I said the things written in this book will amaze and shock you, but to others who refuse the truth, it will highly offend. I just want to state before I start that my sole purpose for writing, is to try to bring Spirit-begotten children of the living Elohom (True Hebrew title for God) of the universe into a real, more productive one-on-one relationship with Him through truth. Nothing good ever comes out of a lie. Most times many more lies have to be made up to cover the first lie. To our Heavenly Father there is no such thing as a white lie.

We are to be children of the light and children of truth, not lies. When I did my research project on my beliefs as a Roman Catholic some 27 years ago, I was shocked that most of what I had been taught was a lie. It angered me that almost nothing taught in Catholic school was biblical, but only traditions of church fathers. It angered me even more that not only weren’t any of these beliefs biblical, but just the opposite, they were steeped in 100% pagan worship, which is strictly condemned throughout the entirety of the Holy Scriptures, Old Testament and New.

Deuteronomy 12:30-32 Take heed to yourself that you not be snared (trapped) by following them, after they be destroyed from before you; and that you not inquire after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise. You shall not do unto Yahweh thy Elohim: for everything hateful to Yahweh, which He detests, they have done to their gods. For they have even burned their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. What thing so ever I command you, observe to do it; you shall not add to it, or take away from it.

Wow, those are clear, powerful words. We should not take Pagan traditions, such as Easter (name of Babylonian mother earth goddess) and Christmas, and change them around some to try to worship the true Creator through ancient pagan customs. We must worship Him on the days He has already given us in Leviticus, the 23rd Chapter. We mustn’t add to His commands and we mustn’t take away from them. That seems clear enough for a child to understand.

When the Israelites were taken out of Egypt by the powerful miracles of Yahweh, the Creator, He took them to Mount Sinai to reveal the truth to them of who He was, and what His eternal laws are, and how to live an abundant, happy life.

But what happened when Moses went up the mount to receive His eternal law? They built a golden calf to Yahweh and worshipped Him through the calf. They did not get a new god, but worshipped the One and Only true Elohim (True Hebrew title for God) the only way they knew how, through the pagan customs from Egypt. This was not and still is not acceptable to Yahweh. He is a jealous Elohim (Deut 5:9) and will not give His glory as eternal authority of the universe to another, and rightly so. If He has given us truth, if He has laid out exactly how and when to worship Him in the Holy Scriptures, and more specifically in Leviticus 23, why should He accept false, changed paganism? Since the creation of the printing press every single person in the industrialized world, and even beyond has had access to a Bible. The truth is so readily available. People can easily find it and should accept it. Since it is so easy to access, why should the One and Only true Elohim accept lies and false pagan worship toward Him? The answer is He doesn’t, He never did, and He NEVER will.

John 4:24 Yahweh is a spirit, and those that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth.

The traditions of men, which the devil tries to pawn off as Christian, are nothing more than wasteful pagan  lies, that go back in some cases over 4000 years to ancient Babylon. Paul to the Galatians in Chapter 4:8-11

“Howbeit, then indeed not knowing Elohim, you served as slaves, to the ones not by nature being no gods. But now being known by Yahweh, how do you turn back again to the weak and poor elements in which you again wish to be enslaved.

You observe days, and months, and seasons, and years. I fear for you, lest somehow I labored among you in vain. “

These Galatians, once pagans and now believers, known by the Only true Creator of the universe were turning back to their pagan ways and observing the pagan practices they had come out of. I’m sure they were telling Paul they were now worshipping Yahweh  through  their pagan holidays. But again Paul said this was not acceptable. If a Moslem or a Buddhist became  a believer in Yahshua as Son of Elohim and Creator of the world, but still bowed down to the stone idol of Buddha and now called the idol Jesus or Yahshua, a child could see this is against the commandment and blasphemy to Yahweh. When someone is truly baptized as a mature adult and not as a newborn baby (another lie of Catholicism), why is it so hard to see he, too, must put away the pagan practices of Christmas, Easter, Halloween?  He must worship Yahweh in Spirit and truth.

