IT IS WRITTEN. Satanic Panic and the Alien Connection - PART ONE
"It is written!"
Man, them's fightin' words!
Christ was confronted by Satan himself during His pre-ministry, 40-day, spiritual warfare training session in the desert. The Bible reveals He was "led by the Spirit ... to be tempted by the devil" (Matt 4:1), and He proved to the enemy that He was ALMIGHTY, referring to Himself as "the Lord your God" (v.7 and 10). His chief weapon? The Word of God, as He repeatedly reminded the devil of that which had been written.
He resisted Satan and the devil did flee. There's our example.
Hell's angels: a true story
Satan must have been terribly discouraged after this bout with Jesus. He had waited a lifetime for that face-off. He had been tormented for ages by that "seed of the woman" issue which God SPOKE forth in Genesis 3:15. The Lord told him directly: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed (children of the darkness) and her seed (Jesus); He (Jesus) shall bruise your head, and you (Satan) shall bruise His heel." Bruise Jesus' heel? Painful but not lethal. Bruise Satan's head? John 3:8 says, "the Son of God came to destroy the works of the evil one." Ouch! Satan had no choice but to devise a plan to halt the coming of this Redeemer of humankind.
Ever wonder why Satan unleashed his sexually deviant angels to procreate with the "daughters of men" in Genesis 6 (Jude 6-7)? That's right, he would impregnate their women in an attempt to infiltrate "her seed."
Inconceivable? No, very clever, really. He covered all the bases. Too weird for you? Never heard this taught in Sunday school, I'll bet. Weird but, please hear me out.
Yes, Satan took God at His Word. God said it and the devil believed it. Curious about the offspring from these unthinkable unions? (Hang on. This is where it gets weird.) Genesis 6:4 refers to them as the Nephilim, soulless or fallen giants. The word "giant" means "a huge being (not necessarily human) of great size and strength." Today we think only of a person of great stature. Though the Scripture refers to them as being "heroes of old, men of renown," God saw them, and the entire planet, as ripe for judgment.
Giants are mentioned in the following verses of Scripture. Check 'em out: Gen 14:15; 15:13-21; Deut 2:10-12,22; Josh 14:15;15:13; 21:11; 1 Sam 17:4; 2 Sam 21:16-22. We can trace the stories we've read of half men, half monsters back to Greek mythology? centaurs, the gorgons slain by Perseus, those types of grotesque creatures. But I contend that they had their origin in the antediluvian (pre-flood) days of Genesis 6, the race resulting from this demon/human fraternization.
Remember when Moses sent out the 12 spies? What was their frightening report? "GIANTS IN THE LAND!" The word there was "Nephilim." Their fear resulted in 38 years of wandering in the desert. When Joshua came along, God's instructions were to go to Canaan and wipe out all human life (or anything remotely resembling such?). Was He cleansing the gene pool? (For those who don't think angels can take on beautiful manly forms, the Scripture is full of examples to the contrary, from Abraham in Genesis 18:2,22, to the men of Sodom, Genesis 19:5,to Jacob, Genesis 32:24,30, to Joshua in Genesis 23:13 and 15. Mark 12:25 is the usual prooftext for the asexuality of angels, but this verse merely says that, at the resurrection, the newly risen will be like the angels in Heaven, neither marrying or being given in marriage.Nothing about being ungendered).
An interesting note: Dr. John E. Mack, professor of psychiatry at The Cambridge Hospital, Harvard Medical School is a contributor to over 150 articles in professional (peer-reviewed) journals and a former Pulitzer Prize winner. He claims to have been involved in nearly 100 cases of alleged UFO-abductions personally, and has shocked the professional community by declaring that he believes these beings may be real and that they appear to have an agenda to develop a hybrid race!* (Probably not THAT shocked. Apparently, some REALLY smart people in science and government are REALLY concerned about this matter). At a professional conference on abductions at M.I.T., Dr. Mack asked;, "If what these abductees are saying is happening to them isn't happening, then what is?"**
Could all this UFO stuff involve a return to the mysterious "Days of Noah" referred to by Jesus in Matthew 24:37 that would precede His return? Some seem to think so. Perhaps a society of giant freaks would not impress modern man as much as reports of little green kidnappers in flying saucers doing body probes from a mother-ship. Satan knows mankind very well. *John E. Mack, Abduction: Human Encounters with Aliens, Ballantine Books, NY, 1994, p.411.
