Insurgency: Inconsistencies About NPA Strength

The CPP-NPA continues to contradict the AFP's statements about the NPA being a spent force. This new statement comes on the heels of the installation of a new AFP spokesman who reiterated the same claims.

https://philippinerevolution.nu/statements/inconsistencies-in-marcos-and-afp-pronouncements-about-npa-strength/

It was quite amusing to observe a few days ago how Col. Francel Margareth Padilla started her work as new spokesperson of the AFP by repeating the annual AFP announcement that the fascist military “will eliminate the New People’s Army by the end of the year.” Despite being new to the job, she already sounded like a broken record.

What was interesting, however, is the fact that she issued her statement just days after Marcos, their commander-in-chief, declared that “there are no more NPA fronts,” a claim rebuffed a few days after by Gen. Romeo Brawner who said the NPA still has “eleven weakened fronts.” To say the least, these disconnected statements reveal inconsistencies in the Marcos government’s public assessment of the state of the revolutionary armed movement, arising from contradictions in its self-serving objectives.

On the one hand, it wants to project the Philippines as “insurgency-free” in its desperate drive to entice foreign capitalists at a time of global crisis, with promises of full access to land and resources. On the other hand, it wants to justify the gargantuan and historic high budget allotted to the AFP, which mostly go to bombs, artillery shells, jet fighters, drones, jet fuel, bullets, assault weapons and other military equipment used for counterguerrilla operations.

However, it does not want to look inept and stupid for its yearly failure to attain its declaration of “crushing the NPA,” thus, they have resorted to drilling the line of “weakened NPA” and achieving “strategic victory.”

Neither declaration of “no more NPA fronts” or “eliminating the NPA by the end of the year”, however, can obscure the fact that the AFP continues to carry out an all-out strategic offensive and large-scale military operations across the country, squandering billions upon billions of pesos in a war that is bound to fail in its objectives of ending the Filipino people’s democratic resistance.

Majority of the units of the NPA have adjusted to the AFP’s tactics of large-scale military mobilization and are expanding their areas of operation and strengthening their mass base. They have adapted guerrilla tactics of concentration, shifting and dispersal to comprehensively and painstakingly carry out military work and mass work. The peasant masses, even those who were subjected to military suppression and forced to “surrender,” are elated by the return and presence of NPA units in their areas.

All in all, we anticipate steady growth during the rest of the year and succeeding period. Amid Marcos’ corruption, policies that favor foreign capitalist interests and a few big bourgeois compradors and big landlords, the Filipino people have no other recourse but to intensify their revolutionary mass movement and armed resistance.

On the one hand, there is creeping demoralization within the AFP, especially among their rank-and-file, who are well too aware of their failure to defeat the NPA and the continuing deep and wide support that the NPA enjoys among the peasant masses and people. They are further dispirited by the corruption of their higher officers who mulct and pocket millions of pesos of public funds, and by the in-fighting among the generals who are deeply loyal to rival politicians and bureaucrat capitalists. They are utterly dejected by the fact that they are used as cannon fodder to defend a rotten system while their commander-in-chief enjoy a high-style living using public money to have helicopters ferry him from concerts and late-night parties.

On the one hand, the unity of NPA Red fighters and commanders of the NPA continues to grow strong and their revolutionary moral heightens. Without expecting any material thing in return, they give all out to serve and defend the peasant masses and people.

Certainly there are inconsistencies in the AFP's pronouncements concerning the strength of the NPA. As I have pointed out before insurgency-free does not mean ZERO insurgents and the the AFP has said they will never reduce the NPA to zero but only to an insignificant number. 

But by all accounts the NPA is not growing strong at all. Regular NPA members and top leaders continue to surrender or fall. 

https://visayandailystar.com/npa-political-instructor-surrenders/

An alleged New People’s Army political instructor surrendered on Monday to Mayor Alme Rhumyla Mangilimutan and the police, following a recent encounter in Brgy. Sag-ang, La Castellana, Negros Occidental, that led to the killing of two rebels and recovery of three assorted firearms.

P/Maj. Rhojn Daryl Nigos, spokesman of the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office, yesterday said that the self-confessed rebel instructor, who is a woman, resides in Brgy. Linantuyan, Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental.

