Recently I had a friend ask me
about the Star of David as a symbol of Judaism. The concern was that this
symbol had been taken from or used as a symbol in pagan worship. If that was
the case, what action if any should we take in regard to the Star of David?
Does having a Star of David mean we are inadvertently endorsing a pagan
religion, or even worse, participating in the worship of an idol? Those of us
who have embraced our Hebrew Roots and seek to live sanctified lives are
examining every aspect of our lives. We search the scriptures allowing the Word
to wash us so we may be presented to Him as holy and without blemish. We read
over and over again in the Scriptures that Israel turned from the worship of
God to worship the idols and gods of other nations. We know that we are not to
make carved images to bow down to them, nor even to make an image of God and
worship it as if it were God. This was the sin of the Israelites in making and
worshiping the golden calf. We seek to avoid this pitfall, but what exactly is
the worship of idols and what constitutes endorsing or participating in worship
of another god?
God actually gave detailed
instructions as the children of Israel prepared to enter the Promised Land. He
describes the worship of the pagans and tells us not to worship that way.
Deuteronomy 12:30-31 NKJV 30
"take heed to yourself …that you do not inquire after their gods, saying,
'How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.' 31 "You
shall not worship the LORD your God in that way; for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to
their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to
their gods.
What are the abominations that
the Canaanites did to their gods that the LORD hates? One is the sacrifice of
their sons and daughters. Other abominations are described in Leviticus 18;
these include various sexual sins. After listing these sexual taboos, Moses
concludes with these words from God:
Leviticus 18:24-25 NKJV 24 'Do
not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the nations
are defiled, which I am casting out before you. 25 'For the land is defiled;
therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits
out its inhabitants.
We read another description of the
abominations of their “worship” when the women of Moab enticed the Israelites
to sin.
Numbers 25:1-3 NKJV 1 Now Israel
remained in Acacia Grove, and the people began to commit harlotry with the
women of Moab. 2 They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and
the people ate and bowed down to their
gods. 3 So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and the anger of the LORD was
aroused against Israel.
The worship included sexual
immorality as well as joining in the sacrifices to their gods, eating and
bowing down to their gods. During the days of Paul, the believers in Corinth
lived in a city saturated with temples to various gods, chief of which was
Aphrodite whose worship incorporated temple prostitution. The phrase “to live
like a Corinthian” was synonymous with sexual immorality. Paul addresses this
issue bluntly; he instructs them not to have fellowship with those brothers who
engage in sexual immorality. He includes a few other activities as well.
1 Corinthians 5:11 NKJV 11 But
now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an
idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner--not even to eat with
such a person.
But the Corinthians believers had
another problem, what could they eat or not eat to avoid participating in
worship of other gods. We saw in Numbers 15 that the worship of Baal of Peor
included eating. Paul basically says it is all in how the believer views the
meat or food. If he views it as a thing offered to an idol and, thus, in his
mind he participates in the worship to the idol, then He is defiled.
1 Corinthians 8:4 NKJV 4
Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an
idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one… 7
However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some, with consciousness
of the idol, until now eat it as a thing
offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.
Paul readdresses this problem in
chapter 10. He begins by once again exhorting them to flee from idolatry but
then goes on to tell them that eating meat sacrificed to an idol is not
idolatry.
1 Corinthians 10:25-26 NKJV 25
Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, asking no questions for conscience'
sake; 26 for "the earth is the LORD'S, and all its fullness."
He does make an exception to
this. When a non-believer invites a believer to eat with him and states that
the meat has been sacrificed to idols, the believer should reject that food.
But, the reason to reject it is not because of the believer but for the good of
the non-believer! He reiterates that all things belong to the LORD.
1 Corinthians 10:27-28 NKJV 27 If
any of those who do not believe
invites you to dinner, and you desire to go, eat whatever is set before you, asking no question for conscience'
sake. 28 But if anyone says to you, "This was offered to idols," do
not eat it for the sake of the one who told you, and for conscience' sake; for
"the earth is the LORD'S, and all its fullness."
We have traveled far afield from
our original question. Is the Star of David, or indeed any other symbol,
inherently an instrument of idol worship? If we take the example of food
sacrificed to idols, we can see that it was not merely the act of eating but
the act of bowing down to the gods, of eating it as a thing offered to an idol.
