WHAT'S THIS NONSENSE? ‘HERE COMES THE SUN’ AND IT’S NOT ALL RIGHT ~ EXPOSING HYPOCRISY ~ Part 26

 

In an effort to get her daughter to eat healthier, one day my friend added some broccoli to her daughter’s favorite macaroni and cheese. Her rather picky teenage offspring responded: “What’s this nonsense?” Having a similar dry sense of humor, my friend and I often laughed when using that phrase to poke fun at anything and everything we thought was peculiar. In this study, some may be thinking, “What is this nonsense? Why this need to study false gods and goddesses?” Satan’s counterfeit religion is no joke. Made to worship, man’s flesh nature has always been easily drawn to Satan’s counterfeits and will continue to do so until the end of time (which we shall see). As Christians, we do not want to participate in worship that is offensive to God, but we do want to be equipped to recognize and use these counterfeit lies people swallow to point them to Christ. A little bit of broccoli in some pre-packaged macaroni and cheese is not going to add much to the health of that dish. However, there are many pagans sitting in pews in supposed ‘Christian’ churches and other religions who have no idea the judgment that awaits them. Along with what comes from deep roots of these ancient mystery religions there may be a bit of truth sprinkled here and there; but a regular diet of lies and deceit will eventually kill anyone.

 

For a time in prison, I worked in the Chapel. One day soon after I began my job there, I was approached by a woman whom I had never met. As far as I knew she never heard me speak to anyone. After roll call, she made a beeline towards me. What she said to me literally floored me. “May I talk to you?” Curious, I agreed. She went on to say, “I have tried a lot of different religions; lately I have been involved in anything New Age. I don’t know why, but I think you might have answers for me.” I told her I was a Christian. She mentioned that her brother was also a Christian who had tried to talk to her many times. We began to study the Bible together, and God saved this woman. Before working in the Chapel, I worked in the Dining Hall on the serving line and had seen her many times. Looking back upon my time on the ‘chow’ line, I had admired the cross she wore around her neck each time I saw her even before our first encounter. I automatically assumed she was a professing Christian. What I couldn’t see at that time was her desperate need for the truth of the Gospel. What I should have done, and maybe would have done in different circumstances, was to mention her cross and use that as a jump off point for the truth.

 

Yesterday, at the women’s Bible study I have been attending for the last month or so, we finished up a study of the Book of Acts. Two things popped out at me immediately as I began my homework for Chapter 28. Paul, along with the 276 others on the ship going to Rome, were shipwrecked on the Island of Malta with pagans who had not yet heard the Gospel. The islanders showed kindness to Paul and the others by building them a fire in the cold. Paul got bit by a viper, and the superstitious islanders immediately labeled him as a murderer who would soon die because ‘Justice’ had not allowed him to live. In verse 11 we see the reference to an Alexandrian ship which had the ‘Twin Brothers’ as its figurehead. Upon further investigation, I was able to see the pagan superstitions linked to these two references, which I won’t go into here. (You can glean that treasure for yourself!) My immediate questioning of the text was, “Why are these things mentioned here? Why are they important?” After finding out what was behind these examples, my mind went immediately to Acts 17:23. In Athens Paul was provoked by the many idols he saw there. Paul masterfully used this altar to the ‘unknown god’ as an opportunity to share the one true God.

 

How often do we encounter people who mention their pagan worship practices only to rebuke them in some way instead of using our understanding as a platform to jump off of in presenting the gospel to them? How many Christians today hear ‘spiritual’ talk by someone and automatically assume that person is okay spiritually? Idol worship is still alive and well in our day. People everywhere have some sort of what they call ‘spirituality’; but they do not know Jesus. We hear people talking about their horoscopes, their crystals, their superstitions—even people wearing medals, crucifixes, or crosses can be a jump off point from which we can begin to have a gospel conversation, etc. If we have eyes to see and ears to hear, we can use what we know to point people from the counterfeit lies of Satan to the truth of God. Like the ancient Israelites, we may even have pagans sitting in the pews beside us trying to dabble in a little bit of this and a little bit of that while falsely believing they can mix their pagan practices with the worship of the one true God. Today we will look at the evidence of sun worship that is still widespread literally everywhere.

 

Many neopagans and Wiccans follow the Wheel of the Year, which is a celebration of the seasons throughout the year. The major holidays are called Sabbats and honor the waxing and waning of the sun throughout the year. Solar deities are celebrated on sabbats, as well. Yoga has a routine called a sun salutation. There is also a pose called the Sun God and the goddess squat.

 

According to Native American traditions Asibikaashi was responsible for placing the sun into the sky each morning. The sun sent its energy to the people across the land. When the tribes grew and spread, it supposedly became more difficult for Asibikaashi to get the energy to all of her people. With the help of tribal women, magical hoops were woven that caught and held onto the energy of dreams. Bad dreams were caught and held by the web of the dreamcatcher while good dreams escaped through the center hole and to the owner.

