AMONG THE ANCIENT nations,
not only were statues of the gods and goddesses in human form
made, other objects with a hidden or mystery meaning, such as
obelisks, were a part of heathen Worship.
Diodorus spoke of an obelisk 130
feet high that was erected by queen Semiramis in Babylon. The
Bible mentions an obelisk--type image approximately nine feet in
breadth and ninety feet high: The people...fell down and
Worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up" in
Babylon (Dan. 3:1-7). But it was in Egypt (an early
stronghold of the mystery religion) that the use of the obelisk
was best known. Many of these obelisks are still in Egypt, but some have been removed
to other nations-one is in Central Park in New York, another in London, while
others were transported to Rome.
Originally, the obelisk was associated with SUN
Worship, The ancients,
having rejected the knowledge of the true creator---seeing
that the SUN gave life to plants and to man, looked upon the SUN as a god, the great
life giver. To them, upright objects such as the obelisk
also had a sexual significance. Realizing that through
sexual union life was produced, the phallus was considered (along
with the SUN) a symbol of life. These were beliefs represented by the obelisk.
The largest upright
phallus of the SUN in the worldis the George Washington
monument in Washington D.C., the capital city of the United States
of America. Its dimension at its base is 55.5 ft. wide by 55.5 ft.long, with a height 555 ft high. Guess what the
sum total is, when you add up those three Dimensions?
The word "images" in the Bible is
translated from several different Hebrew words. One of these
words, matzebah means "standing images" or obelisks (
I Kings 14: 23; 2 Kings 18 :4: 23:14; Jer. 43:13: Micah 5: l3).
Another word is hammanim which means "SUN images," images dedicated to the SUN obelisks (Isaiah 17:8;
27:9).
In order for the obelisks to carry out their
intended symbolism, they were placed upright--erect. Thus
they pointed up--toward the SUN..
As a symbol of the phallus, the erect position also had an obvious
significance. Bearing this mind, it is interesting to notice that
when divine judgment was pronounced against this false Worship, it was said that these
images (obelisks) "shall
not stand, up," but would be cast down
(Isaiah 27:9).
When the Israelite mixed heathen
Worship into their religion in the days of Ezekiel, they erected
an "image of Jealousy in the entry" of the temple (Ezekiel 8:5).
This image was probably an
obelisk, the symbol of the phallus, for (as Scofield
says) they were" given over to phallic cults." Placing an
obelisk at the entrance of a heathen temple was, apparently, not
an uncommon practice at the time. One stood at the entrance
of the temple of Tum and another in front of the temple of Hathor,
the "abode of Horus" (Tammuz).
Interestingly enough, there is also an obelisk at the front of St. Peter's
in Rome as the photograph shows on the left.
The one in Rome is a mere copy
of an Egyptian obelisk, it is the very same obelisk that stood in
Egypt in ancient times! Even more interesting,
there is one positioned in front of the Capital in Washington
D.C. When the mystery religion came to Rome in the SUN Worship days, not only
were obelisks made and erected at Rome, but obelisks of Egypt-at great expense-were hauled there and
erected by the emperors. Caligula, in 37-41 A.D., had the
obelisk now at the Vatican brought from Heliopolis, Egypt to the
circus on the Vatican Hill, where now stands St. Peter's.
Heliopolis is but the Greek name of Bethshemesh, which was the center of Egyptian
SUN Worship in olden days. In the Old Testament,
these obelisks that stood there are mentioned as the "images of Bethshemesh" (Jer.
43:13)!
The very same obelisk that once
stood at the ancient temple which was the center of Egyptian SUN Worship, now
stands before the mother church of Roman Catholicism! This
seems like more than a mere coincidence. And dear
reader it is no mere coincidence that the largest obelisk
in the world stands before the capital in the Washington D.C. in the USA.
The red granite obelisk of the Vatican is
itself 83 feet high (132 feet high with its foundation) and weighs
320 tons. In 1586, in order to center it in front of the
church in St. Peter's square, it was moved to its present location
by order of Pope Sixtus V. Of course moving this heavy
obelisk-especially in those days-was a very difficult task.
Many movers refused to attempt the feat, especially since the pope
had attached the death
penalty if the obelisk was dropped and broken!
Finally a man by the name of
Domenico Fontana accepted the responsibility. With 45
winches, 160 horses, and a crew of 800 workmen, the task of moving
began. The date was September 10, 1586. Multitudes crowded
the extensive square. While the obelisk was being moved, the
crowd, upon penalty of death,
was required to remain silent. But after the obelisk was
successfully erected, there was the sound of hundreds of bells
ringing, the roar of cannons, and the loud cheers of the
multitude. The Egyptian idol was dedicated to the
"cross" (the cross on top of the obelisk is supposed to contain a
piece from the original cross), mass was celebrated, and the pope
pronounced a blessing on the workmen and horses.
The
drawing to the left shows the pattern of St. Peter's and the
circular court in front of it. At the center of the court
stands the obelisk. This court is bordered by 248 Doric
columns, a style that was commonly used in the design of SUN Worship temples
Like the obelisk, SUN Worship columns were
sometimes regarded as "mystery" forms of the phallus. In the
vestibule of the SUN Worship
temple of the goddess at Hierapolis, an inscription reads "I,
Dionysus, dedicated these phalli
Hera, my stepmother."
Even as Roman Catholic leaders
borrowed other ideas from SUN
Worship, it is no surprise that building elaborate and
expensive temples also became the custom. Worldly minded leaders
thought they should build a temple of greater splendor than
those of the old Roman religion.
