ALIENS
The premise of this article is that aliens are evil spirits, the fallen angels of the devil. God created animals, man, and angels, but no little green men from Mars. But both the angels of God (elect angels) and the angels of the devil (devils), with their superior abilities, if they had not been named angels and evil spirits in the Bible, would be thought of as “aliens.” And there are reasons why people living in the future tribulation will believe angels are aliens, a deception that would work to the devil’s advantage.
Ancient writers from different countries wrote about beings visiting them from the skies, who were superhuman. Some were called “gods,” “watchers,” or “angels.” I do, however, believe that angels in the Bible are exactly what the Bible says they are—not that the word angel is a code word for alien or that the prophets of the Bible lacked the vocabulary to describe aliens. Again, I am only saying that if God had not given us their name, angel, then people would naturally think they were “ancient aliens.”
This article is written with complete reliance on the Bible, and the outline for my story will come from the book of Revelation. But first I will need to explain the differences between God’s angels and those of the devil. For those who believe in “chariots of the gods,” or are troubled by “unexplained” mysteries of the ancients, please see, “Ancient Aliens Debunked”.
http://michaelsheiser.com/PaleoBabble/ancient-aliens-debunked.
ALIEN ABDUCTION
When the rapture takes place, it will produce mass pandemonium (1 Thessalonians 4:17). (For more detailed information on the rapture and tribulation, see RAPTURE and END TIMES.) How will the Antichrist explain the rapture? He most likely will say we were taken by aliens, and thus this article, “‘Aliens’ in Revelation.” How else could it be explained? The Antichrist is certainly not going to say, “I guess the Bible was right all along.” It will in fact be easy for those living in that time to say it was not the rapture, as they will just point to all the churches that still have some or most of their congregations, just as before the rapture. Perhaps some congregations will not change at all, as most churches could not tell you how to be saved or even use the word “saved” in their services.
Christ, when speaking of how many will be saved, said, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13–14). My point is that even though many claim the name “Christian,” still “few” are saved. And churches are not raptured, but Christians are. But the world thinks that anyone who goes to a church is a Christian and therefore should be raptured. So it would be easy for those living during the tribulation to say, “Look, most of the ‘Christians’ are still here, so it was not the rapture.”
However, though few are saved compared to the billions on this earth, still millions will be missing all over the world, and I know of no way to explain this from a lost man’s perspective, other than for them to say, “Alien abductions must be for real.” Perhaps the Antichrist will tell people that those who were raptured were aliens themselves, living among us and spying on us to learn our weaknesses.
It works to an enemy’s advantage (in this case the Antichrist and his cohorts) if one does not know he has an enemy. If devils are called “aliens,” then the world does not think of Jesus Christ, and the term “aliens” can also cause doubts about Christ and the Bible. For the thought will be, Why did not the Bible warn us about these invading aliens? Well, the Bible did. But under a different name: “evil spirits” or “devils.” And because the rapture will be worldwide in scope, Christians missing from every country in the world, it would also lend itself for uniting the world, something the Antichrist wants, as he will seek to rule the world. Also, because of the problems of evolution, the idea is being put forth that a meteorite from Mars hit earth and started life here. So the idea of life from outside the earth not only has a following, even among some scientists, but would be welcomed, with aliens being received as our predecessors.
Angels
If we had “spiritual antennas,” then we could see what the spirits see. Devils, angels, and God can all see each other as well as the physical world. “And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha” (2 Kings 6:17).
The word “angel” in the Bible means “messenger” (Strong’s Concordance), and they are mentioned almost 300 times* in the Bible, more than the great patriarch Abraham. My point is, they are well attested to in the Bible and not something rare. What follows are the abilities of angels and evil spirits, some of which are surprising.
Elect Angels
(1) Angels are spirit beings: “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14; see also verses 7 and 13—“they” in context were “angels,” v. 13; see also Psalm 104:4).
(2) Though angels usually remain invisible, they can materialize and be seen: “And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him” (Luke 22:43). See also Judges 6:12; 13:3; Luke 1:11, and many other verses. Their appearance may be with or without wings (discussed later), and their countenance and clothes are sometimes very different from man. “And his face as the appearance of lightning” (Daniel 10:6). “Behold, two men stood by them in shining garments” (Luke 24:4).
(3) Angels can speak and be understood by man: “Then the angels hastened Lot, saying…” (Genesis 19:15; see also Acts 8:26 and many other verses).
(4) Angels have more power than man: “Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might…” (2 Peter 2:11). Certain angels have much more power than man: “I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power” (Revelation 18:1, 21; see also Psalm 103:20; the plagues of Revelation are released by angels).