I would now like to take the time to show you some references, so you can see that these practices truly are not Christian but are pagan to the core. Actually any encyclopedia can give you all the information that I will give you now, if you would only take the time. But I have done your reference work for you, so here it is.

Christmas – is not a Christian holiday. Yahshua was not born on December 25th. Luke 2:8 states that at the birth of Messiah shepherds were in the field. This could not be on December 25th. The Catholic Encyclopediai says “Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the church.”

It did not start to be observed as the birth of Messiah until the late 4th century by the Catholic Church, who had taken over the true church by this time. I will go into detail of that history in a later chapter. Here is a paper by Shannon Achey explaining, with references, the origin of this pagan practice.

Unveiling the Christmas Story  By Shannon Achey

The festival of Christmas was celebrated by pagan sun worshipers long before Yahshua Messiah was ever born. It was originally called Saturnalia, or Paganalia. A great compromise started when the early Christians at Rome sought for a way to convert more pagans into Christianity.

They knew that the pagans celebrated Saturnalia in late December, so they set the birth date of Yahshua to fall at that time. These pagans worshipped their sun god on December 25, as they kept the festival of Saturnalia. So the church at Rome set Yahshua’s birth date to be on December 25. They believed that this was a way to gain more converts to Messiah. However, their intent was to increase the size of the Roman church. This act allowed two major religions to become united, and everyone was happy, except for Yahweh! This was one of many compromises done to keep peace between the different religions.

“After the triumph of Constantine, the church at Rome assigned December 25 as the date for the celebration of the feast (Messiah’s birth),  possibly about 320 A. D. or 353 A. D. By the end of the fourth century the whole Christian world was celebrating Christmas on that day…. The choice of December 25 was probably influenced by the fact that on  this  day the Romans celebrated the Mithraic feast of their sun- god (Mithras), and that SATURNALIA also came at this time”, from Collier’s Encyclopedia.

The original name of Rome was Saturnia, meaning the city of Saturn. Saturnalia was one of Rome’s great feasts. It was celebrated from December 17-24. It was their ancient belief that the winter sun was slowly dying because it was seen rising further and further to the south each morning. By December 25, it could be recognized that it was coming back north, and it was said to be reborn on this day each year. This day was called Brumalia. During this ungodly festival, the city of Rome was covered with drunken people, and orgies were taking place everywhere; ivy, ribbons, wreaths, and garbage covered the streets. This was the pagan festival of the winter solstice then called Saturnalia, and now called Christmas!

Mithraism was the largest pagan religion in the Roman and Greek world at the time of its rival religion, Christianity. The Mithraists were keeping the winter festival called “the nativity of the sun”, thus named because they believed that the sun was born each year on December 25. They also celebrated December 25 as the date of Mithras’ birthday because he was their sun god. The religious headquarters of Mithraism was at Rome. And finally, a man by the name of Constantine, the Pontific Maximus (High Priest of Mithraism), emerged on the scene. He felt inspired to blend Christianity and Mithraism in order to bring peace between both rival religions, and he did it. This diabolical move has affected countless numbers of people through the ages.

“Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” 2nd Corinthians 6:14

CHRISTMAS GREENERY – The ancient Druids considered mistletoe to be so sacred that they worshipped it, and even used it to cast spells! The primary belief was that if they held it over a woman’s head she became powerless to resist, and they could then have their way with her sexually.

From this comes the custom of hanging it over doorways, and the tradition that if a girl is caught under the sprig of mistletoe, she may be kissed and may not resist.

Since the earliest times the fir (Christmas) tree has been worshipped as a phallic symbol, representing sexual potency, reproduction, and fertility. The pagans of old brought these trees into their houses and set them up as idols. Then they decked the tree with balls (male testes) symbolizing life and fertility. All this was done to honor their gods with all kinds of perversions.

ELVES/SANTA – The word elf means, “a nightmare!” According to tradition, while a person slept, he or she was attacked in the night by falling elves. It was believed that this is where nightmares and bad dreams came from. These elves are otherwise known in reality as evil spirits.

