Is Lent Biblical? By Lex Meyer
Lent is a well known tradition among Catholics and various other denominations, but is this 40 day period of fasting Biblical? Also, is it a good thing to do? Lets examine both Scripture and History to find out where Lent comes from, and what purpose it serves, and I hope by doing this we can come to a conclusion about our own participation in such things. Lets begin by looking at the source, and see what the Catholic Church says about Lent. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, “the real aim of Lent is, above all else, to prepare men for the celebration of the death and Resurrection of Christ… One can effectively relive the mystery only with purified mind and heart. The purpose of Lent is to provide that purification by weaning men from sin and selfishness through selfdenial and prayer, by creating in them the desire to do God’s will and to make His kingdom come by making it come first of all in their hearts.” Wow, did you catch that? The purpose of Lent is to purify us and make God's Kingdom come. Really? That is a bold and blasphemous statement! They are claiming that through self-denial, we can become pure. The Bible says that we are made pure by the shed blood of the Messiah. No amount of fasting, abstinence, or self-denial can purify us from sin. Lent promotes a works based salvation that diminishes the saving work of the Messiah! Lent is used for “fasting from sin and from vice…forsaking sin and sinful ways.” Paul had some important things to say about this form of self-denial used to try to produce your own godliness:
"Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations "Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle," which all concern things which perish with the using according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh." (Colossians 2:20-23) Lent is a doctrine of men that commands denial of certain things for the purpose of purifying yourself. The problem is that you cannot purify yourself! I could stop right now, and that alone would be reason enough not to participate in this selfrighteous sacrifice, but there is even more to beware of with this one. Who Commanded Lent? In A.D. 360, the Council of Laodicea officially commanded Lent to be observed by the Church (more than 300 years after Messiah's death and resurrection - that is longer than the United States has been a country), but that is not where Lent originated. Lent originated in ancient Babylonian paganism. In ancient Babylon, they had a tradition of weeping, fasting, and mourning for Tammuz leading up to the festival in commemoration of the resurrection of the pagan sun god. Tammuz was the son and husband of the goddess, Ishtar (pronounced "Easter"). The Roman church replaced Passover with Easter, moving the pagan Feast of Tammuz to early spring,
“Christianizing” it, and bringing the fast of Tammuz (Lent) with it. This was done for the purpose of syncretism (merging paganism with Christianity). The Bible actually speaks about people mourning over Tammuz: "So He brought me to the door of the north gate of the Lord's house; and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz. Then He said to me, "Have you seen this, O son of man? Turn again, you will see greater abominations than these." (Ezekiel 8:14-15) This season of mourning, fasting, and self-denial is not of Biblical origins.
secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly." (Matthew 6:16-18) You probably already guessed that Ash Wednesday also has pagan origins. In the Norse religion, placing ashes on one's forehead was believed to ensure the protection of Odin. Also, it is important to note that they put the ashes on their heads on Wednesday, the day named for Odin - Odin's Day. Lent may seem like a sincere, heartfelt religious observance. But it is deeply rooted in pagan ideas that counterfeit God’s plan. Messiah and his disciples never observed Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday, Lent, or Easter. This is important to know, because we are to follow His example and do the things He commanded:
Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday Today, it is a popular tradition to have a big wild party right before Lent begins. This party is referred to as "Mardi Gras" in French or "Fat Tuesday" in English, and in Latin countries it is referred to as "Carnival", which comes from the Latin "Carne Vale" which means "Goodbye to meat". This day of celebration has come to include wild parties, fatty foods, fornication, drunkenness, dancing, and various forms of lewdness. It is one last chance to get your sinning done before the fast begins. Again, this tradition comes straight out of paganism. Immediately following the wild parties on Fat Tuesday is a day of fasting and repentance known as Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday derives its name from the practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of adherents as a sign of mourning and repentance. It is a day of fasting, mourning, and penance. It might have the appearance of godliness, but it is not at all Biblical. Our Messiah taught us that when we fast that we should not give the appearance that we are fasting: "Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20) Messiah never commanded them to observe Lent or Easter, but He did command them to keep Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. God hates all pagan observances. They cannot be “Christianized” or made clean by men. That includes Lent. "And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." (Mark 7:7)
Let no one judge you… By Lex Meyer
Why does Paul say, let no one judge you in food, feast days, or Sabbaths? Colossians was written to Greek converts who were living in a pagan culture. “So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.” (Colossians 2:16-17) This is an interesting visual aid that Paul uses to describe these things. He says they are a shadow of the Messiah. Our shadow always goes with us. Sometimes it follows you, and sometimes it precedes you, but it is always right there with you. Also, Paul says they are a shadow of things to come. This means the shadow precedes the Messiah. They are prophetic shadows that help to reveal the plans of Yahweh. The shadow of Messiah lets us know what Messiah is going to do. If you are in someone’s shadow, then you are near to that person. So, if we want to be near to Messiah, then we must walk in His shadow. If we want to know what he is going to do, then we must keep our eyes on His shadow. That is why it is important for us to practice the Feasts, so that we will be near to our Messiah. Examine the evidence: • • • •
Messiah died as the Lamb on Passover. Was buried sinless (without yeast) the beginning of Unleavened bread. Resurrected on FirstFruits as the FirstFruits of the resurrection. Poured out the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.