She is now under the custody of authorities, pending verification of any pending arrest warrants.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1217356

Members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) have arrested a ranking leader of the New People's Army (NPA) in Misamis Occidental.

In a statement Monday, CIDG director Maj. Gen. Romeo Caramat Jr. said the CIDG-Northern Mindanao served another arrest warrant against Matias Gaquit at the Tangub City Jail on Jan. 19.

The Sindangan, Zamboanga del Norte Regional Trial Court issued on Jan. 10 the arrest warrant for murder against the suspect.

Caramat said Gaquit was already arrested by the CIDG Misamis Occidental on Jan. 4, at the Mayor Hilarion A. Ramiro Sr. Medical Center in Barangay Gango, Ozamiz City, Misamis Occidental for murder, rebellion and frustrated homicide charges.

Gaquit is the first deputy secretary of the Guerrilla Front Sendong of the NPA's Western Mindanao Regional Party Committee, according to information from the Philippine Army's 1st Infantry Division. 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1217385

Five communist New People’s Army (NPA) rebels decided to return to the fold of the law in South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat provinces over the weekend.

“Police withheld their identities as requested by the surrendering rebels for security reasons,” Brig. Gen. Jimili Macaraeg, police director for the Soccsksargen Region, said in a statement Monday.

Macaraeg said the first to surrender were three NPA members under Guerilla Front Musa, Far South Mindanao Region before operatives of the police’s 1202nd Maneuver Company, Regional Mobile Force Battalion - 12 in Bagumbayan, Sultan Kudarat on Sunday morning.

In the afternoon of the same day, two rebels turned themselves in to the police’s Provincial Mobile Force Company in Barangay Hanoon, Lake Sebu, South Cotabato.

The two have handed over a .38-caliber revolver and a hand grenade upon their surrender.

Macaraeg lauded the police for facilitating the peaceful surrender, which he said is an “encouraging” development.

Some NPA fighters who had previously surrendered are now being given equipment to start a small business and sacks of rice. 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1217381

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), in collaboration with several non-government organizations, distributed over the weekend various livelihood equipment to six former New People’s Army (NPA) members to help them return to being productive citizens.

Victoria Natanauan, supervising labor and employment officer at DOLE-Rizal, said in a follow-up interview on Monday the unnamed beneficiaries from Barangay San Jose, Antipolo City received from the government and supportive NGOs machines to be used in operating welding shops, car wash stations and coffee shops, among others.

“The livelihood packages will enable the surrenderers to start their lives anew through income-generating activities,” she said.

Good Neighbors International Philippines, a developmental and humanitarian organization, collaborated with DOLE on the project.

Meanwhile, another surrenderer from Rizal province received a sack of rice, groceries and a cash gift from two other civil society organizations – the Advisory Council and Sinag Elite Lady Eagles Club – which have committed to helping end insurgency in the country.

Personnel of the Philippine National Police's 404th A Maneuver Company (AMC) of the Regional Mobile Force Battalion 4A assisted with the turnover of livelihood packages in an undisclosed location in Barangay San Jose.

During the turnover ceremony, the former rebels expressed their gratitude to the government and civil society groups for giving them a new lease on life.

Other ex-rebels are being trained to be tour guides. 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1217467

The city government of Borongan in Eastern Samar will hire former rebels as tour guides in Hebacong Sea of Clouds, its newly-developed tourist destination.

Mayor Jose Ivan Dayan Agda said, in an interview Tuesday, that the initiative will provide livelihood opportunities to former rebels as they rebuild their lives shattered by years of armed struggle.

“Aside from sharing about the various flora and fauna in the area, former rebels have beautiful stories to tell because of their familiarization with the place. This story can be the struggle of their community that influenced their decision to join the insurgency,” Agda said.

Before their deployment, former rebels will join tour-guiding training of the city government.

Borongan City has 100 former rebels who surrendered to the authorities as of 2023.

Meanwhile authorities continue to dig up NPA arms caches.

https://mb.com.ph/2024/1/23/npa-weapons-found-in-samar

Police recovered a New People's Army (NPA) arms cache in Sitio Casapa, Barangay Denigpian, Dolores, Eastern Samar, on Sunday, January 21.

A former communist rebel, Bunso, informed police of the location of this weapons stash.

