Jesus Curses the Barren Fig Tree

Jesus Curses the Barren Fig Tree

In Matthew 21:18-22 we read: "Early in the morning, as He (Jesus) was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, "May you never bear fruit again!" Immediately the tree withered. When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" they asked. Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

In Mark 11:12-14, 19-25 we read: "The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard him say it. When evening came, they went out of the city. In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!" "Have faith in G-d," Jesus answered. "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, `Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."

Why did Jesus curse this barren fig tree, when figs weren't even in season?

Why would Jesus curse the fig tree when it wasn’t its fault that it was not even fig season? This incident happened in early April during the week before His crucifixion. Jesus just had His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem a day earlier amid the praise and worship of the Jewish people who were looking to Him as the King/Messiah who was going to deliver them from Roman occupation (Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11). Normally toward the end of March the fig leaves begin to appear and in early April the foliage leafing is complete. At this time and sometimes even before, there appears quite a crop of small knobs, that can grow to the size of green almonds. These precursors of the true fig are called taqsh in Palestinian Arabic - and they can be eaten before they drop off. Their appearance is a promise of the fully formed appearance of the true fig some six weeks later. Since Jesus found "nothing but leaves" - leaves without any taqsh- He knew that "it was an absolutely useless, hopeless, fruitless fig tree" even though the time for true fruit had not yet come. But if the leaves appear without any taqsh, that is a sign that there will be no figs later. Jesus was not concerned about the fruitless tree but with unfruitful believers. Under the law of Moses, one sentenced to death for a capital crime was said to be “accursed of G-d” (Deuteronomy 21:22-23). In the Old testament, G-d often uses the fig tree as a symbol of national Israel:

"I will take away their harvest, declares the LORD. There will be no grapes on the vine. There will be no figs on the tree, AND THEIR LEAVES WILL WITHER. What I have given them will be taken from them.’" Jeremiah 8:13

"You may say, 'The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,' but this is what the LORD says about the king who sits on David's throne and all the people who remain in this city, your countrymen who did not go with you into exile- yes, this is what the LORD Almighty says: 'I will send the sword, famine and plague against them and I will make them like poor figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten. I will pursue them with the sword, famine and plague and will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth and an object of cursing and horror, of scorn and reproach, among all the nations where I drive them. For they have not listened to my words,' declares the LORD, 'words that I sent to them again and again by my servants the prophets. And you exiles have not listened either,' declares the LORD." Jeremiah 29:15-19

"When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert; when I saw your fathers, IT WAS LIKE SEEING THE EARLY FRUIT ON THE FIG TREE. But when they came to Baal Peor, they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol and became as vile as the thing they loved... Ephraim is blighted, their root is withered, they yield no fruit. Even if they bear children, I will slay their cherished offspring." Hosea 9:10, 16

"What misery is mine! I am like one who gathers summer fruit at the gleaning of the vineyard; there is no cluster of grapes to eat, none of the early figs that I crave. The godly have been swept from the land; not one upright man remains. All men lie in wait to shed blood; each hunts his brother with a net. Both hands are skilled in doing evil; the ruler demands gifts, the judge accepts bribes, the powerful dictate what they desire- they all conspire together. The best of them is like a brier, the most upright worse than a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen has come, the day G-d visits you. Now is the time of their confusion." Micah 7:1-4

"All your fortresses are like fig trees with their first ripe fruit; when they are shaken, the figs fall into the mouth of the eater." Nahum 3:12

But, instead of finding the early figs which would have demonstrated that Israel was spiritually alive and capable of bearing the fruit which satisfies G-d, Jesus found the nation spiritually dead and barren. In light of Israel’s spiritual barrenness, G-d would cut down his fig tree, his very own vine, and burn it: "Then he told this parable: ‘A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, "For three years (the length of Jesus ministry) now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?" "Sir," the man replied, "leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down."’" Luke 13:6-9 (It was now a half year later into the fourth year!)

"He then began to speak to them in parables: 'A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed. He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, "They will respect my son." But the tenants said to one another, "This is the heir. Come, let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours." So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.’" Mark 12:1-9

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’" Matthew 23:37-39

"As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, ‘If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace-but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of G-d's coming to you.’" Luke 19:41-44

This was the true meaning behind Jesus’ cursing the fig tree, as a sign that G-d came looking for spiritual fruitfulness among his covenant people but saw none, and would therefore bring destruction upon them. There is quite a significance in the fact that the account of Jesus' cleansing of the temple in Mark's Gospel (Mark 11:15-19) is sandwiched between the two sections of Mark's Gospel dealing with the cursing of the barren fig tree (verses 12-14 and 20-25). Jesus saw at a distance the Jewish temple and its sacrificial activities looked fine. But on closer inspection it was found to be Babylon/buSINess without substance, full of hypocrisy, bearing no spiritual fruit, rotten ripe for judgment.

Fig trees were very common in Israel and throughout the Middle East. They grew a wide canopy of large leaves that gave welcome shade from the hot sun. Fig trees also bore a tasty fruit that could be gathered twice a year. So the fig tree became a symbol of peace and contentment, of G-d’s blessings. When the Lord describes the land He is going to give His people Israel, He says it’s a land of "vines and fig trees" (Deuteronomy 8:8). Solomon’s kingdom of peace is described in the book of Kings like this: "Judah and Israel dwelt safely, each man under his vine and his fig tree" (I Kings 4:25). When the prophet Micah describes the messianic age he says that people will "beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks…. Everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree" (Micah 4:3f; cf Is 2:2f). Similarly, when Zechariah prophesies of the coming of the Jesus and the peace He will bring, He says: "‘In that day,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘everyone will invite his neighbor under his vine and under his fig tree’" (Zechariah 3:10). It’s clear: the fig tree is in the Old Testament a symbol of blessing, of peace, of contentment. So, the barren fig tree a symbol in the Old Testament of G-d’s curse, of disruption. In His covenant with Israel G-d had promised that if His people would disobey He would give disease and plague so that the trees of the field would not bear their fruit (Deuteronomy 28). In keeping with that promise, Jeremiah must say this: "‘I will surely consume them,’ says the Lord. ‘No grapes shall be on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade…’" (Jeremiah 8:13). Through Amos the Lord says, "I blasted you with blight and mildew. When your gardens increased, your vines, your fig trees, and your olive trees, the locust devoured them…" (Amos 4:9). The fruitless fig tree is the symbol of G-d's own curse.

With the cursing of the fig tree, Jesus was symbolically denouncing Israel as a nation and, in a sense, even denouncing unfruitful “Christians” (that is, people who profess to be Christian but have no evidence of any fruit). The presence of a fruitful fig tree was considered to be a symbol of blessing and prosperity for the nation of Israel. Likewise, the death of a fig tree would symbolize G-d's judgment and rejection. Symbolically, the barren fig tree represented the spiritual deadness of Israel, who appeared very religious outwardly with all the sacrifices and ceremonies, were spiritually barren because of their depravity, greed and sins. By cleansing the Temple and cursing the fig tree, causing it to whither and die, Jesus was pronouncing His coming judgment of Israel and demonstrating His power to carry it out. It also teaches us religious appearance and observance are not enough to guarantee salvation, unless there is fruit of the Spirit evidenced in the life of the person. James would later echo this truth when he wrote that “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26). The lesson of the cursed barren fig tree is that we should bear spiritual fruit (Galatians 5:22-23), not just give an appearance of religiosity (denominational christianity). G-d judges fruitlessness, and expects that all those who have a relationship with Him will “bear much fruit” (John 15:5-8).

When Jesus was still in Galilee He’d told His disciples that He had to go to Jerusalem, and there He would be arrested, crucified, killed (Mark 8:31; 9:30f). Jesus then slowly made His way south from Galilee to come close to Jerusalem, so close that He could organize His royal entry into the city - astride the unbroken colt of a donkey! Jesus came into the holy city while the crowds spread their clothes and palm branches, crying out their Hosannas, and shouting blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. On His way to His crucifixion cross Jesus had triumphantly entered Jerusalem, the very city where the G-d's Holy Temple stands on Mt Zion, where the gospel of salvation was meant to be proclaimed. Jesus comes to that Holy Temple where G-d’s chosen people were meant to bring their sin offerings and their thank offerings - according to the specific instructions that G-d had given in the Old Testament, Jesus should have seen reverence, prayer and piety in the temple. Jesus should have seen multitudes of believers grateful for G-d’s blessings, and other people broken on account of their sins. Jesus should have seen hundreds of Levites and priests officiating at the sacrifices and explaining to the people each step of the ritual – that G-d’s justice demanded the sinner had to die on account of his sins - but, G-d in His gracious mercy let the sins be transferred from the sinner to the animal and the animal be killed instead! Jesus should have seen people and priests and Levites praising the Lord G-d Almighty! But what does Jesus actually see when He "looked around at all the things"? Jesus saw Babylon, a den of thieves, merchants hawking their wares, worshippers with money on their minds. In other words: instead of a Holy Temple, Jesus saw a buSINess…. The Holy temple of G-d had been desecrated and given over to the god Mammon.

The Lord Jesus Christ had labored in Israel for three and a half years, preaching, teaching, casting out devils and healing and working miracles in order to show that He was truly the promised Messiah, the fulfillment of the gospel that was to be proclaimed in the Holy Temple. But after three and a half years of labor - what does Jesus see? There is absolutely no fruit; Israel is barren! There is only religion, materialism, the god Mammon is now openly in charge of the Holy Temple itself! After cursing the barren fig tree, Jesus took His disciples into His Father's Holy Temple to show them truly how barren Israel really was. Vs 15: He "began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves." And that wasn’t all; for the remainder of the day "He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple" (vs 16). With His mighty hand and outstretched arm the Lord put a end to trading in the temple. That is: He removed the god Mammon from the temple of His Father. And why? With Mammon no longer the driving god of the temple, there was room again for the preaching of the Word of G-d. And that’s what Jesus did. Through His His mighty hand and outstretched arm Jesus got the attention of the crowds, and now made it His point to teach – says vs 17. The text of His sermon was Isaiah 56:7: "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations." But what’s the response of the people to hearing the Word of G-d? Is there an acknowledgement that G-d’s word has authority, that G-d would have the temple be characterized by prayer and not by business, by sacrifices and not by thievery? None of it. Vs 18: "the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy Him." That’s the official response of the temple leadership! Business before prayer, thievery before sacrifice! Jesus would dare show the religious "leaders" from Scripture that they ought to obey G-d? Crucify Him!

Do you now see dear one, how barren the Holy Temple was? It outwardly looked so Holy, so beautiful, so desirable, with its Holy promises of forgiveness and peace with G-d. But Jesus' closer look clearly revealed idolatry, greed, decay, barrenness, sterility. And Jesus' call to repentance produced only hardening of the "leaders" hearts. How very much did the temple and its leaders and its patrons deserve the judgment of G-d! "Let no one eat fruit from you ever again!" The very next morning there was clear confirmation that His father in heaven had heard Jesus’ prayer. For the fig tree is now all withered! In one night the almighty G-d of heaven and earth had so dried up a leafy, shady tree that next day there was no moisture left in it. This is truly G-d's judgment on Israel’s barrenness. So barren is the temple that it has no right of existence anymore. A fig tree in the Old Testament was a symbol of G-d's blessing, of peace, of abundance – and that was due both to the fruit it bore and to the shade it gave. With its focus on buSINess, the temple supplied no fruit, did not nourish any hungry or thirsty soul with the gospel of peace-with-G-d and forgiveness of sins. But it still looked attractive, and people could still be deceived to come and seek shade under its leaves – only to be drawn in to the worship of the god Mammon. So G-d destroys it altogether; so pure is His judgment. That’s the message of the withering of the tree; Israel and the temple shall whither altogether!!! That withering of the tree is G-d’s answer to Jesus’ prayer, and at the same time it was an announcement of doom for the temple and those who worshiped Mammon in the temple. Jesus understood that the temple could not last, and told His disciples so. Mark 13: when Jesus one day went out of the temple, His disciples commented on the splendors of the building. What Jesus said in reply? "Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down" (13:2). That is: this temple would be destroyed, G-d’s house of prayer for all nations destroyed, withered, gone…. And it happened too. One mere generation after the Jews demanded the crucifixion of Jesus and rejected the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, the armies of Rome under Titus pulled the temple down to bits in the year 70 AD, and plowed up the temple mount. Obviously G-d keeps His Word! The promise inherent in the withered fig tree truly came to pass!

Please note that "His disciples heard" Jesus curse the tree. Indeed, Jesus wanted His disciples to hear His curse, for it provided the opportunity for Jesus to warn His disciples about being unfruitful. That is why, when Peter drew Jesus’ attention to the withered tree, Jesus (says vs 22) "answered and said to [the disciples], ‘Have faith in G-d.’" In other words: believe God’s promises, believe that He will do as He has said He would do. The Old Testament had said that G-d would curse disobedience, would curse covenant breaking amongst His people; well, in the temple is disobedience and covenant breaking, and so G-d’s curse must follow. "Have faith in G-d"; trust that He will do precisely what He said He would do. As the healthy fig tree symbolizes the peace G-d promised faithful Israel, so the withered barren fig tree symbolizes the curse G-d promised upon unfaithful Israel. In the Revelation, we are again warned about the harlot Babylon in Chapters 17 & 18 and told to specifically come out of her in Revelation 18:4. G-d is about to curse this religious mess again - do you believe Him dear one? Jesus draws out His instruction with a specific example. Vs 23: "For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says." Which mountain? Jesus does not speak about any mountain. He speaks about "this mountain", and that is none other than the mountain upon which the temple stands – Mt Zion. That barren fig tree had dried up to its roots as a symbol of what would happen –according to G-d’s Old Testament ordinances- would now happen to the barren temple; it would wither, perish, be destroyed – that’s G-d’s promise. And because it’s G-d’s promise, "whoever says to this mountain, Mt Zion, the temple, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ … will have whatever he says." And even as He says it, Jesus knows that the temple will harden itself in its unbelief and its apostasy. For these very scribes and chief priests who had rejected His preaching today, who continued to refuse to make G-d's temple into "a house of prayer" and insisted instead that it remain "a den of thieves", will shortly crown their blasphemous unbelief with the great evil of demanding the crucifixion of the Son of G-d. Even so, Jesus freely chose not to curse them but, to go to the cross to satisfy G-d’s righteous judgment and to even pay for their sin of demanding the death of the Savior that had been foreshadowed in all of their temple sacrifices. Here is the love of the Savior for the unworthy; instead of asking for the destruction of the ungodly, He continues on His way to the cross to try to save even them!

Jesus could have asked His Father to remove that mountain right away, as He’d asked HaShem to destroy that barren fig tree. He could have asked His father to send a legion of angels to destroy the temple leaders. But He doesn’t, because He intends to lay down His life for His sheep, to pay for our sins. Jesus further explains why He did not curse these religious "leaders" - "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, `Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." Jesus said: "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."


Dear one we are all to grow the following fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives - love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23) Are you growing these fruits or are you only growing leaves and/or weeds? Do you forgive your enemies? Shalom!

How did Babylon get into your church?

First of all, the church means the believers - not some building!

When the Jews returned home from Babylon, they took some of Babylon home with them. Zoroastrianism is the oldest monotheistic religion and its precusor faith was called Mazdaism.It originated with Iranian speaking tribes (Aryans) who dominated a vast expanse of landmass that stretched from the shores North of the Black Sea all the way to plains of Northern India, Central Asia and Western China. Around the 700 BCE the Persians(with the Egyptians and Babylonians) were one of the most advanced civilisations ever known to mankind and their influence in the Middle East and Central Asia was to last for hundreds of years. Morever, they left a legacy of their religion and culture. They were the first to develop the concept of the original sin, baptisim, heaven and hell (paradise is a word Persian origins wich means 'enclose garden'), angels and demonology, a sacrificial saviour god(messiah), resurrection, final judgement and the apocalyptic battle between good and evil. Thousands of Jews were subjects of the Persian empire of Cyrus the Great and Persian themselves were benevolent to those who were loyal to their rule. It was during this period (around 600 BCE) that the Jews were directly influenced by Persian religious ideas to the extent that Judaic religion split various major sects: The Pharisees, Essenes, Saducees, Zealots, Sicarii etc....

This split came about the post Babylonian era (many Jews were slaves in Babylonia untill the Persians took over power and liberated them) and then came a conflict of tradition and power struggle. There those learned Jewish Rabbis and leaders who welcomed the foreign ideas on their religion and those who wanted to maintain pure Judaic ones. Many hundreds of years later when Rome was the dominant power, sects like the zealots sought to user their power to overthrow the Romans. But that came to a very heavy price with the sack of the great temple of Jerusalem, their people sold into slavery and many of their people were dispersed to all corners of Europe and Asia. The Essene group were the most influential on the nascent Christian movement within Judaism as it was very radical in its ideas with Jewish, Iranian (Mithraic/Mazdaic), Egyptian and Hellenic(Platonic)thought. They were the influential group who then evolved as Christians in the strongly Mithraic ( an Iranian religious movement) area where Paul of Tarsul (later St.Paul) was born.

