Traditions
April 04, 2010
By: James Herschel Lyda
Mat. 15: 1
¶ Then came to Jesus scribes and
Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,
2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition
of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
3 But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye
also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father
and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.
5 But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father
or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;
6 And honour not his father or his mother, he
shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by
your tradition.
7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of
you, saying,
8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their
mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for
doctrines the commandments of men.
Tra-di-tion (noun) 1. Custom or belief: a
long-established action or pattern of behavior in a community or group of
people, often one that has been handed down from generation to generation. 2. Body
of customs: a body of long-established customs and beliefs viewed as a
set of precedents. 3. Handing down of customs: the handing of patterns of
behavior, practices, and beliefs that are valued by a culture. 4. Accepted unwritten Christian doctrines: CHRISTIANITY the body of Christian doctrines that are accepted as the
teachings of Jesus Christ and the apostles without written evidence.
Such as:
going to heaven when you die; the immortality of the soul; the eternal burning
of the wicked; the dead knowing more than they ever knew in life; once saved
always saved. These all are found in tracts and documents everywhere and make
up most of the doctrines taught by most religious groups, but is found nowhere
in the Bible. But these all are the teachings of CHRISTANITY. That is
one reason I am hesitating to call myself a CHRISTIAN. I try to live as close
to Christ and his teachings as possible but I do not call myself a Christian
because I don’t want to be associated with these types of teachings.
CHRISTIANITY
is so full of contradictions that are not supported by the Bible. If it is not
found in the Bible, in easy to understand language, then reject it for it is a
teaching of so called CHRISTIANITY and not that of God. I hope that we are not modern
day CHRISTIANS but followers of Christ and doers of the Word.
Mark 15:3
Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
Easter, is
this a commandment of God or is it a tradition? Is the word Easter found in the Bible?
Yes! KJV Ac 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.
YLT Ac
12:4 whom also having seized, he did put
in prison, having delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to guard him,
intending after the passover to bring him forth to the people.
Easter
Originally a Saxon word (Eostre)(also
known as Ostara or Ishtar, Semiramus as we know her), denoting a goddess of the
Saxons, in honor of whom, sacrifices were offered about the time of the
Passover. Eostre also denotes a goddess of spring and dawn (hence the sunrise
service). From this came the name that was given to the festival of the
Resurrection of Christ, Easter, which occurred about the time of the Passover.
In the early English versions this word was frequently used as the translation
of the Greek pascha (the Passover). When the Authorized Version (1611) was
formed, the word "passover" was used in all passages in which this
word pascha occurred, except in #Ac 12:4. In the Revised Version the proper
word, "passover," is always used.
So Easter is
a CHRISTIAN tradition, not Biblical but pagan in origin and practice. So should
we be keeping this ancient pagan tradition or should we be obeying the Bible in
observing the Passover? The Bible says in Ex 12:17 And ye shall observe the
feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies
out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your
generations by an ordinance for ever.
Ex
12:24 And ye shall observe this thing
for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever.
I ask of
you, Should we keep a day that is only mentioned one time in the Bible and it
is a mistranslation for the Passover? Or should we keep the day mentioned
seventy one times in the Bible and is a direct commandment that we should
observe it as an ordinance forever?
Ex
12:14 And this day shall be unto you for
a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations;
ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.
Ex
12:17 And ye shall observe the feast of
unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of
the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an
ordinance for ever. (600,000)
Ex
12:24 And ye shall observe this thing
for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever.
It seems to
me that we should be observing an ordinance (law: a law or rule made by an
authority such as a city government (or the ultimate law giver, God)) rather
than a tradition named after some goddess who we know to be pagan and foreign.
A so called goddess, Semiramus, who was a fertility goddess with symbols of
painted eggs and bunny rabbits. Do we want to teach our children such lies when
the Bible commands us to teach our children about the ordinance of the Passover?
Ex 12:24 And
ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever.
Let not me
or my words condemn your traditions but listen to the true and undefiled Word
of God. Mat 15:6 Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by
your tradition.
Another
point that I wish to make is; nowhere in the Bible does God tell or command us
to observe the day of Christ’s resurrection. This does not belittle or make of
lesser effect the resurrection of Jesus Christ but God’s emphasis is upon
Christ’s pure and sinless life. The life that He freely gave as a substitute
sacrifice for the eternal death with which each and every living human being
was doomed to cease to exist. Christ through His selfless sacrifice gave each
and every human the chance to be saved from this eternal extinction if we will
only believe that He is the only born Son of God and keep his commandments
until the end.
You think
that this is the day of His resurrection, wrong! This day was set up as the day
for Easter by the first pope of the Catholic Church at the Council of Nicaea,
Constantine. God set up the true mark of time. The new moon closest to the
vernal equinox (spring begins) begins the first day of the New Year and the
month Abib. On the 14th day
of the first month, Abib, of the new year was the day on which Christ was
crucified. God gave this as a sign thousands of years before Christ’s birth. On
the 17th day of the month, early in the morning Christ arose by the
power of God the Father, not Jesus’s own doing, but God’s. Christ’s
resurrection was the glorification of God the Father, because the dead Christ
had no powers while He was dead, but God the Father had the power of all
resurrection. Christ was glorified in the selfless act of sacrificing Himself
for all mankind. Therefore God commanded us to observe the 14th day
of the month Abib and teach it to our children and our children’s children as
an ordinance (law) forever and unto all generations. The 14th day of
Abib was last Monday from 6:00pm until Tuesday 6:00pm. The day Christ died. The
17th day of Abib was last Thursday; early in the morning of Thursday
was when Christ arose. NOT ON EASTER SUNDAY. Man in all his evil ways has
sought to obliterate all traces of God, Jesus Christ and His truths. Let us not
be guilty of promoting the lies and fables of the so called CHRISTIANS.