A short-ish word:

On easter

WHAT I DIDN’T KNOW THAT I DIDN’T KNOW, ABOUT passover

(based on conversations I have had with professing christians)

 

-three-

 

Well, some among you may be surprised to hear that what I’ve written so far has met with opposition from certain quarters. All of this has transpired before I’ve even finished the series. James says, ‘Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.’ (James 1:19-21). This being the case, I have to warn you that this piece in particular will be a hard swallow for some. Why? Because of a guilt by disassociation within The Church at large. As I stated in my opening salvo, my thoughts & feelings concerning easter are much the same as they are about christmas; highly westernised; under scrutinised; overtly secularised; commercially popularised. The Lord has been undermined. He cannot be deleted from His supreme position, so the spotlight has instead been moved away from Him. This is a grevious sin against The One Whose death, burial & resurrection underpin The Feast. The Church ought to champion Passover. Instead, it has advocated for something else. something much less. Brethren, you & I will be in grave danger if we continue to embrace the ism instead of The I Am.

In our last meeting we were looking at the significance of eggs in Egyptian belief & rites. It’s quite a thing. We will continue to ferret through this theme & also address the issue of the easter bunny. As stated previously, after a little research, it turns out that we can look a little closer to home for some answers. In the meantime, let’s hop back to Egypt.

‘In ancient Egypt hares were very important. The god Osiris was sometimes portrayed with the head of a hare. The great river Nile which gave life to everyone through its annual floods and subsequent fertility was supposed to emanate from a mummified hare…So in a sense the hare could be taken to mean the source of the life force itself…Osiris was therefore often depicted in the shape of a hare before being torn to pieces and thrown into the Nile to ensure the seasonal cycle of renewal. So the hare, the Nile, fertility and agriculture were one and the same. Osiris was also the God of the afterlife, underworld and the dead. Osiris was also God of Transition, Resurrection and Regeneration. He was linked to agriculture and the grain harvest in the same way that the seed of grain germinates and dies and then grain rises again and becomes an ear of wheat. Significantly Osiris holds a crook and a flail. Sheep and corn. The death of the god is celebrated at planting time and the resurrection at harvest. Osiris was also husband of Isis. Sometimes he was called Un nefer and wore the head of a hare as a mask and was sacrificed to the Nile each year to facilitate flooding which in turn led to an increase in soil fertility, irrigation and high grain yields. The hare was venerated for its swiftness and keen senses. There was also another goddess called Wenet the hare goddess who was Guardian of the underworld. She was taken into the cult of Horus and Ra. Egyptian mythology is complex but the hare plays a significant role within it, the downstream effects of which continued in the Middle East for two thousand years or more till the arrival of Christianity…It can be past, present and future; Vitality, Rebirth and Resurrection.’.

© James Crowden 2026. All rights reserved (emphasis added).

It’s also interesting to note that the Hare is also connected to Hermopolis, fertility, prosperity, renewal & often considered to be a representation of Ra. YHWH smashed the Egyptian pantheon for a reason. Let’s fast forward to 16^th century Europe & see what Protestants had to say for themselves. The following observation is an interesting one.

‘In Alsace and neighbouring regions, these eggs are called rabbit eggs because of the myth told to fool simple people and children that the easter bunny was going around laying eggs and hiding them in the herb gardens. So the children look for them more enthusiastically, to the delight of smiling adults.’.

De Ovis Pascalibus. Georg Franck von Frankenau (emphasis added).

This egg laying creature was known as the osterhase (ooster-haza); the easter hare. According to history & legend, this tradition gained prominence in the 1500s & was later taken to Pennsylvania by either German or Dutch immigrants in the 18^th century. Because Hares were very rare at that time, the more abundant rabbit got the job. Yay for employment rights!

‘The legend says that a poor woman hid eggs for her children to find. After they found the eggs, they saw a hare jumping away. The children believed the hare had left the eggs…Children made nests where the Easter hare could lay its eggs, and this is why we have Easter baskets, though now they are filled with colourful, plastic grass…The symbol of an egg and a rabbit have represented life and rebirth for many centuries. It’s believed that decorating eggs for Easter goes back to the 13th century when eggs were dyed red to represent the blood of Christ’s crucifixion. In addition, the egg represented the tomb of Jesus. Eggs were also once forbidden to be eaten during the Lenten season and would be consumed on “Fat Tuesday” prior to the start of Lent.’.

