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She is not a myth. She is not a symbol. She is the oldest and most persistent adversary in the biblical record — older than Babylon, older than Rome, older than the church itself. And the biblical writers do not treat her as a curiosity. They treat her as a catastrophe.
In A.D. 325, a Roman emperor wrote a letter. It was not a theological argument. It was a political decree. And it changed the Christian feast of Passover forever.
He called the Jewish people "that hostile crowd" and declared it "unworthy" for the church to follow their calendar. That single decision — grounded not in scripture but in ethnic contempt — severed the resurrection feast from the Hebrew calendar that gave it its meaning.
Around A.D. 160, a bishop in Sardis preached the oldest surviving sermon on the resurrection feast. No eggs. No bunnies. No seasonal sentimentality. Just this:
"I am your freedom. I am the Passover of your salvation. I am the lamb slaughtered for you. I am your ransom. I am your life. I am your light. I am your resurrection. I am your king."
Imagine if every birthday, wedding anniversary, or national triumph got shuffled to the nearest Monday—not because the joy or event wasn't real, but for the sheer convenience of a tidy schedule.
In the Temple courts, towering menorahs blaze against the winter night,
their flames proclaiming a memory—
light that once defied desecration.
aul's sobering description of the "man of lawlessness" (without "good works"; without Torah) in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 is particularly revealing. This figure is called the "son of destruction" …
There's a fascinating progression in Ephesians 2 that captures the essence of our relationship with God's Torah (Instruction) and "good works."
From the beginning, God created humanity to bear His Name and fill the earth with His glory. Rebellion profaned it—from Eden to Babel to Israel’s failure.
Through Yeshua, the perfect Image, that Name is restored and exalted above all. The Gospel announces: God’s original purpose is fulfilled—His dwelling with us forever (Rev 21:3).
Today, on Yom Kippur - the Day of Atonement when God covers and makes whole - I enter the operating room …
You have probably seen the meme. "Easter is really the feast of Ishtar, the Babylonian goddess of fertility." It circulates every spring, dressed in scholarly confidence, shared by sincere believers who want to protect the faith.