His first coming was directly connected to the Spring Feasts, and likewise his Second coming will be directly connected to the Fall Feasts. • • •
He will return “at the last trump” on the Feast of Trumpets. He will judge the world on the Day of Atonement. And the Feast of Tabernacles is the wedding feast.
Paul also says that the Sabbath is a shadow of the Messiah. This is because the Sabbath is a shadow of the Kingdom reign of the Messiah. Think about it, there are six days of work and the seventh day is the Sabbath. Well, the earth is almost 6,000 years old, and when Messiah returns He will reign on the earth for 1,000 years. Remember what Peter says, “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with Yahweh as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” (2Peter 3:8) The Sabbath is a prophetic shadow of the 1,000 year reign of the Messiah. Yahweh gave us His set apart Feast days to make us aware of His calendar. He didn’t give them so that we could have a family dinner, He was revealing His plan to us. Now, with that in mind, lets read Colossians again: “So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.” (Colossians 2:16-17) He was basically telling them, “now that you are keeping the Feasts and Sabbath, don’t let your pagan friends and family judge you for it.
Tragic Traditions By: David Washam
The sights and sounds of children laughing and scrambling to find hidden colored eggs with baskets in hand are undoubtedly identified with the holiday Easter. Good Friday and Sunday morning Easter services with the traditional Easter ham after hearing the good news of Jesus’ resurrection is the norm for most Christians and Catholics around the world. People gather with friends or family to boil and decorate eggs, and for those too busy, they can simply purchase an assortment of colored plastic eggs to fill with candy. Bunny shaped chocolate, eggs shaped candy, and pastel colors flood the local retail stores and online shops. Where in the bible did Jesus or His followers celebrate Easter? What do bunnies, and eggs have to do with our Messiah? What makes Easter, Easter?
and destroy their names from that place. You shall not worship the LORD your God with such things.” (Deuteronomy 12:2-4) Are we participating in a form of pagan worship when we take part in celebrating Easter? We wouldn’t place pentagrams and images of the goat-headed demon, Baphomet in our homes, and certainly not our churches. Yet, we are willing to place fertility goddess symbols such as colored eggs and rabbits in both of those places. Did you know that dying eggs, rabbits, Sunday Sunrise services, and roasted ham are all symbols and practices of pagans from ancient times? Some will say, “that’s not what it means to me”, however, we should take time to ask God what He thinks about it. God is holy and has already said in His Word that He is in fact very offended by those things.
“You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons.” (1 Corinthians 10:21)
“You shall not at all do as we are doing here today—every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes” (Deuteronomy 12:8)
Since “Easter” is the name of a pagan goddess, are we drinking of the cup of the demons by keeping Easter?
So, what should we do to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus? It was during Passover when He said, “do this in remembrance of Me.”
In scripture we see many times where God instructs His people not worship Him in the way that the pagans worship their gods.
Passover is a Feast of the Messiah! It is about the blood sacrifice for our salvation.
“You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods
My sincerest hope and prayer is that we as children of God, partakers of the New Covenant never cease in challenging ourselves to be more like our Messiah and ensuring the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in His sight.
CARNAL MINDS
Becauset hecar nalmi ndi senmi t yagai nstGod; f ori ti snotsubj ectt ot hel aw ofGod, nori ndeedcanbe.
ROMANS8: 7