rocks over it , which remains to this day.”

I thought that was interesting enough, seeing the parallel of being hung on a tree until evening and at sunset the body being taken down, but the following passage made me sit up and pay more attention.

Joshua 10:26-27 “Then Joshua struck and killed the [five Amorite] kings and hung them on five trees, and they were left hanging on the trees until evening. At sunset Joshua gave the order and they took them down from the trees and threw them into the cave where they had been hiding. At the mouth of the cave they placed large rocks, which are there to this day.”

What stuck out to me here was the parallel of the place where the bodies were buried: “large rocks” were raised over them or placed at the mouth of their tombs (cave), “which are there (or remains) to this day”. Hmmm.

This made me think of the stone that was rolled away:

Matthew 28:2 “There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.”

Mark 16:4 “But when they [Mary Magdaline, Mary the mother of James and Salome] looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.”

Luke 24:2 “They found the stone rolled away from the tomb,”

John 20:1 “Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.”

The significance of the stone being rolled away suddenly became all the more significant in my understanding.

Joshua 10:28b “And he did to king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of Jericho.”

Joshua 10:30b “And he did to its (Libnah’s) king as he had done to the king of Jericho.”

Joshua 10:39b “They did to Debir and its king as they had done to Libnah and its king and to Hebron.”

These other kings were not only hung on a tree until evening having their bodies removed at sunset, but they were also “buried” under/behind large stones/rocks. But those stones remained until this day. Unlike the Messiah Yeshua…the large stone covering his body, was rolled away. And this rolling away was not done by men, but by God!

What a HUGE statement this was making to those who knew the Word of God (The Law and The Prophets). Surely the Jewish leaders knew that all these other kings were buried in this fashion and that was the end of them (the kings)…but not with this king, Yeshua, the “king of the Jews”. Then again, maybe only those who were seeking truth saw it.

Stone Was Rolled Away = Easter?

Now I can’t help but think about Easter when considering the stone being rolled away…with all the cantatas/productions and sermons I’ve seen and heard in church all of my life, it’s hard to divorce the two thoughts. But in reality Easter has nothing to do with the stone being rolled away.

Did you know Easter predates Christ’s resurrection? A decision was made a few hundred years after his resurrection to take the pagan holiday/festival of Easter and “Christianize” it with the hopes of bringing in more converts to Christianity. If you are unfamiliar with the origins of Easter, I encourage you to investigate it further for yourself.

Maybe the origins don’t matter to you…I know I never investigated it until only a little over a year ago. But there are things that I have been in the dark about all my Christian life, namely the Biblically-based Feasts of YHWH, because all my attention was on celebrating days such as Easter, which is nowhere to be found in Scripture.

Besides my ignorance of the feasts, I lacked a huge understanding of God’s ultimate plan, the part I played in it and who God really is. I knew who Jesus was (or so I thought), but I had a vague understanding of who God was and how he operates. For example, the whole sacrificial system and the elements of the tabernacle, the concept of clean & unclean, and the restoration of Israel. Then there was my perception of going to heaven and the kingdom of God.

Old Testament: Foundation of the New Testament

My goal these days is to study the Old Testament in light of the New Testament, so that I can better understand all of what God is saying and who He is. The foundation of the New Testament is the Old Testament. And when I see things like what I read in Joshua concerning the kings’ demise and how that related to Yeshua’s death, burial & resurrection, I get so excited in seeing God’s plan being played out.

Jesus/Yeshua did not start a new religion, known to us as Christianity. Neither did Peter or Paul. Yeshua is just part of God’s grand plan that was laid out from the beginning. This plan did not change part way through. God didn’t trash the Old (Testament) to bring forth the New. And unless we get back to understanding the Old Testament, we won’t recognize any discrepancies between the gospel & Jesus that Paul preached from The Law and The Prophets and the gospel & Jesus Christianity preaches.

Jeremiah 6:16-19 “This is what YHWH says, ‘Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, “We will not walk in it.” I appointed watchmen over you and said, “Listen to the sound of the trumpet!” But you said, “We will not listen.” Therefore hear, O nations; observe, O witnesses, what will happen to them. Hear, O earth: I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their schemes, because they have not listened to my words and have rejected my law [torah].’”

