There is a statue of General Winfield Scott in Washington D.C. and it is the only
one that does not give any clues as to who this man was or why he was being
honored with a statue. There is only one word on the statue itself—“Scott”—and
there are no signs or monuments nearby to explain it. No title, rank, or even a
first name was inscribed anywhere. The only clue we had was that across the
street was the General Scott Hotel. This told us that he was a general.
We had to find him on the internet. He was the longest-serving general in history
(56 years) and he retired in 1861 toward the beginning of the Civil War. I believe
that there was a reason why he disrespectfully appears only by the name “Scott.”
I believe that it is not really a monument to the general. In fact, it was meant to be
an insult to the general by stripping him of his rank and identity. It was instead a
monument to Scottish Rite Masonry, and for this reason the statue is located on
the forehead of the Baphomet street design just a few blocks south of the Masonic
Temple.
Baphomet is “the god of wisdom” to high-ranking Masons. He was portrayed as
having the head of a goat, but had the body of a man and breasts of a woman.
He was also part dog and part bull. This was the way he was portrayed in the
19th century painting by the well-known Mason, Eliphas Levi.
In William E. Mann’s book, The Knights Templar in the New World, p. 121 and
122, he writes:
“The Nineteenth-century occultist Alphonse Constant, a former Roman Catholic
priest who took the Jewish pseudonym Eliphas Levi, wrote extensively about
Baphomet as a conduit to God. According to Levi, the head of Baphomet is seen
to combine the characteristics of a dog, a bull, and a goat, which are meant to
represent the three sources of the pagan Mystery tradition . . . Baphomet’s
androgynous nature is emphasized by one arm being mascular and masculine
while the other is of a more feminine nature.”
Later, on page 185, the same author writes,
“It was determined that there exists a secret code in a number of the Dead Sea
Scrolls that the Templars may have learned during their time in the Holy Land.
Indeed, a noted expert on early Christianity, Dr. High Schonfield, demonstrated
that if the name Baphomet was written in this code and then translated, the
result would be the Greek word Sophia (meaning wisdom). From this, it can be
concluded that when the Templars worshipped Baphomet, what they were really
worshipping was the principle of wisdom and not some form of Satanism.”
[end quote]
There is no doubt that the Templars thought they had tapped into the real divine
power, wisdom, and knowledge of the universe. I do not doubt their sincerity.
However, in trying too hard to find “wisdom” apart from asking God (James 1:5),
they sought it from other sources. And they were given a measure of it from
spiritual forces that claimed to be the source of true religion but were, in fact,
demonic.
Their wisdom is different from the wisdom of God. This is precisely what Paul
was talking about when he wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:17-21,
17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in
cleverness [sophia, “wisdom”] of speech, that the cross of Christ should
not be made void. 18 For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing
foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is
written, I will destroy the wisdom [sophian] of the wise [sophon], and the
cleverness of the clever I will set aside. 20 Where is the wise man [sophos]?
Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made
foolish the wisdom [sophian] of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom
[sophia] of God the world through its wisdom [sophias] did not come to know
God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message
preached to save those who believe.
Those who know not the gospel seek to acquire “lost” wisdom that God took
away from Adam after he sinned. Their search for wisdom does give them a
lot of genuine knowledge, of course, and this has historically been expressed
in terms of their knowledge of architecture in building cathedrals and public
buildings. But in their search for good knowledge, they have not asked Jesus
Christ for wisdom, because they felt like Jesus was out to hide these things
from men. Instead, they have gone to Baphomet, the false god of worldly
wisdom and have identified him as the true God.
The Grand Commander of Scottish Rite Masonry in the 1800’s, Albert Pike,
calls Masonry the “successor of the Mysteries” in his book, Morals and
Dogma, page 22. On page 23 he writes,
“Though Masonry is identical with the ancient Mysteries, it is so only in this
qualified sense: that it presents but an imperfect image of their brilliancy, the
ruins only of their grandeur, and a system that has experienced progressive
alterations, the fruits of social events, political circumstances, and the
ambitious imbecility of its improvers.” [end quote]
In other words, Masonry tries hard to imitate the Egyptian Mystery religion,
and they only regret that they fall short of its “brilliancy.” The Bible, of course,
has much to say about the Egyptian religion, and by no stretch of the
imagination does it promote it as a true religion.
