2004-04-11 Communion Dedication - Baldwin Christian Church

2 Kings 23:13-14

When we read the books of the kings in the Old Testament, at times it gets a little depressing because it seems like almost every king "did evil in the sight of the Lord." Almost every king would end up following after the pagan gods of the land, two of which were Molech and Ashtereth.

Molech, the Ammonite fire god, had a human form, but the head of an ox. Children were sacrificed to his image. Even today, in that same land, parents sacrifice their children by strapping bombs on them and sending them to die killing Israelites. I won't even mention what we do in this land.

Ashtoreth, the moon goddess of fertility is often associated with the sun god Baal (Judg. 10:6; 1 Sam. 7:4; 12:10), she's also known as Inanna, Astarte, Aphrodite, and Ishtar, "the light bringer" (sound familiar?).

When searching the scriptures, it's hard to find a king of Judah that was able to resist the temptations of worshipping these false gods. Our flesh is always searching for approval from a higher place, and when we find a god that approves of what our flesh is doing, we tend to follow after that god. There's nothing new under the sun. Those ancient kings were tempted not so differently than we are today.

King Josiah was one of the few exceptions. At a time of life when most kids are entering the third grade, Josiah was handed the throne of Judah. Although his dad had done "evil in the sight of the Lord," Josiah's life was going to be very different. This is very interesting to me because the scriptures tell us (2 Chronicles 34:3) that Josiah began to seek after the true and living God at the age of fifteen. What's so interesting about that? Hang on! At the age of nineteen, Josiah began to purge Jerusalem and the kingdom of Judah. He smashed the altars and cut down the groves where Baal and Ashtoreth were worshipped. This certainly wasn't an easy task, because it wasn't until Josiah reached the age of twenty three that he turned his attention to the run-down condition of the temple. It must have been terribly neglected because it wasn't until this time, after Josiah had already been on the throne for seventeen years, that the high priest found the book of the law in the temple.

The interesting part of this is the timing. Josiah had begun his walk with the Lord at age 15, and had been doing the Lord's work for almost eight years already, when suddenly the Bible is found. When it was read aloud to Josiah, it was then that he realized the nation was in big trouble. He gathered the nation together to hear the Word, and it was then that the work of national repentance and cleansing kicked into high gear. Hey, it still happens today. I neglected God's Word for twenty years. It just sat there, gathering dust on a shelf somewhere amongst all my other books, but then the time came when I found it again. The words made a huge impact on me, just as they had the first time, but this time it was even better.

2Ki 23:13 And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth (Ishtar) the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom (Molech) the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile.

2Ki 23:14 And he brake in pieces the images (Of Ashtoreth, Chemosh, and Molech in the high places.), and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men (ritually defiling these places of worship forever).

Even before the book of the law was found, Josiah had known in his heart that the images, the groves, and the altars of Ashtoreth must be utterly destroyed and removed from the land. Ashtoreth was the abomination of the Zidonians. (Who were they?) They were the Phoenicians, a wealthy nation of seafaring merchants who occupied the Mediterranean cities of Sidon (hence the title - Zidonians) and Tyre. Hiram, the enterprising king of Tyre, had supplied king Solomon with materials to build the first temple (about 400 years before Josiah's time), and who was it that built the altars for Ashtoreth in the countryside of Judah? Solomon!

In the Bible, Tyre is known as a center of commerce, and that's important to us even today. Can anybody tell me who Ezekiel 28 is really speaking of when it mentions "the prince of Tyre?" Satan and commerce are inseperable. If there's any doubt in your mind, Revelation chapter 13 will drive that point home for you, and that brings me to the point:

Sacrifices were offered to the goddess Ishtar, Ashtoreth, Astarte, (etc...), at about the time of the Passover, and somewhere along the line, after Jesus died, her name was given to the festival of His Resurrection, which occured three days after Passover. The only time we find the word "Easter" in the KJV is in Acts 12, and it's incorrectly translated there. All of the subsequent translations (that I've found) get it right, and call it Passover. Twenty-eight times the word "pascha" is correctly translated in the original KJV, but one time we find the name of the pagan fertility goddess (in Acts 12:4) where "Passover" should be.

The young king Josiah figured it out. When he was 23, there was a passover celebration in Jerusalem unlike any since the days of Samuel, hundreds of years before (2 Chr 35:18-19).

Today, unlike Josiah, we have the whole word of God to warn us about the consequences of following the gods of our own making. When we enter a place of commerce, and we're greeted with signs and stacks of bunnies, eggs and candy, do we immediately associate that sight with the empty tomb? If so, we shouldn't. Those things have nothing at all to do with Jesus.

Sometimes there's no easy way to speak the truth, and if I've upset anybody, well I'm sorry. The traditions of "Easter" have always kept us searching to and fro for those colorful little symbols of fertility, racing about (quick like a bunny), trying to find more of them than our neighbor so our basket will be more full than theirs. The true origins of these practices, once revealed, should cause a sick feeling in our hearts. Why not look into the tomb for a change, search for the prize in there, realize that it's not there, and gather the truth into our hearts? Should we say, "Have a Happy Easter," or "Have a Happy Resurrection Day?" This brings me to the last point: why do some churches have sunrise services? Did the Resurrection take place at sunrise? The women arrived at the tomb at daybreak, and the angel said to them:

Mat 28:6 He is not here: for he is risen...

He didn't say, "come back later, the Lord's still rising." He had risen during the night. Remember the sun god Baal? In heaven there is no need for the light of the s-u-n, for the light thereof is the S-O-N (Rev 21:23).

How easy it is for the enemy to distract us with meaningless traditions.

What does Easter mean to you? Do we bow before the altar of commerce and traditions, or do we serve the risen Lord? As we take communion with Him, and with each other, it is a time to depart from commerce and tradition, and a time for repentance and revival.