(5) There is a hierarchy of angels: “To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places…” (Ephesians 3:10).
(6) Certain ranks of angels (“cherubims”) have wings (I Kings 8:6–7), and some have multiple wings: “Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings” (Isaiah 6:2). Angels can also appear without wings and mingle with people without them knowing about it: “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Hebrews 13:2).
(7) Their number is more than one could count: “But ye are come…to an innumerable company of angels” (Hebrews 12:22; see also and Revelation 5:11).
(8) They can eat (Psalm 78:25; Genesis 18:1–2, 8) and can exert physical strength (Acts 5:19; 12:7, 23), “touch” (1 Kings 19:5–7), “smite” (Acts 12:7), and “kill” (Isaiah 37:36; Acts 12:23).
(9) Christ has a whole army of them, and they will be with Him when He returns in His glory: “He cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38). “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53).
(10) We are not to worship angels: “Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels” (Colossians 2:18; see also Revelation 22:8–9).
(11) Angels observe what is happening here on the earth: “For we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men” (1 Corinthians 4:9). One of the names that the Chaldeans used to describe them was “watchers” (Daniel 4:13, 17, 23). Believers, both adults and children, have angels watching over them (Hebrews 1:13–14 and Matthew 18:10).
(12) Angels can cause visions (Daniel 10:5–8 and other passages).
(13) Angels are interested in the salvation* of humans: “The gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into” (1 Peter 1:12; “The gospel…by which also ye are saved” is the death of Christ for our sins, His burial, and His bodily resurrection [1 Corinthians 15:1–3]). When a believer dies, the angels take his soul to heaven: “And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels” (Luke 16:22).
(*Part of the reason “angels desire to look into” salvation is because they and the devil’s angels cannot experience it. Christ died for Adam’s race, but angels are not a race and have no family relations. Each was individually created; there are no sister, brother, mother, or father angels in the Bible. The elect angels never fell in sin and have no need of salvation, whereas the devil’s angels have their fate sealed.)
The Devil’s Angels
The power of the devil and his evil spirits, though impressive, is still limited by the will of God (1 Corinthians 10:13; see also Job 1:10–12; 2:4–6; Jude v. 9; and Mark 5:1–13). However, in the tribulation, things will be much worse, with more devils (explained later). According to testimonies of some alien encounters, the behavior of aliens matches the behavior of devils in the Bible. Both the angels of God and the angels of Satan fit the definition of extraterrestrial: “originating, located, or occurring outside earth or its atmosphere” (Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, online edition).
(1) These are under the control of Satan (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 12:7). There is also a hierarchy among the devil’s angels (Ephesians 6:12).
(2) The devil’s angels (evil spirits) can possess lost people* (Acts 16:16). More than one evil spirit can possess a lost man or women at a time, as was Mary Magdalene, who was possessed by seven before Jesus healed her (Luke 8:2), or the man in Mark 5:1–20, whose devils called themselves “Legion: for we are many.” Apparently, the more there are in a person, the more strength that can be exerted through that person: “No man could bind him, no, not with chains: Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces” (Mark 5:3–4). Devils can also possess animals (Matthew 8:31). It should be kept in mind that even in Jesus’s day, only a few people were possessed by evil spirits, but that will not be so in the tribulation.
(*Christians’ bodies are the “temple of God” and cannot be possessed by evil spirits: “Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). This would be another difference between God’s angels and Satan’s, for only evil spirits are known in Scripture to possesses people, but not angels, for Christians already have the Holy Spirit. And though rare, the Holy Spirit could cause a Christian to do supernatural feats, as Samson killing a thousand Philistines with a bone (Judges 15:14–17), or the “two witnesses” of Revelation that will breathe out “fire” and turn water to “blood” and smite the earth with many “plagues” (Revelation 11:3–6 and Zechariah 4:4–6).
(3) Evil spirits can propagate false doctrines: “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils” (1 Timothy 4:1; see also Galatians 1:8). The devil quoted Scripture to Jesus, but he misapplied the passage (Matthew 4:6–7). The knowledge that evil spirits have of the Bible is incomplete and skewed. Devils most likely glean their knowledge of future events from the writings of the lost, as the Word of God is called “the sword of the Spirit” and would “cut” evil spirits. The devil stopped his temptation of Christ after He quoted Scripture verses three times in a row (Ephesians 6:17).
(4) Devils know there is a time coming when they will be tormented (Matthew 8:29).