Many pagan societies have worshipped a hearth hod, clad in red, who came down the chimney to bless those who pleased him, and to curse those who didn’t. Food and drink offerings were left for him on the hearth or mantel in an effort to appease him.

The whole winter festival of Christmas is full of lies. Why do multitudes of families tell their children that Santa Claus is coming to bring them gifts? Why do you lie to your own kids?

“Do not give FALSE TESTIMONY.” Matthew 19:16-19

“You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of Elohim in order to observe your own traditions!” Mark 7:9

“But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the IDOLATERS, and ALL LIARS- their part will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” Revelation 21:8

Not one of these traditions is found anywhere within the Holy Bible, so why are they all being practiced within the Christian faith? It is because the devil has been working hard to mingle his lies, into the lives of Yahweh’s precious saints. Prayerful thought will bring us to the only conclusion of why multitudes of unbelievers and heathens celebrate Christmas, yet they don’t even believe in the Messiah, nor do the things that Yahshua taught. The reason is because Yahshua never did fit into this heathen festival. Please, let us stop trying to mingle Yahshua in with the worship of pagan gods and idols.” (end of quote)

2nd Kings 17:33 They worshipped the Almighty, but they also served their own gods in accordance with the customs of the nations from which they had been brought. ” 

Jeremiah 10: 1-8 ” Hear the word that Yahweh speaks unto you, o’ house of Israel. Thus says  Yahweh, 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 cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with gold  and silver, they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them. For they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good. For as much as there is none like unto thee, o Yahweh thou art great, and thy name is great in might. Who would not fear thee o King of nations? For to thee doth it appertain: For as much as among the wise men of the nations, and in all there kingdoms, there is none like unto thee. But they are altogether stupid and foolish. The tree is a doctrine of vanities”.

Sounds a lot like the Christmas tree. It is well known that the Druids (ancient pagans) worshipped pine trees because they did not lose their needles in the winter, when it appeared that all other trees lost theirs.  Another meaningless pagan tradition of man having absolutely nothing to do with our faith in Yahshua as Messiah for forgiveness of sin, but again more idolatry.

EASTER SUNDAY – This false pagan day has not even tried to be masqueraded by a Christian name. The very name Istar is the name of the pagan goddess Mother Earth, straight from Babylon. Again the early congregation never celebrated Easter but rather the Yahweh ordained festival of Passover.

1st Corinthians 11:23-24 “For as I have received of the Master, that which also I have delivered unto you, that the Master Yahshua, the same night in which He was betrayed (Aviv 14, Passover Luke 22:7-20) took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, take, eat, this is my body, which is broken for you, THIS DO IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME”.

Again the Yahweh- ordained institution of Passover, to be kept in its season from year to year, (Exodus 13:10) was thrown out by the unholy Catholic bishops in favor of their pagan customs. As a matter of fact, if you look at the only sign Yahshua gave that He is the Messiah; most of Christianity rejects it by accepting a Friday crucifixion and an Easter Sunday resurrection.

Matthew 12:39-40 “But He answered and said unto them, an evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly, so shall the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

Out of the Savior’s own mouth! He would only show one sign that He was indeed the Messiah. For three days and three nights would He be in the grave. Now a child can figure out that from sunset Friday to Sunday morning it is impossible to come up with three days and three nights.

That’s, because our Savior was not crucified on a Friday or rose Sunday morning; which is another tradition of men, never questioned by most, but which could be proven from history very easily. If you look at the scripture below from Luke you will clearly see that our Savior could not have been crucified on a Friday.

Luk 24:18 And answering, one of them whose name was Cleopas, said to Him, Are you only one who resides in Jerusalem and do not know the things happening in it in these days?

Luk 24:19 And He said to them, What things? And they said to Him, The things concerning Yahshua the Nazarene, who was a man, a prophet mighty in deed and word before Yahweh and all the people;

Luk 24:20 and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the judgment of death, and crucified Him.