© Daniel Ganninger2025 (emphasis added).

Once again, we have attempts to tie ungodly & unbiblical elements to The Feast. Why don’t we all just go out, get bloody mary cocktails & encourage all of our children to drink them? The tomato juice can represent the blood of Jesus. The alcohol can represent the wine mixed with vinegar Christ was offered on the cross. The celery stick can represent the soldier’s spear. The tabasco & lemon juice can represent the biting bitterness of The Lord’s crucifixion. It all makes logical sense. Where’s the harm in it? Afterall, it’s just a bit of fun for the kids, isn’t it?

Would we do that? No. Why? Because the concept is as dangerous as it is ridiculous, no matter how the elements involved can be twisted to suit whatever surreptitious purpose we desire.

Why then has The Church at large so willingly coopted & cooperated with such a blatant & guilty disassociation from its true root? It has winked at devilish ignorance, instead of commanding men everywhere to repent. Paul says, ‘For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.’ (Ephesians 5:8-11). Why hasn’t The Church done this? YHWH smashed the Egyptian pantheon for a reason.

¹¹ O ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you, our heart is enlarged. ¹² Ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own bowels. ¹³ Now for a recompence in the same, (I speak as unto my children,) be ye also enlarged. ¹⁴ Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? ¹⁵ And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? ¹⁶ And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ¹⁷ Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, ¹⁸ And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty (2^nd Corinthians 6:11-18). 

It is for these & many other reasons that I personally believe Easter & Passover to be mutually exclusive. They are not the same feast. Easter is the worship of the season. Passover is the worship of The Saviour. The Church at large has very foolishly swapped The Exodus for The Equinox & we ain’t even done yet!

In The Feast we have three massive events. We have Christ’s sacrificial death. We have The Saviours prophetic burial. We have The Lord’s glorious resurrection. Passover is brutal, brooding & brilliant. Paul says, ‘But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.’ (1^st Corinthians 2:7-8). The enemy’s nose was put out of joint spectacularly when Jesus uttered those words, it is finished. With His blood shed, He breathed His last & gave up the ghost.

Like the Passover lamb, not one of His bones was broken (John 19:36), which is in itself a miracle, given the severe beating He received. On that cross, He endured the wrath of God against sin in our place.

²¹ For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.’ (2^nd Corinthians 5:21).

²¹ And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled ²² In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight (Colossians 1:21-22).

¹³ And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; ¹⁴ Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; (Colossians 2:13-14). 

¹⁰ By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all (Hebrews 10:10). 

²⁴ Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed (1^st Peter 2:24).

¹⁸ For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit (1^st Peter 3:18).

² And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world (1^st John 2:2).

Easter bears none of these truths. Its themes contain no spotless lamb of God; no shed blood; no judgement; no cross; no conclusion; no repentance; no salvation; no justification; no bodily resurrection. It pays lip service to The Exodus, while paying homage to The Equinox. It cheapens the grace won for us at Calvary by The Lord Jesus Christ & compares His accomplishments to weak & beggarly elements like chicks, eggs, rabbits & hares. Passover & Easter are not the same.

If The Church at large wants to celebrate easter, they can go ahead. But they ought to have the decency to admit that they have simply christianised beliefs & practices that were summarily judged by God. YHWH smashed the Egyptian pantheon for a reason. But in true Gentile fashion, The Church has blindly allowed the gods of Egypt to saunter back & take pride of place during the most solemn & sacred days on the Christian calendar. Cheers guys. Personally, I choose The Paschal Lamb. Personally, I choose The Lord Jesus Christ. Personally, I choose Passover. Selah.