**C.D.B. Bryan, Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind: Alien Abduction, UFOs, and the Conference at M.I.T., Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1995, p.4.
From Noah till now.
At any rate, God apparently had enough of all this unnatural perversion so He shook the etch-a-sketch,destroying all life on the planet with a great flood, saving only righteous Noah and his family. Satan was licking his chops as the only humans remaining were confined to a boat amid a tumultuous sea. For years he was left wondering, "Is that the Messiah? How about that one?" Now, all of humanity was limited to these boat people. Like fish in a barrel.
Do you remember Ham? He was the irreverent second son on whom Noah pronounced a curse when the boy walked in on him while he was passed out, drunk and naked. Bear in mind, this was immediately after the flood. My Heavens, the ground wasn't even dry yet and the enemy was already at work! From Ham came the people of Canaan who ultimately spread to Sodom and Gomorrah, two cities whose names are synonymous with perversion. NOTE: Always peel the onion skin and trace the root of any sin, personal or territorial. Other cultures who descended from Ham include the Egyptians, Assyrians, and the Phoenicians. All of Ham's descendants developed extremely affluent cultures. Yet, for all their prestige and power, they were also known to be deplorably immoral. By the way, Noah was quite possibly NOT a drunk. Whether he became the "father of alcoholism" as a result of the buzz he got from this experience, well, the Bible is silent. Actually,drinking the nectar made from the vineyard he planted, once the floodwater receded, possibly caused him to become inebriated only because the new post-flood environment made the juice ferment more rapidly than he could have anticipated.
In defiance of God, one of Noah's offspring, and our forefather, a demonically-inspired man named Nimrod, was the prime instigator in building the tower of Babel, man's first feeble attempt to reach God, (Gen. 11:4). Nice try, Nimrod. (Funny how we're STILL trying to reach God by our own efforts.) The Bible says Nimrod "was a mighty hunter before the Lord," (Gen. 10:9). His hunting prowess doubtfully referred to his skill with a bow as in Esau's case, for example. Esau was "a skillful hunter, a man of the field," (Gen. 25:27). This Nimrod was a hunter of the souls of men, empowered by Satan and able to win the minds, wills and emotions of his people. Imagine! This demonized soul-winner inspired his people to build a tower to reach the stars! This was a painstaking project of colossal proportions. They weren't looking for something to do. They were driven. Inspired. Nimrod was a great leader and great leaders aren't necessarily good ones.
The zodiac and astrology are two things we can trace to Nimrod and the tower of Babel; two things that have consistently diverted the attention of humans from the things of God throughout the ages. Millions are still trusting in the stars rather than the one who made them.
Nimrod's wife, Semiramis, was called "Supreme One," the priestess, and was eventually referred to as "Queen of Heaven." A legend developed within the Babylonian religion that she was impregnated by a sunbeam and gave birth to a son, Tammuz. Obviously, this was Satan's counterfeit for the virgin birth of the coming Messiah WHICH he knew about from THE BEGINNING and had thus devised a plan to confuse humankind from day one. He sure understood God's plan, didn't he? That which has been WRITTEN for our benefit had been SPOKEN to him directly by God Himself. Satan didn't know when this "seed of the woman" would arrive to "bruise his head."
In time, the entire civilized world would pay homage to some version of a mother and son combo. In Babylon, it was Semiramus with her son, Tammuz. In Egypt, they had Isis and her boy, Horus. In India, it was Isi and Iswara. Asia had Cybele and Deoius. The Greeks had Aphrodite and her son, Eros and the Romans had Venus and Cupid. When the stories of Mary and Jesus came along, much of the ancient world would yawn, seeing them only as another motherson team in another culture.
At any rate, the Babylonian legend was that Tammuz was killed by a wild boar and Semiramis wept and cried for forty days, mourning and fasting. As a result, Tammuz was resurrected. A resurrection, too, eh, Satan? Neat trick, devil. Very seductive. All the different cultures contained counterfeits such as this, bringing about confusion, doubt, and a general apathy when presented with the REAL mother and son, the virgin Mary and her Redeemer/Son, Jesus.
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Pastor Michael has been broadcasting eMail messages of Discipleship & Encouragement to the Body of Chrsit since 1999. These messages have been pubished on many other web sites, have been re-printed in newsletters and newspapers, used as guides for teaching and preaching, and have been FORWARDED by readers to multitudes of others, possibly reaching millions worldwide.