Index: Symbols or Idols

You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing loving kindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”  (Exodus 20: 4-6 NASB)

Let’s get something completely straight: nobody today knows what Jesus looked like.  Even if we did, the commandment is pretty clear and are not to make images of Him.  By making our kids think we do know what Jesus looks like, it provides an avenue for the anti-Christ and his ilk to manipulate and deceive.

Why on God’s green earth people decided to memorialize Jesus Christ by hoisting the actual implement used in His execution up onto a high place in front of a congregation of people who profess to love the Lord is beyond comprehension.  Could you imagine the outrage if we memorialized Abraham Lincoln with a pistol?  How’s about JFK or MLK with a rifle?  Of course that would be considered in the poorest of taste. Some churches actually put up a crucifix – a cross with the phony image of Jesus hanging from it.  This is repulsive. Memorializing the risen Messiah who alone possesses immortality and sits at the right hand of Almighty Yahweh with an image of His execution is surely not what our Father had in mind.

It might be understandable to worship the cross if Jesus was the only guy to have ever been put to death on one, but tens of thousands of people were put to death in this manner. Even in the Bible it shows three people being executed on crosses the day Jesus was executed. The Romans used to put hundreds of people to death at a time on crosses. It is not unique to Christ’s execution at all.

A little known fact is that the cross as a worship device pre-dates Christianity by a few hundred years.  The cross is a sign of a sun-god named Tammuz (actually this god has a bunch of names depending on time and geography, see Ezekiel 8:14).  This is another little bit of trivia about putting Jesus to death on a cross, because it is essentially hanging the real God on a sign of a false god – the ultimate insult.  This may be why the sun went dark when Jesus died; to show that Jesus created the sun, not the other way around.

The fish symbol is another of interest.  It is actually the sign of a fish-god named Dagon (see 1 Samuel 5 and others).  Yes, that’s right, somewhere in history people actually worshipped a fish.  One can’t help but grin when one sees a fish with a cross inside of it on the back of someone’s car.  Pagan god cannibalism.

Let us come together to worship the invisible God:

For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. (Colossians 1: 13-15 NASB)

5 thoughts on “Index: Symbols or Idols”

  1. This is such a GREAT article and I was glad to find it. It says everything I say and feel but most just don’t get it. Thanks for bringing it to the forefront.

  2. I see your point on the other hand, Christ dying on the cross IS the only thing that matters. It was his death alone that gave us life. Neither Abraham Lincoln or Martin Luther king Jr did that. Their deaths are a symbol of sin and evil yet Jesus’ death was a sign of love. Therefore the “cross” is simply a reminder of his love, is is not meant to be looked at, from an earthly point of view as repulsive but I do agree that the “crucifix” is wrong but I personally believe that the cross it’self is not and that it is only a symbol or reminder of what Yahweh did for us. Just like a statue of a famous military hero or such. Like a picture of your dear departed loved one. Besides, the “cross” is not a likeness of what is in heaven.

    1. The cross would be a viable remembrance but for two things: 1) Yeshua told us what to do to remember Him and that’s to continuing Passover. 2) Perhaps 100,000 other people were put to death on crosses, so it’s not unique to Him. Shalom and thanks for the comment!

    2. Yeshua died on a tree not a cross. I don’t mean to correct you but we need to stop using the paganism Catholic symbols like cross, triangles, names. Yahweh , Yeshua. Period.

      1. Yeshua did not carry a tree up to Calvary. I appreciate the distinction and understand that “anything hung on a tree is cursed”, but the reality is that crucifixion happens on crosses and sometimes stakes. That still fulfills the prophecy.
        I really appreciate the distinction you make between Yahweh and Yeshua!

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