Luk 24:21 But we were hoping that He is the One going to redeem Israel. But then with all these things, this third day comes today since these things happened.

If this was on Sunday afternoon, then all we have to do is simply count back three days from Sunday afternoon and you will see the day that Yahshua was crucified.

Anyway that you count you will not come up with a Friday crucifixion counting back three day from Sunday. Clearly He was crucified on Thursday.

Where then did a Friday crucifixion and Sunday resurrection come from? Well, first let’s take the crucifixion.

Luke 23:54 “And that day was the preparation and the Sabbath drew on.”

That verse has been taken by many to mean the weekly Sabbath or Saturday. So at the first glance you would think this day of preparation is a Friday. But John 19:31 correctly states,

“The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day (for that Sabbath day was a Holy Day).”

The book of Leviticus, the 23rd Chapter, verses 4-7, states:

“These are the (Holy Days) feasts of Yahweh, even holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their seasons. In the 14th day of the first month (Jewish calendar, April) at even (sun setting) is Yahweh’s Passover. And on the 15th day of the same month is the feast (Holy Day) of unleaven unto Yahweh, for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. In the first day you shall have a holy convocation (Holy Day Sabbath), you shall do no servile work.”

The Sabbath spoke of in John 19:31 was not the weekly Sabbath (Saturday), but the Holy Day of unleavened bread. So all we have to do is to go back and look in 30 AD, when the Messiah died, and see on which day the Passover fell and on which day the Holy Day fell. The Jews have records of all Holy Days, going back 1,000’s of years. And you will find that the Passover started on the evening of April 5th, which was a Wednesday. And since the Jews start their days correctly at sunset, Yahshua kept the Passover meal according to scripture that evening and was crucified Thursday afternoon. He was three days and three nights in the grave, just like He said in Matthew 12:39-40 and he rose from the dead after sunset Saturday evening. See the chart below, which can be checked for accuracy on any computer. Isn’t it time to start to wake up to the truth, and stop believing these lies that have been perpetrated for 2000 years?

April 30 AD

www.timeanddate.com

Also look at the following scripture to prove that Messiah was not resurrected Sunday morning at sunrise.

John 20:1 But on the first of the week, Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark. And she saw the stone had been removed from the tomb.

John 20:2 Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Yahhsua loved, and said to them, They took away the Master out of the tomb, and we do not know where they laid Him.

When Mary came it was still dark and the tomb was already empty, clearly Yahshua was resurrected Saturday evening and not Sunday morning. Also in Mathew 28:1, in the original manuscripts it states “after the Sabbaths” being plural, a holy day Sabbath on Friday, and a weekly Sabbath on Saturday. Yahshua was three days in the tomb Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and three nights, Thursday night, Friday night and Saturday night until He was resurrected.

The following is a paper that I put together with full references, showing where Easter traditions come from.

EASTER – PASSOVER CONTROVERSY

By the end of the first century, True believers came face to face with the Babylonian paganism in its various forms that had been established in the Roman Empire. The early congregation refused to have anything to do with its customs and beliefs. Much persecution followed. Many Christians were falsely accused, thrown to the lions, burned at the stake and in other ways tortured and martyred. (From the book, Babylon Mystery Religion, by Woodrow)

EASTER SUNDAY – Istar, Ashorah, Asterte – Mother earth, Semeramis, was celebrated as the pagan rites of spring. It was also known as the equinox of Venus, which is when they believed the Mother Earth was being impregnated by the sun. Nimrod stood for the sun god Baal. People  had great sex orgies on this day. Early gentile churches as early as 100 AD began to keep this Holiday instead of Passover. People like Simon Magus of Sameria were doing miracles and deceiving the people. Supposedly Ashorah hatched from a giant egg when born. The egg represented the sun. Easter worship began according to a letter by Iraneous, a 2nd century Christian and historian, during the early 2nd century, by bishop Sixtus of Rome. Rome began holding Sunday services and taking the Eucharist instead of observing Sabbath and Passover.

