INTRODUCTION. Why is absolutely no attention given the verse embedded in the discourse of the oft-quoted Colossians - usually mid-sentence. The verse that contains a warning:
Col 2:18-19 "Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God. " Why is there no careful study of these angels, the messengers, that are worshipped instead of the “Head”, Jesus?
Though this Scripture might seem like a departure from the subject….it is directly related when we understand that there are angels involved here, messengers beguiling people away from the “holyday, … the new moon,… the Sabbath days”! Are we on watch for beguiling messengers?
BEWARE. Recently, a speaker was invited to our Church, who proceeded to dismiss and denigrate the Feasts of the Lord. In the spring issue of the South African SIGNS OF THE TIMES, this same man states: “Easter Eggs – attractive, tasty, mouth-watering, marshmallow-filled Easter eggs! And, how can I forget those warm, delicious hot cross buns! Yes, that’s just a small morsel of the “sweet memories” I have of Easter, as I was growing up…”
Mr. Du Preez’s article is sandwiched between pictures of hot cross buns and foil-wrapped eggs festooned with sun images. With these visual props, the author mixes truths with lies and quotes from a Mr. George Reid (who received his theological training from a “progressive and ecumenical” school affiliated with St. Bernard’s, a Roman Catholic institution).
Every sentence is suspect and crafted carefully such as “There is no suggestion that the resurrection made a new day holy”. Have we studied to the point where we can spot this subterfuge? The key word here is “new”. Jesus rose on the Feast of First Fruits – it was made holy in the Mind of God and God tells us in Leviticus that this is one of His Feasts of the Lord. So this holy day that God calls “My Feast” was rehearsed 1500 years before Christ perfected it and is memorialized today ~ 2,000 years later ~ with Communion of His once-and-for-all Sacrifice. Jesus’ Sacrifice is still at the center of this Feast!
The article goes on as to how to integrate the pagan “distractions” with modern day Christian practice, claiming that (quoting Mr. Du Preez): “Easter’s connection with the Anglo/Saxon goddess has been lost and remaining Scripture-related significance now associated with Easter is the resurrection of Christ…” This begs the question, is this what the early Church would do: blending goddess worship with our Lord’s Resurrection? Were not great persecutions endured to separate the holy from the profane? Have we educated ourselves (regarding Constantine, 325AD) as to the violent turmoil that Rome caused when she changed the time and the law regarding this specific Feast of the Lord and coerced the church to do the same under the banner of a pagan goddess? But Mr. Du Preez calls this history a “distraction” and urges us to forget about it.
The second premise of this article is that God can turn cursed symbols into symbols of our salvation such as the cross. This is true but must be looked at in the context of the entire article because “beguiling messengers” wrap lies in the envelope of Truth.
The third premise of his article is that since (quote) “many people show up at church only twice per year, Christmas and Easter. While committed Christians should never compromise the fundamentals of biblical (sic) faith, every chance must be capitalized on to share Christ.” Of course, that is arguably true in the right context, but remember he is recommending that we ignore the pagan symbols and the counterfeits of Christ. Do easter eggs and bunnies really point to Christ? These pagan things will never be as effective in evangelization as beholding the untarnished, unmixed Work of Christ.
BEWARE OF BEGUILING MESSENGERS, SIGNS OF THE TIMES
After all of this blending of Truth and lies, the author goes for the “morsels” that he began with. He closes in on the pack of lies that he intended to put into his Trojan-horse of Truth. He starts with:
“In view of this pragmatic, yet principle-based attitude,"...
Really? Principle-based - whose principle? Ephesians 6:12 tells us: "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
And Mr. Du Preez goes on..."let’s ponder the possible deeper significance of the hot cross bun, and the Easter egg, while acknowledging the many different ways in which Easter is observed among Christians.” Mr. Du Preez goes on (his quote) “ According to Wikipedia, the hot cross bun is traditionally eaten on Good Friday, “with the cross standing as a symbol of the Crucifixion.” “Easter eggs symbolize the empty tomb of Jesus: though an egg appears to be like the stone of a tomb, a bird hatches from it with life; similarly the Easter egg, for Christians, is a reminder that Jesus rose from the grave, and that those who believe will also experience eternal life.””
SIGNS OF THE TIMES, SOUTH AFRICA, Author: RON DU PREEZ, 2014
Do we need this pagan symbolism - which is such a stretch and actually ridiculous - when we have a risen Savior?
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The fourth premise is that Jesus shared a Bible study on the day of His resurrection and so we, too, can have a “relevant worship service” on this day. This day he speaks of, easter, is the day that he surely knows is a completely different -- pagan and false -- day that Constantine and the Roman power artificially made up to counterfeit the true day, which is the Feast of the Lord, that God established as the Feast of First Fruits in Leviticus (part of the Spring Feasts of the Lord, generally known as Passover). This Feast of the Lord (that the author completely ignores) has been rehearsed and memorialized for thousands of years – the true days, beginning with Passover, then Unleavened Bread and then the Feast of First Fruits, are God’s holy days that Jesus elevated to perfection! (For more on "The Memorial of Creation and the Memorials of Salvation", click here.)