(5) The appearances of devils vary. Some devils roam the earth, apparently as invisible spirits (Matthew 12:43–45). But the demonic creatures of Revelation 9:1–11 are both visible and frightful in appearance. God originally made the angels of the devil to be holy angels, and because the angels of God are spirits, yet they can still appear as humans (Hebrews 13:2), it is logical that the angels of the devil could do the same. (This is different from what takes place in Genesis 6:1–5.) There are the “three unclean spirits like frogs” of Revelation 16:13. But one will need a good imagination, plus a stretched-out gray-belly frog, to see similarities with the traditional “gray aliens” with oversized heads and large eyes. The only safe thing to say is that devils appear in different forms.
The traditional picture of Satan with horns, pitchfork, tail, and wearing red pajamas is not how the Bible describes him. UFOs sightings are often only bright lights, “Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14). “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven” (Luke 10:18). This may explain sightings of UFOs that travel at thousands of miles an hour and then make 90-degree turns, something no human body could live through.
Great Deception
The tribulation will be a time of great deception. God warns Christians in advance so that when the deception comes, believers will not be deceived or have doubts, but instead have their faith strengthened (John 14:29). And it is staggering how many times the Bible describes the coming tribulation as a time of deception. I have studied the Bible for four decades, and there are very few things in the Bible that have so much support. And these are given as a warning, not to those who live now but to those who will be alive during the seven-year tribulation. And this was the reason for this book, to warn those living in the tribulation that a deliberate attempt will be made to deceive them by the master of deception, the “Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world” (Revelation 12:9). “Ye are of your father the devil…When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it” (John 8:44). “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before” (Matthew 24:24–25).
Unfortunately, it seems the only time that most people will “look up” is when they get knocked down, and the whole world will be knocked down in the great tribulation, and many will be saved. This will lead to the single biggest harvest of souls of all time, possibly of all history put together (Revelation 7:9–14). But the devil will also be going after the souls of men and women during the tribulation, and Satan’s deceptions will play a key role in trying to keep people away from the truth of God’s Word.
(1) When Christ was asked “what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” the very first sign He gave was, “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many” (Matthew 24:3–5).
(2) “And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do” (Revelation 13:14).
(3) “Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie”
(2 Thessalonians 2:9–11).
(4) “And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them” (Revelation 19:20; see also 20:10).
(5) During the “last days perilous times shall come…But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived” (2 Timothy 3:1, 13).
(6) “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith…speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron” (1 Timothy 4:1–2).
Unparalleled Demonic Activity on Earth
Not only will there be more sin and deception during the tribulation (Matthew 24:12), but more devils will be released. Scripture tells us that during the tribulation, men will “worship devils” (Revelation 9:20). Revelation 9 tells us that certain devils that were locked up (vv. 1–3, 11) will be released during the tribulation. There are also the “three unclean spirits” that will be released to entice the world to fight at the battle of Armageddon (Revelation 16:13–14). Revelation 12:9 says, “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” This will unleash a very large number of Satan’s angels. The silver lining to all this is that it will also be a time of unparalleled activity of God’s angels on earth, with direct and visible intervention (Revelation 8:13; 14:6; 14:8–10).
Will the Antichrist tell everyone that they need to listen to God’s angels, who will be visibly proclaiming the gospel? Obviously he won’t, so what will be his response? The Antichrist will most likely say, “These are the ‘bad guys.’ They are the same ones who have been plaguing our planet and have caused all these terrible judgments. If this God was really a God of love, why would He do this to us?” It follows that Satan’s angels will pretend to be “good ETs” and say that God’s angels are “bad ETs.”
Could Devils Live on Other Planets?
I am not an expert on demonology, nor do I wish to be, but I offer here a few thoughts and verses that lend themselves to this topic. From Scriptures we know that some of Satan’s angels are locked up, some roam the earth, and some are not on the planet. The devil (Satan) can only be in one place at a time. For example, he will be locked up for 1,000 years in the bottomless pit (Revelation 20:1–3). He is not omnipresent, as the Trinity (Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, and God the Father, John 14:17, 23). The devil came originally from heaven (Isaiah 14:12), as he was created by God. The devil and his angles still have at least partial access to heaven (Revelation 12:7–9), since the devil can still go to heaven and earth, why not to other worlds?
