Jason Hunt - Reasons for the Seasons: Origins of the Christian Holidays

The Lord restored my wife's womb!

After having three children, my wife Robyn began having miscarriages. We wanted to have a large family, but this setback was not only challenging due to the loss of life- but the after-effects on Robyn's physical condition. After the first miscarriage, we went to the hospital, not understanding the whole process; they explained it to us and then said they wanted to keep Robyn overnight to perform a "D&C"1. We waived the offer to stay and have the procedure done, and they attempted to force her to stay, at which time we walked out, for we know the Lord is our healer. After another week, she returned to normal, and all was well.

Several months later, she conceived again. A couple of months into that pregnancy, another miscarriage took place- we prayed, fasted, prophesied, but it still happened; this time, the bleeding continued way past the typical time frame. One month, then two, then three, then four! Some may think that it's just plain stupid not to go to the "doctor" to get checked out, but when you are dead broke and have no insurance, you're left with little option. A good month would provide us with about $1000 in total income at this point in our lives. Full-time ministry is difficult.

In New Testament times; either God healed them, or they opted to go to a healer, which often was no better than just staying at home to heal on your own; these things just went on (Luke 8:43-48), it's still like that today in 90% of the modern world, we take it for granted here in the West. So, we continued by faith; during the fourth month, which was in the Spring, we decided to celebrate the Biblical Holidays. We were quickly coming upon Passover and needed to prepare. We had known of the Biblical Holidays for some time but had not yet made the word come alive in our life; we knew that now was the time to act. We celebrated Passover and began preparing to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, it was the night before the Feast, and it was during our scripture study that evening when Robyn shouted, "I got it!" this is what she found:

Exodus 23:25-26 (NKJV) : "So you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness away from the midst of you. No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days."

This verse identifies a promise God gave to those that kept the feasts (Ex. 23:14-24). It was then that we knew she would be healed- and four days into the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the bleeding stopped, and she regained her health. Fourth months later, she again started to have signs of another miscarriage. It scared us for a moment, so we became indignant and stood on the fact that God healed her during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Heavy bleeding subsided a few days later, which is when she could get another doctor's appointment. The doctor tried to affirm the worst as they could not locate a heartbeat or any evidence a baby was viable in the womb; the doctor left the room for a time. Upon returning, she asked Robyn if she would like a second exam with ultrasound, to which she agreed, and sure enough, there it was- a baby.

As I update this book for the third time, Praise the Lord, our son "Daniel Asher" is thirteen years old. My purpose in writing this text is to demonstrate the pervasive Pagan origins of the church holidays of Easter and Christmas and note how all other holidays on the modern church calendar are also entirely unbiblical. Secondly, I seek to bring to light the holidays of the Lord the church is to celebrate, along with several reasons we should and how these special days reveal God's plan of preparedness for His Bride, the Church.

I do not seek to muddy your spiritual water with a message of condemnation. Still, I strive to build you up through the truths revealed in the following pages only to get you to love Jesus more than the artificial traditions we've all entertained in our ignorance. You are about to learn things that go against the grain of 1700+ years of traditional church teaching! So, prepare to have your mind renewed unto the word of God (Rom. 12:2).

Hosea 4:6 states that God's people die due to a lack of knowledge because they reject it, and because they reject it, He shall reject them from becoming His priests.

Plainly stated, to reject the truth is to deny the Messiah Jesus himself, for He is truth (John 14:6). People are dying because they refuse to be obedient to the Biblical message. Christians are to be set apart from the world of darkness (Eph. 5:11) and the traditions of men (Mark 7). To "learn not the way of the heathen" (Jer. 10:2); "Abstain from all appearance of evil." (1 Thessalonians 5:22), to name only a few! Why then do Christians contend against any teaching that reveals the truth of the pagan nature of their beloved holidays?

In general, people fear and do not accept change, though they believe they want it. However, actions speak louder than words. Common excuses among Christians range from " Well I didn't know... ", to " I know, but my church teaches this ", " Yes, but God knows my heart... ", and the most deceived comment of all " I know, but my church and family celebrates Jesus during this time, unlike others "

One author on 'Radical Church Reform' states, "Our spiritual forefathers chose to compete with the pagans by redeeming certain days for Jesus Christ that had traditionally been kept sacred by their heathen neighbors. The Christians chose those same days to honor their Lord instead of going along with the pagan celebrations. It was a testimony against paganism and a way to "redeem the days." I find nothing wrong with this at all. "3

This view is the most commonly taught and accepted by the majority of churches today. However, this view is grossly flawed because these "Christian forefathers" were not concerned with the Christianity preached by Jesus and the Apostles- they were primarily concerned with gaining power over the people to expand the Roman church's influence. These supposed "Christian Forefathers" were all of a pagan background and were Anti-Semites (Anti-Jewish). The Christians were initially considered a sect of Judaism, just like the Pharisees or Essenes. It wasn't until the Council of Nicaea that Christianity became an independent religion, which was over 300 years after the resurrection. This Romanized Christianity took the same methods, symbolism, and dates of the old pagan festival days they had always celebrated and ascribed a saint's name to them in their effort to redeem them "for Christ."

Here remains the problem; nothing changed but the title of the day! Additionally, you will find no Biblical precedent for the redeeming of days, nor will you find any mention of our supposedly redeemed 'Christian' holiday celebrations in the bible.2