Two thousand years of adaptation of the Cross has caused a great deal of damage to the Church. The Church is defined here as the total body of believers in Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ; Yeshua Ha Moshiach. Though the Church is diverse, there are common core beliefs. Oddly the shape and design of the Cross Jesus was executed
on is a strong point of contention within Christ’s Family of believers. Thus the Cross has become a tool of Satan.
Wow, is this possible? The Cross of Christ a tool of Satan!?
The Cross of "Satan"?!
First some background information regarding the Cross of Christ;
Strong’s defines the word for cross as “stauros” 4716 Stauros stow-ros; from the base of 2476; a stake or post (as set upright), i.e. (spec) a pole or cross (as an instrument of capital punishment); fig exposure to death. i.e. self denial by implication the atonement of Christ – Cross.
The next word is directly related to the Greek word stauros and is a derivative of it. 4717 Stauroo stow-ro-o from 4716 to impale on the cross; fig to extinguish (subdue) passion or selfishness, -crucify. These definitions show the term for cross is in relation to a vertical post; (4716 – vertically upright; whereas 5087 “tethemi” relates to a horizontal position).
We are saved by the Cross! The Cross is our Salvation! Many are very familiar with these statements, and many will agree, but all these are flat out WRONG! We are not saved by the CROSS! The Cross is NOT our Salvation! If we were saved by the Cross, we would be commanded to physically crucify ourselves to be saved. Jesus Christ is our Salvation! We are saved by what HE DID on the Cross, not by the Cross itself.
Some more history of the Cross. The Cross has ancient roots as not only a Roman form of execution but goes back to ancient Assyria as a methodof doing away with unwanteds. It was also used for sacrifices to the Sun god Tamuz of ancient Babylon. Constantine only adopted the Hebraic names from the Christian faith; he overlaid them onto his lifetime religious practices dedicated to "Adonis" / Mithra, the Roman form of the Babylonian sun god worship of Nimrod and Tamuz. After he was done he made it illegal to continue any Hebraic connection to Christianity. Jesus is the Jewish Messiah not the Babylonian! It is from the Jewish Tanach (the entire Old Testament) that Jesusdraws His identity and authority from the God of the Jewish Bible / Tanach. Constantine was NEVER Christian; heonly adopted the names and continued his pagan practices in the worship of Mithra / Tamuz. (The original symbol of Christianity being the fish as in fishers of men was thereby replaced with the pagan cross symbol of criminality and torturous death as well as pagan sacrifice.) Another symbol used before the cross is called "Grafted In", a Menorah connected to a star of David, connecting to a fish and is explained elsewhere.
The cross in the shape of a “T” for Tamuz was used as a symbol for at least one hundred years before the birth of Jesus Christ. These sacrifices were known in ancient Israel and even Kings Ahab and Manasseh sacrificed their own sons “in the way of the nations”. Jesus spoke of those Jews who were of the synagogue of ha Satan. There was atradition of sacrificing the son of the king (in place of the king) who as typical of the period, considered a “god”. This concept can be traced backwards through Egypt and into ancient Babylon with King Nimrod. Some have suggested Jesus was executed in this manner as a kind of victory for “Baal”, in mocking the true God bykilling His Son in such a manner. But Jesus stated that He was laying down His life and could have stopped theimpending execution at any moment. This being the case, it is more likely the methodology of the crucifixion wasa polemic against Baal. God was mocking Baal by actually having His own Son executed in Baal’s tradition, only to be truly resurrected afterwards. Something Baal and every other human sacrificed in this manner was unable toaccomplish. Jesus stated He would need to be raised up as the serpent in the wilderness.
John 3:14 “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up...(John 3:14 TLV)
The story surrounding the serpent in the wilderness goes back to Moses and the Israelites after they left Egypt. “
The people spoke against God and Moses: “Why have you brought us from Egypt to die in the wilderness, because there is no bread, no water, and our very spirits detest the despicable food? 6 So Adonai sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people and many of the people of Israel died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against Adonai and you! Pray to Adonai for us, that He may take away the snakes!” So Moses prayed for the people.
8 Adonai said to Moses, “Make yourself a fiery snake and put it on a pole. Whenever anyone who has been bitten will look at it, he will live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole, and it happened that whenever a snake bit anyone and he looked at the bronze snake, he lived. (Numbers 21:5-9 TLV)
They had once again complained and whined, and God in a rebuke afflicted them with venomous fiery serpents.When bitten by these snakes they would die. But then Moses was commanded to make an image of a serpent andsuspend it, that all who would come to it would be saved from these real serpents and the subsequent death which resulted from their bite. This symbol was common in ancient Egypt where the Israelites had just come from. The“fiery serpents” and the symbol were well known at that time; it can be seen on any king’s sarcophagus andrepresented the protection of the soul in the afterlife as one of its multiple meanings.
Jesus makes the symbolic connection to the snake symbol and His execution, i.e. being raised up in the same way. However He did not say to worship the Cross just as Moses did not say to worship the serpent; and yet that is what eventually happened. We are to worship the Father through the Son. Through what He did on the cross we are able to come to call upon God as our own Father or “Abba”, the Hebrew word for father. We become heirs of the Kingdom as sons (and daughters) of God the Father. Too many if not all Christian churches and denominations have instead come to worship the Cross itself. It has become a graven image. And as we can see, Jesus compared the raising up of the Messiah to the raising up of the serpent. According to 2Kings, the serpent became improperly venerated and was therefore destroyed.