There is an interesting verse in the Bible that tells us God’s purpose for creating the earth: “God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited” (Isaiah 45:18). If earth was created with the purpose to be “inhabited,” then what were the other planets made for? Are we to believe they were made in “vain”? In the Bible, the other planets may be expressed by the terms “worlds” (Hebrew 1:2, 11:3), “wandering stars” (Jude v. 13), or “planets” (2 Kings 23:5). And as the conditions of our earth have changed, not only because of the fall of man but during the flood of Noah, so the conditions of the other planets may have been different in the past. However, Satan’s angels (spirit beings) could live in the present harsh conditions of the other planets. Spirits do not need spacecraft or space suits. They are not locked in bodies of flesh and blood. They do not die or bleed. And as spirits, they would not be subject to the laws of gravity, aging, disease, heat, or freezing temperatures, nor would they need air, as our bodies do, so they could survive in space and live on planets. Some have speculated that the asteroid belt that was once a planet, was destroyed by God after the fall of the devil, as God cursed the earth after the fall of man.
Mixing of Man and Angelic Genes
“And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. And god saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:1–5).
In the New Testament the “sons of God” refers to Christians, but in the Old Testament it refers to angels. This term is found twice in the above passage and only three more times in the Hebrew Scriptures, all in the book of Job (Job1:6; 2:1; 38:7), where it refers to angels. Consequently the “sons of God” in this Genesis 6 passage are the devil’s angels. I will avoid giving the beliefs of the ancient writers in this book, but anyone can look online at the writings of the ancients, both Jewish and the early Christian church, and most all of them up to the third century believed these “sons of God” were the devil’s angels, including the Books of Enoch (300 BC), chapter 6:2; Targum of Jonathan (time of Ezra), section I, VI; Book of Jubilees (from the Dead Sea Scrolls), chapter 4:22 and 5:1; Josephus (first century) Antiquities 3:1; and others—all have the “sons of God” in Genesis 6:1–5 as fallen angels.
Some have cited, “For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven” (Mark 12:25). Yes, it is true that God’s angels do not marry “in heaven,” but the devil’s angels on earth could. Those who believe the “sons of God” are a godly line of the human race could not explain how such a union with the “daughters of men” could produce “giants,” “mighty men” or “men of renown.” These “men of renown” in Genesis 6:1–5 are believed to be the gods of Greek, Roman, and Egyptian mythology.
The devil has known about his doom ever since Genesis 3:15, where God said an offspring of Eve would defeat him: “Her seed; it shall bruise thy head.” It is theorized that the devil encouraged his angels to defile the human race, and such a union would produce offspring that could not be saved, as they would be a new race, not solely from Adam’s line, which Christ died for.
Not only can angels materialize, but more than this, some of the devil’s angels had their own physical bodies, those who “came in unto the daughters of men.” However, the angels of Satan that gave up their spiritual bodies for physical ones paid a price for this: “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day” (Jude v. 6). “For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment” (2 Peter 2:4). The word “habitation” in the original Greek means “a dwelling place, habitation, of the body as a dwelling place for the spirit” (Strong’s Concordance). This particular Greek word is only used two times in the Bible, once in the above verse, and the other time in 2 Corinthians 5:1–2: “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven.” There are two houses in this passage. The first one is the “earthly house,” our physical bodies, and the second one is our “house which is from heaven”—this is a spiritual body that angels have and that the saved have in heaven while awaiting the resurrection. It is this second “house,” the spiritual body, that is the same word translated “habitation” in Jude verse 6. The devil’s angels who “left their own habitation” gave up their spiritual “house” to have a physical body so as to have intercourse with the “daughters of men.” After they died in the flood of Noah, God took their spirits and locked them up.
Animals with the Genes of Evil Spirits
There are ancient depictions of animals with human heads, and half the “gods” of Egypt had human bodies with animal heads. In the Bible we find the “two lionlike men of Moab” (2 Samuel 23:20). Where is all this coming from? Who made the strange demonic and composite creatures in Revelation 9:1–11? Would God have created such hideous creatures, or did those in the bottomless pit do this? Revelation 9:17–19 also has strange creatures: “The heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke.” But these do not come out of the bottomless pit but from the East (Revelation 9:14 coupled with 16:12). These creatures do not exist today, nor can they be found anywhere in recorded history, so where would man get the knowledge to make such a hybrid creature? The devil has far more knowledge than man, and any sort of cloning man could produce would be child’s play compared to what the devil could teach him. As brought out before, angels are not related. Each one is a separate creation—they do not multiply among themselves. And the devil’s angels are only one-third the number of God’s angels (Revelation 12:4, 9). Some suggest the devil wants to strengthen his numbers by creating these armies of composite creatures.
