What Concord Hath Christ with Belial?

And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
(2Co 6:15-17)

This Sunday, April 8, is known throughout the world as “Easter.” Have you ever stopped to ask yourself, “Why?” What does “Easter” mean anyway? If you do a word search with your Bible software, you’ll find just a single reference to it in the King James Bible in Acts 12:4. However, the Geneva Bible as well as most other translations rightly translate this as “Passover.” The word, “Easter” (actually unbiblical) comes from the name of the goddess “Ishtar.” Surprisingly enough (not really), Ishtar was the supposed goddess of fertility. Easter falls on the Spring equinox when the length of the day and the night are equal. The length of the days continue to increase until the middle of summer, when the days start decreasing in time until the day and the night are equal again at (guess) Winter solstice (or Christmas...sound familiar?). Thus, all the supposedly “Christian” symbols of new birth that allegedly point to the resurrection of Christ are, in reality, symbols of the fertility goddess, Ishtar. Why bunnies? Why eggs? I ask you once again, “What concord hath Christ with Belial?”

Has God marked out a single day where we are to annually celebrate the risen savior? I say, NO! The risen savior is glorious enough that we are to live every day to His glory! Additionally, God has given us 52 days a year, specifically to set aside our work and to spend time in focused worship to our risen savior! The Lord rose from the dead on the first day of the week. This Christian Sabbath *is* the ongoing celebration of both His birth and His resurrection. Yet, the world has taken these events and subscribed them to pagan holidays, and relegated the acknowledgement of them to just two days a year. The devil, conniving as he is, has worked to insure that not only do Christians fail to acknowledge Christ’s birth and resurrection on the Lord’s Day. But he has also managed to get them to acknowledge these events on established pagan holidays and compromise their faith by denigrating it with pagan symbols. The Church has not eschewed them as they ought. Rather, they have embraced these symbols and formed traditions surrounding them. Contrary to popular opinion, it isn’t “cute” to watch your little three year old daughter running around in her ruffled dress picking up colored Babylonian fertility symbols all in the name of celebrating Christ’s resurrection.

So, let me encourage you to go to church this Sunday (like most professing Christians), but if you can find one, visit an assembly where this Lord’s Day will be like every other Lord’s Day this year. Avoid the pagan compromise and the Romish tendency to form it into a high, holy day, not commanded by God.