 

 

 

 

 

copyright © by david Samuel Parkins mmxxvi all rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the author, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is presented & without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser

 

A short-ish word:

On easter

WHAT I DIDN’T KNOW THAT I DIDN’T KNOW, ABOUT passover

(based on conversations I have had with professing christians)

 

-two-

 

In our last meeting, we looked at the very first Passover & the miraculous way in which YHWH delivered Israel from Egypt, while simultaneously judging their false gods & stripping their supreme deity, Amun-Ra, of its potency. In broad terms, The Church at large accepts this history as highly symbolic, but how many among us truly believe that Almighty God actually performed these acts & laid down a foundation for the future sacrifice of The True Pascal Lamb; The Lord Jesus Christ? I would dare to venture that our beliefs are clearly revealed in our doctrines & in our practices. Passover, The Lord’s Supper & the ultimate vicarious death of Jesus Christ are all foreshadowed in the Exodus account. Through The Gospel, we witness a glorious recapitulation of truths that have their underpinnings forged in the fists of The Lord, when He systematically annihilated Egypt’s pantheon of false gods. The Lord says, ‘Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagle’s wings, and brought you unto myself.’ (Exodus 19:4). Passover & the doctrines it holds are no less relevant, prevalent or powerful today, than they were at the first. We The Church ought to recognise & realise this, instead of simply going along to get along. If The Church at large continues to allow this to slip, as it has other issues, it is simply sawing through the branch upon which it is perched.

Once again, the problem we have is one of Gentile interference with the root into which they have been grafted. In this, we have been challenged by some who have said, ‘..we are not Jewish, so why do we need to follow Jewish customs?’. This is a valid question, to which there is an equally valid answer. In the first place, the Christian acknowledgement & celebration of Passover, which is the matter in hand, is not participating in a Jewish custom; it is partaking in a Jewish covenant.

YHWH made His covenant with the Jews, not with the Gentiles. We covered some of these aspects in our articles titled ‘a short word on fashionable anti-zionism & emergent christian neo-christofacism’. The Gentiles who have come to believe in The Jewish Messiah are grafted into that covenant, but they do not have any right to formulate their own terms & conditions. If you don’t believe me, I suggest you read Romans 11.

The Church at large today is for the most part wilfully ignorant of this. Furthermore, The Lord did not decimate Egypt’s pantheon of false gods to then allow The Gentile Church to swing its doors open & invite them back in! Yet here we are. Before we make any attempt to keep The Feast, we ought to know exactly what it is. This is only right & fair.

In the Exodus, we see the defeat of the powers of darkness & the Divine deliverance of Israel through the lamb; they had the encapsulation of the Old Covenant, in its blood. Because of the atonement of Jesus Christ & His finished work at the cross, we have the realisation of the New Covenant, in HIS blood.

Jesus Christ conquered any & all in the breaking of His body & the shedding of His blood. All of this was for the benefit of the recipients of His salvation, not for His own sake. In prescribing & describing The Feast, YHWH also establishes how He is approached & worshipped. We often forget this to our detriment.

There is no logical or theological reason for we The Church at large to christianise ungodly elements in our doctrine or practise. However, if ifs & buts were sweets & nuts, eh. This ought not to be a point of contention, yet it is. Why? Don’t ask me. Ask those who have introduced their traditions to The Faith & insist on their inclusion to The Feast, often misguidedly citing Scripture that has been twisted out of all reasonable context.

Passover & its elements reveal the redemptive role & finished work of  The Lord Jesus Christ in type & in shadow. When Jesus gave His life, bled, died & rose again from the dead as the Captain of our salvation (Hebrews 2:10), we had a marvellous fulfilment of a promise YHWH made in Eden; ‘And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.’ (Genesis 3:15). Almighty God cuts a covenant & seals it in blood. The blood of His Son, Jesus Christ!

Easter & its elements reveal the themes of Spring. New beginnings. New life. After the first full moon of the Vernal Equinox, The Church at large dusts off its bells & whistles. These dates will vary depending upon whether you use a Julian or Gregorian calendar. Just ask anyone who attended The Council of Nicaea. Someone thought that it would be a great idea to conjoin the resurrection with the start of the new season. Cheers guys.

In Easter, it isn’t the resurrection that is being seen. It is the pantheon. Say what you will. Twist & turn it at your own leisure & for your own pleasure, but the truth is that much of The Church at large has embraced the world & ignored The Word. Just ask the Emperor Constantine about his shift.