Cladius Philo came to Rome in the 60’s A.D.(Philo was ascetic and a philosopher). Even though he was ascetic, he welcomed with whole-hearted approval the apostolic men of his day, who it seems were of Hebrew stock and therefore, in the Jewish manner, still retained most of there ancient customs (such as Sabbath keeping and Holy Day keeping), (by Eusubius, Church History).

In 135 AD Bishop Marcus, an Italian, became bishop of Jerusalem. Crimes of heresy and schism were imputed to the obscure remnant of the Nazarenes who refused to accompany their Latin bishop in pagan worship but rather continued in the Apostles example of Sabbath and Passover. (Gibbons, Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire)

In the second century Polycarp Bishop of Smyrna was the primary leader of the church in his day. Polycarp had been a personal disciple of  the apostle John and had  kept the Passover with him on several occasions. The churches under his leadership remained virtually the only area where Yahweh’s festivals continued to be observed throughout the remainder of the 2nd century. In his old age, Polycarp even made a journey to Rome, seeking to convince the bishop of Rome, Anicetus, of his errors in not celebrating the biblical Passover and observing in its place an annual Easter Sunday worship, with a weekly celebration of the Eucharist. Anicetus answered that  he must keep Sunday in honor of the Roman forefathers before him. (Early Church and Eusubeus)

Polycrates was the successor of Polycarp. About 50 years after Polycarp’s journey, Victor, now bishop of Rome, sought to intimidate the churches of Asia Minor with excommunication if they did not keep Easter Sunday and drop Passover and Sabbath.

The world has been deceived into dropping the Yahweh ordained festival of Passover to commemorate the death and shed blood of our Savior. They have replaced it with the abomination of the pagan festival Easter, after the sun god Baal and his wife Istar. Yahweh strictly forbids this.

Deuteronomy 12:30-32 “Do not inquire after their gods, saying, how did these nations serve their gods? Even so I will do likewise. Thou shall not do unto the Yahweh your Elohim! For every abomination to the Yahweh, which He hates, have they done unto their gods, for even their sons and their daughters have they burned in the fire to their gods. WHAT THING soever I COMMAND YOU, OBSERVE TO DO IT; THOU SHALT NOT ADD TO IT, NOR TAKE AWAY FROM IT.

SUNDAY WORSHIP – There is not one scripture in the entire bible that endorses Sunday worship. There are well over 100 scriptures commanding the observance of Sabbath to honor Yahweh as the Creator. We will get into the Sabbath in detail later. Sunday, like Christmas and Easter was never part of the congregation that Yahshua started; rather it crept in almost a 100 years after His resurrection. This is something of much irony and hypocrisy. When you ask most professing Christians why they worship on Sunday instead of the scripturally- ordained Sabbath, they will most undoubtedly tell you, “because Yahshua was resurrected on Sunday morning.” Yet when  you  prove to them dogmatically, as we just did, that He was indeed resurrected on Saturday evening, they still will not start observing Saturday instead. The truth of the matter is, they are observing Sunday because of tradition. Most people don’t have a strong one-on-one relationship with Yahweh but do with their local church or Pastor. They don’t want to rock the boat, even if what they believe is proven wrong. When you bring up these topics to a Pastor or church Elder, and if you are convicted about the truth of the scriptures, they will almost always try to get rid of you. This is called damage control. The truth is not high on the priority list in most churches, but money and control are. What I hear most often is, “yes, you might be correct but we are comfortable with our traditions.”

The following is an excerpt from Ralph Woodrow’s Babylon Mystery Religion page 146-147, and deals with the Easter and sunrise Sunday tradition from Rome.

“At the Easter season is it not uncommon for Christians to attend sunrise services. It is assumed that such honor Christ because He rose from the dead on Easter Sunday morning, just as the sun was coming up. But the resurrection did not actually occur at sunrise, for it was  yet  dark when Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and it was already empty. On the other hand, there was a type of  sunrise  service  that was part of ancient sun worship. Rites with  the dawning sun – in one form or another – have been known among many ancient nations. The sphinx in Egypt was located so as to face the east. From mount Fuji – Yama in Japan were prayers made to the rising of the sun. The pagan Mithrists of Rome met together at dawn in honor of the sun  – god.  The goddess of spring, from whose name our word “Easter” comes from, was associated with the sun rising in the east.

