"Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Yahshua Christ, and our gathering together to Him, that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first..."
II Thessalonians 2:1-3
The Babylonian Origins of Easter (Ishtar)
2010 04 02
Excerpts from: lasttrumpetministries.org
Easter is a day that is honered by nearly all of contemporary Christianity and is used to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The holiday often involves a church service at sunrise, a feast which includes an "Easter Ham", decorated eggs and stories about rabbits.
Those who love truth learn to ask questions, and many questions must be asked regarding the holiday of Easter.
Is it truly the day when Jesus arose from the dead? Where did all of the strange customs come from?
The first thing we must understand is that professing Christians were not the only ones who celebrated a festival called "Easter."
"Ishtar", which is pronounced "Easter" was a day that commemorated the resurrection of one of their gods that they called "Tammuz", who was believed to be the only begotten son of the moon-goddess and the sun-god.
In those ancient times, there was a man named Nimrod, who was the grandson of one of Noah´s son named Ham.
Ham had a son named Cush who married a woman named Semiramis. Cush and Semiramis then had a son named him "Nimrod."
Ham had a son named Cush who married a woman named Semiramis. Cush and Semiramis then had a son named him "Nimrod."
NIMROD:
After the death of his father, Nimrod married his own mother and became a powerful King.
The Bible tells of of this man, Nimrod, in Genesis 10:8-10 as follows: "And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said, even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad,and Calneh, in the land of Shinar."
Nimrod became a god-man to the people and Semiramis, his wife and mother, became the powerful Queen of ancient Babylon.
Nimrod was eventually killed by an enemy, and his body was cut in pieces and sent to various parts of his kingdom.
Semiramis had all of the parts gathered, except for one part that could not be found.
That missing part was his reproductive organ. Semiramis claimed that Nimrod could not come back to life without it and told the people of Babylon that Nimrod had ascended to the sun and was now to be called "Baal", the sun god.
Queen Semiramis also proclaimed that Baal would be present on earth in the form of a flame, whether candle or lamp, when used in worship.
Semiramis was creating a mystery religion, and with the help of Satan (ok?), she set herself up as a goddess.
Semiramis claimed that she was immaculately conceived.
She taught that the moon was a goddess that went through a 28 day cycle and ovulated when full.
She further claimed that she came down from the moon in a giant moon egg that fell into the Euphrates River.
This was to have happened at the time of the first full moon after the spring equinox.
Semiramis became known as "Ishtar" which is pronounced "Easter", and her moon egg became known as "Ishtar´s" egg."
Ishtar soon became pregnant and claimed that it was the rays of the sun-god Baal that caused her to conceive.
The son that she brought forth was named Tammuz. Tammuz was noted to be especially fond of rabbits, and they became sacred in the ancient religion, because Tammuz was believed to be the son of the sun-god, Baal. Tammuz, like his supposed father, became a hunter.
The day came when Tammuz was killed by a wild pig.
Queen Ishtar told the people that Tammuz was now ascended to his father, Baal, and that the two of them would be with the worshippers in the sacred candle or lamp flame as Father, Son and Spirit.
Ishtar, who was now worshipped as the "Mother of God and Queen of Heaven", continued to build her mystery religion.
The queen told the worshippers that when Tammuz was killed by the wild pig, some of his blood fell on the stump of an evergreen tree, and the stump grew into a full new tree overnight. This made the evergreen tree sacred by the blood of Tammuz.
She also proclaimed a forty day period of time of sorrow each year prior to the anniversary of the death of Tammuz.
During this time, no meat was to be eaten.
Worshippers were to meditate upon the sacred mysteries of Baal and Tammuz, and to make the sign of the "T" in front of their hearts as they worshipped.
They also ate sacred cakes with the marking of a "T" or cross on the top.
Every year, on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox, a celebration was made.
It was Ishtar´s Sunday and was celebrated with rabbits and eggs.
Ishtar also proclaimed that because Tammuz was killed by a pig, that a pig must be eaten on that Sunday.
By now, the readers of this tract should have made the connection that paganism has infiltrated the contemporary "Christian" churches, and further study indicates that this paganism came in by way of the Roman Catholic System.
It is only possible to accept that the picture above is an image of what Christ intended His church to be if one has become divorced from the truth. To be divorced from the truth is the definition of the word apostasy.
