Hot Cross Buns
"The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger."
- Jeremiah 7:18
"Then Yahweh said to me, 'Go again, love a woman who is loved by a lover and is committing adultery, just like the love of Yahweh for the children of Israel, who look to other mighty ones and love the raisin cakes of the pagans.'"
- Hosea 3:1
As I read those verses I find it almost hard to believe, but the actual hot cross buns of nearly every Easter celebration are small buns (cakes) made with raisins! (1)
The women in Jeremiah's time were baking small cakes with raisins for Asherah, the queen of heaven. Easter, of course is a pagan fertility goddess of the dawn, like Asherah in the time of ancient Israel, and here we are today baking raisin cakes during its celebration! Amazing.
Hot Cross Buns are called by that name because they are usually served warm or hot on Good Friday with a cross in the middle of it. The cross of course is said to represent the cross that Christ died on, however there is strong conjecture as to whether or not our Messiah actually died on a cross or a stake. Why is that a big deal? Because the cross has been a pagan symbol for thousands of years and is even said to represent Tammuz, the Sumerian god of vegetation who was said to resurrect from the dead every spring. (2) (3) Lent, being the modern incarnation of the 40 days of weeping for Tammuz is part of the rituals that have been carried over from paganism to professing christianity.
We often keep our traditions close to us because we have pleasant memories of times past when joyful moments were accompanied by some of these customs and images. However, what if some of these traditions, items, or images are condemned by our Creator? If our Savior has said to abstain from anything that's not of Him why do we hold on to these traditions so tightly? We can try and justify things all we want or believe that Elohim (Mighty One, wrongly called 'God') doesn't care when, in fact, He DOES care about HOW we worship Him. HOW we approach Him and HOW we praise Him is very important in His sight, and so it should be in ours as well, if we truly seek to honor Him.
Many times in His Word Yahweh warned His people not worship Him in the same ways that the heathens did. It is no different for His people today either. If we are children of the living Elohim then we are to walk in HIS ways and not our own.
Letting go of traditions and customs, no matter how big or small, can be a very difficult thing. It is especially hard when good memories are attached to them.
It may seem like such a trivial thing considering something so seemingly innocent as hot cross buns to be an unacceptable thing to Yahweh, but is it? It would appear that it is just as important to Him as anything else that is not of the truth of His Word.
Isn't our Savior and King worth everything we can give Him?
- Jeremiah 7:18
"Then Yahweh said to me, 'Go again, love a woman who is loved by a lover and is committing adultery, just like the love of Yahweh for the children of Israel, who look to other mighty ones and love the raisin cakes of the pagans.'"
- Hosea 3:1
As I read those verses I find it almost hard to believe, but the actual hot cross buns of nearly every Easter celebration are small buns (cakes) made with raisins! (1)
The women in Jeremiah's time were baking small cakes with raisins for Asherah, the queen of heaven. Easter, of course is a pagan fertility goddess of the dawn, like Asherah in the time of ancient Israel, and here we are today baking raisin cakes during its celebration! Amazing.
Hot Cross Buns are called by that name because they are usually served warm or hot on Good Friday with a cross in the middle of it. The cross of course is said to represent the cross that Christ died on, however there is strong conjecture as to whether or not our Messiah actually died on a cross or a stake. Why is that a big deal? Because the cross has been a pagan symbol for thousands of years and is even said to represent Tammuz, the Sumerian god of vegetation who was said to resurrect from the dead every spring. (2) (3) Lent, being the modern incarnation of the 40 days of weeping for Tammuz is part of the rituals that have been carried over from paganism to professing christianity.
We often keep our traditions close to us because we have pleasant memories of times past when joyful moments were accompanied by some of these customs and images. However, what if some of these traditions, items, or images are condemned by our Creator? If our Savior has said to abstain from anything that's not of Him why do we hold on to these traditions so tightly? We can try and justify things all we want or believe that Elohim (Mighty One, wrongly called 'God') doesn't care when, in fact, He DOES care about HOW we worship Him. HOW we approach Him and HOW we praise Him is very important in His sight, and so it should be in ours as well, if we truly seek to honor Him.
Many times in His Word Yahweh warned His people not worship Him in the same ways that the heathens did. It is no different for His people today either. If we are children of the living Elohim then we are to walk in HIS ways and not our own.
Letting go of traditions and customs, no matter how big or small, can be a very difficult thing. It is especially hard when good memories are attached to them.
It may seem like such a trivial thing considering something so seemingly innocent as hot cross buns to be an unacceptable thing to Yahweh, but is it? It would appear that it is just as important to Him as anything else that is not of the truth of His Word.
Isn't our Savior and King worth everything we can give Him?
Resources:
(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_cross_bun
(2) Davis Dictionary of the Bible p.159
(3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tammuz_%28deity%29
(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_cross_bun
(2) Davis Dictionary of the Bible p.159
(3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tammuz_%28deity%29