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Over the past 6,000 years, there has been a deliberate and concentrated effort on the part of Satan to destroy the word of God. He first started in the Garden of Eden by raising doubts about whether God had said what He had said. Genesis 3:1 And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? The Devil's tactics have not changed since the beginning. He first questioned God's words, then denied God's words and ended up calling God a liar. Old Slewfoot has his legions out there today following in his footsteps, emulating his tactics. We call this the "Yea Hath God Said Society."(YHGSS). Satan even tried to destroy the physical line of Jesus Christ by killing God's people. He failed to do that although he sure gave his best effort. He thought that he had Him when Jesus was nailed to the cross and died. But….Jesus rose from the grave and proved His deity by His Resurrection. Luke 24:34 Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. He lives today and those who trust Him as Saviour are assured of a home in heaven. 1 John 5:12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. Christians do not follow a dead prophet who followed a moon god but a Living Risen Saviour. That is what makes Christianity different from all other religions. Jesus Christ is the Risen LORD.
Since the devil failed in the destruction of the physical body of Jesus, he has been hard at work since then trying to destroy the words of God. Even in Paul's time there were those who attempted to destroy God's words by changing or corrupting them.
2 Corinthians 2:17 For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.
Yet, God has promised us that He would preserve His words. Psalm 12:6-7 The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
God promised to preserve His words, and He has! We still have the preserved, inspired word of God in our Authorized Version of 1611. As we have documented many times in other materials, "ole slew foot" has failed many times in his attempts to destroy the word of God.
However, the Devil never gives up. If he cannot destroy God's word, then he will attempt to cast doubt upon it by coming up with questions about the Bible. One of the most effective is to question the correctness of certain passages in the Book. The following is one of those passages:
Acts 12:4 - And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people. The question is often phrased similar to this: "Isn't "Easter" in Acts 12:4 a mistranslation of the word "pascha" and shouldn't it be translated as "Passover"?"
The word "pascha" which is here translated as "Easter" is elsewhere translated in the New Testament as "the Passover" or "the feast of the Passover." In the New Testament, it could refer to the meal, the day, the festival or the special sacrifices connected with the Passover. Gingrich and Danker's Greek Lexicon reports that in popular usage the two festivals, Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, had "merged in usage." They were often called, "the days of unleavened bread."
Leviticus 23:6 - And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.
Matthew 26:17 Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover?
Mark 14:12 And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the passover, his disciples said unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the passover?
Luke 22:7 Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed.
This day of Passover and the next seven days that followed were known as the "days of unleavened bread."
Acts 12:3 And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.)
Acts 20:6 And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days; where we abode seven days.
Traditionally the day that we call "Easter" is Resurrection Sunday and is a celebration of the empty tomb. It truly is a day of rejoicing and happiness as we celebrate the fact that Jesus Christ is "The Risen Lord." He is Risen. It is a great day. Yes, we celebrate His resurrection every Sunday, but this one day every year is really the anniversary of the day that our Lord rose from the grave triumphant over death. Don't let the word "Easter" cause you to lose the joy of this day. Resurrection Sunday is a great day!
The word "Easter" in Acts 12:4 refers to a pagan holiday that occurred later in the month of what we know now as April. March/April or "Nisan" is the first month of the Jewish religious year. The "days of unleavened bread" ended around the middle of the month. Later in the month pagans observed the holiday known as Ishtar (Easter) or Astarte.
Dr. Sam Gipp says: "The festival involved a celebration of reproduction. For this reason the common symbols of Easter festivities were the rabbit (the same symbol as "Playboy" magazine), and the egg. Both are known for their reproductive abilities. At the center of attention was Astarte, the female deity. She is known in the Bible as the "queen of heaven" (Jeremiah 7:18; 44:17-25). She is the mother of Tammuz (Ezekiel 8:14) who was also her husband! These perverted rituals would take place at sunrise on Easter morning (Ezekiel 8:13-16)"
So when the KJV translators came to this portion of scripture they realized that the pagan festival was to occur after "the days of unleavened bread" as found in Acts 12:3. They did not translate "pascha" as "passover" but as "Easter." They were smarter than those that try to cast doubt upon the word of God. The next time that someone tries to cast doubt upon God's word by this usage of the word "Easter" have an answer for him or her. Then help them to see that casting doubt of God's word is a trick as old as man himself.
Genesis 3:1 - Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Genesis 3:4 - And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Do not let the Devil fool you by causing you to doubt God's word, the AV 1611. It is the absolutely, reliable, perfect word of God in the English language. Doubt of the word of God is a tool of Satan and must be rejected.
Could it be that you don't believe God's word because you have not been saved? The Bible tells us to "examine" our faith:
2 Corinthians 13:5 - Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
If you have never been saved, trust Jesus Christ the Lord today before it is too late:
John 17:3 - And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
John 5:24 - Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
Romans 10:9-10 & 13 - That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 13For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Available in PDF format as a printable tract.