Now it was from this very creed of Zoroaster that the Jews derived all the angelology of their religion...the belief in a future state; of rewards and punishments, ...the soul's immortality, and the Last Judgment - all of them essential parts of the Zoroastrian scheme." From The Gnostics and Their Remains (London 1887) by King and Moore quoted at 607a in Peake's Bible Commentary. FROM ENCYCLOPEDIA AMERICANA : "First, the figure of Satan, originally a servant of G-d, appointed by Him as His prosecutor, came more and more to resemble Ahriman, the enemy of G-d. Secondly, the figure of the Messiah, originally a future King of Israel who would save his people from oppression, evolved, in Deutero-Isaiah for instance, into a universal Savior very similar to the Iranian Saoshyant. Other points of comparison between Iran and Israel include the doctrine of the millennia; the Last Judgment; the heavenly book in which human actions are inscribed; the Resurrection; the final transformation of the earth; paradise on earth or in heaven; and hell." by J. Duchesne-Guillemin, University of Liege, Belgium

EZRA, THE SUBVERTER OF JUDAISM - In 397 BCE Ezra, a courtier of the Persian king, was sent from Babylon "to teach in Israel statutes and ordinances" (Ezra 7:10). Ezra had been born and educated as a divine reader in Babylon and was sent by Artaxerxes to see if the people of Judea "be agreeable to the law of G-d". There are explicit indications of widespread religious conversion in Ezra 6:19-21 and Nehemiah 10:28-29, but why would Jews have to convert to Judaism? Nehemiah, chapter 8, discusses an event where Ezra read from the book of law which neither Hebrew speakers nor Aramaic speakers could understand - the words had to be translated by priests. What strange language could Ezra have been reading, Avestan maybe? Ezra's major reform was the prohibition of foreign wives. Although marrying foreign wives had always been the most favored Jewish practice, such marriages violate Zoroastrian law (e.g. Denkard, Book 3, ch 80). The alien nature of other laws to the Jews shows itself in the distinction between clean and unclean animals in Leviticus and Ezekial which was derived from the Vendidad, a Zoroastrian holy book, where alone it is explained. The purification rituals are identical in the Pentateuch and the older Vendidad. Von Gall in Brasileia tou Theou, 1926, gives a detailed catalog of Jewish laws taken from the Persians. Ezra also introduced the new festival of booths in the seventh month, which is of course the Zoroastrian holiday of Ayathrem. Finally, in about 400 BCE the Old Testament was put in written form when Jerusalem was still under the power of the Persians. The Jews greatly resisted the imposition of Zoroastrianism charading as Judaism. The construction of the temple designed by the great Persian king Cyrus for the Jews was delayed by both political and physical means. "The true Israelis" built their own temple on MT. Gerizim and wrote Jerusalem out of their Pentateuch. So, whatever the Persian governors and priests were doing in Jersusalem in the name of Judaism, it caused a great schism. The Sadducees, the 'purists', made up over 97% of the population and believed in "no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit" (Acts 23:8) - in a word, no Persian ideas. The Pharisees or Persian faction - Pharisee, Parsee, Farsi - never numbered very high, not more than 6,000, although only Pharisaism survived the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

In addition, Christianity adopted these doctrines from Zoroastrianism: baptism, communion - the haoma ceremony, guardian angels, the heavenly journey of the soul, worship on Sunday, the celebration of Mithras' birthday on December 25th, celibate priests that mediate between man and God, the Trinity, Zvarnah - the idea that emanations from the sun are collected in the head and radiate in the form of nimbus and rays, and asha-arta, "the true prayer". Centuries later in Greece this became Logos or "true sentence" and like in Persia it was associated with fire. Mithraism is widely considered to be a syncretistic religion, that is: a combination of Persian, Babylonian and Greek influences. However, the Greek influence seems to be limited to the identification in Greece of Mithras with the Greek god Perseus. The Babylonian influence seems to have been limited to astrology. Perhaps, though, the Persian interest in astrology has been overlooked. Zoroastrians worshipped at alters on hills and had a whole class of professional Magi or priests who had lots of time on their hands to do astrological research. Rather than a syncretistic religion, it would be more proper to call Mithraism a Zoroastrian subcult. The center of the Mithric cult was in Tarsus in Cilicia, Southeast Turkey. This is whence Paul, the founder of the Christian church, came from as a young man. Paul's insight on the road to Damascus was that instead of treating Jesus as a false savior, he could be identified as the true savior if combined with the new idea of "the second coming". That would cure the embarrassing fact that nothing had come of Jesus' time on earth. The rest was simple, Paul identified Jesus with Mithras and taught a modified Mithraism. That got Paul branded as a heretic by the true church and James the brother of Jesus. Eventually it cost Paul his life. However, the Mithric ideas were so generally attractive that they eventually won out.

SOME REFERENCES -
Peake's Commentary on the Bible, Matthew Black and H.H. Rowley, ed., Revised edition, NY:Nelson 1982, section 607.
Encyclopedia America, Danbury, CT, 1988, vol 29, pp. 813-815, article by J. Duchesne-Guillemin.
Zarathustra, Philo, The Achaemenids and Israel, Lawrence Mills, Leipzig, 1903. Lawrence Mills was the brilliant American professor at Cambridge who not only translated much of the Avesta but published several books, including Our Own Religion in Ancient Persia, Chicago 1913, giving comprehensive examples of Persian words and ideas in the Bible. They have been reprinted.
The Mysteries of Mithra, Franz Cumont, Chicago, 1903, also in Dover Books reprint.

Probably the most recognizable article of clothing the Pope wears is the tall, gaping hat called the mitre. There's nothing in the Bible that indicates that Jesus wore such a hat. The fact is the origin of the hat goes back long before Jesus and can be traced to an ancient Babylonian fish-god named Dagon. "...there are strong evidences that Dagon was Nimrod.... All scholars agree that the name and worship of Dagon were imported from Babylonia. " - The Two Babylons, Hislop, p. 215 "In their veneration and worship of Dagon, the high priest of paganism would actually put on a garment that had been created from a huge fish! The head of the fish formed a mitre above that of the old man, while its scaly, fan-like tail fell as a cloak behind, leaving the human limbs and feet exposed." - Babylon and Nineveh, Austen Henry Layard, p. 343 "The most prominent form of worship in Babylon was dedicated to Dagon, later known as Ichthys, or the fish. In Chaldean times, the head of the church was the representative of Dagon, he was considered to be infallible, and was addressed as ‘Your Holiness’. Nations subdued by Babylon had to kiss the ring and slipper of the Babylonian god-king. The same powers and the same titles are claimed to this day by the Dalai Lama of Buddhism, and the Pope. Moreover, the vestments of paganism, the fish mitre and robes of the priests of Dagon are worn by the Catholic bishops, cardinals and popes. -The Wine of Babylon; Pg 9 The excavations done of ancient Nineveh and Babylon have shed light on the shocking connection between Dagon the fish-god and the Pope's Mitre (hat). According to Egyptian mythology, when the judges found Osiris [Nimrod] guilty of corrupting the religion of Adam and cut up his body, they threw the parts into the Nile. It was said that a fish ate one of these chunks and became transformed. Later, Isis [Semiramis] was fishing along the river bank when she fished up a half-man, half-fish. This sea creature was Dagon, the reincarnated Nimrod. And Dagon is the representation of Nimrod (of ancient Babylon) resurrecting out of the ocean depths as a half-man, half-fish. "Dagon is the diminutive of dag, and signifies... fish... The Babylonians believed that a being, part man and part fish, emerged from the Erythraean Sea, and appeared in Babylonia in the early days of its history...Representations of this fish-god have been found among the sculptures of Nineveh. The Philistine Dagon was of a similar character." - Manners and Customs of the Bible; James Freeman And this also explains the symbol for Christianity, the fish - the "Ichthys" which is Dagon.

Constantine, considered Rome’s first “Christian” emperor, was himself a devotee of the sun god. “In fact the emperor Constantine’s Christianity was ambiguous. His family owed traditional allegiance to the sun-god; the famous vision of the cross as he marched on Rome came to him from the sun; the sun god (Sol Invictus) continues to appear on his coins through the decade (and I have one), and on his arch at Rome; his own statue at Constantinople bore the rayed crown of the sun-god” (Parrinder, p. 175). By the first century, the seven-day planetary week was being popularized at Rome. The seven-day week itself originated at creation (Genesis 1) and the knowledge of the correct weekly cycle was preserved by the Jews. However, in ancient Babylon each of the seven days of the week became associated with what the ancients called the seven planets: Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn. This is significant because it set the stage for an imperial proclamation that indelibly stamped upon the Christian-professing world a mark, or brand, derived from ancient sun worship. The Encyclopædia Britannica records: “The earliest recognition of the observance of Sunday as a legal duty is a constitution of Constantine in 321ad, enacting that all courts of justice, inhabitants of towns, and workshops were to be at rest on Sunday (venerabili die solis)” (”Sunday,” 11th ed.). By using the Latin term properly translated as “venerable day of the sun,” Constantine identified the first day of the week with that day dedicated from ancient times to Sol, the sun. Through the proclamation of a Roman emperor, a mark from ancient Babylon and the cult of sun worship was forcibly stamped on the inhabitants of the Roman Empire. That mark-with other associated symbols of sun worship-has continued right on down through the medieval period to modern times.

Jesus was not born on December 25th. However, a whole bunch of pagan gods were born on that day. In fact, pagans celebrated a festival involving a heroic supernatural figure that visits an evergreen tree and leaves gifts on December 25th long before Jesus was ever born. From its early Babylonian roots, the celebration of the birth or "rebirth" of the sun god on December 25th came to be celebrated under various names all over the ancient world. You see, the winter solstice occurs a few days before December 25th each year. The winter solstice is the day of the year when daylight is the shortest. In ancient times, December 25th was the day each year when the day started to become noticeably longer. Thus it was fitting for the early pagans to designate December 25th as the date of the birth or the "rebirth" of the sun.The truth is that thousands of years before there was a "Santa Claus", there was another supernatural figure who would supposedly visit a tree and leave gifts every December 25th. His name was Nimrod. The celebration of December 25th goes all the way back to ancient BabylonDecember 25th is the day pagan gods claim to be their birthday e.g., Bacchus (Egypt, Greece. Also known as Dionysus.); Adonis (Greece); Krishna (India); Chang-ti (China); Chris (Chaldea); Mithra (Persia); Sakia (India); Jao Wapaul (Ancient Britain); Osiris; Horus, son of Isis and Osiris; Hercules; Tammuz (Syria); Indra (Tibet) and Buddha. "The god worshipped as a child in the arms of the great Mother in Greece, under the names of Dionysus, or Bacchus, or Iacchus is...expressly identified with the Egyptian Osiris...the Bacchus of Greece was symbolized by the Nebros, or 'spotted fawn'...was known as having the very lineage of Nimrod. From Anacreon, we find that a title of Bacchus was Aithiopais, ie. 'the son of Aethiops'...the Aethiopians were Cushites, so Aethiops was Cush...says Eusebius...The testimony of Josephus is to the same effect." (Hislop, pp. 46-48).

The fourth-century Roman emperor Constantine, who first had the celebration of Christmas occur on December 25 because he followed the cult of Sol Invictus, a monotheistic form of sun worship that originated in Syria and was imposed by Roman emperors on their subjects a century earlier. Constantine's main objective was unity, in politics, religion and territory. In his own interests of unity, Constantine chose to blur the distinctions between Christianity, Mithraism (another Sun culkt) and Sol Invictus. That's why Constantine decreed that Sunday -- "the venerable day of the sun" the first day of the week would be the official day of rest. (Early Christians before then celebrated their Holy day on the Jewish Sabbath -- on the seventh day - Saturday.) December 25 was the day celebrated by the cult of Sol Invictus as Natilis Invictus, the rebirth of the sun. Four thousand years ago or so, ancient Egyptians celebrated the rebirth of the sun at this time of year. They set the length of the festival at 12 days, to reflect the 12 divisions in their sun calendar. They decorated with greenery, using palms with 12 shoots as a symbol of the completed year, since a palm was thought to put forth a shoot each month. How about the concept of the 12 Days of Christmas? The midwinter festival of the ancient Egyptians celebrated the birth of Horus (the prototype of the earthly king) son of Isis (the divine mother-goddess). It was 12 days long, reflecting their 12-month calendar. This concept took firm root in many other cultures. In 567 AD, Christians adopted it. Church leaders proclaimed the 12 days from December 25 to Epiphany as a sacred, festive season. "The sinister aspect of Saturn; the winter solstice...birthday of the unconquerable sun...The dead return during the twelve nights of the duration of the Saturnalia...The twelve days of Chaos symbolize the pattern of the coming months of the year. The period of Chaos is governed by the Lord of Misrule...Transvestism (q.v.) is a feature of the time of Chaos in Saturnalia, orgies, carnivals etc. and signifies a form of return to chaos. Babylon held the twelve days of duel between Chaos and Cosmos; in Christianity, these are the twelve days of Christmas." (Cooper, under Saturnalia).

To understand the TRUE history behind the holiday we call Christmas, we must travel to a time when the world was dominated by pagan doctrine and Roman might. Long before Mary and Joseph made their trek to Bethlehem to be counted in the imperial census, Roman society (along with other European groups) embraced a few interesting (and familiar) holiday traditions that may come as a surprise to the devout denominational Christians of our modern era. So, let us pretend for a moment that we have ventured back in time to late antiquity and witness how these various European societies celebrated their winter holidays. Our first stop in our voyage back in time will take us to one of the greatest civilizations known to man: Rome. The date is December 17th and the streets are full of celebration and jubilation. It is Saturnalia: a holiday dedicated to the pagan god Saturn, who has been loosen from his bonds during the festivities so that he can enjoy the fruits of the offerings given to him. As the god of the harvest/agriculture, Saturn is praised by the masses from having provided a bountiful harvest. To celebrate the occasion, Roman citizens gave up their traditional toga and adorned themselves with more festive clothing. Traditionally, the clothing was green and decorated with leaves, flowers and berries. Men and women regularly took holly berries and branches and turned them into wreathes, which they placed on their heads, believing that they had the power to ward off evil spirits. It was also common in homes throughout the Roman empire to have their halls "decked" with holly in order to keep them safe from the wrath of the gods. In addition, Saturnalia was also marked by the temporary freeing of slaves, who would often (in pure fun) switch places with their masters. Public demonstrations of sex, gambling, drunkenness were commonplace, while many other laws, which were normally punishable, were temporarily allowed (in some cases even rape). Simply put, Saturnalia was the ancient world's more raccous version of our Mardi Gras.

Along with the revelry and laissez-faire Roman policies governing these holidays, many Roman citizens also took to adorning evergreen trees as part of the festival of Saturnalia. It was common for wealthy Roman families to decorate a tree with candles, silver and gold lace and to have it nailed to the floor of their home. This "Saturnalia Tree" became a symbol of Rome's collective petition to the gods for a bountiful new year. The Jews (and early Christians), refused to embrace such pagan beliefs and even preached against them. As the Bible itself states in Jeremiah 10:2-4: "Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not." And while the common person was busy celebrating Saturnalia, the elites of Roman society also celebrated the birth of Mithras: the god of the unconquerable sun, whose birth fell on December 25th. For many, this was the holiest day of the year and celebrating his birth was done in the hopes that Mithra would return in full power (summer) to bless them and their harvest,

Hammurabi, and the people of his empire, worshiped several gods. Their chief god was Marduk. The Babylonians built temples, called ziggurats, to worship their gods. The city of Babylon had an especially beautiful temple dedicated to Marduk. It may have looked something like this reconstruction. From the Enuma Elish, the epic poem of this ancient religion, we learn how Marduk becomes the chief god. (The link takes you to a picture of some of the tablets written in Cuneiform, in the Akkadian language.) The people eventually called him "Bel" which means "lord." From the epic creation poem Gilgamesh, we learn how man survived a Great Flood.The parallels between the stories from those ancient religions of Mesopotamia, and the Biblical accounts of creation and the flood, are inescapable. Of course, the deities differ since the people of Mesopotamia worshiped many gods.

Cardinal Newman admits in his book that the "temples, incense, oil lamps, votive offerings, holy water, Holidays, and seasons of devotion, processions, blessings of the fields, sacerdotal vestments, the tonsure (of priests, munks and nuns), images, and statues... are all of PAGAN ORIGIN." ....... Cardinal Newman also lists many examples of things of "pagan origin" which the papacy brought into the church "in order to recommend the new religion to the heathen: The use of temples, and these dedicated to particular saints, and ornamented on occasions with branches of trees; incense, lamps, and candles; holy water; asylums [hermitages, monasteries and convents]; [pagan] holy-days, processions, sacerdotal vestments, the tonsure, the ring in marriage, turning to the East, images, . . . and the Kyrie Eleison." ....."Confiding then in the power of Christianity to resist the infection of evil, and to transmute the instruments and appendages of demon worship to an evangelical use... the rulers of the church from early times were prepared should occasion arise, to adopt, or imitate, or sanction the existing rites and customs of the populace." - Cardinal J. H. Newman, An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, 1920 edition.