In America it seemed to me that there weren’t any other “gods” or “idolatry” except when we glorify things or people, elevating them to a level higher than God. But other than that, we didn’t worship Baal or Asherah or anything like that. Those were things you saw in other parts of the world, not in America.

Some folks might worship nature or the environment but I didn’t think I was guilty of that. Some worship the almighty dollar, but I didn’t think I was guilty of that either. My greatest concern was making sure my priorities were straight, putting God before anyone or anything else.

But then as I continued to read my Bible, I kept thinking there is an *awful* lot of attention drawn to “idolatry” and/or “sexual immorality” in the entire Bible. If there is that much attention to it, it *must* be more pervasive than I realize. At some point I also came to understand that the constant reference to sexual immorality in the Scriptures often times means following after other gods.

Then I started thinking about the wide path that leads to destruction and the narrow gate that very few find. (Matthew 7:13-14) Could Christianity in its purest form really be the narrow gate? I mean, not just the ones that say they are Christian and go to church, but the ones who believe in Jesus and live a life that reflects that. There seems to be an awful lot of Christians to be considered “few”, I thought.

I also started questioning the passages that say to obey God’s commands. Which commands specifically were we supposed to obey? Surely we were to obey everything Jesus said and anything else given in the New Testament. But what about the commands in the Old Testament?

I think it’s generally accepted that we are to obey the Ten Commandments, but I could never find anything in the Bible that made the distinction between those ten and all the rest…except when they are directed specifically towards priests, a specific gender, or a specific peice of land. I would hear many talk about the ceremonial law, but I couldn’t find any distinctions in the Bible that said, “obey this, skip that.”

As my husband and I began discussing it, we realized we weren’t keeping the Sabbath day holy as stated in the Ten Commandments. We started doing that on our own and started asking our Christian friends what they thought about that commandment. We were completely shocked at the kind of response we got.

Many said Saturday was the Jewish Sabbath but Sunday was the Christian Sabbath. But that’s nowhere in the Bible. I had a few folks justify this argument using a few Scriptures, but they were clearly twisting the Scripture to justify their position. The more we looked, the more it was clear: there is ONE weekly Sabbath day, and it’s the seventh day of the week.

Then I had some other folks say the Sabbath day command was put away…Jesus fulfilled that commandment, He is our Sabbath rest. Well, that didn’t make sense to us. We continued to search the Scripture and it became clearer and clearer which day of the week was the Sabbath day, and since Jesus and all of his disciples including Paul kept the Sabbath day holy, we as believers/followers of Christ are also expected to obey that commandment. We tried discussing this with the leadership at our church and came to a clear crossroads: we had to agree to disagree.

While we started keeping the Sabbath, we started looking at some of the other commands given in the Old Testament…particularly, the Feasts of the LORD. Our next question was why don’t Christians celebrate these feasts especially when we recognize they’re all about Christ? Jesus is our Passover Lamb, He’s the Unleavened Bread, He’s the FirstFruits. The Holy Spirit was poured out on Pentecost (or Feast of Weeks). Why didn’t we ever hear teaching on these holy days? At that time, Passover & Easter were right around the corner.

We decided that we would celebrate Passover & the Feast of Unleavened Bread this year. In searching Scripture to figure out how to keep these days the Biblical way (not necessarily the Jewish way), I discovered what a High (or special) Sabbath was. Then dots started connecting.

Jesus was buried before sundown leading into a High Sabbath and when his tomb was found empty on the morning following the weekly Sabbath, those two sabbaths were two different days! Jesus’ claim that he would be in the earth three days and three nights told me that he was buried on a Wednesday and rose on a Saturday, blowing the whole “died on a Friday and rose on a Sunday” idea away. We always thought the Good Friday (death) to Easter Sunday (resurrection) story didn’t add up, but this made it crystal clear.