He removed the high places, smashed the pillars and cut down the Asherah poles. He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made—for up to those days Bnei-Yisrael were still burning incense to it—it was called Nehushtan. (2Kings 18:4 TLV)
(Hebrew Asherah, a Canaanite goddess; Nehushtan literally “Bronze thing”. )
King Hezekiah purged Israel of the graven images, the altars and high places dedicated to false gods. He also smashed the bronze serpent Moses had made. He smashed the bronze serpent because people had over the generations come to worshiping the image which had saved their ancestors from death. They had venerated it tothe point of burning incense to it and praying to it. This is exactly the same thing which has come about over themillennia in regards to the Cross of Jesus. People, believers no less, have come to worshipping the cross and notthe Messiah who died on it. The “symbol” has replaced the meaning and the Messiah. Graven images are things made to look like something on earth or in heaven which people venerate andworship. The serpent in the wilderness became one of these graven images. Though it was a symbol of the Israelites salvation, it eventually became worshiped, and thus needed to be destroyed just as King Hezekiah didwhen the Lord commanded him.
Graven images replace the worship of God. We know and understand this in the context of the Second Commandment.
“Do not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or on the earth below or in the water under the earth. 5 Do not bow down to them, do not let anyone make you serve them. For I, Adonai your God, am a jealous God, bringing the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing lovingkindness to the thousands of generations of those who love Me and keep My mitzvot.” (Ex 20:4 TLV)
Bearing your Cross with Style Every denomination has its own view and belief on how this image is to be portrayed and thereby taught. Hereis only a sampling of the myriad of variations which the Christian Cross has been morphed into. As can be seen,many have become heavily stylized and decorated.
1 American Baptist 18 Russian Orthodox
2 Armenian 19 Southern Baptist
3 Baptist 20 Messianic Star and Cross
5 Episcopal 21 Unitarian
6 Episcopal 22 St. Peter
7 Greek Orthodox
8 Greek Orthodox
9 Greek Orthodox Crucifix
10 Jehovah’s Witness Pole
11 Kabbalah
12 Lutheran
13 Lutheran
14 Methodist
15 Nasarani-Syrian Orthodox
16 Roman Catholic
17 Roman Catholic
The last cross depicted is an inverted cross some liken to the “Satanic” concept but in actuality it was originally attributed to Saint Peter. The story goes; Peter before being executed declared he was unworthy to becrucified in the same manner as the Messiah and so was hung upside down. Though the story is not in the canonized Bible the story has become widely told for centuries, long before the Anton LeVay version of Satanismwhich uses this version as a kind of “anti” Christian symbol. In which case it lacks credibility since it is has been attributed to Saint Peter for over a thousand years; long before Mr.LeVay adopted it.
To some the cross is shaped like a letter “T”; as mentioned this is similar to the cross of Tamuz. To others the body of Christ is present making it a Crucifix. This would to them symbolize Christ’s death upon the cross. There is an additional cross piece on the bottom for an Orthodox Crucifix and Cross. To many Protestant faiths the body is not to be present, as they find it sacrilegious. Christ has risen and the empty cross demonstrates or implies this victory over death. Some believe there was no cross beam at all and Jesus had His hands nailed above Him on an upright post. This can be seen to parallel a purer read of the definition from Strong’s for the word “stauros” as being an upright post.
However the most common view is with a horizontal cross member for the hands to be nailed to. (Yes itwas hands; it is a fallacy that the hands could not support the weight.) Was it a long cross beam or a shorter one?Was it on the top of the post as would be a letter “T” or partially down the post as many depict? Again the controversy rages, and without a photograph anyone’s point of view is only an opinion and speculation, or at bestan educated guess. There is also supposedly, a technical difference with the size of the cross beam; the shorter horizontal caused the victim to suffocate more quickly. Then again, why would the Roman Government waste good and scarce wood unnecessarily for just an execution?
Regardless of the Saint Peter Cross, the Cross in general has essentially become a tool of Satan since it now causes division in the Church of the believers and has become a replacement for worship instead of worshipping God and His Messiah. Some will even be theologically dogmatic about how the cross must be presented, rebuking all other denominations as heretical for how they depict the Cross. This dogmatism for a graven image causes divisions in the Church of Christ; it then becomes a wall between believers. Thus it can beseen the “Cross” has become a divider, a point of contention, a graven image and a distraction ergo, it has becomethe “Cross of Satan”.
We were NEVER meant to worship the Cross, but that is what has happened in the same way the serpent raised up in the wilderness became venerated; instead of the God who gave them the salvation through it. So too the Cross will one day have to be smashed since it too has become overly venerated, even to the point of contentious divisions in His Church; decimating the unity of His Elect. Besides, is it rational to think Jesus, when He returns will want to see the Cross he was executed on worshipped instead of Him? Will He really want to see it at all?! Would anyone want to see the method of how they were tortured and killed? It is an irrational assumption to say the least.
This shows a completely different aspect to God’s Second Commandment regarding the making of graven images. Not only can and does a graven image come between the individual and the Creator, but also comes as a division between believers. This is an earthly and physical aspect to the Commandment to go along with the Spiritual one of separation from God. So worship the Lord and not the method of His execution and certainly not a graven image. What He did on the Cross is what is important, not the cross itself. It is a graven image, symbolizing a barbaric method of torture and death. His sacrifice on it and His resurrection are the real symbols of life and salvation. Pray in His Name and thank the Lord for what He did for us on the cross or execution stake. Praise His Name now and forever!
Remember the Cross is the symbol of the Church; whereas the
Ecclesia used another symbol before Constantine and the modern
“Church”, that of the fish and that known as the “Grafted In” symbol.