The penetration of the religion of Babylon became so general and well known that Rome was called the "New Babylon." -Faith of our fathers 1917 ed. Cardinal Gibbons, p. 106

"The [Catholic] Church took the pagan philosophy and made it the buckler of faith against the heathen. She took the pagan Roman Pantheon, temple of all the gods, and made it sacred to all the martyrs; so it stands to this day. She took the pagan Sunday and made it the Christian Sunday. She took the pagan Easter and made it the feast we celebrate during this season . . . The Sun was a foremost god with heathendom . . . The sun has worshipers at this hour in Persia and other lands . . . Hence the Church would seem to say, 'Keep that old pagan name [Sunday]. It shall remain consecrated, sanctified.' And thus the pagan Sunday, dedicated to Balder, became the Christian Sunday, sacred to Jesus"--William L. Gildea, "Paschale Gaudium," in The Catholic World, 58, March, 1894, p. 809 [A Roman Catholic weekly].

"in order to recommend the new religion to the heathen:" "The use of temples, and these dedicated to particular saints, and ornamented on occasions with branches of trees; incense, lamps, and candles; holy water; asylums [hermitages, monasteries and convents]; [pagan] holy-days, processions, sacerdotal vestments, the tonsure, the ring in marriage, turning to the East, images, . . . and the Kyrie Eleison."--J. H. Newman, An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, 1920 edition, p.373 [Roman Catholic].

"The mighty Catholic Church was little more then the Roman Empire baptized."-- A. C, Flick, The Rise of the Mediaeval Church, 1909 edition, p. 148. From ancient Babylon came the cult of the virgin mother-goddess, who was worshiped as the highest of gods--see S. H. Langdon, Semitic Mythology, 1931 edition. This worship was taken over as Mary-worship by Rome. Heathen sun-worship on Sunday was likewise adopted by the Roman apostasy.

"In order to attach to Christianity great attraction in the eyes of the nobility, the priests adopted the outer garments and adornments which were used in pagan cults." -Life of Constantine, Eusabius, cited in Altai-Nimalaya, p. 94

"The Church did everything it could to stamp out such 'pagan' rites, but had to capitualet and allow the rites to continue with only the name of the local diety changed to some Christian saint's name." -Religious Tradition and Myth. Dr. Edwin Goodenough, Professor of Religion, Harvard University. p. 56, 57

"From the foregoing, which treats merely of the more important solar festivals, it is clear that these products of paganism are as much in force at present ... as they ever were, and that Christianity countenances, and in many cases has actually adopted and practiced, pagan rites whose heathen significance is merely lost sight of because attention is not called tot the source whence these rites have sprung. So heavy was this infiltration that Sir Samuel Dill exclaims: "Christianity is only a sect of the Mithraists." -Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius, p. VII

"We know that Mithraism was a state religion of Rome at the time that the Christian church was established there. Evidently tenants of Mithraism such as Sunday worship and eating the wafer in the mass were adopted into Christianity at that time" -Jim Arrabito "666 & the Mark"

In Stanley's History, page 40: "The popes filled the place of the vacant emperors at Rome, inheriting their power, their prestige, and their titles from PAGANISM."

"In short, sun worship, symbolically speaking, lies at the very heart of the great festivals which the Christian Church celebrates today, and these relics of heathen religion have, through the medium of their sacred rites, curiously enough blended with practices and beliefs utterly antagonistic to the spirit which prompted them." -Sun Lore of All Ages, Olcott, p. 248

"Yet the cross itself is the oldest of phallic emblems, and the lozenge-shaped windows of cathedrals are proof that the yonic symbols have survived the destructions of the pagan Mysteries. The very structure of the church itself is permeated with (sexual symbolism) phallicism. Remove from the Christian Church all emblems of Priapic origin and nothing is left..." -The secret teaching of all ages by Manley P. Hall

"When the zealots of the primitave Christian Church sought to Christianize paganism, the pagan initiates retorted with a powerful effort to paganize Christianity. The Christians failed but the pagans succeeded. With the decline of paganism the initiated pagan hierophants transferred their base of operations to the new vehicle of primitive Christianity, adopting the symbols of the new cult to conceal those eternal verities which are ever the priceless possession of the wise." -The secret teachings of all ages, Manley P. Hall p. CLXXXV

"...The world, cloaked with a form of righteousness, walked into the church. Now the work of corruption rapidly progressed. Paganism, while appearing to be vanquished, became the conqueror. Her spirit controlled the church. Her doctrines, ceremonies, and superstitions were incorporated into the faith and worship of the professed followers of Christ." -The Great Controversy, p. 50

"The belief in miracle-working objects, talismans, amulets, and formulas was dear to Christianity, and they were received from pagan antiquity . . . The vestments of the clergy and the papal title of 'pontifex maximus' were legacies from pagan Rome. The [Catholic] Church found that rural converts still revered certain springs, wells, trees, and stones; she thought it wiser to bless these to Christian use then to break too sharply the customs of sentiment . . . Pagan festivals dear to the people, reappeared as Christian feasts, and pagan rites were transformed into Christian liturgy . . . The Christian calendar of saints replaced the Roman 'fasti' [gods]; ancient divinities dear to the people were allowed to revive under the names of 'Christian saints' . . . Gradually the tenderest features of Astarte, Cybele, Artemis, Diana, and Isis were gathered together in the worship of Mary"--Wil Durant, The Age of Faith, 1950, pp. 745-746.

Langdon tells us that Mary worship came from ancient Babylon where the virgin mother-goddess was worshiped under the name "Ishtar." Elsewhere in the Near East, the mother-goddess was called "Astarte, Ashtoreth, Persephone, Artemis, [Diana] of Ephesus, Venus, and Isis." This goddess, considered to be greater than any god, was called by these heathen the "virgin mother, merciful mother, Queen of Heaven, and my lady" [which is what "Madonna" means in Italian]. Langdon says she was often sculptured in mother-and-infant images, or as a "mater dolorom" [sorrowful mother] interceding for men with a wrathful god. And thus ancient paganism was brought into the churches and lives of Christians.--see S.H. Langdon, Semitic Mythology, 1931 edition, pp. 12-34, 108-111, 341-344. Laing mentions several other corruptions by which the mother-goddess was worshiped by heathens, that Rome adopted into Christianity: holy water, votive offerings, elevation of sacred objects [lifting of the host], the priest's bells, the decking of images, processions, festivals, prayers for the dead, the worship of relics and the statues of saints.--see Gordon J. Laing, Survivals of Roman Religion, 1931 edition, pp. 92-95, 123-131,238-241.

Two dominant elements brought into Christianity from paganism by Rome were Sun worship symbols and the religious practices of ancient Babylon. "The solar theology of the Chaldaeans [Babylonians], had decisive effect . . . [upon the] final form reached by the religion of the pagan Semites, and following them, by that of the Romans when [the Roman emperor] Aurelian, the conqueror of Palmyra, had raised 'Sol Invictus' [the invincible sun-god] to the rank of supreme divinity in the Empire"--The Cambridge Ancient History, vol. 11, pp. 643, 646-647. From Palmyra he transferred to the new sanctuary the images of Helios [the sun-god] and Bel, the malaise patron god of Babylon--see Cumont, The Oriental Religions In Roman Paganism, 1911 edition, pp. 114-115, 124.

"The [Catholic] Church took the pagan philosophy and made it the buckler of faith against the heathen. She took the pagan Roman Pantheon, temple of all the gods, and made it sacred to all the martyrs; so it stands to this day. She took the pagan Sunday and made it the Christian Sunday. She took the pagan Easter and made it the feast we celebrate during this season . . . The Sun was a foremost god with heathendom . . . The sun has worshipers at this hour in Persia and other lands . . . Hence the Church would seem to say, 'Keep that old pagan name [Sunday]. It shall remain consecrated, sanctified.' And thus the pagan Sunday, dedicated to Balder, became the Christian Sunday, sacred to Jesus"--William L. Gildea, "Paschale Gaudium," in The Catholic World, 58, March, 1894, p. 809 [A Roman Catholic weekly].

"The removal of the capital of the Empire from Rome to Constantinople in 330, left the Western Church, practically free from imperial power, to develop its own form of organization. The Bishop of Rome, in the seat of the Caesars, was now the greatest man in the West, and was soon [when the barbarians over-ran the empire] forced to become the political as well as the spiritual head."--A.C. Flick, The Rise of the Mediaval Church p. 168.

"Whatever Roman elements the barbarians and Aryans left . . . [came] under the protection of the Bishop of Rome, who was the chief person there after the Emperor's disappearance . . . The Roman Church in this way privily pushed itself into the place of the Roman World-Empire, of which it is the actual continuation; the empire has not perished, but has only undergone a transformation . . . It [the Catholic Church] is a political creation, and as imposing as a World-Empire, because [it is a continuation of] the Roman Empire. The Pope, who calls himself 'King' and 'Pontifex Maximus' [the title of the Roman Emperor in the time of Christ], is Caesar's successor."--Adolf Harnack, What is Christianity? 1963, pp. 269-270.

"Long ages ago, when Rome through the neglect of the Western emperors was left to the mercy of the barbarous hordes, the Romans turned to one figure for aid and protection, and asked him to rule them; and thus, . . . commenced the temporal sovereignty of the popes. And meekly stepping to the throne of Caesar, the vicar of Christ took up the scepter to which the emperors and kings of Europe were to bow in reverence through so many ages."--American Catholic Quarterly Review, April, 1911.

[Speaking of the time, about 500 A.D., when the Roman Empire was crumbling to pieces:] "No, the [Catholic] Church will not descend into the tomb. It will survive the Empire . . . At length a second empire will arise, and of this empire the Pope will be the master--more then this, he will be the master of Europe. He will dictate his orders to kings who will obey them"--Andrea Lagarde, The Latin Church in the Middle Ages, 1915, p. vi.

"From the foregoing, which treats merely of the more important solar festivles, it is clear that these products of paganism are as much in force at present... as they ever were, and that Christianity countenances, and in many cases has actually adopted and practiced, pagan rites whose heathen significance is merely lost sight of because attention is not called to the source whence those rites have spring. So heavy was this infiltration that Sir Samuel Dill exclaims: "Christianity is only a sect of the Mithraists." -Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius. P. vii

NOTICE THE LIST BELOW. NOTICE HOW BABYLON INVENTED THE DOCTRINE TO WORSHIP THE PAGAN SUN GOD. THEN NOTICE THE "CHRISTIAN" CHURCH OF ROME ADOPTING 100% OF THE PAGAN DOCTRINES GIVING THEM CHRISTIAN NAMES.


INVENTED FOR THE PAGAN SUN GOD BAAL Became CATHOLIC DOCTRINES OF THE VATICAN
1. The nativity of the Sun, the birth of Tammuz Dec. 25 became The nativity of Jesus, Christmas Dec 25.
2. The Midsummer festival held Jun 24 became The Nativity of St. John held June 24.
3. The assumption of Semiramus who became the mother godess became The assumption of Mary, who became the mother of G-d.
4. The mother goddess was worshipped as the Queen of Heaven. Jer. 7:18 became The Virgin Mary worshipped as the Queen of Heaven.
4.a "Queen of Heaven" is wrath suduer of the Pagan god became Mary, "Queen of Heaven" subdues the wrath of Christ and His Father against sinners.
5. Cakes decorated to the goddess with a "+" drawn on it. Jer. 44:17,19 became Hot cross buns.
6. 40 days fasting for Tammuz, Ezek. 8:14 became the 40 days of Lent.
7. Pagan festival of Easter. Ezek 8:16 became The festival of Easter.
8. The ressurection of Tammuz at Easter and the procession of graven images during holy week became The procession of graven images of Jesus, Mary, and Peter, and of the saints during holy week.
9. Veneration of graven images of Baal, Ishtar, Tammuz and lesser gods in the heavens
became the Veneration of graven images of Jesus, Mary, Peter, and of the "lesser" saints in the heavens.
10. The belief of immortality of the soul and burning place of torment became The belief of immortality of the soul and burning place of torment.
11. The doctrine of purgatory became The doctrine of purgatory.
12. The belief of the dead visiting the living, feast held for all in November, (All souls day)became The festival of all souls day held Nov. 2, and all saints day held Nov. 1 (All souls day).
13. Burning incense and candles Jer 11:17; Ezek 8:11 became The burning of incense and candles.
14. Chants and repetative prayers. Beaded prayer chains became Gregorian chants and the Rosary.
15. Symbol of the cross as symbol of Sun worship. Mesopotamian cylinder seal depicted the "cross in the sky" as a symbol of sun worship. Ancient carvings of an Assyrian king has a huge cross carved on his chest. The oldest pictures in the world from Mesopotamia has text with is explaining the "cross" in the sky as the sun. This particular find is on display at the University Museum in Philadelphia. became The crucifix.
16. Amulets and idols ro scare away evil spirits became The wearing of crucifixes and medals displayed for protection. (Scapular = main example)
17. The round disk "sun" wafer IHS symbol of Isis, Horus & Seb, eaten as food for the soul. Some wafers also had a large "+" sign engraved on them as well to symbolize Baal. became The wafer used in the Eucharist is round with IHS engraved on it on on one side, and many have a large "+" engraved on the other side.
18. Painting of the child (Tammuz) and mother (Semiramus) with the glory of the Sun around their heads became Paintings of the child (Jesus) and mother (Mary) with halos or of the Sun around their heads.
19. Infant baptism, and sprinkling of holy water became Infant baptism, and sprinkling of holy water.
20. Necromancy (Talking to the dead) Mysticism became(Novenas (prayers) to the dead.
21. The first day of the week kept sacred to honor the Persian sun god Mithra. "SUN"day became The admitted change of 7th day Sabbath to "SUN"day.
22. Title Pontifex Maximus name for chief head of the pagan Babylonian system of idolatry became Pontifex Maximus one of the first names for the office of Pope.
23. Janus and Cybele, holders of the keys to Heaven and Hell became The pope claims to have the keys of Peter.
24. The high priest kings carried on a throne to the to the Temple of his god became The Pope carried on a portable throne to the Basilica of St. Peter (Sedia Gestoria).
25. The Pagan high priest king believed to be the incarnate of the Sun god became The Pope proclaims to be Christ's Vicar (replacement) here on Earth. It is also recorded in numerous documents that the pope believes he is god on earth.
26. Offerings of "good works" to appease the gods became Penance, indulgences, salvation by works.
27. Houses for the virgin priestesses (Prostitutes) to be employed at Pagan temples to "service" priests that were not 'gay' Nuns.became (Recent modern day sex scandals.)
28. Human sacrifices burned by fire as offering to appease Sun god became Opposers of doctrines of the Roman Catholic church burned at the stake.
29. Gold was considered the flesh of the "Sungod" Vatican and numerous Catholic Cathedrals are lietrally drenched in gold throughout.
30. Gargoils = a pagan god of protection Vatican as well as thousands of Catholic churches have gargoils on their roofs for 'protection'.
31. Phallic symbol of the male sex organ placed on roofs as a sign of allegiance with Baal Largest phallic symbol in center of St. Peter's square as well as steeples on all Catholic churches.
32. Solar wheel as symbol for Baal worship can be found carved into ancient as well as modern Buddhist temples,, carved into ancient ornament representing Osiris. Stone carvings showing a whell to represent and Assyrio Babylonian altar. St Peter's square has largest solar wheel on planet. ALL Catholic churches have numerous solar wheels in stain glass windows as well as many other areas of the church. Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris sports a very huge one on it's face. There is a great one in ceiling as well as the floor tiles of the monastery of St. Ignatius Loyola in Spain. Numerous paintings, statues, ornaments, and letterheads of all Catholic churches have one or more "solar wheels" depicted upon them. And the ONE WORLD CHURCH that started on June 26, 2000 uses the solar wheel as its official logo.
33. Symbol of serpent on numerous Roman bath houses. became Symbol of serpent on numerous Catholic church in door handles, Papal crests, etc.
34. Atlas carries the universe on his soilders became Numerous Popes depicted in paintings in same manner.
35. Symbols of the "Unicorn, Peacock, and Phoenix" used to signify sun god became Symbols of the "Unicorn, Peacock, and Phoenix" used to symbolize the Christ in many churches on doors or chapels as well as sanctuarys holding the 'eucharist'.
36. Crescent moon used to signify moon goddess "Nanna" became Crescent used to cradle Eucharist in the Monstrance of the Catholic church. As well as depicted in numerous paintings and scupltures with Mary standing within it.
37. Three letters "S.F.S" within a small blaze is used to represent the universal symbol for the number "6" in the Pagan mysteries became S.F.S in a small blaze is carved into the Vatican Monstrance in the Vatican museum as well as many monstrances the world over.
38. Alternating rays of the sun burst used to represent unity of "man and woman" common in all aspects of Paganism.became (Curved ray = female "yonic" Straight ray = male "phallic") Monstrance of Catholicism as well as many paintings and sculptures all depict same rays of both the "phallic and yonic" symbolism can be found literally all over the Roman Catholic church.
39. Carvings of "nature spirits" (fauns or satyrs) depicting a horned, hoofed-god were a common feature in all Pagan cultsbecame Carvings of "nature spirits" (fauns or satyrs) depicting a horned, hoofed-god are found all over the Treasury of the Vatican beneath St Peters square as well as many Cathedrals.
40. Statues of a "Madonna" found in all Pagan cults as well as Egyptian Madonna Isis with her son Horus, or Hindu cults with Divaki and her son Krishna Statues of Mary can be found in all Catholic churches holding baby Jesus.
41. Statue of Zeus holds symbol of thunder and a lightening bolt to symbolise his position as a god. Mary depicted in many statues holding the pagan symbol of thunder.
42. Demi-gods holding crooked diving staff representative of the serpent and lightening boltbecame Pope carries exact same staff (serpent crosiers).
43. Adad, Enlil, Baal, Neptune, Poseidon and other "gods" of storm and sea were depicted as carrying tridents became Crosses as well as statues of Jesus and Mary in Cathedrals all over the world carved with tridents on them.
44. Hand gestures in the form of a trident found depicted in Jupiter, Buddah, Appollo, Hindu diety's, as well as "votive hands" in pagan temples became Statue of St. Peter (Actually the old Jupiter statue of Rome) as well as millions of other statues, painitings, photos, and videos of everyone from Jesus and Mary to priests, cardinals,bishops, all the Popes, Vatican guards and even lay people in the Catholic church seen holding up the three finger trident salute of pagan Rome. (Now called the salute to the Trinity)
45. Pine cones used to represent the diety of a solar god Osiris, Bacchus, Dionysus, as well as Mexican gods, Hindu gods, and Assyrian gods became the largest pine cone sculpture in the world found in the "Court of the pine cone" at the Vatican. Pine cone is also found carved into the crooked pagan staff (serpent crosier) or the Popes of Rome. In fact the pine cone is found all throughout the Vatican as well as Cathedrals as decoration.
46. Oanne, Babylonian fish-god (half man half fish) was depicted by Pagan high priests by wearing a fish head mitre (head dress) upon a man's head to symbolize man and fish joining when the "sun god" sets into the ocean. (Neptune = case in point. Half man & half fish) One particular Biblical diety = "Dagon" Dag=fish On=sun Mitres are worn by all Popes of Catholcism.
47. The Roman sun-god with the alternating yonic and phallic symbols surrounding his head was found carved in excavated Roman bath houses in England. It is also found as "Apollo" on the facade of the Pergamum Museum in East Berlin. Almost all Catholic churches have the exact same carving above their pulpits, pillars, on statues, as well as carved into ceilings above altars. Some Catholic churches actually have it carved into the Eucharist itself.
48. Statues of the Romanized Egyptians Isis with globes in hand, Hercules as a solar diety carried the very same globe in hand, and the Persian sun-god Mithra is also depicted with the globe in hand as a sign ruler of the Universe. The Vatican has a solid gold statues of Jesus with the globe in hand, plus a black marble statue called "the black virgin of Montserrat" and a statue of a "child Jesus" with globe in hand, the list goes on...
49. Coptic shells were carved to symbolize the Universe. Roman grave stones used them to represent the Heavens. Statues of Atlas can be found carrying the "universe" shell upon its shoulders. Pagan Rome carved Poseidon with the shell in his head. Venus was said to be born IN a coptic shell. St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican has the Pagan symbols within the papal crest upon the wall. The Coptic shell is found over the crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral in London. This cosmic symbol is often used as a font for holy water in Catholic churches the world over. They even have statues of angels holding the pagan symbol.
50. Large evil eye can be found carved on a Roman sarcophagus in the National Archaeological Museum in Rome Italy. Masonic pendants have them as well. Hathor the "eye of Osiris" can be found all over Egyptian temple. It was commonly used as protection against evil magic. This very same evil eye within the pyramid is found on Roman Catholic pulpits, ceilings, altars, doors, pendants, medals, etc.
It is also on the back of the dollar bill of the USA on the left side.
51. The multi-level crown was first worn by old Babylonian gods in 1800 BCE. The horned tiara was carved atop Assyrian winged-bull cherubims. The Jewish Kabbalistic solar diety wore this very same tiara, as did Krishna. The bronze tomb of Pope Sixtus (Pope 6) has this three ringed tiara on his head. On that tiara you can also see 6 serpents upon it. All the Popes have word the tiara as a symbol of their authority as "gods of the earth, heaven, and hell" Hence, the "three rings" upon it. The Vatican has a solid gold tiara on display in the Vatican treasury.
52. Quetzalcoatl, the lord of life and death in the Aztec and Toltec cultures of 1000AD had an open chest with an exposed heart displayed. This was believed to be nourishment offered to the sun gods. Literally hundreds of thousands of statues, paintings, posters, lithographs, etc have Jesus as well as Mary depicted in the same manner with what the Catholic church calls "The sacred heart." Notice that these "sacred hearts" also have the symbols of the sun god Mithra glowing rather boldly behind them.
53. Assyrians carvings show eagles as genies hovering over the dead. Their "book of the dead" depicts just such a picture on its cover. Eagles are used as symbols all over the Roman Catholic church. See Rev 18:2 speaks of the Vatican as the "hold of ever foul spirit, and a cage of ever unclean and hateful bird."