 

 

  

Sun worship was prevalent in ancient Egyptian religion. Many Christians may not realize it, but it is the same in our day. The Bible has a lot to say about sun worship because many ancient cultures worshiped the sun. If we think about it, and if we didn’t know the God who created the sun, pagans worshipping the sun may not seem unreasonable. Falsely believing that the sun brought each new day, gave warmth to the earth, and provided conditions for the cultivation of food, it is easy to see how worship of the sun came to be. The sun is the largest object visible to man. Made to worship, it was natural for man to find some object upon which to set his devotion and adoration. In ancient times, the lines between the physical and spiritual, the natural and supernatural were somewhat blurred.

 

All the nations around Israel participated in some form of sun worship. In Egypt, the sun god was called Amun-Ra. In Mesopotamia, Shamash; and in Canaan, Shemesh. One of the Canaanite cities conquered by the Israelites was Beth-Shemesh. It was quite possibly a center of sun worship. Beth-shemesh means “house of the sun” or “temple of the sun” in Hebrew. The Bronze-Age city was originally named after the Canaanite sun-goddess Shapash, sometimes called Shemesh, who was worshipped there in antiquity. The Babylonians and the Assyrians also worshipped the sun.

The Genesis Creation account sets the record straight regarding the context for the sun. The sun was to serve the needs of mankind, but God created the sun. It is only logical that the one who created anything is higher than that thing created. God forbade His people to worship the sun in Deuteronomy 4:19 and 17:2-5. Nevertheless, that is exactly what the Israelites got involved in doing. In Ezekiel we saw sun worship taking place at the very entrance to the temple by men who were literally turning their backs on the temple of the Lord. (Ezekiel 8:16) Jeremiah warned time and time again of the judgment to come if those who participated in this evil practice did not repent and turn from their wicked ways. In Jeremiah 8:1-2 he said: “At that time,” declared the Lord, “they will bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its leaders, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem from their graves. They will spread them out to the sun, the moon, and to all the heavenly lights, which they have loved, which they have served, which they have followed, which they have sought, and which they have worshiped. They will not be gathered nor buried; they will be like dung on the face of the ground.” Josiah did much in his reforms to banish the priests who were sacrificing to the sun, but he could not banish worship of the sun completely.

If we have eyes to see, evidence of pagan sun worship can be seen literally everywhere around us—even in some purportedly “Christian” churches. Some things have been brought into our modern-day churches quite innocently, but other things are blatant once you know the history of this pagan cult. For instance, why do so many people worship in churches under steeples? Church steeples have been included on church buildings since the conversion of Constantine and his proclamation that made Christianity the official state religion of Rome. Church steeples can actually be traced back thousands of years to Egypt and pagan worship. You will get the connection if you read further.

 

 

I grew up (even though we rarely attended) in the Methodist Church. I remember watching the lighting of the candles before each service began. When I transitioned to the Roman Catholic Church, there were candles everywhere. I was thinking about this the other day considering the absence of candles in the Christian churches I have been a part of since that time. The sun god came to be represented on earth by fire. Burning candles became a ritual in Baal worship associated with attracting certain spirits and dispelling others. Ancient people used candles and lamps in religious observances, but the Roman Christian theologian Tertullian vehemently protested “the useless lighting of lamps at noonday.” By the fourth century, however, both candles and lamps were part of Christian rituals. It was not until the Middle Ages, from the 12th century on, when candles and lamps were placed on church altars. The Catholic Church established the use of consecrated holy candles in rituals of blessings and absolving sins and in exercising demons. I have candles in my home for aesthetic reasons. I’m not saying that everyone should go around getting rid of the candles in their homes. I’m not even saying that people in churches that use candles are worshipping the sun god.

 

Baal was also symbolized by trees, pillars, animals, fish (the fish god was Dagon), and sun images. Much of what we see in ancient pagan religions is a counterfeit or distortion of true worship in some form. Remember Tammuz was proclaimed “the reincarnation of Nimrod” or the sun god. He was also known in Baal as the “son” of god. Is Baal worship alive and well today? Absolutely! We would never hear of any Christians committing their lives to Baal, but that ancient religion is thriving throughout the world. 2 Kings 23:5 is a passage with a glimpse into what Baal worship entailed. And he (Josiah) did away with the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah and in the surrounding area of Jerusalem, also those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and to the moon and to the constellations and to all the host of heaven.

