✝ The Cross Is Pagan Idolatry! CPI-1 -PD #9-

In this study, we will not only prove that the “Cross” is Pagan Idolatry, but that God strictly forbids it and never asked for it. It is also a trick of the Devil to get the Body of Christ to forsake their privilege and blessing of being the Image of God, Jesus, and His sacrifice. To willingly give this high status over to a piece of dried, dead wood- a simple alignment of shapes that is rooted in the worship of pagan gods of fertility and agriculture. 

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The Four Fold Rejection Of God By The Church: Part 1

In this study, we will not only prove that the “Cross” is Pagan Idolatry, but that God strictly forbids it and never asked for it. It is also a trick of the Devil to get the Body of Christ to forsake their privilege and blessing of being the Image of God, Jesus, and His sacrifice. To willingly give this high status over to a piece of dried, dead wood- a simple alignment of shapes that is rooted in the worship of pagan gods of fertility and agriculture. 

Disclaimer:I must admit that I was the guy who had a cross on every wall of my house, including the bathroom. I had a cross hanging from my mirror in the car. I liked to place them on a lot of things. It wasn’t until I decided to only worship God in the ways as described in the Bible, did I turn from this idolatry. While in ignorance, I did what those came before me did. None the less, evil and sin remain the same. So I am not coming against anyone who is currently doing the same. I come in love to show the true path of God. To help others repent as I repented of this sin. To restore their worship in purity from the pagan influences that has poisoned the church. 

Focus Verse:Isaiah 44:19 “No one thinks to himself, nor do they comprehend or understand and say to themselves: ‘I burned half of it in the fire – yes, I baked bread over the coals; I roasted meat and ate it. With the rest of it should I make a disgusting idol? Should I bow down to dry wood?’”   

We find even in the Temple used in the worship of God in Israel, there was nothing that was to represent the invisible God. No artifact, no furniture, no symbol. All artifacts that were allowed were used as serviceable instruments. God does not want anything to represent Him in this manner.

Deuteronomy 4:15-19  “Be very careful, for you saw no kind of form on the day that Yahweh spoke to you in Horeb out of the middle of the fire,  (16)  lest you corrupt yourselves, and make yourself a carved image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,  (17)  the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky,  (18)  the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth;  (19)  and lest you lift up your eyes to the sky, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the army of the sky, you are drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which Yahweh your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole sky.”

Unlike the cross, which is said to represent the sacrifice of Jesus displaying His death upon the Roman instrument of torture, it has no actual serviceable use other than a graven image. Once more, we find no mandate in scripture to compel us to use the cross as such. Nor do we find any description of the actual cross used to crucify Jesus. So, at the very best, we are left with guess work at creating this artifact. Not truly knowing if it is even correct in its form. Without direction and indication of either mandate or description, we are guessing and making an image forbidden by the 2nd commandment of God.

    2nd Commandment

Exodus 20:4-6  “You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water below.  (5)  You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God, responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children to the third and fourth generations of those who reject me,  (6)  and showing covenant faithfulness to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

With the obvious already established above, let’s look at in a new way. If Jesus was killed by electrocution, would you hang electric chairs on your wall and atop your buildings? What if He was hung by a noose, would you wear that around your neck? Maybe a death by firing squad, can you imagine a giant bullet steeple on top of churches? It seems so absurd to think this way. But much like the Nazi swastika, the intersection of lines makes an image that really means nothing, but we are told what it means. This meaning did not come from scripture, nor God, but tradition of men.

    Keep This In Mind As We Read The Words Of Jesus.

Mark 7:8 “For you set aside the commandment of God, and hold tightly to the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and you do many other such things.”

    We Are Warned Again Against This.

Colossians 2:8 “Be careful that you don’t let anyone rob you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the elements of the world, and not after Christ.”

God’s Actual Words On This Form Of Paganism

    What Does God Say About Pagans & Making Idols To Use In Worship Of Their gods?

