A recent article, by Dr. Kent Hunter, The Church Doctor, says, “Churches shouldn’t forget the Easter Bunny.” But, what does Yahweh say about this? I believe he would say that his church was hijacked long ago, beginning in the garden.
In the garden we see the commandment of God twisted by the liar to deceive Eve. God said, “Do not eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil for in the day you eat of it you shall surely die.” The serpent, Satan, asks the question, “Did God really say that?” Eve answered, adding to the Commandment; “Nor should we touch it.” This was all the opening the liar needed. When he saw that Eve was not committed to exactly what God said, he suggested that the result of disobedience is equally not exactly as God said. Satan replied to her, “Surely you will not die. God knows that when you eat of the tree you will be like him.” Will we listen to the truth, or the liar?
People, inspired by the liar, add to and take away from God’s word. These lies are passed down from generation to generation and become traditions. These traditions have replaced God’s word due to the emotional connection to family and heritage. In Matthew 15, Yeshua/Jesus says that these traditions make God’s commandments of no effect. Paul says that God sends strong delusion upon those who do not receive a love for the truth. Both recall the Genesis story. The words of Paul and Yeshua also echo Deuteronomy 4:2, telling us, “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.”
Whose voice will we hear? God says that we are not to worship him with pagan practices. Man says, “We’ve redeemed these pagan worship practices, and made them all about Jesus.” God says, “Keep my feasts” because they are pattern for the real Messiah, and his redemption plan. Man says, “God knows our heart and he knows we’re doing this for him.” God says, “I know your heart that it is desperately wicked.”
Yeshua’s death and resurrection cannot be understood by egg-laying rabbits and pagan fertility rites that are condemned by Yeshua in his Word. Yeshua is the Passover lamb of Yahweh, not the Easter ham. What a travesty that on every level the practice of Eostre/Ashtarte/Easter flies in the face of the truth of God’s Word in perpetually putting the name of another god in his Face and in his place.
Paul tells us that Yeshua set us free from the bondage of sin. Nowhere in the Bible are we told that we have been set free from God’s Torah! How ludicrous is it to believe that we were convicted of breaking the law of God, and then we were covered in his blood and set free so that we can continue in lawlessness? Why do people accept this illogical conclusion, when they would laugh at this incongruous thought process in any other situation? I suggest it is because we are ensnared by the lie that has found a lodging place in our heart.
This is a flesh-versus-Spirit battle. Paul says, in Romans 8, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the Law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his.”
Why do we find it hard to submit to the delightful, easy, pure, spiritual Torah of God? Paul tells us that it is because we are in the flesh, instead of being in the Spirit. Are we quenching the Spirit of God who is telling us to submit to his word? Do we quench the voice of the Holy Spirit when we choose to listen to the commandments and doctrines of men, inspired by the liar from the beginning? I believe so. As the scripture tells us, “Let those who have ears to hear, hear” the voice of the Lord.”
BANNER KIDD is the former manager of WQKO, Christian Radio. He serves as an elder at Messiah Fellowship in Howe. To read more from him and view videos, go to www.messiahfellowshiponline.com and his blog, www.torahperspective.com.
