Easter or First Fruits?
We do not want to use tradition to filter truth. Rather we must approach tradition and filter it with the truth! As we uncover the truth about easter, we will discover the unfortunate truth that it is pagan and our brethren in the wider church are following pagan customs that we must of necessity, disavow and leave behind. This is why as part of Israel, we here at Lev Y’shua do not refer to ourselves as Christians. Christians worship on Sunday. We do not. Christians observe easter and Christmas, both of which are pagan. We do not. We are neither Christian, nor are we Jewish. While the Jews have maintained Sabbath observance and the feast cycle, they also have adopted practices that are not Biblical. We are indeed somewhere in between by the grace of Elohim. Thus, the best moniker to use regarding our belief s is we are Messianic or Hebrew Roots. If you are Jewish, you are a Messianic Jew. You do not loose your Jewish identity. If you are from the nations, you do lose your gentile identity and become part of the Commonwealth of Israel and as such your identity lies therein. You are an Israelite in dispersion (the galut, in Hebrew).
As Israel, scripture is clear, we are not to assimilate pagan ways into our walk and observances. In fact, we are instructed to not even allow the names of Pagan deities to leave our lips (Exodus 23:13). This challenge is impossible in our day as our society has become so enculturated and steeped in paganism. For example, January is named after the pagan god Janus. The days of the week all point to celestial bodies and gods, a day for the sun and the moon, a day for Saturn. Tuesday is named for the god Tyr, the Norse god of war, Wednesday, Woden’s day also a god of war as well as the god of learning, poetry, and magic. Thursday is named after his son Thor. And the goddess Frigg’s day is Friday. We cannot get away from this if we want to communicate in our society today. In Hebrew, the days are numbered; first, second, third, etc. Only Shabbat is named. My point is to show how deeply we are immersed in paganism as a culture. This awareness is the critical initial step in moving past some of these strongholds.
Our great God has given us a feast day cycle to observe, and that cycle has been usurped by man and his vain imaginings. We are called to observe the feast of First Fruits and that is why we meet on this day. As written in Num 28:26 “In the day of the First Fruits, when you offer a grain offering of new grain to the LORD in your Feast of Weeks, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work.” As a set apart people, we gather on this day for precisely this reason and not to observe a pagan festival called easter.
Bunny's, colored eggs, jellybeans, and chocolate; lots of chocolate, new clothes and sunrise services are the apex of the easter tradition for many. What does all this have to do with the Resurrection of The Messiah? How does the Feast of First Fruits correlate with these observances? It doesn’t! A look into these customs proves only one thing: all pagan. If you are a follower of the True God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, once you understand the truth of these matters, then you are by necessity required to lay aside these pagan observances as The Almighty instructs. We must change our world view and observances if we indeed want to follow the Almighty.
According to Webster, easter is the prehistoric West Germanic name of a pagan spring festival. Dictionary.com notes it is the name of a goddess and her festival. Putting it together, easter is the name of a pagan fertility goddess and the observance of her festival. Depending on the culture, she is also known as Astarte, Athena, Diana, Ostara, Asherah, Isis and many others. Venerable Bede, the seventh century theologian noted that Easter is just another name for Beltis or Ishtar of the Babylonians. Worship of the fertility goddess can be traced back to Hathor, the cow goddess of Egypt. Bede goes onto note; “The heathen Anglo-Saxons called the fourth month Esturmonath after their goddess Eostra.” The name of the festival was transferred to the celebration of Christ's resurrection when Anglo-Saxon and German heathens converted to Christianity. What we see here is that the observance of easter was celebrated long before Christianity came along.
It involved the rights of spring when the pagans believed mother earth was impregnated by the sun. To the Norse, Eostre was goddess of the dawn and sunrise was thought to be the time of impregnation, thus the observance of services at that time. Symbols of fertility were used such as eggs and rabbits. Brightly colored eggs were rolled in the fields hoping to imbue fertility.
Catholic Cardinal John Henry Newman wrote in The Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, published in 1878; “The rulers of the church from early times were prepared, should the occasion arise, to adopt, to imitate, or to sanctify the existing rites and customs of the population...The use of trees,...holy water, holy days and seasons, use of calendars, processions, blessings on the fields, the ring in marriage, chants-are all of pagan origin, and sanctified by adoption into the church”. How is that for putting a scriptural spin on pagan customs?