The apostles testified that the church would become divorced from the truth BEFORE the coming of our Lord Yahshua the Messiah, and our gather together to Him. How did a group of humble Jewish fishermen, and the early church that first gathered in Jerusalem, become so transformed as to no longer be recognized as humble men and women despised and rejected of men? How did the church come to adorn themselves with all the rich and proud trappings of pagan religion? The answer is found in the practice of syncretism.
If one studies the Bible with the greatest diligence, they will find no mention of the apostles or disciples of The Way ever putting on rich garments. They will find no mention of the church building cathedrals, proud monuments of opulence and ease. They will not find any mention of monks, nuns, or a clergy/laity separation. You will not find in the Scriptures any connection between the church of Christ and miters, prayer beads, monasteries, rich necklaces and jewels, purple and scarlet robes, or chalices. However, you will find these very things mentioned in the apostle John’s description of an apostate church that is figured as a Great Harlot riding upon a Scarlet Beast.
If one studies the Bible with the greatest diligence, they will find no mention of the apostles or disciples of The Way ever putting on rich garments. They will find no mention of the church building cathedrals, proud monuments of opulence and ease. They will not find any mention of monks, nuns, or a clergy/laity separation. You will not find in the Scriptures any connection between the church of Christ and miters, prayer beads, monasteries, rich necklaces and jewels, purple and scarlet robes, or chalices. However, you will find these very things mentioned in the apostle John’s description of an apostate church that is figured as a Great Harlot riding upon a Scarlet Beast.
"And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, "Come here, I shall show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality." And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality, and upon her forehead a name was written, a mystery, "BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered greatly."
- Revelation 17:1-6
Pope Benedict and Cardinals “Adorned in Scarlet and Purple”
The Catholic Church practiced syncretism. This is the practice of seeking to merge, or reconcile, various conflicting beliefs. When Constantine declared Rome to be a Christian Empire, there was a huge number of pagan practitioners throughout the empire. Constantine was himself a Sun worshiper, and the highest holy days of Sun worship were at the end of December when the Sun had passed through the shortest day of the year and was beginning to assert its ascendancy once more. This was where Christmas originated. Rome merged the worship of Deus Sol Invictus (unconquered Sun god) with Christianity, and it became a perverse mixture of pagan and Christian teachings.
The photo above was taken by me at the oldest Roman Catholic church in Macon, Georgia, St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. This shrine outside the church contains the Pyramid and All Seeing Eye of Freemasonry (note the sunburst behind the cross.) It includes the cross, which is a symbol of Tammuz, who is Nimrod reborn, the god of the Sun. This is signified also by the solar burst behind the Tau-cross. It has an image of Mary, who is modeled after Semiramis, the Queen of Heaven, the mother of Tammuz and wife of Nimrod.
The truth is that Easter has nothing whatsoever to do with the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We also know that Easter can be as much as three weeks away from the Passover, because the pagan holiday is always set as the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox.
Some have wondered why the word "Easter" is in the the King James Bible.
It is because Acts, chapter 12, tells us that it was the evil King Herod, who was planning to celebrate Easter, and not the Christians.
The true Passover and pagan Easter sometimes coincide, but in some years, they are a great distance apart.
We know that the Bible tells us in John 4:24, "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."
The truth is that the forty days of Lent, eggs, rabbits,hot cross buns and the Easter ham have everything to do with the ancient pagan religion of Mystery Babylon. These are all antichrist activities!
Satan is a master deceiver, and has filled the lives of well-meaning, professing Christians with idolatry.
These things bring the wrath of God upon children of disobedience, who try to make pagan customs of Baal worship Christian.
These customs of Easter honor Baal and is still worshipped as the "Rising Sun" and his house is the "House of the Rising Sun."
This is a picture of the Pope carrying what is very obviously an image of the Sun. The sacrament of the Mass observed by Catholics is rife with Sun images. Even the wafer that is supposed to represent the body of Christ is in the shape of a solar disk. It is this which is held in the center of the image above.
This picture is easily mistaken as a painting of Christ. It is actually a painting of Apollo. The “solar halo,” also called a nimbus, was very common in depictions of deities that were related to the Sun and Sun worship. Due to Catholicism’s deep ties to Sun worship, symbols of the Sun are found in profusion.
How many churches have "sunrise services" on Ishtar´s day and face the rising sun in the East?
How many will use colored eggs and rabbit stories, as they did in ancient Babylon.