It is interesting that the fifth vial was to be poured out upon “the throne of
the beast,” while Pergamos was called “Satan’s throne.” The connection
is Aesculapius, the god of medicine and healing.
Jay Atkinson writes an article, saying,
“Pergamum was the famous site of the temple to Aesculapius, the Greek
god of healing supposed to be the founder of medical science and
immortalized in the sky as the constellation Ophiuchus. The city became
the seat of Babylonian sun worship, a noble center of idolatry and demon
controlled religions with splendid temples to Nature. People from all over
the Roman empire came to seek healing in this pagan temple and the
shrine area was inhabited by thousands of harmless snakes. On the hills
of Acropolis stood resplendent buildings, statuary, palaces, and the great
library as well as the temples and an altar of ‘Zeus the Savior.’ Medicine
and science was worshipped here and the symbol of their worship was
the serpent. The snake was carried down into our own day with a staff
entwined with serpents called the caduceus, still using the snake as a
symbol for the medical arts; Aesculapius is depicted holding the
caduceus in his hand.” [end quote]
The caduceus is, even today, the primary symbol of the medical profession.
It can have either a positive or a negative connotation. On the negative side,
the caduceus of Pergamos, “Satan’s throne,” referred to the serpent in the
tree in the story of Adam and Eve. On the positive side, it was the bronze
serpent in the wilderness under Moses. When the people looked upon that
serpent, they were healed of the serpent bites (curse of sin). Num. 21:9 says,
9 And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came
about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he
lived.
In John 3:14, 15 and again in John 12:32, 33, Jesus was compared to that
serpent that Moses lifted up in the wilderness. Some find this strange that
Jesus would be compared to the serpent when He was lifted up on the
cross. But in His death, He was made to be a curse for us. The bronze
serpent was the antidote to the poison of the serpents that had bitten the
people. That poison is sin, and the antidote was that Jesus was made a
curse for us, that we might live.
Israel’s experience in the wilderness illustrates for us all the fact that sin,
rebellion, and witchcraft bring judgment from the law, for that is the function
of the law. That judgment is called “the curse of the law” in Galatians 3:13,
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a
curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’—
14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come
to the Gentiles [ethnos, “nations”], so that we might receive the
promise of the Spirit through faith.
The function of the law is to judge all sin and to set the standard that
defines sin and righteousness. When a person commits sin, the law
corrects the sinner in order to restore him back to a right relationship
with his neighbors. Jesus Christ took our curse upon Himself to pay
for the sin of the world. In that capacity, He made Himself a serpent.
This is the positive side to the caduceus, the serpent on the pole or tree.
The priests in the temple of Aesculapius in Pergamos did not know the
positive side of this, and that is why Paul had to preach Christ to the
people of that city. Their serpent-worship was a counterfeit that ended
up worshipping the serpent in Genesis 3, and this made them “Satan’s
throne.”
Another example is when Moses threw down his rod, and it turned
into a serpent (Ex. 4:3). The rod represents lawful authority. When
one casts the law’s authority to the ground, it becomes a serpent to
him. The law will “bite” you if you cast it to the ground. That is, the law
becomes a curse to the one who despises it. Later, Pharaoh’s
magicians did the same thing (Ex. 7:11). Their rods represent the
traditions of men which they consider to be authoritative. Moses’
serpent (staff) ate them alive (Ex. 7:12), showing that God’s law is
greater than the traditions of men. This is the lesson God taught
Moses and all of us.
In the painting of Baphomet by Eliphas Levi, the caduceus is portrayed
in the beast’s groin area. Here, then, is the connecting link between
the god of Masonry and the medical-drug system. The two come
together in the Shriners Hospitals, the primary philanthropic medical
arm of the Masonic Order. Masons can always point to these when
the Order itself comes under criticism, as if doing good compensates
for the worship of Baphomet.
Logabe
Miss Hepburn
