any Bible preachers and teachers believe that the translators of the Authorized King James Version made a mistake when the Word Easter was placed in Acts 12:4.

The translators of the Good News for Modern Man, Living New Testament, Catholic Confraternity version, Revised Standard Version, New American Standard Version and the Amplified New Testament, to name a few, have taken the liberty to use the word "Passover" instead of "Easter," because the Greek word "pascha" was rendered Passover in all other places.

There are no mistake in the AV 1611 for it is God's preserved Word in English.

The time when Herod proceeded to take Peter and lock him up is fixed in Acts 12:3b:

"Then were the days of unleavened bread." (Acts 12:3)

The days of unleavened bread followed the Passover (Mark 14L12, Luke 22:7, I Corinthians 5:7-8).

"And in the fourteenth day of the first month is the Passover of the Lord. And in the fifteenth day of this month is the feast: seven days shall unleaved bread be eaten." (Numbers 28:16-17)

"Strictly speaking the Passover only applied to the paschal supper and the feast of unleavened bread followed" (Peloubet's Bible Dictionary, page 486).

So Herod put Peter in prison after the Passover and during the days of unleavened bread which followed. Herod did not intend to bring Peter forth to the people after the days of unleavened bread but after "pascha." Since the Jewish Passover was already passed, he must have been looking toward another date - Easter!

"The Latin and Greek word for Easter is pascha, which is simply a form of the Hebrew word for Passover - pesach." (Easter - Its Story and Meaning, A.W. Watts, page 36).

"Acts 12:4 - In the earlier English versions Easter has been frequently used as the translation of pascha (Passover). In the Authorized Version Passover was substituted in all passages but this" (Peloubet's Bible Dictionary, page 158).

The "pascha" that Herod was waiting for was evidently the celebration of the death and resurrection of Tammuz the sun god. The sunrise services today are a continuation of that pagan worship. There they commemorate the resurrection of Tammuz.

"...The great annual festival in commemoration of the death and resurrection of Tammuz, which was celebrated by alternate weeping and rejoicing and which, in many countries, was considerably later than the Christian festival, being observed in Palestine and Assyria in June" (The Two Babylons, Alexander Hislop, page 105).

This is the same festival that Rome amalgamated with the observance of Christ's resurrection.

"To conciliate the Pagans to nominal Christianity, Rome, pursuing its usual policy, took measures to get the Christian and Pagan festivals amalgamated, and, by complicated but skillful adjustment of the calendar, it was found no difficult matter, in general, to get Paganism and Christianity - to shake hands" (The Two Babylons, Alexander Hislop, page 105)

The term Easter is of Pagan origin:

"It bears its Chaldean origin on its very forehead. Easter is nothing else than Astarte, one of the titles of Beltis, the queen of heaven...." (The Two Babylons, Alexander Hislop, page 103).

The connection between the word Easter and Tammuz is this. The wife of Tammuz was Ishtar (Astarte), who is called Mother nature, who being refreshed by spring rains brings life. When Tammuz died she followed him into the underworld or realm of Eresh-Kigal, queen of the dead.

In her deep grief Astarte persuaded Eresh-Kigal to allow her messenger to sprinkle Astarte and Tammuz with the water of life. By this sprinkling they had power to return into the light of the sun for six months. After which the same cycle must be repeated.

Thus the goddess of spring or the dawn goddess is responsible for the resurrection of Tammuz. Easter is a joint worship of the two. 

This Satanic myth is interwoven with the sun's cycle of vernal equinox (dawn) and the autumn equinox (sunset).

This is the "pascha" that Herod was waiting for and the same that professing Christianity looks forward to each year, which has nothing to do with the worship of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

"...intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people" (Acts 12:4b)

-- Raymond Blanton

For more on the ancient deities mentioned in this article, see The Star Seed Conspiracy by James Lloyd. the preceding essay was drawn from a tract by Highways and Hedges, and that ministry has freely published this writing. We are indebted to the writer for his perceptive articulation of the subject].

©2007 CHRISTIAN MEDIA RESEARCH, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED