You may search the Bible from Genesis to Revelation but you will find no Biblical support for Lent or Easter. As I will show below the origins of the two festivals are related as are the festivals themselves. Lent, like the Easter festival, was introduced to Christianity by the Catholic Church. But first let us look at what the prophet Ezekiel was shown by God.
In Ezekiel Chapter 8 we read about abominations committed by men and women of Judah (aka children of God) in the temple and at night. Their backs were towards the Sanctuary as they faced eastwards. The women were weeping for 'Tammuz'- the Sun-god. They were engaged in sun-worship at a place where they ought to worship the LORD God only. For these abominations the Lord Almighty pronounced judgment upon the idolatrous people.
Verse 11 reads:
“And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up.” i.e. They were worshipping.
Verse 14 reads:
“Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD'S house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz” (KJV). i.e. They were worshipping Tammuz (the Sun-god).
Verse 16 reads:
“And he brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.” i.e. They were worshipping facing Babylon, home of Sun worship.
But Who Was Tammuz?
Some have claimed that the festivals aren’t of pagan origin but nothing could be further from the truth. Let us look at history:
In ancient Babylon "Ishtar" (pronounced “Easter") was a day that commemorated the “resurrection” of “Tammuz”, one of the Babylonian gods, who was believed to be the only begotten son of the moon-goddess and the sun-god. Tammuz was a descendant of Noah - i.e. he was a great-great grandson of Noah.
Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth (Genesis 6:10). Ham had a son named Cush who married a woman named Semiramis. Cush and Semiramis then had a son and they named him “Nimrod." Nimrod was such a nimrod that he attempted to build the tower of Babel, a tower meant to ascend to the 'gates of heaven'. All, in a bid to defeat God's purposes just in case He sent another flood. Never mind that the rainbow was still there as the sign that God wasn't going to bring a flood ever again. An unbreakable promise the LORD made to Nimrod's great grandfather. Nimrod was indeed a Nimrod. But that is a story for another day.
Genesis 10:8-10 says:
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.
After the death of Cush, his father, Nimrod married his own mother and became a powerful King and a god-man to the people. Semiramis, his wife and mother, became the powerful Queen of ancient Babylon. Later to become the 'mother of god' and the 'Queen of heaven'.
Nimrod was eventually killed by an enemy, and his body was cut in pieces and sent to various parts of his kingdom. Semiramis told the people of Babylon that Nimrod had ascended to the sun and was now to be called "Baal", the sun god.
Semiramis claimed that she was immaculately conceived and 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”(Easter Egg). Ishtar (Semiramis) 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.
After Tammuz was killed by a wild pig the “Queen of Heaven” proclaimed a Forty-Day period of sorrow each year prior to the anniversary of the death of Tammuz. Every year, on the First Sunday after the first full moon, after the spring equinox, a celebration was made. It was Ishtar's (Easter) Sunday and was celebrated with rabbits, eggs and ham.
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 pagan practices that came to contemporary "Christian" churches by way of the Roman Catholic System.
Easter has nothing whatsoever to do with the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Besides, it has nothing to do with the true Passover although their respective dates coincide on some occasions.
The pagan holiday is always set as the First Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox. Lent days are set by the Catholic Church to precede Easter which they also set.
The judgment pronounced by God in Ezekiel chapter 8 will surely be meted on the modern-day Christians who weep for Tammuz while in the Lord's temple. The Lord sees all and has warned all to desist from idolatry.
It was thus very surprising indeed to note that the Senior pastor of Auburn SDA Church would conduct a Lent service complete with guest speakers including the local Lutheran and Catholic priests.
Will you follow the commandments of God or the commandments of men?
Dr. Isaac Menge is currently a General Medical Practitioner in Central Australia. In addition to his medical qualifications he holds a Masters degree in Health Services Management. Dr. Menge has lived and studied or worked in Kenya, China, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and currently lives in Australia where he has been with his family over the last fifteen years.