Even as the word east-ER would imply. Thus the dawn of the sun in the east, the name Easter and the spring season are all connected.

According to the old legends, after Tammuz was slain, he descended into  the underworld. But through the weeping of his “mother,” Ishtar (Easter), he was mystically revived in spring. “The resurrection of Tammuz through Ishtar’s grief was dramatically represented annually in order to insure the success of the crops and the fertility of the people. Each year men and women had to grieve with Ishtar over the death of Tammuz and celebrate the god’s return in order to win anew her favor and her benefits!” When the new vegetation began to come forth, those ancient people believed their “savior” had come from the underworld, had ended winter, and caused spring to begin. Even the Israelites adopted the doctrines and rites of the annual pagan spring festival, for Ezekiel speaks of women weeping for Tammuz“ (Ezekiel 8:14).“

As believers, we truly believe that Yahshua Messiah rose from the dead – not merely in nature or in the new vegetation of spring. Because his resurrection was in the spring of the year, it was not too difficult for the church of the fourth century (now having departed from the original faith in a number of ways) to merge the pagan spring festival into Christianity. In  speaking of this merger, the Encyclopedia  Britannica  says,  “Christianity…  incorporated in its celebration of the  great Christian  feast day, many of the heathen rites and customs of the spring festival.”

Everything that we are looking at here is history. It is not opinion. I know to some it must hurt deeply, if you are hearing these hard, cold facts for the first time, but believe me, I understand. Remember, I was brought up in Catholicism. It deeply angered me when I found out that I had been deceived. I truly felt I was honoring our Heavenly Father and our Savior. But that anger should turn into joy when we really think about how blessed we are to have Yahweh bringing us these truths.

Proverbs 25:11 “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.”

Again when these pagan traditions are truly exposed, what will we do with this information? Will we follow the crowd and con ourselves that it really doesn’t matter, or will we repent, change, turn back to the truth of scripture  and honor Yahweh in spirit and truth.

Jeremiah 6:16 “Thus says Yahweh, stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk there in, and ye shall find rest to your souls. But they said, we will not walk therein”.

How about you, will you walk in the scriptural path or will you continue in vain pagan worship

Mark 7:6-7,9 “Yahshua answered and said unto them”, “Well did Isaiah prophesy concerning you, hypocrites, as it has been written, this people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men”. Full well you, reject the commandment of Yahweh that you may keep your own tradition.

Here are several other references showing the origin of Sunday observance.

SUNDAY – Romans, like the Greeks, Persians, Egyptians, and Babylonians before them worshipped the sun. A person could easily find the pagan temple because it was the tower raised high above the other buildings, and would ring out loudly, each Sunday at the rising of  the sun. (Fossilized Customs)

After the flood, a king named Nimrod from Babylon, with his mother Semiramis developed a way of worshipping the sun god Baal, who was said to be Nimrod’s father. Sunday worship was incorporated into Christianity at the end of the 1st century and early 2nd century in honor of Easter Sunday and the resurrection. The early Roman gentile churches, whose background was primarily from paganism, gladly accepted Messiah but worshipped Him in the form of their other pagan gods. (History of the Church) Pagans also called Sunday “Baal’s day.” (Fossilized Customs) The center of the Mithra sun cult was Rome. The leader was the Pater (Latin for father), they wore crosses and wore black. The cult was for men only. The cult had a trinity of Mithra, Rashnu, and Vohu-Manah, three persons but one god.