Isaiah 44:9-20 “All who form idols are nothing; the things in which they delight are worthless. Their witnesses cannot see; they recognize nothing, so they are put to shame.  (10)  Who forms a god and casts an idol that will prove worthless?  (11)  Look, all his associates will be put to shame; the craftsmen are mere humans. Let them all assemble and take their stand! They will panic and be put to shame.  (12)  A blacksmith works with his tool and forges metal over the coals. He forms it with hammers; he makes it with his strong arm. He gets hungry and loses his energy; he drinks no water and gets tired.  (13)  A carpenter takes measurements; he marks out an outline of its form; he scrapes it with chisels, and marks it with a compass. He patterns it after the human form, like a well-built human being, and puts it in a shrine.  (14)  He cuts down cedars and acquires a cypress or an oak. He gets trees from the forest; he plants a cedar and the rain makes it grow.  (15)  A man uses it to make a fire; he takes some of it and warms himself. Yes, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Then he makes a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it.  (16)  Half of it he burns in the fire – over that half he cooks meat; he roasts a meal and fills himself. Yes, he warms himself and says, ‘Ah! I am warm as I look at the fire.’  (17)  With the rest of it he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships it. He prays to it, saying, ‘Rescue me, for you are my god!’  (18)  They do not comprehend or understand, for their eyes are blind and cannot see; their minds do not discern.  (19)  No one thinks to himself, nor do they comprehend or understand and say to themselves: ‘I burned half of it in the fire – yes, I baked bread over the coals; I roasted meat and ate it. With the rest of it should I make a disgusting idol? Should I bow down to dry wood?’  (20)  He feeds on ashes; his deceived mind misleads him. He cannot rescue himself, nor does he say, ‘Is this not a false god I hold in my right hand?”

    God Says Don’t Worship Him The Way The Pagans Do

Deuteronomy 12:29-32 “When the LORD your God eliminates the nations from the place where you are headed and you dispossess them, you will settle down in their land.  (30)  After they have been destroyed from your presence, be careful not to be ensnared like they are; do not pursue their gods and say, “How do these nations serve their gods? I will do the same.”  (31)  You must not worship the LORD your God the way they do! For everything that is abhorrent to him, everything he hates, they have done when worshiping their gods. They even burn up their sons and daughters before their gods!  (32)  You must be careful to do everything I am commanding you. Do not add to it or subtract from it!”

    God Says Don’t Make Idols To Represent Him, Jesus, Or What They Did. 

Jeremiah 10:2-5 “The LORD says, “Do not start following pagan religious practices. Do not be in awe of signs that occur in the sky even though the nations hold them in awe.  (3)  For the religion of these people is worthless. They cut down a tree in the forest, and a craftsman makes it into an idol with his tools.  (4)  He decorates it with overlays of silver and gold. He uses hammer and nails to fasten it together so that it will not fall over.  (5)  Such idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field. They cannot talk. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them because they cannot hurt you. And they do not have any power to help you.”

    God Says Very Cleary Not Even A Pillar Should Be Made For Worship.

Leviticus 26:1  “‘You shall make for yourselves no idols, and you shall not raise up a carved image or a pillar, and you shall not place any figured stone in your land, to bow down to it; for I am Yahweh your God.”

Deuteronomy 4:23-24  “Be careful, lest you forget the covenant of Yahweh your God, which he made with you, and make yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which Yahweh your God has forbidden you.  (24)  For Yahweh your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God.”

·        Wood, Metal, or Otherwise!

Deuteronomy 27:15  “‘Cursed is the man who makes an engraved or molten image, an abomination to Yahweh, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ All the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.’”

    The Example Of Samaria And Idolatry: Replacement gods And Artifacts! 

1 Kings 12:27-31  “If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the LORD’s temple in Jerusalem, their loyalty could shift to their former master, King Rehoboam of Judah. They might kill me and return to King Rehoboam of Judah.”  (28)  After the king had consulted with his advisers, he made two golden calves. Then he said to the people, “It is too much trouble for you to go up to Jerusalem. Look, Israel, here are your gods who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”  (29)  He put one in Bethel and the other in Dan.  (30)  This caused Israel to sin; the people went to Bethel and Dan to worship the calves.  (31)  He built temples on the high places and appointed as priests common people who were not Levites.”

We see this example of self defined worship against God’s will in with the division of the tribes and setting up of idols in Samaria. Both used graven images and the traditions of man, not the dictates of God. Both said that it was God they were worshipping. 

Yet, by setting up the idols, and trying to intermingle the worship of the True God and the calves like the ones they made in the wilderness. And claiming it represented God. 

Exodus 32:4 “He accepted the gold from them, fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molten calf. Then they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”                                                                       (See Also: Act 7:38-43)

    By This They Actually Had Totally Forsaken God.

Hosea 8:5-6 “Let Samaria throw out his calf idol! My anger burns against them! How long will it be until they are capable of purity?  (6)  For this is even from Israel! The workman made it, and it is no God; indeed, the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.”                (See: Judges 17-18 For Another Example Of This Type Of Apostasy.) 

The Pagan History Of The Cross

The Persians, Carthaginians, Romans, and the Greeks, plus others used crucifixion in various forms and manners. Romans punished people by hanging them from the Gibbet. This structure looked like what we would think of the gallows. Seneca The Younger wrote around 4 BCE-65 CE(Seneca, Consol. ad Marc. 20; and Ep. 14 + (Ep. 101). that he had seen many types of crosses, some people being hung upside down, some impaled in their private parts, and others out stretched arms on the gibbet. It is said that at the time gibbet was only one vertical stake called in Latin (CRUX SIMPLEX). When the cross piece was attached, it would make the shape of a capital “T” (CRUX Commissa), not a lowercase “t”. This cross was called the TAU Cross, based upon the Greek letter, which has the same appearance of the Latin letter “T”. This symbol is thought to have originally been associated to the Akkadian deity Tammuz, the sun god (cursed shall be his name forever), who was a Mesopotamia and Assyrian god and worshiped in Babylonian mystery religions. The letter “tau” was Tammuz’s symbol that represented him. The Tau, which is also his initials, has its origins in ancient Chaldea. 

According to The Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Page 506:  “The use of the cross shape in Pre Christian era was almost universally associated with some form of nature worship, which we can see the Israelites also worshiped at the house of God.” Very much like Christians now with a cross in almost every church.

Ezekiel 8:13-15 “He said to me, “You will see them practicing even greater abominations!”  (14)  Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the LORD’s house. I noticed women sitting there weeping for Tammuz.  (15)  He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? You will see even greater abominations than these!”

They were weeping at his demise by underworld demons. He was thought to help bring in good crops. So, he was an agricultural and fertility god.

Also seen here associated to Tammuz is Semiramis (Cursed be their names forever), which the Catholic Church instituted as worship to Mary. While the connection of Tammuz being the son of Semiramis is still disputed, I thought it was worth mentioning for future study. 

Jeremiah 7:18“Children are gathering firewood, fathers are building fires with it, and women are mixing dough to bake cakes to offer to the goddess they call the Queen of Heaven. They are also pouring out drink offerings to other gods. They seem to do all this just to trouble me.”

The queen of heaven was a Persian and Assyrian moon god, symbolizing female productivity power.  

Then we find that the Jews of the Old Testament also used a line figure depicting their pagan worship as found here.

Acts 7:43 “Yea, you took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, images which you made in order to worship them; and I will remove you beyond Babylon."

Amos 5:26 “But you have carried the booth of your king and Kiyyun, your images, the star of your gods which you made for yourselves.”

So, just as Christianity now uses the sign of Tammuz in the form of a Cross as part of their worship, the Jews also use the Star of David, which is the star of Remphan (Rephan), believed by most scholars to represent Saturn. Just as with the Jews of old, God was not happy with this image being inserted into their worship. Much the same today, God is not happy with the image of the cross. Both are rooted in paganism, and both need to be forsaken. 

The Sin Of Pergamum

In The Book Of Revelation, The Sin Of The Church At Pergamum Is the Same Sin Of Balaam. It Is The Same Sin Of The Church Today: Idolatry - Of The Cross.

Revelation 2:14  “But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to throw a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.”

Numbers 25:1-3 “Israel stayed in Shittim; and the people began to play the prostitute with the daughters of Moab;  (2)  for they called the people to the sacrifices of their gods. The people ate and bowed down to their gods.  (3)  Israel joined himself to Baal Peor. Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel.”   (See The Entire Story: Numbers 22-25)

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2 Peter 2:13-17  “receiving the wages of unrighteousness; people who count it pleasure to revel in the daytime, spots and defects, reveling in their deceit while they feast with you;  (14)  having eyes full of adultery, and who can’t cease from sin; enticing unsettled souls; having a heart trained in greed; children of cursing;  (15)  forsaking the right way, they went astray, having followed the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of wrongdoing;  (16)  but he was rebuked for his own disobedience. A mute donkey spoke with a man’s voice and stopped the madness of the prophet.  (17)  These are wells without water, clouds driven by a storm; for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever.”

(See Also: Jude 1:10-13)

The Devils Sinister Deception

As I said at the start, “It is also a trick of the devil to get the body of Christ to forsake their privilege and blessing of being the Image of Jesus and His sacrifice, giving this high status over to a piece of dried wood.” We find that the Israelites did the exact same thing, forfeiting their high blessing of being the representation of God on earth. In exchange, they glorified idols claiming that they represent God and gods.

Deuteronomy 4:15-16  “Be very careful, for you saw no kind of form on the day that Yahweh spoke to you in Horeb out of the middle of the fire,  (16)  lest you corrupt yourselves, and make yourself a carved image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,”

Psalms 106:16-20 “They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron, Yahweh’s saint.  (17)  The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram.  (18)  A fire was kindled in their company. The flame burned up the wicked.  (19)  They made a calf in Horeb, and worshiped a molten image.  (20)  Thus they exchanged their glory for an image of a bull that eats grass.”

Jeremiah 2:11 “Has a nation changed its gods, which really are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit.”

What we find is that idolatry and idolatry of the cross is actually a sinister trick of the Devil to rob the children of God their glory and power in Christ. To point to dead wood as a symbol of Christ’s sacrifice, not the people He died for. Christianity defames itself with its idolatry and forsaking their high calling as God’s presence upon the earth. As we read in John 10:10, “The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.” Satan has inserted the cross of paganism and Tammuz to destroy the power and privilege of Christian believers. The blind allegiance to tradition and superstition neuters the power of the church against the works of the devil. 

What Is Supposed To Represent God & Jesus?

It is the Christian that is the only representation God has asked for upon the earth.

The Body of Christ is the image He desires to show Himself to the world. The world must not look at the cross to find Christ. They must look to the Christian representing what He did on the cross. It is not the instrument that matters, but the sacrifices and perfect life of Jesus. 

    Jesus Was The Image Of Our Father God As He Walked The Earth.

2 Corinthians 4:4 “in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the Good News of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn on them.”

    On The Earth

The Only Image To Be Made Is The Presence Of Christ Jesus In The Persons Heart!

Being represented with a changed life given to love, obedience, and sacrifice.

1 Corinthians 15:49 “As we have borne the image of those made of dust, let’s also bear the image of the heavenly.”  

Colossians 3:9-10 “Don’t lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his doings,  (10)  and have put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator,”

    We Are His Body.

1 Corinthians 12:27 “Now you are Christ’s body, and each of you is a member of it.”

    We Are His Temple.

1 Corinthians 3:16 “Don’t you know that you are a temple of God, and that God’s Spirit lives in you?”

    His Temple Is Not Supposed To Use Idols (No Crosses Etc.)

2 Corinthians 6:15-18 “What agreement has Christ with Belial? Or what portion has a believer with an unbeliever?  (16)  What agreement has a temple of God with idols? For you are a temple of the living God. Even as God said, “I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”  (17)  Therefore “‘Come out from among them, and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘Touch no unclean thing. I will receive you.  (18)  I will be to you a Father. You will be to me sons and daughters,’ says the Lord Almighty.”

    As We Prepare Our Hearts To Be The Image Of Jesus Upon The Earth, We Will One Day Receive The Fullness Of This Image. 

1 John 3:2-3 “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it is not yet revealed what we will be. But we know that when he is revealed, we will be like him; for we will see him just as he is.  (3)  Everyone who has this hope set on him purifies himself, even as he is pure.”

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 “Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.  (18)  But we all, with unveiled face seeing the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the Spirit.”

    Then In The Heavenly. 

Meaning Authority Power And Privilege As Part Of The Family Of The Godhead.

Romans 8:29 “For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”

So, as we have learned, God does not want anything to represent Him in form or image- period. To do so and worship Him like the pagans worship their gods is an unbearable offense to God. Not only this, it corrupts the glory of the believer and destroys their authority and power. We also have no mandate to use the cross or any true description of it to accurately display its likeness. All we have is the traditions of man, not a command from God. To do so breaks the 2nd commandment of God.

In part 2, we will continue to look deeper into the cross, the reference, the meaning of the word, application by expressions, etc. We will also try to better identify its shape and style of placement the best we can.