Now do you understand WHY the Vatican is declared the "WHORE OF BABYLON?"

WHO AND WHAT IS BABYLON ?

Below data was compiled by... Let There Be Light Ministries

Descriptions and delineations of the characteristics of Babylon derived from the Bible

1. Abundant in treasures--Jeremiah 51:13.
2. All connected with her are made rich (not riches of heaven)--Revelation 18:19.
3. Are liars--Jeremiah 50:36.
4. Are mad (lost their reason) upon their idols--Jeremiah 50:38.
5. Beasts inhabit--Isaiah 13:21-22.
6. Believes that G-d does not dwell with humanity (Christ's nature before fall)--Daniel 2:11.
7. Believes they are gods--Isaiah 47:8, 10.
8. Besieges G-d's professed church until it falls captive--2 Kings 24:10-12, 25:1-4; Jeremiah 39:1-2.
9. Breaks bones of G-d's people--Jeremiah 50:17.
10. Breaks down walls of G-d's professed church--2 Kings 25:9; 2 Chronicles 36:19; Ezra 5:12; Jeremiah 39:8.
11. Builds city and tower whose top reaches unto heaven--Genesis 11:4.
12. Builds great image of man for all to worship--Daniel 3:1-7.
13. Burns with fire G-d's professed church--2 Kings 25:9; 2 Chronicles 36:19; Jeremiah 21:10, 38:23, 39:8.
14. Camps against G-d's professed church until is succumbs--Jeremiah 52:4-7.
15. Carries away treasures (precious truths) out of G-d's once faithful church--2 Kings 24:13; 2 Chron 36:7, 10, 18.
16. Carries away all the mighty men--2 Kings 24:14.
17. Casts out G-d's people--Jeremiah 51:34.
18. Causes G-d's people to be slain--Jeremiah 51:49.
19. Celebration is in her midst--Jeremiah 51:39.
20. Commands all to worship image of man at sound of music--Daniel 3:1-7.
21. Completely captivates majority of members until only a remnant remain--2 Kings 25:11-12, 22; 2 Chronicles 36:20; Ezra 5:12; Jeremiah 39:9-10, 40:11.
22. Completely removes all precious vessels which were once held by God's church--2 Kings 25:13-17.
23. Connected with hell--Isaiah 14:9.
24. Connected with Mysteries of spiritualism--Revelation 17:5.
25. Connected with scarlet-colored beast (secret societies)--Revelation 17:3.
26. Connected with ships (other churches)--Revelation 18:17.
27. Connected with spiritualism--Ezekiel 21:21.
28. Corrupts earth with fornication--Revelation 19:2.
29. Crushes G-d's people--Jeremiah 51:34.
30. Cuts down people as trees--Isaiah 14:8.
31. Cuts in pieces precious vessels of God's once faithful church--2 Kings 24:13, 25:13; 2 Chronicles 36:19.
32. Deals in slaves--Revelation 18:13.
33. Deals in souls of men--Revelation 18:13.
34. Deceives by sorceries--Revelation 18:23.
35. Defiles sacred vessels and precious things of God's design--Daniel 5:2-4.
36. Destroys all the earth--Jeremiah 51:25.
37. Destroys G-d's heritage--Jeremiah 50:11.
38. Devours G-d's people--Jeremiah 51:34.
39. Does evil among God's people--Jeremiah 51:24.
40. Does not consider her possible destruction (does not lay these things to heart)--Isaiah 47:7.
41. Does not glorify G-d--Daniel 5:23.
42. Does not remember warnings given about her destruction--Isaiah 47:7.
43. Does not want to fight outwardly--Jeremiah 51:30.
44. Does violence to G-d's people--Jeremiah 51:35.
45. Does what she wants to, yet believes she will see no sorrow (no punishment or judgment for her actions)-- Revelation 18:7.
46. Drunken with the blood of G-d's saints--Revelation 17:6.
47. Dwells carelessly--Isaiah 47:8.
48. Dwells upon many waters--Jeremiah 51:13.
49. Employs reapers to harvest fields (sown with seeds of falsehood)--Jeremiah 50:16
50. Employs sowers (to spread seeds of falsehood)--Jeremiah 50:16.
51. Fears not the Lord--2 Kings 17:25.
52. Full of astonishment--Jeremiah 25:10.
53. Full of falsehoods--Jeremiah 51:17.
54. Full of pomp--Isaiah 14:11.
55. Full of unclean birds--Jeremiah 50:39.
56. Full of wild beasts--Jeremiah 50:39.
57. Full of vanity--Jeremiah 51:18.
58. Given to pleasure--Isaiah 47:8.
59. Glorifies herself--Revelation 18:7.
60. Great majority of wise men are liars and corrupt--Daniel 2:2, 9.
61. Grows fat (on sin)--Jeremiah 50:11.
62. Has broad walls--Jeremiah 51:58.
63. Has daughters--Jeremiah 50:42.
64. Has high gates--Jeremiah 51:58.
65. Has trial (inquisition) to determine crimes against her decrees--Daniel 3:13-15
66. Heart is lifted up--Daniel 5:20.
67. Her captains are drunk and asleep--Jeremiah 51:57.
68. Her cities (churches) are a dry land (no refreshing of the latter rain)--Jeremiah 51:43.
69. Her cities (churches) are a wilderness--Jeremiah 51:43.
70. Her cities (churches) are desolate (no Saviour)--Jeremiah 51:43.
71. Her cry (glory) is found in ships--Isaiah 43:14.
72. Her men are brutish in their own knowledge--Jeremiah 51:17.
73. Her mighty men are drunk and asleep--Jeremiah 51:57.
74. Her princes are drunk and asleep--Jeremiah 51:57.
75. Her rulers are drunk and asleep--Jeremiah 51:57.
76. Her waves (ministers--those raised up above the level of the sea or people) do roar--Jeremiah 51:55.
77. Her wise men are drunk and asleep--Jeremiah 51:57.
78. Highest leader becomes angry when his will is disregarded for G-d's will--Daniel 3:19.
79. Highest leader makes hasty decisions--Daniel 2:15.
80. Holds G-d's people captive--Jeremiah 50:33.
81. Is clothed in gorgeous apparel (but not the robe of Christ's righteousness)--Revelation 17:4, 18:16.
82. Is covetous--Jeremiah 51:13.
83. Is desolate--Jeremiah 25:10; Revelation 17:6.
84. Is filled with delicacies--Jeremiah 51:34.
85. Is full of abominations--Revelation 17:4.
86. Is full of filthiness--Revelation 17:4.
87. Is full of mingled-people (mixed-multitude)--Jeremiah 50:37.
88. Is great and mighty in eyes of world--Revelation 17:18, 18:10, 16.
89. Is intimately connected with merchants--Isaiah 47:15; Revelation 18:3.
90. Is lustful--Revelation 18:14.
91. Is naked--Revelation 17:16; Isaiah 47:3.
92. Is perverted--Isaiah 47:10.
93. Is proud against the Lord--Jeremiah 50:29, 31-32.
94. Keeps G-d's people captive as prisoners--Isaiah 14:17.
95. Language was confounded (confused)--Genesis 11:7-9.
96. Lifts up self against the Lord--Daniel 5:23.
97. Lives deliciously--Revelation 18:7
98. Lucifer is her king--Isaiah 14:4, 12.
99. Made up of many nations (churches) flowing (uniting) into one--Jeremiah 51:44.
100. Makes all nations (churches) commit fornication with her--Revelation 14:8, 18:3
101. Makes all nations (churches) drink of her wine (false doctrines)--Revelation 14:8, 18:3
102. Makes all the earth drunken--Jeremiah 51:7; Revelation 17:2.
103. Makes all the earth mad (without reason)--Jeremiah 51:7.
104. Makes G-d's people empty--Jeremiah 51:34.
105. Makes inhabitants of earth commit fornication with her--Revelation 17:2.
106. Mind hardened by pride--Daniel 5:20.
107. Mounts up to heaven--Jeremiah 51:53.
108. Not humble of heart, even though aware of G-d's will--Daniel 5:22.
109. Once had (heavenly) craftsmen in her, but no more--Revelation 18:22.
110. Once had (heavenly) music in her, but no more--Revelation 18:22.
111. Once had the light of a candle in her, but no more (no more light of G-d's truths--candlestick removed)--Jeremiah 25:10; Revelation 18:23.
112. Once had the sound of a millstone in her (grinding out seed or hammering out the truth), but no more--Jeremiah 25:10; Revelation 18:22.
113. Once had the voice of the bride in her (was once the true church), but no more--Jeremiah 25:10; Revelation 18:23.
114. Once had the voice of the Bridegroom (Christ) in her, but no more--Jeremiah 25:10; Revelation 18:23.
115. Once had the voice of gladness (gospel of Christ) within, but no more--Jeremiah 25:10.
116. Once had the voice of mirth within, but no more--Jeremiah 25:10.
117. Once was clean and pure, but now is a cage (closed structure) of every unclean and hateful bird--Revelation 18:2.
118. Once was the habitation of G-d's angels, but now is the habitation of devils--Revelation 18:2.
119. Once was the hold of the Holy Spirit, but now is the hold of every foul spirit--Revelation 18:2.
120. Oppresses--Isaiah 14:4; Jeremiah 50:16, 33.
121. Persecutes by fire all who do not bow and worship image of man--Daniel 3:6.
122. Places relatives in high positions of leadership (nepotism)--2 Kings 24:17.
123. Practices abundant enchantments--Isaiah 47:8, 12.
124. Practices divination--Ezekiel 21:21.
125. Practices sorcery--Isaiah 47:9, 12.
126. Produces evildoers--Isaiah 14:20.
127. Produces other harlots--Revelation 17:5.
128. Puts on pretense of piety--Isaiah 47:1.
129. Refuses to be healed of sin--Jeremiah 51:9.
130. Refuses to let go of G-d's people--Jeremiah 50:33.
131. Reigns over others--Revelation 17:18.
132. Reigns without a king (being a widow, or divorced by Husband)--Revelation 18:7.
133. Replaces G-d's people with pagan believers--2 Kings 17:24.
134. Sins have reached unto heaven (corporate probation closed)--Revelation 18:5.
135. Sits on seven hills--Revelation 17:9.
136. Sits upon many waters--Revelation 17:1, 15.
137. Shows no mercy--Isaiah 47:6.
138. Shows no respect for age--Isaiah 47:6.
139. Sleeps a perpetual sleep--Jeremiah 51:39.
140. Smites--Isaiah 14:6.
141. Speaks with a great voice--Jeremiah 51:55.
142. Strives against the Lord--Jeremiah 50:24.
143. Swallows up G-d's people--Jeremiah 51:34.
144. Takes away precious things belonging to G-d's people--Isaiah 39:6.
145. Teaches immortality of the soul (a lady for ever)--Isaiah 47:7.
146. Teaches that she will never be destroyed (a lady or church for ever)--Isaiah 47:7.
147. The praise of the whole earth--Jeremiah 51:41.
148. Tries to be worshiped as G-d--Isaiah 14:14.
149. Tries to hide her nakedness--Isaiah 47:3.
150. Tries to hide her shame--Isaiah 47:3.
151. Tries to make themselves a name--Genesis 11:4.
152. Tries to prevent separation (lest we be scattered)--Genesis 11:4.
153. Tries to serve G-d and false gods at same time--2 Kings 17:32-33.
154. Tries to unite all into one--Genesis 11:4.
155. Trusts in wickedness--Isaiah 47:10.
156. Unites G-d's precious vessels (truths) with corrupt vessels (false doctrines)--Ezra 5:14.
157. Uses intimidation to bring about submission of will to worship image of man--Daniel 3:13-15.
158. Uses slime as mortar for the walls of Babylon--Genesis 11:3.
159. Waters are dried up--Jeremiah 50:38.
160. Worships false gods--Isaiah 21:9.
161. Worships idols--Jeremiah 50:2.