Anyway, we decided we would *not* celebrate Good Friday and Easter this year, and boy, oh boy, what a stir this caused amongst our Christian friends and family. My husband had already done a little research on the pagan ties to Easter, but when I started looking into it, I became really disgusted. It was shocking to see where the tradition of the Easter Bunny and coloring eggs came from…completely pagan…positively affiliated with other “gods”!

We continued to keep the weekly Sabbath day and learn more about the LORD’s feasts. One thing in particular was that these Biblical “holy days” were generally equated with “Jewish” holidays by Christians and Christians had their own set of holidays (Sunday worship, Easter & Christmas), which weren’t even in the Bible. While studying about the Sabbath day, I discovered that it was Constantine that issued a decree in 321 AD declaring “the venerable day of the Sun” as a day of rest. Then, when I discovered these other Christian holidays were actually pagan celebrations incorporated into the church to help bring in the non-believer, I was blown away.

When we spoke to one of our well-respected Christian friends (a couple) about all of this, their response was “but that’s not what it means to me”. And it was like somebody turned a light on in a very dark place…there was such a stark contrast in our understanding of things, it was startling.

I suddenly realized these “Christian” practices of keeping “the venerable day of the Sun” holy vs. the seventh day which God blessed and made holy himself was in fact “turning to other gods”. And celebrating pagan festivals disguised as Christian holidays loosely tied to Biblical references vs. celebrating our Creator’s appointed feasts perfectly tied to our Messiah was most certainly “turning to other gods”.

It was like my whole worldview was turned upside down. This is what I call “my paradigm shift”.

Shortly after all of this I read through the books of 1 & 2 Kings and I noticed each description of the various kings started with the following statement: “he did evil/right in the sight of the LORD”. It didn’t matter what the kings considered right or wrong, good or evil, but rather it was what God considered right/wrong. And again, BAM, more dots were being connected in my understanding of things. Throughout Scripture, especially in the Old Testament we hear of stories where the Israelites may have done something that didn’t sound like that big of a deal to us perhaps, but God had a completely stronger/harsher reaction.

I had always known God was a holy God, but it was like He had a softer side when Jesus came to earth. But the more I started digging into my Old Testament this year, I really started seeing God’s softer side even back then. Then I realized, God is still holy and it still matters how things appear in His eyes vs. our own.

Someone pointed out to me a passage in Jeremiah 10:2-4 saying it was directly related to a Christmas tree (cutting down an evergreen, fastening it so it wouldn’t topple over, decking it with silver and gold). I didn’t believe them. I thought it was simply referring to an idol, a statue.

But then the more I researched the traditions behind Christmas, the more I saw the pagan origins behind it all and it disgusted me. AND…there are so many who cling to the Christmas tree with such fervor despite the fact that is has nothing to do with the birth of Christ (Luke 2). It sure sounds and looks more and more like an idol than just a mere holiday decoration.

I’m not opposed to celebrating the birth of my Savior, but I am opposed to celebrating it on a day commemmorating other gods and filling my home and family life with pagan rituals disguised as something “holy”. Not to mention the blatant slap in the face to our Creator when the very thing He slated detestable (pig) is the main attraction on so many Christmas dinner tables. As far as I can tell, the Christmas holiday is evil in the sight of the LORD…and it is no longer appealing to me in the least.

Unfortunately, there are many around me it seems that don’t see how or refuse to believe they could be committing sexual immorality by putting other gods in YHWH’s face through these Christian holidays and forsaking His holy days simply because that’s not what it means to them. I pray God will open their eyes.

I do have compassion for them because for so long I was guilty of the very same thing…I simply didn’t see it. Nobody pointed it out to me, in fact I had been led to believe my Sunday worship & Easter/Christmas observance was pleasing to God. I now see I was deceived.

I think the difference between my seeing it while others don’t lies in the fact that I was *looking* for how I could be committing such sin…I asked God to open my eyes, and He did. My hope is that my friends/family will seek the truth concerning these particular things in order to find it for themselves and repent rather than waiting to be slapped upside the head with it.

Jesus is coming back soon, and I don’t want him to say, “Depart from me, I never knew you, ye worker of iniquity” to my friends/family (let alone to me). Besides, the Sabbath and the LORD’s feasts are a delight and much more rewarding than any Sunday service (as a Sabbath replacement) or Easter/Christmas holiday can ever be. So many are missing out on that. I now know I was.