This article is from the preface of a book I wrote: “Aliens” in Revelation. For the whole book, go to,
http://www.truechristianshortstoriesfreebygmmatheny.com/aliens-in-revelation.html
The premise of this article is that aliens are evil spirits, the fallen angels of the devil. God created animals, man, and angels, but no little green men from Mars. But both the angels of God (elect angels) and the angels of the devil (devils), with their superior abilities, if they had not been named angels and evil spirits in the Bible, would be thought of as “aliens.” And there are reasons why people living in the future tribulation will believe angels are aliens, a deception that would work to the devil’s advantage.
Ancient writers from different countries wrote about beings visiting them from the skies, who were superhuman. Some were called “gods,” “watchers,” or “angels.” I do, however, believe that angels in the Bible are exactly what the Bible says they are—not that the word angel is a code word for alien or that the prophets of the Bible lacked the vocabulary to describe aliens. Again, I am only saying that if God had not given us their name, angel, then people would naturally think they were “ancient aliens.”
This article is written with complete reliance on the Bible, and the outline for my story will come from the book of Revelation. But first I will need to explain the differences between God’s angels and those of the devil. For those who believe in “chariots of the gods,” or are troubled by “unexplained” mysteries of the ancients, please see, “Ancient Aliens Debunked”.
http://michaelsheiser.com/PaleoBabble/ancient-aliens-debunked.
ALIEN ABDUCTION
When the rapture takes place, it will produce mass pandemonium (1 Thessalonians 4:17). (For more detailed information on the rapture and tribulation, see RAPTURE and END TIMES.) How will the Antichrist explain the rapture? He most likely will say we were taken by aliens, and thus this article, “‘Aliens’ in Revelation.” How else could it be explained? The Antichrist is certainly not going to say, “I guess the Bible was right all along.” It will in fact be easy for those living in that time to say it was not the rapture, as they will just point to all the churches that still have some or most of their congregations, just as before the rapture. Perhaps some congregations will not change at all, as most churches could not tell you how to be saved or even use the word “saved” in their services.
Christ, when speaking of how many will be saved, said, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13–14). My point is that even though many claim the name “Christian,” still “few” are saved. And churches are not raptured, but Christians are. But the world thinks that anyone who goes to a church is a Christian and therefore should be raptured. So it would be easy for those living during the tribulation to say, “Look, most of the ‘Christians’ are still here, so it was not the rapture.”
However, though few are saved compared to the billions on this earth, still millions will be missing all over the world, and I know of no way to explain this from a lost man’s perspective, other than for them to say, “Alien abductions must be for real.” Perhaps the Antichrist will tell people that those who were raptured were aliens themselves, living among us and spying on us to learn our weaknesses.
It works to an enemy’s advantage (in this case the Antichrist and his cohorts) if one does not know he has an enemy. If devils are called “aliens,” then the world does not think of Jesus Christ, and the term “aliens” can also cause doubts about Christ and the Bible. For the thought will be, Why did not the Bible warn us about these invading aliens? Well, the Bible did. But under a different name: “evil spirits” or “devils.” And because the rapture will be worldwide in scope, Christians missing from every country in the world, it would also lend itself for uniting the world, something the Antichrist wants, as he will seek to rule the world. Also, because of the problems of evolution, the idea is being put forth that a meteorite from Mars hit earth and started life here. So the idea of life from outside the earth not only has a following, even among some scientists, but would be welcomed, with aliens being received as our predecessors.
Angels
If we had “spiritual antennas,” then we could see what the spirits see. Devils, angels, and God can all see each other as well as the physical world. “And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha” (2 Kings 6:17).
The word “angel” in the Bible means “messenger” (Strong’s Concordance), and they are mentioned almost 300 times* in the Bible, more than the great patriarch Abraham. My point is, they are well attested to in the Bible and not something rare. What follows are the abilities of angels and evil spirits, some of which are surprising.
Elect Angels
(1) Angels are spirit beings: “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14; see also verses 7 and 13—“they” in context were “angels,” v. 13; see also Psalm 104:4).
(2) Though angels usually remain invisible, they can materialize and be seen: “And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him” (Luke 22:43). See also Judges 6:12; 13:3; Luke 1:11, and many other verses. Their appearance may be with or without wings (discussed later), and their countenance and clothes are sometimes very different from man. “And his face as the appearance of lightning” (Daniel 10:6). “Behold, two men stood by them in shining garments” (Luke 24:4).
(3) Angels can speak and be understood by man: “Then the angels hastened Lot, saying…” (Genesis 19:15; see also Acts 8:26 and many other verses).
(4) Angels have more power than man: “Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might…” (2 Peter 2:11). Certain angels have much more power than man: “I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power” (Revelation 18:1, 21; see also Psalm 103:20; the plagues of Revelation are released by angels).