Sunday was kept hallowed in honor of Mithra the sun god, (Fossilized Customs). The Romans felt that it would be easier to control people with familiar concepts, and not demand any real changes. (History of the Church)

Ezekiel 8:12-16 “And He said to me, son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each man in the rooms of his image? For they are saying, Yahweh does not see us; Yahweh has forsaken the earth. And He said to me, you turn again, you shall see greater abominations that they are doing. And He brought me to the opening of the gate of the house of Yahweh, toward the north. And, behold, women were sitting there, weeping for Tammuz. And He said to me, have you seen son of man? Yet turn again; you shall see greater abominations than these. And He brought me into the inner court of the house of Yahweh. And, behold, at the opening of the temple of Yahweh, between the porch and the altar were about twenty five men with their backs to the temple of Yahweh, and their faces eastward. And they bowed themselves eastward to the sun.”

Here are two more references from Alexander Hislop’s famous book, “The Two Babylons.” These deal with the origin of Easter eggs and the hot cross buns (cakes to Astarte, read Jeremiah 7:18)

“In ancient times, eggs were used in  the religious rites of the  Egyptians  and  the Greeks.   They were hung up for mystic purposes in their temples. From Egypt, these sacred eggs can be distinctively traced to the banks of the Euphrates. The classic  poets are full of  the fable of  the mystic egg of the Babylonians;. An egg of wondrous size is said to have fallen from heaven into the river Euphrates. The fishes rolled it to the bank, where the doves having settled upon it, and hatched it, out came Venus, who afterwards was called the Syrian goddess – that is Astarte (pronounced Easter). Accordingly, in Cyprus, one of the chosen seats of the worship of Venus, or Astarte, the egg of wondrous size, was represented on a grand scale.”

Where did the idea of hot cross buns come from. It came from the same pagan celebration and customs as did the egg.

“In “The Two Babylons”, on pages 107 and 108, we read about buns and Easter. . The hot cross buns of Good Friday, and the dyed eggs of Easter Sunday, figured in the Chaldean rites just as they do now. The “buns” known too by that identical name, were used in the worship of the queen of heaven, the goddess Easter, as early as the days of Cecrops, the founder of Athens – that is, 1500 years before the Christian era. One species of sacred bread, says Bryant, which used to be offered to the gods, was of great antiquity, and called “boun.”

Although many people think that the church is an organization, or a building, the word church (Ekklesia in the original Greek), literally means “called out ones.” Our Father in heaven has called us out of the unfruitful works of darkness (paganism) to the light of His truth.

Ephesians 5:7-11 “Be you not partakers with them. For you were sometimes darkness, but now you are light in Yahshua; walk as the children of light. For the fruit of the spirit is in all goodness and righteousness  and truth. Proving what is acceptable to Yahweh, and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.”

Yahshua’s last prayer to the Father before His crucifixion is in the book of John.

John 17:15-17 He said, “I pray  not  that  thou should take them out of the world, but that thou should keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.”

If something is truly of the Holy Spirit, it will always be backed up by the written word of scripture.

1st Corinthians 10:14 Paul tells us, “wherefore my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.”

1st Corinthians 10:20-22 “But I say, that the things which the gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to Yahweh, and I would not that you have fellowship with devils.” You cannot drink the cup of Yahshua, and the cup of devils; you cannot be partakers of Yahshua’s table, and the table of devils. DO WE PROVOKE OUR MASTER TO JEALOUSY? ARE WE STRONGER THAN HE?”

I know first- hand how hard it is when you stop practicing paganism and that you will be judged by the world around you.

1st Peter 4:2 “That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lust of men, out of the will of Yahweh.

1st Peter 4:3 For the time past of our life may have been sufficient to us to work out the will of the gentiles, having gone on in lasciviousness (lawlessness), lusts, drunkenness, parties, carousings, and unlawful idolatries; (which, if you’re honest with yourself, you will realize that many of these pagan holidays are full of them).”

1st Peter 4:4 “In which they are surprised, that you not run with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you.”

It is not so much the truth that hurts someone, but the fact that, if what you are telling them is true, then what they are doing is false. But if you love the truth, then it should convict you to change from these pagan practices. In the next chapter we will get into the true Elohim – breathed Holy Days of Scripture.