I used to think the enemy of our souls wanted to get us to worship him. Not so. He’s very satisfied to get us to practice idolatry, mixing it with our worship of the Almighty because he (satan) knows God hates this. We are told in the word of God that we are not to worship the Lord our God in the way the pagans worship their gods for every abominable act which the LORD hates they have done for their gods. (Duet 12:4 & 31).
It was at the Nicaean Council in 325 which was presided over by Constantine when the date for the observance of Passover and thus the crucifixion was officially changed from the Biblically prescribed time to what is now Easter. Isn't it interesting how we have grown up in a world that can explain away how to accurately count? Messiah was to be in the tomb three days and nights, it was the sign He was Messiah, the “sign of Jonah,” yet from Good Friday to Easter Sunday, no matter how you slice it or dice it, you cannot get three days and three nights...72 hours! That should be the first red flag that something is wrong here. This is the same Constantine who a scant four years earlier changed observance of the Sabbath from the seventh day to the first day of the week to honor the “invincible sun god” as noted in his decree: “All judges and city people, and the craftsman shall rest on the venerable day of the sun.” It is evident that Constantine, while calling himself a Christian, was really a sun worshiper.
Ultimately, we have inherited nothing but falsehood, futility, and things of no profit. (Jer 16:19)
Let me encourage you to be strong and act, for our world was invented long ago by men who for their own power and glory usurped the decrees and proclamations of The Almighty for their own vanity and power, and it continues today. If indeed you are a follower of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, then you must opt out of and no longer participate in these useless rituals, instead finding fulfillment and true meaning in the Feasts of the LORD.
This brings us to this very important Feast, the Feast of First Fruits! We have commemorated the Passover, observed Unleavened Bread, and now observe this beautiful feast of First Fruits. While Passover is a memorial of Y’shua’s death, First Fruits is a memorial of His resurrection! We are instructed to have a Holy Gathering this day, as noted in Num 28:26, “Also in the day of the first-fruits, when ye bring a new meal-offering unto the LORD in your feast of weeks, ye shall have a holy convocation: ye shall do no manner of servile work.”
In John 20:17, we have an interesting encounter between the risen Savior and Mary, “Jesus said unto her, touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.”
For centuries, the priests would, according to Torah, lift the first fruits offerings the Israelites were instructed to bring to the priest. The priest would then raise the offering which consisted of a sheaf of barley and waive it before the Lord. Thus, on this very same day Y’shua, our first fruit offering raised up and presented Himself before the Father as the perfect first fruits offering. This is why Mary could not embrace or touch Him, He needed to ascend to The Father of Lights, pure, holy, set apart, and undefiled. Yet a short while later after presenting Himself as our first fruits offering to the Father, (John 20:27-29) He said to Thomas, “reach here your finger, and behold my hands; and reach here your hand and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless but believing.” Thomas answered and said unto Him, “My Lord and my God.” Jesus responded, “Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”
1 Corinthians 15:20 & 23 confirm the fact that Y’shua is YHWH’s first fruits, the first to be raised from the dead. We are those who have not seen, yet believe. What is our response to such a wonderful redemption as this? YHWH gave His best in Messiah Y’shua. Do we give Him our best?
First fruits are a sign of promise, a pledge of the future. We are called to first fruits living. This means returning to Elohim the best part of YHWH’s gifts to us. First fruits living is pivotal to our mindset and allows the Almighty to release His power in our lives and in the lives of those we touch, and this power impacts society. It is action. The action of organizing our lives in such a manner that it allows God to spend us and utilize us on behalf of the Kingdom. People see through our first fruits living that there is a promise of something greater to come.
Practically speaking, first fruits living is first fruits giving. It is bringing the best for use in the Kingdom. As an example, it is bringing fresh food items to a food pantry, not expired items. It is giving based on your income, rather than from what is left over at the end of the pay period. First fruits living is a stewardship mindset that recognizes we do not own anything; all we possess is a gift from our mighty Elohim and giving back to Him brings freedom and power into our lives. This power releases His power to further change lives: our own and those whom we touch.
May He instill this mindset in each of us for His Glory, in Y’shua’s name.