It is impossible to successfully divorce Gentile devilism from its demonic stem, simply because its symbolism can be conveniently recycled & repurposed. There should never have been a marriage between them in the first place.

YHWH smashed the gods of Egypt for a purpose. Christ’s resurrection from the dead is not akin to the rebirth of Spring. In this I take note of the words of Bede, the Venerable, who made comment concerning the changing of the name of the season.

‘Eosturmonath (Easter month) has a name which is now translated "Paschal month", and which was once called after a goddess of theirs named Eostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month.  Now they designate that Paschal season by her name, calling the joys of the new rite by the time-honoured name of the old observance.’.

De Temporum Ratione, Bede the Venerable 725 A.D. (emphasis added).

Historically, there is little of nothing said about a goddess named Eostre, even though the name bears some resemblance to Easter. Yet it remains true that for reasons unknown, the Gentile Church decided to part ways with the Jewish root of its faith. In doing so, they have also abandoned Passover & pay lip service to the truth.

Now, we have nothing more or less that an illegitimate priesthood, making unnecessary sacrifices, on unsanctified altars, that are literally monuments to syncretism. Just as sure as eggs is eggs. Speaking of which; where do we get the association of eggs with easter? We could bash paganism again & wag our fingers in its face for introducing the fertility symbols of eggs & bunnies to The Feast. However, after a little research, it turns out that we can also look a little closer to home for some answers. Before that though, let’s go back to Egypt. Brace yourselves & see why YHWH smashed the pantheon.

‘The Hermopolitan cosmology arose at the site of Hermopolis in Middle Egypt. Hermopolis was a city sacred to Thoth, the god of wisdom. The ancient Greeks equated Thoth with their god Hermes, which gives us the name Hermopolis, or “city of Hermes.” The ancient Egyptian name for this city was Khemnu, or “Eight-Town.” The number eight in this place-name makes references to the eight deities (the Ogdoad) who are the main characters in this version of the creation story. The Ogdoad consisted of four frog-headed male gods and their serpent-headed female counterparts. This divine group represented the dark, watery, unknown, and eternal state of the cosmos prior to creation. Nun and Naunet represented water. Heh and Hauhet expressed the notion of infinity. Kek and Kauket stood for darkness. Amun and Amaunet reflected the concept of hiddenness. These eight gods existed within the watery chaos of pre-creation. Within this unchanging “nothingness,” there was the potential for creation. The Egyptians believed that from these eight gods came a cosmic egg that contained the deity responsible for creating the rest of the world, including the primeval mound—the first land to arise out of the waters of pre-creation. In some versions of the myth, the egg was laid by a goose named “the Great Cackler,” while in other versions an ibis, the bird associated with the god Thoth, is responsible for the egg.’.

Glencairn Museum. The Academy of the New Church. Copyright © 2009-2026 (emphasis added)

Out of the egg hatches the sun god, Ra. Later he became known as Anum Ra. Eggs hatching gods. What a convenient metaphor for resurrection. Christ breaks out of His tomb, just as a chick breaks out of its shell. Cheers guys. Hence the Latin tag omne vivum ex ovo; all life comes from an egg. There’s more.

‘Like human beings always have, the ancient Egyptians knew and valued this important symbol. Indeed, one of the euphemistic names for the innermost sarcophagus (the one right next to the mummy) was “the egg.” For them, the coffin was merely the eggshell protecting the human being until she or he is ready to break free and be reborn as a Shining One among the Deities. Geb, father of Isis, with the goose upon His head. As daughter of Geb (the Earth God, one of Whose symbols is the goose), Isis is called “the Egg of the Goose.” Yes, I know. God. Egg. But it is what it was, and, by tradition, Isis is the Divine Egg of Her father. Yet Isis is a Bird Goddess Herself and has eggs of Her own, most notably Horus and the Horus-king. In the Pyramid Texts, Isis discusses with Nu, the God of the primordial abyss, how the king will be reborn by breaking out of his egg. (Remember that this is the name for the innermost sarcophagus.) First Nu states that Isis has borne and shaped the king within the egg, then asks how the Deities shall break the egg so that he can be reborn. Isis answers, telling Nu about all the Divine help the king will get and eventually declaring, “Behold, the king is in being; behold, the king is knit together; behold, the king has broken the egg.”. After breaking out of his egg, the king is reborn, flying up from the nest like a young bird beneath the watchful gaze of his mother Isis. We find these kinds of references to the deceased as a chick in the egg throughout the funerary texts.’.