Why Does G-d's Once Faithful Church Become Part of Babylon

1. Because her precious vessels are removed--Daniel 1:2.
2. Because her precious vessels are united with Babylonian treasures--Daniel 1:2.
3. Because her shepherds (ministers) caused their sheep (members) to go astray--Jeremiah 50:6.
4. Because her sins reach unto heaven (corporate probation closed)--Jeremiah 51:9.
5. Because her strength is placed in the church, not in God--Ezekiel 24:2, 21.
6. Because highest leader becomes blind--2 Kings 25:7; Jeremiah 39:7; Jeremiah 52:11.
7. Because highest leader does evil in G-d's sight--2 Chronicles 36:5.
8. Because highest leader hardens neck against G-d--2 Chronicles 36:13.
9. Because highest leader is among thorns--2 Chronicles 33:11.
10. Because highest leader makes covenant with Babylon leaders--Ezekiel 17:13.
11. Because highest leader stiffens neck against G-d--2 Chronicles 36:13.
12. Because majority of leaders and ministers follow after the abominations of other nations (churches)--2 Chron 36:14.
13. Because majority of leaders and ministers transgress against G-d--2 Chronicles 36:14.
14. Because of a famine occurring (no word of G-d) in midst of church--Jeremiah 52:6
15. Because of arrogance--Isaiah 14:5.
16. Because of evil--Isaiah 13:11.
17. Because of evil doing--Jeremiah 32:30, 32.
18. Because of iniquity--Ezekiel 24:2, 23.
19. Because of pride--Isaiah 14:5.
20. Because of worshiping false gods--Acts 7:43.
21. Because of rebellion--Ezekiel 17:12, 24:3.
22. Because of there being no bread (no Saviour) in midst of church--Jeremiah 52:6.
23. Because of transgressions--1 Chronicles 9:1.
24. Because of wickedness--Isaiah 14:5.
25. Because she allowed abominations to be practiced in midst--Jeremiah 32:33.
26. Because she allowed scum to remain within her--Ezekiel 24:2, 6.
27. Because she allowed strangers into midst--Jeremiah 51:51.
28. Because she became polluted--2 Chronicles 36:14.
29. Because she broke covenant made with God--Ezekiel 17:19.
30. Because she chose to unite with Egypt (world) which occurs just before becoming part of Babylon--Ezek 17:15-18.
31. Because she despises oath made with G-d--Ezekiel 17:19.
32. Because she filled land (whole structure) with sin against the Lord--Jeremiah 51:5.
33. Because she follows other gods--Jeremiah 32:35.
34. Because she forgot her resting place (Jesus)--Jeremiah 50:6.
35. Because she forgot sacredness of G-d's Sabbath--2 Chronicles 36:21.
36. Because she harkened not to G-d's instructions--Jeremiah 32:33, 36:31.
37. Because she is full of blood--Ezekiel 24:2, 6-9.
38. Because she is full of filthiness--Ezekiel 24:2, 11.
39. Because she is full of iniquity--Isaiah 14:5.
40. Because she is full of lewdness--Ezekiel 24:2, 13.
41. Because she is full of lies--Ezekiel 24:2, 12.
42. Because she obeyed not G-d's voice--Jeremiah 40:2-3.
43. Because she provoked G-d to anger--Jeremiah 32:32.
44. Because she provoked G-d to wrath--Ezra 5:12.
45. Because she refuses to be purged by G-d--Ezekiel 24: 2, 13.
46. Because she sacrificed her children to false gods--Jeremiah 32:35.
47. Because she sinned against the Lord--Jeremiah 50:7.
48. Because she trespassed against G-d--Ezekiel 17:20.
49. Because she turned back and not face to G-d--Jeremiah 32:33.
50. Because the desire of her eyes was for the church, not for G-d--Ezekiel 24:2, 21
51. Because the joy of her glory was not Jesus--Ezekiel 24:2, 25.


Principles and Things to Remember About Babylon

1. All inhabitants (members) are partakers of Babylon's sins--Revelation 18:4.
2. All inhabitants (members) are to receive of Babylon's judgments or plagues--Revelation 18:4.
3. All inhabitants (members) will fall in the midst of Babylon--Jeremiah 51:47.
4. All who are part of, or joined with, Babylon shall be destroyed--Isaiah 13:15, 14:22.
5. Babylon falls piece by piece--Jeremiah 51:31.
6. Babylon is likened to a destroying mountain--Jeremiah 51:25.
7. Babylon is the dwelling place for dragons--Jeremiah 51:37.
8. Babylon will fall suddenly and is completely unaware--Jeremiah 50:24, 51:8.
9. Blood is upon all the inhabitants (members) of Babylon--Jeremiah 51:35.
10. Even highest leader of Babylon will fall down and worship at feet of G-d's saints--Daniel 2:46.
11. Even the ungodly realized that G-d's once chosen and faithful church was part of Babylon because she obeyed not G-d's voice--Jeremiah 40:2-3.
12. G-d's once faithful church became connected with Babylon, but while many of His professed people were being slain because of it, G-d extended mercy to those who had no connection with the rebellious church--Jeremiah 39:16-18.
13. G-d's once faithful church makes covenant with Babylon, but after it is made, the only way the church can continue to stand is by continuing with covenant--Ezekiel 17:14.
14. G-d restores all His precious vessels (truths) only to those who separate from Babylon--Ezra 1:11, 5:14-15, 6:5.
15. G-d's true people are to be delivered from midst of Babylon--Micah 4:10; Zechariah 2:7.
16. Highest leader of G-d's professed church was captured and made prisoner, but finally gave up warfare and agreed to become a leader in Babylon--2 Kings 25:27-30; Jeremiah 52:31-34.
17. Kings of the earth commit fornication with Babylon--Revelation 17:2, 18:3.
18. Merchants lived on Babylon's delicacies--Revelation 18:3.
19. Message of the fall of Babylon begins the time of harvest--Jeremiah 51:27, 33.
20. Names changed when become part of Babylon--Daniel 1:7.
21. No one is forced to leave Babylon to rebuild G-d's church--Ezra 7:13.
22. Only health reform kept a small remnant pure while in Babylon--Daniel 1:8, 16.
23. Only those who separated from Babylon to rebuilt G-d's church, and who were of one accord, can be written down on the new membership list of God's church--Nehemiah 7:5-13, 8:1.
24. Only those who separate from Babylon will have G-d's covenant of peace--Jeremiah 32:36-44.
25. Some of those who separate from Babylon are made to wear crowns of gold--Zechariah 6:10-15.
26. Souls are held guilty of Babylon's sins if remain part of her--Jeremiah 51:6.
27. Souls are lost if they remain part of Babylon--Jeremiah 51:6.
28. Takes about three years to try and defile and corrupt G-d's people with Babylonian meat and wine--Dan 1:5, 8.
29. The blood of all G-d's servants is found within Babylon--Revelation 18:24, 19:2
30. The least (weakest) of G-d's flock brings Babylon down--Jeremiah 50:45.
31. There were three different attacks against church until it was completely conquered--Jeremiah 52:28-30.
32. Those who separate to rebuild G-d's church are supported with freewill gifts--Ezra 7:15-17.
33. Three parts make up Babylon the great--Revelation 16:19.
34. When Babylon captures church only a poor remnant left--Jeremiah 52:16.
35. When Babylon captures church she breaks down all her walls--Jeremiah 52:14.
36. When Babylon captures church she breaks down all the great pillars supporting it--Jeremiah 52:17, 20-23.
37. When Babylon captures church she burns it with fire--Jeremiah 52:13.
38. When Babylon captures church she takes away all the precious vessels (truths)--Jeremiah 52:18-19.
39. When church becomes part of Babylon, blindness occurs (eyes put out) and cannot really see that church and membership are indeed part of Babylon--Jeremiah 39:7; Ezekiel 12:13.
40. When church becomes part of Babylon, her members become lost sheep--Jeremiah 50:6.
41. When G-d calls for His people to separate from Babylon, it is a new beginning (1st day of 1st month)--Ezra 7:9. See Revelation 18:4

Well dear one, are you involved in counterfeit or real doctrines? Why not leave them all and go on to perfection? Hebrews 6:1-8 we read: "Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward G-d, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will we do, if G-d permit. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted (Revelation 3:20) of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost (1 John 2:27), And have tasted the good word (John 10:27) of G-d, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of G-d afresh, and put him to an open shame. For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from G-d: But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned."

You have to hear the real G-d dear one - if you really want to obey Him! Shalom!

Is Easter a Christian Holyday?

Next to Christmas, Easter is the most significant annual celebration for many Christians - in fact, there are many "CE Christians" who only attend "church" services on Christmas and Easter. (See my earlier teaching on Christmas.) Palm Sunday is held by Christians to be the day of Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem. For many denominational Christians, Good Friday marks the day of Jesus' crucifixion and Easter Sunday is celebrated as the day that Jesus rose from the grave. But did Easter really begin with the Resurrection of Jesus Christ? NO! Was Jesus crucified on Friday? NO! What else is not scripturally true?

Jesus Christ died at the Jewish Passover, a celebration very different from denominational Easter. (See Luke, chapter 22.) The Passover, instituted at the time of the Exodus (see Exodus 12), was a prophetic symbol of Jesus Christ’s blood sacrifice. Isaiah prophesied that Jesus Christ would suffer as the silent lamb of G-d (see Isaiah 53:78). John the Baptist John recognized that Jesus was to die the death of the Passover lamb and called Jesus “the lamb of G-d.” (John 1:29) Jesus truly gave His life on Passover as the Passover lamb in fulfillment of scripture. Jesus and His Apostles and the early church all celebrated Passover. (See my teachings on Christianity's Jewish Roots and Whose Feasts are they?) While virtually the whole of denominational Christendom now views Good Friday and Easter Sunday as holy days, the one Holy day of the week that Jesus Christ set apart as Holy is almost completely unknown by most Christians. The Holy Sabbath, which Christ sanctified in Creation week, faithfully kept throughout His whole life on earth, and even observed (as He rested in the tomb from His work of salvation) in His death, is not even acknowledged by most denominational Christians. Jesus arose after Saturday's Shalom Shabbat! (Even our current calendar still has Saturday as the seventh day of the week.)

Was Jesus Crucified on Friday? I believe that Jesus was actually crucified on Wednesday - as there were two Sabbaths that Passover week. After the first one (the one that occurred on the evening of the crucifixion [Mark 15:42; Luke 23:52-54]), the women purchased spices — after the Sabbath (Mark 16:1). This first Sabbath was the Passover. The second Sabbath that would come later that week was the normal Saturday Sabbath. Note that in Luke 23:56, the women who had purchased spices after the first Sabbath returned and prepared the spices, then “rested on the Sabbath” (Luke 23:56). They could not purchase the spices after the Sabbath, and still prepare those spices before the Sabbath—unless there were two Sabbaths. Jesus Christ was crucified during the day on Wednesday, then the High Holy Sabbath (the Passover) began that evening at sundown and ended after Thursday at sundown. Then there was Friday and at sundown we start of the normal weekly Sabbath which ends Saturday evening. Purchasing the spices after the first Sabbath (Passover) would have meant they purchased them on Saturday and were breaking the Sabbath. Therefore, the only explanation that does not violate the scriptural account of the women and the spices and holds to a literal understanding of Matthew 12:40, is that Jesus Christ was crucified on Wednesday. The Sabbath that was Passover occurred on Thursday, the women purchased spices (after that Sabbath) on Friday and returned and prepared the spices on the same day, they rested on Saturday which was the weekly Sabbath, then brought the spices to the tomb early Sunday morning. (There was no mourning that morning!) Jesus was buried near sundown on Wednesday, which began Thursday in the Jewish calendar. Using a Jewish calendar, you can count: Thursday night (night one), Thursday day (day one), Friday night (night two), Friday day (day two), Saturday night (night three), Saturday day (day three). We know that Jesus had risen “while it was still dark”), so He could have risen as early as just after sunset Saturday evening, which began the first day of the week for the Jews and so He did not violate Jesus' Sabbath day of rest. Men are still looking for G-d's Ark of the Covenant - Do you want to see where it was last? Then read John 20:1-2,12 - "Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene *came early to the tomb, while it *was still dark, and *saw the stone already taken away from the tomb. And so she *ran and *came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and *said to them, "They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.......... and she beheld two angels in white sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying."

Before we look at Easter - Let us look at New Year's Day. "Happy New Year!" is a very familiar greeting that will be heard over and over for at least the first couple of weeks as a new year gets under way. The celebration of the new year is the oldest of all "our" holidays. It was first observed in ancient Babylon about 4000 years ago. In the years around 2000 BCE, the Babylonian New Year began with the first New Moon (actually the first visible crescent) after the Vernal Equinox (first day of spring). The beginning of spring is a logical time to start a new year. After all, it is the season of rebirth, of planting new crops, and of blossoming. January 1, on the other hand, has no astronomical nor agricultural significance. It is purely arbitrary. The Babylonian new year celebration lasted for eleven days. Each day had its own particular mode of celebration, but it is safe to say that today's drunken New Year's Eve festivities are pale in comparison. The Romans continued to observe the new year in late March, but their calendar was continually tampered with by various emperors so that the calendar soon became out of synchronization with the sun. In order to set the calendar right, the Roman senate, in 153 BCE, declared January 1 to be the beginning of the new year. But tampering continued until Julius Caesar, in 46 BCE, established what has come to be known as the Julian Calendar. It again established January 1 as the new year. But in order to synchronize the calendar with the sun, Caesar had to let the previous year drag on for 445 days. In the first centuries AD as the Romans continued celebrating their licentious new year, the early Catholic Church condemned these festivities as paganism. But as Catholicism became more widespread, the early church began making its own "religious observances" to run concurrently with many of the pagan celebrations, and New Year's Day was no different. New Years is still observed as the Feast of Christ's Circumcision. During the Middle Ages, the Church remained opposed to allowing any member to celebrate New Years. January 1st has been celebrated as a holiday by Western nations for only about the past 400 years. Other Babylonian traditions of the season include the making of New Year's resolutions. Popular modern resolutions might include the promise to lose weight or to quit smoking. The early Babylonian's most popular resolution was to return borrowed farm equipment. The tradition of using a baby to signify the new year was first begun in Greece around 600 BCE. It was their tradition at that time to celebrate their god of wine, Dionysus, by parading a baby in a basket, representing the annual rebirth of that god as the spirit of fertility. Early Egyptians also used a baby as a symbol of rebirth. Although the early church leaders denounced this practice as pagan, the popularity of the baby as a symbol of rebirth forced them to reevaluate their position. The Church finally allowed its members to celebrate the new year with a baby but,, the baby was now to symbolize the birth of the baby Jesus!


Now, what about Easter? Since hundreds of millions of denominational Christians keep it, supposedly in honor of Jesus Christ’s Resurrection, then certainly the Bible must have a lot to say about it. Surely there must be numerous chapters or at least a few verses mentioning ham dinners, rabbits, eggs and egg hunts, baskets of candy, hot cross buns, Lent, Good Friday and sunrise services—not to mention the Easter celebration itself. Does the Bible even mention Easter? Yes. In Acts 12:1. King Herod began to persecute the Church, culminating in the brutal death of the apostle James (the brother of Jesus - Galatians 1:19) by sword. This pleased the Jews so much that the apostle Peter was also taken prisoner by Herod. The plan was to later deliver him to the Jews. In verse 3 it says, “Then were the days of unleavened bread.” The New Testament Church was observing the Lord's feast days described in Leviticus 23. Now read verse 4: “And when he [Herod] had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions [sixteen] of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.” Is this the Bible's proof of and for an Easter celebration? NO! This passage is not talking about a Christian Easter. How do we know? The word translated Easter here is from the Greek word pascha (derived from the Hebrew word pesach; there is no original Greek word for Passover, and it has only one meaning. It always means Passover—it can not and never will mean Easter! For this reason, we find a Hebrew word being used in the Greek New Testament. Once again, this Hebrew word can only refer to Passover. And other translations, including the Revised Standard Version, correctly render this word Passover. Instead of endorsing Easter, this verse really proves that the early Church was still observing the Jewish Passover ten years after the death of Jesus! Now let’s look at all the other scriptures that tell us to celebrate Easter. Whoops! There are none! There are absolutely no verses, anywhere in the Bible, that authorize or endorse the keeping of an Easter celebration! The Bible says absolutely nothing about Lent, eggs and egg hunts, baskets of candy, etc., although it may mention hot cross buns and states that sunrise services are abominations, all of which G-d condemns.

Who is the “queen of heaven”? Astarte (Easter)-worship was always associated with the worship of Baal or sun worship. Astarte was Baal’s wife. Notice that another name for Astarte was Ashtaroth. The following quote makes this point clear: “What means the term Easter itself? It is not a Christian name. It bears its Chaldean origin on its very forehead. Easter is nothing else than Astarte, one of the titles of Beltis, the queen of heaven…Now, the Assyrian goddess, or Astarte, is identified with Semiramis by Athenagoras (Legatio, vol. ii. p. 179), and by Lucian (De Dea Syria, vol iii. p. 382)…Now, no name could more exactly picture forth the character of Semiramis, as queen of Babylon, than the name of ‘Asht-tart,’ for that just means ‘The woman that made towers’…Ashturit, then…is obviously the same as the Hebrew "Ashtoreth’” (Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons, pp. 103, 307-308). Dear one, you can read from the Microsoft Encarta Multimedia Encyclopedia: “Ishtar was the Great Mother, the goddess of fertility and the queen of heaven.” So, in actuality, Ashtaroth (Ishtar) was Nimrod’s harlotrous, mother/wife widow, Semiramis, as many other ancient historians attest! Easter is now established as none other than the Ashtaroth of the Bible! What does HaShem think of her?: “And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord…And they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth [Easter]” (Judges 2:11, 13). HaShem allowed His people to be taken from their land into captivity as a result of this sin of serving her and Baal! G-d delivered His people over and over again through a series of judges. After each deliverance, Israel returned to the same false gods, which in turn brought another captivity, via conquest by the nations around them. They never seemed to learn, as verse 19 makes clear: “And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves…in following other gods…and…they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.” In Judges 10:6, Israel repeats this pattern of stubbornness. And HaShem, just as rightfully, still calls it evil.