One of the reasons why I continually say to read the Bible, is because I believe we need to continually read our Bible. Many may already be doing that, and that’s great. My charge to read the Bible is because I want to encourage people to always go back to the Word of God. The Truth is found there.

When I was first questioning “obedience to what?”, I would read whole books at a time. It’s not that I never read them before, but I felt like I was missing something. So, I’d read it again. Then, I’d read it again. Then, when I felt like the LORD was telling me something, I’d read it again with that thought in mind.

When I started sharing my thoughts with others, they would say to me, “You need to read Galatians.” or “You need to read Romans.” Now, of course I’ve read those books before…in fact I had read them fairly recent to their charge for me to read them. BUT, I’d go ahead and read them again. I wanted to see something I might have missed.

One of the beautiful things about God’s Word is that it’s alive! It literally speaks to us.

It doesn’t change. The words are already written on the page. But we are constantly changing. We are at different stages of life over time and each time we come to read the Bible we’ve had a new set of experiences added to our life. So, when we read the same words we’ve read in the past (no matter how many times we’ve already read them), the Word can say something new to us. That’s one reason why I think we need to continually read the Bible.

We also tend to focus on particular portions of Scripture, putting influence on a certain part of a verse over another part. If we were to put influence on another part of the verse, we might see something we had overlooked in the past.

I think we also tend to skip over words or references we’re not familiar with, but the next time we read it, one of those words might jump off the page at us begging us to figure out what that word or reference really means. Sometimes that word or reference we’ve missed in the past can totally change the meaning of the verse, but we have to be willing to check it out.

This calls for humility.  I believe we need to come to the Word eager to learn as opposed to thinking we’ve already got it all figured out. We need to be teachable, willing to set aside something we once thought, if God is trying to show us something different. We need to consider the possibility we could be wrong or off even just a little in our current way of thinking. That’s why I also encourage people to ask God to teach them something when they read His Word. That’s not to say His Word won’t speak to us if we don’t, but I think we’ll learn more if we approach it with a willingness to grow.

Another reason to continually read the Bible is because we need to be transformed. Paul tells us in Romans 12:2 to not conform or follow the patterns of this world any longer, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Then we’ll be able to test and approve or “recognize as genuine after examination” what God’s will is. This world is continually influencing us in so many ways. I don’t believe we fully comprehend all the influences that we confront on a daily basis. If we’re not continually reading the Word allowing it to renew our minds, then I’m afraid the outside influences will make it harder for us to be transformed. I could be wrong about this, but that’s how I see it.

So, whenever you hear me say, “Read the Bible”, please know it’s not said in condemnation. It’s being said in love…the Truth is in there. It’s like a buried treasure…we need to seek it out.

I’m continually reading the Bible now. I used to read my Bible “all the time”, but I wasn’t feasting on it, like I do now. I wasn’t meditating on His torah day and night like David speaks of in Psalm 1.

Does that mean we all need to read whole books at a time? No, I’m not suggesting that. Just because I say that I do that, it doesn’t mean I’m telling anyone else that it’s required of them. My only plea is to continually read the Bible, and ask God to teach you.

My heart’s desire is to glorify God…to direct people to Him. YHWH loves us, and He wants us to love Him back. He wants to have a relationship with us…He wants it so much, that he sent His only begotten son to die for us, so that we can be reconciled to Him.

He wants us to love Him wholeheartedly. He gave His Word to teach us how to please Him. It wasn’t so that it could be nailed to a tree. His Word is the way, the truth and the life. Yeshua/Jesus is the embodiment of the Word. He is our living example. We are to follow the will of the Father, as He did. He didn’t die so that we could continue to live in our flesh and reject his Father’s will, He died so that we could be free from our flesh and pursue his Father’s will.

It is a joy to live according to the Spirit of life. I dance at the thought of how much the Creator of the Universe loves me. I’m drawn to my knees in gratitude at the grace and mercy demonstrated toward me. And He loves you, too. His grace and mercy is available to all who will repent.