(5) There is a hierarchy of angels: “To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places…” (Ephesians 3:10).
(6) Certain ranks of angels (“cherubims”) have wings (I Kings 8:6–7), and some have multiple wings: “Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings” (Isaiah 6:2). Angels can also appear without wings and mingle with people without them knowing about it: “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Hebrews 13:2).
(7) Their number is more than one could count: “But ye are come…to an innumerable company of angels” (Hebrews 12:22; see also and Revelation 5:11).
(8) They can eat (Psalm 78:25; Genesis 18:1–2, 8) and can exert physical strength (Acts 5:19; 12:7, 23), “touch” (1 Kings 19:5–7), “smite” (Acts 12:7), and “kill” (Isaiah 37:36; Acts 12:23).
(9) Christ has a whole army of them, and they will be with Him when He returns in His glory: “He cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38). “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53).
(10) We are not to worship angels: “Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels” (Colossians 2:18; see also Revelation 22:8–9).
(11) Angels observe what is happening here on the earth: “For we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men” (1 Corinthians 4:9). One of the names that the Chaldeans used to describe them was “watchers” (Daniel 4:13, 17, 23). Believers, both adults and children, have angels watching over them (Hebrews 1:13–14 and Matthew 18:10).
(12) Angels can cause visions (Daniel 10:5–8 and other passages).
(13) Angels are interested in the salvation* of humans: “The gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into” (1 Peter 1:12; “The gospel…by which also ye are saved” is the death of Christ for our sins, His burial, and His bodily resurrection [1 Corinthians 15:1–3]). When a believer dies, the angels take his soul to heaven: “And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels” (Luke 16:22).
(*Part of the reason “angels desire to look into” salvation is because they and the devil’s angels cannot experience it. Christ died for Adam’s race, but angels are not a race and have no family relations. Each was individually created; there are no sister, brother, mother, or father angels in the Bible. The elect angels never fell in sin and have no need of salvation, whereas the devil’s angels have their fate sealed.)
The Devil’s Angels
The power of the devil and his evil spirits, though impressive, is still limited by the will of God (1 Corinthians 10:13; see also Job 1:10–12; 2:4–6; Jude v. 9; and Mark 5:1–13). However, in the tribulation, things will be much worse, with more devils (explained later). According to testimonies of some alien encounters, the behavior of aliens matches the behavior of devils in the Bible. Both the angels of God and the angels of Satan fit the definition of extraterrestrial: “originating, located, or occurring outside earth or its atmosphere” (Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, online edition).
(1) These are under the control of Satan (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 12:7). There is also a hierarchy among the devil’s angels (Ephesians 6:12).
(2) The devil’s angels (evil spirits) can possess lost people* (Acts 16:16). More than one evil spirit can possess a lost man or women at a time, as was Mary Magdalene, who was possessed by seven before Jesus healed her (Luke 8:2), or the man in Mark 5:1–20, whose devils called themselves “Legion: for we are many.” Apparently, the more there are in a person, the more strength that can be exerted through that person: “No man could bind him, no, not with chains: Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces” (Mark 5:3–4). Devils can also possess animals (Matthew 8:31). It should be kept in mind that even in Jesus’s day, only a few people were possessed by evil spirits, but that will not be so in the tribulation.
(*Christians’ bodies are the “temple of God” and cannot be possessed by evil spirits: “Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). This would be another difference between God’s angels and Satan’s, for only evil spirits are known in Scripture to possesses people, but not angels, for Christians already have the Holy Spirit. And though rare, the Holy Spirit could cause a Christian to do supernatural feats, as Samson killing a thousand Philistines with a bone (Judges 15:14–17), or the “two witnesses” of Revelation that will breathe out “fire” and turn water to “blood” and smite the earth with many “plagues” (Revelation 11:3–6 and Zechariah 4:4–6).
(3) Evil spirits can propagate false doctrines: “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils” (1 Timothy 4:1; see also Galatians 1:8). The devil quoted Scripture to Jesus, but he misapplied the passage (Matthew 4:6–7). The knowledge that evil spirits have of the Bible is incomplete and skewed. Devils most likely glean their knowledge of future events from the writings of the lost, as the Word of God is called “the sword of the Spirit” and would “cut” evil spirits. The devil stopped his temptation of Christ after He quoted Scripture verses three times in a row (Ephesians 6:17).
(4) Devils know there is a time coming when they will be tormented (Matthew 8:29).