Among all the women who have ever lived, Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ is the most celebrated, the most venerated...Among Roman Catholics, the Madonna is recognized not only as the Mother of G-d, but also, according to modern Popes, as the Queen of the Universe, Queen of Heaven, Seat of Wisdom, and even the Spouse of the Holy Spirit." -Time Magazine, "Handmaid or Feminist?", December 30, 1991, p. 62-66. Jeremiah 7:18 says, "... the women knead the dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger!" Is the Roman Catholic version of Mary really the Queen of Heaven from the Babylonian church of old that angered the Lord G-d in the book of Jeremiah? Out of all the proofs that expose the Vatican as the Pagan church Babylon, this has to be one of the most graphic. It’s almost as if they went back in time and copied this Pagan goddess exactly, so as to worship her as she desires them to. Old paintings and statues that have been found of this demonic goddess are exact duplicates of statues and paintings you will find today in Roman Catholic churches depicting Mary. Even the colors of her clothing match perfectly! In Alexander Hislop's book, "The Two Babylons", He traces the Babylonian worship of the Queen of Heaven back to the days following the death of Nimrod. As the story goes, after Nimrod's death, his wife, Semiramis, was determined to retain her power and wealth as a leader of the people. So, she came up with the idea that her husbands death was for the salvation of all mankind. Of course we know who actually schooled her in that demonic fallacy - satan. Hislop goes on to say that…"Though the death of her husband has given a rude shock to her power, yet her resolution and unbounded ambition were in nowise checked. On the contrary, her ambition took a still higher flight. In life her husband had been honored as a hero; in death she will have him worshipped as a god, yea, as the woman’s promised seed, “Zero-ashta,” who was destined to bruise the serpent's head, and in so doing, was to have his own heel bruised." The Two Babylons p. 58-59.

What do Catholics think of Mary?

- Pius IX, Ubi Primum, 1849: "For God has committed to Mary the treasury of all good things, in order that everyone may know that THROUGH HER are obtained every hope, every grace, and ALL SALVATION. For this is his will, that we obtain everything through Mary."
- Paul VI, Christi Matri. "The Church ... been accustomed to have recourse to that most ready intercessor, her Mother Mary ... For as St. Irenaeus says, she 'has become the cause of salvation for the whole human race"
- John Paul II, Dives in Misericordia, 1980, quoting Lumen Gentium, "In fact, by being assumed into heaven she has not laid aside the office of salvation but by the manifold intercession she continues to obtain for us the grace of eternal salvation."

The current Pope continues to call Mary his Queen - the Virgin Mother. Was Mary really a virgin ALL her life as Rome assumes? Or is there biblical evidence to prove otherwise? Mary truly was a virgin when she conceived Jesus - that much is true according to the Scriptures. But, what is the rest of the story?… "Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his BRETHREN, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his SISTERS, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?" Matthew 13:55-56 This verse confirms people in Jesus' hometown people watched Him grow up in that city helping His father in his trade as a carpenter. They remembered Jesus lived there as well as the fact that He had four brothers. PLUS they still have Jesus' SISTERS living among them. And again: "While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his BRETHREN stood without, desiring to speak with Him. Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy BRETHREN stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my BRETHREN? and he stretched forth his hand TOWARD HIS DISCIPLES, and said behold my mother and my BRETHREN!" Matthew 12:46-49 And yet once more: "And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and WITH HIS BRETHREN." Acts 1:13-14

Zoroastrianism is the oldest monotheistic religion and its precursor was called Mazdaism. It originated with Iranian speaking tribes (Aryans) who dominated a vast expanse of landmass that stretched from the shores North of the Black Sea all the way to plains of Northern India, Central Asia and Western China. Around the 700 BCE the Persians (with the Egyptians and Babylonians) were one of the most advanced civilizations ever known to mankind and their influence in the Middle East and Central Asia was to last for hundreds of years. Moreover, they left a legacy of their religion and culture. Denominational Christianity has basically adopted all these doctrines from Zoroastrianism: baptism, communion - the haoma ceremony, guardian angels, the heavenly journey of the soul, worship on Sunday, the celebration of Mithras' birthday on December 25th, celibate priests that mediate between man and G-d and the Trinity. The Zoroastrians also were the first to develop religious doctrines that included the concept of the original sin, heaven and hell (paradise is a word Persian origins which means 'enclose garden'), angels and demonology, a sacrificial saviour god (messiah), resurrection, final judgment and the apocalyptic battle between good and evil - long before Jesus was born. Which of these doctrines are you following dear one?

Satan is a very cunning deceiver. He always counterfeits prophetic truths in advance so as to make his lies appear "holy". In fact, in Hislops' book on page 76 he talks about Semiramis’ continued lies that got the people to believe her son was born miraculously. After they fell for that lie, she was then referred to as the “Virgin Mother” from that day forward. Is this not a demonic twist on the prophesied virgin birth of Jesus Christ? In reality, after Nimrod died, Semiramis committed adultery and had gotten pregnant. To prevent the people from killing her for proving she was “human” by her obvious pregnancy, she lied and told them her husband Nimrod had ascended to the Sun and is now called Baal. After she convinced them of this, she then stated he appeared to her and impregnated her without touching her with the rays of his glory. She also claimed that the moon was a goddess that went through a 28 day cycle and ovulated when full. She further said that she descended from the moon in a giant moon egg (see Easter eggs below) that fell into the Euphrates River. This was supposed to have happened during the first full moon after the spring equinox. This is where the Roman Catholic church gets their calculation for their Easter. Ask any Pagan or Catholic priest when Easter arrives, and they will most assuredly tell you that after the first full moon of Spring, the following Sunday will be Easter. The Babylonian people believed all the lies of Semiramis, and she was then crowned QUEEN OF HEAVEN. She later gave birth to her son and named him Tammuz. By the way, this so called “Queen of Heaven” was also called Iishtar. In today’s world, that word is pronounced - EASTER!


Easter had its origin long before the time of Jesus Christ. The very name "Easter", shows its heathen origin. "Easter" can also be derived from Eastre, or Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon Goddess of spring and dawn. The word "Easter" also can be derived from Astarte, the name of a Chaldean goddess, also called the “queen of heaven.” According to W. E. Vine in Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary, There also is some historical connection existing between the words "Easter" and "East," where the sun rises. The festival of Eostre was celebrated on the day of the Vernal Equinox (spring). Traditions associated with the festival of the Teutonic fertility goddess survive in the Easter rabbit and colored eggs. Spring is the season of new life and revival, when, from ancient times, the pagan peoples of Europe and Asia held their spring festivals, re-enacting ancient regeneration myths and performing magical and religious ceremonies to make the crops grow and prosper. From "The American Book of Days," by George William Douglas we read: "As the festival of Eostre was a celebration of the renewal of life in the spring it was easy to make it a celebration of the resurrection from the dead of Jesus. There is no doubt that the Church (of Rome) in its early days adopted the old pagan customs and gave a "Christian" meaning to them. From "Easter: its Story and Meaning," by Alan W. Watts is found: "The story of Easter is not simply a Christian story. Not only is the very name "Easter" the name of an ancient and non-Christian deity; the season itself has also, from time immemorial, been the occasion of rites and observances having to do with the mystery of death and resurrection among peoples differing widely in race and religion." From "Easter and its customs," by Christina Hole is found: "Vernal Mysteries (spring heathen rites) like those of Tammuz, and Osiris and Adonis flourished in the Mediterranean world and farther north and east there were others. Some of their rites and symbols were carried forward into Easter customs. Many of them have survived into our own day, unchanged yet subtly altered in their new surroundings to bear a "Christian" significance." The rites connected with the death and resurrection of the gods Tammuz, Osiris, and Adonis are the Forerunners of the "Christian" Easter; they are the first "Easter" services. Easter was distinct from the Christian Passover celebration that was kept by the early church. Easter was “introduced into the apostate Western religion, as part of the attempt to adapt pagan festivals to Christianity.” For the ancient pagans, Easter was a fertility celebration replete with fertility symbols: eggs, rabbits, and wheat. It was also connected to sun worship, which is why Easter celebrants often participate in Easter sun-rise celebrations. The mistranslation of Acts 12:4 is a not-so-subtle attempt to insert a pagan festival into scripture for the purpose of authorizing it.

The well-known Old Testament Passover story centers on G-d’s deliverance of Israel from Egypt through ten miraculous plagues. These included how the death angel would “pass over” all the houses where the Israelites lived. They were instructed to put blood over their doorposts to ensure that only the firstborn of Egypt would die. In this first Passover, it was only the blood of the slain lamb that protected each Israelite home. While Egypt suffered the plague of death, the Israelite firstborn were delivered by blood. By obeying God’s command and by faith in His promise to protect them, they were spared from death. The Passover account is found in Exodus 12:12-14 which clearly states that the Passover ceremony was commanded by G-d to be an annual memorial feast to be kept by Israel “forever.” (This command is repeated in Leviticus 23:5.) Exodus 12:15 introduces the seven-day festival called the Days of Unleavened Bread (also repeated in Leviticus 23:6-8), which was to immediately follow the Passover feast each year. This is why Acts 12:3 states, “Then were the days of unleavened bread,” before mentioning the Passover in the next verse. These days were always kept in conjunction with one another.

If the Passover was instituted forever, then New Testament instruction for its observance should be clear. This instruction is found in I Corinthians 5:7-8: “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast (of unleavened bread, which always followed Passover, as explained above)…” Christ, as the Lamb of G-d (John 1:29; Acts 8:32; I Peter 1:19; Rev. 5:6), replaced the Old Testament lamb eaten on Passover evening each year. The New Testament symbols of the bread and wine were instituted so that Christians could eat the body and drink the blood of Christ, the true Lamb of G-d. Jesus’ sacrifice replaced the need to kill a spring lamb. Luke 22:19 shows that Jesus substituted the bread and wine to be taken annually at the Seder meal in commemoration of His sacrifice for the remission of our sins—both spiritual and physical. Early Christians kept the Passover, not Easter. Notice this from the Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th edit., Vol. 8, p. 828: “There is no indication of the observance of the Easter festival in the New Testament, or in the writings of the Apostolic Fathers…The first Christians continued to observe the Jewish festivals [the Lord’s festivals of Leviticus 23], though in a new spirit, as commemorations of events which those festivals had foreshadowed. Thus the Passover, with a new conception added to it, of Christ as the true Paschal Lamb…continued to be observed.” The original apostles and early New Testament Church did not observe Easter. Notice: “In the second century A.D., Easter Day was, among Christians in Asia Minor [these would be the Gentile churches that Paul raised up in places such as Philippi, Colossae, Galatia, etc.—and he warned the Galatians (4:9-10) about taking days such as Easter] the 14th of Nisan [or Abib] the seventh month of the [civil] Jewish calendar” (World Almanac, 1968 edit., p. 187). The date described here is not Easter Day, but rather the Passover—which was kept on the 14th day of the first month (Nisan) of the sacred calendar. The apostles and early Church clearly did not observe Easter!

Despite the overwhelming proof that Lord’s Holy Days, as listed in Leviticus 23, are still to be kept by Christians today (Acts 2:1; 12:3; 18:21; 20:6, 16; I Cor. 5:7-8; 16:8), almost no one who claims to believe in the G-d of the Bible keeps them today! Easter has long been known to be a pagan festival! America’s founders knew this! A children’s book about the holiday, Easter Parade: Welcome Sweet Spring Time!, by Steve Englehart, p. 4, states, “When the Puritans came to North America, they regarded the celebration of Easter—and the celebration of Christmas—with suspicion. They knew that pagans had celebrated the return of spring long before Christians celebrated Easter…for the first two hundred years of European life in North America, only a few states, mostly in the South, paid much attention to Easter.” Not until after the Civil War did Americans begin celebrating this holiday: “Easter first became an American tradition in the 1870s” (p. 5). Remarkable! The original 13 colonies of America began as a “Christian” nation, with the cry of “No king but King Jesus!” The nation did not observe Easter within an entire century of its founding.

Does the following sound familiar?—Spring is in the air! Flowers and bunnies decorate the home. Father helps the children paint beautiful designs on eggs dyed in various colors. These eggs, which will later be hidden and searched for, are placed into lovely, seasonal baskets. The wonderful aroma of the hot cross buns mother is baking in the oven waft through the house. Forty days of abstaining from special foods will finally end the next day. The whole family picks out their Sunday best to wear to the next morning’s sunrise worship service to celebrate the savior’s resurrection and the renewal of life. Everyone looks forward to a succulent ham (kosher?) with all the trimmings. It will be a thrilling day. After all, it is one of the most important religious holidays of the year. Easter, right? No! This is a description of an ancient Babylonian family—2,000 years before Jesus Christ—honoring the resurrection of their god, Tammuz, who was brought back from the underworld by his mother/wife, Ishtar (after whom the festival was named). As Ishtar was actually pronounced “Easter” in most Semitic dialects, it could be said that the event portrayed here is, in a sense, Easter. Of course, the occasion could easily have been a Phrygian family honoring Attis and Cybele, or perhaps a Phoenician family worshipping Adonis and Astarte. Also fitting the description well would be a heretic Israelite family honoring the Canaanite Baal and Ashtoreth. Or this depiction could just as easily represent any number of other immoral, pagan fertility celebrations of death and resurrection—including the modern Easter celebration as it has come to us through the Anglo-Saxon fertility rites of the goddess Eostre or Ostara. These are all the same festivals, separated only by time and culture. The name of Easter and the traditions surrounding it are deeply rooted in pagan religion.

“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 Sot: “east,” which is the direction of dawn]” (Englehart, p. 4). As we have seen, many names are interchangeable for the more well-known Easter. Pagans typically used many different names for the same god or goddess. Nimrod, the Bible figure who built the city of Babylon (Gen. 10:8), is an example. He was worshipped as Saturn, Vulcan, Croons, Baal, Tammuz, Moloch and others, but he was always the same god—the fire or sun god universally worshipped in nearly every ancient culture. The goddess Easter was no different. She was one goddess with many names—the goddess of fertility, worshipped in spring when all life was being renewed. The widely-known historian, Will Durant, in his famous and respected work, Story of Civilization, pp. 235, 244-245, writes, “Ishtar [Astarte to the Greeks, Ashtoreth to the Jews], interests us not only as analogue of the Egyptian Isis and prototype of the Grecian Aphrodite and the Roman Venus, but as the formal beneficiary of one of the strangest of Babylonian customs…known to us chiefly from a famous page in Herodotus: Every native woman is obliged, once in her life, to sit in the temple of Venus [Easter], and have intercourse with some stranger.” Is it any wonder that the Bible speaks of the religious system that has descended from that ancient city of Babylon as, “Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth” (Rev. 17:5)?

According to Johannes Casinos, who wrote in the fifth century, “Howbeit you should know, that as long as the primitive church retained its perfection unbroken, this observance of Lent did not exist” (First Conference Abbot Thomas, chapter 30). There is neither biblical nor historical record of Jesus, his apostles or any of the early Church participating in the Lenten season. Since there is no instruction to observe Lent in the Bible, where did it come from? A forty-day abstinence period was anciently observed in honor of the pagan gods Osiris, Adonis and Tammuz (John Landseer, Sabena Researches, pp. 111, 112). Alexander Hislops', The Two Babylons, pp. 104-105, says this of the origin of Lent: “The forty days abstinence of Lent was directly borrowed from the worshippers of the Babylonian goddess. Such a Lent of forty days, in the spring of the year, is still observed by the Yeminis or Pagan Devil-worshippers of Kurdistan, who have inherited it from their early masters, the Babylonians. Such a Lent of forty days was held in spring by the Pagan Mexicans…Such a Lent of forty days was observed in Egypt…” Lent came from paganism, not from the Bible!

Easter eggs have always been associated with the Easter celebration. The Easter egg takes us back to some of the oldest known civilizations on earth where the symbol of an egg played an important part in mythical accounts of the creation of the world. According to this tale heaven and earth were formed from the two halves of a mysterious World-Egg. The Easter egg is associated with this World-Egg, the original germ from which all life proceeds, and whose shell is the firmament. So there is a heathen connection between the egg and the ideas or feelings of birth, new life, and creation. Easter eggs do have a very long ancestry. In their modern chocolate or cardboard form they date only from the later years of the last century, but giving real eggs, colored or gilded at Easter and also at the pre-Christian spring celebrations are infinitely older. Long before the Christian era, eggs were regarded as symbols of continuing life and resurrection. The ancient Persians and Greeks exchanged them at their spring festivals when all things in nature revived after the winter. To the early pagans converted to "Christianity" under Emperor Constantine's rule, eggs seemed the obvious symbols of the Lord's resurrection and were therefore considered "holy" and appropriate gifts at Easter time. Pope Paul VS. appointed a prayer in which the eggs were "blessed." The eggs could then be eaten in thankfulness to G-d on account of the resurrection of the Lord. The custom of coloring eggs at Easter continued from paganism with only a change of dedication. These eggs are often red. Scarlet eggs were given in the spring by pagan peoples centuries before the birth of Christ. It is probably the favorite color because, like the egg itself, it is an emblem of life.