We know that
God directed his people under the ruler--ship of Solomon to build
a temple--in the Old Testament--and chose to put his presence
there. But in the New Testament, it is clear that the Holy
Spirit no longer dwells
in temples made with mans
hands (Acts 17:24). Now, God dwells in his
people--his true church--by the Spirit! Says Paul: "YE
are the temple of God...the Spirit of God dwelleth in you" (1 Cor.
3:16).
Understanding this grand truth,
the early church-filled with the Spirit--never
went forth to build temples of stone and steel. They went
forth to preach the gospel.
Their time was not spent in financial drives and oppressive
pledges in order to build a fancier building than a temple down
the street! According to Halley's Bible Handbook, we
do not have any record of a church building (as such) being built
prior to 222-235 A.D.!
This is not to suggest it is wrong
to have church buildings. Probably the reason they were not
built earlier was because the first Christians, enduring
persecutions, were not allowed to own title to property. But
had they been allowed this privilege, we feel certain that such
buildings would have been built simply--not for outward
show. They would not have tried to compete with the
expensive styling of the heathen temples of splendor like the
temple of Diana at Ephesus or the Pantheon of Rome.
But when the church came to political power and
wealth under the reign of Constantine, a pattern for building
elaborate and expensive church buildings was set and has
continued to this day. The idea has become so
implanted in the minds of people, that the word 'church' (to most
people) means a building. But in its Biblical use, the word
refers to an assembly or group of people who are--themselves,--the
temple of the Holy Spirit! As strange as it may sound, a
church building could be totally destroyed, and yet the actual church (the people) remain.
The majority of expensive church
buildings that have been built over the centuries have featured a
tower. Each generation of church builders has copied the
former generation, probably never questioning the origin of the
idea. Some towers have cost fortunes to build. They have
added no spiritual value. Jesus, of course, never built such
structures when he was on earth, nor did he give any instructions
for them to be built after his departure. Notice the many
towers in the Cathedral of
Cologne to the right. How, then, did this tower
tradition in church architecture begin?
The use of towers is also carried out in Christendom Catholic and Protestant. The tower of the great
Cathedral of Cologne rises 515
feet above the street while that of the Cathedral of Ulm,
Germany, is 528 feet high. Even small chapels often have a
tower of some kind. It is a tradition that is seldom questioned.
If the reader will permit us
a certain liberty at this point, we will suggest a theory which
points back to Babylon. Of course we all remember the tower
of Babel. The people said, "Let us make brick...let us build
us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven" (Gen.
11:3,41. The expression "unto heaven" is no doubt a figure
of speech for great height, as was also the case when cities with
walls that reached
"up to heaven" are mentioned (Deut. 1:28). We are not to suppose
those Babel builders intended to build clear up into the heaven of
God's throne. Instead, there is sufficient evidence to show
that the tower (commonly called a ziggurat) was connected with
their religion--with SUN Worship.
"Of all the lofty monuments of
Babylon, the towering 'Ziggurat' must certainly have been one of
the most spectacular constructions of its time, rising
majestically above its huge encircling wall of a thousand
towers....Around the vast square, chambers were set aside for
pilgrims, as well as for the priests who looked after the
'Ziggurat.' Koldewey called this collection of buildings the
'Vatican of Babylon'."
It has been
suggested that one of the meanings of the name of the goddess
Astarte (Semiramis), written as "Asht-tart,"means "the woman that
made towers." The goddess Cybele (who also has been
identified with Semiramis) was known as the tower bearing goddess,
the first (says Ovid) that erected towers in cities and was
represented with a tower--like crown on her head, as was also
Diana. In the symbolism of the Catholic church, a tower is
emblematic of the virgin Mary! Does all of this somehow
connect? Yes it all
connects back to SUN (Baal) Worship!!
Some ancient towers, as we all
know, were built for military purposes, for watchtowers. But
many of the towers that were built in the Babylonian Empire were exclusively religious towers,
connected with a temple! In those times, a stranger entering
a Babylonian city would have no difficulty locating its temple, we
are told, for high above the flat roofed houses, its tower could
be seen! The
Catholic encyclopedia says, "It
is a striking fact that most Babylonian cities possessed
a....temple-tower."
Is it possible that Babylon (as with
other things we have mentioned) could have been the source
for religious towers?? We recall that it was while
they were building the huge tower of Babel that the
dispersion began. It is certainly not impossible
that as men migrated to various lands they took the idea
of a tower with them. Though these towers have
developed into different forms in different countries, yet
the towers in one form or another remain!
Towers
have long been an established part of the religion of the
Chinese. The "pagoda" (linked with the word
"goddess") at Nankin. Showed to the left are
three Pagodas of Dali Yannan.
In the
Hindu religion, "scattered above the large temple
enclosures are great pagodas or towers...rising high above
the surrounding country, everywhere they could be seen by
the people, and thus their devotion to their idolatrous
Worship was increased. Many of these pagodas are
several hundred feet high, and are covered with sculptures
representing scenes in the lives of the gods of the
temple, or eminent saints."
Among the
Muslims, though in a different form, can be seen the
towers of their religion. The above picture shows the
numerous towers, called minarets, at Mecca. Towers of the
same style were used on the famous Church of St. Sophia at
Constantinople (above left).
.
At the top of many church towers, a spire often points to
the sky. Several writers link, and perhaps not without
some Justification, the steeples and spires with the
ancient obelisk. "There is evidence," says one, "to
show that the spires of
our churches owe their existence to the uprights or
obelisks outside the the temples of former
ages." Another says: are still in existence today
remarkable specimens of original phallic symbols...steeples on the churches....and
obelisks....all show the influence of our phallus-Worshiping(SUN Worship)
ancestors."
“Signs and symbols rule the SUN Worship world, not
words nor laws.” www.granddesignexposed.com