(5) The appearances of devils vary. Some devils roam the earth, apparently as invisible spirits (Matthew 12:43–45). But the demonic creatures of Revelation 9:1–11 are both visible and frightful in appearance. God originally made the angels of the devil to be holy angels, and because the angels of God are spirits, yet they can still appear as humans (Hebrews 13:2), it is logical that the angels of the devil could do the same. (This is different from what takes place in Genesis 6:1–5.) There are the “three unclean spirits like frogs” of Revelation 16:13. But one will need a good imagination, plus a stretched-out gray-belly frog, to see similarities with the traditional “gray aliens” with oversized heads and large eyes. The only safe thing to say is that devils appear in different forms.
The traditional picture of Satan with horns, pitchfork, tail, and wearing red pajamas is not how the Bible describes him. UFOs sightings are often only bright lights, “Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14). “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven” (Luke 10:18). This may explain sightings of UFOs that travel at thousands of miles an hour and then make 90-degree turns, something no human body could live through.
Great Deception
The tribulation will be a time of great deception. God warns Christians in advance so that when the deception comes, believers will not be deceived or have doubts, but instead have their faith strengthened (John 14:29). And it is staggering how many times the Bible describes the coming tribulation as a time of deception. I have studied the Bible for four decades, and there are very few things in the Bible that have so much support. And these are given as a warning, not to those who live now but to those who will be alive during the seven-year tribulation. And this was the reason for this book, to warn those living in the tribulation that a deliberate attempt will be made to deceive them by the master of deception, the “Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world” (Revelation 12:9). “Ye are of your father the devil…When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it” (John 8:44). “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before” (Matthew 24:24–25).
Unfortunately, it seems the only time that most people will “look up” is when they get knocked down, and the whole world will be knocked down in the great tribulation, and many will be saved. This will lead to the single biggest harvest of souls of all time, possibly of all history put together (Revelation 7:9–14). But the devil will also be going after the souls of men and women during the tribulation, and Satan’s deceptions will play a key role in trying to keep people away from the truth of God’s Word.
(1) When Christ was asked “what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” the very first sign He gave was, “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many” (Matthew 24:3–5).
(2) “And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do” (Revelation 13:14).
(3) “Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie”
(2 Thessalonians 2:9–11).
(4) “And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them” (Revelation 19:20; see also 20:10).
(5) During the “last days perilous times shall come…But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived” (2 Timothy 3:1, 13).
(6) “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith…speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron” (1 Timothy 4:1–2).
Unparalleled Demonic Activity on Earth
Not only will there be more sin and deception during the tribulation (Matthew 24:12), but more devils will be released. Scripture tells us that during the tribulation, men will “worship devils” (Revelation 9:20). Revelation 9 tells us that certain devils that were locked up (vv. 1–3, 11) will be released during the tribulation. There are also the “three unclean spirits” that will be released to entice the world to fight at the battle of Armageddon (Revelation 16:13–14). Revelation 12:9 says, “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” This will unleash a very large number of Satan’s angels. The silver lining to all this is that it will also be a time of unparalleled activity of God’s angels on earth, with direct and visible intervention (Revelation 8:13; 14:6; 14:8–10).
Will the Antichrist tell everyone that they need to listen to God’s angels, who will be visibly proclaiming the gospel? Obviously he won’t, so what will be his response? The Antichrist will most likely say, “These are the ‘bad guys.’ They are the same ones who have been plaguing our planet and have caused all these terrible judgments. If this God was really a God of love, why would He do this to us?” It follows that Satan’s angels will pretend to be “good ETs” and say that God’s angels are “bad ETs.”
Could Devils Live on Other Planets?
I am not an expert on demonology, nor do I wish to be, but I offer here a few thoughts and verses that lend themselves to this topic. From Scriptures we know that some of Satan’s angels are locked up, some roam the earth, and some are not on the planet. The devil (Satan) can only be in one place at a time. For example, he will be locked up for 1,000 years in the bottomless pit (Revelation 20:1–3). He is not omnipresent, as the Trinity (Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, and God the Father, John 14:17, 23). The devil came originally from heaven (Isaiah 14:12), as he was created by God. The devil and his angles still have at least partial access to heaven (Revelation 12:7–9), since the devil can still go to heaven and earth, why not to other worlds?
