Bunny and Eggs? Maybe Not.

What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it. - Deuteronomy 12:32 KJV

Have you ever heard of the phrase of persons being called "C and E Christians"? To understand the phrase, it means someone who attends church for two days in the entire year. Christmas day, and the day that Easter falls on. By now you have probably seen some C and E Christians out to attend church this Sunday for Easter Service. But a question that should be ringing in your ear is should I celebrate this holiday?

Also, why ask this question as a Seventh Day Adventist? Maybe it's the multiple times you have heard "Happy Easter Sabbath" in church, this past Saturday. Or, saw a child with bunny ears in the sanctuary. I experienced both scenarios this past Sabbath. I was not shocked because it is known through prophecy, that these pagan holidays and practices would soon find their way into the church, of which we should never heed to.

Nevertheless, let us make the answer plain: NO.

Believe it or not, Christmas has some ties to Easter! Christmas originated from Saturnalia, a festival that celebrates the harvest and gives homage to the god Saturn for doing so. This festival took on the form of celebrating false worship. The crop that was given to them was not their own. They would get drunk, wear red hats, and give gifts to their children and servants. Easter is the same as it surrounds the time of harvest: "...Spring festivals with the theme of new life and relief from the cold of winter became connected explicitly to Jesus having conquered death by being resurrected after the crucifixion."(abc.net) . To summarize, we are dealing with a holiday that celebrates the harvest, which happens at a time when the winter has been swept away by spring.

By 325 A.D., things would change. The Council of Nicaea, the first council of the Roman Catholic Church, under Constantine, determined that "Easter should fall on the Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox"(abc.net.au). For those who pay attention to the movement of the calendars, you may ask, how can that even be determined? Easter doesn't always fall on the same day!

Let's take a look at the days that easter fell on throughout the last decade:

2023: Sun, Apr 9, 2023

2022: Sun, Apr 17, 2022

2021: Sun, Apr 4, 2021

2020: Sun, Apr 12, 2020

2019: Sun, Apr 21, 2019

2018: Sun, Apr 1, 2018

2017: Sun, Apr 16, 2017

2016: Sun, Mar 27, 2016

2015: Sun, Apr 5, 2015

2014: Sun, Apr 20, 2014

Although quite scattered in dates, something is quite evident here. Can you see it? It seems that every year, Easter falls on a Sunday! Easter would routinely fall on a Sunday following the first moon after the "spring equinox", which to clarify means that "the dark months are now over and we're moving into the warmth of the light." Something that I find shocking is that "There's a defined period between March 25 and April 25 on which Easter Sunday must fall, and that's determined by the movement of the planets and the Sun" (abc.net.au). Let's take a step back here. Considering that God is the creator of all things, why is it that the planets and the Sun, two entities not only responsible for determining the "spring equinox" but also creations of God, dictate when we should worship His resurrection? Where in the Bible is it supported that commemorating his resurrection should be done on a Sunday, and is determined by planets and the Sun?

When you hear of Easter, you automatically think of the bunny and eggs. In European pagan celebrations, the bunny was "most likely" linked to symbolize "an ancient symbol of fertility and new life", which lines up with Eostre (EE-oh-streh or YOH-streh),"a goddess of fertility whose animal symbol was a bunny" (time.com). The egg symbolized new life as well. Applying it to the Bible, it seems like new life is easy to apply to Jesus Christ, who is resurrected from the tomb. However, to believe this symbolism and apply it to Biblical Prophecy, would not only be blasphemy, but would be disobeying the first, second, and fourth commandment.

Yes, Jesus did rise on a certain day, But how could we know for sure what day it was? Was it ever mentioned in the Bible to be celebrated on a Sunday "between March 25th and April 25th" (abc.net)? I think not.

Ellen G White, states: "...This festival has acquired an importance in the religious world which is in inverse proportion to the distinction accorded it in the Scriptures of divine truth. By Catholics and Protestants alike, it will be observed in a manner calculated to give the impression that it is a thing of the greatest importance to all Christians, instead of a mere innovation, as it is, without any standing whatever in the Word of God...But these same Protestants observe the first day of every week in commemoration of this same event. In this they contradict themselves with reference to Easter; and in the observance of Easter they contradict themselves with reference to Sunday."

Two very important points are made here:

1. There is no biblical backing for Easter, its reasons for celebrating on Sunday, and its traditions (i.e. Bunny and Eggs).

2. Those who celebrate Easter are not only celebrating a pagan holiday that has no biblical backing but they are also violating the first, second, and especially the fourth commandment of the bible, which is to keep the Sabbath day holy. Sunday is NOT that day. It was a day set aside for the"worship of Mithra, the sun god. Around the time when Christianity spread in Rome, Mithra the sun god had already been raised to the status of the patron deity of the emperors and the empire, and Mithraism had been recognized as the most predominant and influential religion in Rome. The Church of Rome tried to escape persecution from the Romans by accepting Sunday, which was kept in honor of Mithra, as the day of worship."(watv.org) You can read more about this here.

To give a short reason as to why the bible says that Saturday is the Sabbath, I will address the objection to this statement, which is that the Julian to Gregorian calendars changed the Sabbath. However, even though the change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar was a crucial reform to better align with the solar year, the sabbath or the seventh day Saturday was never lost.

When Pope Gregory XIII advanced the numerical date by 10 days, October 4th, 1582 was placed on a Thursday, with the 15th of that same week falling on a Friday. The reform was prompted by the need to correct the date of Easter, which was drifting later and later in the year due to the Julian calendar that missed a lot of days and did not account for the full solar year as previously stated. Despite this, the sabbath was never lost, and neither were the chronological order of the days of the week changed. Saturday still fell on the 7th day as centuries of peoples and powerful nations have noted :

While In the Valley - Daniel 2 Powerful Nations Chart

Today : USA	Babylon	Medes + Persians	Greece	Rome
Sunday	Sun	Zarisham	Deutéra	Dies Solis (Day of the Sun)
Monday	Moon	Aptar	Tríti	Dies Lunae (Day of the Moon)
Tuesday	Mars	Hapto	Tetárti	Dies Martis (Day of Mars
Wednesday	Mercury	Dingasham	Pémpti	Dies Mercurii (Day of Mercury)
Thursday	Jupiter	Khordad	Paraskeví	Dies Iovis (Day of Jupiter)
Friday	Venus	Spenam	Sávvato	Dies Veneris (Day of Venus)
Saturday	Saturn	Mah	Kyriakí	Dies Saturni (Day of Saturn)

Finally, the blog Bible things in Bible ways states:

"A Roman Soldier named Frontinus in his book named Strategems writes the account of the destruction of the 2nd temple in Jerusalem in 70AD, saying “The divine Vespasian attacked the Jews on the days of Saturn, on which it is forbidden for them to do anything serious, and prevailed.” ...this Roman soldier equated the day of rest (Sabbath) of the Jews to the Day of Saturn (Saturday which was known as Saturn’s Day in Rome)."

Friends, I implore you to share this blog post. Let us remind ourselves of the 10 foolish and wise virgins. While a group were wise to bring extra oil which can equate to the extra work we must do outside of going to church, others did not. The reason being that they believed that what they had was enough. Simply knowing that going to church on Saturday is not enough. We must know why and have reasons for backing up what we believe.

We are at the toenails of the statue as described in Daniel 2. Hence, it is our responsibility to be fully informed, so that when the time comes to stand for our beliefs, guided by the Holy Spirit, we can confidently speak.

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