Long before the Christian era, crosses were used by the ancient Babylonians as symbols in their worship of the fertility god Tammuz. The use of the cross spread into Egypt, India, Syria, and China. Then, centuries later, the Yisraelites (Israelites) adulterated their worship of YAHUAH with acts of veneration to the false god Tammuz. The scriptures refers to this form of worship as a ‘detestable thing.’ Ezekiel 8:13, 14.
The Besorah accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John use the word stau·ros′ when referring to the instrument of execution on which YAHUSHUA died. (Matthew 27:40; Mark 15:30; Luke 23:26) The word stau·ros′ refers to an upright pole, stake, or post. The book The Non-Christian Cross, by J. D. Parsons, explains:
“There is not a single sentence in any of the numerous writings forming the New Testament, which, in the original Text, bears even indirect evidence to the effect that the stauros used in the case of Yahushua was other than an ordinary stauros; much less to the effect that it consisted, not of one piece of timber, but of two pieces nailed together in the form of a cross.”
Some ancient drawings depict the use of a single wooden pole in Roman executions
As recorded at Acts 5:30, the apostle Peter used the word xy′lon, meaning “tree,” as a synonym for stau·ros′, denoting, not a two-beamed cross, but an ordinary piece of upright timber or tree.
It was not until about 300 years after YAHUSHUA’s death that some professed Christians promoted the idea that Yahushua was put to death on a two-beamed cross. However, this view was based on tradition and a misuse of the word stau·ros′. It is noteworthy that some ancient drawings depicting Roman executions feature a single wooden pole or tree.
True believers should not use the cross in worship. One important reason is that YAHUSHA did not die on a cross. The word generally translated “cross” is stau·ros′. It basically means “an upright pale or stake.” The Companion Bible points out: “[Stau·ros′] never means two pieces of timber placed across one another at any angle . . . There is nothing in the Scriptures of the [New Testament] even to imply two pieces of timber.”
In several texts, scripture writers use another word for the instrument of YAHUSHUA’s death. It is the word xy′lon. (Acts 5:30; 10:39; 13:29; Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 2:24) This word simply means “timber” or “a stick, club, or tree.”
Explaining why a simple stake was often used for executions, the book Das Kreuz und die Kreuzigung (The Cross and the Crucifixion), by Hermann Fulda, states: “Trees were not everywhere available at the places chosen for public execution. So a simple beam was sunk into the ground. On this the outlaws, with hands raised upward and often also with their feet, were bound or nailed.”
The most convincing proof of all, however, comes from YAHUAH’s Word. The apostle Paul says: “Messiah by purchase released us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse instead of us, because it is written: ‘Accursed is every man hanged upon a stake [“a tree,” King James Version].’” (Galatians 3:13) Here Paul quotes Deuteronomy 21:22, 23, which clearly refers to a stake, not a cross. Since such a means of execution made the person “a curse,” it would not be proper for believers to decorate their homes with images of YAHUSHUA impaled.
There is no evidence that for the first 300 years after Messiah’s death, those claiming to be Belivers used the cross in worship. In the fourth century, however, pagan Emperor Constantine became a convert to apostate Christianity and promoted the cross as its symbol. Whatever Constantine’s motives, the cross had nothing to do with YAHUSHUA. The cross is, in fact, pagan in origin. The New Catholic Encyclopedia admits:
“The cross is found in both pre-Christian and non-Christian cultures.” Various other authorities have linked the cross with nature worship and pagan sex rites.
Why, then, was this pagan symbol promoted? Are You Worshipping Shatan unknowingly?
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