Crucifix Prophetically Denounced
"Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived." (Numbers 21:7-9)
"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." (John 3:14-17)
"He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan." (2 Kings 18:4)
Do you want to see how the Old Book is prophetically relevant? Here’s a Scripture from the Old Testament—and it relates to events happening this week (September, 2010). How could a Scripture written about a Judean king living roughly 2,700 years ago possibly relate to today’s news?
Answer: because you have “false Christs” (Mark 13:22) and an “idol shepherd” (Zech. 11:17) named the Pope, who under a ‘Christian’ pretense promotes image worship, idolatry, and a deceptive faith based on non-scriptural traditions of men.
In 2 King 18:4 the Holy Ghost gives us a clear denunciation of one of the pope’s most visible idols: the Crucifix. When you compare 2 Kings 18:4 with John 3:14: you’ll see the brazen idol Hezekiah condemned—would be same thing the Lord Jesus Christ would condemn! Brass and molten can’t save anyone: it’s the spiritual truth behind it. Not the image itself. But Catholics don’t know the difference; and they’re worshipping not only the crucifix, but the Antichrist who holds it as an idolatrous scepter. The Antichrist (Pope Benedict XVI) could very well be donning this idol as he parades around London, England this weekend. And again, the Holy Ghost prophetically denounced it twenty-seven centuries ago years in the reign of the Judean king Hezekiah. I’d say that’s relevant, and you’ll be doing a lot better off by paying attention to the Holy Bible than the pope.
It is true that Moses’ brazen serpent healed those that looked upon it Numbers 21. But the real purpose of it was to foreshadow our Lord’s Crucifixion (see John 3:14). It is faith in the spiritual truth that Christ atoned for our sins of the Cross that saves us. Today the cross should be a reminder of this spiritual truth. A necklace or a symbol in itself has no spiritual power behind it. But as it was with apostate Judah in the time of Hezekiah, so has it also been with Catholicism—the cross has become merely an idol—and the true gospel message behind it has been rarely preached or properly taught. The Lord Jesus Christ got on the Pharisees about their infatuation with outwards things and appearance; while they neglected the inward man and heart (see Matthew Chapters 15 and 23). Apostle Paul also touched on this in 2 Tim. 3:5 and Phil. 3:1-3, 17-19. Watch out for men and ministers that are more concerned with the outward appearance than the inward heart and soul. ¶ Postscript: Also, the crucifix the popes usually don has a bowed cross (cf. Ezek. 39:3).