 

Baal worshippers put a bright glow behind pictures of their gods and circles around their religious figures or symbols. When integrating Christianity with Baal worship, it could stealthily be accomplished by bringing in local deities and cultures without being detected by placing this glow behind ‘Christian’ images. The Christians falsely believed it was a representation of the glory of God. Sun symbols were placed over the entrance of the Baal temples and above their altars. Always circular in design, they could have many different variations in their representation of the sun. This symbol was placed to supposedly drive away evil spirits.

 

  

The pyramids of Egypt were built to the sun god Ra. The ‘high places’ of pagan worship were usually on hills or mountains to bring them closer to their false gods. They built obelisks, a tower that came to a point. You have all seen obelisks either up close or in pictures. What you may not know is the history behind them. The sharp point of the obelisk was to point to the sun. Built to the sun god, they symbolized male virility. The societies in which these statues were placed were erected there to show they had no moral restraints and worshipped the sun god.

In the days before the internet, I had easily passed over Jeremiah 43:13 before ever realizing I had seen an obelisk. “He will also shatter the obelisks of Heliopolis, which is in the land of Egypt; and the temples of the gods of Egypt he will burn with fire.” ‘Obelisks’ is sometimes translated stone pillars. ‘Heliopolis’ was also known as Beth-shemesh. There is so much more that could be said about this passage, but I want to focus on the obelisks of Heliopolis. Heliopolis means “City of the Sun”. Helios, the personified and deified form of the sun, was identified by the Greeks with the native Egyptian gods Ra and Atum, whose principal cult was located in the city. Heliopolis (“Pillar City”), was one of the most ancient Egyptian cities and the seat of worship of the sun god, Re. It was important as a religious city rather than a political center. During the 5th dynasty, worship of Re became the state cult. Little remains of this great ancient city. Heliopolis Article  Sometimes obelisks were placed as funerary monuments at the entrance of tombs. For Egyptians, the obelisk was a reverential monument commemorating the dead, representing their kings, and honoring their gods.

 

The Bible mentions “standing images” in 1 Kings 14:23; 2 Kings 18:4, 23:14; Jeremiah 43:13; Micah 5:13, and sun images in Isaiah 17:8, 27:9. In Ezekiel 8:5, the “image of jealousy’ erected in the entry to the Temple was probably an obelisk. A number of obelisks were removed from Egypt to other nations. One is in central Park in New York City, another is in London, and many of them were transported to Rome. The practice of placing an erect obelisk at the entrance of a heathen temple was an established custom of the time. Not only was an obelisk placed at the entry of the temples of the ancient sun worshippers but there is one placed in front of the entrance to St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome. IT IS NOT A MERE COPY OF AN EGYPTIAN OBELISK BUT THE VERY SAME THAT WAS WORSHIPPED IN ANCIENT TIMES. Caligula in A.D. 37-41, had this obelisk transported from Heliopolis, Egypt to Vatican Hill. So, the very same obelisk that once stood at the ancient pagan temple at the center of Egyptian paganism now stands at the circus on Vatican Hill. The funny thing is that the symbolism of what it represents is not hidden at all! Every Catholic should exclaim: “What’s this nonsense?”

According to an article in the National Catholic Reporter in 2011, hidden among the paving stones of St. Peter’s Square there is a simple clock and calendar. “All you need is a sunny day.” The 83-foot stone obelisk in the middle of the square acts as a sundial that can accurately indicate midday and the two solstices, thanks to a granite meridian and marble markers embedded in the square. Pope Benedict XVI proudly pointed out the hidden timepiece during an Angelus address he gave on the winter solstice a few years ago. “In fact, at noon on December 21, the obelisk’s shadow falls on the marble disk furthest from the obelisk’s base, while at noon on June 21—the summer solstice—the tip of the shadow will fall just a few yards from the obelisk. In between are five other disks marking when the sun enters into WHICH SIGN OF THE ZODIAC.” Also within the article, is a quote from John Heilbron, who wrote "The Sun in the Church: Cathedrals as Solar Observatories," said the basilica's meridian was also used "to establish a very good value for the length of the year."St. Peter's Square Article

Christians adopted the image of the Sun (Helios or Sol Invictus) to represent Christ. Sol Invictus was the official sun god of the later Roman Empire and patron of soldiers. On 25 December AD 274, the Roman emperor Aurelian made it an official religion alongside the traditional Roman cults. The god appeared on their coins until the last third of Constantine’s reign with the last inscription referring to Sol Invictus dating AD 387. There were enough devotees in the fifth century that the Christian theologian Augustine found it necessary to preach against them.

 

With the understanding of where these seemingly ‘innocent’ pagan customs came from, may we, like Paul, be quick to observe how the Lord might use them in giving us opportunities to reach out to those who are lost. Instead of being quick to judge, may we be quick to love speaking truth into the lives of those who are headed for judgment for offending Him with their false worship practices.