There is an interesting verse in the Bible that tells us God’s purpose for creating the earth: “God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited” (Isaiah 45:18). If earth was created with the purpose to be “inhabited,” then what were the other planets made for? Are we to believe they were made in “vain”? In the Bible, the other planets may be expressed by the terms “worlds” (Hebrew 1:2, 11:3), “wandering stars” (Jude v. 13), or “planets” (2 Kings 23:5). And as the conditions of our earth have changed, not only because of the fall of man but during the flood of Noah, so the conditions of the other planets may have been different in the past. However, Satan’s angels (spirit beings) could live in the present harsh conditions of the other planets. Spirits do not need spacecraft or space suits. They are not locked in bodies of flesh and blood. They do not die or bleed. And as spirits, they would not be subject to the laws of gravity, aging, disease, heat, or freezing temperatures, nor would they need air, as our bodies do, so they could survive in space and live on planets. Some have speculated that the asteroid belt that was once a planet, was destroyed by God after the fall of the devil, as God cursed the earth after the fall of man.
Mixing of Man and Angelic Genes
“And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. And god saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:1–5).
In the New Testament the “sons of God” refers to Christians, but in the Old Testament it refers to angels. This term is found twice in the above passage and only three more times in the Hebrew Scriptures, all in the book of Job (Job1:6; 2:1; 38:7), where it refers to angels. Consequently the “sons of God” in this Genesis 6 passage are the devil’s angels. I will avoid giving the beliefs of the ancient writers in this book, but anyone can look online at the writings of the ancients, both Jewish and the early Christian church, and most all of them up to the third century believed these “sons of God” were the devil’s angels, including the Books of Enoch (300 BC), chapter 6:2; Targum of Jonathan (time of Ezra), section I, VI; Book of Jubilees (from the Dead Sea Scrolls), chapter 4:22 and 5:1; Josephus (first century) Antiquities 3:1; and others—all have the “sons of God” in Genesis 6:1–5 as fallen angels.
Some have cited, “For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven” (Mark 12:25). Yes, it is true that God’s angels do not marry “in heaven,” but the devil’s angels on earth could. Those who believe the “sons of God” are a godly line of the human race could not explain how such a union with the “daughters of men” could produce “giants,” “mighty men” or “men of renown.” These “men of renown” in Genesis 6:1–5 are believed to be the gods of Greek, Roman, and Egyptian mythology.
The devil has known about his doom ever since Genesis 3:15, where God said an offspring of Eve would defeat him: “Her seed; it shall bruise thy head.” It is theorized that the devil encouraged his angels to defile the human race, and such a union would produce offspring that could not be saved, as they would be a new race, not solely from Adam’s line, which Christ died for.
Not only can angels materialize, but more than this, some of the devil’s angels had their own physical bodies, those who “came in unto the daughters of men.” However, the angels of Satan that gave up their spiritual bodies for physical ones paid a price for this: “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day” (Jude v. 6). “For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment” (2 Peter 2:4). The word “habitation” in the original Greek means “a dwelling place, habitation, of the body as a dwelling place for the spirit” (Strong’s Concordance). This particular Greek word is only used two times in the Bible, once in the above verse, and the other time in 2 Corinthians 5:1–2: “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven.” There are two houses in this passage. The first one is the “earthly house,” our physical bodies, and the second one is our “house which is from heaven”—this is a spiritual body that angels have and that the saved have in heaven while awaiting the resurrection. It is this second “house,” the spiritual body, that is the same word translated “habitation” in Jude verse 6. The devil’s angels who “left their own habitation” gave up their spiritual “house” to have a physical body so as to have intercourse with the “daughters of men.” After they died in the flood of Noah, God took their spirits and locked them up.
Animals with the Genes of Evil Spirits
There are ancient depictions of animals with human heads, and half the “gods” of Egypt had human bodies with animal heads. In the Bible we find the “two lionlike men of Moab” (2 Samuel 23:20). Where is all this coming from? Who made the strange demonic and composite creatures in Revelation 9:1–11? Would God have created such hideous creatures, or did those in the bottomless pit do this? Revelation 9:17–19 also has strange creatures: “The heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke.” But these do not come out of the bottomless pit but from the East (Revelation 9:14 coupled with 16:12). These creatures do not exist today, nor can they be found anywhere in recorded history, so where would man get the knowledge to make such a hybrid creature? The devil has far more knowledge than man, and any sort of cloning man could produce would be child’s play compared to what the devil could teach him. As brought out before, angels are not related. Each one is a separate creation—they do not multiply among themselves. And the devil’s angels are only one-third the number of God’s angels (Revelation 12:4, 9). Some suggest the devil wants to strengthen his numbers by creating these armies of composite creatures.
This article is from the preface of a book I wrote: “Aliens” in Revelation. For the whole book, go to,
http://www.truechristianshortstoriesfreebygmmatheny.com/aliens-in-revelation.html