Nearly every culture in the modern world has a long tradition of coloring eggs in beautiful and different ways. “The origin of the Easter egg is based on the fertility lore of the Indo-European races…The egg to them was a symbol of spring…In Christian times the egg had bestowed upon it a religious interpretation, becoming a symbol of the rock tomb out of which Christ emerged to the new life of His resurrection” (Francis D. Weiser, Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs, p. 233). This is a direct example of exactly how pagan symbols and customs are “Christianized,” I.E., Christian-sounding names are superimposed over pagan customs. This is done to deceive—as well as make people feel better about why they are following a custom that is not in the Bible.

Notice: “Around the Christian observance of Easter…folk customs have collected, many of which have been handed down from the ancient ceremonial…symbolism of European and Middle Eastern pagan spring festivals…for example, eggs…have been very prominent as symbols of new life and resurrection” (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1991 ed., Vol. 4, p. 333). We can also read in the Egyptian Belief and Modern Thought, James Berwick, pp. 211-212: “Eggs were hung up in the Egyptian temples. Bunsen calls attention to the mundane egg, the emblem of generative life, proceeding from the mouth of the great god of Egypt. The mystic egg of Babylon, hatching the Venus Ishtar, fell from heaven to the Euphrates. Dyed eggs were sacred Easter offerings in Egypt, as they are still in China and Europe. Easter, or spring, was the season of birth, terrestrial and celestial.” What could be more plain in showing the true origin of the “Easter egg”? HaShem never authorized Passover eggs or Days of Unleavened Bread eggs, but there have been Easter eggs for thousands of years before Jesus!

How about the origin of the “Easter bunny”? The hare is the true Easter beast, not the rabbit. He was sacred to the Spring-Goddess, Eostre. Hares were sacrificed to her. The hare was an emblem of fertility, renewal, and return of spring to the heathen. While their rapid rate of reproduction is well known, another problem arises with rabbits—they do not lay eggs! While both are clearly fertility symbols, there is no logical way to connect them. In a world filled with pagan tradition, truth and logic can be lost. Merging these symbols with Christianity makes an already idolatrous practice worse. There is nothing Christian about any of these symbols. The true history of these fertility symbols, rabbits and eggs, is completely unknown to all the unsuspecting children who have been led by adults to think them so special. The egg, in modern American folklore, is the production of the rabbit or the hare. The story is that this hare was once a bird whom Eostre changed into a four-footed creature. “In Germany and Austria little nests containing eggs, pastry and candy are placed in hidden spots, and the children believe that the Easter bunny, so popular in this country, too, had laid the eggs and brought the candy” (p. 235) and “The Easter bunny had its origin in pre-Christian fertility lore…The Easter bunny has never had religious symbolism bestowed on its festive usage…However, the bunny has acquired a cherished role in the celebration of Easter as the legendary producer of Easter eggs for children in many countries” (p. 236). “The Easter bunny is not a true Christian symbol” (John Brander, Symbols of Church Seasons and Days, p. 52), and “Although adopted in a number of Christian cultures, the Easter bunny has never received any specific Christian interpretation” (Misread Elide, The Encyclopedia of Religion, p. 558).“The hare, the symbol of fertility in ancient Egypt, a symbol that was kept later in Europe…Its place has been taken by the Easter rabbit” (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1991 ed., Vol. 4, p. 333). But knowing the truth, will not stop hundreds of millions of professing Christians from decorating their lawns and houses with Easter bunnies each spring. The entire concept that these Easter traditions are Christian is a lie foisted on innocent children who will believe that “the moon is made of cheese” just because someone tells them so. While these are shocking facts, they are true nonetheless. When the little children finally realize that there is no Easter Bunny they will then also doubt there is a Messiah.

One of the central themes of the New Testament is that Jesus Christ came to die for mankind’s sins and offer redemption to a world cut off from G-d. The master deceiver (Satan the devil, called the “god of this world” in II Cor. 4:4) seeks to destroy every aspect of G-d’s plan. He “deceives the whole world” (Rev. 12:9). As the arch-deceiver, he would not be content to counterfeit all other aspects of Christianity but not the identity and worship of the true Savior! Who is the real “savior” central to the “Easter Sunday” tradition? Is it the Jesus Christ of the Bible? If you say “yes,” are you really sure? History answers this question plainly, with first this: “…the conception of a Saviour-god was quite normal in the ancient pagan world…a conception of salvation underlies the notion of such gods as Osiris, Attis, and Adonis…” (John M. Robertson, Christianity and Mythology, p. 395). The idea of Christ’s resurrection was injected into the old practice of Easter observance and not the other way around” (A. Nock, Early Gentile Christianity and its Hellenistic Background, pp. 105-107). The powerful theme of this oft-repeated counterfeit saviour is made most clear by the famous historian, James George Frazer: “Now the death and resurrection of Attis were officially celebrated at Rome on the 24th and 25th of March, the latter being regarded as the spring equinox, and…according to an ancient and widespread tradition Jesus suffered on the 25th of March…the tradition which placed the death of Jesus on the 25th of March…is all the more remarkable because astronomical considerations prove that it can have had no historical foundation…When we remember that the festival of St. George in April has replaced the ancient pagan festival of the Parilia; that the festival of St. John the Baptist in June has succeeded to a heathen Midsummer festival of water; that the festival of the Assumption of the Virgin in August has ousted the festival of Diana; that the feast of All Souls [following Halloween] in November is a continuation of an old heathen feast of the dead; and that the Nativity of Christ himself was assigned to the winter solstice in December because that day was deemed the Nativity of the Sun; we can hardly be thought to be rash or unreasonable in conjecturing that the other cardinal festival of the Christian church—the solemnization of Easter—came in like manner, and from like motives of edification, adapted to a similar celebration of the Phyrigian god Attis at the vernal equinox…It is a remarkable coincidence…that the Christian and the heathen festivals of the divine death and resurrection should have been solemnized at the same season…It is difficult to regard the coincidence as purely accidental” (The Golden Bough, Vol. I, pp. 306-309).

We can summarize all of the above. The Roman Catholic Church had a practice of incorporating pagan festivals—of pasting “Christian” names over them and calling them “Christian.” This was done to make “Christianity” more palatable and familiar to heathen worshippers, whom the Church was trying to attract. How did such a state of affairs develop? It can now be better understood why the apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians to beware of the subtle deceit of “another Jesus whom we have not preached.” He said, “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that comes preaches another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if you receive another spirit, which you have not received, or another gospel, which you have not accepted…” (II Cor. 11:3-4). The entirety of denominational Christianity is actually worshipping Baal, the mediator and sun god, who was named after his “wife” Ishtar (who was actually his mother Semiramis)—who is the one the Bible calls the “Queen of Heaven.”

Sunrise services are mentioned in the Bible. But what HaShem says about this custom is not what you expect. Notice these astonishing verses. The prophet Ezekiel was being shown, in vision, an important prophecy concerning the sins of G-d’s people in our time. In Ezekiel 8:13-16 we read: "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 alter, 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, Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing…that they commit the abominations which they commit here? For they…have returned to provoke Me to anger…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.” (Ezekiel 8:13-18). HaShem so hates this vile pagan practice that He says that He will ultimately destroy all who persist in it (Ezekiel 9)!

Here Ezekiel tells us that the chosen people of G-d, Israel, had again back-slid into idolatry. Tammuz was a Babylonian god. Like Christ Mass and New Year's, Easter, too, began in Babylon. Let us look into the Mythologies of the death and resurrection gods, such as Tammuz from "Easter: its Story and Meaning." "Wife and beloved of Tammuz was the goddess Inanna, or Ishtar, in whose person is represented she whom we now call Mother Nature or Mother Earth -- she who, when refreshed with the spring rains, with the water from heaven, brings forth the fruits of life. We are told that when Tammuz died, Inanna was so stricken with grief that she followed him to the underworld, to the realm of Eresh-Kigal, Queen of the Dead, a "land from which there is no returning, a house of darkness, where dust lies on door and bolt." In her absence the earth was deprived of its fertility; crops would not grow; animals would not mate; life was in danger of coming to an end. "O my child!" at his vanishing always she lifts up a lament; "My Damu!" at his vanishing away she lifts up a lament; "My enchanter and priest!" at his vanishing away she lifts up a lament, At the shining cedar, rooted in a spacious place, In Eanna, above and below, she lifts up a lament. This ancient text is called "The Lament of the Flutes for Tammuz." He had gone away to the underworld, and this was why there was winter. "The Lament of the Flutes for Tammuz" describes the grief which moved Ea, god of water and wisdom, to send a heavenly messenger to the underworld to rescue the goddess whose absence was removing life from the earth. Assenting reluctantly to his supreme will, Eresh-Kigal allowed the messenger to sprinkle Inanna and Tammuz with water of life--a potion which gave them power to return into the light of the sun for six months of the year. But for the other six months, Tammuz must again return to the land of death, whither Inanna would again pursue him, and once more with her lamentations move Ea to give the water of life so that year after year the miracle of resurrection and spring would recur."

In the course of centuries, the story and the yearly rites connected with the death and resurrection of Tammuz moved westward to Phoenicia and Syria on the extreme east of the Mediterranean. Here the name of Tammuz was changed to Adon or Adonai, and the name of Inanna to Astarte. In Greece the two names are Adonis and Aphrodite. The myth underwent some changes in passing from Sumeria to Syria. A Greek myth tells of Demeter, like Inanna, the goddess of the earth, and her daughter, Kore (Persephone). The girl was abducted by Pluto, the ruler of the underworld, and her absence brought about a famine on earth through the failure of the crops. Pluto was therefore moved to restored Kore to her mother, but because she had eaten a pomegranate in the underworld she was bound to return to Pluto for as many months of each year as there were seeds of the pomegranate caught in her mouth. In joy at her annual return, the earth (Demeter) brings forth her fruits and flowers. Adonis (Greek god) was the child of Myrrha, the myrtle tree. (It seems that almost all the gods of death and resurrection are associated with a tree.) When the infant Adonis was born, Aphrodite was so charmed with his beauty that she adopted him and concealed him in a chest, which she gave for safekeeping to Persephone--the counterpart of Eresh-Kigal, the Babylonian Queen of the Dead. In the underworld Persephone opened the chest, and was herself so enchanted with the babe that she decided to keep him. This led to a dispute between Aphrodite and Persephone, between love and death, in which Zeus (taking the place of the Babylonian Ea) had to intervene. Zeus decreed that for four months of the year Adonis should belong to Aphrodite, for four to Persephone, and for the remaining four he should do as he wished--Adonis chose to spend them with Aphrodite. When he had grown to young manhood, Adonis roused the envy of Artemis, the forest goddess of the hunt, or according to another account, or Ares, the god of war. Thus, while he was out hunting, Artemis slew Adonis with an arrow--the arrows of Artemis being the cause to which sudden death was generally ascribed--or in the version, he was gored by Ares in the form of a wild boar. He died, and where the earth had received his blood, Aphrodite sprinkled the ground with nectar, so that the blood turned into anemones and other flowers of the field. But the grief of Aphrodite was so piteous that the gods of the underworld allowed Adonis to return to her every spring for six months of the year.

In Asia Minor the Phrygians believed that their omnipotent deity went to sleep at the time of the winter solstice and they performed ceremonies with music and dancing at the spring equinox to awaken him. Of the same essential pattern is the great Egyptian myth of Osiris. The common elements in all these stories are so apparent that one may think of them as a single drama performed again and again by different actors. It would be tedious to describe in detail all that has been handed down to us about the various rites of Tammuz, Adonis, Kire, and many others. Their rites had many basic elements in common. Their universal theme--the drama of death and resurrection--makes them the forerunners of the "Christian" Easter, and thus the first Easter services. Many of the customs and ceremonies of the "Christian" Easter resemble these former rites, for instance, the present day "Sun Rise Services." Easter descended from pagan sun worship. Catholic Doctrine simply paralleled the pagan death and resurrection myths of the gods with the story of Christ's crucifixion and Ascension. Jesus Christ now rises from the dead with the ascending sun at the time of the Vernal Equinox when plant life and all forms of vegetation appear again on the Earth, and is celebrated with the same customs as that of the earlier Heathen rites!

The entire context of these verses helps us understand the heightening condemnation toward which G-d builds in His conclusion: “…Turn you yet again, and you shall see greater abominations that they do…and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz…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. It is no “light thing” to G-d that many millions do this every Easter! It may seem “beautiful,” “religious,” and “deeply moving” to those participating in it, but G-d has forbidden His true people to devise their own religious customs and ideas. He is not interested in what people may personally feel or think is right. He is interested in those who care about what He thinks! As far as HaShem is concerned, ancient sun worship, dressed up in Easter finery and bonnets, is just modern packaging of a very old, idolatrous pagan custom.

Consider G-d’s own words in Deuteronomy 12:28-32: “Observe and obey all these words which I command you…When…you…dwell in their land, take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them…and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’ You shall not worship the Lord your G-d in that way; for every abomination to the Lord which He hates they have done to their gods…Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.” HaShem clearly tells Christians to never mix what is godly with what is pagan—or the true with the false! Do not let denominational "leaders" tell you that what G-d says makes no difference. It does!

Eating hot-cross buns is one of the Good Friday customs that has taken root in America. They are pagan in origin, for the Anglo-Saxon savages consumed cakes as part of the jollity that attended the welcoming of spring. Early missionaries from Rome despaired of breaking them of the habit, so they simply got around the difficulty by blessing the cakes and drew a cross upon them. but the cross was a pagan symbol long before Jesus' crucifixion. Bread and cakes were sometimes marked with it in pre-Christian times. Two small loaves each with a cross on them were discovered under the ruins of Herculaneum, a city overwhelmed by volcanic ash in A.D. 79. It is probable that the crosses here had a pagan meaning like those which appeared on cakes associated with the worship of Diana. In Jeremiah 7:18: “The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.” The cakes offered to the queen of heaven were these same hot cross buns that millions of children sing about today (Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons, p. 107). What seems so innocent is not innocent at all. Baal and Ashtaroth worship reappeared during Samuel’s time. Samuel told Israel, “…put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve Him only…Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the Lord only” (I Samuel 7:3-4). Later, in I Samuel 12:10-11, Samuel publicly recounted Israel’s history to them. He reminded them that they continually returned to obeying G-d, only to fall backwards into idolatry again and again! “Those who do not learn the lesson of history are doomed to repeat it.”

The Bible states that King Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived. Yet, he made a mistake that HaShem considered so great that, after his death, He punished Solomon by removing the kingdom from his son. What did he do to provoke HaShem? He married a woman who led him into the worship of Easter (Ashtaroth). Notice I Kings 11:4-6: “For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods…For Solomon went after Ashtaroth the goddess of the Zidonians…And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father.” Verses 11-12 demonstrate that the kingdom was taken from his son.

There are two completely different churches pictured in the New Testament. One, the true Church which is described as the bride of Christ, loving one another, forsaking involvements with this world and its pagan customs in order to be pure when He comes for her. The second and the largest "man-made doctrinal church" are all the denominational "churches" that make up Babylon and her harlot daughters. Remember dear one, that throughout the New Testament, it was prophesied that false teachers, christs and prophets would creep in to deceive and gain control of His church. True Christians were told in the Revelation that they would have to flee from all seven churches to be the one him " to him (not them) that Overcomeath". And we will also have to flee from Babylon and any denominational congregations that refuse to obey G-d. The true church will always be a “little flock,” often scattered, never having any real political power in this world. The world has kept little track of this small, scattered, persecuted Church that meets in homes and small groups, but Jesus Christ promised that He would never leave or forsake it and that “the gates of hell [the grave] shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). Though it has periodically had to flee for its life (Acts 8:1; Dan. 12:7), Jesus Christ has faithfully kept His promise to remain with it, empowering, teaching and strengthening it through His Holy Spirit. Despite continual persecution—even during periods of great martyrdom by the large denominational churches who have always sought to destroy the truth and those who would keep the truth—a remnant has always remained faithful to hear only Him throughout the last nearly 2,000 years and these have indeed continued to “keep the commandments of G-d, and the faith of Jesus” (Rev. 14:12).

G-d has always commanded His true Church not to observe pagan festivals! The true Church has always been willing to obey Him. Paul warned the Thessalonian congregation, “…the mystery of iniquity does already work” (2 Thessalonians 2:7). This mystery was already having an awful influence within the true Church just twenty years after Christ established it in 31 A.D. It was the very Chaldean Mystery, embodied in Christmas and Easter—its two greatest pagan festivals! Invariably, the arrival of these false pagan celebrations required true Christians to flee. (See my teaching on Many Antichrists.) The second "church" is portrayed as a harlotrous queen (like Semiramis/Easter) riding a beast with seven heads (Rev. 17). These heads represent the historic revivals of the Holy Roman Empire. This whorish woman symbolizes a powerful, politically organized denominational church. Gradually, this church, centered at Rome, adopted more and more pagan doctrines and practices until the only discernible difference between it and pagan religion was its use of the name of Jesus Christ. This is how Easter came to be celebrated in place of the true Christian Passover. This “mother church” has many “daughter denominations,” and the entire system masquerades under the banner of “Christianity,” when they are really the “Babylon Mystery Religion.” The Bible pictures her as a universal deceiver with all “Christian” countries made drunk with her false doctrines! She is pictured as being made drunk with the blood of the saints, while, at the same time, bragging that she is the true church. All of her daughters have adopted her pagan practices.