By doing so, one participates in the idolatry. So, whether or not the shape of
the six-pointed star was ever used in a pagan ritual is not important. What is
important is whether, when you observe it, you see it as an object of paganism.
Paul concludes his discussion on eating food sacrificed to idols with these
words:
1 Corinthians 10:31-33 NKJV 31
Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of
God. 32 Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church
of God, 33 just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own
profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.
But what about these symbols? Lots
of groups try to take over symbols for their own purposes. One of the most
prominent symbols that have been taken over in today’s world is the rainbow,
the sign of God’s covenant with man. The gay and lesbian community has adopted
it as their symbol. The symbol we now associate with the Nazis used to be the
sign of the thunderbird in Native American history. It is also prominent in
ancient Chinese and Japanese cultures. Even the idea of the trinity was
“stolen” by the ancient Babylonians with the mother Ishtar, the son Marduk (who
marries the mother) and has an offspring, Tammuz. Some give the names as Nimrod
and his mother Semiramus giving birth to Tammuz. Satan would love for us to
reject the Father, Son and Spirit on the basis of this forgery. Satan has set
it up so that the similarities would cause us to reject the trinity. But, similarity
does not mean relationship. Satan is always trying to steal what belongs to
God. He is a thief, a liar, and a murderer from the beginning. Everything he
says and does has an element of truth in it; just twisted to make it all false.
Just examine what he says to Eve in the Garden of Eden. Everything he says is
ALMOST true.
The fish, long a symbol used for
one Christian to recognize another in the dangerous world of Roman persecution,
has been stolen by the Darwinists by adding feet to symbolize evolution over
creation; atheism over Christianity; chance over God’s design. Should we then
reject the fish because Darwinists have decided to take it over? Should we
reject the rainbow since the gays and lesbians have taken it over? Satan has
also stolen the signs in the heavens and re-packaged them as astrology. God has
written His word in the skies. One of the most prominent of which is the star
over Bethlehem that marked Yeshua’s birth. But man has chosen to disregard God’s signs
and allow Satan to replace them with personal horoscopes.
God is the creator of the
universe including Geometry and geometric symbols. In fact, that is the message
of Psalm 24 that Paul quotes when he said that, “the earth is the LORD’s and
all its fullness.” Psalm 24 concludes with the words:
Psalms 24:10 NKJV 10 Who is this
King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah
A word search for the LORD of
hosts reveals that this name reveals the total authority of God over all of
creation. He is the LORD of might and absolute authority. The signs in the
heavens belong to Him; mathematics, physics and all the sciences belong to Him.
So what does the symbol of the Star
of David represent? The Star of David is
two complete triangles, the simplest closed figure which represents the number
three. Three is the number of spiritual completion. Two entwined triangles is
an emphasis of the number 3. We have a double portion of divine completion in
the Star of David. Our King Messiah is the Son of David. Zechariah actually
calls the Messiah David when he writes about the time when David will sit on
the throne forever. Is there anything inherently “good” or “bad” about the Star
of David? It has no power or virtue in itself so there is no “good” inherent in
having a Star of David. Unless one begins to attribute the power of God to the
star itself, there is nothing “bad” about the star either. Some say that the
Star of David is a mark of shame because of its use by the Nazis to identify
and humiliate the Jewish people. It became a mark of shame because it was
treated as a mark of shame, just like the Nazi symbol is now a mark of shame to
the German people. But, the Dutch rejected the Star of David as a mark of
shame, proudly wearing it with the Jews. The Jewish people today reject it as a
mark of shame; instead it is a mark of triumph over evil and those who would
kill them.
So the Star of David is nothing
in itself. If you wear it, do so to the glory of God. This is true of any other symbols associated
with our faith when they are used to remind us of God, our relationship with
Him, and as a public statement of our faith.
In our journey to seek to live a
life pleasing to God, we need to ask ourselves, “What is pleasing to God?”
Micah brings God’s complaints to the children of Israel about their continual idolatry,
and then reminds the people of what the LORD requires.
Micah 6:8 NKJV 8 He has shown
you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do
justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?
Shalom and be blessed,
Dan and Brenda Cathcart
Visit our website at www.moedtorah.com
