Written by Ivor Thomas

Brethren Of Christ Articles - Doctrinal Matters

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A photo on display in the British Museum, with the details:

 “Picrolite figurine shaped like a cross wearing a necklace with a similar cruciform figurine as a pendant.  From Yialia, made in Cyprus, 3500-2500 BC.”  The pendant is quite remarkable as it could easily be mistaken for a modem day crucifix.  It is obviously important and full of meaning.

What then is its relevance?

The dates given provide the answer.  3500-2500 BC indicates that it was produced in the period BEFORE The Flood!  3500BC takes us back to the time of CAIN.  Now Cain was a tiller of the ground and we know from Genesis 4 that unlike Abel, his offering was not acceptable to God.  Being rejected, Cain then vented his anger by killing Abel.  He then lied to God, and subsequently became a symbol of those who reject God’s word, known as ‘the devil’ and ‘the seed of the serpent’.  Both Devil and Satan simply means, those who oppose or reject (individually or collectively) God’s word.

Jesus said to those who challenged him in John 8:44, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.  He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there was no truth in him.  When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it.”

 The words of Jesus enable us to appreciate that it was Cain who instigated a counterfeit religion, and we can now see how it developed.  Cain, as a tiller of the ground, thought that the increase of his produce was due to the power of the Sun, which is why his offering was not acceptable to God.  Cain’s resentment led to him killing Abel.  God’s displeasure was then demonstrated when he said:  “When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth,” (Gen 4:12).

 From the words of Jesus, “there was no truth in him” we can understand that Cain did not seek forgiveness, but replied that the punishment was unfair, because people would want to kill him.  Why would he think people would want to kill him?  Because he believed they would assume that his punishment would come upon them, if they accepted him.  God in his mercy, then set a mark on Cain, v.15 so that he was ‘protected’ from this eventuality.  The mark was, I suggest, a cross.  (My reasons become clear as we progress).  Because Cain was now ‘protected from being killed’ we can see how the idea of ‘immortality’ arose, no doubt encouraged by Cain, so that he could gain some recognition and status.  (All are subject to vanity).

 How had he achieved this?

By giving credit to the Sun rather than God!  If the Sun gave energy and life, then a good harvest followed.  Then on ones death their energy would return to the Sun.  Like all counterfeit beliefs it appears to have some truth.  (It later changes to:  The ‘soul’ goes to the sky! -- heaven).  As Cain seemed to be ‘immortal’ in that he could not be killed by them, he would have become venerated by the carnal mind, and then people would have wanted to become associated with him or his beliefs.  Because mankind is so ready to corrupt God’s word, the logical development was to associate the recognition of the sun as a defence against those who would harm you.  This naturally led on to the worshipping of the sun.

As can be seen from the figure in the British Museum, it became a ‘badge’ that showed they were associated with Cain’s mark (or cross), which, to them represented immortality, and the sun.  As the originator or ‘chief’, Cain assumed the position as the ‘father’ of those who worshipped the sun.  He was, as Jesus said, the father of the lie.  ‘I cannot be killed - God would not create me to then destroy me, or the soul cannot die.’  (It is not without reason then, that even in this day and age that the cross is used as ‘a protection against perceived harm’).