What does history say about how and when the idolatrous pagan festival of Easter came to replace the Passover service ordained by G-d? A series of extensive quotes tell this story—commonly referred to as the “Quartodeciman Controversy.” Several sources are quoted so that the story of how the counterfeit Easter came to replace Passover will be perfectly clear. This problem—Passover versus Easter—became so pivotal, as a test of the power of the great church that wished to stamp out the “little flock,” that eventually disobedience brought the death sentence upon any who continued to keep either the Lord’s Sabbath or His true festivals. First notice the following by Eusebius (a well-known historian of the early Church) from his work, Ecclesiastical History, Book VS., chapters XXIII and XXIV: “A question of no small importance arose at that time. For the parishes of all Asia, as from an older tradition, held that the fourteenth day of the moon, on which day the Jews were commanded to sacrifice the lamb, should be observed as the feast of the Saviour’s Passover…the bishops of Asia, led by Polycrates, decided to hold to the old custom handed down to them. He himself, in a letter which he addressed to Victor and the church of Rome, set forth in the following words the tradition which had come down to him: “We observe the exact day; neither adding, nor taking away. For in Asia also great lights have fallen asleep, which shall rise again on the day of the Lord’s coming, when he shall come with glory from heaven, and shall seek out all the saints. Among these are Philip, one of the twelve apostles…and, moreover, John, who was both a witness and a teacher, who reclined upon the bosom of the Lord…and Polycarp in Smyrna, who was a bishop and martyr; and Thraseas, bishop and martyr from Eumenia…the bishop and martyr Sagaris…the blessed Papirius, or Melito…All these observed the fourteenth day of the Passover according to the Gospel, deviating in no respect, but following the rule of faith.” The 1967 New Catholic Encyclopedia states, “Quartodeciman, a term used to describe the practice in the early Church of celebrating Easter on the 14th of Nisan (die quarta decima), the day of the Jewish Passover (Ex. 12:6). Quartodecimanism, prevalent in Asia Minor and Syria in the 2nd century, emphasized the death of Christ, the true Paschal victim (John. 18:28; 19:42), while Roman practice emphasized the observance of Sunday as the day of the Resurrection. Implicit in these two positions is the disputed chronology of Holy Week. As Christianity separated from Judaism, gentile Christians objected to observing the principal Christian feasts on the same day as the Jewish Passover.“Roman efforts to induce the Quartodecimans to abandon their practice were unsuccessful. On a visit to Rome (c. 155), St. Polycarp of Smyrna amicably discussed the question with Pope Anicetus without, however, reaching agreement. Pope Victor (189-198) sought unity through a series of synods held in both East and West; all accepted the Roman practice except the Asiatic bishops. When Victor attempted coercion by excommunication, St. Irenaeus of Lyons intervened to restore peace (Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. 5.23-25). During the 3rd century Quartodecimanism waned; it persisted in some Asiatic communities down to the 5th century” (Vol. 12, p. 13).

“Polycarp, the disciple of John the Evangelist (last of the 12 apostles), and bishop of Smyrna, visited Rome in 159 (sic) to confer with Anicetus, the bishop of that see, on the subject, and urged the tradition which he had received from the apostles of observing the 14th day. Anicetus, however, declined. About forty years later (197), the question was discussed in a very different spirit between Victor, bishop of Rome, and Polycrates, metropolitan of proconsular Asia. That province [embracing churches founded through the apostle Paul, like Antioch and all of those identified in Revelation 2 and 3 as the true Church] was the only portion of Christendom which still adhered to the Jewish usage. Victor demanded that all should adopt the usage prevailing at Rome. This Polycrates firmly refused to agree to, and urged many weighty reasons to the contrary, whereupon Victor proceeded to excommunicate Polycrates and the Christians who continued the [correct] Eastern usage. He was, however, restrained (by counsel from other bishops) from actually proceeding to enforce the decree of excommunication…and the Asiatic churches retained their usage unmolested. We find the Jewish usage (the true New Testament Passover) from time to time reasserting itself after this, but it never prevailed to any large extent. “A final settlement of the dispute was one among the other reasons which led Constantine [Roman Emperor] to summon the council at Nicaea in 325. At that time the Syrians and Antiochenes were the solitary champions of the observance of the 14th day. The decision of the council was unanimous that Easter was to be kept on Sunday, and on the same Sunday throughout the world, and that none hereafter should follow the blindness of the Jews. [Or, in other words, no one was allowed to follow the example of Christ and the true Church He founded!]…The FEW who afterwards separated themselves from the unity of the [politically organized] church, and continued to keep the 14th day, were named Quartodecimani [from the Latin word for 14], and the dispute itself is known as the Quartodeciman controversy” (Vol. VIII, pp. 828-829). This is a very powerful quote making absolutely plain the full story of what happened and how it happened. History records that Polycarp was martyred on the way back from Rome (burned to death in a farmhouse), just days after his meeting with Anicetus over the issue of keeping Passover or Easter. He was almost certainly killed because he would not compromise regarding the proper keeping of the Lord's Passover.

The 1967 New Catholic Encyclopedia states this: “Occasionally, the Quartodecimans celebrated Easter on the day that other Christians were observing Good Friday. Originally both observances were allowed, but gradually it was felt incongruous that Christians should celebrate Easter on a Jewish feast, and unity in celebrating the principal Christian feast was called for” (Vol. 5, p. 8). Now read this quote from the same source, concluding the matter of how the Council of Nicea “decided,” once and for all, the matter of Easter versus Passover: “As for Easter, the Fathers decreed (1) that all Christians should observe it on the same day, (2) that Jewish customs should not be followed, and (3) that the practice of the West, of Egypt, and of other Churches should remain in force, namely, of celebrating Easter on the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox” (Vol. 5, p. 433). (That date always will change and therefore is very confusing.) The 1909 edition of The Catholic Encyclopedia says, “After the Pope’s strong measures the Quarterdecimans seemed to have gradually dwindled away. Origen in the “Philosophumena” (VIII, xviii) seems to regard them as a mere handful of wrong-headed nonconformists. SECOND PHASE—The second stage of the Easter controversy centers around the Council of Nicaea [A.D. 325] granting that the great Easter festival was always to be held on a Sunday, and was not to be coincident with a particular phase of the moon, which might occur on any day of the week” (Vol. 5, p. 228). The truth is that the Passover was always tied directly to the moon, regardless of the day of the week on which it fell! (The word month is derived from moon.) The 14th day of Nisan (Abib) was G-d’s instruction (Exodus 12:1-6)—not the nearest Sunday to this or any other date.

This same edition of The Catholic Encyclopedia, when describing the final decision at Nicaea in A.D. 325, quotes the words of the Emperor Constantine, writing to all the churches: “At this meeting the question concerning the most holy day of Easter was discussed, and it was resolved by the united judgment of all present that this feast ought to be kept by all and in every place on one and the same day…And first of all it appeared an unworthy thing that in the celebration of this most holy feast we should follow the practice of the Jews, who have impiously defiled their hands with enormous sin…for we have received from our Saviour a different way [this is false because Christ did not ever instruct “a different way”]…And I myself have undertaken that this decision should meet with the approval of your Sagacities in the hope that your Wisdoms will gladly admit that practice which is observed at once in the city of Rome and in Africa, throughout Italy and in Egypt…with entire unity of judgment.” (Vol. 5, p. 228). Finally, this same source continues a few paragraphs later with, “The final decision always lay with accepted ecclesiastical authority…was primarily a matter of ecclesiastical discipline and not astronomical science” (p. 229). These two short phrases make it clear that church authority at Rome, and not G-d’s Word, determined whether Easter or the Passover would be kept. Only the “few” remained faithful to the truth—and it has always been this way. Eventually, as the false pagan church grew in political influence, the death penalty was imposed on anyone found keeping G-d’s seventh-day Sabbath or His other Festivals, such as the Passover. True Christians have always had to flee to wherever they could continue keeping G-d’s commandments and truths.

Constantine's Terrible Influence on Christianity

Constantine's reign as Roman emperor (A.D. 306-337) dramatically changed the direction of Christianity. This grew out of his strategy for unifying his empire by creating a "catholic"—meaning universal —church that would blend elements from many religions into one. The "Christianity" Constantine endorsed was different from that practiced by Jesus Christ and the apostles. The emperor accelerated the change by his own hatred of Jews. Constantine himself said, "Let us then have nothing in common with the detestable Jewish crowd." -(Eusebius, Life of Constantine 3, 18-19, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 1979, second series, Vol. 1, pp. 524-525). For example, at the Council of Nicea (A.D. 325), church authorities essentially replaced the Biblical Passover with Easter, a popular holiday rooted in ancient springtime fertility celebrations. British historian Paul Johnson summarizes how Constantine's approach of merging religious practices produced a corrupted Christianity that meshed paganism with biblical elements. When we consider the vast differences between the mainstream Christianity of today and the original Christianity of Jesus Christ and the apostles, we can trace much of that change to Constantine and the cathloic religious system he put into power.

"Constantine corrupted and perverted Christianity more than he aided it. He was an ambitious and superstitious Emperor who murdered his own kindred (his wife and son) while promoting Christianity. He paganized Christianity while using it as a political tool to solidify his Empire." "From the time of Constantine onward, the worship of the Roman Catholic Church, in its forms and ceremonies, has been more clearly identified with the paganism of Ancient Rome, than with the religion of the New Testament. The customs of pagan religion were only baptized with Christian names." "The opening of the Fourth Century marks a new era in the process by which paganism poisoned Christianity. Constantine turned Christianity into a piece of political machinery." -Paganism Surviving in Christianity By Abram Herbert Lewis "The Control of Christianity by the State Under Constantine and his Successors"

"Soon after the so-called conversion of Constantine...the Church entered on its Apostasy from the primitive simplicity and purity which marked its earlier history. Pagans in vast multitudes pressed into the Christian Fold, bringing with them old practices and customs, and filling the places of Christian worship with the pageantry and ornaments which characterized the worship of the gods in heathen temples. These unconverted millions became only nominally Christian, impressing the doctrines, rites, and forms of pagan religion upon the Christian Church."
-The Old Catholic Church by W.D. Killen D.D.; pp.70-72 Edinburgh; 1871

"Constantine had no respect for human life, and as emperor he executed his eldest son, his own second wife, his favorite sister's husband and 'many others' on doubtful charges. He was also responsible for wholesale massacres in north Africa." - History of Christianity Johnson; (p.68)

"Constantine had a father-in-law, whom he commanded to be hung; he had a brother-in-law, whom he ordered to be strangled; he had a nephew twelve or thirteen years old, whose throat he ordered to be cut; he had an eldest son, whom he beheaded; he had a wife, whom he ordered to be suffocated in a bath." -Voltaire Philosophical Dictionary, article "Constantine".

These atrocious crimes were perpetrated after Constantine declared himself to be a Christian. This is the man who became leader of the Holy Roman Catholic Church. This is the man who "legalized" Christianity in the Roman Empire. This is the leader who voted for and established many of the doctrines taught in the denominational churches today. Constantine presided at Church councils and supposedly worshipped the divinity of Christ, as a doctrine that was decided upon by the councils of Nicea that were political efforts to cement the pagans with the last vestiges of believing Christians. It cannot be doubted that the character of Constantine deteriorated rather than improved under the influence of his form of Christianity. "Constantine never actually accepted Christianity...Constantine never totally abandoned Paganism...and was known to continue to worship pagan gods. Even after his conversion, Constantine was well known for his brutality." -Constantine - The Making of a Saint by Andras Nagy

"Christians claim to follow the teachings of the one they call Jesus Christ, but their traditions today are radically different than the original teachings of that man. The process of the development of Christianity is a long and complicated one, but there are a number of key influential figures who played a crucial role in it. While most are familiar with the names of the 12 apostles, they are usually unfamiliar with the one who claimed to be the 13th, Constantine the Great, the first Holy Roman Emperor." "It was Constantine who changed the day of worship from Saturday to Sunday, despite the fact that Jesus, and all of the apostles strictly observed the Sabbath on Saturday. His decision was influenced by the fact that Sun-Day was the Roman day of worship of the Sun-God, Apollo." "Constantine decided that G-d was three-in-one based on the theologians Tertullian, Cyprian, and Augustine. Constantine convened the council of Nicaea in 325, in which the Creed outlined his version of the relationship between Jesus and the Father. It is unfortunate that the relationship of Constantine and his own son could not be so close, as while he was in the West he had his eldest son and friend, Crispus, and his wife, Fausta, executed for reasons that remained a mystery. All other forms of Christianity that did not comply to this Creed, were labeled as heretics and were to be eliminated. To this day, Constantine’s Nicean Creed is used as the basis for determining who is a Christian, which is why Jehovah’s Witnesses, are still labeled as heretics today." "The effects of pagan influences on Christian traditions can most clearly be seen in its’ celebrations, for every single one has a pagan celebration as its origin. One festivity that was personally initiated by Constantine was All Saint’s Day, quite appropriate as the mythology of pagan traditions were transferred to the stories of the Saints." "Between Constantine and cohorts, the entire foundation of modern Christianity was developed. Yet perhaps we should ponder if it would have been better for Yeshua’s (Jesus') teachings to have disappeared than to have them so utterly corrupted and perpetuated as his own." -The Thirteenth Disciple Constantine and The Trinity by Nozrem ha Brit

HaShem never instructed, but rather actually commanded against, keeping Easter. It has always been His purpose that the Passover should be kept once a year—forever. The New Testament Passover also includes an ordinance of humility called the foot washing. This instruction is found in John 13:2-15 and was commanded by Christ to be taught to all who would learn G-d’s doctrines. Christ commanded His disciples, “Go you therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them…Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19-20). This instruction includes the Passover, with the foot washing and the symbols of the bread and wine. It also includes keeping the Days of Unleavened Bread and the rest of the Lord’s annual feast days. What Will You Do?

Can Easter be kept “in honor of Christ”? Some may say, “Okay, I know Easter comes from paganism—but I’m not pagan! I celebrate it in honor of Jesus Christ. I focus on Him.” Because G-d knew that Israel would feel this way when they encountered the religious customs of pagan nations, and would try to use false customs to honor the true G-d, He gave the specific instruction in Deuteronomy 12:28-32. HaShem always commanded that people worship Him exactly as He instructed! So did Jesus Christ. Does HaShem ever change? Did Jesus tell His followers to mark His death and resurrection with Easter celebrations? Is it possible that the Son of G-d might have changed His mind about pagan celebrations? The Bible is clear on this point. G-d does not change: “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” (Hebrews 13:8.) “I am the Lord, I change not.” (Malachi 3:6)

The "law-giver" Moses is the man whom G-d used to bring the Israelites out of their captivity from Egypt - led them to freedom through the sea and should have led them through the Jordan River and into the Promised Land. But suddenly and dramatically that hope was destroyed. HaShem clearly instructed Moses to strike the rock once but, Moses struck it twice and is immediately disqualified from leading the Israelites any further. Scholars old and new have wrestled with why G-d did this and the passage of time has done little to help religious "leaders" from understanding why Moses struck out! Rambam called this matter one of the most difficult problems in the Torah. The Rock was Jesus and if Moses had only struck it once only Jesus the head would have had to die but now the body of Jesus must also die. When G-d tells you to do something - do it exactly the way He said! When an honest man is confronted with the truth - he will either accept the truth or cease to be honest!

Jesus told the Pharisees, “Thus have you made the commandment of G-d of none effect by your tradition…in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:6, 9). Mark’s parallel account adds an important element: “Full well you reject the commandment of G-d, that you may keep your own tradition” (Mark 7:9). These verses have clear application to those who reject the Passover that they may keep pagan Easter. Hundreds of millions keep the rank idolatrous pagan feast known as Easter, believing themselves to be honoring Jesus Christ! Most are in complete ignorance of what they are doing. G-d’s answer to all is “…the times of this ignorance G-d winked at; but now commands all men every where to repent” (Acts 17:30)! Dear one, please let us humbly and obediently observe the Lord's sacred ordinance [Passover] as we are commanded, at the scriptural time, after sunset, the 14th of Abib [Nisan] according to the Sacred Calendar.”

Dear One, it is very obvious that we are now totally inundated with demonic lies, Babylonian (confusing) doctrines and false beLIEfs - how can you personally tell what is Holy, true, real and/or what HaShem/Jesus really wants from you?

The only thing that can not be easily counterfeited by satan and religious "leaders" is G-d's Holy Spirit. Jesus warned us in Matthew 24 that confusion and deception would be very great in the end times. In verse 24:24 we read: "For there shall arise false christs (see my many antichrists teaching) and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." In John 10:27-29 we read: My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand." And in 1 John 2:27 we read: "But the anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him." You have to ask Jesus to open your ears and to give you that anointing that will teach you the truth dear one! Shalom!