Yes — the spring equinox gained its fertility associations because pagan customs rooted in the Tower of Babel were attached by Satan to the natural springtime picture of new life.
Les points out that customs like the Easter egg and Easter bunny did not come from Scripture but from the pagan worship system that began at the Tower of Babel. He also explains that God made spring a picture of resurrection life, and that is exactly why Satan chose it as an opportunity to layer pagan new-life and fertility customs over that truth.
Leviticus 23:10 — God's legitimate spring offering of firstfruits shows the biblical 'new life' agricultural picture that paganism distorted.
Leviticus 23:5 — Passover, which Les associates with the spring equinox, opens Israel's spring festival cycle.
The Bible does not directly discuss pagan fertility rites or the spring equinox. What it does reveal is a God-given cycle of spring feasts for Israel. Leviticus 23 places the LORD's Passover in the first month, followed by the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Firstfruits. The firstfruits offering of a sheaf of barley was brought to the priest at the beginning of the harvest, making the spring season an agricultural picture of first life and first produce. This is the only 'spring' ritual the Bible commands, and it is centered on thankfulness to God rather than on fertility worship.
Les Feldick connects the modern, seemingly innocent spring customs to ancient paganism rather than to Scripture. He says every one of these customs — the Easter egg hunt, the Easter bunny, and even Santa Claus and the Christmas tree at the winter holiday — goes back to the Tower of Babel. When pagan worship was instituted in connection with the Tower of Babel, Semiramis introduced the claim that her son Tamar was a son of God. He also explains that the spring season itself is a God-given picture of death, burial, and resurrection: winter is dead, spring brings new life. That is why the Lord planned Easter, as we call it, for springtime. But this timing gave Satan an opportunity to adulterate the picture. While the world celebrates spring with pagan customs, Israel's biblical spring feasts were agricultural and pointed to resurrection truths.
Les says every one of the customs now associated with our holidays — the Easter egg hunt, the Easter bunny, Santa Claus at Christmas, the Christmas tree — had its origin in the pagan worship that accompanied the building of the Tower of Babel. He specifically names Semiramis introducing the idea that her son Tamar was a son of God. These were not innocent inventions; they were part of the pagan system that began at Babel.
Les says God has saturated nature with the whole concept of death, burial, and resurrection. In temperate climates, the seasons show it every year: winter's dormancy and death gives way to spring's new life. He believes that is why the Lord planned Easter in the springtime. But that very timing gave Satan an option to adulterate the picture, layering pagan customs over the truth.
Israel's spring festivals were agricultural, not fertility-based. The Feast of Firstfruits came at barley harvest, the earliest grain to ripen in spring. Israel was an agrarian nation, which is why the Bible and Jesus' teaching use farming language. Paul later uses the Old Testament Feast of Firstfruits to explain Christ's resurrection as the firstfruits of those who sleep.
Tower of Babel Pagan Origins
Les says customs like the Easter egg hunt and the Easter bunny go back to pagan worship connected with the Tower of Babel, where Semiramis claimed her son Tamar was a son of God.
Spring Feast of Firstfruits
He explains that the Feast of Firstfruits came at the time of barley harvest, the earliest ripening grain of spring.
Spring as a Picture of Resurrection
God built the death/burial/resurrection pattern into the seasons, with spring showing new life, and that is why Easter is in the springtime and why Satan had opportunity to adulterate it.
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Now in Leviticus chapter 23 you have the Passover, and then in verse 6 the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and then in verses 9 -14 you have the Feast of First Fruits, and then you come down to verse 15 and here is the next feast. Leviticus 23a "...and ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering, seven sabbaths complete.
Passover and the Spring Equinox
Passover was in the spring and associated with the spring equinox, separating it from the fall Day of Atonement.
Barley Harvest and Firstfruits
The barley harvest, the first crop harvested in Israel, came shortly after Passover and formed the setting for the Feast of Firstfruits.
Israel as an Agrarian Nation
Because Israel was an agricultural people, the spring feasts were tied to ordinary farming language, helping explain the earthy imagery.
Firstfruits and Resurrection Language
Les says you cannot understand Paul's 'firstfruits' resurrection language without the Old Testament Feast of Firstfruits.
Leviticus 23:5: In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD's passover.
This shows the spring month placement of Passover, which Les says was associated with the spring equinox.
Leviticus 23:10: Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:
This records the legitimate firstfruits offering of spring barley harvest that parallels the resurrection language.
Leviticus 23:11: And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.
This details the wave offering of the firstfruits sheaf on the day after the Sabbath.
Les doesn't use the phrase 'fertility rites' in the clips, but he says the Easter egg, Easter bunny, and other customs started with the pagan worship connected to the Tower of Babel. That worship included Semiramis's claim that her son Tamar was a son of God.
Les says Passover was in the spring and associated with the spring equinox. He also says God planned to have Easter in the springtime because spring is when new life appears after winter's death, and that is a picture of resurrection life. Satan used that timing to adulterate the message with pagan customs.
In Scripture, spring was primarily an agricultural season for Israel. Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits all fell in the spring, and the Firstfruits feast involved bringing a barley sheaf to the priest at the beginning of harvest. That firstfruits language later explains Christ's resurrection.
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