© Isiopolis 2026 (emphasis added).

As it stands, eggs are a definite part of easter, but not a part of Passover. In our next meeting we’ll look at The Church’s contribution to the debacle we’re faced with & seek a biblical solution. But what about those cute bunnies? Don’t fret, we’ll get there. I will leave you with the words of The Apostle Paul.

¹ Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; ² By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. ³ For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; ⁴ And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures (1^st Corinthians 15:1-4).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

copyright © by david Samuel Parkins mmxxvi all rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the author, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is presented & without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A short-ish word:

On easter

WHAT I DIDN’T KNOW THAT I DIDN’T KNOW, ABOUT passover

(based on conversations I have had with professing christians)

 

-one-

 

My thoughts & feelings concerning easter are much the same as they are about christmas; highly westernised; under scrutinised; overtly secularised; commercially popularised. All of that is bad enough, but I am unpleasantly surprised each year by just how many believers jump aboard this happy bandwagon in order to aid & abet annual sacrilege. What’s the big deal?  I expect it from the world. I don’t expect it from The Church. Yet here we are. Rather than trawl through the material attachments to the Feast, I thought it best to stick to what Scripture says about Passover, afterall, we ought to be getting our theology from there & it is rich with actual & typological truth. If we taught our children & our churches these things, instead of christianising worldly tropes, we’d be better off. Surely? I know. I know. I’m no fun. But amidst the chocolate eggs, the bells, the kites, the flags & the bunnies, there is no room for The Lamb. John the Baptiser described Him as The Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). The Apostle Peter describes Him as a Lamb without blemish or spot (1^st Peter 1:19-20). The Apostle John described Him as The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). He does not share the spotlight. When The Church denies The Lord the glory, honour, majesty & power due Him & His Name, how can we expect those in the world to take notice when there is nothing to convict them. In order to set the record straight, we have to go back to Exodus & listen in on a chat that YHWH had with Moshe Rabbeinu. You know the story, don’t you? Don’t you? Alright, let’s recap.

Moses is spoken to out of the bush that was aflame, but did not burn. He is sent back to Egypt, with Aaron his brother, to tell the Hebrews that God had spoken to him. He invokes the Divine Name. He also goes to Pharoah, telling him to allow the Hebrews to leave. Of course, the king denies them permission, but The Lord has several miracles up His sleeve. Moses & Aaron defeat Pharoah’s magicians. The Lord blasts Egypt with blood; frogs; gnats; flies; livestock pestilence; boils; hail; locusts; darkness & death. There wasn’t so much as a barking dog in the streets when Israel left town (Exodus 11:7). Quite a thing.

Any sensible person would have tapped out sooner, rather than later. But God hardened Pharoah’s heart, in order to flex His muscles & glorify Himself by executing judgement on all the gods of Egypt.

² Thou shalt speak all that I command thee: and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land. ³ And I will harden Pharaoh' heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. ⁴ But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. ⁵ And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them (Exodus 7:2-5). 

Any Sunday School teacher worth their salt has laid this narrative out in full colour & digital surround sound for eager, listening children. I was once one of them. However, the next part of the story bears a significance that few have brought out & taught to our children, or to The Church. God gives Moses specific instructions concerning what will become Nissan, the very first month of the Hebrew calendar; the feast of Passover & Unleavened Bread. This is such a hum dinger!!

¹ And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, ² This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. ³ Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: ⁴ And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. ⁵ Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: ⁶ And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. ⁷ And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. ⁸ And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. ⁹ Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. ¹⁰ And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. ¹¹ And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD'S passover (Exodus 12:1-11).

So, what’s so special about The Lord’s instructions to Moses? We’ve read this narrative hundreds of times. The lamb was selected, examined, bled, roasted with fire & eaten quickly. Nothing was to be left. Why? So that it could be said that it is finished! The Israelites were actually demonstrating Messiah’s death, until He came. Just as we The Church do, when we receive communion. Paul says, ‘For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.’. (1^st Corinthians 11:26). In this, The Lord played an absolute blinder!

