LENT

By Ryan Hicks

Ezekiel 8:10-14
10 So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about.
11 And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up.
12 Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.
13 He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do.
14 Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD'S house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.

Tammuz was the son of Semiramis and Nimrod (who was the great grandson of Noah, Genesis 10:1-9). Supposedly he was killed by a wild boar at the age of 40. These women were carrying on the practice of fasting and weeping for 40 days which represented his 40 years of life. The traditional Easter ham is seen as revenge against the wild boar that killed Tammuz.

God calls this 40 day period of fasting and weeping, which is called "Lent" in modern times, a greater abomination than the abominations of v.10-12 of Ezekiel Chapter 8. Will these plain truths convince those that celebrate Lent? Probably not a lot of them, for the Scriptures say:

Mark 7:6-9
6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.
9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.