Lt. Col. Joy Leanza, commander, 1st Eastern Samar Provincial Mobile Force Company, said they found two rifle grenades, a hand smoke grenade, a hand fragmentation grenade, four short magazines for caliber 5.56, a long magazine for caliber 5.56, a caliber .38 revolver, and 64 bullets.

They belonged to Jovan, squad leader of Front-3 (F-3), Sub-Regional Committee (SRC), Arctic, Eastern Visayas Regional Party Committee (EVRPC), under Carding.

These rebels operate in the northern part of Dolores to Jipapad in Eastern Samar. 

These weapons were turned over to the supply office of the 1st Eastern Samar Provincial Mobile Force Company for proper disposition. 

They will be likely be digging up these caches for years to come. 

There will NEVER be Justice For the SAF 44 As Long As the BARMM Exists

The anniversary of the death of the SAF 44 has once more come and gone and with it the same empty platitudes about honoring them and calls for justice. But the fact is there will never be justice for the SAF 44. A former SAF chief lamented this fact. 

https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2024/1/25/-justice-evades-SAF-44.html

Justice has not been served for the fallen commandos of the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF), also known as SAF 44, former commander Getulio Napeñas Jr. said on Thursday.

“Not yet, was there a case filed against those people who killed the 44? Until now, not yet,” Napeñas said in Silang, Cavite during the National Remembrance of the Heroic Sacrifice of the SAF 44.

[Translation: I would like to see now a case be filed against the killers, because they killed, it was murder, they massacred, they killed those still alive... Do you think justice has been served if they still weren't charged?]

The Ombudsman filed charges against Napeñas, former President Noynoy Aquino, and former national police chief Alan Purisima due to command responsibility, but these were later dismissed. 

Meanwhile, the families of the slain troops are still seeking justice and struggling to accept what happened to their loved ones nearly a decade later.

[Translation: It's been a long time, but no one has been imprisoned. They just gave names. But what I want is justice for all SAF 44.]

Who does this man want cases filed against? There is only ONE group responsible for the deaths of the SAF 44, the MILF. The MILF says the slaughter of the SAF 44 was totally justified as they fired first and broke the peace treaty between the MILF and the Philippine government. 

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2015/03/25/1437257/milf-justifies-saf-44-slay

The police commandos fired first and broke a ceasefire, they used dead comrades as shields, and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) did not coddle two top terrorists in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.

These are among the points raised in the report that the MILF finally submitted to the Senate yesterday, in which the rebel group effectively justified the killing of 44 police Special Action Force (SAF) commandos and the looting of their firearms, equipment and personal effects on Jan. 25.

The MILF report was submitted to the office of Sen. Grace Poe, chairman of the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs which investigated the Mamasapano incident.

While admitting the use of the high-powered Barrett .50-caliber sniper rifle, the MILF insisted that no unnecessary force or methods against international rules on warfare were used, and the MILF fighters used “their advantages to the fullest.”

“Reports about mutilation, beheading and willful killing are unfounded,” the report stated.

Chief MILF negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said the report, based on the findings of the rebel group’s special investigating commission formed to look into the encounter, was submitted upon Poe’s request.

He added that the report was also submitted to Maj. Gen. Dato Sheik Mokhsin Sheik Hassan, head of mission of the International Monitoring Team in Cotobato City last March 22.

“We trust that this report is treated with fairness, and we hope that all the information provided therein will be helpful in your evaluation of the incident,” Iqbal said in the transmittal letter to the Senate.

The MILF admits they killed the SAF 44 but justifies it completely. They say the SAF 44 was in the wrong. Therefore they will not be surrendering the SAF 44's killers.

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2015/03/03/1429644/iqbal-milf-wont-surrender-saf-44s-killers

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Tuesday reiterated that they will not surrender their members involved in the encounter with the Philippine National Police-Special Action Forces in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.

MILF chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said in an interview with radio dzMM that surrendering their members to the government is not part of the ceasefire agreement.

"Someone died among them, someone died among us, why do they insist on me that there is nothing in our agreement, that if that happens, we will surrender our forces?" Iqbal said.

Iqbal further stressed that the MILF should not be blamed for the deaths of 44 police commandos during the armed encounter. The group also lost 18 of its members during the clash.

"We're not the ones to blame. They entered without coordination, full-battle gear, there was an encounter... and then after that, we were the ones?" the MILF chief peace negotiator added.

Iqbal also called on the public to look at the "big picture" regarding the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).

Several lawmakers withdrew their support from the proposed BBL following the Mamasapano incident.

"This BBL, it is key to peace, it is key to development and progress in Mindanao," Iqbal said.

The MILF earlier warned that a diluted BBL would only worsen the problems in Mindanao.

"Look at the big picture." And that is exactly what the government did. They did not halt the peace process and suspend the ceasefire. They did not halt passage of the BARMM law until the MILF men responsible for the death of the SAF 44 were delivered up. Instead the government went ahead and legitimized the terrorist group known as the MILF and anointed them respectable politicians and leaders of the new BARMM. 

The men responsible for the slaughter of the SAF 44 remain protected by the BARMM and the Philippine government does not care. They have not demanded the men be brought to justice and they never will.  During all the remembrances not a single politician condemned the MILF for continuing to proceed the killers of the SAF 44. The calls of justice for the SAF 44 and empty and meaningless. As long as the BARMM exists there will never be justice for the SAF 44. 

The God Culture: The Old Rugged Stake

Having realized that his first video about the cross was inadequate Timothy Jay Schwab who is The God Culture has returned to give his audience a primer on the Greek work stauros.  Like the previous video it is very short running at 16 minutes and is not as in-depth as he thinks.

The Greek Stake: How Did the Greeks Use the Word Stauros in 16 MINUTES

Right away the problem with this video reveals itself in the title: "How did the Greeks use the word Stauros." Tim goes on to cite men who lived long before the Roman Empire such as Homer, Euripides, Thucydides, and Herodtus to prove that the Greeks always used stauros to mean a stake and never a t-shaped cross. But their testimony is not relevant as the REAL question is what Greek word would be used to indicate a Roman execution on a t-shaped cross. 

Tim gets close to answering that question when he cites the testimony of Seneca who was a citizen of the Roman Empire. 

9:48 However, very close to Yahusha's time, about 30 years or so after, very close, 65 AD Seneca the Stoic writes in Latin not Greek but he does something very telling. He lists different instruments of death and here he lists the Roman Crux or cross. Right? Oh but it's separately from a different implement of execution called the stake. A different Latin word pallus. Oops. In the same sentence. These are not the same thing. They are not synonymous as many try to say because because they are not the history is fraud.

This guy never ceases to amaze. Here is the full quote:

Picture to yourself under this head the prison, the cross, the rack, the hook, and the stake which they drive straight through a man until it protrudes from his throat.

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_14

First of all Senca is writing in Latin and not Greek as even Tim notes so his testimony should not even be included in a video about a Greek word.

Second of all the stake Sencea writes about is not a pole someone is tied to but one which is thrust through a man's anus and out of his throat! And even Tim says Jesus was not impaled. So this instrument of execution would not even apply to Jesus Christ. Of course there is a difference between being nailed to a t-shaped cross or stake and being impaled. 

Seneca is of no help to us at all. 

Who is of help is Justin Martyr. In the Dialogue with Trypho he writes:

God does not permit the lamb of the passover to be sacrificed in any other place than where His name was named; knowing that the days will come, after the suffering of Christ, when even the place in Jerusalem shall be given over to your enemies, and all the offerings, in short, shall cease; and that lamb which was commanded to be wholly roasted was a symbol of the suffering of the cross which Christ would undergo. For the lamb, which is roasted, is roasted and dressed up in the form of the cross. For one spit is transfixed right through from the lower parts up to the head, and one across the back, to which are attached the legs of the lamb. 

https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf01.viii.iv.xl.html

The Greek word being translated as cross is "σταυροῦ". Which is the same Greek word translated "cross" in the New Testament. Here is the Greek of Justin:

https://earlywritings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1874#p41235

The image of the roasted lamb with it being roasted on two sticks, one across the back and the other from the lower parts to the head, is clearly that of a t-shaped cross. To describe a cross Justin used Stauros which can mean pole but in this case clearly does not. 

Tim ends by showing a picture of how Jesus was "staked."

At the stake, at the stake where I first saw the light

Can anyone tell me what is missing from this picture? 

There is NO INSCRIPTION ABOVE HIS HEAD! 

Luke 23:38 And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

John 19:20 And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. 

21 This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin. 

If Jesus was nailed to a stake with his arms above his head and not crucified arms akimbo on a t-shaped cross where would there be room for this writing which was placed on the cross? It would have to have been very large since it was written in three languages whose letters were big enough for everyone to read. 

Once again Timothy Jay Schwab has failed to make any case for Jesus dying on the old Rugged Pole. He asks "How did the Greeks use the word Staruos" when the proper question is what Greek word would be used to describe a Roman crucifixion. 

The testimony of men who did not live under the Roman Empire and witness a crucifixion is irrelevant. Seneca, who makes a difference between crucifixion and impalement, is also no good because he is writing in Latin. But at least we learn from him there is a difference between crucifixion and impalement on a stake. Note that Seneca does not say tied or nailed to a stake but IMPALED on it which absolutely does not apply to Jesus Christ. 

Being that this was another short video there will likely be more on the topic from Timothy Jay Schwab who is The God Culture. 

The God Culture: Jesus Was Not Crucified For Our Sins

It is not enough for Timothy jay Schwab who is The God Culture to deny Jesus Christ fulfilled His work on the cross now he must deny Jesus was even crucified at all. He was actually "staked."

The Cross: The Ancient Symbol of the Occult Sun God in 13 MINUTES

The gist of it is that the Cross is an occult symbol never found in the Bible and the Greek word translated cross does not mean a t-shaped cross but a singular pole or stake. Let's take his claims one at a time.

1. The Cross is an occult symbol of the sun god and was introduced by Constantine.

3:40 They claim the origin of this practice of infusing the sun god symbol into Christianity is Constantine the not so Great around 312 A.D. or so.

This is simply not true. The early church did in fact use the symbol of the cross before Constantine arrived on the scene. Here are three of many testimonies to this fact. 

The first is from Justin Martyr.

God does not permit the lamb of the passover to be sacrificed in any other place than where His name was named; knowing that the days will come, after the suffering of Christ, when even the place in Jerusalem shall be given over to your enemies, and all the offerings, in short, shall cease; and that lamb which was commanded to be wholly roasted was a symbol of the suffering of the cross which Christ would undergo. For the lamb, which is roasted, is roasted and dressed up in the form of the cross. For one spit is transfixed right through from the lower parts up to the head, and one across the back, to which are attached the legs of the lamb. 

https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf01.viii.iv.xl.html

The second is from Tertullian, a man Tim has misused many times in his videos and books. 

At every forward step and movement, at every going in and out, when we put on our clothes and shoes, when we bathe, when we sit at table, when we light the lamps, on couch, on seat, in all the ordinary actions of daily life, we trace upon the forehead the sign.

https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf03.iv.vi.iii.html

The sign is, of course, the cross. 

The third is from Minucius Felix. 

Crosses, moreover, we neither worship nor wish for. You, indeed, who consecrate gods of wood, adore wooden crosses perhaps as parts of your gods. For your very standards, as well as your banners; and flags of your camp, what else are they but crosses glided and adorned? Your victorious trophies not only imitate the appearance of a simple cross, but also that of a man affixed to it. We assuredly see the sign of a cross, naturally, in the ship when it is carried along with swelling sails, when it glides forward with expanded oars; and when the military yoke is lifted up, it is the sign of a cross; and when a man adores God with a pure mind, with hands outstretched. Thus the sign of the cross either is sustained by a natural reason, or your own religion is formed with respect to it.

Chapter 29

Minucius says the sign of the cross is seen when a man adores god with his hands outstretched. That is NOT the image of an upright pole but of a t-shaped cross.

2. The Greek word stauros only and always means an upright stake and never a Roman crucifix.

7:03 The Greek word is Stauros for an upright stake not a Roman crucifix which even makes its way into Bible concordances and definitions in fraud and we find that on several topics. It is never cross. No. Even its root word means upright stand as in upright stake not crucifix.

This is where Tim should have gone in depth but chose not to do so. History testifies the Romans did in fact crucify criminals on t-shaped crosses and not only on upright poles. The word can refer to both. 

The Greek-English Lexicon of Liddell and Scott reports that the meaning of the word "σταυρός" in the early Homeric form of Greek, possibly of the eighth to sixth century BC, and also in the writings of the fifth-century BC writers Herodotus and Thucydides and the early-4th century BC Xenophon, is "an upright pale or stake" used to build a palisade or "a pile driven in to serve as a foundation." It reports that in the writings of the first-century BC Diodorus Siculus, first-century AD Plutarch and early second-century Lucian—as well as in Matthew 27:40, Luke 9:23, 14:27—the word "σταυρός" is used to refer to a cross, either as the instrument of crucifixion or metaphorically of voluntary suffering; "its form was indicated by the Greek letter Τ". It also reports that Plutarch used the word with regard to a pale for impaling a corpse. Of the writers whom Liddell and Scott gives as using "σταυρός" to mean a cross, the New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology holds that in Diodorus Siculus the word probably means a stake for hanging. Plutarch (in An vitiositas ad infelicitatem sufficiat) distinguishes crucifixion on a stauros from impalement on a skolops.

Joel B. Green, in The Cambridge Companion to Jesus, says the evidence of the manner of Jesus' death is far more ambiguous than is generally realised. Literary sensibilities in Roman antiquity did not promote graphic descriptions of the act of crucifixion, and even the Gospels report simply, "They crucified him", adding no further detail. According to Green, the Romans were slaves to no standard technique of crucifixion: "In describing the siege of Jerusalem by the Roman army, for example, Josephus reports that 'the soldiers out of rage and hatred amused themselves by nailing their prisoners in different positions' (J.W. 5.449–51). Elsewhere we learn that victims of crucifixion might be fixed to the stake in order to die, or impaled after death as a public display. They might be fixed to the cross with nails or with ropes. That Jesus was nailed to the cross is intimated in several texts (John 20.25; Acts 2.23; Col 2.14; Gos. Pet. 6.21; Justin Dial. 97). Nor can we turn to archaeological evidence for assistance."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instrument_of_Jesus%27_crucifixion

The fact is if Tim really wanted to "test all things" he would not have done a shoddy fly-by night piece like this. If the word and subject are worth researching then he should have done that and not given his audience a shallow milquetoast word study which conceals more than it reveals. There are depths to plumb but Tim stays in the kiddie pool. 

3. Jesus was crucified on a tree.

8:57 Peter and Luke in Acts are very clear Yahusha was hung on a tree. Uh, three times here it's translated as tree, not a Roman crucifix symbol of the Sun God. No. His enemy whom they also try to associate him in birth, uh, the exact opposite time of year. Watch "When Was Jesus Born" series. Hmm. Not a coincidence

Paul also quoting the Old Testament refers to this same Greek word saying cursed is every man who hangs on a tree. Now, this is not a Roman crucifix and what he's quoting comes from an ancient precedence before there was ever a Rome. This Greek word also leads us to tree or stake not a Roman crucifix period. in the origin of the words of Galatians we just saw Paul quotes is Deuteronomy 21:22-23 in Hebrew this word tree or upright stake remains and more than 1,000 years before the Roman Empire even existed, uh, well, it's not talking about a Roman crucifix. Duh.

Luke says the following:

Acts 10:39 And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree:

If we take this at face value Jesus was slain and then His body was hung on a tree. Is that what happened? No. He was nailed to a cross and died on it. So, we cannot take this verse literally.

Peter says:

1 Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

The Greek word here can be translated tree, or wood.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g3586/kjv/tr/0-1/

Interestingly this word is translated stave five times!

Mat 26:55 In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me.

What is a stave but a vertical wooden pole or a strong stick used as a weapon?

 

 vertical wooden post or plank in a building or other structure.

a strong wooden stick or iron pole used as a weapon.

This is the same instrument on which Tim is claiming Jesus died. So why isn't the word translated stave in Acts or Peter? Because they are being metaphorical. Obviously Jesus did not die on a literal tree. Nor did he die on a stick. He died on a t-shaped cross. 

That brings us to Paul who say in Galatians:

Gal 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

This is a citation from Deuteronomy.

Deut 21:22 And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree:

23: His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled,which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

The word translated tree can mean many things but it is most translated tree 162 times. 

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h6086/kjv/wlc/0-1/

Joshua hangs the king of Ai upon a tree. 

Jos 8:29 And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide:and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcase down from the tree, and cast it at the entering of the gate of the city, and raise thereon a great heap of stones, that remaineth unto this day.

Unless the Israelites built a gallows, as this word is translated in Esther, it is safe to assume that they hanged him on an actual tree. 

But was Jesus hung on an actual tree? Did the Romans slay him and then hang his body upon a tree as Luke writes? It is patently obvious that the Romans did not crucify people on trees. There is no historical record of the Romans nailing people to literal trees. Tree is metaphorical for the wood of the cross. Of course Tim says otherwise and thinks Jesus was nailed to a literal tree.

The God Culture: "Cross" is only a representation in English erroneously and has never been proven to even be an accurate symbol but most certainly has very ancient occult roots as a symbol of the sun god. One would think scholars and Bible translators over the years would not be so stupid as to insert such an occult symbol when it is not there. They should have steered far away from it unless it was a 100% connection. In this case, it 0% in connection and this reveals an infusion of the occult into the Bible which is disgusting. In Greek, it is not a cross either time and derives from the Old Testament use quoted by Paul as we cover of a far more ancient execution style documented by Moses even. Yahusha was far more likely placed on a stake or pole of sort or the best representation is nailed to a tree itself as Paul, Luke and Peter affirm. Yah Bless.

Again, if Tim wanted to go in depth about what it means for Jesus to have been hung on a tree he could have done so but he did not, so let's move on. 

4. Christians do not use symbols.

:37 Well, if one wears a cross around their neck they are, well not representing Messiah. It's not His symbol. Exactly. Uh, he has no symbols. The Bible doesn't have it. That is not a Bible practice it is the occult which relies very heavily on their magic talisman and symbols.

10:36  When Constantine the worshipper of the son God, who was no Christian until his deathbed, which is impertinent, infused his Persian religion into what they call Christianity and he made it a state religion even. This is entirely contrived and a clear attempt to instill the occult into our churches where they even display this ancient occult symbol very prominently. Uh, never even used by the early ecclesias nor the Bible at all. They didn't use symbols. The Bible doesn't need them.

Christians don't use symbols? The Bible doesn't use symbols? Messiah has no symbols? What does Tim think the bread and wine used in communion are if not symbols of the body and blood of Jesus Christ? What does he think all the sacrifices in the Old Testament are if not symbols of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ? 

As for the symbol of the cross I already cited three early Christians who testify to the use of the t-shaped cross long before Constantine. Are we to suppose they who lived in the Roman Empire were ignorant of what it meant for Jesus to be crucified? Why do they not refer to the stake or pole if Jesus was in fact nailed to a stake or pole and not a t-shaped cross?

Did you know the cross does show up in the Old Testament? 

Exodus 17:9 And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.

10 So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.

11 And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.

12 But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

It looks like this:

Moses delivered the people with this sign. As long as he made the sign of the cross there was victory but as soon as he let down his hands there was defeat. Likewise the Cross of Jesus Christ, which Moses typifies in this passage, defeats death, hell, and the devil. We have victory in Him through his sign. 

The cross shows up again in the book of Numbers.

Numbers 21:8 And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.

9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

Jesus refers to this event as a type of his crucifixion. 

John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

How was Jesus lifted up? On a t-shaped cross. The early church testifies to this and the Bible certainly does not contradict that fact despite the ambiguity of the word stauros.

Again, these two instances in the Old Testament are missed opportunities for Tim who thinks 13 minutes is enough for this topic. Since he wants to call the cross an occult symbol what is the deal with 13 minutes? Why did it have to be that number which is rather occult and not in a good way?

Given how prone Tim is to making hour-long, multi-part series on various topics it is kind of odd that he would devote a scant 13 minutes to a topic which many actual Bible scholars have devoted considerable time. Taking a look at the Greek word, its usage in literature besides the Bible, and commentaries upon it, it is clear that "stauros" is a bit ambiguous and can indeed mean a simple stake or a t-shaped cross. Likewise the word translated tree can mean many things besides an actual tree. It all depends on the context. 

Then there are the two references to a cross in the Old Testament. Granted the description of the pole made by Moses does not say it is a t-shaped cross but given that it is a symbol of Christ why should we think otherwise? What better way to drape a serpent on a pole than by adding a crossbeam to make a t-shape? But Tim does not investigate any of that. Instead he delivers a 13 minute hit piece which doesn't tell us anything at all that could be considered authoritative or final.

So, there it is folks. According to Timothy Jay Schwab of The God Culture not only did Jesus Christ not finish His work on the Cross but he did not even die on the Cross for our sins.