Perhaps we should show more reverence to the meaning of the communion table. Not only in the way that it is taught, but also in the way that it is approached. Anyway, I digress.

The Lord instituted Passover as a holy memorial (Exodus 12:14) & one that they were to teach their children. It is sad to note that The Church at large will abandon the theological in order to embrace the theoretical & enjoy the theatrical. Then, our doctrine is reverse engineered through the whole mess. What are the most often heard excuses for doing this? That it’s harmless. That it’s fun. That it’s for the children!

²⁶ And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? ²⁷ That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD'S passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped (Exodus 12:26-27).

Not only had The Lord beaten Egypt down, now He was to deliver a brutal parting shot. The king of the Egyptian gods was a bloke called Amun, who after being combined with the Egyptian Sun god Ra later became known as Amun-Ra. Ok, he wasn’t really a bloke, but I hope I have your attention.

‘Ra travelled through the firmament on two solar boats. By day he travelled through the sky on the Mandjet (the Boat of Millions of Years). At night he took on his form as a great ram and travelled through the underworld on the Mesektet (the evening boat).. Amun Ra had several forms which reflected his diverse origin, but he was most often portrayed as a mighty ram or as a pharaoh with a distinctive towering head-dress..he was also known as the ram of the underworld.’.

Ben Eastaugh and Chris Sternal-Johnson, ferrebeekeeper, Wordpress.com (emphasis added).

In choosing a lamb to sacrifice for the first Passover, God was throwing down the gauntlet & delivering a massive insult to Egypt & its supreme being. While old Amun-Ra was sailing through the underworld at night, with his massive, ugly ram’s head, the Israelites were roasting lambs & preparing to ritually consume them in the real world. The offense this would have caused is almost unimaginable, but YHWH wasn’t done.

The self-created Egyptian icon of protection, prosperity & power had its throat cut & was being systematically barbequed. The aroma of roast lamb would have been everywhere. Apparently, the constellation of Aries would have been in ascendancy at the time, looking down on Amun-Ra’s systematic defeat. On this night, as the destroyer moved through the land, the demon god could not safeguard Egypt. The divine father & protector of Pharoah, would himself be cut down.

YHWH demonstrated quite clearly that He & He alone, is The Lord!

Furthermore, the Egyptians inscribed incantations & names on their doorposts, including the false doors within burial chambers. These were believed to be portals to the afterlife, through which the ka, or spirit, travelled. What is YHWH’s retort? By instructing Israel to cover the doorposts & lintels of their homes with the blood, The Lord prefigures a vital New Testament truth. It is only through the Blood of The Lamb, The Lord Jesus Christ, that we enter eternity. Only through the blood of The Lamb. Again, The Lord smacks Amun-Ra across the face. While each Israeli household was obeying that which they were commanded by Moses, The Lord was at work.

²³ For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you. ²⁴ And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever (Exodus 12:23-24).

Egypt was not so blessed. I can only imagine the horror that emerged that night as every Egyptian household discovered their firstborn stone dead. From the pit to the palace, YHWH decimates the array of the Egyptian pantheon & at the last, He delivers a hammer blow to Amun-Ra, their god of all gods. Moses says, ‘Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live? Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him (Deuteronomy 4:33-35). 

God’s awesome power & it’s purpose would later become a new beginning for those who believe in The Lord Jesus Christ, the true Lamb of God. Jesus Christ is our Passover (1^st Corinthians 5:7) & in His death, burial & resurrection, The Lord gloriously recapitulates His Divine superiority to any & all pretenders. YHWH took Israel by the hand & led them out of Egypt (Jeremiah 31:32). Take His hand brethren & do not let it go. If you like chocolate eggs, have as many as you want to. If you like bunnies, fill your boots.

But do not christianise these things as if they are part & parcel of what is called Passover, because they are not.

¹ When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt (Hosea 11:1).

copyright © by david Samuel Parkins mmxxvi all rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the author, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is presented & without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser